Any complaints about Princess

[rin1]

Given my limited experience I can't really compare the whole lines to each other, but I can compare the two ships that I have been on:

 

Carnival: More comfortable beds, OV stateroom had a couch and more drawer space for belongings, good service, good food, lots to do

 

Princess: Even better service and food, second show lounge and MUTS gave a greater variety of evening activities, OV stateroom had blinds and a second set of sheer curtains (ideal for some privacy while in port), tendered more often, adults only areas stayed adults only, tea time daily

 

Of course, I just got back, so the recent cruise is fresher in my mind, but I thought I'd mention a few things that I haven't seen on the boards before. Just my two cents. :)

[Pam in CA]

Princess, like many other cruiselines, has it's faults. You'll find chair hogs and a few passengers with the attitude that it's their cruise and they'll do whatever they want. You find that everywhere. I guess one of my biggest complaints about Princess is that they're not consistent: even though the food and menus are pretty consistent, the chef can make a big difference. They're not consistent in enforcing rules such as children and/or babies in the adult pool. You'll find great, good and bad stewards and/or waitstaff on Princess but then I've had likewise on other cruiselines.

 

Keep in mind that there's no such thing as a perfect cruise or cruiseline. They all have pluses and minus' and experiences can vary from cruise to cruise, ship to ship or even passenger to passenger. Two passengers on the exact same cruise can have polar opposite experiences or opinions.

 

You will probably thoroughly enjoy Princess because they do a lot of things well. And if you're unhappy about anything, make sure you let someone know immediately and they'll fix it. We see so many complaints posted by people who must have stewed the entire cruise and couldn't wait to get back and crab about it whereas their "problem" could have been fixed in a reasonable amount of time with a chat with the Maitre D or a call to the Pursar's Desk.

[Rouge Wave]

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.

 

Princess is not perfect... and my cruise on the Dawn two weeks ago is very much proof of that. Will I sail Princess again... yep. Would I sail ANY Princess ship that I found out Gavin was the CD on?.. Nope, unless I wanted to be board. Were there other issues other then the invisible CD? Yes there were. But the issues were not with the ship, its up keep and such. Nor did I have any problems with the "service" crew, they did their jobs well. The Dawn is a very nice, very well kept ship, very clean with much to like about her. Were there other issues which I fear are from a corp level and are more appearent on some Princess ships then others? Yes, and it does not bode well over the long term.

 

All that said, there is much to like about Princess, there are certain things Princess does very well. For Alaska, Princess is a very good choice. I strongly would suggest the Island Princess / Coral Princess, which I think may be the "Perfect" cruise ships in over all design and lay out. The ratio of PAX to sqft is outstanding. We adore the Island Princess. We think the Caribe deck is the best cabin deck on the Island/ Coral for several reasons, and for Alaska, do get a balcony.

[lovedeals]

I really appreciate all of your replies you have answered most of the things I wondered about. I read on one of these boards that the new Princess prices come out on April 9. I spoke with a TA from princess a few weeks ago and she is supposed to contact me when the prices are out. I would defintely get a balcony, we had one when last we went to Alaska and it was wonderful. When I went to the carib. with girlfriends we had an inside once and an ocean view once. Didnt think I missed much, but Alaska is different. It will actually be our fourth trip there. The first two times we flew into anchorage and rented a car for ten days and drove. We have been to Anchorage, Seward, Palmer, Denali, Scagway, Juneau, Fairbanks, Tok, the North Pole, Yukon, Haines and Haines City. We are also going to stay a week after the Cruise this time. For most of our friends it will be their first Alaska trip, I hope they love it as much as we do. I am 58 and my husband 54 in the summer we travel in our fifth wheel toy hauler with our motorcycle. The only problem is the service isnt nearly as good.

[Boozebabe]

Its been 6 years since we sailed on the Grand Princess. We are now booked on the Coral in April. I hope things are better than last time. We all ( 4 of us) thought the food was awful. I dont remember one outstanding meal. Beef was horribly tough. Meals were barely lukewarm and service was lacking. Had to ask twice for everything we requested. Something as simple as coffee served with the meal. It got to be a joke after a while. We made sure we ate while ashore so we wouldnt be hungry. The layout of that ship was extremely confusing. Lots of dead ends.

