LIVE from the Royal Princess - 30 days, Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale - 9/27 - 10/27

[dmwnc1959]

For a new ship , the bridge cam is not transmitting a very good picture. The ones from Venice were so bad I did not post them.

 

There was a thread a while back talking about the web cam on Royal Princess and just how awful it is, even among her fleetmates. I do wish Princess Cruises could do something about it, as it is a nice PR tool at times. Maybe once they get stateside they can replace it with a better High Definition cam. That would be nice for the Caribbean, and especially for Northern Europe next year.

[dmwnc1959]

bob please post your thoughts and views others may agree or not but this is your cruise and only you can tell us about it.

 

Others may receive better or worse service but only by having a number of views can folks get the overall picture

 

yours shogun

 

+1 Where's that Like button at? :D

[JimmyVWine]

I don't think the Cruise Critic group is more critical than the average cruiser.

Good or bad service is recognized by everyone.

That may be true in the abstract. But the CC group is most assuredly going to post and blog about their experiences more. Princess isn't concerned about the higher level of scrutiny so much as it is about the higher rate of publishing thoughts and reviews. I may not be any more or less critical than the restaurant critic for the New York Times, but the restaurant is going to care more about pleasing the latter because he is going to publish his review. Princess has to be concerned about the clientele on this cruise because when it is over, the number of reviews on CC might double.

 

As a Elite member, I don't judge a ship by a one time experience.Staff changes regularly and six months from now, a cruisers experience can be totally different.

While I understand your point, I don't share it. In a service-based industry, service quality that fluxuates from good to poor is unacceptable. Even if things are better in 6 months, that demonstrates a lack of consistency that is troubling and does nothing to aid future cruisers in making decisions. If the quality bounces back and forth between good and bad and you want to book a cruise a year from now, how can you assess your odds of sailing on a "good" week? Service quality should not be a game of Russian Roulette.

 

Just my $0.02

[Mom33]

To please 4000 people in all situations is impossible. To have a perfect crew is also impossible. Some people will meet the less than perfect staff around the ship, some will meet the best and some will meet the worst.

 

In all my cruises, I have met a mix of the above. We enjoy the best, approach the crew and staff to request our needs when they aren't met, and report the worst. This enables us to shed the shackles of disappointment and enjoy our cruises. :)

[crusdiva]

Regarding the cost factor, if I would have known when I upgraded what I know now, II would have never booked the OS. IMHO it iis a big waste of money for what you actually get.

 

Bob

 

Hi Bob,

You're speaking in terms of square footage, right?

 

You haven't mentioned Holli - what's she been up to?

[Pam in CA]

Just sailing now from Messina, Sicily, our first of six ports in a row since leaving Venice. Organized a private tour to Mt. Etna and Taormina for a total of eight people. Met at 6:45am and returned at 2pm. We were among the first to Mt. Etna and beat the buses but Taormina was a zoo. It's an interesting walled city that was used to film the Godfather. We saw some beautiful scenery. Tomorrow is Naples and a tour to Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Vesuvius. It's gonna be a long day.

 

Some comments about my sister's and my cabins. She is in M525, a sideways inside cabin. Very spacious, great layout, far more storage than any mini-suite I've been in. That's the positive. The negatives are: (this is very minor) the door looks like it was cut out of the wall and a hinge put on it, as though it should have a sign, "crew only." Only way you know it's a passenger cabin is the pocket outside. Kinda tacky looking. The big negative is that it is very noisy. My sister said it was as though they're banging drums day and night. As for my cabin, I'm in M611. According to the deck plans, it should have carpeting and tables above me. In reality, there is a serving station and every night between 3:30-4:30am, I can hear the carts being wheeled up, metal drawers opened and slammed shut, etc. I've had only one good night's sleep so far as a result. The cabin itself is a standard balcony and to me, the size is fine. I think it's quite a but bigger than my Island Princess oceanview cabin last year. A negative is that the wardrobe with shelves is very narrow due to the enlarging of the bathroom. It's only wide enough for one pile of shirts or clothes, not two.

