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Not exactly live from the Ruby Princess

PescadoAmarillo

By PescadoAmarillo,
in Princess Cruises

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scluvsrain

scluvsrain

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This is my first Princess cruise, but I’m a seasoned sailor on another cruise line with over 800 days at sea.
 

I’ve found the food in the buffet to be less than mediocre. The dining room food is very good. The Crown Grill is outstanding. Sabatini’s was awful. As was Salty Dog Grill (not at pool, it is good especially the hot dogs). 
 

Everything else has been fairly comparable to my other cruise line with one more exception- the bar wait staff. They are not very responsive at all and it’s pretty consistent across the various lounges. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and waited for a server to stop at my table and ask if I’d like anything, only to see them look my way and just walk by, turning their head. There are a few small exceptions. But in general it’s lousy. On my other cruise line, they never leave you unattended. Just sayin. 

 

 

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PescadoAmarillo "Live from...." Rare

PescadoAmarillo

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@scluvsrainDH has said almost exactly the same thing. He says he orders two drinks at a time because otherwise he’d never get a chance to order a second one. I told him he’d better check his bill (he has the beverage package). 😉 He also thought the Crown Grill was fantastic, and seldom dines in the buffet. 
 

Today’s lunch menu:

 

95720E8C-C8E9-4E0A-86A3-7C43E1FAC234.jpeg

575C4539-B400-4F17-9B16-DE63217A88D5.jpeg

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PescadoAmarillo "Live from...." Rare

PescadoAmarillo

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46 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

Hi J!! I don’t know who’s going to keep him in line when I leave. Hahahaha. 

Yes, thanks for the the reprieve. 😉 Seriously, he has really enjoyed having a partner in crime on this cruise!

 

23 minutes ago, TracieABD said:

Hi J- sorry to hear that you are not on board, but I totally get the reason.  There will be other cruises to HI, but there is only 1 senior year!  

Hi Tracie!  You’re welcome, and you’re oh so right. First track meet is Saturday morning, second round of state basketball championship is Saturday afternoon. I’m in my happy place and will still get to Hawaii in a month. 

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coopco

coopco

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8 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

This is my first Princess cruise, but I’m a seasoned sailor on another cruise line with over 800 days at sea.
 

I’ve found the food in the buffet to be less than mediocre. The dining room food is very good. The Crown Grill is outstanding. Sabatini’s was awful. As was Salty Dog Grill (not at pool, it is good especially the hot dogs). 
 

Everything else has been fairly comparable to my other cruise line with one more exception- the bar wait staff. They are not very responsive at all and it’s pretty consistent across the various lounges. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and waited for a server to stop at my table and ask if I’d like anything, only to see them look my way and just walk by, turning their head. There are a few small exceptions. But in general it’s lousy. On my other cruise line, they never leave you unattended. Just sayin. 

 

 

We only eat at the buffet when we must - usually for breakfast, which is actually mostly good. We'd much rather eat in the dining room when we can. I'm so with you on Sabatini's although I wouldn't consider it awful. I don't know what the hype is. My favorite specialty restaurant was Share and I know folks were saying Sabatini's is so much better, which I didn't understand. That being said, it has a lot to do with what you order. On our last cruise, I tasted some of what others in our group ordered and it was great. I was not so impressed with everything I ordered. So maybe give it another try on your next Princess cruise and order something different.

 

Regarding the bar staff, this is a medallion thing. Service used to be much better. But now that everyone orders through the app, they no longer look for people who don't. My husband orders his drinks a certain way so we can't order from the app. We ended up going to the bar on our last cruise because the wait staff was so busy delivering one drink at a time from the app, they didn't have time to take orders from customers not ordering from the app.

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scluvsrain

scluvsrain

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Coopco - there has been a lot discussion onboard amongst passengers about the medallion thing and ordering drinks. And there may be an impact from some of that. However,  when I’m sitting in the crooners lounge with a whopping 5 other guests scattered throughout the lounge, and there’s one server who is standing up at the bar talking to the bartender who also isn’t busy - well, that’s just bad service. Or, the server walks by with an empty tray and ignores you. 
 

