Any complaints about Princess

[lovedeals]

I have been on three Carnival Cruises. One to Alaska and two to the carib. I am going to Alaska in 09 and am thinking about trying Princess. Does anyone out there have any complaints about Princess cruises.

[DanJ]

Yes. The casino dealers don't give my money back. Very rude.

[BJS]

I have been on three Carnival Cruises. One to Alaska and two to the carib. I am going to Alaska in 09 and am thinking about trying Princess. Does anyone out there have any complaints about Princess cruises.

 

Think asking this on another board besides Princess might give you more answers. :rolleyes:

[andy and amanda]

Yes. The casino dealers don't give my money back. Very rude.

 

LOL!!!!! And I thought it was just me....;)

[bdjam]

I have been on three Carnival Cruises. One to Alaska and two to the carib. I am going to Alaska in 09 and am thinking about trying Princess. Does anyone out there have any complaints about Princess cruises.

I'm sure you'll find plenty - just read the rest of the threads on this board.

[morriscats]

I think, if you look hard enough, complaints can be found about anything. We took our first cruise on Princess last November and are cruising again in October. We loved it. I don't think we could say anything bad about any cruise line. We are on the ocean visiting great ports of call and being taken great care of - whats not to like?

[WISH84]

And we will probably cruise with them again sometime soon. However we just went on our first Princess trip this past January and booked our next Princess for next March. We loved the Princess ship and staff that much. Give them a try, I think you will be very happy.

[lovedeals]

Well, I wont have to worry about that lol dont gamble much. Do any of you have any other complaints than lack of gambling returns.

[bdjam]

Well, I wont have to worry about that lol dont gamble much. Do any of you have any other complaints than lack of gambling returns.

:rolleyes:

I think you’d do better with more specific questions. I complain about Princess cramming 3000 passengers on their ships, about MUTS and about people not dressing properly for formal evenings. Is that what you're looking for?

If you’re looking for a general overview of Princess as compared to Carnival or any other cruise line, probably accessing a professional review – Berlitz, Fodor, Fieldings, something like that – would do you best.

[shark_bait]

We've been on 2 Carnival Cruises and 5 Princess Cruises and I really can't think of anything that you could have to complain about other than maybe that Princess doesn't offer free 24 hour Ice Ccream, Fruit Punch, or Lemonade. These things didn't matter much to us.

 

A few of the things that we enjoy about Princess over Carnival are: 1. Ship's Decor. 2. Much Quicker Embarkation. 3. Fresh Water Pools. 3. Anytime Dining.

[Yahtic]

No complaints about shipboard things; however I did just find out I was upgraded to an unsuitable cabin without my knowledge, so if cabin location is imortant be sure you have NO UPGRADES on the reservation.

 

I held a paid for reservation for a year and 5 days ago they moved me on an upgrade and now say I can not get my original cabin back. If I can't get it resolved I will be canceling the next 38 days of cruising I have booked with them.

[readytogo2]

My biggest complaint is that they expect you to get off the ship when the cruise is over:p

[karatemom2]

Maybe instead of asking for complaints you'd get better info by asking what people like about Princess. Here's a recent thread on that topic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=742556

 

Oh and I must confess that my DH does have that same complaint about the casino! But he's the first to say that at least the dealers are really fun and friendly (while they are taking your money!) :D

[lovedeals]

I wanted to know if there were any problems with food, service, things like that. I agree completely that it is very hard to not enjoy a cruise, unless you are one of those people that are only happy if they are complaining. We are thinking about alaska in 09 and I am looking at the smaller ships that only hold around 1900 people. I am used to the crowds because of Carnival. I thought perhaps maybe a smalller ship would be nice. There will be about 20 of us going and I get to do the research and pick the cruise line. I am sure I will be at least 50% right lol.

[readytogo2]

I wanted to know if there were any problems with food, service, things like that. I agree completely that it is very hard to not enjoy a cruise, unless you are one of those people that are only happy if they are complaining. We are thinking about alaska in 09 and I am looking at the smaller ships that only hold around 1900 people. I am used to the crowds because of Carnival. I thought perhaps maybe a smalller ship would be nice. There will be about 20 of us going and I get to do the research and pick the cruise line. I am sure I will be at least 50% right lol.

Your best bet would be to read the reviews of a particular ship.

[morriscats]

We are also looking at Alaska for 2009. Although Princess does not have their schedule for next Fall it was posted here that Sea Princess will be sailing roundtrip from S.F. from May to Sept. That is what we want to do as we live close to S.F.

[Princess Chatterer]

My complaint is I felt the ship moving once. But my bigger complaint is having breakfast in bed every morning really does get old.

[lovedeals]

I know what you mean that cruise life is hard to take. Me and 24 girlfriends went to carib. in January for a six night cruise on Carnival. When I got home it was really hard to remember that I had to put my own napkin on my lap. Also my husband is lousy at making those little towel animals to put on the bed.

