My View: Will we be Enchanted by Princess? (Live Views from a Princess Newbie)

[1emerald1]

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

My View: Day 8 - Debarkation in Fort Lauderdale

 

 

 

 

 

Wondered how many people were waking up in that Hilton to board a cruise…

That's where I stay, and I always get a comp upgrade to the Honors floor with a view directly in front of the ship!!!

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

That's where I stay, and I always get a comp upgrade to the Honors floor with a view directly in front of the ship!!!

how's that view now with the construction that always seems to be going on?

[1emerald1]

Just now, voljeep said:

how's that view now with the construction that always seems to be going on?

Unfortunately, it's been a couple of years since I've sailed out of PE.  I've been sailing out of my home port of Los Angeles due to mobility and medical issues.  I do have a 7 day cruise booked on the Sky for next year.  Hopefully I can make it.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks! for your extensive review!

I would like to hear more specifics, at some time, about the things you enjoy more on the other three cruise lines, that make you put them ahead, for you and your family.

We are looking at Enchanted for next year, so all comments are appreciated!

 

Note: Is there not another review, perhaps from the sailing before you boarded, that has a quite different point of view.  It would be interesting to know if your experience ever matched what they noticed that they did not like. 

[APDMOM]

53 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Thanks! for your extensive review!

I would like to hear more specifics, at some time, about the things you enjoy more on the other three cruise lines, that make you put them ahead, for you and your family.

We are looking at Enchanted for next year, so all comments are appreciated!

 

Note: Is there not another review, perhaps from the sailing before you boarded, that has a quite different point of view.  It would be interesting to know if your experience ever matched what they noticed that they did not like. 

I will gladly do that when we get back. I have very limited wifi on NCL, so I will be offline much of the week. 🙂

[Canuker]

9 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Fort Lauderdale 🙈😫

 

TIP: If you get off at this terminal, just check your luggage. Self-assist was quite a mess because you are NOT allowed to carry your bags down the stairs. EVERYONE has to either use the escalator or elevator. They will NOT let you carry more than one bag down the escalator, nor allow you to  make 2 trips down the regular stairs. That means you have to wait in the long elevator line. 

 

I am sure this arrangement is to the lack of personal responsibility and prior lawsuits or fear thereof…  Other than this minor irritation, debarkation was smooth.

 

 

Are we talking about the ship, the terminal or both, please?

[JamieLogical]

11 hours ago, Canuker said:

Are we talking about the ship, the terminal or both, please?

 

The terminal.

[emmak8]

Thank you for your excellent commentary.

 

Is that the Hilton Marins you mentioned? 

[beshears]

I had my FIRST taste of Gelato on the Regal in February of this year. I had heard about it, and I really like it. We had the best package, but when it came to eating all those sweets/deserts, it was just too much for me to eat, but they sure looked good. 🙂 Once again, thank you for your posting/pictures, as I wrote many notes down for our February cruise. It looks like you are getting ready to do NCL, and I have a feeling you folks are happy with it. Things may have CHANGED by now, but years ago, my friend and I took a "brand new" NCL ship, and not only us, but we never seen so many people UNHAPPY (even hearing people talking about it on our airline) on that ship, and for us, we decided to never do it again, unless it was FREE. 🙂 

[1emerald1]

13 hours ago, emmak8 said:

Thank you for your excellent commentary.

 

Is that the Hilton Marins you mentioned? 

I am not the OP, but yes, it is.  And the Hilton Honors floor is the 14th floor, so even if there is construction in the terminal area, the view would not be affected.

[CruisingFox27]

Thank you for your fabulous review. We will be on our first Princess cruise in September, on the Crown Princess.

I particularly noted your comments on the tender experience, as, we have several ports where we are required to tender. What would you have done differently to make the process better?

We are looking to book independent excursions in a couple of our tender ports, and I'm very unsure of the correct/best process and how long I should to allow to get ashore. In one port, we arrive at 7am and the meet time is 8.45am, will that be possible?

