what's happened to Princess?

[GrannyChris]

We've just returned from an extremely disappointing '14 day caribbean adventurer' on the Caribbean Princess, which turned out to be 2 seven day cruises. Poor entertainment, boring food, indifferent crew (everything almost identical both weeks). Others commented to us about the same decline in service, standards, cleanliness, etc. Was it just this ship, or has the company changed? Based on our previous cruises, we were great advocates for cruising with Princess. We'll not likely sail again...

[OCruisers]

Hi! Noticed this is your first post on Cruise Critic.

Welcome to CC and thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts on your recent cruise.

LuLu

[2wheelin]

Recently returned from 10 days on Royal and have similar thoughts. Service was generally OK but nothing like our last Princess cruise three years ago. Waiters reached across in front of you to pour water for others, didn't remember coffee preference, very slow in Horizon even when not busy. Chatting and walking as slow as possible--like they didn't care. Always very friendly but uninspired. Food in MDR variable. Drinks weak.

I loved the ship but overall experience ho-hum.

I firmly believe having upcharge restaurants on ships contributes to deterioration of included services. What used to be the norm (food and service) in the MDR is now only available for an added fee. I would change criuse lines before paying more.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments and welcome to CC.

[shredie]

Sorry you had a bad time. It will be interesting to hear from others who were on the same cruise.

[Kenswing]

I've been seeing a lot of less than stellar reviews of the CB lately.. I hope they get her straightened out before our May, 2016 British Isles cruise.. :o

 

I know the vibe of a ship can change as the crew turns over and new staff comes onboard..

[Dorset Cruiser]

We found exactly the same on our last two Princess cruises but also on our much-vaunted first Celebrity cruise last October. Very average food offerings in the MDR on all three cruises and, to be honest, not much better in the surcharge restaurants we used. Entertainment on all three cruises was poor or repetitive and a lot of the staff did not appear to be involved or interested.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[VibeGuy]

I don't want to "blame the victim" at all; I think the criticism of the 14NT "repeat problem" is extremely valid; there is a very big difference in the vibe of an actual 14NT cruise and two sevens stuck together. The menu repeats, the show repeats, the duplicate ports and the chaotic turnaround day all combine to really degrade the experience.

 

Where I think Princess goes wrong is in marketing these combinations as a 14-day cruise; I would rather see language like "Combine this seven night Eastern Caribbean sailing with our 7 night Explorer itinerary for a special price! You won't even have to change cabins!" It would better communicate that these are two distinct voyages.

[M2ice]

We were on this ship in mid Feb and had no problems, the service, food and crew were FAR better then our last three RCL cruises (all in the last year). None of the lines are what they were a couple of years ago but the decline on Princess seemed to us to be much less then on RCL.

[Cruzaholic41]

We've just returned from an extremely disappointing '14 day caribbean adventurer' on the Caribbean Princess, which turned out to be 2 seven day cruises. Poor entertainment, boring food, indifferent crew (everything almost identical both weeks). Others commented to us about the same decline in service, standards, cleanliness, etc. Was it just this ship, or has the company changed? Based on our previous cruises, we were great advocates for cruising with Princess. We'll not likely sail again...

 

It wasn't just that ship. Princess used to be my favorite cruise line, but their decline in quality over the years has really affected me. The ships seem too crowded and their attempt at building something new with pathetic balconies (Royal and Regal) was a big swing and a miss to me. What was once my favorite cruise line has fallen to #3 or 4 in my mind.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I don't want to "blame the victim" at all; I think the criticism of the 14NT "repeat problem" is extremely valid; there is a very big difference in the vibe of an actual 14NT cruise and two sevens stuck together. The menu repeats, the show repeats, the duplicate ports and the chaotic turnaround day all combine to really degrade the experience.

 

Where I think Princess goes wrong is in marketing these combinations as a 14-day cruise; I would rather see language like "Combine this seven night Eastern Caribbean sailing with our 7 night Explorer itinerary for a special price! You won't even have to change cabins!" It would better communicate that these are two distinct voyages.

 

I agree - much better descriptive wording of the two 7 nt. cruises.

 

Welcome OP and thanks for your thoughts. I love Princess (it feels like home) but your issues are some of the reasons I'm willing to venture out to other cruise lines as you'll see in my signature.

[Kineticoh20]

I don't want to "blame the victim" at all; I think the criticism of the 14NT "repeat problem" is extremely valid; there is a very big difference in the vibe of an actual 14NT cruise and two sevens stuck together. The menu repeats, the show repeats, the duplicate ports and the chaotic turnaround day all combine to really degrade the experience.

 

Where I think Princess goes wrong is in marketing these combinations as a 14-day cruise; I would rather see language like "Combine this seven night Eastern Caribbean sailing with our 7 night Explorer itinerary for a special price! You won't even have to change cabins!" It would better communicate that these are two distinct voyages.

