Why do you like princess?

[dog]

10 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

The princess apologize just appeared.

their was nothing special about this ship or crew.

i was looking forward to the ship, and I was disappointed.

the pizza is still excellent 

 

2 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

Lol

worse steward I ever experienced.

reserve class dining NEVER happened.

concierge lounge extremely inconvenienty located.

 

I was on the Enchanted - Canada -New England cruise and had the opposite of what you experienced.

I also was in an aft PH suite on her sister ship Discovery and it was amazing.

 

Sorry you found so much disappointment and were bored.

 

Might try a higher end - more money cruise line - Viking, Oceania, etc to get the service you deserve.

[Bemidji Ty]

Other than that, how'd you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

[Host CJSKIDS]

20 hours ago, F355c5 said:

The princess apologize just appeared.

their was nothing special about this ship or crew.

i was looking forward to the ship, and I was disappointed.

the pizza is still excellent 

 

That's too bad, hopefully you enjoy your next sailing on another cruise line. 

 

I was on the same ship just a few weeks prior to you and met some amazing crew members. Also really enjoyed the ship.  Was it perfect, no but I have yet to go on any cruise line where every single thing was perfect.  Not sure why you didn't have reserve class dining as it worked well on our sailing.  I believe you bid on your upgrade which is how you got your suite.  Unfortunately when you bid, you could end up with that cabin anywhere on the ship and it just so happens that you ended up far from the concierge lounge. With a large ship, they can't put the concierge lounge close to every suite.  I was in a very forward suite on an NCL ship and it was a long walk to the Haven lounge but it was what it was I bid on that suite type, so took what I was given. 

 

But as every other place in life, we all have our own experiences and opinions.  

 

Again, hope you enjoy whatever line you cruise on next time around. 

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

13 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

reserve class dining NEVER happened.

I'm really curious by this statement. Reserve class dining is not something that "just appears". *You* have to actually *go* to the dining room! (And...you have to book that category of cabin.)  Can you please elaborate on what you meant by that?

[Kay S]

5 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'm really curious by this statement. Reserve class dining is not something that "just appears". *You* have to actually *go* to the dining room! (And...you have to book that category of cabin.)  Can you please elaborate on what you meant by that?

I wondered about that, too.  Maybe he means it wasn't "happening" in the sense of it being anything special?  Yep, curious.

[dog]

I saw what others said on the roll call- very different experiences.

Anyway, I’m out- not sure why the OP asked the question.

Edited June 2 by dog

[F355c5]

17 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'm really curious by this statement. Reserve class dining is not something that "just appears". *You* have to actually *go* to the dining room! (And...you have to book that category of cabin.)  Can you please elaborate on what you meant by that?

I did and nothing happened, never received any thing close to special.

embarrassing to say the least,

[F355c5]

1 minute ago, F355c5 said:

I did and nothing happened, never received any thing close to special.

embarrassing to say the least,

The princess advertises a great suite package ,but failed to deliver to me.

 

[memoak]

49 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

Lol

worse steward I ever experienced.

reserve class dining NEVER happened.

concierge lounge extremely inconvenienty located.

 

You chose where your suite is. We always sail in aft suites located great for us. We have been eating in Reserve dining for the last 2 years at least and never had a wait so not sure what you mean by never happened. What suite were you in 

[Host CJSKIDS]

13 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

The princess advertises a great suite package ,but failed to deliver to me.

 

 

Was this your first suite on Princess?  If I recall, you bid and that lower bid was accepted which took you from a deluxe balcony to the vista suite.  

 

Since you sailed with your sister who won a mini suite, did you still eat in reserved dining since she wasn't able to go there unless she had a reserve mini? 

 

I know you didn't care for the food or crew.  Out of curiosity, which are your favorite restaurants in Naples for this?  

 

This is a great place to vent, but unfortunately it won't change your experience.  Looks like Princess is not the line for you to sail in the future.  

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, F355c5 said:

The princess advertises a great suite package ,but failed to deliver to me.

