Alaska cruise is perfect preparation for a retirement home

[dforeigner]

Bummer! :confused:

[CruisinFools]

Once again, thank you all so much for your feedback. Yes, a 10-day cruise does have more sea days (which we ordinarily love!). A 7 dayer during summer vacation would probably have been better suited for us. And yes, I do work for the line - and I intend to question "the powers that be" whether or not they have any interest in attracting a younger crowd to Alaska. As for cutting costs on the entertainment, well, we ran into one of the resident musicians who told us that they MUST play selections from a required play-list - which (in his words) was "unfortunately, that terrible elevator music". It wouldn't cost the line any more or less money to mix the musical selections up a bit. In any event, we are planning our next cruise - a 9 dayer to the Caribbean!! Thanks again for all the kind words and helpful advice. You guys are the best!

[LaurieCM]

My husband and I just got back from the arctic Princess tour- 7 days on land, all the way to the Arctic ocean and then a 7 day cruise on the Coral. The land portion was great- unforgettable- I would reccomend it to anyone. The cruise had it's wonderful times too- perfect weather- great itinerary, but the ship itself was not great. There was not much to do, so it was good that the views were so engaging. The entertainment was mostly high-school level. We were pleasantly surprised by Adrian Zmed- I hadn't been aware of his career since the 80s, but he put on a good show. My husband loved our vacation, but said not to book on Princess again unless it is a HUGE bargain.

[inkmahm]

You WORK for Princess and you come to CC to post about their customers being like a retirement home? :eek:

[NancyIL]

My husband and I just got back from the arctic Princess tour- 7 days on land, all the way to the Arctic ocean and then a 7 day cruise on the Coral. The land portion was great- unforgettable- I would reccomend it to anyone. The cruise had it's wonderful times too- perfect weather- great itinerary, but the ship itself was not great. There was not much to do, so it was good that the views were so engaging. The entertainment was mostly high-school level. We were pleasantly surprised by Adrian Zmed- I hadn't been aware of his career since the 80s, but he put on a good show. My husband loved our vacation, but said not to book on Princess again unless it is a HUGE bargain.

 

It sounds like Princess has been cutting WAY back on things, because that wasn't our experience on the Coral last year.

 

Of our 2 Alaska cruises on Princess and HAL - I give the slight edge to HAL. Reading about lack of things to do on Princess makes me more likely to stick with HAL in the future.

[5fathom]

Totally agree with 20oregonians statement " It is what you make it '" As far as saving seats in the Showroom, it is getting totally out of hand.

[Coral]

It sounds like Princess has been cutting WAY back on things, because that wasn't our experience on the Coral last year.

 

 

I have spoken to several who have gone to Alaska many times previously and went again this year and didn't mention any complaints on cutting back. I doubt things have changed that much since last year.

[NancyIL]

I have spoken to several who have gone to Alaska many times previously and went again this year and didn't mention any complaints on cutting back. I doubt things have changed that much since last year.

 

Since you'll be on 2 Princess cruises in a few weeks - I hope you'll take good notes! Have a great trip!

[serendipity1499]

You WORK for Princess and you come to CC to post about their customers being like a retirement home? :eek:

 

My thoughts exactly! :( I'm just as shocked as you are!

 

I'm also shocked that a person working for "Princess" would make such a bigoted remark such as this: :mad:

 

QUOTE "If anyone wants to spend 10 days listening to "elevator music" and watch people (the average age is 75) sleeping, playing cards or passing gas, take an Alaskan cruise. As they say, live and learn. As for us, it's back to the islands! " UNQUOTE

 

It's a good thing she never worked for our company..She would lose her discounted pass privileges in a minute & perhaps even lose her job!

[Coral]

Since you'll be on 2 Princess cruises in a few weeks - I hope you'll take good notes! Have a great trip!

 

It has been 2 years since I have been on Princess - so, yes - it will be interesting.

 

I actually really liked my HAL cruise last year and tried to do HAL for this trip but they didn't have the coastal I was interested in. And I am just staying on for the next week to relax.

[Budget Queen]

You WORK for Princess and you come to CC to post about their customers being like a retirement home? :eek:

 

This is very interesting that there is this type of posting from an employee. IT is also VERY likely they got a big discount, or free cruise?? I have some generous travel benefits, myself, of which I am always highly grateful of and am very tolerant less than perfect. I also would never make public negative comments, reflecting on these particular benefits.

[inkmahm]

My thoughts exactly! :( I'm just as shocked as you are!

 

I'm also shocked that a person working for "Princess" would make such a bigoted remark such as this: :mad:

 

QUOTE "If anyone wants to spend 10 days listening to "elevator music" and watch people (the average age is 75) sleeping, playing cards or passing gas, take an Alaskan cruise. As they say, live and learn. As for us, it's back to the islands! " UNQUOTE

 

It's a good thing she never worked for our company..She would lose her discounted pass privileges in a minute & perhaps even lose her job!

