floridalover5623

16 hours ago, bigchid said:

We've sailed the Island before and after her modifications, and also sailed the Coral. Coral remains our favorite. I would only choose Island again as a second choice or discounted price, but wouldn't rule her out.

 

I would only sail the Island again IF it were the only ship that went to a port that I really wanted to see. 

And the price had to be a real steal also.

Also in Jan/Feb the movies in the Regal cabins were as shown. Most of theses movies will still be there plus a few newer ones.

I don't recall which ones were on MUTS as I dislike MUTS. 

8 hours ago, geocruiser said:

Maybe this would help.

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/prepare.jsp#Passengers_Special_Needs

 

We got off Regal on Sunday.  The shows at night were very loud.  So loud we left.

I've been commenting about that problem for years now on all the ships & nothing has even changed.

I just resort to using ear plugs for all the shows & have accepted the fact they they have no intention of fixing the problem or if they even realize that the extreme volume is a problem for lots of people. Even the volume in the Piazza makes normal conversation next to impossible. I can't imaging how people with hearing aids deal with it.

At least they've done something to people who use the newer hearing aids at the shows.

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I have no doubt there will be a different Chef on the Coral Princess than last summer, for better or for worse.

That can make a hugh difference. I wish there was a way to choose a ship based upon the head Chef but that doesn't seem to be of interest on this board.

The people are only interested in who will be the CD or Captain. 😉

3 hours ago, camper49 said:

Super Bowl food options?

Is there a “seafood night “ in the buffet? 

Is lobster only served at the steak house or is in available in the MDR? 

And is Duck a’l orange on the menu?

TY

The Regal didn't have a specific seafood night but there was always fish of some sort to be had. They also served shrimp, both hot & cold many nights at the buffet. They did have duck but I can't recall if it was  Duck a’l orange.

Maybe in the DR? 

The buffet was so good we skipped the DR most nights, except for formal nights.

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Nor is having a decent chair provided in the room

I suppose you've got your choices to make now.

Clean off the balcony chair, sit on the bed with pillows, go to a public lounge or change cruise lines & give up all the perks you've earned by sailing with Princess.

That really isn't enough of a reason for me to give up my perks but I suppose some on this board think so. It would l be interesting to know how many people do bail out on Princess but we'll never know the real answer.

On 3/8/2019 at 8:24 AM, pms4104 said:

Should there be a driving test required of every driver every cruise, even on b2b?

In addition to that, they should be made to purchase liability insurance.

On 3/9/2019 at 8:41 AM, Clampram said:

At least once per cruise, we try the MDR breakfast in hopes of having a nice experience. I just don't learn from my mistakes, though. We just tried again on our Jan cruise on the Royal and it was yet another disappointment. Taking 1.5 hours for the meal, having toast that comes 30 minutes after an egg, then another 15 minutes for jelly just elevates my BP to a new high.

What a screwed up process this is........

 

I like the buffet breakfast in Horizon and that's where I am staying! When I win the lottery, we'll get a suite and then we can do the more upscale breakfast for suite passengers.

 

OK.........I've said my piece!

I see you're learned. 

The DR is a drawn out process that really kills the morning. By the time you've finished breakfast all the chair hogs will have claimed their spots and are in the buffet eating breakfast. 😁

You can make your own holder. No need to spend anything. 

Just be a little ingenuitive. 🤔

4 hours ago, joybook said:

The other problem I have with the lanyard is that you have to be careful If you are using an iPad as it will demagnetise your card ( I think that is the terminology) and you will have to get a new card so be careful if using an iPad.

 

The new cruise cards will not demagnetize like the old ones.

3 hours ago, pris993 said:

I have no interest in this at all, will stick with cruise card, do not want to be tracked on board or have anyone assume I want a drink or whatever.... just another way to nickle and dime passengers....

They're being slowly eliminated. I suppose you can still request only a cruise card like they promised but that it yet to be seen. 

4 hours ago, spunks said:

ok, if they dont give you a card anymore, how do you work the slot machines? If they do work the slot machines, what keeps someone that finds a lost one from running up a big bill and (I always wanted to use this word in a sentence) absconding with the ill gotten gains?

 

I was just joking about using a "found"medallion in the Casino....no way to get away with that....but I do want to know what you use now for the slot machines.

 

Doug

But they do work the slot machines in the casino by placing it on the Medallion area each time you sit down. You still need a pin number to access the account in addition to the Medallion.

Losing the Medallion still presents another problem as yet since the finder now has access to your cabin unless you immediately report it. 🤔

1 hour ago, cruisingram1 said:

Retired folks are still the bread and butter of the cruise industry. 

Yes they are but did you ever take not of the avg age of Princess cruisers? They won't be cruising much longer so someone has to back fill their spots.

Princess has thee oldest cruisers of all the cruise lines.

1 hour ago, Beave8920 said:

 

Floridalover, I would like to respectfully disagree.  I'm old school and as a business man, you learn in business 101 that the bread and butter of your successful business is your repeat and loyal returning customer.  You go out of your way to make that customer happy.  Because if they are happy, they tell their friends and that produces new customers, etc.  Marketing can't buy that kind of publicity.  How many friends have you encouraged to take a Princess Cruise?  I know I have many.

 

On the flip side of that comment is the unhappy customer who tells 5x as many people that's he's/she's unhappy.  Remember the old commercial, you tell 2 friends, and they tell 2 friends and so on and so on!  And with bad advertising / reviews, regardless if true or not, that information remains longer in the memory and is harder to repatriate that customer.

