New to Princess..need honest opinions

[lgar88]

We are currently on the Sun Princess and new to cruising. It’s hard to know if our issues are due to the new ship, due to Princess or just what cruisers are used to.

Any opinions out there on the quality of attention in the dining rooms? All they care about is scanning our medallion before greeting us. We have eaten at 3 specialty restaurants and both casual restaurants. Even with all the wait staff, it’s very difficult to get anyone’s attention. Even our main server at Crown couldn’t get me another glass of wine without going through the sommelier, who then had to make sure and tap our medallion. Alfredo’s was better about that. Probably because they weren’t too busy. At The 8th floor American diner,  both times we ate, we had to get up and go find drinks or someone to order drinks. I was looking for the coffee and just a refill on water. 
Don’t get me wrong, these servers are working so hard. They really need to figure this out. 

[rodndonna]

36 minutes ago, lgar88 said:

We are currently on the Sun Princess and new to cruising. It’s hard to know if our issues are due to the new ship, due to Princess or just what cruisers are used to.

Any opinions out there on the quality of attention in the dining rooms? All they care about is scanning our medallion before greeting us. We have eaten at 3 specialty restaurants and both casual restaurants. Even with all the wait staff, it’s very difficult to get anyone’s attention. Even our main server at Crown couldn’t get me another glass of wine without going through the sommelier, who then had to make sure and tap our medallion. Alfredo’s was better about that. Probably because they weren’t too busy. At The 8th floor American diner,  both times we ate, we had to get up and go find drinks or someone to order drinks. I was looking for the coffee and just a refill on water. 
Don’t get me wrong, these servers are working so hard. They really need to figure this out. 

 

My thoughts based on very limited experience (just off our first Princess cruise on the Discovery) - the Medallion is a great technology feature, but still not fully where they want to get it to.

 

With regards to dining - ideally as you walk up - they can see your name and ID pop up and greet you name. If you scan, they can confirm who you are and then greet you by name without making a mistake.

 

On our first day of our cruise, we walked up to a bar, ordered, and he knew who we were no problem. On day 2 we had charges for the steakhouse specialty dining (we don't eat meat) and there seem to be quite a number of people at guest services with charges that were in dispute. Very noticeably for the remainder of the cruise, we were asked for a room number to confirm for drinks or scanned our medallion.

 

Eventually the medallion technology could evolve to work better in busy areas, just not there yet.

 

Still a great improvement though we thought. 

 

When you get a chance take a look at the screen they are looking at (like the dining podium) with all of our pics and names popping on and off and moving around the display. I think they need to work a bit more on that algorithm.

[mtnesterz]

We have not sailed on the Sun, but I have read the reviews starting to come in and your experience seems to mirror what has been written. More staffing in the dining areas is needed.

 

As to the rest, you mention you are new to cruising, let me explain the function of the Medallion function as it applies to drinks and dining.

Whether or not you bought one of the packages, you will be scanned for drinks. If you did buy a package, Plus or Premier, it goes toward your 15 drink limit, it charges you additional if a premium drink selection, with the additional tip and it confirms that you are an adult ordering an alcoholic beverage. If dining on one of the packages, you have included dining. Scanning the Medallion accesses that.

If you went Standard, then you need to be scanned for the drink charge, tip and to confirm you are an adult. For dining, you need to be scanned to be charged to your account for the meal for Casual or Specialty venues. Even if included dining in the MDR, you still will be scanned for your dining time, if you made reservation, or if you have dining preferences on record such as a table for two.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Have cruise on various ships in their first few weeks.  From Princess in 1990 to 3 Celebrity ships, there were lots of issues that were sorted over time.

Not worth flogging the shortcomings as over a few months the green crews and officers learned to work together as a team.

I note that cruising today is different as labor changes have made hiring experience workers worldwide difficult.  On board probably a year to get new workers really sharp and probably a third leave before or at the end of their first contract.  That and things like attendants that used to have 8 cabins, then 10, then 12 and now ???; makes for a "new experience ".

[dog]

On my last two cruises on Royal & Regal in past year it was very noticeable that there were less crew servicing the MDR & buffet areas.  Much different from my previous cruises.

[doghog]

28 minutes ago, dog said:

On my last two cruises on Royal & Regal in past year it was very noticeable that there were less crew servicing the MDR & buffet areas.  Much different from my previous cruises.

Just off the Enchanted on 6 April and agree the staff in the MDR is spread thin. Saw a lot of the head waiters (those dressed in black suits) helping out. Our service was great all nights. Princess needs sommeliers in the MDR.  

Edited April 15 by doghog

[dreaminofcruisin]

2 hours ago, lgar88 said:

We are currently on the Sun Princess and new to cruising. It’s hard to know if our issues are due to the new ship, due to Princess or just what cruisers are used to.

