No staff at Meet & Greet & Lousy Loungers

[mamagina]

We just got off the Caribbean Princess 5/1-5/8 Repo cruise from San Juan to Brooklyn. The cruise was excellent. Food was great, itinerary was perfect (although I would have liked a second day in bermuda) the ship was in very good condition, our cabin was fine (obstructed view that was not very obstructed) and we had a very nice relaxing vacation (really liked the Anytime Dining-- it made the vacation "time-free). This was our first Princess Cruise and it really was the price and the itinerary that caused us to book this cruise at the very last minute and we were happy that we did.

However, there were two things that were disapointing:

1. I was really surprised that there was nothing provided by Princess and not one staff member came to our Meet and Greet. There were probably about 60 people who said they were coming and at least 30 showed up. Not a cookie, or a glass of water was provided and not one person from the ship's staff showed up. I have been to quite a few Meet and Greets (mostly on RCCL and NCL) and refreshments ar always provided, usually some sort of souvinier and usually lots of people from the entertainment staff and the officers come and greet us and say a few words. On the Oasis we had tours and we were very warmly welcomed with a party in one of their two level suites. Last december on the NCL Jewel more staff came to our Meet and Greet than came to the welcome show!!! We had the captain, cruise director and the heads of all the departments all saying something and telling us to contact them directly if we had any problems. (the power of the pen) We also got a private tour of the Bridge. I just think that that is poor customer relations on Princess' part. They could have at least sent the repeat cruiser hostess. Weird!

2. My second gripe woud be the lounge chairs that are provided on the decks. WOW! IN 32 CRUISES I HAVE NEVER SAT ON A MORE UNCOMFORTABLE LOUNGE CHAIR! They were just terrible on your back and they hit you in the head every time you sat down or got up. Are the chairs the same on all Princess cruise ships? I am an avid cruise critic reader and I did not see any comments about these chairs on the boards. I watched one lady pile six towels from the spa on her chair and still not be able to get comfortable and the guy next to me at one point yelled and grabbed his head because he touhgt he was bleeding. 80% of my cruise experience involves sitting on a lounge chair, watching the ocean and listening to the music of steel drums! For what is supposed to be an upscale cruise line I was very surprised that the chairs were so tacky. There only seemed to be comfortable chairs at the MUTS area where you realy could not stay unless you were watching the movie because it was so loud or in the Santuary which you had to pay extra for (and which was quite empty but we were always told was "sold out") That was weird too. On RCCL everone can go in the Solarium which actually has more amenitites than the Santuary--a pool and a light dining station and on some ships, delicous french crepes! Why the extra charge??? Also except for the Santuary there was very little shade on the decks when it was needed and now we hear that them may be removing Skywalkers so there will be more sun.

 

Are these two things common on all Princess ships. At the begining of the cruise we were going to buy some future cruise credits but then we decided not to because I didn't know if I wanted to be stuck on those chairs again!

[fun and breezes 2]

Who planned the meet and greet, and how attentive were they to the details of including staff and organizing the food? Someone or a group of people on your roll call would have organized the meet and greet, and you're complaint may need to be directed at them. Some meet and greets are planned better than others. Did they even invite the staff? If not, they wouldn't know to be there. You may have assumed they were invited, or possibly the organizers of the meet and greet extended an invitation too late. We have had food at some of our meet and greets, and not others, just depends on whether we organized it that way.

 

As for the chairs, I agree they are not the most comfortable. Not something that would stop me from cruising. Not an issue for me.

[Sunsailor]

Hi Mamagina,

Usually when the person who organized the meet and greet contacts the appropriate person at Princess prior to the cruise a venue is reserved and staff attend. That person can also deliver invitations to staff member through the purser on embarkation day. I've done that several times and we've had the Cruise director, assistant CD and Captains Circle hosts

attend. Other staff people also stop in if schedules allow.

 

We've also had our M&G posted in the Patter.

 

Princess does not provide refreshments but will provide a bartender if requested.

 

I hope it works out better the next time.

[Umbarger]

I've organized many meet and greets. Princess does nothing. Zip, Zada, Ziltch. I've left invites to all the senior staff and they never come.

