SargassoPirate

That's the safest thing to do if one likes peace and quiet. We also try to find a cabin with other cabins across the corridor to avoid being near the cart storage/scullery and also avoid adjoining cabins with a door between. Booking a cabin under the Melanoma Deck or above a disco is an experience never to be repeated.

Hence, this discussion: Entertainment volume in Piazza - Page 4 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

This was cruising when we started 20 years ago: " I don't get this place. They make me buy a new outfit, and they let you in with a house dress."

Loud? Deafening is more like it. And I thought the Princess website said the piazza was "inviting". Maybe they are paving the way for Miracle Ear to have a shop onboard.

Thanks for your very current review. Sounds like the ship is not in the "terrible shape" described by jeno. I'm looking forward to spending 111 days on her in 2024.

I quit trying a rag around my neck when I retired. I've also found that I can pack light for a cruise evenings by packing a black blazer, several nice T-shirts with matching pocket squares, and a pair of black slacks and a pair of black jeans. I've passed muster with this system on Cunard and generally fall somewhere between a tux/suit and shorts with a wife beater and ball cap on backwards on other lines.

This discussion is much like asking "which car would you recommend?" I have done some 50 cruises on various lines and am Elite on Princess and Diamond Plus on RCI. I booked each for the itinerary and the price point at the time. I have enjoyed every cruise, except for the 7 days I spent on the prison ship NCL Epic. Each line and each ship has its cheerleaders and it's detractors. I booked a world cruise first to circumnavigate the globe. Second was a line I was familiar with. Third was the price point. I don't eat in specialty restaurants, don't drink much, and don't feel compelled to get off the ship in every port. Give me somewhere to get something to eat when I'm hungry, a real promenade to enjoy being at sea, a wee dram of a good scotch in the evening, some pleasant music (not over amplified) in the evening and I'm good.

Princess seems to be reluctant to enforce much of anything for fear of receiving less than a 10 on the post cruise evaluation because the "ruined" someone's vacation. In the absence of enforcement, chaos reigns. Slovenly dress and behavior in the MDR, chair hogs, mobility devices blocking fire exit corridors, card players taking up tables in the buffet. It's the new norm for Princess. The perfect storm of mass marketing to steerage. It's sad to witness.

Please describe your assessment of "terrible shape" since it doesn't jibe with the 2023 world cruise live report that was posted here on CC, not the most recent ship tour videos found on YouTube. What is so terrible?

Unless one needs a handicapped accessible room for reasons beyond the scooter, there's no worries. Just park it in the exit corridor overnight since Princess refuses to enforce SOLAS and their own policy about mobility devices must be stored inside the cabin when not in use. I have yet to see any enforcement - and I have an email response to my complaint where the Princess rep was clueless enough to admit there's lax enforcement because they don't want to ruin anyone's vacation.

I am saddened by your experience because it demonstrated the big decline in Princess customer service, but also happy that you have first hand experience with what folks here have been complaining about. Your experience illustrates why I do my own booking online with Princess, which seems to work ok for me, and then I turn the booking over to the travel department of the unmentionable warehouse where I shop. After that, if any issues arise, the travel department reps handle dealing with Princess.

SWMBO refuses to consider a world cruise or even a grand cruise because of motion sickness issues. She can deal with a shorter cruise with ginger capsules but cannot sit and read like I do so the experience is not as enjoyable for her. Thus, I going solo on a world cruise.

Gottcha. I'm on the Island Princess and my cruise countdown is the same. That's why I asked. Have a wonderful adventure!

Island Princess?

To me there's no substitute for a true "world cruise". A complete circumnavigation of the globe where I embark and disembark at the same port on one booking. Grand voyages are just that, grand. Segments are just that - segments. JMHO.

Consider this - if they are pushing it so much, to who's benefit is it?

We eschew any specialty dining on board in favor of excursions that include lunch in a local home. Had an unforgettable meal in a home in Turkey where the host pushed back her living room furniture, set up card tables for our group of 10, and then served Turkish food that she had cooked in her kitchen that morning.

Thanks, Dora. Did the selections change or was it the same thing every day?

I use luggageforward.com. They charge by the size and weight. They pick up 5-7 days ahead of your delivery date, which can be a problem if you want a bag delivered to the ship and you are on land for a couple of weeks before the cruise. That being said, check them out and get an estimate online.

Just off the Regal - well three weeks ago anyway. Funch in the Wheelhouse is good if you don't like over-amplified music. Very personable and entertaining. The piano in the Vista Lounge for the P&E happy hour was hit and miss since the entertainment there rotated amongst a single piano player - slightly amplified, a piano and violin duo - too loud to socialize without shouting, and a low key classical guitar player from the ship's orchestra, also slightly amplified. The piano in the Piazza was used mostly by the quartet where their amplification was set to jet engine with no help from the terrible acoustics in the space. When they started, we left.

Oh, man. I hope he's doing ok. I was never a sun worshipper but did a lot of outdoor activities when I was younger. I've been lucky so far with just a few "age spots"

Cruise lines are now the Muntz of Seas. Muntz built radios and televisions back in the 50s and 60s. He would take a prototype working unit and remove parts. If it still worked, he left that part off when they started production. The entire travel industry is Muntzing.

One of my relatives works in television. Their rule of thumb is every letter of complaint that their station receives equals around 700 viewers who didn't complain. With that in mind, if someone or something doesn't deliver as promised or as would normally be expected, I complain for me and on behalf of those who don't bother and just accept substandard products and services.

I have a bunch leftover from previous cruises and now that they don't give them out anymore I'm glad I saved them. A cruise is the only place I use them to keep my paperback, water bottle, and a few other necessities together. I use them on other lines as well.

Yeah, I've moved to the shady spots in recent years and the Melanoma Deck is seldom a quiet spot to read anyway.