Bye Bye Princess

Hi All

I knew it would happen one day my next cruise would not be a Princess one, but I am rather sad that it has happened, you see its not because another cruise line has produced a better product than Princess, its more a case that the Princess offering has gone down hill to the point that other offerings look more interesting.

If l look back Princess, was not my first cruise line or even my second but my third, why did I even pick Princess who were not known in the UK at that time, very simple we saw a the Golden Princess as she was docked next to my little ship. At that time there was wow factor

the size, the look of skywalkers, the brochure looked good so we booked.

Now in those days Princess used charter flights, in flight service was very good.

At Barbados we would land and be met on the runway by a bus that took us straight to the ship, no customs etc, our bags were handled by Princess on the way home you put your bag out as normal last night with flight info on it and you saw it again back home at your local airport. All this has gone.

True 14 day cruises made up of 12 ports of call around the Caribbean have gone, ports such as Martinique, Guadaloupe or Tobago are rarely visited if at all.

If we returned to Ft L Princess used to take us to a hotel then to a mall, feed us then take us to the airport all free and part of the service, then the charged for the last day now it to has gone,

In Europe we could spend our last day onboard the ship or even go ashore if we had late flights, before being taken to the airport, leaving the ship an hour before sailing, now we are off before 10.00am

Flights were chartered jumbos from Qantas to do short hop with Captain saying sorry in flight movies longer than the flight, or even private airlines used by sports teams and vips with real

food and china cups etc all gone.

Onboard we liked the original skywalkers, it was a great viewing place and had an unique feel to it going up the travelator to it,

The original Sabatini's menu to much food but it was a special, we liked the restaurant location , it was romantic.

Even the golf area or the wii sports past a few hours on a sea day, all now part of history.

The Royal class ships did away with features that we like, places to sit and view the world sail by, in fact our time on the Royal made us cancel two cruises and not only look at other lines, but at land based cruises.

If it had not been for a cheap cruise we might not have gone back to Princess but this cheap cruise turned out to have a large number of crew that we knew well and turned out to be one of our best ever, so we stayed with Princess.

So our cruise on the Emerald last month was nice, but I want more than nice I wanted to be excited about my next vacation I want to be on a ship with wow factor, this could come from its design, service levels, entertainment,food in fact anything that makes up a cruise, I also want lots of ports.

Will l cruise with Princess again yes, but only because of low fares, very low fares, I will give other cruise lines more money because I expect to have a better vacation experience than just nice, I want good may be one day I can afford amazing, but I have had amazing cruise vacations but these were years ago with Princess, my advise to Princess is to raise fares and offer better.

Will I find better value I do not know but HAL and Celebrity can match Princess prices, so will try them. Azamara costs more but product looks interesting.

yours Shogun

That's too bad, and I'm sorry to see you go, even for awhile.

We are pretty loyal to PCL because they have a west coast presence (I can't fly), but most of the time they offer what we are looking for.

That said, we are trying HAL again next year since they will embark from SD. It will be interesting to see what has changed since we last sailed with them.

I also must say, we have tried NCL twice, in suites, and we loved it. I can't say how it would be in other categories, but you can't beat NCL's suite packages.

We shall see what the new year brings. Until then.......

Patti

Bon Voyage.

That's the great thing about the cruise industry, there are plenty of choices out there. Steve, I hope you find a line that excites you again..

You'll be missed here , Shogan. All the best in your cruising adventures.

I'm just a little worried...we are trying Princess in a few weeks as the line we normally cruise has lost the "wow" factor for us. It has turned into a money generating machine with markedly increased fares, more on board "added cost" items than previously, and moving many of our favorite crew to other ships. Adding that to no changes in entertainment over many years and a downhill slide on menus...well, we decided it was time to explore other options.

We've done one cruise on Celebrity. GOOD food--much improved from what we have become accustomed to. Crew friendliness was not what we are used to, entertainment on the main stage was blah, but entertainers around the ship were good. Cabin was VERY small but had many surprising storage spaces. Cabin attendant was lovely.

Good luck in your hunt for the line that gives you the "wow" factor. We are hoping that is Princess for us.