 

I've also organized meet and greets on NCL. They treat us Cruise Critic members like gold. All the senior officers are there including the CD & captain. Also NCL has cookies, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks included.

 

There is just a huge difference between M&G's on NCL and Princess. You can really tell which cruise lines appreciate Cruise Critic members more.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Even if Princess is contacted about a time and place for a M&G, it's up to the roll call group to send invitations. However, saying that, even the very best M&Gs I've been to on Princess aren't as nice as on RC. Some people will say that doesn't matter to them, but, if they're honest they'll admit this is one place where RC excels.

 

The loungers have never bothered me, but I do sometimes wish they all reclined completely. It's hard to lie on my tummy- I feel like I have to bend backwards to do so.

 

Re the Sanctuary vs. RC's solarium...I have to agree here, too. But I miss the glass covered pool areas that both Princess and RC have on their older ships.

[Toto2Kansas]

Glad your overall cruise was good.

As for the M&G, Princess does not do anything (usually) for Cruise Critic meetings onboard, this is not uncommon at all. The CC member in charge of it should have sent out invites, or invited in person, those staff members that they wanted to attend. Normally Princess does not just send them automatically.

As for food, or a souvinier, that is also something Princess does not provide. Sorry, but different cruise lines do this different ways. On RCI it was totally different, but that is because everyone signs up with them when they plan to attend. Princess will just set aside a space/club, for you to meet in, and usually nothing more.

 

So, you weren't slighted in any way, this is just how this is handled on Princess ships. ;) But glad you enjoyed the cruise anyway.

[erewhon]

Thank you for the report of your cruise.

[MTJSR]

It has puzzled me why they have a ladies Red Hat function listed in the patter with maybe only a few showing up and a CC meet & greet with potentially 50 people, who may post an online review and it is not listed in the patter. Is it the name "CRITIC" that makes the cruise lines afraid to acknowledge publicly a meet & greet?

[mamagina]

It has puzzled me why they have a ladies Red Hat function listed in the patter with maybe only a few showing up and a CC meet & greet with potentially 50 people, who may post an online review and it is not listed in the patter. Is it the name "CRITIC" that makes the cruise lines afraid to acknowledge publicly a meet & greet?

 

That is a good question. I noticed that also. The red hats were mentioned. They were specifically invited to the afternoon tea. The person who set up our meet did send invites. No one showed. I really do think it is in Princess' best interest to at least send someone--the repeat cruiser hostess even! It should be someone's responsibility.

[RebelSoul]

Hey Gina!!! So glad we met. We had lots of fun at the seafood buffet, the M&G, trivia (which we WON!), etc. Not sure who was officially in charge of our M&G since we too booked so late, 10 days before sailing. It may have been the person who did not come on the cruise because she had a family member with serious health issues just a couple days before we sailed. (So invitations to staff may not have happened.) Regardless, we still had a blast with the CC crew and are glad we met so many wonderful people.

 

I don't find the loungers on deck all that comfortable myself, but I've been on worse. I can't get much paler, so I avoid sitting out on the public decks in the sun. I can only do two skin colors...pale or sunburned! I thought the Sanctuary loungers were plenty comfy (booked a couples massage on our last cruise, didn't pay the extra $$ for the Sanctuary, we got free use of the Sanctuary after our massage). I know the suites have nice teak loungers that I spent lots of time on our previous cruise to the CB repositioning one last week. But you shouldn't have to spend $$$$ to be comfortable. I think Princess could either get more comfortable loungers or get some decent pads. I also don't do MUTS as I find it too loud for me. As far as Skywalkers, to my knowledge, no other current Princess ship will be having their Skywalkers removed. (If anyone else has confirmation otherwise, please let me know.)

