Royal Princess "Letter to the Editor"

[marco]

Did anyone else see the "Complaints About Royal Princess" in the letter to the editor in the latest edition of "Cruise Travel"? Not very complimentary, to say the least. We were on it last year and more recently on the "Caribbean Princess". I do have to particularly agree with the comment about recorded music, particularly around the pool area being way too loud, as that our experience on both the"Royal" (2 times) and "Caribbean". The rest of the comments reflect rather poorly on the cruise.

[JF - retired RRT]

A link would have been helpful.:)

[Crystabel]

I haven’t read the letter, as we don’t subscribe to the magazine, but we recently spent twenty-five days on the Royal Princess and loved her. Agree that a quote or link would be helpful.

[Essiesmom]

Cruise Travel magazine only comes in hard copy. EM

[casofilia]

How about a "Scan, Cut and Paste"?

[fishywood]

That magazine has always struck me as just a vanity publication by a couple freelance travel writers. Used to buy it at Barnes & Noble a few years ago. Is there anyone here who subscribes?--I wouldn't risk pre-paying for issues of a magazine whose future existence seems tenuous at best.

[PrincessLuver]

That magazine has always struck me as just a vanity publication by a couple freelance travel writers. Used to buy it at Barnes & Noble a few years ago. Is there anyone here who subscribes?--I wouldn't risk pre-paying for issues of a magazine whose future existence seems tenuous at best.

 

We subscribe and it seems that anyone can write almost anything to the editor and they seem to publish it whether it is factual or not. I have read quite a few rant letters which did not relate to our experiences on the same ships....:halo:

[Astro Flyer]

We subscribe and it seems that anyone can write almost anything to the editor and they seem to publish it whether it is factual or not. I have read quite a few rant letters which did not relate to our experiences on the same ships....:halo:

I subscribed to Cruise Travel from mid-1980 until cancelling several years ago because too much of the content wasn’t helpful, the size had decreased & too many advertisements.

 

I agree about the letters to the editor which too often were rants by upset passengers. They lacked objectivity & like you we had much different experiences than in those letters.

 

We had a great transatlantic cruise on the Royal in October 2017. I cannot read the letter but based on the OPs post it reflected rather poorly on the Royal. There are enough reviews posted on CC and a summary of a Cruise Travel letter to the editor is not useful to me.

[indygirl99]

We subscribe and it seems that anyone can write almost anything to the editor and they seem to publish it whether it is factual or not. I have read quite a few rant letters which did not relate to our experiences on the same ships....:halo:

 

Kind of like CC.

[CRLess]

Without knowing the content of the article in detail, it's hard to tell what the issues were with the writer. However, I just got off the Royal this morning and did not find any hint of the problems mentioned by the OP. One of our favorite cruises so far....

[TheRabbit]

There are those who will never be satisfied. It almost sounds as if they are trying to be the squeaky wheel and trying to get Princess to oil their palms. For me, when I see this on board, I go the other way.

 

I was participating in an on board fun competition (though a large prize was at stake) one time when the mother of a competitor reached over and tapped on her daughters hand which was the signal that they had made it to the last two. When the lady lifted her head she saw there were still two people under water. The lady raised a big stink and got the last three people to go again. What should have been fun, turned into a lousy event. No-one would tell her it was her mom had done it, the the crew had not seen it. Even though she finally made it to the last two, she still complained afterwards. It is this type of cruiser, I believe, are the ones who go through large efforts to blow unwarranted steam.

[PrincessLuver]

Kind of like CC.

 

Lol.....exactly like CC (You can never criticize a cruise enough!!) ;p

[Essiesmom]

How about a "Scan, Cut and Paste"?

 

Copyright infringement.

 

Synopsis: 1) Deluxe balcony cabin had broken, dirty furniture of thrift shop quality that was never fixed

2) Towels were scratchy rags

3) Shower was broken and not fixed until end of cruise

4) Torn curtains and broken balcony door

5) Guest services staff were inadequate in English

6)Activities great for 20 somethings party animals or teens at day camp. Everything seemed to cost extra

7) Food so bad guests were bringing shopping bags of food back from port

8) Volume of music all over the ship too loud

9)Entertainers amateur level except for string quartet

10) activities and staff totally inadequate for the 70+ age of passengers

11) crew attitude sullen and surly

That's it in brief. He was a bit more detailed about the food...

 

EM

[Astro Flyer]

Copyright infringement.

 

Synopsis: 1) Deluxe balcony cabin had broken, dirty furniture of thrift shop quality that was never fixed

2) Towels were scratchy rags

3) Shower was broken and not fixed until end of cruise

4) Torn curtains and broken balcony door

5) Guest services staff were inadequate in English

6)Activities great for 20 somethings party animals or teens at day camp. Everything seemed to cost extra

7) Food so bad guests were bringing shopping bags of food back from port

8) Volume of music all over the ship too loud

9)Entertainers amateur level except for string quartet

10) activities and staff totally inadequate for the 70+ age of passengers

11) crew attitude sullen and surly

That's it in brief. He was a bit more detailed about the food...

 

EM

Thanks for taking the time to share a summary of their rant.

 

Based on their complaints, their review lacks credibilty to me because it appears to be written by a chronic complainer. :loudcry:

[satxdiver]

I agree it sounds like someone who never is happy and has to make all the rest of us unhappy like him.

