Potential evidence Princess has made too many cutbacks?

[Geoffa30]

We are sailing on the Sky Princess for two weeks starting in Barcelona on 27 October. Our friends were scheduled to join us for the second week starting 3 November in Rome. We are all dedicated Princess cruisers and are all Elite. Our friends have recently returned from a two week cruise on the Royal Princess - the first week was a Mexican Riviera and the second a California coastal ending in Vancouver so the the cruise immediately prior to the start of the Royal’s first Alaska season. We found out yesterday that because of the cutbacks evidenced on the Royal during their cruise, they have cancelled two Princess cruises - one being the upcoming Sky Princess one with us and the other a Spanish Passage TA on the Enchanted Princess. Their comment was around relatively minor points (no more end of cruise log and continual failure of the Medallion leading to multiple replacements before being ultimately  replaced by a cruise card). They also commented about the missing chair and the rising prices despite the obvious cutbacks. They also had a less than stellar experience on the Caribbean Princess late last year.

 

We are obviously disappointed they won’t be joining us but do share some of their frustrations. They are switching allegiance mainly to Costa having sailed with them a couple of times and have a few more booked with them including one that was booked after cancelling the Princess ones. They are also going to try MSC. Seemingly prices of both are half that of Princess. They do expect to sail with Princess again but perhaps not until the next generation of ships arrived in 2023 as they also feel the upcoming Royal Class plus ships aren’t really adding anything new.

 

We will still sail our five currently booked Princess cruises as, despite the cutbacks, we still love their product but having sailed with Viking at Christmas and booked another Viking cruise onboard, we are considering moving more towards Viking. Whilst their cost is higher, they include so much more (flights, gratuities, drinks, excursions, better dining etc.) and once these are added to the cost of a Princess cruise, the prices are pretty comparable.

 

Hopefully  the cutbacks won’t continue too much longer resulting in Princess losing more loyal customers.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Geoffa30

[Pzazzz]

We, also are Elite....nicely stated and totally agree.  We are not ready to make any changes yet - we'll try the Sky and Enchanted and see what happens.  Luv cruise critic.

[neverbeenhere]

The Carnival Corporation will still be fine if loyal cruisers become loyal to Costa cruises. Also, I’m not sure that average financial return on a loyal cruiser is as good as it is on a newby or cruiser that samples lines. 

[Coral]

My last cruise was not on Princess and my next one will not be either. 

 

Not entirely giving up on Princess but they are no longer the "default line" I look at. I am also frustrated at changes onboard (quality of food, etc..) and changes that the "Management" makes such as the recent drink packages. 

 

I cancelled 2 rather large trips with Princess this year. Not thrilled about the product anymore.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Coral

[Cruisercl]

What is an end of cruise log?

Thx. 😊

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Cruisercl said:

What is an end of cruise log?

Thx. 😊

At the end of the cruise, there is a cruise log given out with stats of the cruise. Some sailings seem to give it out and others don't. 

[Cruisercl]

2 minutes ago, Coral said:

At the end of the cruise, there is a cruise log given out with stats of the cruise. Some sailings seem to give it out and others don't. 

Thx!

Never heard it called that before or seen it as a separate thing/document.

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

Thx!

Never heard it called that before or seen it as a separate thing/document.

Thus, the end of it. I did get one last year on my Norway trip. Not something I care about in the Caribbean but on other cruises I do keep them.

 

Heck - they can even email me them at the end of the cruise to save paper.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Coral

[Ombud]

38 minutes ago, Coral said:

At the end of the cruise, there is a cruise log given out with stats of the cruise. Some sailings seem to give it out and others don't. 

I am hoping all paper handouts discontinue with the medallion. Less waste 🤞

[c-boy]

I agree they seem minor but, to each their own. 

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, c-boy said:

I agree they seem minor but, to each their own. 

I doubt it is the log but a combination of cutbacks.

[c-boy]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

I doubt it is the log but a combination of cutbacks.

is it fleet wide,  I mean all the ships? 

Edited June 9, 2019 by c-boy

[Mom33]

Cutbacks and adjustments will be found on all cruise lines. We had a good cruise on Disney last month, but there was room for a lot of improvement  in the food.

Change is good sometimes. Variety is "the spice of life". Looking forward to cruising the Sky in December.😎

[Astro Flyer]

31 minutes ago, Coral said:

I doubt it is the log but a combination of cutbacks.

No log on our Royal Princess B2B cruises last month.

 

However they provided printed advertisements daily to our cabin.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Geoffa30 said:

Their comment was around relatively minor points (no more end of cruise log and continual failure of the Medallion leading to multiple replacements before being ultimately  replaced by a cruise card). They also commented about the missing chair and the rising prices despite the obvious cutbacks. They also had a less than stellar experience on the Caribbean Princess late last year.

We are also dedicated Princess cruisers (but not cheerleaders by any means).

The cutbacks you mentioned seem minor although we have yet to be deterred by them.

We've been on 4 Medallion trips & none had any problems.

We've also received the "Log of the Cruise" on our last few ships & didn't care if we got them or not. 