 

Now that I hit Elite status, I am thinking about venturing out and trying some other cruise lines. I'll always love Princess. I took my first cruise on the original Crown and also got married on the present day Crown. But I guess I'm interested in seeing what else is out there. (Did one other cruise line besides Princess a long time ago, won't be going on that line again.) I am disappointed Princess won't be doing the CB San Juan to NY repositioning cruise again next year as we would have booked it again in a heartbeat. Trying some other lines will either reaffirm my love for Princess or at least bit, give us some variety. I know you and I talked about your experiences on other lines and I think curiosity has gotten the best of me. (Seriously looking at the Celebrity repositioning for next April that Roland mentioned.)

 

Glad overall you had a good cruise though.

[captainron]

Hi Mamagina,

Usually when the person who organized the meet and greet contacts the appropriate person at Princess prior to the cruise a venue is reserved and staff attend. That person can also deliver invitations to staff member through the purser on embarkation day. I've done that several times and we've had the Cruise director, assistant CD and Captains Circle hosts

attend. Other staff people also stop in if schedules allow.

 

We've also had our M&G posted in the Patter.

 

Princess does not provide refreshments but will provide a bartender if requested.

 

I hope it works out better the next time.

 

On Star crossing the Pacific in 2009, our first M&G Capt Ed Perrin could not make it due to operational commitments. However our CD, Richard Joseph indicated that Capt Perrin would love to host one for us with the senior officers present. While it was a pay as you go bar, there were mini cakes and dessert selections for all. Invitations were even sent to our staterooms.

 

I believe that it depends on the length of the voyage and the Captain and his staff officers.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[cherylandtk]

....Are these two things common on all Princess ships...

Pretty much, yes. Princess does not have a corporate sponsorship of meet and greets, so the level of participation depends both on the person setting up the meeting and the desire of the staff to voluntarily participate. And the blue mesh loungers are standard.

[Pam in CA]

Sometimes, it's up to the CD as to whether or not to encourage staff to go to a CC M&G. Richard Joseph has been a very strong supporter of CC, he even posts here every now and then, and if he is your CD, expect cooperation and staff attendance. Some CDs could care less.

 

I've never had a problem with loungers on Princess, HAL or RCCL. Not sure what the deal is there. I usually roll a towel and put it at the small of my back and I'm fine. Perhaps the loungers, like the beds, is a personal preference.

 

FYI, I believe the difference between the Red Hat Society, service clubs, etc. and CC is that they are affinity groups. CC is not.

[Ginnyfyr]

I found it odd that the CC meetup wasn't advertised in the patters, even though I know the person organizing it was in touch many times with whoever you need to contact. As a result, many people later said they didn't even know where to go for it (it was in Skywalkers and that had been mentioned on our roll call, but we all figured it would be confirmed in the patters). Given that it wasn't advertised, we had a pretty good turn out and it was great to meet so many people from this site.

[chamima]

I found it odd that the CC meetup wasn't advertised in the patters, even though I know the person organizing it was in touch many times with whoever you need to contact. As a result, many people later said they didn't even know where to go for it (it was in Skywalkers and that had been mentioned on our roll call, but we all figured it would be confirmed in the patters). Given that it wasn't advertised, we had a pretty good turn out and it was great to meet so many people from this site.

 

It's not in the Patter for a good reason. The name Cruise Critic draws people who have complaints about the cruise. I know this from experience! ;) :p

These people are not who you want at your M & G!

[nunuc2000]

I guess we've been exceptionally lucky then... we've had at least 3 senior staff (including the CD and Captain every single time) on all of our cruises to date join us at the M&G - I've been involved in arranging two of those M&G's, and as an "assisstant" on the first one, I learned how important it is to make sure the officers get an actual invite - that's the big difference in them showing up or not I think.

 

On our most recent cruise, the bartenders that were provided were attentive and efficient, and attendance was at about 70 people in Skywalkers. The officers (including CD) stayed for about 30 minutes and were wonderful!! The captain spoke about the upcoming changes on the Grand and cruising in general, they all answered lots of questions, and they were happy to pose for pictures and mingle with all of us.

 

But like I said, it appears that we've been exceptionally lucky in that ALL of our M&G's have been fabulously succesful!

 

Hope you'll have better luck with your M&G's on future cruises.

