Items on the cruise that you could do without

[vampiress]

oh yeah commercials would be horrible.  i've only witnessed sports games or concerts during the day.  i'm not a sit by the pool type of gal, so it doesn't normally register much.  i seem to always pack multiple swimsuits with intent on swimming, and then never do because i get caught up in other activities. 

[Hlitner]

I had to smile when I saw a post about the "Detroit" parmesan.  On our recent Princess cruises it was hard not to notice that the parmesan had the flavor of cardboard....if it had any flavor at all.  I had no clue that any company produced such a tasteless product.  A few weeks after our most recent Princess cruise (Emerald Princess) we happened to be on a MSC cruise (many consider this to be more of a budget line) and were delighted to discover that they use real parmesan.  It was not Reggiano but was quite decent and actually tasted like cheese.   Come on Princess (hope somebody in purchasing reads this thread), spend a few more dollars and get decent cheese.

 

Hank

[Laurie S.]

Germs do not fly off of napkins, come on people.

[CruiseVA]

The Detroit Parmesan contains, well, wood! 

Ingredients: Ingredients: Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes), Cellulose Powder to Prevent Caking, Potassium Sorbate to Protect Flavor.

[Cruise Raider]

Not really an item but I really don't need morning and evening service from the room steward.  One or the other is enough ... I don't need my bed turned down and I can count the times on one hand when I needed extra towels.  I oftentimes just tell the steward that if he/she doesn't have time, don't worry about our room in the evening.  I'm not trying to cheap out on the tips either, I just think that if they can get done a little early, they have a little more free time for dining, sleeping, relaxing.  They rarely  take us up on that offer though ... I think they've probably been burned in the past.  It's really too bad as we just aren't all that needy.  Just a couple of clean towels and an extra roll of TP and we're good!! 

[neverbeenhere]

53 minutes ago, Laurie S. said:

Germs do not fly off of napkins, come on people.

just food. 😀

[Tatka]

Stupid Baked Alaska Parade with the napkin waving. Art auctions and the attendant paper advertisements. EFFY and their paper advertisements. "Shopping Hosts". Port photo ops with stupid costumes - also the same thing outside the dining rooms. Pushy photographers in the dining room. HEARING SWEET CAROLINE EVER AGAIN!!! (There is no part of the song that actually includes, "so good, so good, so good". GAH!!!)

I so agree! We just heard Sweet Caroline non stop on two RCI cruises for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then on Crown Princess!

I understand it’s very important song for some, but I can live without listening it ever again!!!

[TeaBag]

49 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Not really an item but I really don't need morning and evening service from the room steward.  One or the other is enough ... I don't need my bed turned down and I can count the times on one hand when I needed extra towels.  I oftentimes just tell the steward that if he/she doesn't have time, don't worry about our room in the evening.  I'm not trying to cheap out on the tips either, I just think that if they can get done a little early, they have a little more free time for dining, sleeping, relaxing.  They rarely  take us up on that offer though ... I think they've probably been burned in the past.  It's really too bad as we just aren't all that needy.  Just a couple of clean towels and an extra roll of TP and we're good!! 

I agree.  I often think of leaving a note to tell them to put their feet up for a few minutes and leave our room as it is.  I think the reason they would not take you up on that is that the chief housekeeper could easily land in on the room and put it on the record that they were shirking their duties.

[neverbeenhere]

Sweet Caroline the Macarena or Electric Slide for the 2010’s and 20’s

[Re-tired]

Grumpy people.

[coopco]

On 1/5/2020 at 9:26 AM, memoak said:

In 40 Princess cruises I have never seen a towel animal or dancing singing waiters (unless you count the baked Alaska parade on the last night).  

Please don't get rid of the towel animals. Here's what we got on our last anniversary. It was so cute. Of course, we gave our cabin stewardess rave reviews, on the comment card, on the online survey, with an extra tip, etc., etc. She totally went above and beyond. She even put "Happy Anniversary" on our cabin mirror.

Edited January 7, 2020 by coopco
spelling typo

[Iamcruzin]

The best way to avoid the Baked Alaska parade and napkin waving which they seem to do on every line is to book Anytime Dining.

The paper solicitation won't go away until they figure out a way to deliver it electronically on a monitor. Advertising is a fact of life like taxes and death. The seasoned cruiser just tosses it without a look but the naive newbies eat it up. I once heard a women in the elevator tell her husband that she wants to look at the ammolite jewelry. She read it was becoming extinct.

[New Cruiser Girl 2]

On 1/5/2020 at 11:44 AM, MamaFej said:

The Amazon could be reforested within a few years if cruise lines didn't put so much wasted paper in cabins night after night. 

 

Hopefully, the waste will decrease as more lines go to onboard apps. 