Same thing with that chair that I'm glad to see gone so the DH doesn't have to move it into the closet to make room.

I do agree with the lousy food on the Caribbean Princess last year and if that were to spread to the other ships we would also be looking to other cruise lines. 

I suppose different items are more important & would cause people to cancel.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

At the end of the cruise, there is a cruise log given out with stats of the cruise. Some sailings seem to give it out and others don't. 

I don''t even take it off the ship. Not interested. I know where I've just been.

[neverbeenhere]

But you ate part of that 2,150 dozen eggs. 

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

My last cruise was not on Princess and my next one will not be either. 

 

Not entirely giving up on Princess but they are no longer the "default line" I look at. I am also frustrated at changes onboard (quality of food, etc..) and changes that the "Management" makes such as the recent drink packages. 

 

I cancelled 2 rather large trips with Princess this year. Not thrilled about the product anymore.

THIS!!

 

Princess used to be "my" line and I was 100% loyal to them for a while. However, as stated by many others on this thread, the constant cuts and the disappearance of small things that used to make Princess stand out are disappointing. My last cruise was on Royal Princess in March and was the worst cruise i have taken - ever. Like the OP, it was relatively minor things but when you have 10 minor things happen over 7 days, it turns into a major frustration! As soon as I returned home, I cancelled two Princess cruises I had booked (one on Royal, one on Sky) and thought I wouldn't sail Princess again for a while. I have calmed down some since then and am going to Alaska on Royal (the price was too good to turn down) and will give them another chance. I now sail whatever line has the price/itinerary that works and have really enjoyed NCL!

[c-boy]

1 minute ago, JF - retired RRT said:

I don''t even take it off the ship. Not interested. I know where I've just been.

I/we  leave ours behind also. I'm a stats kinda guy so I'll read it. I find it interesting the amount of food prepped and or consumed, fuel used and alcohol consumed. If not satisfied with the numbers on alcohol consumption, I will drink my way off the ship eventually adding to the bottom line. 

[karatemom2]

We were on the Royal for the cruise from LA to Vancouver and didn’t find it lacking. We are Elite as well and have seen changes over the years but none that would be deal breakers for us. We actually loved the Medallion - we view it as a major upgrade. The Medallion Net is a big plus in our estimation. We really enjoyed the deluxe balcony cabin with the sofa. The new beds are heavenly - a big improvement over the old hard beds. We found the food very consistent with what we have always experienced and the buffet much improved over our past cruises. We have also appreciated the addition of new and improved production shows over the past few years. All in all we see the Princess product as improving and modernizing. As far as things like the drink packages - that isn’t all that big of deal to us. We have found it less expensive to just buy our drinks as we want them and not bother with a package. The Medallion makes this extra easy - bringing drinks to where you are by ordering through the app. So I guess it’s all relative - we don’t really miss things like the cruise log or drink packages but really like some of the new options. For us, Princess still is a good value and delivers a great product - we just booked another cruise on the Royal for later this year and a cruise on the Golden for next year. 

[geocruiser]

We also have been looking at other cruise lines that we have sailed on before.  The only reason that we are doing this is because of the missing chair in a regular balcony cabin.  We need a place for both of us to sit (and not on a bed).  This we feel it is basic comfort for us.

So, now when I look for a cruise I an looking at other line.  If I can get a deluxe balcony for the same or near same price of a balcony, the we sail Princess, if not there are many lines to choose from that offer you a place to sit in your cabin.

[Coral]

Most of my original friends who I cruised with on Princess have now moved on to different lines. I think they probably would have stayed if every year there wasn't additional cut backs.

 

For those still happy with the line - more power to you. I hope you are still happy in 5 years also. My guess is you will be tired of the cuts in the previous 5 years.

 

Medallion net is something that should have been done 10 years ago - other lines have had far faster internet for years.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Coral

[voljeep]

11 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

THIS!!

 

Princess used to be "my" line and I was 100% loyal to them for a while. However, as stated by many others on this thread, the constant cuts and the disappearance of small things that used to make Princess stand out are disappointing. My last cruise was on Royal Princess in March and was the worst cruise i have taken - ever. Like the OP, it was relatively minor things but when you have 10 minor things happen over 7 days, it turns into a major frustration! As soon as I returned home, I cancelled two Princess cruises I had booked (one on Royal, one on Sky) and thought I wouldn't sail Princess again for a while. I have calmed down some since then and am going to Alaska on Royal (the price was too good to turn down) and will give them another chance. I now sail whatever line has the price/itinerary that works and have really enjoyed NCL!

if you didn't like Royal before ( we do like both Regal and Royal ) you're really not going to like the Royal in Alaska

 

those fire  sales are there for a reason ...

Edited June 9, 2019 by voljeep

[neverbeenhere]

Ignorance will be bliss when loyalists move to another line as they won’t miss what has been “cut back” on that line. 

[Coral]

Just now, voljeep said:

if you didn't like Royal before ( we do like both Regal and Royal ) you're really not going to like the Royal in Alaska

 

those fire house sales are there for a reason ...

Alaska is all about the scenery and time in ports.