Just Off the Crown Princess - April 22-May 6. We are leaving Princess.

[Thrak]

It is truly sad how certain crew members can adversely affect a cruise. We had poopy food on a cruise and then half way through it became wonderful. It seems the head chef changed mid cruise when one left and another came aboard. Night and day. The "leader" of any area can have a major impact. Of course it also can come down to individual staff. I know that there were some people where I used to work who didn't give a damn. I really cared a lot about those whom I supported. Guess who's "people" were happier. I thought it was my job to do the best I could do not only for my department but also for those who depended on me for assistance. At least one other with the same job (in a different part of the state) felt that everything was an imposition and the people he supported were all "morons". (Of course some of the folks I supported made me want to slap the heck out of them but I never let on and was always polite and helpful. That was part of the job.) My point is that even one or two people can make an entire area of service seem bad.

 

It's truly a bummer that the OP had a "bad" cruise although it sounds as if most of the crew met all expectations. A crummy bed - report it and get it fixed. A crummy server - address the issue but only if it really is an actual issue. I have to wonder if there was some sort of prejudice in play such as the server having a major problem with the OP who is from Argentina. As sad as it is this sort of thing can happen. The only major issue I have ever seen on a Princess cruise (admittedly I am not vastly experienced...) seemed to mostly be a passenger who seemed to have a major issue with a crew member for no other reason than nationality. The passenger pitched a fit and wanted the crew member fired. We were questioned by an officer as we were nearby when the incident occurred and assured the officer that the crew member acted with all deference and pretty much bent over backward to accommodate the passenger. All we could figure out was that the passenger had some sort of an issue with the ethnicity of the crew member. Sad and stupid. (The palpable relief of the crew member when we gave our "evidence" was sad as well. It was terrible that he was obviously in fear of instant dismissal due to some ******* of a passenger.)

[pompeii]

We were on the TA that ended in Southampton the day the OP embarked. It was a fabulous cruise from start to finish, with our only snafu also involving the MDR. We had requested a table for 6 both on our personalizer and over the phone with a Princess rep (trying to cover our bases), to find that we were assigned a table for 10. I wouldn't have bothered to request a change myself, but dh wears hearing aids and he couldn't hear a thing half the table was saying. 10 tops are oblong in shape and one end is kind of far from the other, and the ambient noise from the rest of the DR was too much for him to filter out. It took a little bit of pointed persuasion from us to get the maitre d' to move us, which could have been done much more graciously. Anyway, the second night we were at a table for 6 and all was well for the rest of the cruise.

 

To me, many of the OP's complaints are really nothing to "quit" a cruise line over.....too much rice on your plate? Only 3 performers in the atrium? The headwaiter coming over to visit your table? 12 people in a van advertised as holding 12? Trying to enter the MDR not wearing formal wear on formal night? I do agree about the supervisor berating staff in front of passengers.....I have seen that myself and it is uncomfortable for everyone.

 

To those of you booked on the Crown, we loved our cruise and I would say don't worry. You'll find bad reviews of any ship and by the time you sail, many of the crew will have changed.

[jab12]

We were on the Crown earlier this year from Buenos Aires to Chile. We loved the destinations but the ship experience was a big disappointment. This was our 10th cruise with Princess and definitely the worst. We had been on the Crown a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience and had no hesitation in booking this cruise but unfortunately there seemed to be lots of issues. Our cabin steward was the worst ever - cleanliness of cabin left a lot to be desired and he was hard to speak to as always on own personal mobile phone, there were terrible problems with tenders, we couldn't sit quietly in the atrium for a coffee and a chat without an exercise class barging into tables etc (don't get me wrong I use the gym and like to exercise but not in the middle of a public eating area !), Horizon Court was really poor and they ran out of quite a few basic supplies, and the staff generally had a couldn't be bothered attitude. I could go on but I think enough said to make a point. We were so disappointed we thought long and hard about cancelling our cruise next April to Japan and Voyage of the Glaciers on the Golden Princess - but in the end decided that the other 9 cruises with Princess have been great so felt that this might (hopefully) be a one off and that we shouldnt be to hasty in writing them off totally. However, we certainly wouldn't book another on the Crown unless there were many reviews stating that things had seriously improved - we just wonder what has happened to make such a big difference since our last cruise on her.

