Bye Bye Princess

[sammiedawg]

I've never understood sailing on one cruise line exclusively, we like variety and always hope for new and different experiences. We've sailed a lot of Princess, quite a bit HAL and a little Celebrity. Of the three Princess is my current favorite but all three are mass market lines. Within each line there are ships we like better than others and satisfaction largely depends on the individual ship.

 

A few years ago we stepped up to Oceania and totally appreciate the premium experience. There is a difference moving up the ladder in food, service, ship maintenance, itineraries. We've done two O cruises a year and have three more booked.

 

In the midst of all the O cruises we did one HAL and we were underwhelmed and dissatisfied with the ship and regretted not being on Oceania. We did not book anything new and didn't even purchase a HAL future cruise deposit. Not sure if we will sail then again but maybe on the new ship.

 

In the midst of the O cruises we did the Coral Princess and enjoyed almost everything, it was a great overall value. We had different expectations from O and they were met. We purchased a couple Princess future cruise credits and we will carefully choose ship and itinerary. I'm waiting to see what they do with Coral and Island, we were told a few years ago these ships would do exotics. We also love Diamond and Sapphire.

Edited November 9, 2015 by sammiedawg

[chamima]

Shogun

I know everyone's experiences are subjective but thought you might want to read this:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2277938

 

 

 

 

mcrcruiser mcrcruiser is online now

5,000+ Club

 

Join Date: Mar 2011

Location: San Diego

Posts: 6,735

Thumbs down -A Diiferent HAL vs Celebrity Comparison

 

Our cruising experience first .We have done 68 cruises with most on Celebrity ,then Royal ,Holland Princess & Carnival in decending order of number of cruises with each line .

 

We just came home from our longest Holland America cruise on their relatively new Nordam from San Diego to Sydney Australia ;which was a 21 day cruise . First off their food quality & service doesn't even come close to Celebrity .For 80% of the cruise they had problems in their kitchen with lost special menu diets , long waits for food to come out & I even had a piece of wire in my French fries one lunch .

 

For the most part their officers are Dutch & mostly remote to customer contact ,especially when problems exist . I was injured in their GYM one morning cutting my leg on a exposed piece of metal edge that should have had a plastic protective cap . Not even a first aid kit in their GYM .Had to get first aid at customer relations & then at 8 AM went to the infirmary

& got a tetnus shot

 

The A/C unit in our balcony cabin took them 4 days to fix the fan to distribute cool air

 

The entertainment was comparable to Celebrity & the independent performers were excellent .The dancers & singers below average imo

 

My review with Holland America at the end of this cruise this cruise told them that it was highly unlikely that we would sail with them again & we would not recommend them to our friends

Edited November 9, 2015 by chamima

[2onboardagain]

Trying different cruise lines really does help to mix it up. They all have their good and not so good points. I like to be surprised by the dinner menus and when we reach a point where I can recite them by heart I know that it is time to move to another line again. As others have said here I have learned that first and foremost it is important to choose an itinerary that interests and or excites you as the hum drum of the "same old" ports starts to permeate the entire cruise experience and going with the same cruise line for too long a period does indeed prove the point that familiarity breeds contempt. So the long and the short of my recommendation is to vary your cruise experience by itinerary and cruise line and there will be many more pleasant surprises in your experiences.

[8pawz]

Shogun,

 

In the past four years we have primarily sailed Princess and HAL based on the itinerary and ship. On Princess we sailed on the Star, Grand, Coral and Island and on HAL on Noordam, Eurodam, Amsterdam and Volendam. Overall we have decided that Princess is the best fit for us but will try HAL again if one of their larger ships have a good itinerary. These are some of our thoughts....

 

Nighttime activities - the smaller HAL ships are dead after 9pm. There was hardly anyone even walking around the ships at that time on the Amsterdam (Alaska) and Volendam (Far East). The. Noordam andEurodam had much more activity and now have permanent BBKing lounges so those would be our go to places. We also like the activity around Princess atriums which HAL smaller ships don't have.