 

This will be our 10th cruise so I have many others to compare it to. We love Royal Caribbean ships. Service and food are excellent..So I guess you get what you pay for. RC is always more expensive. We also thoroughly enjoyed Carnival. Our last cruise was on the Legend last May and everything was fantastic. We werent expecting much from them but they far exceeded our expectations.

 

We have a group of 8 going this time and I was kind of overruled on choice of ship. But I am going with an open mind. Wish us luck.

[iancal]

We have enjoyed our Princess cruises. Have been on many other lines but not Carnival. The two things that we do not like about Princess....First the beds, mattresses have been very poor so always ask for a foam underlay. Second is the entertainment. This is subjective though. We have never been that enthralled with Princess entertainment, ESPECIALLY their floor shows.

[Knuklehead]

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.

Well , OK , here's one nobody has covered . We've been on 6 Princess and one Celebrity . Along time ago Princess said that after 5 cruises you would get FREE UNLIMITED Internet access from your sixth cruise on . We're not that fussy and have only opted for a balcony once . The food has been consistently good and we have enjoyed the experience of being taken care of . I would be completely loyal to Princess because of the communication privileges for the past cruises . But guess what ? They have now withdrawn the deal . I think now you get a $100 credit per person for a cruise over 8 days . That's 250 minutes each and that's it . Connections can be slow or useless at times and they do not refund any minutes . So much for "Platinum Status " . They have welshed on the deal . AND IT PISSES ME OFF . So there !:mad: :mad: :mad:

[BJS]

Its been 6 years since we sailed on the Grand Princess. We are now booked on the Coral in April. I hope things are better than last time. We all ( 4 of us) thought the food was awful. I dont remember one outstanding meal. Beef was horribly tough. Meals were barely lukewarm and service was lacking. Had to ask twice for everything we requested. Something as simple as coffee served with the meal. It got to be a joke after a while. We made sure we ate while ashore so we wouldnt be hungry. The layout of that ship was extremely confusing. Lots of dead ends.

 

This will be our 10th cruise so I have many others to compare it to. We love Royal Caribbean ships. Service and food are excellent..So I guess you get what you pay for. RC is always more expensive. We also thoroughly enjoyed Carnival. Our last cruise was on the Legend last May and everything was fantastic. We werent expecting much from them but they far exceeded our expectations.

 

We have a group of 8 going this time and I was kind of overruled on choice of ship. But I am going with an open mind. Wish us luck.

Did you return the tough beef? Did you tell the waiter the food was lukewarm so that he would get you hot food? Did you switch to another table where you had better service? Did you get a little fold out ship's map so that you would find your way around the ship without any problem?

 

If the answers are no to any of the above if was your choice to endure these things and eat ashore. For your upcoming cruise should you experience the same problems remember only you can get them corrected by speaking up.

 

One final question: If you were so unhappy with Princess why didn't you just tell your friends to choose another cruise line or that you would not be going with them?

 

I do wish you luck and hope you find your cruise as enjoyable as the majority of people sailing with Princess do.

 

. Along time ago Princess said that after 5 cruises you would get FREE UNLIMITED Internet access from your sixth cruise on . .. But guess what ? They have now withdrawn the deal . I think now you get a $100 credit per person for a cruise over 8 days . That's 250 minutes each and that's it . Connections can be slow or useless at times and they do not refund any minutes . So much for "Platinum Status " . They have welshed on the deal . AND IT PISSES ME OFF . So there !

Try it first -Many people before they have been on a ship with the new "free" interenet rules have felt the same way that you do but once they return from the cruise they will tell you even with slow connections the alloted minutes are rarely all used. The first minute after logging in is free which enables you to see if the internet speed is going to be so slow that your minutes will be wasted. The only people who find they don't have enough minutes are those that were using the free minutes to conduct business or play games. We met several people who spent 8 or more hours on the internet doing business while cruising and this was the reason Princess decided to limit the time to be more than adequate for those that use the service as it was intended for - emails, check stock market, and other personal things.