[JimmyVWine]

It is difficult to know what to make of this. You admit to never attending formal nights as you don't bring the proper attire, but have attended them on a couple of occasions when specifically invited to by the maitre'd. This time you did not receive such an invitation, did not bring proper formal night attire, and yet you complain when you were not admitted to the dining room. The biggest transgression was the staff enforcing its well-publicized dress code. Rare, I admit. But not unheard of and certainly not a sin of commission. As for the disparity between your foursome's attire and the attire of others who were admitted into the MDR, no one can say. That would really require pictures for proper comparison. And as for the attitude and rudeness of the maitre'd, again, that is a "you'd have to be there to evaluate it" kind of thing. To the person who is being refused admission, rudeness would no doubt be perceived. To the tuxedo clad person who overheard the conversation, perhaps his take on it was: "Good for him. I am glad to see Princess taking a stand on this." It's the old "it depends on whose ox is getting gored" situation.

 

As for the remainder of the complaints, seems like you got a bad draw in the "mattress sweepstakes". That said, the mattresses are all being changed fleet-wide, and somebody has to be the last one to have an old mattress. Might have been you. On balance, I am not going to flee from a cruise line that is aggressively replacing mattresses with some of the best on the Seven Seas simply because I was one of the last ones to get a new one. But I understand the disappointment. It all comes down to how you approach it. If you think that Princess was specifically targeting you, saw you coming, and immediately put a craptastic mattress in your cabin, then you should take your business elsewhere. If you think that you just got unlucky and that your cabin was one of the last to get changed over, then perhaps this is one that you should shrug off.

 

In the end, it is your money and your choice. If you are convinced that there are cruise lines that offer a better overall experience for the money paid, then you would be foolish not to pursue those options. If you think that the overall Princess experience has, for you, been the best vacation for the dollar and that you just had a "bad cruise", (it does happen), then perhaps diving back into the cruise ship dating pool won't work out as well as you hoped. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[san diego sue]

We were on the Crown in October 2015 for 28 days. Our mattress had what appeared to be a big hole in the middle.

First night in bed when I lay down, I slid to the foot of the bed. No mattress to change to(said the room steward) so he filled the hole with blankets. Still really not good but a bit better. That was a total disgrace. We should have gone above our room steward and demanded another mattress. they must have some for emergencies. So our own fault for not being proactive.

Will be on the Crown for three cruises this summer and you can bet if the mattress is damaged will go all the way to the top if necessary. We cruise often on Princess and have had comfy mattresses (Ruby, Regal, Royal) and hard

like a slab of concrete ones. As long as the mattress is not damaged with broken springs (or whatever holds it together),we are fine .

[yags]

We will be on the Crown in July....I really hope it is not as bad as posted. Its been a while since we sailed with them. So we were looking forward to this trip...We stopped sailing NCL for similar reasons many years ago....

 

Do not worry. We had a bad experience at the Crown Grill. When posted there were equally as many travelers who had a good experience.

 

Given our circumstances and the cruise I would go back on the Crown Princess in a heartbeat. In fact June of 2018 we are going on her sister ship the Grand. It is all subjective and sometimes retired posters have too much time on their hands. Have a great trip.

 

BTW we LOVED the International café.

[oskidunker]

The dress code seems to not be enforced all the time. They should either enforce it or not. Hard to understand why there can not be a fleet wide norm

that could be followed.

 

I like to dress up but many do not. I can see formal night going away.

 

 

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[1emerald1]

A bit of back story. We have cruised10 times and of those 8 were with Princess. I say were because wehave decided to spend our money elsewhere. Our cruises with Princessstarted in the late 1990's and we have been pleased. We only hadinedible food from the Lido on one of the Grand ships.

