german_navy

20 minutes ago, eclue said:

We recently had to cancel due to my husband's hospitalization. I called 2 days before departure and the cancellation invoice was sent immediately which I needed for my travel insurance company.

Thank you so much! Who did you call? The regular "customer service"? Or a special number?

Best wishes to you and your husband! I hope he will get better soon!

Hi there!

I might happen that we need to cancel a Transatlantic cruise on very short notice due to illness. The next weeks will tell. We do have a good travel insurance. However, they will request a clear cancellation invoice stating the exact amount that the cruise line charges for cancellation.

Will I get this cancellation invoice automatically or do I have to call a certain number to request it? Having made very, very poor experience with their regular "customer service" I do not even want to think about how this "service" will handle my issue.

Frank

57 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It sounds like we will be cruising together on the Sky for the transatlantic. And...as far as I can see you have no issues with English...(at least for written English.)

Looking forward to meeting you on the Sky! Maybe we have the time for a chat :-).

Sea days are long!

22 minutes ago, jennmaybe said:

I actually just emailed Mr. Padgett yesterday, expressing my frustration over an issue and I received a phone call within 2 hours from a Director that oversees the department I was emailing him about.  Got my issue resolved.

 

(I Was not satisfied with the answers I received from different customer service reps, so I went up the chain)

 

jpadgett@princesscruises.com

 

 

This is the email address that I used as well. However, I was not as lucky as you. I understand that nobody calls me here in Germany but actually I expected at least some kind of response by email. 

I am actually glad that it is not only me who is highly frustrated with their "service". We have planned a Transatlantic out of Southampton this November on the Sky after a very nice cruise on this ship in July 2022. This so-called service is so incredibly poor that I have no words. I am German so my English is far away from being perfect. But those people in their call centers are so much worse. I tried to get somebody on the phone in California. No chance. But the whole problem starts at the top of the company. I sent two long emails to Mr. Padgett regarding a personal thing and I have not even received a response. We are loyal Celebrity cruisers (30+ cruises) and whenever I had an issue that the regular agents couldn`t solve it really helped to get in touch with their CEO. They always took care of it. 

Not so with Princess. So, what else can you expect from the agents in the call center when the communication with the top level does not work? 

Well, we are really looking forward to the Transatlantic cruise but this will most certainly be our last trip with Princess. In fact, we thought about adding three more cruises with Princess while being in Florida. We will not be doing this. Instead we will spend the time on Royal and Celebrity.

44 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I would expect not. If you can have a 3 courses for free then you could consider that having a standalone pizza is nothing more than a 14.99  3-course meal with out the other 2 courses... of which you can have as many as you want on Premier!

 

If this is not so then I will then know that Princess has gone stark raving mad!

 

Of course, if they do charge for a a la carte pizza then just order the 3 courses and leave the other two 🙂 

Due to a food intolerance I used to order individually made Pizza at Alfredo`s and it has never been a problem. I hope that this will remain unchanged with Premier. 

Will I have to pay for an "A La Carte" pizza at Alfredo`s if I have Premier?

I do not think that I care for the prixe fixe menu because I neither need a starter nor a dessert.

Thanks to all for your responses. It is really poor how Princess deals with its customers. In the meantime I gave up calling somebody. Those "agents" on the phone are so useless. 

So I decided to write an email to the President and the Customer Relations Director. This was more than a week ago. No reaction at all. Nothing. Not even an info that they have received my mail. 

I have nearly 40 cruises with Celebrity and I had two issues within the previous 15 years where I got in touch with their CEO. I received an answer within 2 days in both cases.  

What is wrong with Princess and their customer appreciation? Has their communication always been that bad? 

Hello from Germany!

I tried to communicate with Princess` representatives to sort out an issue using their "normal" phone numbers. However, I just got in touch with some incompetent people sitting somewhere in world speaking less English than I do.

Can somebody help me put with a number that connects me to somebody in the States? Thanks in adcance!

Frank

Something is going to happen with the Constellation. I just transferred two onboard bookings to a B2B with the Conny in December 2022 and I could book a Sunset Veranda. These cabins formerly were a C1. It seems as if these changes will be in place from at least July 2022 on. 

