Royal Princess - my honest opinion

[caribill]

Yup...been there about 20+ times.:D

 

The OP said they were expecting priority tender tickets for Princess Cays to be in their excursion envelop. I wanted to know which excursion.

 

I suspect the OP meant in the envelope with the excursion tickets for other ports.

[voltdoc]

Just wanted to know if anyone used I-TALK with the onboard internet ? It's a site similar to SKYPE but works only with Apple products..........voltdoc

[Mom33]

I'm glad you didn't get - nor need tender tickets. As I said, we came back from Canada/New England two weeks ago on the Emerald Princess. We received tender tickets in both ports that required tendering. They were in the stateroom in an envelope, and they were collected upon boarding the tenders.

 

It's not necessary to try to trivialize what I am reporting. It's my experience. I am posting honest opinion from my experiences on board the Royal Princess.

 

I am glad that you and Shogun had a better experience than we, and about 40 others that we talked, to had. Many said that they would never sail Princess again. I am only saying that I will never sail the Royal again.

 

If service is a problem, be sure to make it known on your survey. You have new employees on this ship that should be in the groove by now.

 

We are not on the ship until March. We planned it so that we cruised her for the first time after she has time to clear up the inevitable problems a new cruise ship will have.

 

Eventually, all ships rotate crew so the problems you had on Royal, could be someone elses problem on another Princess ship.

[dchip]

Redtogo, I am so sorry you experienced such disappointments on your cruise! Considering there are 3,500 passengers on the ship, it isn't surprising that there are so many different viewpoints and experiences.

 

We, too, disembarked today after a B2B2B on the Royal. Except for the horrible Internet this week, our experiences were completely different than yours. I will be writing a review when we get home in a couple of days. We had the best service ever, everywhere! So very sad you didn't.

 

The first two cruises the Iternet was wonderful. Last week they started installing new cables etc and that is when the internet service went down to nothing!! I couldn't sign on to much of anything most of the week.

 

Cheers, Denise.

[pcsunlover]

I appreciate all reviews & this discussion is the latest example of how people on the same cruise can have completely different points of view. Except for the missing stairway which was inconvenient to get to our midship cabin my 18 days on the Royal did not experience any of the other things. I don't think anyone is trying to "trivialize" any experience & are just sharing different experiences which I appreciate reading with any discussion.

 

I agree, and also appreciate everyone taking the time to share their experiences. I'm sorry the OP had a disappointing cruise. I hope the next one will be a much better experience for them.

[-Lew-]

 

Just wanted to know if anyone used I-TALK with the onboard internet ? It's a site similar to SKYPE but works only with Apple products..........voltdoc

This thread really isn't the place for your question. However, since you asked it, iTalk is an iOS voice recording app. It doesn't require the internet.

 

Lew

[cruisergal1978]

Sorry you had a less than stellar trip . My husband and I just came off the nov 10 royal sailing and we thought the ship was absolutely incredible and had a wonderful time.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[OCruisers]

redtogo .... Thanks for reporting back after your cruise. You gave us your honest opinion.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Pam in CA]

It's unfortunate you experiences service issues. Sounds like you had a steward who wasn't up to snuff. One's onboard experience can be colored by a poor cabin steward. :( The worst cabin stewards I've ever experienced were on two HAL cruises but I still had good/great cruises.

[redtogo]

I don't think poor, slow service in the dining room was the room steward's fault. The waiter just couldn't seem concentrate on his customers. When he should have been taking our order for dinner, he was putting tablecloths on surrounding tables. Bread and butter was never on the table when we arrived. It came much later.

 

We ate in the dining room every night so it shouldn't have been a surprise that we would show up. Looks like he could have prepared the tables in advance instead of taking two hours to serve our meal because he was busy doing those tasks.

 

The room steward was a joke! I had to directly ask for items. Plus, there was no plausible excuse for not even showing up on formal night to refresh the room. We left the room early to attend the Captain's Cocktail Party, and went to a show afterward. He simply never showed up. And, Yes, I put the "Please Refresh My Room" sign in the slot outside in the door. He was all cheerful the next day, trying to make amends. I was not amused.

[redtogo]

Sorry, I posted too quickly. I am going to call Princess tomorrow. I hope that I receive a survey.

[Astro Flyer]

Sorry, I posted too quickly. I am going to call Princess tomorrow. I hope that I receive a survey.