 

Service - we found Princess dining room service better than HAL. On the Amsterdam we walked out on the last formal night after waiting more than a half hour after ordering coffee and dessert. It generally took two hours for dinner. We also thought Princess food was better

 

Cabins - on Princess we have sailed in mini suites and vista suites and on HAL in signature suites and Neptune suites. Each was good but the best draw for HAL is the Neptune Lounge for Neptune Suite passengers. I would be happy in any of these.

 

We also did a TA on Oceania Mariner and despite the rave reviews it generally gets we did not like it. The food and restaurants are wonderful but beyond that it did not offer much. The weather was bad and we missed some poets do had lots of sea days with nothing to do. I read 8 books. Movies weren't even generally offered. Because there were so many restaurants there weren't many venues for activities other than eating. As for service, we supposedly had a butler but he was less attentive to our stewards on Princess and HAL.

 

Good luck in finding a new favorite line. What fun it will be to experience what other ships have to offer while you are cruising the world.

[RetiredNTraveling]

 

We expect you to still post once in a while!

 

Just Mike, (I'm the tall good looking one!)

[finzleftright]

Is there really a major difference in services? We like Princess because the passengers generally seem to be older, with fewer kids on board. My children are adults now, and I prefer the quieter atmosphere of an older passenger list.
And, in general, just have no real complaints about Princess!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thrak]

Sheesh, Shogun! Who's going to be our official Kilted Cruiser for Princess if you leave?

[elliair]

[quote name='Shogun']
Will l cruise with Princess again yes, but only because of low fares, very low fares, I will give other cruise lines more money because I expect to have a better vacation experience than just nice, I want good may be one day I can afford amazing, but I have had amazing cruise vacations but these were years ago with Princess, my advise to Princess is to raise fares and offer better.

yours Shogun[/quote]

I don't know what "better" means. We always expect way more than what we got. I no longer get my expectations up too high. I only expect to get what I know I'm going to get. I don't know what "better" means. I don't even know what "amazing" is. If I expected "amazing" and only got "good" then I would be disappointed in expecting something that no cruise line could offer. What's amazing? We cruise Carnival from time-to-time to get a cheap vacation. We know what to expect. I know what to expect from Princess, so I book not expecting anything but what I know. I'd be highly pi$$ed if I spent big bucks on a snazzy cruise line expecting "amazing" and all I got was good. It's all about expectations. One could cruise every cruise line expecting "amazing" and never get "amazing." But that's just me.

[Gwendy]

It's always good to try other lines. I choose by itinerary, being from Australia means I generally have to fly to board a cruise I haven't done before. As said earlier they all have good and bad points, Princess seems to be trying to meet the new demographic of cruisers, my holiday, how I want it. Shame to see some of the nicer traditions slide, but for me any cruise is a good cruise. Laugh at the irritating bits, ignore them and enjoy your time on board.

[dchip]

We are in the same boat as far as itineraries go. We wanted something really special for our 50 anniversary cruise. Since Princess has stopped sailing the South Pacific unless you begin and end in Australia, we are sailing with HAL. Their 48 day "Tales of the South Pacific" is a dream cruise for us.

Keep searching. Something will hit your fancy.

Cheers, Denise

[UpcountryTravelers]

Wow factor!?! Well, we just returned from a cruise on the [B]Oasis of the Seas[/B]. WOW! factor is definitely there, but I am looking forward to our Princess cruise in January. Why? Because I just feel at home on Princess.

Yes, we enjoyed our cruise on Oasis. Best shows I have ever seen! (CATS was phenomenal, as was "Come Fly With Me".) The ship is HUGE, with features that you just don't see anywhere else. Service was great in stateroom and dining. Just OK everywhere else. Ship was amazing with stuff you don't see on any other.

BUT! It is just a whole different experience from Princess. I feel comfortable and at home on Princess. I can relax, and "Escape Completely" (why did they ever change that slogan??). While the wow factor is there in RCI, Princess just is a more elegant, comfortable way to travel. I feel closer to the ocean I love in Princess. Therefore, we will still be doing cruises with Princess, with some others in the mix just to broaden our experiences.

Your mileage may differ, and that is as it should be.

[joereyes431.jr75]

Cccc[emoji12] [IMG][/IMG]

[Shogun]

Hi All

Some one asked what a amazing was well a few years ago now when room stewards had more time,

one room steward, did everything expected,

but went onto line up neatly all items on our desk, DWs make up stuff was placed on a face cloth neatly, in rows.

