californiagirl

I think these cruises were not selling well. My sailing looked like it was sailing less than half maybe even only a third capacity. Princess made a calculated decision on this as relatively few people are impacted. There was no mention of assistance with non-refundable airfare or hotel reimbursement. I imagine if push came to shove they would pony up but it’s a hassle for the customer. This is not the Princess that I have been loyal to for 20 years. So sad.

I had a feeling this was going to happen when the website kept showing up unavailable to book. This really stinks for those of us set to leave in less than a month. I agree that they knew long before now that these cruises were not going to go. I’m not sure what my plans are now.

When we went to Sterling Steakhouse on the Grand several years ago it was a separate section of Horizon Court. The food was good but it is not at all like a specialty restaurant such as Crown Grill. IMHO.

I’m sorry to hear about the conservatory and Hollywood pool area. I, like you, would have been disappointed that 1. children were allowed and 2. activities were scheduled there. I love children and adore my grandkids but sometimes one looks forward to quiet, adult time. I agree other than that there really is no warm, quiet area onboard to read or chill. (Except your cabin.) I was on Majestic in February to Mexico out of LA. Both areas were quiet and adults only. As there is no Sanctuary onboard they really should have made one or the other area a quiet zone.

Not to split hairs but the retreat pool on Regal is deep. I only make this correction so that people know what to expect. It is the same depth as the Hollywood pool on Majestic. We have sailed Regal twice and Majestic once. I know this because I do a 45 minute suspended water workout. I did it everyday on all three sailings. I also like the lotus pool on Grand class ships.

Thank you to all who replied. I cruised in November, in the Caribbean and February, Mexico and had great internet both times. Since then is when the problem seems to have started. I will be on Diamond’s second cruise after restarting so there is no one to ask who has been on her recently. I may ask someone on the first cruise to let me know how it’s going before I decide. I’ll need to purchase it before 3 days prior to get the discount.

Thank you for your info. I will download books to read. I usually surf the net before going to sleep. I may download some movies for that purpose.

In the spring and early summer there were several comments on CC regarding poor internet onboard. For recent US based cruisers has it improved? I’m doing the 5 day Mexico cruise in Sept and wonder if I should purchase the internet pkg. (I don’t have princess plus…I don’t drink alcohol so it is not cost effective for me.) Thank you advance.

Please note that to eat in club class you must be booked in a club class cabin or suite. One may not join a family member in the CC dining room if in any other cabin.

Also the instructions to contact your travel agent or MAIL in the coupon for a brochure! I don’t remember life being slower as I had 3 little kids. I do remember needing to go to a travel agency to get a brochure and book most travel.

I have no what a comedy cruise is but I’m just glad the cruise is still on!

I now also see the cabins available but like DavidsNana when I try to book one the message says not available to book. I’m really hoping it’s a glitch. If this ship had been in service for several months I wouldn’t think anything of it. But the fact that the first two cruises have these issues makes me concerned.

I looked a couple of weeks ago to see if the price had dropped and there were lots of empty cabins. I just did a live chat and the agent could see what I was seeing but could find out nothing more. It was not listed as sold out on his end. I think I may come up with a plan B just in case. Post-covid shutdown life is interesting. I took my grandkids to McDonalds for breakfast last Saturday and the dining room was closed. The guy at the drive through said 5 people didn’t show up for work so they couldn’t open the dining room. Right after that we went to a retail store and there was a sign on the door saying because of staffing issues the hours were reduced and it wouldn’t open until 11:00. I realize these are first world problems but it is startling none the less.

I’m booked on this cruise and I just checked the Princess website to see how full my cruise is and I could not find it listed. When I put in September, Mexico and 1-5 days it came up but is listed as “not available”. Yikes! The one prior is not listed either. The following cruise on 9/11 is available to book. I booked directly with Princess and have received no notification from Princess. This is the second cruise for the restart of Diamond. What is the general consensus?

Go to the 7/22 roll call. I feel so bad for the passengers waiting to board.

To the OP I’m very sorry you had to deal with so many issues not of your making. I also hope your aunt recovers. So, so stressful. I don’t give Princess a pass that their employees are new and don’t know how to handle situations like this. That’s ridiculous! I’m sick and tired of covid as an excuse for poor service. Emergencies such as this occur on a regular basis on cruise ships. The restart of cruising was a year ago, plenty of time to get their ducks in a row. They should have contacted more senior officers if they didn’t personally know how to handle this situation. Pre-covid we have friends who had an emergency situation similar to your aunt’s. Princess assisted the spouse every step of the way. Helping with luggage, accommodations, transfers etc. I’m appalled to read about their lack of sensitivity and assistance in your case. As to the medical charges, the only people I would feel obligated to pay their medical expenses are my spouse and minor/dependent children. I would have told Princess it’s their problem not mine. THEY are the ones who should have made sure the aunt had enough credit to cover unexpected expenses onboard. I would notify my credit card that this was a fraudulent charge and I did not authorize it. We have cruised Princess since 2002 and overall have had good experiences. It makes be profoundly sad to see Princess steering itself into the reef so to speak. I will be elite after my next cruise in September. Even with the gradual diminishing of the product, pre-covid Princess was still pretty good. Not so sure anymore.

Our lido deck forward facing cabin was not locked and for half the cruise we could stand near the rail with no wind even. The other half there was no wind when seated by the door but very windy when standing by the rail. The door was never locked by the crew. In fact the crew only serviced our cabin once/day. That area of the ship is very quiet too. Very little foot traffic. We have L108 booked for Feb and really looking forward to it.

I’m on a short Baja cruise in September. (This gets me to elite, for what it’s worth.) The original fare began at $850ish for a Caribe deck balcony on Diamond. Then it dropped to $708 about 6 weeks ago. Today it dropped to $545 including taxes and port charges! I was outside of final payment so I did the live chat. She could not see the lower fare but only the $708. I had her cancel my cruise then I immediately went online and retrieved my same cabin. I’m a happy camper!