 

The lack of a middle staircase is really being felt. It's so hard to get an elevator that people are going down to go up and vice versa. Coming back to the ship was a mess since all the elevators going down to deck 4 were full and no one could get on. So, put me down on the side of those who think the lack of a central staircase is an issue. It was terrible for one person in a wheelchair and another on a scooter. No one would give an inch.

 

Food is subjective but I think it's been very good. A wide variety of options in the buffet so if you don't like five things, there are five others. :) It's a bit overwhelming at first and takes some getting used to.

 

To answer a couple of questions, M508 should be fine and not under the serving stations but I don't know.

 

Marcia, I thought of you and your Mom as we were going through that. There is no way your Mom would have been taken care of. We were told (by Princess) that the issues were the same at both Princess hotels.

[san diego sue]

To JimmyVWine,

I totally don't agree with your assessment of my post.

Just look at the posts appearing on this thread. From Bob with bad experiences with staff at Pursers desk and Tour desk, to Pia saying

staff is great. That is why I don't post a review. Every cruiser has a different experience. Some people much more picky than others, their expectations too high etc.

Look at Amelia's (IBFern) post of Royal Cruise from Hell. I was with her the first 12 days. Had I wrote a review would have said, fabulous crew and service (except for bad wait person , that I handled while on board).

By the way, I cruise Princess at least 5 times a year. I repeat the ships and sometimes I feel like I am on a totally different ship because of staff changes. Not a bad thing but does change my cruise experience.

Now my true feeling on the Royal. Except for the really comfortable

cabins, nothing special here. We are sailing on her again for the itinerary next year , not because we are in love with the ship.

I expect to have good service but understand that people are human

and sometimes there are mistakes made.

Example. My husband had dry cereal, didn't want to pour the milk in bowl(next to cereal) while he walked around and got other things.

When I got back to the table asked the wait staff (Horizon) for milk for my husband. She said he can get it himself at the buffet by the cereal. I reported to a supervisor immediately and milk was brought. However, he did ask which person and I said I didn't remember because don't know if she really meant to be rude, even though she was kind of nasty.Remember English is not their first language.

With the huge Cruise Critic group planning long before the cruise was even released (I booked on March 15, 2012, the first day), expectations were very high. There will be Disappointments.

Gloria:D:D

 

 

[Floflegs]

Bob, interesting to read your thoughts and experiences so far. There seems to be many more glitches with the Royal than there were when we all sailed on the Ruby's first TA. I look forward to reading more about your cruise. I hope you and Holli have a great time with no more hiccups.

Flora

[shootingstar07]

 

From Messina.

For a new ship , the bridge cam is not transmitting a very good picture. The ones from Venice were so bad I did not post them.

 

Thanks once again for the pics of Royal in the Canal.They were excellent .:)

 

 

Agree 100%!! So over exposed. Hard to tell weather and could not appreciate beautiful Venice.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Pia1913]

Yawn. Yawn. Even though I’m an earlier riser, 5:45 is not to my liking. So of course I am exhausted. Getting up so early and walking up and down steps on cobblestones, walking up inclines and down again and then walking nonstop for three hours afterwards.

　

We were on our small bus (16 of us) and rolling by 7:35. Arrived at Castelmola about 45 minutes later; narrow mountainous roads which of course I was on the wrong side. I like the walls better than the ocean. This is where we did all our ups and downs and stairs, etc. Good views of Mt. Etna, etc. We visited Mt. Etna and walked around the crater lots of years ago.

　

We then went to Taormina; arrived there at 9:00 and didn’t leave until 1:15. This village is 700 feet above sea level and has many shops and restaurants, as well as remnants of its Greek and Roman history. There’s a lovely Greek theater built in the 3rd century and is still used for concerts today. But you’ll have to walk pretty far to get there and fight the crowds all the way. So crowded. We still managed to find the requisite polo for Mike and finally at noon dropped ourselves into chairs at an outdoor café. He had gelato; I had coffee.