 

I’ve got to agree. If you were expecting the Suite Experience like you might get and of course pay the additional cost for on a Celebrity cruise, that was never going to happen. Sorry. No Luminae, no butler, and no “special” place just to hang out like there is for the suite folks on a Celelbrity Edge-class ship. Totally, two different experiences.
 

But as you possibly noticed from the various folks commenting on this thread, Princess does offer some unique advantages, especially on their longer cruises, that Celebrity simply falls way short on. But if you basically enjoy 7-day cruises and like to be wowed by an onboard unique suite experience, I definitely recommend sticking with Celebrity as they do that well.

[SCX22]

To preface my statement, I'm in my 30s.

 

One of the things I find boring about Princess is the lack of participation in the night life.  The ship usually dies down by around 9:00 p.m.  There are a few stragglers in the Piazza and those attending the late show, but it's too quiet for me.  On RC, there's usually some very well attended attended event going on until midnight.  It's really no fun when there's only 10 or so people at an event.  This is due in part to the crowd almost always overwhelmingly leaning towards the retired, semi-retired, or close to retirement.  It's great when the crowd leans European because even though, they may be old, they stay up.  Alaska seems to also be an anomaly to this because of the numerous families.

 

It's subjective, but the music on Princess isn't really my cup of tea.  It's always instrumental, 50s, 60's, 70s, and 80's.  I wasn't even born yet.  When music from my generation is played, the lack of participation again rears, and it goes as far as passengers complaining to play something else.  Again this boils down to the demographic.

 

I guess majority rules (get the trivia pun?), on Princess ships.

[memoak]

We don’t even finish dinner until at least 8:30. Explorers lounge and  roomer still jammed. Casino rock till way after midnight and so does Crooners. We always pick up a double Sambucca around 1 am in Crooners on the way back to our suite. There is only one concierge lounge and if you want to be close then pay for a suite nearby. Reserved Dining is no wait good service with an extra menu item. That is what the promise and that is what they deliver 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Was this your first suite on Princess?  If I recall, you bid and that lower bid was accepted which took you from a deluxe balcony to the vista suite.  

 

Ah I am remembering the OP's complaints from a couple of weeks ago.  Vista suites on the Enchanted are way up top and forward.  Those are the only ones on the ship and I think if the OP was concerned about location he / she should have bid on a PH suite, especially ones that are adjacent to the Suite Concierge Lounge which are somewhat less pricey than the aft PH suites.  When you bid on a full suite you have the opportunity to select which type you want.  Vista Suites are the lowest cost suite category and upgrade costs are therefore the lowest.  Perhaps that's why the OP bid on it but again one must do their homework before bidding on a full suite if location is important.

 

As for no Reserve Collection dining, I would beg to disagree.  We dined there a few times on the Enchanted on our late April cruise.  And it was awesome.  Ditto the suite breakfast, the crew could not do enough for us.  The Suite Concierge was wonderful and took care of so many little things for us.

 

Will stop now because it seems like the OP would be happier elsewhere and whatever we take the time to type really is wasted effort.

 

Edited June 2 by azbirdmom

[Tomcruise92]

Maybe OP is Princess in disguise, getting everyone to say why they love the brand so much 😂

It's actually nice to read all the wonderful things people enjoy about Princess even if it came from a slightly negative thread.

[azbirdmom]

54 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

no butler, and no “special” place just to hang out like there is for the suite folks on a Celelbrity Edge-class ship

 

Well the Suite Concierge Lounge is kind of a special place to hang out on a Royal class ship.  We've made some wonderful friends during happy hours in there, in fact we sailed again with a couple we had met previously on the Enchanted in late April on the same ship.  While it no doubt doesn't have the pizazz of Celebrity Edge-class ships, sailing in a suite on Princess has nowhere near the price tag of Celebrity either.  And as an avid reader of your live from's I know you enjoy both!  🙂 

Edited June 2 by azbirdmom

[Host CJSKIDS]

46 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

To preface my statement, I'm in my 30s.

 

One of the things I find boring about Princess is the lack of participation in the night life.  The ship usually dies down by around 9:00 p.m.  There are a few stragglers in the Piazza and those attending the late show, but it's too quiet for me.  On RC, there's usually some very well attended attended event going on until midnight.  It's really no fun when there's only 10 or so people at an event.  This is due in part to the crowd almost always overwhelmingly leaning towards the retired, semi-retired, or close to retirement.  It's great when the crowd leans European because even though, they may be old, they stay up.  Alaska seems to also be an anomaly to this because of the numerous families.