I had flowers in the cabin for her, room steward dead headed them,

our fruit basket had old fruit removed and fresh replaced with out asking,

patters where stacked in date order headings showing,

any item of clothing left lying was folded and placed neatly away,

shoes put away in a line,

now we always try to leave the cabin as neat and tidy as possible to make

room stewards life as easy as possible.

But this guy had our cabin spotless.

We not only spoke to his supervisor, head of house keeping but wrote a letter to HGM about how this guy made it a pleasure to return to our cabin.

Now it would be nice if we got this level of service as standard but I do not

expect it from Princess if I was to pay more on a premium line then it would be the level of attention expected.

yours Shogun

[geocruiser]

[quote name='Shogun']Hi All

Some one asked what a amazing was well a few years ago now when room stewards had more time,

one room steward, did everything expected,

but went onto line up neatly all items on our desk, DWs make up stuff was placed on a face cloth neatly, in rows.

I had flowers in the cabin for her, room steward dead headed them,

our fruit basket had old fruit removed and fresh replaced with out asking,

patters where stacked in date order headings showing,

any item of clothing left lying was folded and placed neatly away,

shoes put away in a line,

now we always try to leave the cabin as neat and tidy as possible to make

room stewards life as easy as possible.

But this guy had our cabin spotless.

We not only spoke to his supervisor, head of house keeping but wrote a letter to HGM about how this guy made it a pleasure to return to our cabin.

Now it would be nice if we got this level of service as standard but I do not

expect it from Princess if I was to pay more on a premium line then it would be the level of attention expected.

yours Shogun[/QUOTE]

I thought that I would get a better level of service when we were on our two Azamara cruises. The cruises were taking a few years ago (2010 & 2011). The main issues that we had was : on first cruise I got into bed one night and jump out quickly when my feet hit something. Out bed was made up with a hanger in between the sheets. I had ask that our beds be made a queen size bed, which it was made up that way when we boarded. But there were dust bunnies on the side of my bed. I said nothing because I thought that in the AM the room would be cleaned. On day three I had to ask the butler to please clean the rug.
On our second cruise we ran out of toilet paper. I ask for it before going to dinner. After dinner came back to find none. Asked another attendant, got none (one hour later), then I saw a butler from another deck and ask him. He got some one and 20 minutes he returned with half a roll. I could go on about some other things to. There were areas of service that were wonderful and beyond wonderful on the ship too. Some really great service, but some really not so good service.
Like you I all ways keep my cabin neat. I expect good service but not a personal maid to pick up after me.
I hope that you find a cruise line that you like. Change is good, trying a new product can be fun. Edited November 10, 2015 by geocruiser

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

[quote name='Shogun']Hi All

Some one asked what a amazing was well a few years ago now when room stewards had more time,

one room steward, did everything expected,

but went onto line up neatly all items on our desk, DWs make up stuff was placed on a face cloth neatly, in rows.

I had flowers in the cabin for her, room steward dead headed them,

our fruit basket had old fruit removed and fresh replaced with out asking,

patters where stacked in date order headings showing,

any item of clothing left lying was folded and placed neatly away,

shoes put away in a line,

now we always try to leave the cabin as neat and tidy as possible to make

room stewards life as easy as possible.

But this guy had our cabin spotless.

We not only spoke to his supervisor, head of house keeping but wrote a letter to HGM about how this guy made it a pleasure to return to our cabin.

Now it would be nice if we got this level of service as standard but I do not

expect it from Princess if I was to pay more on a premium line then it would be the level of attention expected.

yours Shogun[/QUOTE]

We have never ever ever had a bad cabin steward, they are always amazing. It's the Princess offering which is lacking not the crew.

[TracieABD]

Wow, Steve. I am a bit surprised and a little sad.

Just know that, like an old friend, Princess will be here should you decide to come back. We will leave a light on for you.