 

$75 for voyages of 7 days or less (equivalent to 150 minute package)

$100 for voyages of 8-20 days (equivalent to 250 minute package)

$200 for voyages of 21 or more days (equivalent to two 250 minute packages)

You can use your credit towards a larger package if necessary

 

You may find that there isn't any reason to be so upset by the change. Princess has some of the best past passenger "perks" of any cruise line.

 

.

[PescadoAmarillo]

My biggest complaint about Princess is the shortage of seats in the Princess Theaters on their ships. On the Super Grands, the problem is simply compounded. I just read a posting on this board by a known fan of Princess stating that he had to get to the theater 45 minutes early to get a seat for a show. We've seen people claiming seats even an hour early on the Grand Class ships. No other cruise line we've been on (Celebrity, RC, NCL) has this same issue. If non-gambling, non-dancing entertainment is an important part of one's cruise experience (as it is ours), it is extremely frustrating to deal with this night after night. Beyond that, Princess is cutting back on their other live entertainment options. I guess the expectation is that we will take our formally dressed selves up to poolside to munch popcorn and watch MUTS.

[Pam in CA]

Along time ago Princess said that after 5 cruises you would get FREE UNLIMITED Internet access from your sixth cruise on . We're not that fussy and have only opted for a balcony once . The food has been consistently good and we have enjoyed the experience of being taken care of . I would be completely loyal to Princess because of the communication privileges for the past cruises . But guess what ? They have now withdrawn the deal . I think now you get a $100 credit per person for a cruise over 8 days . That's 250 minutes each and that's it . Connections can be slow or useless at times and they do not refund any minutes . So much for "Platinum Status " . They have welshed on the deal . AND IT PISSES ME OFF . So there !:mad: :mad: :mad:

I'm sorry you're pissed off but before making the changes, Princess analyzed the usage data and based the new perk on how much 95% of the passengers were using. If you're in the 5% and used it for business or to play games, yes, you'll find your time possibly limited. If you use it for email, keeping in contact with family and friends, etc., you'll have plenty of FREE time to use on the Internet. One bonus to the new perk is that it's easier to get a free computer. Another bonus is that the people who passed their "unlimited free Internet" card along to friends on the ship to use will have a limit as to how much of that free time they can hand out to others. The free Internet is a perk, not an entitlement.

[BJS]

Beyond that, Princess is cutting back on their other live entertainment options.

 

Are they no longer holding two live entertainment shows one in the Theater and one in the Lounge-twice a night?

 

.

[Putterdude]

No cruise line or ship is going to hit a home run for everyone every time at bat. But in my mind Princess represents good value and does a good job but so does Celebrity and all of the others. It a matter of finding a line, a ship and an itinerary that is a fit for you.

[coiran]

Please look at the other cruiselines perks - noone in the Princess class has past pax perks as good as Princess - none but Princess has free laundry for elite - none hace free or reduced price internet - elite bar setup, priority tendering, etc.

Ronj

[Knuklehead]

" I'm sorry you're pissed off but before making the changes, Princess analyzed the usage data and based the new perk on how much 95% of the passengers were using. If you're in the 5% and used it for business or to play games, yes, you'll find your time possibly limited. If you use it for email, keeping in contact with family and friends, etc., you'll have plenty of FREE time to use on the Internet. One bonus to the new perk is that it's easier to get a free computer. Another bonus is that the people who passed their "unlimited free Internet" card along to friends on the ship to use will have a limit as to how much of that free time they can hand out to others. The free Internet is a perk, not an entitlement. "

You do have good point on the availability of the computers and people passing their cards around . But when they show it as an incentive and then renege . It rubs me wrong . And I just had to bitch . Thanks for your explanation . :o :o :o

[PescadoAmarillo]

Are they no longer holding two live entertainment shows one in the Theater and one in the Lounge-twice a night?

Not always, in our experience. Sometimes/frequently (depending on the cruise), a movie is shown in Club Fusion/Vista. Most of the time in the Explorer's Lounge, there is some live music for dancing, and possibly a cruise staff-run "game" show or trivia contest (not what I consider live entertainment). And even when there is live entertainment in Club Fusion/Vista, it is frequently shown just once per evening.

