Princess cruise - Alaska

[nhohue2011]

Have just finish my cruise trip, and thought I should write out some experience to help fellow cruiser.

 

1 - Don't cruise with Princess unless you're old. Somehow, the Princess crowd is all old folks. The food / entertainment / service are focus on that age group.

 

2 - Sign up for early or late dining. Do not use anytime dining. I suspect that due to automatic gratitute (i.e. they will get their share of tip no matter how their service is), dining room staff only focus on the customers that come to the same table / dining room everyday. We were ignore & treat as second-class because we went arround & try diffent dining rooms.

 

3 - If you want better service, tip up front. A veteran cruiser told me this trick, but too late for our trip. Due to automatic gratitute, there's no incentive for the crew to go above and beyond for you. They will treat you much better if you show them some cash. You have the option of reduce or remove the added automatic gratitute at the end of the cruise.

 

4 - Unless you're really old and need help with arranging everything, don't book shore excursion onboard. Just walk out of the ship and you will find tons of agents wanting to sale you the same tour at 2/3 the cost.

[azdmelani]

Have just finish my cruise trip, and thought I should write out some experience to help fellow cruiser.

 

1 - Don't cruise with Princess unless you're old. Somehow, the Princess crowd is all old folks. The food / entertainment / service are focus on that age group.

 

2 - Sign up for early or late dining. Do not use anytime dining. I suspect that due to automatic gratitute (i.e. they will get their share of tip no matter how their service is), dining room staff only focus on the customers that come to the same table / dining room everyday. We were ignore & treat as second-class because we went arround & try diffent dining rooms.

 

3 - If you want better service, tip up front. A veteran cruiser told me this trick, but too late for our trip. Due to automatic gratitute, there's no incentive for the crew to go above and beyond for you. They will treat you much better if you show them some cash. You have the option of reduce or remove the added automatic gratitute at the end of the cruise.

 

4 - Unless you're really old and need help with arranging everything, don't book shore excursion onboard. Just walk out of the ship and you will find tons of agents wanting to sale you the same tour at 2/3 the cost.

 

Was this your first cruise ever or just with Princess? I have found the exact opposite on every one of my Princess cruises. I am in my 30s and have always found others around my age, and service has been top notch, we have even tipped extra at the end of the cruise for staff that went above and beyond for us (while doing the prepaid gratuities).

 

I will say the shore excursions through Princess are more expensive. Some people like to book through the ship because of the assurance that the ship wont leave without them (although I have read a few exceptions on CC).

[1025cruise]

I am in my 30s and very much enjoy Princess and have not found that my cruises are all encompassed by "old" folks. With that being said, I prefer some quiet time in the library over time in a disco.

 

I've never received bad service in Anytime Dining. With regard to the automatic gratuity, it exists for early and late dining as well.

 

I agree on the excursions. When I'm going somewhere new, I'll book with Princess, but otherwise I'll see what I want to do.

[Coral]

All Alaskan cruise lines (except for maybe Disney) attract an older group onboard. This includes my RCCL cruise to Alaska also. Alaska attracts an older group overall (though I am in my early 40's and have cruised to Alaska since my early 30's).

 

I have cruised 30 plus times with Princess and taken a handful of other cruises with other lines and have never tipped up front! It has never been necessary.

[vivavegas]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!:)

[caribill]

Have just finish my cruise trip, and thought I should write out some experience to help fellow cruiser.

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Ctritic.

 

Your two posts (both negative) indicate you should have joined Cruise Critic before your cruise and learned more about life on a Princess ship.

 

For example, your statement in your other post about formal night ("all I saw was folk dressing up, trying to look serious / important, then took pictures & ate dinner.") really describes formal nights on all cruise lines that have them.

 

Let us know how different formal night was on the Carnival cruise you were on.

[Pam in CA]

"Old" is a state of mind, not hair color or wrinkles. In the past year, I've taken a 3-week tented safari in Africa, ziplined across Victoria Falls, trekked Galapagos, and in about three weeks, will do some white water rafting. Yet, I'm old, although I don't think of myself as such.