 

 

This cruise on the Crown was the worstwe have ever experienced with Princess. I will begin by saying thatif anyone has snarky comments or wants to argue their point I willnot respond. This has been our experience and if you have a questionI will do my best to answer honestly.

 

 

We arrived at Southampton in theafternoon and breezed through embarkation because we were the onlyones in the terminal. We were on board in less than 5 minutes! Our cabin steward was attentive and friendly. Oh my freakinggod.........the bed was horrendous. My single side had the largestcrater and as I kneeled on it I softly face planted onto my husband! I was laughing and rolled over only to land in the crater on my backand like a turtle, no matter what I did I couldn't get out. So Ihad nightly dreams of my bed at home.

 

 

Two friends joined us on this cruiseand we choose Anytime Dining. Our first night at the dining room thewaiter and assistant were virtually non existent, they didn'tintroduce themselves or come back to ask how things were, fill waterglasses or ask if we needed anything. We looked at each other as ifto say, “Where are we?” Our friends have been with Princess fora long time also so they were on the same page and were veryconfused.

 

 

The next night we found the Maitre d'and asked if we could change to Traditional Dining which was noproblem and were given a table for 4.

 

 

Now comes the warning to all of youbecause I am going to be talking about Formal Night. Again, this hasbeen our experience and is related honestly. We always dressbusiness casual and we do not attend Formal Nights except twice whenon two different Princess ships the Maitre d' asked if we wouldattend and we told him we would not because we only wear businesscasual. Both times they said it was fine and they would love towelcome us into the dining room because they did not like to turnpeople away if they were dressed nicely.

 

 

So, on to the first formal night on ourcruise. We were waiting for our friends back by the stairs while wewatched others go into the dining room to gauge if there was anyonedressed in business casual and if they were turning people away. Wesaw a handful of men in shirts less business like than my husbandsand one man in a very old worn and torn sweater and none of those hadon a tie.

 

 

Our friends showed up and we made ourway to the door. At the hand sanitizing station the head waiterloudly told my husband he was not allowed in the dining room and wasrequired to be in formal wear. We didn't say a word and left ourfriends standing there alone. Our waiter was very upset that we werenot allowed in but there was nothing for him to do. Publichumiliation from a supervisor to a passenger is a disgusting practiceand he was representing Princess as he did this. It could have beenhandled much more politely and quietly as not to cause a scene. Wewere offered a tie from our friends but choose not to justify thehead waiter's decision.

 

 

If Princess chooses to make FormalDress Mandatory, which it is only a wish and suggestion right now,then they must enforce it to the ladies also. I saw so many women onformal night in long moo moo beach dresses with rubber flip flops andmaybe ones that were sparkly. In no way, shape, or form is thatconsidered formal. Princess, don't just pick on the men here, beconsistent throughout all ships and either let in everyone fromformal to business casual or have a Princess Police at the door toturn people away because one person is not happy with what you haveon that night.

 

 

We attended the regular dinners andevery night the head waiter would either avoid our table or come overand specifically speak to and look directly at our friends and notacknowledge us at all. One night after the last formal night hecame over and said in a very condescending tone, “It is nice to seethe table full again!” Wow, that was really uncalled for.

 

 

We wrote a letter and dropped it off atthe front desk the next night after we were turned away and did nothear from anyone the entire cruise. We have filled out our emailquestionnaire and voiced our opinions on several matters concerningthe same head waiter and a supervisor in the Lido. We witnessed thissupervisor loudly dress down a crew member. As I walked passedwithin inches I could see her face burst into tears and I could tellthe man was angry. There is no reason to for any supervisor tochastise a worker and humiliate them publicly in front of passengersand fellow crew members. Again, there are other ways handle thosesituations.