Any opinions out there on the quality of attention in the dining rooms? All they care about is scanning our medallion before greeting us. We have eaten at 3 specialty restaurants and both casual restaurants. Even with all the wait staff, it’s very difficult to get anyone’s attention. Even our main server at Crown couldn’t get me another glass of wine without going through the sommelier, who then had to make sure and tap our medallion. Alfredo’s was better about that. Probably because they weren’t too busy. At The 8th floor American diner,  both times we ate, we had to get up and go find drinks or someone to order drinks. I was looking for the coffee and just a refill on water. 
Don’t get me wrong, these servers are working so hard. They really need to figure this out. 

 

I do think a lot of your issues are with the Sun Princess being new and they haven't gotten the timing down yet. Although I would never call service in the MDR (on other ships) fast, I have always had servers who were 'around' if you needed something. I've also never seen a sommelier on a Princess ship....generally the assistant server has taken our wine orders....but I have heard sommeliers are coming back. On any ship, some servers/bartenders have embraced the medallion technology...others...not so much. Our 2 cruises last year, we had the best service in the MDR that we have had recently. We've not yet been on the Sun. I would suggest trying another cruise (on a different ship), to see if service is better.

[BabySarge]

On the World Cruise last year and then again on a recent trans-Atlantic cruise, both with Princess but different ships, we learned quickly to order two drinks at a time once we got a server as it was the only way to ensure we ever got a second drink.

[doghog]

3 minutes ago, BabySarge said:

On the World Cruise last year and then again on a recent trans-Atlantic cruise, both with Princess but different ships, we learned quickly to order two drinks at a time once we got a server as it was the only way to ensure we ever got a second drink.

Our waiter told us to tell our assistant waiter we wanted doubles when ordering our wine. No problem. We had the Plus package.  🍷

[JGmf]

@lgar88 Based on a lot of experience sailing on both NCL and Princess, your issues are just the norm when cruising and eating in a MDR on a mass market cruise line. 

 

The Medallion is great and has zero to do with it.  Too few staff is the issue.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[Wishing on a star]

1.  Scanning your medallion, to be sure that everything is recorded to the correct person, normal.

2.  Asking your room number to verify. (especially if the medallion system and their displays might sometimes be wonky???). normal.

3.  Lack of good drink/wine service in the dining rooms...  (I will add 'sadly' to this one...) normal.

The bars are staffed but are busy and bartenders are spread too thin.

 

Many know to stop by the bar on the way to the dining room and get a pre-dinner drink, and/or two so that they can bring one into the dining room.   And, yes,  that advice to order two, while you have the service there... yes, take advantage of that opportunity.

 

Yes, the Sun princess is a new ship, with a new dining system and dining venues...

Yes, staffing can sometimes be an issue.  (have seen this on land, too!)

There can be delays...  but with some tips and a bit of an adjustment in expectations -  we do hope that you enjoy your cruise...  Remember to enjoy being on the beautiful ship,  being at sea, seeing the destinations...  Yes, there are thorns...  but do not forget to stop and smell the beautiful roses!

 

 

Edited April 15 by Wishing on a star

[lgar88]

Thank you for the feedback. We have enjoyed the beautiful ship and some of the staff have gone overboard to make it memorable.

[Cdncruisecpl]

4 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

I do think a lot of your issues are with the Sun Princess being new and they haven't gotten the timing down yet. Although I would never call service in the MDR (on other ships) fast, I have always had servers who were 'around' if you needed something. I've also never seen a sommelier on a Princess ship....generally the assistant server has taken our wine orders....but I have heard sommeliers are coming back. On any ship, some servers/bartenders have embraced the medallion technology...others...not so much. Our 2 cruises last year, we had the best service in the MDR that we have had recently. We've not yet been on the Sun. I would suggest trying another cruise (on a different ship), to see if service is better.

I was on the Ruby for the New Year cruise.  There was 3 sommeliers on board.  The one we first connected with made a point of watching for us to arrive and was very attentive.  He even came to check on us in Sabbatini's and the Crown Grill.  I was very impressed with his attentiveness and his recommendations.  
Come to think of it, our waiter and assistant waiter were pretty amazing too.  It wasn't uncommon to have a 6 drink dinner (a pre cocktail and champagne, wine with each course, a port with dessert, and an Irish coffee to take to the show). My Old Fashioned was always on the table within 3 minutes of sitting down.

 

Maybe I just got lucky but it was by far the most attentive dining staff I've had.

Edited April 15 by Cdncruisecpl

[LACruiser88]

Since the pandemic restart, all cruise lines have had great difficulties hiring crew members.  This has caused a serious understaffing.

 

We personally know quite a few crew members that found jobs outside of the hospitality business during the pandemic.  This has really affected cruise lines.

