ISABELLA

On 9/22/2024 at 11:14 PM, reeves35 said:

Whilst a clean-sheet, Princess would have had a fairly clear idea in their head of what they wanted to develop.  They would've been on the newest available similar sized ships at the time, probably things like the Quantum Class, and had a look at what looked like it was working and what were problems.  

 

Some things have definitely gone wrong such as Park 19 but some of the other things such as the expansion of the Signature zone is more a reflection of how cruise ships have continued to evolve and Princess were a bit later to this party than some other lines.

 

Princess do have a habit of slightly botching their first of types.  Grand Princess had design issues that eventually meant its shopping trolley handle had to be removed; these issues were partially resolved before Golden and Star Princess were launched and completely changed for later ships.  Likewise, Royal Princess had numerous design SNAFUs that were gradually resolved as latter built siblings were launched.  Even the original Sun class evolved over its life.  What is interesting, as has been mentioned, is Princess is not waiting for later ships to evolve the design but changing Sun Princess itself after only 6 months.  This is either a sign of clear management determination to get things right or dire passenger surveys meaning they have no choice.

 

Give me the original Grand Princess from the 90s. Still 30 years later, it is my favorite ship. 

Pincess need to build some ships with Solariums. 

On 9/18/2024 at 2:52 AM, ddvgww said:

I know we get 8 miniature spirits and a number of cans of soft drinks.  Does anyone know if you can swap your cans of soft drinks for cans of ginger ale?  

We did swap for Perrier with no problem.

On 7/11/2024 at 4:04 PM, MonikaJ42 said:

We are booked on the October 19th sailing. I have been checking reviews and most are very negative and I can't understand why?

Its a new ship so I get there would be some hiccups but the Icon is new and it has rave reviews hence why RCCL prices are ridiculous right now.

 

Any comments? 

 

Regardless I'm looking forward to the cruise.  Its going to be my first Princess cruise in over 15+ years!

We were on the Sun for 2 weeks in May - our first Princess cruise in over 15 years. We enjoyed the cruise overall . Several things we didn’t care for, food in MDR was just ok, entertainment was  good, service was good. Go and enjoy. 

We used to be Princess cruisers, but after P&O sold them, we switch to Celebrity and were very happy sailing with them. Past 3 years, we found Celebrity is not what they used to be and tried 

NCL Haven ( loved it) and latest cruise was on new Sun Princess. We found food is similar to Celebrity, Entertainment was better on Princess, service is about the same. Cabin we had on the Sun was better that regular balcony on X. Coffee on Princess is not as good as on X. 

15 hours ago, abellkathleen said:

Wow, I was on this same itinerary/ship and thought the food was fine; I have to agree the cookies on Princess and, as always, the pizza is delicious.  Celebrity fell short on these items, in my opinion - also I was so annoyed regarding a child or two in the Solarium and staff doesn't say anything.  I see this on just about all cruise ships, no matter the brand.  Also I was horrified the Solarium pool servers were providing the drinks to those guests who were in the pool and were allowed to drink in the pool, when there are signs stating the opposite - drives me crazy.  Kids do not belong and Celebrity doesn't cater to children as the other ships do - e.g., NCL, RCL, etc.

You should have reported violations of the rule to the person in charge of the pool area or Guest Relations. If nobody mentions them, they would not be corrected.

We like deck6 mid ship. Always try to get cabin on the "hump," not very obstructed, close to elevators. And some of those cabins have larger balconies. They are very popular. 

34 minutes ago, Nashna said:

No, there isn't. We would have been fine in one on our recent Intensive Ireland cruise, as the temperature never went over 68, and the weather was rainy. However, I would not cruise in one in the Caribbean, as we cherish our time on the balcony.  

Our friends just came back from Alaska cruise and liked IV for extention to the room, but said would not sail in one in the Caribbean. Also commented on food not be as good as on Royal.

Personally we stopped sail with Royal - too big and too many kids. 

Looking forward to YC and then AQ in the spring.

3 hours ago, Nashna said:

In January 2023, we were on back-to-back X Edge and Apex cruises and were subjected to their "new" menus.  No prime rib, tough beef dishes, and casseroles that offered very little meat.  We switched to Viking, Oceania, and Azamara.  All of those lines have excellent food quality and selections.  While we enjoyed our other sailings, we miss the varied entertainment we found on Celebrity. Over time, I've noticed an improvement in the Celebrity food posts since January 2023. We are returning to X this January.  We don't like sailing in the Infinity staterooms, so we chose the sunset verandas on Edge and Apex.  The problem is, we missed Aqua class.  We are trying the Eclipse in Aqua class and hoping the recent food reviews have been accurate.   

We will be trying  Ascent next year in Sunset veranda ( IV is not for us) - will see how that will work out. For a different experience, we tried NCL Haven - absolutely loved it. Food and service were superb. Didn't care for the rest of the ship - felt too crowded, but we enjoyed exclusvity and benefits of Haven. This December will try MSC YC. Next spring we will be coming back to AQ - hopefully food is improved in Blu. Last cruise in AQ was in 2019 - food  was just OK. 

Still cruising, and if something we don't like - we find another cruise line to try. 