[grandmato4]

We've cruised Carnival and Princess. Our experience has been that we find the food in the dining better on Princess. (subjective at best) We find the staff equally as good, maybe a bit more ougoing on Carnival and a bit more reserved on Princess but absolutely nothing to complain about on either. Our last Princess cruise was to Alaska last summer. There were still some people out and about, but most had retired to their rooms by midnight. There were people of all ages on board but overall the demographics were of an older crowd which I've heard is true of all Alaska cruises. Relaxed dress during the day and a bit more people dressed up in the evening for the dining room than any Carnival cruise I've been on in the Caribbean. Princess's buffet has a good variety of food for dinner(some items- but not all that you can order in the dining room) if you don't wish to go to the dining room. Anytime dining is a big plus to some on Princess. I've not sailed Carnival to Alaska so I can't compare the differences in the two cruise lines for that itinerary which would probably be most helpful for you.

 

I say give Princess a try, I don't think you will be disappointed.

[ggprincess2004]

Yes, I have a complaint about Princess. They won't let me stay on the ship when the cruise is over.

Princess does a lot of things right, and particularly when it comes to Alaska. They do Glacier Bay and bring naturalists aboard, they have some really outstanding shore excursions available to book, and unlike Carnival, where you are booking the shore excursion and paying ahead of time - so that even if you miss that port for some reason you have already come out of pocket for that shore excursion - Princess bills your onboard account so it is charged to your credit card at the end of the cruise.

You can cancel most shore excursions without penalty onboard, as long as you do it before the cutoff for that particular port it hit. That may be 72 to 24 hours before that port call. There are very few that are not cancellable by the passenger, but that is clearly indicated when you book them. They are the really expensive ones, such as the helicopter flights and the like. If the weather causes the operator to cancel the excursion, you won't be charged for it though.

We really enjoy Princess, and you probably will as well.

[billie5]

The OP's questions are so general as to be somewhat pointless, but at least he is getting a lot of humorous responses.

 

I don't know how much this helps, but Frommer's rates Princess higher than Carnival, and probably that would be the consensus of frequent cruisers. Of course, frequent cruisers tend to have an older demographic, and Carnival usually has a younger clientele.

 

More precisely, Frommer's rates food about the same, but activities, entertainment and service higher on Princess (only children's activities higher on Carnival). On the other hand, from what I have read, and our own experience, we find the food somewhat better on Princess. But a difference of little importance to us.

 

I believe there would be a consensus for somewhat better service on Princess. However, I doubt if that would be the case with entertainment and activities. In fact, I believe it is entirely age-dependent. The clientele being older on Princess, the activities and entertainment tend to be so geared. I think younger folk actually find superior entertainment and activities on Carnival. At least, that is what I glean from CruiseCritic.

 

Bill

[UT-Volsfan]

I wanted to know if there were any problems with food, service, things like that. I agree completely that it is very hard to not enjoy a cruise, unless you are one of those people that are only happy if they are complaining. We are thinking about alaska in 09 and I am looking at the smaller ships that only hold around 1900 people. I am used to the crowds because of Carnival. I thought perhaps maybe a smalller ship would be nice. There will be about 20 of us going and I get to do the research and pick the cruise line. I am sure I will be at least 50% right lol.

 

We've sailed Alaska twice on Princess. Our first cruise was on the Dawn Princess, and the second was on the larger Diamond Princess. For the Alaska cruise, I would say that you would be better off on the smaller ship. When you're picking your cruise, make sure you get to go into Glacier Bay.

[wrongwaywatson]

:rolleyes:

I think you’d do better with more specific questions. I complain about Princess cramming 3000 passengers on their ships, about MUTS and about people not dressing properly for formal evenings. Is that what you're looking for?

 

If you’re looking for a general overview of Princess as compared to Carnival or any other cruise line, probably accessing a professional review – Berlitz, Fodor, Fieldings, something like that – would do you best.

 

 

Gee, MUTS was our favorite part! I loved it during the day and DH loved it in the evening!

[wrongwaywatson]

No complaints about shipboard things; however I did just find out I was upgraded to an unsuitable cabin without my knowledge, so if cabin location is imortant be sure you have NO UPGRADES on the reservation.

 

I held a paid for reservation for a year and 5 days ago they moved me on an upgrade and now say I can not get my original cabin back. If I can't get it resolved I will be canceling the next 38 days of cruising I have booked with them.

 

 

Didn't you mark your reservation "NO UPGRADE"? If that was the cabin you specifically wanted, why wouldn't you have? Not trying to be a smart alleck, but I don't see why you would be upset with Princess when it sounds like your fault for not marking "NO UPGRADE". No, if you did mark it and they upgraded you anyway, my apologies, and I would be mad too!

[AZaTaz]

We have sailed both Carnival and Princess in the last year. We like both lines and will sail them again.

Our observations are:

Carnival creates more of a group atmosphere, has more activities, and has bigger rooms.

Princess has better food in the buffet, is a more relax atmosphere and the ships are beautiful.

We find the service on both cruise lines excellent to great.