We've only ever tendered with another cruise line, where we have priority tickets and haven't had to consider time for collecting tickets and queuing. The tender situation is added to my ever-increasing new cruise line / no idea what to do anxiety.

Edited July 23 by CruisingFox27

[APDMOM]

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Thank you for your fabulous review. We will be on our first Princess cruise in September, on the Crown Princess.

I particularly noted your comments on the tender experience, as, we have several ports where we are required to tender. What would you have done differently to make the process better?

We are looking to book independent excursions in a couple of our tender ports, and I'm very unsure of the correct/best process and how long I should to allow to get ashore. In one port, we arrive at 7am and the meet time is 8.45am, will that be possible?

We've only ever tendered with another cruise line, where we have priority tickets and haven't had to consider time for collecting tickets and queuing. The tender situation is added to my ever-increasing new cruise line / no idea what to do anxiety.

@CruisingFox27, I think this is unique to Belize. I never experienced anything like it in many other tender ports, so you should be okay.  In most ports, tenders run on a schedule.  There really was nothing I could have done differently, except getting one of the first 15 tender groups. After that, it was luck of the draw. Some people walked on right before we left, but they were just lucky…

 

If anything, try to get in the tender ticket line as early as possible.

[APDMOM]

On 7/21/2024 at 8:36 PM, Canuker said:

Are we talking about the ship, the terminal or both, please?

 

On 7/22/2024 at 8:18 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

The terminal.

 

Thank you for helping out,@JamieLogical.  I  currently on NCL Breakaway, so I have limited internet.

 

 Yes, this is only about the terminal - not the ship. 🙂 

[Wishing on a star]

CruisingFox,  About the tenders...  yes, the initial rush can be a factor...  Sometimes it is more of a factor than others.  Not always a big deal.  You should be fine if you are ready to go, and get your tender tickets early that morning.  Of course, usually tenders run back and forth thru the day.  

For a newbie, perhaps somebody can confirm that you do have to show up, in person...  Do they ask that all members of your party be there to get tickets.  (It has been a while since we have tendered at a port where it is busy.)

 

You are probably picking up a lot of info here.  But if you have any other questions about boarding, dining, packages, etc.  Just post a new thread and ask!

[Canuker]

On 7/21/2024 at 1:47 PM, APDMOM said:

Extract from OP's post #199:

There were frequently dirty dishes in the buffet.  I don’t mean “used” and left on the tables.  I mean from the ‘clean plates’ piles.  We would turn a “clean” plate over daily and find food residue.  With both DH and DS working in food service, this made us wonder about the status of cleanliness in the galley.  Now, it is not unusual to run into this ‘occasionally’  - maybe 1 time on a cruise.  But it happened daily, and often with more than one dish.  One time, DS had to put 3 dirty plates aside before he finally found a clean one.

Oh dear. Princess: are you reading this?

This sort of post, in a competitive industry like cruising, will quickly put prospective (and booked) customers off your brand - for good.

Thanks for the candid 'heads-up', APDMOM. When on your ship in 2 weeks time, we shall be vigilantly looking for evidence of this, and not only in the buffet... If we find anything we shall be sure to

1. Show (not just tell, show) it to a manager

2. Take a phone picture too

3. Report it to Guest Services

4. Report it here on CC.

Not good enough, Princess. Properly cleaned crockery (and cutlery) is hygiene 101. There is zero excuse for this.

[bandp407]

8 minutes ago, Canuker said:

Oh dear. Princess: are you reading this?

This sort of post, in a competitive industry like cruising, will quickly put prospective (and booked) customers off your brand - for good.

Thanks for the candid 'heads-up', APDMOM. When on your ship in 2 weeks time, we shall be vigilantly looking for evidence of this, and not only in the buffet... If we find anything we shall be sure to

1. Show (not just tell, show) it to a manager

2. Take a phone picture too

3. Report it to Guest Services

4. Report it here on CC.

Not good enough, Princess. Properly cleaned crockery (and cutlery) is hygiene 101. There is zero excuse for this.