I will say that any food opinions will be subjective, where good or bad service will be most objective. Being Elite + ( many Celebrity cruises experiences) in MHO - overall food taste and quality in the past few years are not what we experienced on right after pendemic cruises.

Service still was very good. We tried Princess this year for 2 weeks in Europe on new ship -

Food in MDR was similar to Celebrity quality and choices. We found in Eatery ( buffet) there were more choices, even it was somewhat repetetive. Coffee is much better on Celebrity.

No matter how good or not some issues are, some people get used to it, others moved on to other forms of vacation. And, absolutely, there is always something to complain about.

17 hours ago, cruisegus said:

Most other cruise lines I have sailed NO Longer stock the cooler/fridge.

 

Am I to understand that Celebrity still does?

 

Princess still does. Maybe it is part of Elite benefit. During our 14 days cruise on Sun Princess, being Elite, we got stocked up twice. 

Anything that you consume from minifridge, you will be charged for regardless if you have a package or not. We usually ask room attendant to remove all out of the fridge, so we can store whatever we want..

I think if Celebrity would not make any changes to their packages, they might loose some customers to complete more atractive all inclusive price point.

Thank you  all for your input.

Princess Cruises are rolling out New Princess Premium package for $90.00/pp/day.

Highlights are unlimited drinks upto $20.00/ea, unlimited specialty restaurants, all gratuities, enchanced WiFi  plus a whole list of other stuff.

Just wonder if Celebrity will enchance their packages.

What do you think?

4 hours ago, grimace95120 said:

hello all, so on my fourth try, i have been able to upgrade. My booking has been updated , and i was able to book the specialty restaurants without a charge...

When is your cruise?

On 2/29/2024 at 12:16 PM, Sadebud said:

Thank you for starting this thread.  I booked the Star's inaugural TA as a 26 day Barcelona to FLL in October of 2025 while I was onboard the Enchanted TA last November.  Super excited!

We are also booked on TA while on board of the Sun in May. We are booked in one of the mid ship on the hump deck 10.  Living in FL, we like to take TA back home. And we love to spend a few days in Barcelona. 

Just to add to this topic. This was our first Princess cruise after 15 years separation. We cruise primeraly with Celebrity. We were on Sun from May 18-June 1. Also disappointed with change of itinerary. Didn't care for Chania or Bar. We liked food to be served on the Eatery - didn't want to touch serving spoons after hundreds of people, excepecially a lot of  people were coughing and sneezing. But we found food was not hot and some dishes in MDR were OK, some flavorless. Service was very good. Ship's layout confusing at first... We liked the seating areas outside of Eatery. But agree about IKEA feel. Somewhat cheap decor, nothing nautical. We liked the Dome. 

2 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Thanks....I assumed this would be the case but didn't want some large hidden charge or opinion that I couldn't change once I had booked refundable....I've held the refundable for over a year (due to DH health issues) and one month out of final (August) it didn't make sense to pay the overage for a refundable booking.  Current fare is ok but if I have to cancel the NR in the next 3 months, I wonder if X would allow a change to another cruise with $100 penalty pp?  I think that was the approach in the past before the $$ changes X has implemented.

As it was explained to me that after final payment, penalty will apply. X consider that as cancelation of that booking, but if you will MOVE booking number to another cruise, that might be treated differently.  That is why we always have travel insurance.

We are booked in Deluxe balcony. I will suggest our friends to call Princess. Hopefully it will work.

Thank you all for suggestions and opinions.

Back in May,  on board of Sun Princess,  we booked a cruise on Star Princess from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale for next year. Price was great and included PP. Now, our friends want to join us and there is only Princess Plus is available. Does anyone know why this is a case?

Any info is greatly appreciated.

On 3/6/2024 at 4:24 PM, WonderMan3 said:

I am seeing posts from someone on the Sun right now in another group who is in a Penthouse Suite. Breakfast menu is the same everyday. Unclear whether it is the same as Reserve or MDR. Lunch menu unclear if it is the same each day. Someone in that forum recognized the menu items as being the same as what they had in MDR on one of the other ships recently. Dinner menu changes nightly but it is unclear whether it is the same or different than MDR or Reserve. I’m sharing images below. Maybe someone can tell if the dinner menu looks the same as a recent MDR menu. (Photos from Mitch M.)

Just off the Sun. Taste of food in MDR for the most part was just OK. A lot of time was served lukewarm. Not sure if "Signature" experience is worth the price. 

On 6/16/2024 at 2:17 PM, Esprit said:

If the coffee served at the IC was free the queue each day would be huge given its size and staff manning it.

Just off the Sun. Regular coffee in IC is free from midnite to 6 am. 

Some of Greek islands are over rated. More like a turist trap.

Just now, Jadn13 said:

You have to ask. I was only in a window cabin. 

Wow! I wish I knew. Live and learn

On 6/16/2024 at 3:37 AM, LittleTinker said:

International cafe is open 24/7

Free coffee is only till 6 am i IC

On 6/15/2024 at 1:47 PM, Jadn13 said:

Nowhere that I’m aware of but the Sun did have kettles and coffee packets in the cabin.

International cafe serves free coffee till 6 am. We didn't have kettles and coffee packets. Must be for Suites only.