 

Any cruise that's taken when kids are back to school, regardless of cruise line, will have an older average age. Basic research, and logic, would alert you to this.

 

As for dressing up, what's wrong with looking good and feeling special?

[Princess Patches]

Sorry you did not like anything about your cruise. I find reviews that are completely negative less credible because they seem to be a function of attitude rather than actual experience. My experience with Princess has been the exact opposite of yours. I have never tipped up front on any cruise and have always received excellent dining service. I dislike the practice of tipping up front because it is so negative. It assumes service will be lousy without even giving the server a chance.

[WeBeGone]

Sorry you didn't like your cruise.

[nhohue2011]

Lol, did I sound that negative? I did run into stuffs that make the cruise less enjoyable, but let them slided & enjoyed my time on the cruise. I wrote some of them out as my observation to help future cruiser.

 

Tipping correctly will help you get better treatment. With automatic added gratitute, the tip become a right that can be taken for granted than a privilege. More, how many percents of the gratitute taken will go into the crew that directly serve me? and how many would go to the manager / big boss? When I go to a restaurant, I tip the waiter/waitress, not the restaurant owner. The crew was polite enough to me. However, traditional dining crew seems to focus only on their regular customers. When I started to give out cash tip, the service improve greatly.

 

The glaciers are breathtakingly beautiful, and so are Denali national park & White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. However, a whole lot of folks pay an expensive price to see them. In Skagway, you can just walk a few step pass Princess excursion booth and buy the White Pass railroad ticket at a cheaper price & a longer excursion (all the way into Canada instead of turning around at White Pass). In Juneau, you can walk a block to the sale booth, and get transporation to Mendenhall Glacier for $8 each way instead of paying $$$ for it.

 

All Alaskan cruise lines (except for maybe Disney) attract an older group onboard. This includes my RCCL cruise to Alaska also. Alaska attracts an older group overall (though I am in my early 40's and have cruised to Alaska since my early 30's).

 

Maybe that's the reason. Alaska is beautiful. It's a pity that people wait that long to visit it.

 

Welcome to Cruise Ctritic.

 

Your two posts (both negative) indicate you should have joined Cruise Critic before your cruise and learned more about life on a Princess ship.

 

For example, your statement in your other post about formal night ("all I saw was folk dressing up, trying to look serious / important, then took pictures & ate dinner.") really describes formal nights on all cruise lines that have them.

 

Let us know how different formal night was on the Carnival cruise you were on.

 

 

Formal night was the same on Carnival cruise (food was much better) & probably most other cruises. I wonder what make formal night so special? I normally travel light, and formal clothes take up a big part of luggage space. It seems like just part of the cruise line's photo sale strategy, so I wondering why people so work up about it. Don't most of you have already had ton of formal pictures from different cruises?

 

 

As for dressing up, what's wrong with looking good and feeling special?

Do you need to dress up & act important to feel special? :p . Heck, if you dress up really nice, you might be as well-dressed as the waiters :D. To each their own, I guess.

[Mom33]

"Old" is a state of mind, not hair color or wrinkles. In the past year, I've taken a 3-week tented safari in Africa, ziplined across Victoria Falls, trekked Galapagos, and in about three weeks, will do some white water rafting. Yet, I'm old, although I don't think of myself as such.

 

Any cruise that's taken when kids are back to school, regardless of cruise line, will have an older average age. Basic research, and logic, would alert you to this.

 

As for dressing up, what's wrong with looking good and feeling special?

 

Bravo!!

[Mom33]

Was this your first cruise ever or just with Princess? I have found the exact opposite on every one of my Princess cruises. I am in my 30s and have always found others around my age, and service has been top notch, we have even tipped extra at the end of the cruise for staff that went above and beyond for us (while doing the prepaid gratuities).

 

I will say the shore excursions through Princess are more expensive. Some people like to book through the ship because of the assurance that the ship wont leave without them (although I have read a few exceptions on CC).