[Shogun]

Hi tracie

Will still cruise with Princess but price needs to reflect cruise experience

so if price is very cheap will cruise with them.

yours Shogun

[pjrockman]

I was avoiding comment on this thread because everyone can choose to cruise on any line of their choice. However, after seeing the above list, I must say that we would not want the crew to touch any of our personal items. I don't cruise to have the cabin steward pick up after us. We have not had a bad steward on any of our Princess cruises since we started cruising Princess. We've been on cheaper lines and more expensive lines and Princess is the comfortable level for us.

Also, we believe that cruising in general is still a good vacation bargain for everything you get.

This is my opinion and everyone is entitled to one, so good luck finding what you seek.

Safe Journeys, Paul

[Shogun]

Hi

Overall room stewards do a good job, some are better than others,

things like not replacing supplies, or not attending cabin at all are not deal

breakers for us, but we have had a cabin that we refused to accept

on boarding, I went to the front desk and showed them the photos I had taken

requested an officer attend, by the time I had walked back to my cabin, one

was standing outside, he checked the cabin out and organised a team of

cleaners

and repair folks, he advised that most of the work would be done the following

day. Now this incident did not put us of Princess, because they responded and

were genuinely shocked by the state of the cabin.

I do not know what happened to the original cabin steward.


yours Shogun

[Alaskanb]

[quote name='Shogun']Hi tracie

Will still cruise with Princess but price needs to reflect cruise experience

so if price is very cheap will cruise with them.

yours Shogun[/QUOTE]
Some idioms come to mind like " You get what you pay for" and "Familiarity breeds contempt".
I was totally wowed with our Australia/ New Zealand cruise this year. Loved the Japanese Baths and bidets--should be on every ship IMHO. Ports were amazing. Crew were great. When DH hurt his leg the crew provided a wheel chair to get him off the ship in Sydney and took us as far as they could so we had a very short walk to our hotel. Yes it cost a lot of money but was worth every penny. To top it off "Madama Butterfly" at the Sydney Opera House was wondrous.
I like the familiarity of Princess -- I know what to expect. Cruises are also a part of a longer holiday with short stays pre and post cruise to enjoy new parts of the world. For us the WOW factor comes more from the ports than the ship.

[seapals2]

After our cruise on Azura this year friends were amazed to here us utter the now infamous words .. We'll never cruise again ... Well we didn't for all of three months!
Two Celebrity cruises later and we had reawakened our love of being at sea.
Its not always about better .. more about different. No matter how much we love our favourite restaurant at home we wouldn't choose to eat there exclusively. Sometimes we fancy pizza .. sometimes curry .. sometimes Chinese. That's life ... variety they say is the spice of life.


I don't think it would matter which cruise line you had been loyal to, you want a change. Seems like the cruise lines are all producing ever bigger ships and not always for the better. Cabins get smaller as the ships get bigger .. more passengers less personal service. I imagine salaries for stewards haven't increased in proportion to the size of ships. Cheap prices allow people who may never have cruised in the past to try something other than cheap package holidays. Now they can try cheap package cruises! So the cruise industry changes its approach. Latest change from Celebrity this week formal wear is optional .. in comes chic in all its interpreted forms.

We have Elite status with Princess and the perks will always attract us back for longer cruises, (laundry) but in the end the major lines we have tried have little between them.

We too are trying HAL for the first time next year. I'm sure there will be some things we like better and some things we won't like at all.

Keep cruising .. keep posting ... keep enjoying your time at sea.

When people ask me which cruise ship I prefer ... my answer is ...
The one I'm on right now! Any day at sea beats a day at work.

[Mom33]

We plan to revisit Bermuda on a cruise one day. We have four cruise lines to choose from, but none will be Princess because they don't do the itinerary.
We plan to take our granddaughter on a Disney cruise because she loves everything Minnie Mouse and Princess can't accommodate her needs :D
We don't feel a need to say good bye to Princess or apologize for sailing other ships.
We will continue to sail and enjoy the Princess ships. They still have great itineraries for us to choose from. The Norwegian Fiords are in the planning stages along with another attempt to visit the Baltics.:D

When ever something becomes ho hum and repetitive and is no longer enjoyable, it is time to look outside the box and try something new.

[suzyed]

[quote name='UpcountryTravelers']Wow factor!?! Well, we just returned from a cruise on the [B]Oasis of the Seas[/B]. WOW! factor is definitely there, but I am looking forward to our Princess cruise in January. Why? Because I just feel at home on Princess.