That's what I was thinking. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Wow! I have been to Alaska twice and have never met up with those that you were describing. Both times were as a solo. A cruise is what you make of it. Sorry you had such a miserable experience. I am booked for a third cruise next year with my 83 year old mother. It will be hard to keep up with her I am anticipating. You might want to develop an open mind about the "older generation"...remember you are heading there also and may just become like them.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Well we all know that the cruise lines read these boards. Would love to be there when they question the OP about her comments. She sure makes a swell representative of the line! Luckily most of us have had good experiences with Princess. I guess working for Princess and all the bennies that she gets outweighs the ethics.morals of posting negative comments/attitudes.

[ladychar]

Well, DH and I are in your age group and we had a blast in Alaska on our HAL cruise. Did someone entertain us every minute-no-but we found plenty to do on the cruise.

 

Most of the older folks we saw and interacted with were very active. Did they stay up to all hours partying-no-but neither did we because usually we had something planned for early the next morning.

 

Every one has different interests and expectations, but to declare an Alaskan cruise a prelude to a retirement home is a bit sad.

[lovesublime]

Wow! We're early 40's and have cruised Alaska twice. It was a total blast both times. Our son cruised with us there once and he absolutely loved it. Yeah, I know Alaska attracts an older crowd, but there are people of all ages who cruise there. We generally don't participate in the activities or shows. They ARE boring-for the most part. We create our own entertainment in many different ways. We love just sitting on the balcony and watching for wildlife or marine life with binoculars. We love getting into bed late in the evening and watching a movie (we always do this on cruises). We love exploring the ship and make it a point to explore each and every deck.

 

We also enjoy meeting other pax and crew members and hearing about where they are from and about their families. We also enjoy interacting with the locals at the ports of call. One example, we were in line (not much of a line) to take the tramway in Juneau. While standing there, a lady with a wedding cake on a wagon arrives. She thought my husband was trying to take pics of her and the cake (he wasn't) and when I realized that, I asked my husband to get some pics. She was very flattered and posed with the beautiful cake she had made. Turns out there was a wedding that evening at the restaurant on top of Mt. Roberts. We had a nice conversation with her.

 

I agree that maybe the ship is boring, but we don't go to Alaska for the ship. BTW, we've cruised to Alaska on NCL and Carnival.

[Lois R]

Hi, sorry you had such a poor time and there were not enough

on board activities to your liking.

I do agree with many of the posters on here though and think

it is a bit odd that you are critisizing your employer on here.

Seems like a conflict of interest.

 

I am 50 so I guess I love the ship being a retirement

home:D ...going back to Alaska next Sunday:D

Another 8 nights of relaxtion...oh how I wish

I could retire on it but have to be working for at least

15 more years:eek:

[Pitzel]

We just got back from an Alaskan cruise on the Serenade of the Seas and found it to be anything but dull.

 

My husband, my SIL and I (all in our 30's) went with my husband's parents. There were so many things to do on board. There were very few hours when we weren't somewhere on the ship doing something interesting! All of us met some great people, got involved in activities (athletics, trivia, bingo, production shows, discussions), and had a ball!

 

I would hate for someone to skip out on Alaska because they thought that it might be boring. With the right cruiseline and the right group of people, it can be a blast!

[jojamidwood]

Just my 2 cents here--I am just back from my first cruise, Princess R/T Seattle Inside Passage with my parents in their late 70's and my DH who is 8 and I am 50. Okay, so much for demographics. We all loved our trip, it didn't matter to us what anybody else was doing--I don't go near the Casino but I'm sure that other people think that getting up at 5am and standing on my balcony to watch the ship come into Ketchikan is nuts.

I enjoyed the shows and comedians, who care if they are"corny" and I enjoyed the arts and crafts I did with my daughter because we got to spend time together. I cruised to enjoy time with my family away from cell phones and work; I cruised to relax totally; I cruised to have great times in the ports--and I took away from the cruise wonderful memories.

I really enjoyed the Princess experience and if I cruise again I will cruise with Princess- BTW did you do the Susan Komen Walkathon the last day-- there were people of all ages walking togther and no one seemed to think that anyone else was the "wrong age"

[D.P. Roberts]

I agree with many of the previous posters - I'm in my 30s, and if I ever go on a cruise in Alaska I hope it's a quiet one. I'll be there to for the scenery and the excursions, not the night life on the ship. To each his own.

 

As for the "ethics" of the OP & the negative review of Princess: I would think that expressing a negative opinion of a Princess cruise is the epitome of ethics. As others have pointed out, it may not be "politically" the best thing to do in terms of getting in trouble at work, but it was an honest opinion - how can expressing an honest opinion be unethical?

 

Look at it the other way around - if someone posted an overwhelmingly positive review of a Princess cruise, and we found out later that the poster worked for Princess, we'd call it a shameless plug and inappropriate advertising!