Back to the ship for a nibble at 2:30 and an early departure to Naples. Mike is now napping on our balcony; weather is absolutely gorgeous. Fingers crossed that it will stay that way.

　

Nothing else to say, so I bid you arriverderci. And ciao.

BTW, we've had a few not so wonderful experiences, but nothing insurmountable and certainly nothing to B**** about.

Tina: if you're reading this, regards from the Talarico's. To others who don't know, Jules Talarico is one of our on board lecturers.

[Sunviking]

Bob, interesting to read your thoughts and experiences so far. There seems to be many more glitches with the Royal than there were when we all sailed on the Ruby's first TA. I look forward to reading more about your cruise. I hope you and Holli have a great time with no more hiccups.

Flora

 

We did the maiden transatlantic on the Emerald. In fact she had been in service for just about as long as the Royal (I think she was christened in May of that first year). I don't remember any glitches at all on that cruise. We also did the first Ruby t/a with passengers (she made her first voyage across the Atlantic w/o passengers in the fall of the year before). I don't remember any issues on that cruise either, but she had been sailing for a lot longer that time.

[Sunviking]

We have had aft cabins on the Sun, Emerald, Ruby and Crown and never had any soot issues. My DD and I sailed on the Celebrity Infinity though in an aft cabin and the balcony was essentially unusable. It was always sooty regardless of how much the steward cleaned. We were on a cruise to Hawaii so it was rather disappointing. That ship also has the tiered stern similar to the Royal's.

[JimmyVWine]

To JimmyVWine,

I totally don't agree with your assessment of my post.

 

I think you overread my post. I wasn't referring to the Royal (or any ship) in particular. Your statement was generic and I was responding in kind. We are talking about the service industry. Take ships out of the equation. If you go to a restaurant one day and your server is awful and the food is mediocre, and then you go back in six months and the servers have all turned over and chef is new and your meal is much better. Under those conditions, could you ever say that this restaurant is great? You are correct that Pia and Bob had different experiences at the Passenger Service Desk. But is that acceptable? Granted, two people is a small sample set, but is 50% approval rate acceptable? Should any person be confronted by rudeness there? I don't subscribe to the notion that if something is acceptable to me then it is acceptable to all. If my steak is cooked perfectly, but the guy at the next table gets his burned, then that restaurant is not great and subjectivity has nothing to do with it. Inconsistency is not a synonym for subjectivity. In sum, inconsistency is a hallmark of mediocrity. Sailing five times a year and having great food and service three of those times is proof of mediocrity and not proof of subjectivity. Having two rude people and two pleasant people at the front desk is a sign of inconsistency, not subjectivity.

[san diego sue]

Okay, Jimmy, I agree with you.

 

 

Pia, glad you enjoyed your tour even though exhausting.

Gloria:D:D

[san diego sue]

By the way never got the on line surveys we always get after we complete a cruise. Thought that was odd. Usually the day we leave the ship,, it is in my email at home.

Could be because of our Wait staff problem they didn't send it. If that is the case, then the surveys mean nothing.

I will call Princess on Monday, find this very strange.

[coo359a2]

.

 

 

Tina: if you're reading this, regards from the Talarico's. To others who don't know, Jules Talarico is one of our on board lecturers.

 

Yes I'm reading. Tell Jules and Joanne hi from us and we hope to sail with them again - we enjoy his lectures. 17 more sleeps and we get to board the Royal.:)

[Cruise Junky]

Bob - what cabin are you in? I'm curious about your disappointment, we were just in a suite on the Ruby last month and loved the room (Martinique Suite) and we will be sailing the Royal in six weeks :) but not in a suite, just curious what exactly about it you don't like? In case Princess offers me an upgrade form my mini (here's hoping!) LOL

 

 

Bob's in an Owner's Suite on Dolphin. Not sure which side but it probably doesn't matter.