[chamima]

I guess we've been exceptionally lucky then... we've had at least 3 senior staff (including the CD and Captain every single time) on all of our cruises to date join us at the M&G - I've been involved in arranging two of those M&G's, and as an "assisstant" on the first one, I learned how important it is to make sure the officers get an actual invite - that's the big difference in them showing up or not I think.

 

On our most recent cruise, the bartenders that were provided were attentive and efficient, and attendance was at about 70 people in Skywalkers. The officers (including CD) stayed for about 30 minutes and were wonderful!! The captain spoke about the upcoming changes on the Grand and cruising in general, they all answered lots of questions, and they were happy to pose for pictures and mingle with all of us.

 

But like I said, it appears that we've been exceptionally lucky in that ALL of our M&G's have been fabulously succesful!

 

Hope you'll have better luck with your M&G's on future cruises.

 

I totally agree on this one. The difference between Princess and Celebrity and RC is that on the other lines the ship's staff arranges the M & G and so they're aware of time, place, etc. On Princess it's arranged privately, so unless the officers get invites they don't know about it. Every time we've arranged one and sent the invites they either show up or send a representative or a nice note about why they can't be there. (On one occasion we had more staff than passengers (that was really embarrassing :o )

 

Someone on your Roll call mentioned earlier in this thread that the person who arranged the M & G wasn't on the cruise - so maybe those invites never got sent.

RebelSoul Hey Gina!!! So glad we met. We had lots of fun at the seafood buffet, the M&G, trivia (which we WON!), etc. Not sure who was officially in charge of our M&G since we too booked so late, 10 days before sailing. It may have been the person who did not come on the cruise because she had a family member with serious health issues just a couple days before we sailed. (So invitations to staff may not have happened.) Regardless, we still had a blast with the CC crew and are glad we met so many wonderful people.

[Loonbeam]

I'm arranging a meet and greet now. The folks at Princess are quite helpful, but they do limit what they provide.

 

Corporately, they will provide a venue, sign and bartender. That's it.

 

Anything else, such as snacks, patter notices, etc, is left up to the CD on that particular sailing. I'll be contacting mine a week before to see what we can do.

 

One thing to be aware of, the cruise lines in general are NOT big fans of the Cruise Critic forum side (different from the review/editorial side), although they do look at them. If you think about it, how many posts are about complaints, or ways to get around Princess policies. So when you compare something like CC to the Red Hat society its apples and oranges, especially when you look at their population (CC has probably about 200 active posters for Princess? Red Hat Society is in the millions nationwide...)

[saltysam]

Your lucky to find someone who will take the time to organize the activity to begin with. I'll be on my fourth Princess cruise this fall and I have yet to see a M&G organized for any of them. (Including the upcoming) I would imagine with this kind of response, crew members figure if we not interested, why take the chance of showing up and find no one there. And if they do, that sends a message for the next time when asked again. On one cruise roll call, we managed to get four couples together in the atrium for coffee in the morning. No one else seemed interested. Maybe everyone is having so much fun they don't want to loose any of their private time on a less important event? Perhaps Princess has seen this as well. Even currently, my cruise "roll call" has been dropped from the board due to lack of interest and participation. So I imagine it will always be the luck of the draw for member participation and crew alike.

[cherylandtk]

... Even currently, my cruise "roll call" has been dropped from the board due to lack of interest and participation. ...

Sometimes Roll Calls never take off, for whatever reason. And if nobody takes the initiative to set up a meeting and/or few people participate in the Roll Call, yep, it is unlikely that the staff or Princess will participate on that voyage either, simply because you don't go to a party if nobody is having one. Sometimes that is just the way it is.

 

I am not sure what you mean by your Roll Call being dropped from the board, but you do know that the Roll Calls have more than one page of listings, right? And any particular roll call will move back to the front page if someone just posts to it. :o They exist forever and do not get removed, but they do require minimal participation (about once every three weeks) to stay on the front page.