 

 

Food – In the Lido was much betterthan in the dining room. The choices were abundant, the food was hotand the salads were fresh and crisp. In the dining room the foodwas either extremely salty to the point of being not even dog worthyor lacking any flavor at all. The portion sizes were huge or smallalmost appetizer size depending on what you ordered. The dishes werebarely warm when they arrived. The classic Caesar Salad was sounappetizing it looked like it had been sitting on the pass forhours. It was soggy and wilted and very sad. Our friend and I hadon two different nights the Fettuccine Alfredo. How can one mess upthat old standard favorite that Princess has been doing for years. One night the noodles were over cooked mush and the other they werenot even close to al dente and were chewy.

 

 

I was not feeling up to par one nightand asked for a small bowl of rice. What comes to mind would beplate with rice on it in the form of round overturned bowl so itlooks nice maybe with a little parsley as a garnish....that seems nottoo unreasonable, right? Our waiter was so embarrassed andapologized when he set the bowl in front of me and I looked at it andthen up at him with a shocked look on my face. The bowl was the sizeof a platter and the rice was just plopped in and almost overflowing.It was really disgusting looking and I felt like whoever was in thekitchen was like.........OK you want RICE, here is your F...ing RICE!

 

 

We spoke to another passenger that saidhe asked to have someone help him with his severe garlic allergy andthey told him they would see what they could do but would notguarantee anything and never came to help him. He is not new toPrincess either.

 

 

The cutbacks are obvious everywhere. They have a Strings Group playing in the Piazza and if you arereading this and have any musical background you might want to sitdown. We were talking to a passenger that had been on since FortLauderdale and he said that two of the three women left and had to bereplaced because Princess refused to hire a fourth member. Ok,when a piece of classical music is written for a String “Quartet”you must have 4 string instruments to play the piece. The women didadmirably for how hard it was to play without an essential part ofthe group. Really, Princess......this is beyond ridiculous.

 

 

The hard sell was more than in the pastand we felt like they hired the hawkers from shore because everywherewe turned we were asked to purchase one thing or another. One of theshore excursions we took was hugely misrepresented in the descriptionon the website and in the brochure. It was termed a “Small Group”to Portofino, Santa Margherita and Rapallo from Genoa. It was moreexpensive and appeared to be intimate with 12 people in the smallvan. But, there was 4 vans with 12 all going to the same place atthe same time along with the large tour buses and when we got on theboat we where with our small group and many others on a standardlarge ferry boat. If you are thinking of doing this one, the vanswere so cramped my knees were hitting the seat in front of me and Iam only 5 foot tall. We would have been better off with a large busand it would have been much cheaper too.

 

 

 

The Crew was as usual outstanding andwe always had smiles and laughter and professionalism from them. It is a shame that in our minds Princess has devolved into a companythat does not respect their passengers or their crew. We will becanceling the two cruises we have booked with them for next year andare looking into Azamara and Celebrity instead.

I always dress for formal night and enjoy those that do as well, especially the guys, you all look so handsome in a suit and tie! I was on the Royal this past April and the first night one of the couples at dinner explained that they drove to the port, but before leaving the husband decided to go to the office to do a little bit of work first and left the suitcase that had their good clothes in the office. They were horrified and said they would not be joining us on formal night. They were a lovely couple and I encouraged them to come as they were, as the dress code is not that well enforced anyway. They did join us on formal nights and were not questioned.

 

 

Regarding your comment on flashy flip flops, just prior to a previous cruise I got a nail fungus infection from a bad pedicure and had to have my big toe nail removed. As I could not fit my foot into a shoe, I bought the sparkly flip flops as that was all I could wear, so sometimes we all should not be so quick to judge (including myself)!

[Potstech]

For those choosing not to abide by the suggested dress codes, maybe you should have some printed posts by our most vocal supporter of the "I'm on vacation, I'll wear what I want." member to hand to the Matre' D.

 

Talk about snarky postings. And you are not even on topic.

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

We sailed the Crown TA arriving Southampton April 22 and it was our worst cruise ever and we have done a few (I hate the I've done # cruises statement, or I'm Elite )

Why oooooh why I hear you ask -

Because WE choose the wrong cruise and cabin location, nothing to do with the ship, which I agree is ready for it's refit or the fact we were on Riviera and the deck hands put the chairs away around midnight after MUTS and put them back out around 06:30 ready for the chair hoggers.