 

This is so true!! that's whe we prefer the 10 day Caribbean cruise with a couple day post cruise stay and always found great service and attention. One might expect less than a great experience taking say three 5 day cruises.

[mimibj]

We found Princess has improved in the MDR. The food was exceptional last month on Emerald Princess. Our waitstaff could not have been more attentive and remembering our names and desires. Entertainment was good and a good all around cruise.

[jasmith52]

It wasn't just that ship. Princess used to be my favorite cruise line, but their decline in quality over the years has really affected me. The ships seem too crowded and their attempt at building something new with pathetic balconies (Royal and Regal) was a big swing and a miss to me. What was once my favorite cruise line has fallen to #3 or 4 in my mind.

 

It's not just Princess. All of the mass market lines seem to be in decline. You can find CC posts like this under all of the mass market lines.

 

On the other hand they are giving many of the Caribbean and other cruise trips away. In many ways you get what you pay for.

[cruiser113]

sorry to hear you were so disappointed in your cruise.

 

We just sailed the CP for 9 days late Feb and early March. B2B.

 

Although the menus repeated except for one night, we enjoyed the food and tried different dishes on the second segment. We found the prime rib and filet excellent. Several other dishes were also new and delightful. French onion soup was wonderful as always. The chocolate desserts were awesome. The fish dishes are usually my favorite and they did not disappoint. The dinning staff was efficient, friendly and made our dining pleasurable.

 

Bar staff were wonderful and as we watched them make our drinks did not notice any watered down versions. We also attended Vines most nights to have wine and Tapas. The staff went out of their way to make sure everyone was taken care of. Vines is very busy from about 5ish till 7PM. Staff were friendly and outgoing. The location of vines near the IC lends itself to not only take care of Vine customers but everyone who comes up to ask for napkins, glasses of water and many other requests we witnessed on a daily basis.

 

Yes the ship is showing its age and does need a bit of TLC......but would sail her again in a heartbeat.

[AKman2495]

A quick observation. Apparently cruising is not what it was. That said, right now cruising is up by a large increase in passengers.

 

True, fares are down, but all this crappy service, bad food and boring night life seems to do little to drive away customers......

 

I'm just saying....:confused:

[AKman2495]

I don't want to "blame the victim" at all; I think the criticism of the 14NT "repeat problem" is extremely valid; there is a very big difference in the vibe of an actual 14NT cruise and two sevens stuck together. The menu repeats, the show repeats, the duplicate ports and the chaotic turnaround day all combine to really degrade the experience.

 

Where I think Princess goes wrong is in marketing these combinations as a 14-day cruise; I would rather see language like "Combine this seven night Eastern Caribbean sailing with our 7 night Explorer itinerary for a special price! You won't even have to change cabins!" It would better communicate that these are two distinct voyages.

 

While I think your wording is clever. One would have to be a complete idiot to read the itinerary of the "14 day cruises" and not see they are 2 weeks B2B.

 

We took a "14" night cruise" last year on the Crown and loved it. Yes, we know it repeated but the ship went to different ports.

 

People may not like the fact that they are really 2 7 night cruises...but they have little to complain about thinking that the cruise would be a true 14 night experience.

 

BTW, we used the in transit day to take a tour of the everglades and the Flamingo gardens, in other words we treated it as a port stop and had a lot of fun.

 

FWIW...

[nnrd79a]

Been there….

 

The Wife and I have taken the CB out of Houston two times two months apart.

 

Same ship, Same port… Two months apart…

Trip #1 was the worst Princess cruises I’ve ever been on.

Trip #2 was one of the best Princess cruises I’ve ever been on.

 

Trip #1:

Horizon Court staff seemed unconcerned, unmotivated.

No silverware, Nobody popping by for drink orders.. etc.. etc…

The whole ship seemed to have an “eegh whatever” style attitude.

The exception what the Dining room. Fantastic down there.

 

Anyhow, after that trip, we seriously considered if we wanted to sail with Princess again…..

 

Then….. An old College buddy and his wife wanted to go on a first cruise…….. and they wanted us to go with them to show them the ropes.

 

The only sailing that worked for all four of us was the CB out of Houston…. I looked at my wife and gave her a sarcastic “yea”!

 

Trip #2:

Fantastic in every way!

The Horizon Court staff were great! Attentive, personable, and on top of everything.

The entire ship seemed electric. Even the security personal seemed happy and joyful.

The Dining room staff were excellent as always.

 

So what does that say? I have no idea….

Perhaps there was a management turnover. Maybe there were a lot of tired personal who were near the end of their contracts on trip #1…

Who knows….. I’ll chalk it up to ships can be moody.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I think some passengers have unrealistic expectations... 5 star hotel on a mass market cruise line....

 

They also expect Crystal, Regent quality but don't want to pay the associated fares.... Again, entertainment isn't as varied on the luxury lines.

 

It's too bad, because each line will have pros and cons... nothing will ever be perfect, nor do I expect perfection on my cruises. I do love Princess... The crew is usually fantastic, food is great and if you don't like something, just ask for something else...