[Toto2Kansas]

Your lucky to find someone who will take the time to organize the activity to begin with. I'll be on my fourth Princess cruise this fall and I have yet to see a M&G organized for any of them. (Including the upcoming) I would imagine with this kind of response, crew members figure if we not interested, why take the chance of showing up and find no one there. And if they do, that sends a message for the next time when asked again. On one cruise roll call, we managed to get four couples together in the atrium for coffee in the morning. No one else seemed interested. Maybe everyone is having so much fun they don't want to loose any of their private time on a less important event? Perhaps Princess has seen this as well. Even currently, my cruise "roll call" has been dropped from the board due to lack of interest and participation. So I imagine it will always be the luck of the draw for member participation and crew alike.

 

Your roll call is still on the boards, you can locate it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=27907226#post27907226

But it seems it isn't very active as there hasn't been any posts that I could find since March. Maybe it is because (as cherylandtk says) it moved from the front page, but it is still there. CC doesn't remove roll calls before the sailing date, even those that have very little participation. ;) Many roll calls die off for awhile until a month or so before your cruise, so there is still time for it to pick up.

 

We have found that some roll calls have a lot more CC members on them than others. We have had as little as 6 cc members to well over 200, it just all depends on the cruise. ;) Good Luck and enjoy your sailing.

[hubofhockey]

I'm arranging a meet and greet now. The folks at Princess are quite helpful, but they do limit what they provide.

 

Corporately, they will provide a venue, sign and bartender. That's it.

 

Anything else, such as snacks, patter notices, etc, is left up to the CD on that particular sailing. I'll be contacting mine a week before to see what we can do.

 

One thing to be aware of, the cruise lines in general are NOT big fans of the Cruise Critic forum side (different from the review/editorial side), although they do look at them. If you think about it, how many posts are about complaints, or ways to get around Princess policies. So when you compare something like CC to the Red Hat society its apples and oranges, especially when you look at their population (CC has probably about 200 active posters for Princess? Red Hat Society is in the millions nationwide...)

 

We had over 60 at our Meet & Greet (7/4/10 Ruby Princess Grand Med). Princess got us a venue (Adagio) and a bartender. Because of timing, nobody else from Princess showed up. The purpose of the meet and greet was to meet each other and people did that and tightened up their plans for shared excursions and just got to know each other better. Maybe some expect more from these things. If that's the case, then those people should step up and do their best to deliver cruise directors and other ship staff. I think that I heard one complaint after the fact. But people on a roll call should not expect anything more and decide if it a Meet & Greet each other or Meet & Greet Princes staff that they are interested in.

[BruceMuzz]

I've organized many meet and greets. Princess does nothing. Zip, Zada, Ziltch. I've left invites to all the senior staff and they never come.

 

I've also organized meet and greets on NCL. They treat us Cruise Critic members like gold. All the senior officers are there including the CD & captain. Also NCL has cookies, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks included.

 

There is just a huge difference between M&G's on NCL and Princess. You can really tell which cruise lines appreciate Cruise Critic members more.

 

Until a few years ago, RCCL had a special financial arrangement with Cruisecritic.

RCCL sponsored "Official" CC Meetings and events.

When the other cruise lines tried to hold the same CC events on thier ships, RCCL threatened legal action.

The other lines backed off and gave strict instructions to their ships to keep "hands off" with anything that sounded like an "Official CC Function".

 

RCCL's connection with Cruisecritic changed some time ago, and most of the other cruise lines relaxed their rules about CC Functions.

But for some reason Princess Corporate still forbids it.

Some of the onboard staff ignore the corporate guidelines, and do it anyway.

[bdjam]

I wonder why, if a meet and greet has been discussed and set up on the roll call board, it needs to be included in the Patter? Shouldn't people who would want to go to the meet and greet have been engaged in the roll call board?

[Toto2Kansas]

I wonder why, if a meet and greet has been discussed and set up on the roll call board, it needs to be included in the Patter? Shouldn't people who would want to go to the meet and greet have been engaged in the roll call board?

 

For two reasons I can think of. One, to remind everyone of the day, time and place (I don't know about you, but sometimes I go brain dead onboard and loose track of what day it actually is). And two, to set up a second M&G on longer voyages. Often we have set up the first quick M&G on the roll call just after muster drill, and then leave it up to Princess to tell us when they can arrange for a second or third place and time for us to meet up again. ;)