 

I am in my 30s and very much enjoy Princess and have not found that my cruises are all encompassed by "old" folks. With that being said, I prefer some quiet time in the library over time in a disco.

 

I've never received bad service in Anytime Dining. With regard to the automatic gratuity, it exists for early and late dining as well.

 

I agree on the excursions. When I'm going somewhere new, I'll book with Princess, but otherwise I'll see what I want to do.

 

We young at heart appreciate hearing from the young!

[Parvatiiv]

I've cruised with Princess since I was 17, almost exclusively in "school season", even that first one, and have never seen it as "old". Have always experienced fantastic staff. Yes, some cruisers like to stiff the staff as far as tips go but that happens in Traditional dinning too. Ever wonder why some people skip the dinning room the last night of the trip? And like others, never had to tip up front for a great experience. In fact, I had a waiter on Ruby Princess nearly reduced to tears when I handed him a tip at the end of the trip, he didn't expect to be noticed but he was what made my friends first trip fantastic.

 

Now then again, maybe I just find "old people" more interesting to talk to, who knows? I've no plans to abandon my Princess.

 

:)

[Smokeyham]

Thanks for posting. Yesterday we completed an Alaskan cruise aboard Sapphire Princess, and found the following:

 

1 - Don't cruise with Princess unless you're old. Somehow, the Princess crowd is all old folks. The food / entertainment / service are focus on that age group.

 

There was a wide range of entertainment, and our group (ranging in age from 40s through early 60s) found plenty to do. In general, it was an older crowd, but we had deliberately chosen a post-Labor Day cruise, so there would be fewer kids on board, so we expected this. We still had fun in the discos, and enjoyed the range of activities.

 

2 - Sign up for early or late dining. Do not use anytime dining. I suspect that due to automatic gratitute (i.e. they will get their share of tip no matter how their service is), dining room staff only focus on the customers that come to the same table / dining room everyday. We were ignore & treat as second-class because we went arround & try diffent dining rooms.

 

Our waiters in Anytime Dining were very attentive, and fun! We returned to the same dining room for a couple of dinners, but also had different waiters as well, and found them all to be professional.

 

3 - If you want better service, tip up front. A veteran cruiser told me this trick, but too late for our trip. Due to automatic gratitute, there's no incentive for the crew to go above and beyond for you. They will treat you much better if you show them some cash. You have the option of reduce or remove the added automatic gratitute at the end of the cruise.

 

Our room steward was polite and attentive. I tipped him midweek for some additional services, but it did not affect the already good service we were receiving.

 

I did make a point to tip the bar tender and wait staff on the first day at one bar where I thought we would be spending a lot of time. We got really good service there, but I can't say if the additional tip made a difference. It may have done.

 

4 - Unless you're really old and need help with arranging everything, don't book shore excursion onboard. Just walk out of the ship and you will find tons of agents wanting to sale you the same tour at 2/3 the cost.

 

I would agree that booking excursions yourself, especially in Alaska, will save you a lot of money, and get you a better experience. We paid less to go whale watching in Juneau, and to do a Van/Rail combo in Skagway, than ship's excursions. We were also in a smaller group.

 

I don't know if I would feel comfortable just waiting to walk off the ship though. If there is something you really want to do, then I would book it in advance to avoid disappointment.

 

[shepp]

Lol, did I sound that negative?

 

Yes, you did.

[Pam in CA]

Do you need to dress up & act important to feel special? :p . Heck, if you dress up really nice, you might be as well-dressed as the waiters :D. To each their own, I guess.

I try to look nice all the time. However, I never act important in order to feel special. Someone who does, does so because they're insecure. I am who I am and I'm comfortable with that. :)

 

After posting earlier, I remembered this famous epitaph:

 

"Remember man as you walk by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, you soon will be..."

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Have just finish my cruise trip, and thought I should write out some experience to help fellow cruiser.

 

1 - Don't cruise with Princess unless you're old. Somehow, the Princess crowd is all old folks. The food / entertainment / service are focus on that age group.