I hope you find a cruise line that once again excites you.....:):):)

Bob

Will I find better value I do not know but HAL and Celebrity can match Princess prices, so will try them. Azamara costs more but product looks interesting. yours Shogun

Glad to hear you are trying something other than Princess. I believe everyone should to get variety of pleasure. We have done HAL, Celebrity, RCI, Princess, NCL, MSC and Costa. We now basically do mainly Princess, Celebrity and RCI. Will try NCL again. Is there a difference?

IMHO - NO!!!!

They have all cut back regardless of the cruise line. Nothing is better on one cruise line than the other. It is a matter of choice, preference and very subjective.

We owe no loyalty to anyone cruise line. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. When I read these boards, I have to laugh at some of the 'cheerleaders' on each and every board. 'IF you don't like it the way it is, go on a different cruise line.' LOL

I believe it is your money, your choice and your own. Who is to say whether you will or will not like the entertainment, food, cabin, etc.

Enjoy your next cruise on whatever! Thanks for all the tips and advice.

Try X, we enjoyed our cruise over the summer in the BI's. Solstice class ships are beautiful.

I'm just a little worried...we are trying Princess in a few weeks as the line we normally cruise has lost the "wow" factor for us. It has turned into a money generating machine with markedly increased fares' date=' more on board "added cost" items than previously, and moving many of our favorite crew to other ships. Adding that to no changes in entertainment over many years and a downhill slide on menus...well, we decided it was time to explore other options.

 

We've done one cruise on Celebrity. GOOD food--much improved from what we have become accustomed to. Crew friendliness was not what we are used to, entertainment on the main stage was blah, but entertainers around the ship were good. Cabin was VERY small but had many surprising storage spaces. Cabin attendant was lovely.

 

Good luck in your hunt for the line that gives you the "wow" factor. We are hoping that is Princess for us.[/quote']

 

I am not bashing you.

 

How many times have you cruised the same cruise line without trying another?

How can anyone truly base an opinion on one cruise?

 

My only point is -

One cruise on a cruise line can be very good or so-so. We have done many cruises on Celebrity and find the crew very friendly and very visible throughout the cruise. Officers and staff.

Entertainment was both good and fair. However, what you may like we may not and the other side of the coin, too.

Cabin was small? What ship and what category of cabin?

Crew members move constantly from ship to ship. That is a norm on all cruise lines.

 

Again, I owe no loyalty to anyone cruise line. I am not a 'cheerleader' for any cruise line. I am just expressing my opinion and what I have experienced based on many cruises on many different cruise lines.

Hi All

Thanks for the kind words, I do not think the perfect cruise line is out there,

so do not expect we will find a ship or cruise that will tick ever box,

some may ask why now, well we have a big date coming up next year

and while my first choice was Princess Alaska the price was just becoming

silly I would rather buy DW a new car instead,

just now Eurodam has a cruise that covers the right time frame with a nice group of ports, what like is how late we are in port for,and not too many sea days

1 Fly from the UK Venice 00:00 21:00

2 At Sea

3 Dubrovnik, Croatia 08:00 23:00

4 Kotor, Montenegro 08:00 17:00

5 Kerkira, Corfu11:00 20:00

6 At Sea

7 Naples 08:00 18:00

8 Rome (Civitavecchia)08:00 20:00

9 Florence & Pisa (Livorno)08:00 20:00

10 Monte Carlo 08:00 23:00

11 Toulon 08:00 18:00

12 Barcelona 12:00 00:00

13 Barcelona 06:00 00:00

13 Fly to the UK

yours Shogun

I wish you all the best. You have been very loyal to Princess and that's a good thing, but sometimes people need a change, we did as we always travelled land based an then 6 years ago began to cruise more and more.

All cruise lines are changing, new ships, different deals offered, some good some bad and much more competition. This all this comes with a price and with the current world economy slumping the price will increase and not only cruises will be affected, but also flights and hotels.

I hear where you are coming from, "Costs more but product looks interesting". We all have to get more wiser, do our research better to find that ultimate dream holiday, there has to be a "Wow" factor.

We have picked Golden Princess this time, I am sure we will enjoy it, and then go off and look for the next destination.

Enjoy your next vacation!:)

Sorry to see you go. You might like Azamara Club Cruises. I have sailed on Azamara Journey tow time, when the cruise line was Azamara before the name change to Azamara Club Cruises. They were doing just wine included with the fare the second time we went. The ship is the same as Ocean Princess. WE did love the size of the ship. Staff and crew as nice as Princess. Service for us was better on Princess. Food for our taste was better on Princess. Chef Lisa (Azamara) put some spice in all the food which was not to our liking. Others like it. Officers were all ways around the ship waiting to talk to you. That is fine, but I don't go looking for it. I just found that the increase in Azamara's cost made it not a good value for my money. Improvments have been made to Azamara and I am sure now it is much different from when we sailed on her. You will never know until you try sailing on Azamara.