 

Shows are usually entertaining. I don't expect Las Vegas quality shows... For the value, Princess does offer wonderful cruises...

[AKman2495]

Been there….

 

Maybe there were a lot of tired personal who were near the end of their contracts on trip #1…

 

I think this has a lot to do with it. We have been lucky so far. Our first cruise was a repositioning cruise from Vancouver through the Panama Canal. Everyone on board was great, happy, eager to please.

 

Our second cruise was a B2B from Houston. We were the first passengers leaving from Houston and, once again, the crew was fired up and eager to please.

 

That said, our last cruise was a 2 week B2B on the Crown near the end of her Caribbean season. That season was cut short by the announcement that it was transferring to the Wast Coast on one of those 49 day cruises around the horn. It was also the last cruise for the Captain.

 

It seems to us that the crew was working hard and doing a great job then too...

 

So, I guess timing is everything.....

[capriccio]

I think some passengers have unrealistic expectations... 5 star hotel on a mass market cruise line....

 

They also expect Crystal, Regent quality but don't want to pay the associated fares.... Again, entertainment isn't as varied on the luxury lines.

 

It's too bad, because each line will have pros and cons... nothing will ever be perfect, nor do I expect perfection on my cruises. I do love Princess... The crew is usually fantastic, food is great and if you don't like something, just ask for something else...

 

Shows are usually entertaining. I don't expect Las Vegas quality shows... For the value, Princess does offer wonderful cruises...

 

Well said!

[AmberTeka]

did you have the new Caribbean Menu?

 

that was a game changer for me. I disliked the food choices immensely.

 

Food is subjective. what I disliked ..others loved I am sure.

 

but for me..........I am not booking the Aruba..Bonaire cruise for Christmas that I had considered booking.

 

And I LOVED Princess. It was my favorite line. I HOPE they tweak that menu and put some of the Old salads.......soups ......entrees back on.

 

And hire a new chef.

[AmberTeka]

I think some passengers have unrealistic expectations... 5 star hotel on a mass market cruise line....

 

They also expect Crystal, Regent quality but don't want to pay the associated fares.... Again, entertainment isn't as varied on the luxury lines.

 

It's too bad, because each line will have pros and cons... nothing will ever be perfect, nor do I expect perfection on my cruises. I do love Princess... The crew is usually fantastic, food is great and if you don't like something, just ask for something else...

 

Shows are usually entertaining. I don't expect Las Vegas quality shows... For the value, Princess does offer wonderful cruises...

 

I disagree. I think most passengers go for a week in the Sun. ( Canadians who are delightful people). they go to read, relax, lose money in the casino, drink,.in other words, they are on vacation. Not trying to get into the Social Register.

 

they expect a clean cabin and decent service. they do not expect to have Tea with the Queen of the England or be treated like her. At least some choices on a menu that they like. Food that is well cooked. An activities staff that treats them with respect and not like passengers are the fools of the world for even being on the ship. Who try to make the cruise fun for everyone.

 

Princess has the nicest passengers in all of the lines we have cruised on. I take exception to people putting them down for demanding too much. Most demand nothing. And they are as nice to the crew and staff as the crew and staff is to them....nice all around.

 

on the Regal. the food in the MDR was bad. poor selection. Highly spiced. Too much pork. few old choices. A jump into exotic, unfamiliar foods which were not cooked well and did not taste good. Period.

Other than that......princess.....did the same good job they always do.

they need to tweak that menu and hire a new chef I think. but others think differently I am sure.

 

And they realize production shows are not Broadway. I was at all three production shoes. I thought they were best I have ever seen On Princess. the Four Seasons show....great. Fiera...wonderful. Mo Town loved it.

Edited March 24, 2015 by AmberTeka

[caber]

It's not just Princess. All of the mass market lines seem to be in decline. You can find CC posts like this under all of the mass market lines.

 

.

 

I agree. We were on a P&Os Ventura in the Caribbean this year. The quality of the cruise was well down on previous cruises. Last year we were on Emerald Princess and found it to be still good. We planned to return to Princess but maybe they are all the same.

The problem is that we, like many of you, are long time cruisers and have a lot to compare current cruises to. We are of course not paying much more than we did many years ago.

[richstowe]

While I think your wording is clever. One would have to be a complete idiot to read the itinerary of the "14 day cruises" and not see they are 2 weeks B2B.

 

People may not like the fact that they are really 2 7 night cruises...but they have little to complain about thinking that the cruise would be a true 14 night experience.

 

BTW, we used the in transit day to take a tour of the everglades and the Flamingo gardens, in other words we treated it as a port stop and had a lot of fun.

 

FWIW...

You are a little harsh but I agree with your point. When you have an itinerary that returns

to the original departure port during the cruise , you are on a back 2 back .

Some complaints are legitimate, but not realizing you have booked a B2B is not .

Frankly I'd keep that embarrassing secret to myself and not blame the cruise line.