I blame it on hotel management. That manager is responsible for making sure their employees are providing the service at a level promised to them by Princess. 

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caribill

caribill

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2 hours ago, scluvsrain said:


 

I blame it on hotel management. That manager is responsible for making sure their employees are providing the service at a level promised to them by Princess. 

 

Be sure to give appropriate feedback on the after-cruise survey you will receive by E-mail.

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JF - retired RRT

JF - retired RRT

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7 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

Coopco - there has been a lot discussion onboard amongst passengers about the medallion thing and ordering drinks. And there may be an impact from some of that. However,  when I’m sitting in the crooners lounge with a whopping 5 other guests scattered throughout the lounge, and there’s one server who is standing up at the bar talking to the bartender who also isn’t busy - well, that’s just bad service. Or, the server walks by with an empty tray and ignores you. 
 

I blame it on hotel management. That manager is responsible for making sure their employees are providing the service at a level promised to them by Princess. 

Gotta say...if that happened to me, I'd stand up and say in a loud voice, "I'd like to place an order!!!". If he ignored that, I'd report him.

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iamaqt2 "Live from...." Rare

iamaqt2

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11 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Gotta say...if that happened to me, I'd stand up and say in a loud voice, "I'd like to place an order!!!". If he ignored that, I'd report him.

If that happened to me I'd just get up, walk the 20 feet to the bar, and place a drink order.  Then I'd walk that drink the 20 feet back to my seat and sit there happily sipping away.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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19 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

This is my first Princess cruise, but I’m a seasoned sailor on another cruise line with over 800 days at sea.
 

I’ve found the food in the buffet to be less than mediocre. The dining room food is very good. The Crown Grill is outstanding. Sabatini’s was awful. As was Salty Dog Grill (not at pool, it is good especially the hot dogs). 
 

Everything else has been fairly comparable to my other cruise line with one more exception- the bar wait staff. They are not very responsive at all and it’s pretty consistent across the various lounges. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and waited for a server to stop at my table and ask if I’d like anything, only to see them look my way and just walk by, turning their head. There are a few small exceptions. But in general it’s lousy. On my other cruise line, they never leave you unattended. Just sayin. 

 

 

So sorry to hear about the bad service onboard.  We are currently on the Emerald and are having the complete opposite experience.  No matter what venue we are in, the service has been outstanding.

 

It has to come down to the HGM's management team onboard.  There should not be that big of a difference in service from one Princess ship to another.

 

I hope you give Princess another try, because what you are experiencing has not been the norm for us.

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HaveDogWillTravel "Live from...." Rare

HaveDogWillTravel

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19 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

This is my first Princess cruise, but I’m a seasoned sailor on another cruise line with over 800 days at sea.
 

I’ve found the food in the buffet to be less than mediocre. The dining room food is very good. The Crown Grill is outstanding. Sabatini’s was awful. As was Salty Dog Grill (not at pool, it is good especially the hot dogs). 
 

Everything else has been fairly comparable to my other cruise line with one more exception- the bar wait staff. They are not very responsive at all and it’s pretty consistent across the various lounges. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and waited for a server to stop at my table and ask if I’d like anything, only to see them look my way and just walk by, turning their head. There are a few small exceptions. But in general it’s lousy. On my other cruise line, they never leave you unattended. Just sayin. 

 

 


Just goes to show how different people can have such different experiences on the same ship with the same crew. I disembarked on the day you embarked so the only thing that really changed is the passengers. 
I thought the service in crown grill was horrible (food was good but 3 hours? ughhh), I absolutely loved Sabatini’s and went back twice. Just over an hour and the food & service were amazing.  
 

Crooners was completely packed most of the time but they did a great job putting out drinks. The Vines guys were amazing as well, fast and efficient (and super fun). Good Spirits at sea crew were also fun and served up amazing craft cocktails quickly. 
 

One late night Coroners was so busy I just stopped at Wheelhouse for my nightcap to take upstairs. They were absolutely empty. 
 

I never order off the ap.  I talk to the servers and bartenders. 

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