Club class rooms

[moki'smommy]

True, but one of what used to be a unique feature of Princess cruises was that once boarding started (usually around noon) the cabins would be ready.

 

In a rush to make Princess look just like Carnival, RCI, Celebrity, etc., Princess has joined those lines in not having cabins available before 1 PM or later.

Absolutely correct. And being able to drop carry ons at your room before starting your cruise is a lovely thing. But there are few, if any, lines remaining that have rooms ready at boarding.

 

If I had to choose, I'd rather board at 11 or 12 and not have the room ready till 1 than wait in the terminal till 1.

[jimbob70]

On Carnival the rooms for Platinum and Diamond are given priority and are always ready at early boarding. The rest of the cabins are set for the 1 PM "standard." So that might be a direction they could head with this. Our upcoming cruise in March will be our first with Princess, we did book a club suite and in addition to the dining already mentioned, I would add the priority boarding to the list. Arrive any time instead of the time they assign to you. We are staying the night before in Ft. Lauderdale so we will taxi over there at the earliest time possible.

[voljeep]

the priority boarding may gain you 5-10 minutes - which may be huge depending what your are planning to do immediately upon boarding...

 

however...your 'assigned' boarding time was only a suggestion and largely ignored

 

show up when you want - get in your line/group - get on

[westendgirl]

True, but one of what used to be a unique feature of Princess cruises was that once boarding started (usually around noon) the cabins would be ready.

 

In a rush to make Princess look just like Carnival, RCI, Celebrity, etc., Princess has joined those lines in not having cabins available before 1 PM or later.

 

I agree Caribill. We were on the Caribbean's July 14 sailing and it was the first time in over 50 Princess cruises that the staterooms weren't ready when we boarded. It was cumbersome to lug our carry-ons to lunch and there were huge bottlenecks by the elevators just prior to 1:00 PM, waiting for the access doors to be opened. Scores of people were sitting on the stairs while they waited. Not good, Princess. :(

Edited July 28, 2018 by westendgirl
wrong word used

[voljeep]

Agree - the staggered boarding times will fix that 'problem' when enforced...

 

of course with the BVE's, Wedding parties, Suites, Elites, Platinums...wonder how much even that would help? :confused:

[moki'smommy]

I'm curious as to why the recent change to cabins not being ready (officially) till 1pm. I do understand it when boarding is delayed due to noro cleaning, but what has happened in the last year to change the turnover process? If cabins were available at 11 previously, what has changed?

[voljeep]

fewer stewards cleaning more rooms???:confused:

[moki'smommy]

fewer stewards cleaning more rooms???:confused:

That's the obvious possibility, but is it the correct explanation? I noticed on our last cruise that steward started preparing things for turn over at the last night turn down. "Extra" things were removed from the cabin (blanket, robes, etc). I tend to be a cleaner upper on that day anyhow, tossing papers and things that might have accumulated, but found his preps to be interesting...especially removing "my" blanket so I couldn't use it the last night. Or maybe he feared I'd pack it....no thanks.

[TheRabbit]

I'm curious as to why the recent change to cabins not being ready (officially) till 1pm. I do understand it when boarding is delayed due to noro cleaning' date=' but what has happened in the last year to change the turnover process? If cabins were available at 11 previously, what has changed?[/quote']

This is just my take. I remember going to our room and finding it ready, but others were not. Things were everywhere in the halls, rooms where wide open, etc. I have wondered if cruisers had dropped of carry-ons in open rooms which would have caused more work for the Steward. The other thing I thought of was someone may have hurt themselves with everything in the halls. If so, could be an insurance thing. Might be a good question for the Hotel manager should anyone sit with him at a most travelled passenger lunch.

[moki'smommy]

Might be a good question for the Hotel manager should anyone sit with him at a most travelled passenger lunch.

Good idea.

We were in a window suite on our last cruise, and every cabin along the hallway seemed to be finished. Ours was, and there were no carts or anything else in the hallways.

 

Yes, I know what you mean about the halls on disembarkation day...we've encountered that previously when we were disembarking...it was quite impossible to use the hallway to get to breakfast with all the carts, laundry bags, etc.

[sckal]

I wonder if they have anything set for those whoe need wheelchair assistance to get on the ship? My elderly parent uses a walker, but we rent a wheelchair delivered to our cabin as it's much easier for me to just push her than her trying to walk long distances on the ship. I hope they don't bring her on then drop her off in a public space, then leave us to our own devices to brave the crowds all trying to get to their staterooms.

[moki'smommy]

I wonder if they have anything set for those whoe need wheelchair assistance to get on the ship? My elderly parent uses a walker, but we rent a wheelchair delivered to our cabin as it's much easier for me to just push her than her trying to walk long distances on the ship. I hope they don't bring her on then drop her off in a public space, then leave us to our own devices to brave the crowds all trying to get to their staterooms.

Daughter uses a wheelchair to get on and off the ship. Wheelchair assist on Princess could be a whole lot better. Last time we signed up on "the list" as we were told to, and found probably 15 people waiting with no evidence that any assisted boarding was happening. When we checked in, we asked whether the gangway was flat, steep, or whatever, and she decided to just board herself using walker rather than waiting since it was flat. Not great, because there was no place for her to put on the braces (needed for walking distances with rollator). But she made it work. For disembarkation, we went to the designated place at the designated time (we'd been waiting earlier in the suite/elite area)....and we waited and waited. We were literally the last ones off the ship "because we showed up late." No, we didn't. We showed up 5 minutes before we were told to!

 

This wasn't the first time that assisted disembarkation was a disorganized mess. It was the worst time we'd experienced with embarkation. I really wondered because our other trips did not leave from FLL. If Port Everglades, as home port was such a mess, I don't get it. We had to ask repeatedly where the HA assist area was in the terminal Twice we were told there was no such thing!

 

When they have assisted at boarding, they have taken her all the way to the cabin. She's never been "dumped" in a public area. On other lines, even when cabins were supposedly not ready, they have allowed wheelchair and scooter people to briefly stop in their cabins to arrange what needed to happen for mobility. This was the first time with the 1pm cabin availability on Princess for us...we went to our cabin and found it ready.

 

Perhaps if they tell you that they can't take her to the cabin, have them take her to the dining room that is serving lunch. After lunch, you can go to the cabin and get the chair for her.