 

It's subjective, but the music on Princess isn't really my cup of tea.  It's always instrumental, 50s, 60's, 70s, and 80's.  I wasn't even born yet.  When music from my generation is played, the lack of participation again rears, and it goes as far as passengers complaining to play something else.  Again this boils down to the demographic.

 

I guess majority rules (get the trivia pun?), on Princess ships.

We met people from our town on our enchanted sailing with a 31 one year old. Too bad you weren't on our sailing, we closed the bar every night. 
 

Actually had fun last night out until late. 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Well the Suite Concierge Lounge is kind of a special place to hang out on a Royal class ship.  We've made some wonderful friends during happy hours in there, in fact we sailed again with a couple we had met on the Enchanted in late April on the same ship.  While it no doubt doesn't have the pizazz of Celebrity Edge-class ships, sailing in a suite on Princess has nowhere near the price tag of Celebrity either.  And as an avid reader of your live from's I know you enjoy both!  🙂 

Thanks for the kind words. I was more thinking of how Celebrity is redesigning their bow spaces to accommodate their Suite guests, eliminating the option for non-suite guests to access bow views, like the Reflection Lounge used to offer on their S-class ships.

 

 
As far as booking suites on Celebrity, we no longer have a desire to do that. The Luminae evening meals give us heartburn, we have no need for a butler, and being the antisocial people we are, we never hang out in the Concierge Lounge! 😂

 

And now that we made Elite with Princess, we will probably only book Reserve Class mini suites on any of our future Princess cruises, with all the extra Elite loyalty perks we now get. Well, except for our upcoming Norway/Baltic B2B we’ll be going on next month, which we will be in one of those Vista Suites on the Sky Princess! 😂

[SCX22]

9 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

We met people from our town on our enchanted sailing with a 31 one year old. Too bad you weren't on our sailing, we closed the bar every night. 
 

Actually had fun last night out until late. 

 

Not saying there aren't night owls.  What I'm saying is that they're aren't enough of them.  Few people at a bar isn't really a fun time for me.  I'm looking for a nightclub/nightclub concert kind of experience/atmosphere, which RC has.  The closest I ever got to this experience on a Princess ship was on a Sky Princess sailing out of Southampton to Spain, France, and Portugal during the UK's Easer Holiday.  The crowd was overwhelmingly British and the ship didn't start to die down until midnight.  

Edited June 2 by SCX22

[Host CJSKIDS]

1 minute ago, SCX22 said:

 

Not saying there aren't night owls.  What I'm saying is that they're aren't enough of them.  Few people at a bar isn't really a fun time for me.  I'm looking for a nightclub/nightclub concert kind of experience/atmosphere, which RC has.

oh I get that, there are sailings where it's way too quiet for me and I'm 62. I prefer lively venues and will say that Royal has a huge leg up on that. 

[cr8tiv1]

7 hours ago, F355c5 said:

Ship was so crowded,  ever felt we  never mattered to anyone or anything.

chopped up deck plans , easy to get on wrong elevator.

food so so, suite perks none existent.

 

The aft dining room dead end is definitely the puzzle of the day/week.  The reason you can't access the area from mid-ship is because the dining rooms are attached to the kitchen in between.  If you had taken the kitchen tour after the culinary demonstration, it would have become crystal clear.  That is the ONLY area accessible from walking Deck 7 (or above) or using the aft elevators.

 

Midship elevators and forward elevators will take you all the way up from Deck 5 to the Lido Deck where the buffet, pool, Slice, Salty Dog Grill, Ice Cream place, and an assortment of bars.  (At least you didn't get side swayed with the Grand Staircase to nowhere/crew area @Thrak)

 

There are a few other areas that are above the Lido Deck that have stairs (and select elevators) to take you there.