 

Now I have no idea if the powers to be at Princess are business educated, but I can't imagine that they would purposely attempt to alienate it's loyal base. I'm sure this was a miscalculation on their behalf.

 

I'm sure whatever it is it's a bottom line issue, and loyal and unhappy customers contribute to that bottom line many times over.  They can't afford to lose even some of that base. 

 

And remember, Ms. Swartz answers to stockholders and a Board of Directors!

 

 

 

 

 

I agree that keeping the older clientele is important but Princess hasn't done a thing to attract the younger generation similar to the other cruise lines. 

Not that  I'm looking for swimming pool slides or bumper cars but if they continue to stay on the same course it will hurt them big time someday. It's not an easy thing to immediately attract new future sailors & turn them into loyal customers. 

The younger generation tends to look for all the flashy attractions which Princess doesn't seem to have any of, especially if they have kids with them. 

I think that if you skip the DR on formal nights in lieu of the specialty restaurants, you'll miss out on some of the better meal choices.

Check the menu's before you make a final decision. 

4 hours ago, DeRon said:

 

No worries... no two people agree 100%.  And that was just my opinion. But I was mainly comparing vs other mass cruise lines.  We love cruises!  That’s why we’ve been on 13. And we had a blast on this cruise. 

 

And really reviews by nature are critical. 😎 👍

No harm meant. It's good to see a post that has some criticisms.

I hate reading reviews that say everything is just GREAT. 

13 hours ago, Posaune said:

We have had it arrive as we walked up with our carry on bags at noon. We have had it arrive about 6 PM. I would guess the norm would be shortly after 2.  We are usually among the first to board.

6 PM is to late for us so we carry everything on with us, dump it in the cabin, go to lunch & have it unpacked before muster & sail away.

It's nice to know that everything is taken care of before dinner & the first show.

Although you do have some interesting points, I can't say I fully agree with all of you con's.

It sounds like you're fairly critical when it comes to a mass market cruise line but then again we're easy to please & have never sailed a luxury cruise ship either. 

Unfortunately Princess no longer allows coffee credits to be carried over to another cruise. 

Use them on the cruise where it was purchased or lose them. 😢

1 hour ago, RMMariner said:

Edited because I was being grumpy

Some of them are, very high. 😁

1 hour ago, KYBOB said:

I have thought about just leaving it in the car but did not know how hot it would get in the car.

I always keep my second allotment in the car & never had any problems. 

1 hour ago, Beave8920 said:

 

It's pretty sad that someone can't voice an opinion without being called silly.  Maybe you haven't read the entire thread, but many have cited very good reasons for needing a place to sit in their stateroom.  If you won't miss the chair, good for you.  But others would like it - and the fact that they are upset about it isn't a cause for being ridiculed.

 

 

Silly or not, if enough people cancel it only means that Princess will have to have better pricing in order to keep those cabins filled.

I say cancel NOW.

16 hours ago, KYBOB said:

 As to the wine we too had 4 bottles thinking hey bring it all on at once, but where told we could only bring on 2 bottles at the start, would not allow the other 2 (even tried logic, politely asking, then pleading, then begging for mercy so DW would not have the right to say "I TOLD YOU SO")so we/I (came out of my, not hers, trip allowance money)  had to pay the corkage fee for the other 2. So on the turn around after we got 'back on' I was 'volunteered' to get 2 more so I got to go get the car (yes we parked in the terminal) drove to CVS (they carried our bubbly of choice "J") dive back, park the car and then get back on. After you have done the getting off thing with the passport you get to use the crew entrance off to the side, then right back on the ship. Did not even miss lunch. This is pretty much how it has been for the last (2) B2B's we have done out of Fort Lauderdale. I still do not know how I keep finding myself 'volunteering' for the wine run.........old age.....memory fading????

 

 

Since you drove to the port you should have went back to the car to store the extra bottles until you returned the following cruise and not paid the charge.

I often wondered if you could have gotten off the ship & returned with the extra two bottles later that same day? I doubt if they would have remembered which cabin you were in. 

5 minutes ago, Dani24 said:

 

The cruise passenger market is limited compared to the overall travel industry. So, to fill ships, cruise lines have to both attract travelers in the current cruise customer pool, and try to persuade non-cruisers that cruising is worth their travel dollars. The latter is definitely much harder than the former. 

 

Additionally, with the variety of cruise lines available, those existing cruise customers would likely bounce around if it weren't for loyalty programs. But with the promise of some perks after a few sailings on a particular cruise line, particularly newer customers are likely to hang on to get those freebies. And a particular cruise line (say, Princess) would rather have the customer  spend their money on their line than spend it on a competitor's line. Even if they're only breaking even. So, again, offering perks for loyal customers keeps people coming back to spend their money on YOU instead of building up loyalty (and spending their money) elsewhere.

Occasionally you get a taste. 😉

2 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Actually, I hope enough of them  stay away so Princess feels the need to lower their prices for a few cruises...LOL!  Seriously though, I don't care one way or another.  I am usually in my cabin to sleep, or shower and change...unless I'm on the balcony taking in the view...all other time is spent wandering the incredible ships I've known to love, called the Princess Fleet!!!

You may very well be right. 😄 I'm looking for the fantastic deals in the near future due to everyone backing out of their trips.