Shocked by my first Princess Cruise

[nadmad]

We were on Diamond Princess for a 9 day cruise around Hokkaido, Japan.

This was my 6th cruise but 1st with Princess. I've cruised 4x with Crystal, 1x with Celebrity.

 

To be honest, I was quite flabbergasted by how bad the cruise was. Especially shocking was:

1. The crew's attitude. The crew was completely cheerless: you could tell they were doing their job as if they are on an assembly line. No friendly greetings in the hallway. Some staff were not trained properly. At Sabatini, the waitress had somebody else's lobster shell on a plate and proceeded to deshell my lobster using the same utensils and plate she'd already used for another guest. Clueless personnel (not equipped with any Princess uniform/hat/jacket/flag) was responsible for Russian excursion. On and on and on.

 

2. The food in the Main Dining Room. Many nights we skipped the MDR since the food was just horrendous: portion was tiny and ingredients were subpar. Thank goodness for the 14th Deck.

 

3. The attempt to nickel and dime the passengers (my jaw dropped when after paying $30 for Bingo, Princess refused to provide pencils to mark the paper...instead expecting us to shell out a further $2.5 for special markers).

 

By no means am I trying to badmouth Princess. In fact, despite the bad service, I am not discounting the idea of a future Princess cruise. I really liked the room layout and the fact that pretty much dresscode was casual throughout the cruise.

 

So, did we just have bad luck with a bad crew? Should we give Princess another try?

[nbsjcruiser]

We've only been on one Princess cruise so my opinion might not be worth much. I can say that of our 21 cruises, the Crown Princess was THE BEST food of any of the cruises we've been on and its a big reason why we have 2 cruises booked on Princess over the next 6 months. Now maybe we got lucky like you got unlucky, who knows. My opinion of my only Princess cruise was that it was a more laid back line with a slightly older clientele than Royal Caribbean, NCL and certainly Carnival. We're looking forward to the Regal and Royal.

[golfb4cruzing]

I'd say try again. The crew is human as well and work long hours. We've had some that were stellar and others that were in a robot mode. Probably our worst was the final trip before ship was going into drydock. I think the crew was burnt out and ready for some R&R. We enjoy Princess, it works for our needs. As far as food, I have owned my own restaurant and our son has his Culinary Medallion and food is hit and miss in any mass production environment.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sorry were shocked by your cruise.

I can say in 54 Princess cruises our food has never come close to horrendous.

[partybarbie]

If you usually cruise on Crystal, then Princess is not going to be up to the same standards. Princess costs a lot less than Crystal, so I feel they are a good product for the price one is paying.

 

Normally the crew is very friendly and welcoming. There are some menu items that are better than others. In the future, if you don't like something, you can request another dish.

 

I would give Princess another try, but don't expect them to be like Crystal.

[victory2020]

Out 3rd cruise on Princess was the cruise from hell. It took us 5 years to try them again & for the most part they have been pretty good, with the exception of a couple of rude assistant maître'ds.

I am in foodservice so the lobster thing would appall me, but knowing what I know about the typical diner, you are probably the only one who noticed.

[geoherb]

Should we give Princess another try?

No. You probably will never be satisfied with Princess.

[satxdiver]

I have obviously been on a few PCL ships and have quite a few in the future already scheduled. I would agree that a cruise on Crystal certainly ought to be much nicer since the cost is higher. Hopefully you get what you pay for on cruises. The food is very subjective and what one thinks is fantastic another may think it is terrible. I have always enjoyed the food on PCL with some things I really like and others are not so good. Overall though the food to me has matched the price I was willing to pay for the cruise. I have found most crew members to be friendly while a few not so much. Crew that do not have contact with pax like maintenance crew etc I have found not to be all that friendly but crew that has direct engagement with pax like stewards, food staff etc are more friendly. The casual dress code comment was interesting but I don't imagine it would work on higher priced ships like Crystal.

[donaldsc]

We were on Diamond Princess for a 9 day cruise around Hokkaido, Japan.

This was my 6th cruise but 1st with Princess. I've cruised 4x with Crystal, 1x with Celebrity.

 

To be honest, I was quite flabbergasted by how bad the cruise was. Especially shocking was:

1. The crew's attitude. At Sabatini, the waitress had somebody else's lobster shell on a plate and proceeded to deshell my lobster using the same utensils and plate she'd already used for another guest.

y?

 

Not sure what the problem w this is. It is not as if anyone has eaten w the de-shelling utensils. They are just using them as tools. Tools can be reused. Stuff you eat with can not.