[bubbadog]

i will be platinum after next cruise,and the internet deal they made is fine with me,we dont use hours and hours of time,so it works ok for us,and yes its a nice perk:)))

[coiran]

PRINCESS IS THE WORST.

We have travelled on all them.

Princess charged us for someone elses cabin account and wouldn't give it back.They insisted we had to prove to them that I was not responsible for some other ladys account.We cancelled our Australia to Asia as they never did apologize.No classs...no responsiblity...no service...NO WAY WE WILL EVER GO ON PRINCESS.

 

 

Good for you - where will you go????

 

Ron

[msmoger]

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 certainly can't comment from a position of experience, but....it seems to me that unlike other cruise destinations, the itinerary is as or more important as the cruise line. I don't think there's any comparison between Princess and Carnival in that department (except for the amount of time spent in Juneau).

[Putterdude]

PRINCESS IS THE WORST.

We have travelled on all them.

Princess charged us for someone elses cabin account and wouldn't give it back.They insisted we had to prove to them that I was not responsible for some other ladys account.We cancelled our Australia to Asia as they never did apologize.No classs...no responsiblity...no service...NO WAY WE WILL EVER GO ON PRINCESS.

 

Gosh, I have had exactly the opposite experience in dealing with Princess on the topic of incorrect charges. Guess it depends upon how you approach them.

[cherylakers]

I think Princess is the way to go for Alaska. I have never been there, but I am a former travel agent. They have their own lodges and everyone says they are wonderful. I have sold many different lines and most people that came back from an Alaska cruise on Princess loved it.

 

I have been on 5 other Princess cruises. 2 in the Caribbean, 1 in the Baltics, Mexican Riveria and in 2 weeks the Panama Canal on the Coral. They have a great product. There are great things about other lines out there too though. Don't look for the negatives in cruise lines, look for all the positives, figure out what you want in a cruise and research the lines and find out which suits you best.

 

No matter which line you choose, a trip to Alaska will be fantastic. I hope to go one of these days, but our next big one will be the Greek Isles on either the Emerald or the Ruby.

 

Cheryl

[KKB]

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.

 

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

 

I found both of these posts interesting...I began cruising in my late 30s on Princess. I have found TONS of activities on each cruise...so many, I can never get them all in! From "bar wars" at the pool, water volleyball, bingo, trivia, "horse racing", tastings, galley tours, putting contests, workout classes to try...and that's just a sampling of daytime! Shows, casino and dancing late at the disco...again, just can't get it all in!

 

My aunt, early 80s, has cruised Celebrity, NCL, RCCL and just cruised her first Carnival....she was disappointed. She felt there were far fewer daytime activities than the other line...Go figure.

 

My aunt/uncle/cousins & their kids all took Carnival recently. They also have cruised Celebrity, NCL, RCCL; these folks are one BIG party family...the drinks flow, and they have a loud good time wherever they are. I was really surprised when they said they would never try Carnival again! They said it was like staying at the Super 8 when you've gotten used to the Marriott...still, we will probably try them sometime.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

LOL- II captain is something else. Whats the point of this? He posted that SAME EXACT message on the Captain Stubing sticky... Strange.

This is copy and pasted from the Stubing thread.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

PRINCESS IS THE WORST.

We have travelled on all them.

Princess charged us for someone elses cabin account and wouldn't give it back.They insisted we had to prove to them that I was not responsible for some other ladys account.We cancelled our Australia to Asia as they never did apologize.No classs...no responsiblity...no service...NO WAY WE WILL EVER GO ON PRINCESS

 

 

Investigative Reporter, B40 Tha Cruisa, CNN

Thank you, and goodnight

[readytogo2]

I had charges on my bill once that were not mine, they checked on it then removed it with an apology, something doesn't sound right IMO

[cruizer2d]

I love the fact that Princess has almost a full buffet all night--where Carnival only has a few things, like pizza and calzones. It's fun to go to the buffet at 3AM, see the amount of people eating!!

[flycess]

Putterdude, I was thinking the same thing...