 

Hopefully...

Yes I noticed MUCH LESS paper delivered to our cabin in Sept and I assumed it had to do with it being a Medallion Cruise.  It was refreshing not to be dealing with it !!

[New Cruiser Girl 2]

On 1/5/2020 at 12:32 PM, pablo222 said:

 

Other passengers!

 

I find there are far too many of these.

 

🙂

 

HILARIOUS !!! 

[Iamcruzin]

I can do without the shower curtain that clings to you and the pipeline coffee at the buffet.  Two decades into the 21st Century with many new ways to brew coffee and Princess is using coffee concentrate. I refuse to buy coffee on a cruise ship. The only thing I'm willing to pay for in the morning is a Bloody Mary.

[Cruise Raider]

17 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I agree.  I often think of leaving a note to tell them to put their feet up for a few minutes and leave our room as it is.  I think the reason they would not take you up on that is that the chief housekeeper could easily land in on the room and put it on the record that they were shirking their duties.

 

Sadly, I think you are right!  I think there are also some crazy people that say one thing and then go complain ... never can tell why for sure but, they seem very reluctant to skip making up someone's room.  

 

[smrtwoman]

Formal nights

Cruise Director announcements--read the Patter

Champagne waterfall

[ldubs]

Aww, I'm setting myself up here, but I kind of like the Baked Alaska/napkin parade.  I just have fun with it.  Kind of like doing the chicken dance.  haha.

[I_r_a]

Hi Iam,

 

> I can do without the shower curtain that clings to you and the pipeline coffee at the buffet. 

 

Why do you bring your shower curtain to the buffet?    🙂

 

Ira

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I can do without the shower curtain that clings to you

 

I never have that issue. It's a simple matter to wet the bottom of the curtain and then it sticks to the base of the shower. Problem solved.

[brisalta]

22 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I had to smile when I saw a post about the "Detroit" parmesan.  On our recent Princess cruises it was hard not to notice that the parmesan had the flavor of cardboard....if it had any flavor at all.  I had no clue that any company produced such a tasteless product.  A few weeks after our most recent Princess cruise (Emerald Princess) we happened to be on a MSC cruise (many consider this to be more of a budget line) and were delighted to discover that they use real parmesan.  It was not Reggiano but was quite decent and actually tasted like cheese.   Come on Princess (hope somebody in purchasing reads this thread), spend a few more dollars and get decent cheese.

 

Hank

 

Strange...when I was on the Grand end of September 2019 the waiters supplied real Parmesan which was shaved from a block in front of you.

[leck57]

8 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

The best way to avoid the Baked Alaska parade and napkin waving which they seem to do on every line is to book Anytime Dining.

 

 

Every cruise I've done has had the Alaska parade in Anytime dining as well.

[Iamcruzin]

44 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

Every cruise I've done has had the Alaska parade in Anytime dining as well.

Really never experienced it on any of the 3 lines I sail. How can they do it with everyone eating at different times? Maybe I always manage to miss it. The Baked Alaska is just a shadow of itself now.  It certainly doesn't deserve a parade.  On my last cruise which was on Royal Caribbean we were seated in the traditional dining room since the my time dining rooms were backed up. We were seated just as traditional was having dessert. They did the parade and napkin wave and the staff were less than thrilled. They really just phoned it in not even a smile. I can't say I blame them. The Baked Alaska was meh...

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

Strange...when I was on the Grand end of September 2019 the waiters supplied real Parmesan which was shaved from a block in front of you.

That might have also been true in the MDR on the Emerald.  But the parmesan that they had at the pizza place and in the Lido was tasteless.  DW wondered if it was just lousy cheese or it had been grated so far in advance that all the flavor was long gone.  Also keep in mind that even the cheapest tasteless Parmesan can be grated.  When we buy cheese at our local cheese shop we can buy the best Reggiano for about $20 a pound or domestic parm for less than $10 a pound.  There is a huge difference in flavor.  

 

Call me a cheese freak because I truly love cheeses.  One great benefit of cruising on lines like Seabourn is that they use some of the better cheeses such as Roquefort or Danish Blue.   Go on the mass market lines are you are generally getting much lower priced domestic cheeses.  It is understandable when you consider what we pay for the various cruises, but it does not mean we have to like it :).  It is also interesting to read the various cruise line blogs here on CC.  On Carnival they might argue about a burger and on Seabourn it is all about the purveyor of the caviar.  As to Princess we have had some interesting threads about Princess pizza, especially when Princess had obviously changed their cheese supplier.  

 

Hank

[leck57]

55 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Really never experienced it on any of the 3 lines I sail. How can they do it with everyone eating at different times? Maybe I always manage to miss it. 

 

I think that they just do it at a certain time and we just happen to dine around that time.