After our first TA in 2015, which we enjoyed but unlike our previous cruises, we didn't rave about, dumb and dumber that we are went and booked another TA. Now if we were people of a different mind set, I could have written a post about, every tiny thing which wasn't perfect, because nothing in life is, we had a couple of issues whilst on board, which we either spoke to our cabin steward or popped along to the desk and hey guess what - they were sorted.

I believe, sometimes peoples expectations are far to high or they try to break the rules and get annoyed when they can't then take to writing a negative review instead of looking in the mirror.

[DrJohn]

We arrived at Southampton in theafternoon and breezed through embarkation because we were the onlyones in the terminal. We were on board in less than 5 minutes! Our cabin steward was attentive and friendly. Oh my freakinggod.........the bed was horrendous. My single side had the largestcrater and as I kneeled on it I softly face planted onto my husband! I was laughing and rolled over only to land in the crater on my backand like a turtle, no matter what I did I couldn't get out. So Ihad nightly dreams of my bed at home.

 

We were on the Crown cruise just before the TA -- and your comments reminded us of the mattresses on our cruise! But the GM told us at the most traveled passenger cocktail party that they would be changing all the mattresses in the suites and minisuites during the next cruise. But apparently those in balconies and below would just have to suffer!

 

But it is not just the Crown, on the Caribbean Princess in September we had the worst mattresses ever! The steward tried and tried with pads and such but they were still hideous.

 

Yes, Princess has developed a real problem with the basics, what used to be our favorite cruise line is taking a deep dive to the bottom of the barrel. We share your concerns and while we still have a couple Princess cruises still on the books, we will see how those go before saying never again. But we are now trying other cruise lines we sailed with before and finding they have improved significantly. So if Princess can't provide the basics we know what cruise lines can provide the basics and much much more!

 

John

[Bemidji Ty]

"And you are not even on topic"

 

 

"At the hand sanitizing station the head waiterloudly told my husband he was not allowed in the dining room and wasrequired to be in formal wear."

[mellon1]

So we are going on Crown in Jan 2018 for 30+ days and am real worried now. We are in a suite so when were those beds changed out? We have had the mattresses with the craters and also had blankets etc. put under to help. Last few cruises we lucked out with the new mattresses being scheduled! Lovely.

 

In all our cruises the crew are excellent; thus our loyalty to Princess. We feel they are wonderful people and truly appreciate them making our cruises special.

 

I am just worried now. Maybe those specific crew members had a moment. Think about they are so far away from home and maybe something happened and they were upset.

 

Everyone deserves a second chance. Princess in our opinion is our pick.

 

We were on the Crown cruise just before the TA -- and your comments reminded us of the mattresses on our cruise! But the GM told us at the most traveled passenger cocktail party that they would be changing all the mattresses in the suites and minisuites during the next cruise. But apparently those in balconies and below would just have to suffer!

 

But it is not just the Crown, on the Caribbean Princess in September we had the worst mattresses ever! The steward tried and tried with pads and such but they were still hideous.

 

Yes, Princess has developed a real problem with the basics, what used to be our favorite cruise line is taking a deep dive to the bottom of the barrel. We share your concerns and while we still have a couple Princess cruises still on the books, we will see how those go before saying never again. But we are now trying other cruise lines we sailed with before and finding they have improved significantly. So if Princess can't provide the basics we know what cruise lines can provide the basics and much much more!

 

John

[Working 2 Cruise]

What's so surprising about this is that I've read a couple of reviews, with photos, that the OP did a few years ago. They were great!

 

Maybe they got used to cruising or expecting high standards... I have cruised on the Crown and those cruises were wonderful. I think, in some instances, their expectations were unreasonable but probably not all. Most of their issues were fairly insignificant.

 

I hope they find a cruise line with higher standards.