 

DON

[neverbeenhere]

donaldsc - correct

 

geoherb - correct

[Treven]

I've been on "most" other cruisline's ships, and several by Princess. I'm very pleased with what Princess offers its passengers, from decent food to understated decor to accommodating crew. I've never encountered surly crewmembers or even those not interested in doing a good, or better, job.

[peety3]

Not sure what the problem w this is. It is not as if anyone has eaten w the de-shelling utensils. They are just using them as tools. Tools can be reused. Stuff you eat with can not.

I'm with DON on this one (color me amazed for once!): cross-contamination is when utensils used on raw food are then used on cooked food, bringing bacteria from before the cooking to after. In this case, it's post-cooked/uneaten and post-cooked/uneaten.

 

Think of it this way: imagine for a moment that you ordered two lobsters. Staff brings it table-side, and proceeds to de-shell both lobsters. Both were likely cooked in the same pot. Would you ask the staff to switch utensils between the first lobster and the second? If they didn't, would you go to management to complain? If you did complain, what reasoning would you use?

[Astro Flyer]

My TA was a Crystal district sales manager who has encouraged me to sail at least one Crystal cruise in my lifetime. Once she took us on a tour & lunch on a Crystal ship during a turnaround day & it was great!

 

The reason we've never sailed with Crystal is that the cruise fare is about triple that on Princess. I've researched Crystal & after dozens of Princess cruises would never consider both of them to be in the same category...it's comparing a luxury cruise line to a premium/mass market cruise line.

 

Overall our crew's attitude has been cheerful but part of paying for a premium cruise line is a higher crewmember to passenger ratio & crew on less expensive cruise lines have more work to do. Food has been good and for the much higher price for a Crystal cruise it's only logical to me to have their food be superior. Portions may now be smaller but are perfect sizes for a multi course meal each evening.

 

Nickel & diming? I'd expect Crystal to have nearly none of it but except for premium cruise lines, most affordable cruise lines are charging prices similar to the 1970s & that's to be expected on those cruise lines.

 

Should you give Princess another try? Maybe not if you're expecting a Crystal cruise experience by paying a fraction of that price on Princess. But my former Crystal DSM has never felt the Princess food was horrendous, the crew was cheerless nor was excessively nickel & dimed...nor do I.

Edited August 16, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[cherylandtk]

I am with those who a) were not horrified by how the lobster was handled and b) think the OP is better accustomed to the services provided by Crystal.

[cruisinfanatic]

Sorry were shocked by your cruise.

I can say in 54 Princess cruises our food has never come close to horrendous.

I'd like to know how the OP knows it was horrendous if they weren't there

[Viesczy]

Sorry your vacation didn't live up to your expectations!

 

We were last on Princess back in March/April on the Caribbean Princess, while I didn't find the MDR food bad at all we did find the timing in the MDR always conflicted with our plans. We ate a good portion of our meals either in the buffet or grabbing a a slice of pizza/burger.

 

Again, sorry your vacation didn't live up to what you hoped it would be!

[floridalover5623]

I say try MSC or Carnival you'll appreciate Princess a little more especially during spring break. :D

[kodiac]

I would say give Princess another chance based on your review. The service staff for us are usually very good. We had one very bad service staff on Princess just once and this was years ago and toward the beginning of us sailing.

 

As for the food, I can agree somewhat. We have some chefs in the family and we also are great cooks. Sometimes, the food is bland for me, but I still enjoy it. I normally will talk with the wait staff ahead of time and make some special requests. As far as alternatives, we love sushi and wine, so the Wine bar on all ships is great. The IC is also a great place for great food. And last but not least, the lido deck. I was not a fan of the crab shack (will probably never go back to this one).

 

I would say for me, Princess is a great value considering cost and all considerations. I've been on some lines that serve fake eggs, fake coffee, and while they are a good value for some - not a good match for me. I like that all Princess ships are similar with venues so I know what to expect.

 

Please give Princess another try in the future, but I can agree it is not going to be the same experience as any other line (less expensive, or more). They are all a little different.

[Colo Cruiser]

I'd like to know how the OP knows it was horrendous if they weren't there

 

 

 

Good point. :eek:

[JimmyVWine]

Think of it this way: imagine for a moment that you ordered two lobsters. Staff brings it table-side, and proceeds to de-shell both lobsters. Both were likely cooked in the same pot. Would you ask the staff to switch utensils between the first lobster and the second? If they didn't, would you go to management to complain? If you did complain, what reasoning would you use?