PERFECTLY PUT - THANK YOU. I agree 100% . We will be on Enchanted in a week & will certainly be reporting anything of this sort. It’s extremely concerning. 

[APDMOM]

4 hours ago, Canuker said:

Oh dear. Princess: are you reading this?

This sort of post, in a competitive industry like cruising, will quickly put prospective (and booked) customers off your brand - for good.

Thanks for the candid 'heads-up', APDMOM. When on your ship in 2 weeks time, we shall be vigilantly looking for evidence of this, and not only in the buffet... If we find anything we shall be sure to

1. Show (not just tell, show) it to a manager

2. Take a phone picture too

3. Report it to Guest Services

4. Report it here on CC.

Not good enough, Princess. Properly cleaned crockery (and cutlery) is hygiene 101. There is zero excuse for this.

Agreed. I hope it is better by your sailing!  We pointed it out to one person, who apologized and walked off with the plate. It did not change and we could have continued to complain, but we just decided to let it go.  Interestingly, the silverware was always squeaky clean.  Only plates and bowls were problematic.

 

PS: I did write it in my cruise feedback to Princess in 2 places, so hopefully they pay attention to the feedback.

Edited July 25 by APDMOM
Add PS

[paddingtonbear]

I hope you are having a great time on your second cruise but do hope you come back and explain what disappointed you about Princess enough to put it 4th on your list when your review sounded so positive throughout. Except for the plates. 

[555]

16 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Agreed. I hope it is better by your sailing!  We pointed it out to one person, who apologized and walked off with the plate. It did not change and we could have continued to complain, but we just decided to let it go.  Interestingly, the silverware was always squeaky clean.  Only plates and bowls were problematic.

 

PS: I did write it in my cruise feedback to Princess in 2 places, so hopefully they pay attention to the feedback.

Don't forget to check your coffee cup for lipstick residue. 

[APDMOM]

17 hours ago, paddingtonbear said:

I hope you are having a great time on your second cruise but do hope you come back and explain what disappointed you about Princess enough to put it 4th on your list when your review sounded so positive throughout. Except for the plates. 

I will do that, yes. It is definitely not disappointment with Princess - just that we prefer the other 3 cruiselines. It is a personal preference.  We did indeed have an overall fun cruise.  I will highlight what we love about the other 3 cruiselines when I get home 🙂

[APDMOM]

3 hours ago, 555 said:

Don't forget to check your coffee cup for lipstick residue. 

That is true… 😂

[Daniel A]

21 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

That is true… 😂

I'm not looking to defend soiled dishware anywhere, but I did notice your complaint was limited to the buffet dishware.  Wouldn't that be the only place where you would have an opportunity to inspect your plate before plating it with a meal?  If you are eating from dishware in the MDR of any cruise line (or any land-based restaurant for that matter) you do not get to see the plate until your meal is already on it.  Again, I'm certainly not justifying any soiled dishware anywhere, I'm just pointing out that we never really know what the dishes looked like before a waiter puts the plate in front of us - anywhere.

 

I've always heard that if you were able to observe food preparation in any restaurant kitchen, you wouldn't want to eat there.  I guess the same could be said about the dishware.  

 

You did a great job with this, and now I'm going to be a little more observant when I select a plate at any self-serve venue whether at sea or on land.  Thank you.

[phabric]

On a Princess, just after when passengers were allowed back, in the buffet, this lady picked up a bowl then decided to put it back on top on the others, the crew member removed the whole pile of bowls and made a face.

Edited July 26 by phabric

[555]

2 hours ago, phabric said:

On a Princess, just after when passengers were allowed back, in the buffet, this lady picked up a bowl then decided to put it back on top on the others, the crew member removed the whole pile of bowls and made a face.

I've seen them throw out a batch of cookies when one kid returned a cookie back on the tray with his hands. 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

THANKS so much for this fantastic review! It was very interesting to me as we will be sailing Enchanted from FLL next summer.

 

We were actually on Celebrity Beyond during the same week as your review, and I took a pic of Enchanted from our ship on embarkation day in anticipation of our cruise next year. Perhaps you were already onboard!