techwatcher

Exactly what we did and we did receive a partial refund.

Thanks to all who responded. Good to know that this doesn't seem to be 'typical' levels of service on Princess. For us, and for now, Princess are in the same category as P&O, not our favourite or 'go to' cruise line but one to consider given the right itinerary.

We didn't use the buffet so not sure whether or not it was self service. Didn't see anything in the Patter about a champagne waterfall. Crew WERE still wearing masks.

Happy to share. All our issues were resolved. Pre cruise: 1. Unable to customise one of our Medallions using the app. Asuured by Princess OceanReady Navigators that this could be done on the ship. It couldn't. Received refund for matching band we had purchased to co-ordinate with the customised Medallion. 2. Unable to book specialty restaurant using the app - the app reported an error. Assured that it would be resolved before boarding. It wasn't. Suite concierge had to make the booking after we boarded. . On ship: 3. Hassle over swapping alcohol in complimentary mini bar for soft drinks. Took several attempts and escalation to a supervisor to resolve.. 4. Service in Gigi's was initially good then abandoned for 15 minutes with dirty plates in front of us. Eventually someone tasked our waiter to clear. 5. My wife wanted a Captain Stanley Teddy Bear. It was available on the app and she ordered it. App accepted the order. 10 minutes later received a call saying it wasn't available🙁 Why offer something you can't deliver? Just leads to guest disappointment. Turns out that the ship are unable to update stock levels on the app and the teddy bears have been out of stock for six weeks. and the supplier has gone bankrupt! 6. Service patchy at Sabatini's breakfast. Bread lady was not happy. Waiter brought brown instead of white toast for my wife. I had to ask for jam despite it being part of the order. 7. More problems at Gigi's. No offer of drinks. Pizzas emerged from the kitchen to confusion over whose they were. Waiter didn't know. We spotted them and said they were ours. Asked waiter why the confusion. He acted like it was a big joke. I asked again. He had recorded the wrong table number. 8. Ordered drinks on the app from Princess Live. Drinks never appeared although app said they had. Headed to the bar to investigate to be referred to as 'madam'!!!! Barman treated it like a joke. It wasn't funny. 9. We had charges from dining room for drinks included in our package. 10. No pastries offered in Sabatini's one morning. Asked Restaurant Manager. Apparently it was because 'lots of people arrived at once'. TBH not convinced. More likely staffing issue but they're reluctant to admit it. 11 Suite wasn't serviced one morning. Steward's performance had been tailing off - we had to actually ask for toilet roll one day. Suite Experience Manager arranged to change the steward as it seemed he couldn't cope. 12. Disappointing excursion. Best of the Golden Circle. Chaos involving shuttle bus to terminal. No shorex person to meet shuttle bus, helped by a non-shorex Princess person. We were last on the coach to find there were only two odd seats left as Princess has sold every single seat so we couldn't sit next to each other. No scenic drive through Reykjavik identifing sites as promised, taken for lunch at 1100 (!!!). Guide's English wasn't great. Asked him at the end about the scenic drive and he denied it was on his schedule.

Sure. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination status and proof of recent negative Covid-19 test.

We disembarked from Enchanted Princess on our first Princess cruise yesterday. We are frequent cruisers mostly with Celebrity and a few with Royal Caribbean and P&O. FWIW, here are our impressions of our first Princess cruise. We were in a suite, E729, a corner aft. We like corner afts. 1. Embarkation. Embarkation at Southampton was swift enough but no dedicated suite checkin. According to the port staff this was because 'embarkation was running smoothly today'. Despite having completing all the checkin stages on the app, the checkin person wasn't interested and asked for the paperwork. Fortunately we had everything printed out but what's the point in jumping through the checkin hoops on the app if it's going to be ignored? 2. The ship. Obviously Enchanted Princess is almost new so it was in great condition. Ship layout, separate dining rooms and slightly 'odd' aft elevators which don't go down all the way reminded me of a previous ship we had been on, P&O's Britannia. Turns out they are the same class of ship. Cruise had 3200 passengers and on a non-sunny itinerary on the many sea days it felt very busy, with 3200 effectively across three indoor decks. 3. Stateroom. Large, well laid out (better than Celebrity's corner afts) and absolutely loads of storage. Balcony was the largest we have had - slightly narrow but seems to go on for ever. Really impressed with the stateroom. 4. Food. Always a bit subjective but for us it was very good and better than Celebrity in most areas. We dined mainly in the MDR and food was always hot and tasty. Suite breakfast in Sabatini's was nice. 5. Service. With the exception of the MDR and Sabatini's, patchy and inconsistent across the ship. At its best service was very good, but otherwise service lacked consistency. Princess say 'we’ll take care of every little detail and guarantee you’ll feel special.' They didn't and we didn't. Rarely saw officers around the ship and when we did they seemed polite but reluctant to engage with guests. No one ever asked 'how is the cruise going?' We had a fair number of issues which were handled competently by the Suite Engagement Manager but it was Day 6 before we had a day without a notable service issue. Disappointing. 5. Entertainment. We've seen our share of shows over the years and these days only really attend trivia. We did also do the egg drop this time , which was fun. Entertainment staff were OK. Overall we enjoyed the cruise. Princess haven't wow-ed us enough to make them our new favourite but given the right itinerary we would sail with them again.

Just off Enchanted Princess and we chose Crown Grill for our first night speciality dining. Had the filet mignon. TBH it was slightly disappointing - it was good but no better than that. Not the finest piece of meat and it was slightly dry. I have had better at sea.

That's good to hear - thanks!

Getting on the ship five minutes before anyone else isn't at all important. I am more concerned with the possibility of facing significant queues at check in if the 'VIP priority embarkation' is not provided.

Thanks all. A bit disappointing if Princess are not delivering this advertised Suite Benefit.

Hi all, We are about to take our first Princess cruise, on Enchanted Princess out of Southampton next week and we have booked a full suite.. Princess' suite benefits includes 'VIP priority embarkation...at beginning and end of cruise'. Does this mean there is a dedicated suite-only check-in at Southampton? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Alcairns!

Hi all, We will be on our Enchanted Princess for our first Princess cruise next week and we be in a full suite. Amongst the Suite Benefits is 'Welcome glass of bubbly to toast the start of the voyage'. Does this mean there's a chilled bottle of 'bubbly' in the suite on arrival? Thanks in advance.

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply - appreciate it.

Thanks and I plan to print the list of Suite Benefits. Not good that the benefits weren't provided automagically.