[elliair]

 

Regarding your comment on flashy flip flops, just prior to a previous cruise I got a nail fungus infection from a bad pedicure and had to have my big toe nail removed. As I could not fit my foot into a shoe, I bought the sparkly flip flops as that was all I could wear, so sometimes we all should not be so quick to judge (including myself)!

 

There's plenty of reasons why people wear the shoes they wear. I have bunions and I can't wear the classy heels and such so the sparkly flip flops I have to wear. My friends husband has to wear tennis shoes, he has nephropathy and cannot wear mens dress shoes. So, you are right about being quick to judge what other people are wearing. I use this common sense phrase for myself: What others think of me is none of my business. Learn and abide by that and nothing about people should matter.

[Lucky TGO]

So sorry you had such a bad cruise.

Tony

[ksm77]

We have been told by crew members in the MDR on several different ships that the Matre'D decides who gets in and who doesn't. Most of the Matre'D's do not want to deal with it, so unless you are wearing beach attire they just let you pass. They tell us there are a few old school hold outs. They are trying to keep standards high in the MDR. We dress on formal night because we like it. I will say though that I wish they would enforce the dress code or do away with it. If I have made the effort to dress formal and I am sitting next to someone in jeans & t-shirt it does take away from the experience for me. As to the other problems on this cruise they don't seem like deal breakers to me but everyone is different. We will be on the Crown in July for 21 days so we are hoping for a great cruise. We were on the Regal over New Years. It is my favorite ship. Having said that we had the worst MRD experience out of 36 cruises on any cruiseline. Yes we brought it to the attention of the Matre'D but it did not get any better. I wrote it up in my Princess review. I never heard another word from Princess. I know you can have a bad experience anywhere. I will not give up on them because of one bad MDR experience. If you have been cruising for many years you have seen a lot of changes over the years on all cruiselines. If you enjoy cruising you must decide if it is still worth it for you. For us it is still a great value for the money. When that is no longer true then we will stop cruising.

[Thrak]

I am actually quite pleased to hear that the Maitre 'd was enforcing the dress code. We dress for formal night or else eat in another venue. We may skip one formal night on our next cruise as there are 4 of them. Then again we may not skip any. We will decide when the time comes.

 

I don't own or rent a tux but I do wear a dark suit. It's not that great a burden to dress up a bit.

[hansi]

My wife and I were on Crown Princess 22 April to 6 May and although there were some very small issues with food,and food is very subjective, we had a very enjoyable time. Our cabin steward couldn't do enough for us, and the Maitre 'D was extremely helpful dealing with my "no alcohol" menu choices. We went to the Indian Bufffet and I can honestly say it was the best Indian food I have ever eaten.Also our meal at the Crown Grill was as usual, excellent.

[BigJH]

We are on the Crown on the 27th May....sorry to hear about your experiences, but I am sure others would have had completely the opposite experience...out of interest what was your cabin number just in case I'm in the same one - I can call ahead and ask for the mattress to be changed (or take so padding to fill the hole...).

 

 

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[socmft]

We are on the Crown on the 27th May....sorry to hear about your experiences, but I am sure others would have had completely the opposite experience...out of interest what was your cabin number just in case I'm in the same one - I can call ahead and ask for the mattress to be changed (or take so padding to fill the hole...).

 

 

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Likewise, would you report back to this thread how your trip went...and your cabin number? Thanks - hope it's all wonderful!!

[BigJH]

Did I miss the cabin number?

 

 

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[wrk2cruz]

Just wondering if anyone purchased their drink package....or how the wine situation was on board the Crown???

[DrivesLikeMario]

Since when can't a classical stringed quartet become a classical stringed trio? The Solstice had one and they were fantastic! Is the music not adaptable?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Since when can't a classical stringed quartet become a classical stringed trio? The Solstice had one and they were fantastic! Is the music not adaptable?

 

The printed music is not. Imagine a 'Barbershop Quartet' in which one of the singers doesn't show up -- the harmonies are all off. Yes, there is music written for string trios -- but if a group was hired as a quartet they may not have brought any other music on board. I haven't yet seen a cruise ship with a branch of Schirmer's ;)