teddyd33

People are mentioning that travel insurance will protect you for the loss of air fares due to the cancellation, but what travel insurance covers for cancelled flight protection because the cruise ship isn't ready on time? I have had a look at my travel insurance and there is nothing that mentions anything around that type of situation.

After getting off the Enchanted on Friday, I found that the MDR waits were lower than expected although we did start eating earlier (around 5:30-6pm) based on the feedback that I had read previously. We also asked the Restaurant Manager to ensure our table is reserved to ensure we get the same table and wait staff as we always prefer this. They were very accommodating for this! I love the concept of the medallion app, and last year on the Sky it worked perfectly, although during this sailing due to full capacity and lack of staff / too manager passengers it was very hit and miss. Some drinks came fast, others were lost in transit. However, contacting guest services (via the app), they were able to deal with it very professionally. I do feel that this item is overlooked on Princess compared to other lines, their guest service team from my interactions (e.g internet issues, drinks not arriving) were able to resolve the issues there and then. The things that weren't resolved were the staffing issues which led to outcomes such as long queues for drinks, buffet issues, no one monitoring towels (or reminding kids to not jump in pools...) which I am certain the guest service team have no control over, but rather a head office decision.

Interesting to hear that you were also told that they were holding capacity at 75% as we were told something similar when booking too as we were told they are only selling balcony cabins and then they must have changed the direction nearer the time. I don't have any issues if a ship is at full capacity as pre-COVID this was the norm, and had sailed on the Royal Princess inaugural sailings which were also full, the challenge arrises when they don't have enough staff to meet the guest expectations and what was marketed (especially with things like half opened buffets etc), so they are quick to fill cabins but not quick enough to ensure there are adequate number of staff around. I'm sure this will improve over time, but I have a feeling that they probably were't ready just yet for a full capacity sailing...

Have just disembarked from the Enchanted, and will have to agree with all the other posts. In short, the ship is lovely, but they simply booked too many passengers for the amount of staff they had. This was a significantly worse experience that what we had received from Princess in the past, and a completely different cruise experience compared to the Summer Seacations on the Sky. The staff were trying their absolute hardest with the situation, but at the end of the day, corporate sold too many cabins for their capacity. Interestingly, when we had booked the cruise, they were only selling balcony cabins, then opened up to inside (so someone from corporate must have thought it was worth selling extra cabins even if not at full capacity). Examples of this include: - Buffet only 35%-50% open and even with this, there were delays in replenishing items. Plates running out, knives and forks running out. The pastry area was a complete joke, with just banana bread offered and a few other items. When we sailed on the Royal Princess during the inaugural sailing, the pastry section would be bursting with multiple items. - Massive queues at Salty Dog due to having only 2 staff members there - Took 30 mins for a drink at breakfast, as the same staff member who was mopping floors, also had to do drink services for around 10 tables outside - App Ordering resulted in drinks taking 1 hour to deliver, although contacting guest services sped this up - 20 min queues for drinks at the Lido Pool - Captain (or should I say, Commodore) claimed weather in Gurnsey meant we could not dock, but I study weather charts and I could see the wind did not pick up in the afternoon. After speaking with staff, I came to the conclusion it was due to the fact they had 3,700 guests, and not enough staff to safely run all the tender boats in time.