SargassoPirate

8 hours ago, DJwantstocruise said:

Thanks everyone! We decided to go with a different room type to get cabin in between two floors of cabins. 

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.

2 hours ago, memoak said:

On the Discovery last summer the piano player in Crooners was screaming out rock and roll songs at 2:00 am 

Hence, this discussion:

Entertainment volume in Piazza - Page 4 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Actually, thinking about it and going back almost 40 years I can't recall a single incident of anyone being told they needed to have a tie to eat in the DR- on Princess. 

That sounds like a restriction that you might have found on Cunard many years ago. 

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."

10 hours ago, memoak said:

Need some more information on type of cabin and location. The piazza itself can ba loud from say 10am to 6am

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.

1 hour ago, tml1230 said:

we are CURRENTLY on the Island P for 28 days..... our first time on this ship....I was nervous based on some of the reviews but we really booked it for 

the 2 planned and now cancelled stops in Israel.

Since we boarded, we have found the ship to be in EXCELLENT condition throughout! As usual, the crew has been incredible ( they always are on Princess!)......our mini suite is in great shape and the food has been well above average.

we have been on at least 30 princess cruises on a lot of different ships....This cruise so far is in the top three! Like the poster above, I would cruise again on the Island P. in a minute and plan to do so.

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.

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

what's a "tie" ? - Oh yeah, burned those about 35 years ago.  I think I might have one somewhere back in the closet - the last time I wore one it seems like on our first cruise on Princess - 2007 Diamond Princess to Alaska - Suit on Formal night(s), and Sport coat and tie on casual nights.  Next cruise in 2010 - left the suit at home, took the sport coat, but no tie.

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.

1 hour ago, Bollycats said:

Recently on the Caribbean Princess I got to dine while watching a man's hairy armpit in a tank top during dinner. He constantly ate with his left arm on the table so it was very visible.When we asked the seating host about dress codes she said there is nothing they can do. This was in the middle of the week not the first or last night where there might be luggage issues.

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.

1 hour ago, jeno said:

The Island is in terrible shape and it’s unbelievable they are using it for world cruises.

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. 

16 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Well, I finally got a hold of my CVP and they were able to reverse the mistake. 
 

Dealing with customer service is terrible and I can now see the extreme frustration that everyone feels when dealing with this. 
 

Not being able to get directly to customer service is awful. Princess has got to make some changes. 

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.

25 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

DH feels the same way.  He has been unwilling to even consider any world cruise, even on a favourite cruise line, if it doesn’t begin and end at the same port.  He also feels it’s not a true World Cruise without that circumnavigation.

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.  

3 hours ago, At7Seas said:

 

No, Costa Deliziosa

Gottcha.  I'm on the Island Princess and my cruise countdown is the same. That's why I asked.

Have a wonderful adventure!

On 11/20/2023 at 2:36 PM, At7Seas said:

I consider doing a live report here on Cruise Critic from my world cruise to fill the sea days. Still 46 days to go…

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.

24 minutes ago, KEG306 said:

We are booked on the Island Princess 14 day Panama Canal cruise for January 4th.  We currently have the Plus Package, but every time I go on the online chat to get questions answered the Princess reps are constantly pushing an upgrade to the Premier Package.  For $20 per person per day to upgrade, it doesn't sound like a bad deal.  Seems I remember the price difference being significantly more when we booked.  Has anyone upgraded?  Was it worth it?  The additional dining options sound interesting, but being that this is an older/smaller ship are there many additional options available.  Thanks.

 

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.

9 hours ago, doradoolittle said:

I just came off the Island recently.  The Good Spirits Bar had a glass covered food cart next to the windows near the bar that had pastries and small sandwiches throughout the day.  Not easy to see when walking by.

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.

41 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

The husband only had surgery 4 weeks ago to have a cancerous tumor removed , so it's  a little to soon for sun exposure. 

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"

25 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

One thing after another taken away from us, not just Princess, all the lines are nickel and diming us. At one time the policy was that the lines couldn’t do enough for you, now the policy is how can the lines squeeze another dime out of us.

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.

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Well, not meaning to direct this at you but, complaining sure hasn’t seen a cut back!   
 

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.

8 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

We received them on the Emerald this past January. 

 

We use them for food pantry and used book donations and still have around 40-50 bags.

 

Not once have we ever used them on a cruise, so not going to miss them. 

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.  

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

I don't think so. We never had a problem finding a place to sit.

Being from Florida we try to stay out of the  sun anyway. 

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