It never hurts to try different cruise lines to see for yourself! :)

This, this a thousand times this. The very idea of a loyalty program is to get you to make an irrational decision based on a percieved alliance or valuation.

Have said this many times... When planning a cruise, look itinerary first, then time of year, THEN see who cruises and with which ship and pick the one that most interests you for that itinerary...

We've cruised almost all of the mainstream lines and they ALL have strengths and weaknesses even within their own offerings...

 

We owe no loyalty to anyone cruise line. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. When I read these boards, I have to laugh at some of the 'cheerleaders' on each and every board. 'IF you don't like it the way it is, go on a different cruise line.' LOL

 

I believe it is your money, your choice and your own. Who is to say whether you will or will not like the entertainment, food, cabin, etc.

 

Enjoy your next cruise on whatever! Thanks for all the tips and advice.

This, this a thousand times this. The very idea of a loyalty program is to get you to make an irrational decision based on a percieved alliance or valuation.

 

Have said this many times... When planning a cruise, look itinerary first, then time of year, THEN see who cruises and with which ship and pick the one that most interests you for that itinerary...

 

We've cruised almost all of the mainstream lines and they ALL have strengths and weaknesses even within their own offerings...

I assume that we both agree.

Sorry to see you go Shogun but your HAL itinerary sounds amazing. We have been very loyal to Princess because we felt as though we had found a comfort zone with them. But you are right, sometimes you have to search for that WOW factor. Surprisingly we found our wow factor in the form of a 3 week land trip to France---so much so that this year we did a 3 week land trip to Italy. Both trips were absolutely amazing. Next year we will venture out and try another cruise line, more expensive, but we will be able to compare and see if the additional cost is justified. We all make choices when the time is right for us to do so. Good luck to you.

I'm so sorry Shogun!

I do, however, have two points:

1. Don't raise fares!!! Many people wouldn't be able to cruise if fares were raised substantially. Is this fair or right of you to ask this?

2. Things do change across all cruise lines. It will never be, on most cruise lines, like it was 20 years ago...

Please do come back and let us know how your HAL cruise was

Godspeed and fair winds!

We have done a few HAL cruises lately as their pricing can be very good and they have some superb itineraries. One of my only beefs about Princess is the "same old, same old" itineraries year after year in the Caribbean and Europe.

However you said you like wow factor of ships and while I like the HAL product, I would not classify their ships as having much wow. We also do RC here and there, mostly when cruising with family with children as they excel here. Frankly I don't notice a big difference in the mainstream lines, some differences but subtle ones. I am also one of those who likes the low fares. If I want a more upscale experience there are plenty of lines like Regent, Silversea, Oceania but I just can't justify it now as I am happy with the lines we use.

Lots of folks like River cruising, have you tried that? We are trying a river cruise in 2016. However, they are much more expensive, even when taking into account that they include more.

Shogun,

Sorry to see that you were so disappointed in your last Princess cruise.

I know several years ago you were a big fan.

I hope you'll find your next cruise on Holland everything you hope it will be.

I'm just a little worried...we are trying Princess in a few weeks as the line we normally cruise has lost the "wow" factor for us. It has turned into a money generating machine with markedly increased fares' date=' more on board "added cost" items than previously, and moving many of our favorite crew to other ships. Adding that to no changes in entertainment over many years and a downhill slide on menus...well, we decided it was time to explore other options.

 

We've done one cruise on Celebrity. GOOD food--much improved from what we have become accustomed to. Crew friendliness was not what we are used to, entertainment on the main stage was blah, but entertainers around the ship were good. Cabin was VERY small but had many surprising storage spaces. Cabin attendant was lovely.

 

Good luck in your hunt for the line that gives you the "wow" factor. We are hoping that is Princess for us.[/quote']

 

moki'smommy,

I feel I owe you for all of the advice you've given me.

We've been sailing Princess since forever.

The last five years or so we've also sailed Celebrity a lot (mainly for better itineraries) but Princess still feels like home.