 

Here's another analogy. Two people at the same table order the branzino for two. It comes tableside as a whole fish and is deboned at the table with half the fish served to each person. No one would ever object to this. It is not at all uncommon for different people to eat food that is touched by common utensils. Were it otherwise, the galley/kitchen would come to a screeching halt.

[KruzPrincess]

I am with those who a) were not horrified by how the lobster was handled and b) think the OP is better accustomed to the services provided by Crystal.

 

Ditto that.

 

I've always had decent food and service on Princess. I'm sure it's not like a premium cruise line. The OP said they went on an X cruise. I found that Celebrity and Princess were more alike than different. Both had decent food and service. If your experience was a lot different than your Celebrity experience.... then maybe you'd want to try Princess again. If you thought Celebrity was horrendous....then maybe don't try Princess again. I just did a Norway cruise on the Emerald Princess and I had no complaints with food or service. Princess does well enough that I keep coming back, but I'm not used to any premium cruise lines. Oh, I should add I've been cruising for over 40 years, so I have some experience.

[OddAbroad]

We were on Diamond Princess for a 9 day cruise around Hokkaido, Japan.

This was my 6th cruise but 1st with Princess. I've cruised 4x with Crystal, 1x with Celebrity.

 

 

...Clueless personnel (not equipped with any Princess uniform/hat/jacket/flag) was responsible for Russian excursion. On and on and on.

 

 

Just a note on this: I believe Crystal cruises may have all-inclusive shore excursions, where your tour guide is actually a Crystal Cruises employee. While this is typical of all-inclusive cruises, this is not the case for other mass-market lines like Princess (or Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, etc.). So the staff during your Russian excursion would not have been employed by Princess, and therefore would not have had a Princess uniform/hat/jacket/flag.

 

Hope that helps, and hope you give Princess another try! For what it's worth, I've been on 15 cruises (both river and ocean) and find Princess food to be better than most--better even than Viking, which is supposed to be a high-end gourmet experience (and with which I was rather disappointed).

[elliair]

I'm with DON on this one (color me amazed for once!): cross-contamination is when utensils used on raw food are then used on cooked food, bringing bacteria from before the cooking to after. In this case, it's post-cooked/uneaten and post-cooked/uneaten.

 

Think of it this way: imagine for a moment that you ordered two lobsters. Staff brings it table-side, and proceeds to de-shell both lobsters. Both were likely cooked in the same pot. Would you ask the staff to switch utensils between the first lobster and the second? If they didn't, would you go to management to complain? If you did complain, what reasoning would you use?

 

 

That's a good question. I see no harm in what the waitress did. OP, don't ever try Carnival, you'd be more than appalled. I'd stick with Crystal IMHO.

[shredie]

By no means am I trying to badmouth Princess.

 

Thank goodness for that. :rolleyes:

Edited August 16, 2016 by shredie

[RDC1]

We were on Diamond Princess for a 9 day cruise around Hokkaido, Japan.

This was my 6th cruise but 1st with Princess. I've cruised 4x with Crystal, 1x with Celebrity.

 

To be honest, I was quite flabbergasted by how bad the cruise was. Especially shocking was:

1. The crew's attitude. The crew was completely cheerless: you could tell they were doing their job as if they are on an assembly line. No friendly greetings in the hallway. Some staff were not trained properly. At Sabatini, the waitress had somebody else's lobster shell on a plate and proceeded to deshell my lobster using the same utensils and plate she'd already used for another guest. Clueless personnel (not equipped with any Princess uniform/hat/jacket/flag) was responsible for Russian excursion. On and on and on.

 

2. The food in the Main Dining Room. Many nights we skipped the MDR since the food was just horrendous: portion was tiny and ingredients were subpar. Thank goodness for the 14th Deck.

 

3. The attempt to nickel and dime the passengers (my jaw dropped when after paying $30 for Bingo, Princess refused to provide pencils to mark the paper...instead expecting us to shell out a further $2.5 for special markers).

 

By no means am I trying to badmouth Princess. In fact, despite the bad service, I am not discounting the idea of a future Princess cruise. I really liked the room layout and the fact that pretty much dresscode was casual throughout the cruise.

 

So, did we just have bad luck with a bad crew? Should we give Princess another try?

 

I suspect that Princess would prefer that you would not.

 

Far better for a business for a customer to go away instead of coming back and complaining publicly. From the scope of your dislike the entire crew, the MD in its entirety (portions and quality) and their business practices, you will not be happy with another Princess cruise.