 

There is a magazine that only publishes a printed copy in the 21st century! I look for them to go the way of the dodo bird.

[geoherb]

We have had several of the same problems on cruises: a balcony door that was hard to open, music too loud for my taste, and an occasional experience with a crew member who was less than friendly. I still had great cruises. The complaint doesn't seem to have much merit, however, when they mention a string quartet. Has Princess had a full string quartet recently? On our last few cruises, including the Royal in December, there were string duos.

[fishywood]

Has Princess had a full string quartet recently? On our last few cruises, including the Royal in December, there were string duos.

 

I was on Royal the end of November and there was a four piece classical group called Rhapsody. Technically a quartet but only two strings: violin, upright bass, piano and drums. They were excellent, and the guitar and piano entertainers average at best, so the reviewer in question may have seen the same musical acts as on our respective cruises. (I wonder if the letter included their date of sailing).

[waltd]

Copyright infringement.

 

Synopsis: 1) Deluxe balcony cabin had broken, dirty furniture of thrift shop quality that was never fixed

2) Towels were scratchy rags

3) Shower was broken and not fixed until end of cruise

4) Torn curtains and broken balcony door

5) Guest services staff were inadequate in English

6)Activities great for 20 somethings party animals or teens at day camp. Everything seemed to cost extra

7) Food so bad guests were bringing shopping bags of food back from port

8) Volume of music all over the ship too loud

9)Entertainers amateur level except for string quartet

10) activities and staff totally inadequate for the 70+ age of passengers

11) crew attitude sullen and surly

That's it in brief. He was a bit more detailed about the food...

 

EM

The last comment in the article was " If you want quality Cruising book with Crystal" That says a lot.

[LDVinNC]

Have subscribed to the magazine for probably 30 years. The letters to the editor are usually the most fun part of the magazine to read! There IS good information in many of the articles.

[PrincessLuver]

Copyright infringement.

 

Synopsis: 1) Deluxe balcony cabin had broken, dirty furniture of thrift shop quality that was never fixed

2) Towels were scratchy rags

3) Shower was broken and not fixed until end of cruise

4) Torn curtains and broken balcony door

5) Guest services staff were inadequate in English

6)Activities great for 20 somethings party animals or teens at day camp. Everything seemed to cost extra

7) Food so bad guests were bringing shopping bags of food back from port

8) Volume of music all over the ship too loud

9)Entertainers amateur level except for string quartet

10) activities and staff totally inadequate for the 70+ age of passengers

11) crew attitude sullen and surly

That's it in brief. He was a bit more detailed about the food...

 

EM

 

Just reading #6 tells me that they might have been actually dreaming they were on the Royal and not actually on it....

I would like to know where these activities were for 20 year olds (lol) and the average age was plus 70+ (really, really, really?)....obviously misery loves company:rolleyes:

[Dawniepoo]

That magazine has always struck me as just a vanity publication by a couple freelance travel writers. Used to buy it at Barnes & Noble a few years ago. Is there anyone here who subscribes?--I wouldn't risk pre-paying for issues of a magazine whose future existence seems tenuous at best.

 

My mother has subscribed to Cruise Travel since the 1980s. Back in high school they published one of my letters about our cruise on Sitmar. I remember thinking I was a published writer at the time. I even showed it to my English teacher. It made my year lol :o

[tonit964]

My dad gets this magazine and I read the letter the other day.

I loved # 7! Yeah, right!

[Astro Flyer]

I have read quite a few rant letters which did not relate to our experiences on the same ships....:halo:

 

Kind of like CC.

 

The last comment in the article was " If you want quality Cruising book with Crystal" That says a lot.

There are enough rants to read on CC & see no reason to create a thread about rants from other sources particularly this one full of exaggerations (6,7,9,10,11) by a Crystal cruiser.

 

If some of the crew were sullen & surly it was probably in reaction to a passenger who dealt with them in a sullen & surly manner while making these ridiculous complaints. :rolleyes:

Edited March 11, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[J-D]

We do subscribe to the magazine in question, and by coincidence saw the published letter/rant about the "Royal Princess" just a few days after we had disembarked from that ship. My initial reaction to the list of complaints was that we did not experience hardly any of those purported issues, though we have our own list of reasons for (on balance) preferring other Princess ships to the "Royal" class. As Princess brings more-and-more "Royal"-class ships into service, and transfers some older ships to other lines, we will no doubt continue to select Princess for some of our cruises, including some on "Royal"-class ships. However, we are looking elsewhere with increasing frequency.

 

J-D

Edited March 11, 2018 by J-D

[rkacruiser]

Have subscribed to the magazine for probably 30 years. The letters to the editor are usually the most fun part of the magazine to read! There IS good information in many of the articles.

 

I'm also a long time subscriber and agree with your opinion about the magazine's content. Lots of ads and the very detailed listings of sailings is something that I find irritating because it occupies pages that could be better used, in my opinion, of course.

 

Re: the letter's author: I find it very hard to believe that guests were bringing bags of food aboard because the ship's cuisine was so poor. I understand that this person had a very unsatisfactory cruise. I expect my Royal Princess cruise in December to fully meet--maybe even exceed--my expectations.