QueenieA

Rooms B624 (I think) and C515. Both were nice cabins apart from smells (although B624 does get a lot of ‘vibration’ coming up through the bed). Hopefully by now they will have sorted the ‘smell’ problems. GS were pulling their hair out liaising with Hotel Management (were given room numbers and when they took us there to see if OK - already occupied - were taken to 4 Rooms before we got our final one). Were given a nice bouquet of flowers. As I said - GS were doing their absolute best. When we asked to speak to Restaurant Director - they said ‘no need’ - so many complaints and people wanting to see him (her) he’d stopped seeing people but was aware of all the problems so we wouldn’t be giving him any new ‘constructive criticism’ (a Rose by any other name .......) Our pre-booked time dining time was 19.20. Arrived just after 19.00. Decided to go early the 3rd day as they said this would help. Went about 18.30 - no queues - but then realised doors closed. When stepped inside they said they were not letting people queue and no more availability until 19.45. Asked if we could reserve - “No”. Tried Amalfi - long queues. Couldn’t get into Specialities. Went back to Capri (I think about 19.30) and as I said a shorter queue and wait - but didn’t gain anything as they had a row of tables for 2 (about 6+) but until all were filled they didn’t take orders and then all meals came up at the same time - so those that only ordered 1 Starter were waiting for their Entree until others who had ordered Soup, Starter and Salad (some 2 ‘first’ courses, some ‘3’ and some like us just ‘1’.) As I said - we gave up after the 3rd day so I don’t know if it got any better.

For the first 3 nights we queued over half an hour first 2 nights and 20 minutes 3rd. Once seated on all 3 nights a 2 course Starter/Main took from 1.5 hrs to over 2 hours from ordering to arrival of Entree (Main). Did Speciality and GiGi or ate on-shore most nights after that. The entire Santorini Dining Room was used solely for Suite guests. Have nothing but praise for Guest Services.

Sorry MIssP22 and AZjohn - didn’t realise it wasn’t correct protocol to post on the same subject twice. Didn’t mean to ‘buck’ the system.

Interested to know if we were just unlucky or is the below the ‘new norm’ Despite reserving dining in Capri every night via time- consuming App prior to boarding - all reservations were scrapped as the 3rd main dining room was ‘reserved’ for Suite guests and the remaining 2 couldn’t cope with a nearly full ship. 30 minute plus queues to be seated. 30 minute wait for drinks. 2 hours to order/serve/eat a mediocre 2 course meal - gave up on dessert and coffee. Gave up after wasting 2.5 hrs for first 3 nights and paid for Speciality and GiGi (which went downhill as cruise progressed). We were told by Dining Room Manager that the ship was understaffed and restaurant staff had to be seconded to the Galley. Standards In Buffet very bad. No hand washing by majority of guests, sneezing into hands and then using ‘communal’ serving utensils, lukewarm food with very few changes each night. Had to change cabins - 2 nights in cabin with overwhelming drain smell. Reported immediately on arrival but just ignored. Allocated another - packed, moved - entered and strong smell of urine and large stain on carpet. Turns out a child had ‘wee’d’ on the previous cruise and it had been ignored. Took 3+ hours to find us an empty cabin. Ended up on deck level and side of ship different from what we wanted. By Day 3 people were being moved to Deck 9 Covid quarantine cabins and the situation got worse each day but no extra health/hygiene protocols were put in place. we were not surprised when we caught it as long queues for non-Suite guests for water shuttle and people obviously ill from the amount of coughing and ‘nose-blowing’. Luckily we didn’t get it until Last 4 nights. Isolation was grim. Impossible to get food suitable for feeling very ill. Room Service let the phone ring and ring and then disconnected. ‘Phone didn’t reach the bed so this all had to be done sitting on hard chair with ‘pounding head’. When order finally placed the quickest delivery was 1 hour. Couldn’t order toast after 13.00 as a breakfast item. Couldn’t order Baked potato before 18.00 as a Dinner item!!!!!! Nobody contacted us after telling us our test results. No clean sheets despite us having a fever and ‘sweating’. At Captain’s Cocktail party - clear evening weather-wise but No Captain (sorry Commodore), no canapés, very few Officers (we saw 2). Wasn’t something that bothered us but sad for those who look forward to this event. In hind-sight I expect the reason as the rapid spreading throughout the ship so Commodore was sensible not circulating. We have done many Princess cruises but having sailed on Celebrity 6 weeks ago we have direct comparison on Hygiene protocols (on Celebrity staff only serving food in Buffet, toilet attendant at every public toilet 24/7 - well all hours we used them - , cleaners wiping all surfaces continuously, etc.), we will probably never sail with Princess again. Yes they sold it ‘cheap’ - but what an unprofessional and extremely bad business decision to cut costs in this manner.

If Techwatcher had a few problems he should have experienced what it was like for non-suite guests. Despite reserving 19.20 dining in Capri every night via time- consuming App prior to boarding - all reservations were scrapped as the 3rd main dining room was ‘reserved’ for Suite guests and the remaining 2 couldn’t cope with a nearly full ship. 30 minute plus queues to be seated. 30 minute wait for drinks. 2 hours to order/serve/eat a mediocre 2 course meal - gave up on dessert and coffee. Gave up after wasting 2.5 hrs for first 3 nights and paid for Speciality and GiGi (which went downhill as cruise progressed). We were told by Dining Room Manager that the ship was understaffed and restaurant staff had to be seconded to the Galley. Standards In Buffet very bad. No hand washing by majority of guests, sneezing into hands and then using ‘communal’ serving utensils, lukewarm food with very few changes each night. Had to change cabins - 2 nights in cabin with overwhelming drain smell. Reported immediately on arrival but just ignored. Allocated another - packed, moved - entered and strong smell of urine and large stain on carpet. Turns out a child had ‘wee’d’ on the previous cruise and it had been ignored. Took 3+ hours to find us an empty cabin. Ended up on deck level and side of ship different from what we wanted. By Day 3 people were being moved to Deck 9 Covid quarantine cabins and the situation got worse each day but no extra health/hygiene protocols were put in place. we were not surprised when we caught it as long queues for non-Suite guests for water shuttle and people obviously ill from the amount of coughing and ‘nose-blowing’. Luckily we didn’t get it until evening of Reykjavik. Isolation was grim. Impossible to get food suitable for feeling very ill. Room Service let the phone ring and ring and then disconnected. ‘Phone didn’t reach the bed so this all had to be done sitting on hard chair with ‘pounding head’. When order finally placed the quickest delivery was 1 hour. Couldn’t order toast after 13.00 as a breakfast item. Couldn’t order Baked potato before 18.00 as a Dinner item!!!!!! Nobody contacted us after telling us our test results. No clean sheets despite us having a fever and ‘sweating’. At Captain’s Cocktail party - clear evening weather-wise but No Captain (sorry Commodore), no canapés, very few Officers (we saw 2). Wasn’t something that bothered us but sad for those who look forward to this event. In hind-sight I expect the reason as the rapid spreading throughout the ship so Commodore was sensible not circulating. We have done many Princess cruises but having sailed on Celebrity Beyond 6 weeks ago we have direct comparison on Hygiene protocols (on Celebrity staff only serving food in Buffet, toilet attendant at every public toilet 24/7 - well all hours we used them - , cleaners wiping all surfaces continuously, etc.), we will probably never sail with Princess again. Yes they sold it ‘cheap’ - but what an unprofessional and extremely bad business decision to cut costs in this manner.