On a recent cruise our survey was emailed early on disembarkation day & some report it went into their junk folder. A week later we had not completed our surveys & received a 2nd notice requesting us to complete them.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Astro Flyer

[riclop]

Hopefully your next cruise will be better.

[SeaTeach]

Sorry to hear that your cruise experience was not up to par. I've been trying to talk myself into cruising on this ship for the 20 day Caribbean cruise. You are not the 1st to report such an experience. So I'm rethinking a "Royal" cruise.

[cheerldrmom]

Got off Royal last week.... This was my first princess cruise I loved it I had no other princess ship to compare it too so I wasn't critical of certain things. I thought food was super, staff was great ship absolutely beautiful love the atrium idea v/s a promenade level. So give her a chance shes a beauty...

[Iamcruzin]

Service at dinner was very slow. We arrived at half past the hour, our assigned time. Sat for 30 minutes before our order was taken. Another 15 minutes before the appetizer arrived. We finally gave up by the time we finished our entreé. We got up to leave, and the waiter rushed over to see why we weren't staying for dessert. It took over two hours to get and eat Spring Rolls, a simple salad, and our entreé. Waiter mumbled that things should move faster tomorrow. I hope so.

 

Did you have traditional dining? If that was the case I'm appalled at the service you received. I haven't been to traditional dining since 2006. Usually the staff are all over you like white on rice. Anytime dining has been hit or miss depending on what time you eat dinner. However, even during my worst experience I never had the long wait time you experienced. There is definitely a problem with the MDR since they hit the Caribbean. My in laws were invited to the Bon Voyage Event on the first 7 day Caribbean sailing and they told me that they had to leave the MDR during their lunch and go to the buffet because they experienced the same wait time as you described. They were only allowed on the ship for a short time and they got a late start to begin with because embarkation was a mess. The MDR was taking up too much time and they wanted to see the ship.

[SewLady]

I am wondering if the waiters and steward that OP had we're having some concerns for family members who were affected by the Typhoon that hit the Phillipines last week.

We have just returned from the Island Princess. We talked to several Philippine employees who said they had heard there families were good, but also to one young man who was very distressed having lost five members of his family, plus he lost his house and car to last years earthquake.

 

Not making excuses for bad service, but just thinking there may have been added stress for some of the crew last week.

[Coral]

I am wondering if the waiters and steward that OP had we're having some concerns for family members who were affected by the Typhoon that hit the Phillipines last week.

We have just returned from the Island Princess. We talked to several Philippine employees who said they had heard there families were good, but also to one young man who was very distressed having lost five members of his family, plus he lost his house and car to last years earthquake.

 

Not making excuses for bad service, but just thinking there may have been added stress for some of the crew last week.

 

You do have a very good point. I was thinking last week that on my last several cruises, there have been a much higher amount of employees from the Philippines than previously. Some of the best service we have received from those from the Philippines. It had to be very difficult for those who received bad news or couldn't get in contact with loved ones.

[Ethel5]

I am wondering if the waiters and steward that OP had we're having some concerns for family members who were affected by the Typhoon that hit the Phillipines last week.

We have just returned from the Island Princess. We talked to several Philippine employees who said they had heard there families were good, but also to one young man who was very distressed having lost five members of his family, plus he lost his house and car to last years earthquake.

 

Not making excuses for bad service, but just thinking there may have been added stress for some of the crew last week.

 

Thanks for reminding us that crew are humans too and should be treated with respect. Most are away from home for long periods of time. How awful it must be to know there was a typhoon and not be able to contact relatives.

[dmwnc1959]

Did you have traditional dining? If that was the case I'm appalled at the service you received. I haven't been to traditional dining since 2006. Usually the staff are all over you like white on rice. Anytime dining has been hit or miss depending on what time you eat dinner. However, even during my worst experience I never had the long wait time you experienced. There is definitely a problem with the MDR since they hit the Caribbean.

 

I had Traditional 5:30pm dining last year on Ruby Princess and my experience was exactly like the OP's. It was so bad in fact, the worst I have experienced on any cruise ship, I never went back to the MDR after that first night.

 

The service was as dismal in the Horizon Court and Passenger Services Desk. Had that been my one and only experience with Princess Cruises, I would have never returned.