The crew have always been really warm and friendly, the entertainment is non-stop and the cabin and closets are a good size.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Hi All

 

Thanks for the kind words, I do not think the perfect cruise line is out there,

 

so do not expect we will find a ship or cruise that will tick ever box,

 

some may ask why now, well we have a big date coming up next year

 

and while my first choice was Princess Alaska the price was just becoming

 

silly I would rather buy DW a new car instead,

 

just now Eurodam has a cruise that covers the right time frame with a nice group of ports, what like is how late we are in port for,and not too many sea days

 

1 Fly from the UK Venice 00:00 21:00

2 At Sea

3 Dubrovnik, Croatia 08:00 23:00

4 Kotor, Montenegro 08:00 17:00

5 Kerkira, Corfu11:00 20:00

6 At Sea

7 Naples 08:00 18:00

8 Rome (Civitavecchia)08:00 20:00

9 Florence & Pisa (Livorno)08:00 20:00

10 Monte Carlo 08:00 23:00

11 Toulon 08:00 18:00

12 Barcelona 12:00 00:00

13 Barcelona 06:00 00:00

13 Fly to the UK

 

 

yours Shogun

WOW! sounds like a great cruise. I have sailed HAL many times but have not been on Eurodam, I would love to hear how you enjoy the cruise (if you go), when you get back. I have been on many different cruise lines since the late 1970's. Each one had something different to offer. Enjoy.

They say variety is the spice of life.

Have fun on HAL. I think its sometimes good to experiences other lines and destinations. I'm sure you have a wonderful cruise.

I have looked at HAL itineraries several times. One day I'm going on one of their ships, it just hasn't fitted into my plans yet.

Sad.

Dear Shogun (and the Mrs.),

I've always enjoyed your posts which are fair, balanced, and always interesting. I understand your sentiments and am very sad to hear of your decision to leave Princess. It is Princess' loss. Good luck as you continue your adventures. Please do check back every once in a while. I am sure everyone would love to hear from you.

I am not bashing you.

 

How many times have you cruised the same cruise line without trying another?

How can anyone truly base an opinion on one cruise?

 

My only point is -

One cruise on a cruise line can be very good or so-so. We have done many cruises on Celebrity and find the crew very friendly and very visible throughout the cruise. Officers and staff.

Entertainment was both good and fair. However, what you may like we may not and the other side of the coin, too.

Cabin was small? What ship and what category of cabin?

Crew members move constantly from ship to ship. That is a norm on all cruise lines.

 

Again, I owe no loyalty to anyone cruise line. I am not a 'cheerleader' for any cruise line. I am just expressing my opinion and what I have experienced based on many cruises on many different cruise lines.

We cruised a couple of times prior to 1998. That year we were on the maiden voyage of the Disney Magic. This was the very first guest sailing on DCL when my daughter was 7. We stuck with DCL for some time, but have done 2 other lines over the last many years. So...pretty loyal to Disney with just a little experimentation. Unlike other lines, DCL did tend to keep their crew on the same ship thru many contracts unless the crew member wanted to change. Obviously this did not apply to high ranking positions where the person went where they were needed. But we have a favorite "adult only dining" server, a favorite head server, etc. Whenever possible, we request to be assigned to these individuals. I don't like that these people are now being moved around against their wishes--they are being told to report to a different ship or resign.

Frankly, DCL costs have gone thru the roof in the last couple years. I currently hold 2 reservations for a British Isles cruise. Princess will give me a balcony cabin for half the per diem rate of an inside on DCL! I like Disney, but there are limits. Their food quality has dropped considerably and they have increasing numbers of food outlets on the ships that are an extra fee. All of these things are leading me to check out other lines.

There are many things about Princess that I've learned in my reading which sound great. I hope the experience is as good as the reports. Frankly, after our "try out" cruise on Princess (same ship as booked for the British Isles), family will let me know whether they prefer balcony on Princess or inside on Disney. Honestly, it's a "no brainer" for me, but as this might be our last cruise as a group, I'll give them input as well.

One of our "others" was the Celebrity Infinity to Alaska. As you pointed out, one shouldn't judge a line by one cruise or one ship. In fairness, there were some odd things on that cruise that weren't Celebrity's fault, and frankly there were some things that X did very well. I would go back to X, but my family felt that DCL was more to their liking. But family situations change, and I may well be on X again some day.