On 6/13/2020 at 1:53 AM, dabear said:

 

The first ship listed for sale appears to be the Connie, which  is m class, has the same dimensions, gross weight and was built in 2002. 

I live in Hamburg so I just went ahead and called the agent. He was in his home office so he could not access all data. Therefore he could not name the ship`s names. I will call him again later this week to find out. But in general he confirmed that that these two ships are in the market. 

50 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

German navy, so you aren’t eating dinner in the MDR, but you are eating somewhere, right?  And shouldn’t the employees in those venues be getting tipped for serving you.

 

It’s a mistake to think that the waitstaff tip only gets distributed to the waiter and assistant who are in the dining room at dinner.

 

 

Well, first of all these people should get paid properly by their employer. But this is a different story.

And I am not saying that I do not pay the gratuities. I am just stating what the Guest Relation Manager on the last cruise told me. 

By the way: this thread has a pretty intolerant tone. Some people should simply respect different thinking and acting. 

1 hour ago, ghstudio said:

 

Why does this matter to so many? are tips shared? and so on.  When you buy something, do you ask how much goes towards advertising, shipping, cost of goods....you pay the price asked.  You don't get to decide if the stateroom attendant shares in a pool or shares with someone else. 

 

The distribution/etc shouldn't effect your tip or your extra tip.   "I would give you more, but I know you share it so I am not giving more to make up for it"....how would that conversation go?  "I want to tip you, not the other hotel services....so don't share this"....as if you think that will really happen....there is a code of ethics on the ship. "I know that you share tips on drinks and you only get 30% so here's $.50 a drink, but don't share it"

 

Let whatever happens behind the scenes happen....just tip as if it all goes to the person you are tipping.

Why this matters? Very simple: we never use the main dining room. I hate sitting and eating in noisy and overcrowded places. So we always use the buffet of the Oceanview Cafe and sit outside. For us cruising is not about eating. So, in our case it actually makes no sense  to tip the MDR. 

Does anybody know how the $14.50US per day are distributed? Guest relations on Reflection just very recently told us that $5,50 (or so) goes to the room attendant, the rest to the staff of the MDR. The employees at guest relations tend to tell many things so I am not sure if this distribution of the daily gratuity is really correct.  Can anybody confirm that?

2 minutes ago, ecslady said:

 

Oh, didn't realize that.  When were they put in?  They weren't there when I stayed in cabin 3114.

I think in dry dock in 2017 when they introduced Qsine. But this is just my assumption. 

1 minute ago, german_navy said:

These cabins are in place on the Constellation already. As far as I see it they do not have anything to do with the "Revolution". So I assume that some people have been cruising in them already. 

These cabins are in place on the Constellation already. So I assume that some people have been cruising in them already. 

Thanks, but with regard to my initial question the old layout does not really help. So, after adding the new cabins on port side (3115 - 3127) where do people access Qsine? And how is the experience with these cabins on port side? Noise? Layout? 

5 hours ago, ecslady said:

That diagram is not accurate.  I have stayed in cabin 3114 and that area is not as open as the diagram shows.  There was another wall making a private corridor.  

 

So,  I wouldn't rely on the diagram too much for the other cabins by Qsine and where the entrance is. 

OK...but where is the actual and regular entrance to Qsine at all? How do people get there? I have never been on the Constellation. 

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I was on Constellation recently and was trying to find Qsine -   I accidently found it walking down the hallway with rooms.    You can indeed access it from that direction.    They have a curtain up possibly to present the illusion it is unaccusable.      My first thought was why in the world would they make the entrance like this until I found the actual entrance. 

Thanks for the response. So you can access Qsine also through the hallway of cabins 3115-3127?

Where is the actual entrance?

The Constellation received seven new Oceanview cabins (3115 - 3127) on deck 3 recently. These cabins seem to be just next to the new Qsine. Does anybody know where the entrance to Qsine is? According to the deckplan it should be all the way to the aft just next to the elevators and stairs. Is that really the case? Or can you also enter the restaurant from the other side? This would mean that all guest of Qsine must pass the mentioned new cabins. This would certainly keep me away from booking these cabins.