[#1winelover]

Hi Bob and all

 

I was told that Princess knew that the TA would bring a hard core of experienced Princess cruisers onboard and that there was a plan to meet their higher expectations from reading peoples posts there seems to be an overall failing to meet these

 

As to info given out by Princess was talking to Director just today that Princess is not good about getting its facts right more often than not elite cruisers know way more about the Princess product than many staff do

 

Bob please post your thoughts and views others may agree or not but this is your cruise and only you can tell us about it.

 

Others may receive better or worse service but only by having a number of views can folks get the overall picture

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

Shogun! I like the way you approach the negatives and positives. And I totally agree with your responses to Bob's experiences onboard the TA. I've been in Quality Assurance (software, but just the same) for over 25 years and we all know the famed term, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I have a response for that that says, "If you DON'T KNOW it's broke, you will make NO ATTEMPT to fix it!" My advice is similar to yours: Speak up, let your observations be known, speak to someone to get it fixed, and tip accordingly! :rolleyes:

[Pam in CA]

So far, I have found the staff to be excellent/great, from my cabin steward to the Platinum/Elite lounge bar staff to the Anytime dining staff. Likewise in the buffet. Only negative experiences were with the Princess port staff in Venice and they were abysmal: rude and put us in physical danger.

[#1winelover]

So far, I have found the staff to be excellent/great, from my cabin steward to the Platinum/Elite lounge bar staff to the Anytime dining staff. Likewise in the buffet. Only negative experiences were with the Princess port staff in Venice and they were abysmal: rude and put us in physical danger.

Physical danger = lawsuits! Somebody in Princess "central" better be paying attention!! Glad you are safe. I did read the accessibility issues posts! I agree with you....NOT acceptable!:mad:

[san diego sue]

And not sending us the usual survey in email after our 12 day Royal cruise

won't be helping Princess improve issues.

 

Wendy, you will like the Royal. The shows, games, etc. all fresh and new.

You participate in everything and you will be kept busy and love it.

We had the best room steward we ever had with Princess . He made up for any of the staff that wasn't 100%.

One thing I did notice that there was never long lines at Passenger Services desk. That does show that things were going pretty smoothly.The last night of cruise and early morning at disembarkation no line there either. Never saw that on a ship before.

Gloria:D

[spyro1952]

Marcia, I thought of you and your Mom as we were going through that. There is no way your Mom would have been taken care of. We were told (by Princess) that the issues were the same at both Princess hotels.

 

Thank you Pam. I read your comments about the rooms with great interest. I have an aft balcony for our trip on September 10th, but will trade it for the bigger inside (like Nancy's) if I end up going solo. I am also booked solo on the 27 day in April but as an inside guarantee and hope to get similar. Sounds like Marina deck will be out for me also as sleeping is always an issue.

Enjoying your posts.

Marcia

[IECalCruiser]

...One thing I did notice that there was never long lines at Passenger Services desk. That does show that things were going pretty smoothly.The last night of cruise and early morning at disembarkation no line there either. Never saw that on a ship before.

Gloria:D

Gloria, You have lost all credibility with that post :D That is a good sign as I have almost always seen the long lines on other cruises. Edited October 12, 2013 by IECalCruiser

[chamima]

And not sending us the usual survey in email after our 12 day Royal cruise

won't be helping Princess improve issues.

 

One thing I did notice that there was never long lines at Passenger Services desk. That does show that things were going pretty smoothly.The last night of cruise and early morning at disembarkation no line there either. Never saw that on a ship before.

Gloria:D

 

Gloria, You have lost all credibility with that post :D That is a good sign as I have almost always seen the long lines on other cruises.

 

 

 

People are now able to access their accounts on their own computers so don't need to stand in line for a printout to make sure everything is correct.

[san diego sue]

I went on line and checked our account too. Still did the printout from the machines.

IECruiser. How did I lose credibility.I reported what I saw. I had a good cruise

despite some minor problems. My expectations are not too high and know there can be some issues.

 

Anyone want to talk about the toilet paper roll. Twisting our wrist to get some (LOL).