 

2 - Sign up for early or late dining. Do not use anytime dining. I suspect that due to automatic gratitute (i.e. they will get their share of tip no matter how their service is), dining room staff only focus on the customers that come to the same table / dining room everyday. We were ignore & treat as second-class because we went arround & try diffent dining rooms.

 

3 - If you want better service, tip up front. A veteran cruiser told me this trick, but too late for our trip. Due to automatic gratitute, there's no incentive for the crew to go above and beyond for you. They will treat you much better if you show them some cash. You have the option of reduce or remove the added automatic gratitute at the end of the cruise.

 

4 - Unless you're really old and need help with arranging everything, don't book shore excursion onboard. Just walk out of the ship and you will find tons of agents wanting to sale you the same tour at 2/3 the cost.

 

Did you find ANYTHING you liked or just the "negative" things?

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Lol, did I sound that negative? I did run into stuffs that make the cruise less enjoyable, but let them slided & enjoyed my time on the cruise. I wrote some of them out as my observation to help future cruiser.

 

Tipping correctly will help you get better treatment. With automatic added gratitute, the tip become a right that can be taken for granted than a privilege. More, how many percents of the gratitute taken will go into the crew that directly serve me? and how many would go to the manager / big boss? When I go to a restaurant, I tip the waiter/waitress, not the restaurant owner. The crew was polite enough to me. However, traditional dining crew seems to focus only on their regular customers. When I started to give out cash tip, the service improve greatly.

 

The glaciers are breathtakingly beautiful, and so are Denali national park & White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. However, a whole lot of folks pay an expensive price to see them. In Skagway, you can just walk a few step pass Princess excursion booth and buy the White Pass railroad ticket at a cheaper price & a longer excursion (all the way into Canada instead of turning around at White Pass). In Juneau, you can walk a block to the sale booth, and get transporation to Mendenhall Glacier for $8 each way instead of paying $$$ for it.

 

 

 

Maybe that's the reason. Alaska is beautiful. It's a pity that people wait that long to visit it.

 

 

 

 

Formal night was the same on Carnival cruise (food was much better) & probably most other cruises. I wonder what make formal night so special? I normally travel light, and formal clothes take up a big part of luggage space. It seems like just part of the cruise line's photo sale strategy, so I wondering why people so work up about it. Don't most of you have already had ton of formal pictures from different cruises?

 

 

Do you need to dress up & act important to feel special? :p . Heck, if you dress up really nice, you might be as well-dressed as the waiters :D. To each their own, I guess.

 

I was hoping this postvwould be more positive. Alas no. And your last comment about dressing up, just shows how immature (try carnival for a better fit) and it is probably best not to respond. Unless you need to feel special.

[nhohue2011]

I try to look nice all the time. However, I never act important in order to feel special. Someone who does, does so because they're insecure. I am who I am and I'm comfortable with that. :)

 

After posting earlier, I remembered this famous epitaph:

 

"Remember man as you walk by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, you soon will be..."

 

I don't mean to disrespect the old folks and did meet & had nice conversation with some respectable ones onboard. What I was wondering is that, the formal night is well, just part of the cruise line's photo sale strategy. Is it just me viewing it that way? I saw a number of folk were all trying to be classy. It's a vacation, and nobody know any body in the cruise. Can't we all just relax & enjoy :) ?

 

@LoveThisCruisingThing, no comment :D

[Mom33]

I don't mean to disrespect the old folks and did meet & had nice conversation with some respectable ones onboard. What I was wondering is that, the formal night is well, just part of the cruise line's photo sale strategy. Is it just me viewing it that way? I saw a number of folk were all trying to be classy. It's a vacation, and nobody know any body in the cruise. Can't we all just relax & enjoy :) ?

 

@LoveThisCruisingThing, no comment :D

 

Women in particular, love to dress and look attractive for their partners. Men for the most part , like to see their partners looking special too. It isn't a matter of every one trying to be classy to make you uncomfortable. You don't have to participate. Formal night is a way a lot of cruisers like to relax and enjoy.