 

I have heard that the Sphere class ships now have everything turned around.  But all of Princess' older fleet have basically the same design/layout.  I have taken newbies on Princess and tell them from the start that they need to always keep in view the Piazza and Customer Service Desk when exploring the ship.  Even my older sister didn't get lost after the first day.

 

I am sorry that your found Princess not to your liking.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  I understand...since I am not a fan of the larger Royal Class ships (Enchanted).  I do hope you find a brand that you love.  Cruising isn't for everyone, but for those who love it....it's GRAND.

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, doghog said:

That's correct but that configuration change on those ships (S & M) didn't affect the Sky Lounge. 

Thanks for keeping me straight. I have to admit Celebrity has some great late night production shows in the Sky Lounge. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Is this thread "Why do you like Celebrity?" 😄

Good point. Back to why Princess is so awesome! 😁

[JimmyVWine]

OK. I’ll bite. My reasons may be unique and esoteric, but they are no less valid. 
 

1.  When we first started cruising as a family, (I had previously been on Cunard (QE2) for two transatlantics in the 70s and on a DCL inaugural four day cruise with my wife as a favor to my SIL who was a travel agent selling Disney cruises at the launch of the brand), I looked for a brand that best fit my family’s lifestyle and atmosphere preferences. I wanted a cruise line that had a welcoming and generous wine allowance. I have an extensive wine cellar and I like to travel with some of my better wines. When people think about saving their best wines for “special occasions”, for me, my vacations ARE my special occasions. A Tuesday night in the MDR with my wife and daughter is as special to me as a birthday or anniversary. So I researched all of the cruise lines in my price tolerance level and Princess won. Over time, this has not changed. Cruise lines that allow a single bottle per person won’t cut it. 
 

2.  I look at cruises, in part, as a way to forcibly compress family time. On a cruise, my wife, my daughter and I spend way more time together than is possible in the “real world.”  Not all of our vacations are cruises. Far from it. But when we want to reconnect, converse, catch up, recall old memories and make new ones, cruises are a great way to do that. We neither want nor need big distractions on the ship. We are not looking for sensory overload. We are looking for a seating area in the Piazza, a table for three in Crooners, three consecutive barstools at Vines, or a sofa in the Wheelhouse. RC is far too busy for what we enjoy most about our time together. 
 

3.  We love traveling the world. On land or sea. We decidedly do not want ships that “are the destination”. We want the destinations to be the destinations. Rock climbing walls, ice rinks and burgers by Guy Fieri are useless to us when we are visiting the great museums, sights and local eateries of the world. What some find to be “boring” on board, we find to be just the right amount of distraction. Cruise ships are getting bigger and grander and there is no turning back. The “Central Park”, inner-facing balconies of RC’s mega ships are exactly the wrong direction for what we want when we travel. I don’t begrudge those who love that stuff. But it ain’t us. 
 

4.  The people we meet, both as guests and crew. For the most part, we find likeminded guests who eschew the stereotypical cruise ship nonsense as much as we do. We aren’t looking for a “party cruise”. Again, I have no quarrel with people who live for that. But that’s not us and Princess doesn’t foster that atmosphere. We aren’t looking to hang with snooty,  judgmental boors. Just open-minded, accepting folks like us who value other cultures and new experiences. Obviously not everyone we encounter on Princess is like this. But certainly enough so that we are comfortable and keep coming back. 
 

5.  Price and itinerary options. Pretty self-explanatory. 
 

6.  Maybe all of this is “boring.”  Maybe we are too. But that’s OK. I’ve been accused of worse. 

[annmarz]

Why I like Princess:  My first Princess cruise was on the old Island Princess in 1976 as a 17 year old with my parents to Alaska.  Many years later and many, many cruises later on all sorts of cruise lines and types of ships, to me, Princess is like coming home.  Sentimentality and familiarity are a big component, as are the Elite perks.  Like many others, I now choose cruises and land tours for the itineraries, and/or the value. Princess always delivers.  The entertainment is excellent, the staterooms are comfortable, the food is very, very good.  It is a safe choice.

 

Cruising has changed over the years -  mostly for the better  I love the Medallion, the new bedding, Princess Plus, the varied dining choices.  I  will continue to "jump ship" to other lines but Princess holds a special place in my heart.