 

The one thing that does surprise me: you would think that someone who works for a cruise line would be more informed about the company's reputation, cruising demographics, etc.

 

Lastly: I wonder how many cruise lines' reputations are self-fulfilling prophecies. HAL and Princess get a reputation for serving older folks, so younger folks don't cruise on those lines. Therefore, the clientele is older, so the activities on board are geared towards older people. This means the younger minority is unhappy, so they spread the word about "retirement homes". It's a chicken-and-the-egg problem. For example, if any of you have seen the recent issue of Cruise Travel magazine, there's an interesting article about the debarkation process. Many people don't want to wait to get off the ship, so some lines are starting to let passengers off earlier if they are willing to cart their own luggage. HAL was mentioned as one of the lines that isn't doing this: they've surveyed their passengers, & found out that their pax don't want to cart their luggage. So, older folks who can't (or don't want to) carry their luggage get one more reason for cruising with HAL.

[SEPyle]

For example, if any of you have seen the recent issue of Cruise Travel magazine, there's an interesting article about the debarkation process. Many people don't want to wait to get off the ship, so some lines are starting to let passengers off earlier if they are willing to cart their own luggage. HAL was mentioned as one of the lines that isn't doing this: they've surveyed their passengers, & found out that their pax don't want to cart their luggage. So, older folks who can't (or don't want to) carry their luggage get one more reason for cruising with HAL.

 

The mention of self-debarkation in Cruise Travel magazine is interesting because we sailed on HAL's Volendam on 8/17. They do allow the option of taking your bags off yourself and we did just that. I wonder where the magazine got their info??? It worked quite well for us; especially now that the airlines are helping us limit luggage! We wanted to get off early because we were renting a car one way to Seattle and wanted to get past the border before the lines were too long. We were actually off the ship and talking to the rep by 7:45 am. He got everthing in order but couldn't enter anything in the computer till 8am.

[kenish]

Same on HAL Zaandam, self-disembarkation begins first. We did it in Seward and left the ship at our own pace after we had a final breakfast on board. We travel light and walked the half mile to the "Train Wreck" where we had our luggage stored while we spent the day exploring Seward.

[NancyIL]

I was on HAL Veendam, and we were told we could disembark with our luggage any time between 6-9 a.m. I actually would've preferred not dealing with getting our luggage off the ship. However, Guest Relations said those with independent travel plans wouldn't get their luggage until 9:30 if they had HAL handle it.

 

In defense of the OP, she never represented herself as a Princess employee, but was "outed" by another poster.

[LisaH]

My husband and I are in our late 40's. We are certainly no spring chickens, but we aren't quite ready for "the home" either. We just returned from our first (and probably last) Alaskan cruise and I just wanted to leave some honest feedback for anyone (our age) who might be considering this itinerary. On one hand, the scenery is gorgeous. We were blessed with perfect weather in all of our port stops (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria). Our staff, table mates and cabin (mini-suite) were fabulous! The food was par for the course of a Princess cruise, however, the activities menu, especially on sea days was AWFUL! Every day at 10:30am, "Hot Boullion & Crackers" was scheduled. Whoopie! "Self-Led Discussion" was also scheduled (I just call that "conversation".) The daily Arts & Crafts activity fell just short of raw macaroni and Elmer's glue. In the evening, events and shows were scheduled for 9:15pm - 9:30pm - certainly not enough time for late diners, especially when a large majority of the audience had already been sitting there for 2 hours (there really wasn't anything else to do), saving entire rows of seats. The staff couldn't do anything about this as the majority of people in the audience were saving seats.) Games were either scheduled only once, or during the earlier morning hours (prior to the exciting hot boullion event!) Because of the cold weather, the outdoor decks were never utilized, which made tables in the Horizon Court very scarce. Many folks would simply find themselves a nice table and sit there with the same cup of coffee for 3 hours while others looking for a place to sit and eat would have to hunt down an empty table; naturally, letting their food get cold until they could find one.

If anyone wants to spend 10 days listening to "elevator music" and watch people (the average age is 75) sleeping, playing cards or passing gas, take an Alaskan cruise. As they say, live and learn. As for us, it's back to the islands!

 

While your criticisms of some the cruise issues are probably legitimate and note worthy, I don't understand why there was a problem with the "senior" set doing what they want to do. Obviously the reason one goes to Alaska is for the scenery and not the wild nightlife or whatever. I admire the older folks who are able to cruise at an older age and give them credit for getting out there and going.

 

If you are lucky enough, you might be one of them one day...passing gas and all. And by the way, people of all ages do that.

 

Last summer we cruised Alaska at the ripe old ages of 48 and 55...we loved it.

 

But I am glad you went - I think over time you might change your mind and want to go again and maybe appreciate the scenery and nature a bit more. At least you tried it.

[Yukon]

Obviously the reason one goes to Alaska is for the scenery and not the wild nightlife or whatever.

 

That's not obvious to a LOT of people on the ships, even though it is to most of us here at CC.