[1025cruise]

When I went to Alaska, I rented a tux. I don't dress up all the time. I like the occasion to dress up with my wife and enjoy a nice dinner.

 

The formal night is a throw back to the days when cruises were a very formal affair, and one dressed for dinner nightly. They are not everyone's cup of tea, but a lot of people like them. And yes, I do begrudgingly spend the money on the formal pictures.

[lovevacadays]

Do you need to dress up & act important to feel special? :p . Heck, if you dress up really nice, you might be as well-dressed as the waiters :D. To each their own, I guess.

 

Goodness, not so nice. I don't think she mentioned she was acting "important" I think the dressing up and feeling "special" is the way I feel (and many I know) feel when they dress for a special occasion. For me and those I cruise with, it is so much fun to dress up and it feels like a special occcasion and we feel like we are having an extraordinary time. However, if someone else doesn't want to dress up on a cruise more power to them.

 

OP, sounds like you really didn't enjoy your cruise. It looks like you have sailed Carnival prior to Princess. Perhaps that cruise was more to your liking.

 

Interesting, I cruise often with my nieces who have cruised with me while in their twenties and they are now in their thirties. They have all loved Princess and really loved the diverse demographic.

 

"Old" is a state of mind, not hair color or wrinkles. In the past year, I've taken a 3-week tented safari in Africa, ziplined across Victoria Falls, trekked Galapagos, and in about three weeks, will do some white water rafting. Yet, I'm old, although I don't think of myself as such.

 

Any cruise that's taken when kids are back to school, regardless of cruise line, will have an older average age. Basic research, and logic, would alert you to this.

 

As for dressing up, what's wrong with looking good and feeling special?

 

Pam, you are one of the youngest people I know. Have fun white water rafting. I've done it and it's a blast!

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

"Old" is a state of mind, not hair color or wrinkles. In the past year, I've taken a 3-week tented safari in Africa, ziplined across Victoria Falls, trekked Galapagos, and in about three weeks, will do some white water rafting. Yet, I'm old, although I don't think of myself as such.

 

Any cruise that's taken when kids are back to school, regardless of cruise line, will have an older average age. Basic research, and logic, would alert you to this.

 

As for dressing up, what's wrong with looking good and feeling special?

 

Pam, it's no wonder we all love and respect your comments!! I hope and pray we are as active and young as you are in 20 years:D

 

Pam

[Quilter n Cruiser]

I try to look nice all the time. However, I never act important in order to feel special. Someone who does, does so because they're insecure. I am who I am and I'm comfortable with that. :)

 

After posting earlier, I remembered this famous epitaph:

 

"Remember man as you walk by,

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, you soon will be..."

 

Love it Pam. So right. From another young at heart

[MSMcDuffy]

Have just finish my cruise trip, and thought I should write out some experience to help fellow cruiser.

 

1 - Don't cruise with Princess unless you're old. Somehow, the Princess crowd is all old folks. The food / entertainment / service are focus on that age group. Yeah, the "old folks" on my recent cruise really got into the rock 'n roll during the stage show and rolled on the floor when the comedian joked about Michael Jackson & Prince:rolleyes:...perhaps the 80's are too old for you. Seriously, I found this comment a little offensive and I'm in my 40's. I'd much rather cruise with mature people than partiers, especially in AK (and most cruiselines carry the same demographic there anyway). BTW, many of these older folks have more energy than many young people I know who sit on their behinds all day in front of their computers/TV's. I hope & pray that I'm able to travel until I drop, even if it's on wheels.

 

 

4 - Unless you're really old and need help with arranging everything, don't book shore excursion onboard. Just walk out of the ship and you will find tons of agents wanting to sale you the same tour at 2/3 the cost. I agree that it's much better to go with an independent tour operator as they are always less pricey and don't have herds of people, but I think it's wise to book in advance, whether you are young or old, as the best tours can fill up.

 

See in red...