[walkingsoon]

"It’s hard to know if our issues are due to the new ship, due to Princess or just what cruisers are used to"

 

The issues are, imo, largely a result of the number of passengers (there are lots on the Sun) and the passenger to staff ratio.

 

I've got 500+ days with Princess, might not hit 600. At this point I regret putting my time in on Princess, which is evolving in a direction I don't like, and not with Holland America, which is maintaining a service similar to what Princess used to offer twenty years ago and doesn't seem in a hurry to replace their older smaller ships with newer noisier ones. 

 

If you can afford it, check out the more luxurious lines. If not, stick to the smaller ship end of the mass market offerings.

 

Regarding the medallions, they're pretty horrible. So is the phone app. Princess has a lot invested in them, however, so I guess they're not going away.

 

As for "what cruisers are used to", I'm starting to suspect that lots of people actually enjoy getting in long lines and hanging out in the midst of large crowds. Can't relate.

 

Fwiw, the previous Sun Princess was a wonderful ship.

 

Walkingsoon

[TRLD]

10 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

My thoughts based on very limited experience (just off our first Princess cruise on the Discovery) - the Medallion is a great technology feature, but still not fully where they want to get it to.

 

With regards to dining - ideally as you walk up - they can see your name and ID pop up and greet you name. If you scan, they can confirm who you are and then greet you by name without making a mistake.

 

On our first day of our cruise, we walked up to a bar, ordered, and he knew who we were no problem. On day 2 we had charges for the steakhouse specialty dining (we don't eat meat) and there seem to be quite a number of people at guest services with charges that were in dispute. Very noticeably for the remainder of the cruise, we were asked for a room number to confirm for drinks or scanned our medallion.

 

Eventually the medallion technology could evolve to work better in busy areas, just not there yet.

 

Still a great improvement though we thought. 

 

When you get a chance take a look at the screen they are looking at (like the dining podium) with all of our pics and names popping on and off and moving around the display. I think they need to work a bit more on that algorithm.

asking for room number is part of the process when ordering drinks to confirm that the order is charged correctly. The bar devices pick up.quite a few in the area. Too easy to select the wrong picture.

 

The only time they might ask is if you put the medallion actually on a scanner such as they tend to use at the iC or one of the handheld scanners.

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Since the pandemic restart, all cruise lines have had great difficulties hiring crew members.  This has caused a serious understaffing.

 

We personally know quite a few crew members that found jobs outside of the hospitality business during the pandemic.  This has really affected cruise lines.

While there were issues early in the restart with staffing training. The cruise lines appear to be at their intended staffing levels. At least each of the 7 we have been on in the past 12 months.

 

The problem with Princess MDRs started even before covid, especially with DMY  Princess used to have some waiters in the MDR in addition to the main and assistant waiters. When one wanted drinks the waiters would have one of them come over to take the drink orders and get the drinks. That changed when Princess reduced dining room staff to only the main and assistant waiters a few years before covid.  They changed to a system where either the main or assistant would the drink orders and fetch the drinks. This not only impacted the drink orders, but ansl tend to slow down food order service, due to the waiters having to also go get drink orders.

[555]

18 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Since the pandemic restart, all cruise lines have had great difficulties hiring crew members.  This has caused a serious understaffing.

 

We personally know quite a few crew members that found jobs outside of the hospitality business during the pandemic.  This has really affected cruise lines.

I can't blame them in the least... and it could happen again.

I'm sure many of the crew have jobs at home & will never return to working on a ship. 

[lgar88]

22 hours ago, TRLD said:

While there were issues early in the restart with staffing training. The cruise lines appear to be at their intended staffing levels. At least each of the 7 we have been on in the past 12 months.

 

The problem with Princess MDRs started even before covid, especially with DMY  Princess used to have some waiters in the MDR in addition to the main and assistant waiters. When one wanted drinks the waiters would have one of them come over to take the drink orders and get the drinks. That changed when Princess reduced dining room staff to only the main and assistant waiters a few years before covid.  They changed to a system where either the main or assistant would the drink orders and fetch the drinks. This not only impacted the drink orders, but ansl tend to slow down food order service, due to the waiters having to also go get drink orders.

 

[hamrag]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:49 PM, lgar88 said:

.....some of the staff have gone overboard to make it memorable.

Wow...I wonder if that was in order to get some lobster onboard....somewhat of a dramatic step, or should that be plunge! 

[lgar88]

Thinking about this further…we were Aqua Class on Celebrity and Just had a premium deluxe balcony , no Reserve or Signature dining here. I think we were comparing apples to oranges. Knowing what we received on Celebrity, if we cruise again we will most definitely upgrade to a higher service. I don’t need to justify here  the reasons why or defend. But my brother and his wife who never do that agreed this sailing was sub par in comparing to their previous sailings.  Hopefully in the next months they will get their act together.