Yes, we enjoyed our cruise on Oasis. Best shows I have ever seen! (CATS was phenomenal, as was "Come Fly With Me".) The ship is HUGE, with features that you just don't see anywhere else. Service was great in stateroom and dining. Just OK everywhere else. Ship was amazing with stuff you don't see on any other.

BUT! It is just a whole different experience from Princess. I feel comfortable and at home on Princess. I can relax, and "Escape Completely" (why did they ever change that slogan??). While the wow factor is there in RCI, Princess just is a more elegant, comfortable way to travel. I feel closer to the ocean I love in Princess. Therefore, we will still be doing cruises with Princess, with some others in the mix just to broaden our experiences.

Your mileage may differ, and that is as it should be.[/QUOTE]

We have sailed Princess most often for the last few years...but have sailed on most of the comparable lines. I have to agree with you though....RCI ships really do have the WOW factor!! The shows are fabulous and the ships themselves are just amazing! I do think that QM2 has that WOW factor as far as it just being such a beautiful ship!

[suzyed]

[quote name='seapals2']After our cruise on Azura this year friends were amazed to here us utter the now infamous words .. We'll never cruise again ... Well we didn't for all of three months!
Two Celebrity cruises later and we had reawakened our love of being at sea.
Its not always about better .. more about different. No matter how much we love our favourite restaurant at home we wouldn't choose to eat there exclusively. Sometimes we fancy pizza .. sometimes curry .. sometimes Chinese. That's life ... variety they say is the spice of life.


I don't think it would matter which cruise line you had been loyal to, you want a change. Seems like the cruise lines are all producing ever bigger ships and not always for the better. Cabins get smaller as the ships get bigger .. more passengers less personal service. I imagine salaries for stewards haven't increased in proportion to the size of ships. Cheap prices allow people who may never have cruised in the past to try something other than cheap package holidays. Now they can try cheap package cruises! So the cruise industry changes its approach. Latest change from Celebrity this week formal wear is optional .. in comes chic in all its interpreted forms.

We have Elite status with Princess and the perks will always attract us back for longer cruises, (laundry) but in the end the major lines we have tried have little between them.

We too are trying HAL for the first time next year. I'm sure there will be some things we like better and some things we won't like at all.

Keep cruising .. keep posting ... keep enjoying your time at sea.

When people ask me which cruise ship I prefer ... my answer is ...
The one I'm on right now! Any day at sea beats a day at work.[/QUOTE]

I often wonder when I see folks who seem to sail almost exclusively on one cruise line or another, if it ever gets old. I wonder if they have tried the others and didn't like them?

We book cruises based on itinerary and price and also based on the amount of time we have to sail. We LOVE RCI...we think their ships are just magnificent. We have been going with Princess recently however, because the price point and the itineraries "fit" us right now. We also feel very much "at home" on Princess...it's comfortable. I don't know if that is attributed to the fact we have met so many wonderful people on there and have cruised with them several times?

[SteelMagnolia9]

[quote name='Shogun']Hi I knew it would happen one day my next cruise would not be a Princess one, but I am rather sad that it has happened, you see its not because another cruise line has produced a better product than Princess, its more a case that the Princess offering has gone down hill to the point that other offerings look more interesting.

So our cruise on the Emerald last month was nice, but I want more than nice I wanted to be excited about my next vacation I want to be on a ship with wow factor, this could come from its design, service levels, entertainment,food in fact anything that makes up a cruise, I also want lots of ports.
[/QUOTE]

Hello Shogun,

I didn't read through all of the responses that you received, but I think it's a good idea now and then for someone who consistently cruises with a single cruiseline to try a different line once in awhile. Perhaps you'll discover that you like the new experience or maybe you'll want to return to what you know.

I'm making two suggestions: The new HAL Koningsdam and Cunard. Take a look at the video and information on the new ship on HAL's website, it looks spectacular. HAL and Princess are very similar, in my opinion. I also recommend Cunard. The prices are easier on the wallet than you might imagine and the service and atmosphere are lovely.

Best wishes as you decide on your next adventure.