[Shogun]

Hi Dave

The front staff at the passenger services desk are not much use when you have a problem for issues with your cabin find out who your cabin steward supervisor is or the house keeping manager dining room the assistant maitre d lower grade officers normally are very keen to impress so they can move upwards

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Dave

The front staff at the passenger services desk are not much use when you have a problem for issues with your cabin find out who your cabin steward supervisor is or the house keeping manager dining room the assistant maitre d lower grade officers normally are very keen to impress so they can move upwards

 

Yours Shogun

 

 

Hi Steve,

 

I wish I had known that when I was aboard ship, but everything from the service to the food contributed to a pretty bad experience. As I have mentioned in the past it was so bad that I contacted my travel agent from St. Thomas and told him to expect a cancellation of the next cruise I had booked with Princess Cruises. It was mid-December when I retuned home and decided to give things a few weeks to settle down. By then it was the end of the first week of January and I started looking more deeply into that new ship I was booked on, and the result was the 'Everything' thread.

[catsforkids]

I don't think poor, slow service in the dining room was the room steward's fault. The waiter just couldn't seem concentrate on his customers. When he should have been taking our order for dinner, he was putting tablecloths on surrounding tables. Bread and butter was never on the table when we arrived. It came much later.

 

We ate in the dining room every night so it shouldn't have been a surprise that we would show up. Looks like he could have prepared the tables in advance instead of taking two hours to serve our meal because he was busy doing those tasks.

 

The room steward was a joke! I had to directly ask for items. Plus, there was no plausible excuse for not even showing up on formal night to refresh the room. We left the room early to attend the Captain's Cocktail Party, and went to a show afterward. He simply never showed up. And, Yes, I put the "Please Refresh My Room" sign in the slot outside in the door. He was all cheerful the next day, trying to make amends. I was not amused.

It is not only on the Royal that these things are happening.

 

On our BI cruise we had a terrible Traditional Dining experience. The waiter never came for our orders for 15-30 min after we sat down (we did at least get menus). Then at the end of the meal we were asked several times to leave for the next seating before we finished our desserts & coffee. Our wine was never brought out before asking for it. The staff seemed way over-worked and disorganized.

 

Our steward was terrible. Our cabins were never cleaned until mid-afternoon on sea days. We had to ask for vacuuming to be done and to stock our bathroom items. He called us and our neighbor family members by first names. And he had the nerve to make a snide remark regarding two of our family members to my husband and myself.

 

We had the first walk-off at disembarkation and we were delayed in exiting the ship for 45 min. The Ass. CD Chris was horrible. Of course the tension was high because we had transportation connections to make and Chris was quite antagonistic. He argued with pax and was so demeaning to one lady that her husband went to belt him. Security was called to stand behind that sarcastic arrogant guy. He could have easily been apologetic about the wait, explain to the crowd what was happening and be polite. He never did any of that.

 

We were actually embarrassed of Princess to our family, who had never cruised before. We were glad they didn't how GOOD it COULD be. But did it ruin our cruise? NO WAY! We had a wonderful time together exploring the BI.

 

Looking to see if the service is better on my upcoming Crown & Royal cruises. Then will decide whether to try another cruise line.

[redtogo]

I am wondering if the waiters and steward that OP had we're having some concerns for family members who were affected by the Typhoon that hit the Phillipines last week.

We have just returned from the Island Princess. We talked to several Philippine employees who said they had heard there families were good, but also to one young man who was very distressed having lost five members of his family, plus he lost his house and car to last years earthquake.

 

Not making excuses for bad service, but just thinking there may have been added stress for some of the crew last week.

 

There is no excuse for bad service. We always give extra money to our wait staff and room steward. This trip is the exception. We gave no one any extra money because service was so lacking.

 

I had Traditional 5:30pm dining last year on Ruby Princess and my experience was exactly like the OP's. It was so bad in fact, the worst I have experienced on any cruise ship, I never went back to the MDR after that first night.

 

The service was as dismal in the Horizon Court and Passenger Services Desk. Had that been my one and only experience with Princess Cruises, I would have never returned.

 

We had the assigned dining time. Same time, same table every night. I have photos showing how the attendance at dinner had dropped off. Empty tables everywhere.

[redtogo]

I appreciate those posters who have taken the time to comment that they have also experienced below average quality of service.

 

I am going to call Princess today. I hope to talk to someone who cares.