Also, I can not find any additional information about these cabins? What is the layout? Are they noisy? Any recommendations from previous cruisers?

Frank

Somebody brought up Mein Schiff. Well, these ships belong to a company called TUI cruises. TUI cruises is closely connected with RCCL. They hit the German market about 10 years ago and initially started using older US ships such as Mercury. In the meantime the use new own cruise ships.

TUI cruises is a competitor of AIDA cruises and they mainly target the German market. No wonder that on their cruises you will find more than 95% German (or German speaking) people onboard. Germans like to cruise. But most of them simply prefer to remain among their countrymen. Mostly due to language barriers.

I have a totally different approach. I studied in the US and I want to meet different people from different countries with different mindsets. I like to talk to people from the US, Canada, UK, Australia etc. You will hardly find these nations onboard a German cruise ship.

We have been on several AIDA ships when we started cruising 15 years ago. They do not even come close to to a Celebrity S-class. If you compare them using stars and consider the interior of a S-class a 5-star than AIDA is a 3-4 star at best. Sure, this is my subjective evaluation. In addition, in the Caribbean they are much more expensive.

I have not been on Mein Schiff so I do not know how they look inside. They are supposed to be nice. But they are also overcrowded with Germans and they are also comparatively expensive. So, no reason for me to book them.

On Caribbean islands we always meet other Germans when AIDA or Mein Schiff are in town. If you talk to someone who has also been on an S-class before noone spoke in favor of AIDA or Mein Schiff.

Personally I would never ever prefer Mein Schiff or AIDA over Celebrity either.

Frank,

 

Don't know why folks keep pushing MSC's Yacht Club (or Azamara or Seabourn) if as you say price is an important consideration. Suites are not in everyone's budget.

 

Totally understand and agree with the features of S class you enjoy. We have sailed Royal's Explorer many times and believe it could be a good substitute. As a diamond member you will enjoy free specialty coffees and drinks in the diamond lounge which is on deck 14 and has a great view. They also used to have a private diamond breakfast area in the mdr. The promenade cafe is a cut below cafe al bacio, but it's good for coffee, danish and people watching. Royal's entertainment, especially the ice show, is better than X. December 2019 pricing looks attractive.

Thanks for your valuable input! Indeed we do not care for suites. We rather spent the money for an additional week or two in a nice veranda cabin. On S-class ships we always spent our three weeks in a SV or C1 cabin. Totally sufficient for us.

I believe we are on the same cruise on December 7th. I hope to meet up with you. By the looks of your screen name, it appears you are in the German Navy? My wife and I are both retired from the US Navy. Perhaps we could meet up and compare notes?

Cheers

T

That would be great!! We (Barbara and I) would love to meet you onboard the Reflection. And yes, my name reflects my connection to the German Navy. I am retired as well but still in the German Navy Reserve.

Thanks again to all of you!

As mentioned before we really love the S-class ships. Mostly because of the ambiance. We are not really into party boats. We like to sit in Cafe Al Bacio or outside in the Oceanview Cafe after we had gone diving on Curacao, Bonaire. St. Lucia, Grand Cayman or Costa Maya. So, the itinerary is also highly relevant. On the other hand the food is not really so important. On the S-class ships we almost always use the buffet and sit outside enjoying the warm Caribbean air.

The main reason why I was asking for an alternative is the worry that X will continue to increase their prices even further. And at some point it is simply enough and inacceptable. Even for us as loyal X cruisers ( we have appr. 16 cruises with them) and even if we could afford it.

We are booked on the Reflection this upcoming December for a 14 day cruise. For next year December we still have options on the Silhouette for their 12 and 9 days cruises (B2B). Comparing the prices on a daily basis X increased the prices by 25% from 2018 to 2019. I strongly assume (and hope) that prices will come down eventually by September 2019. If not, I will give Royal a chance (Explorer and/or Serenade). Their itineraries in December 2019 are 9/10/11 nights long with nice ports of call. Based on your valuable inputs we have already paid some deposits. The final decisions have to be made in August 2019. So, let`s see how this will turn out. Thanks again for your support!