Princess Has Lost Us as Future "Guests"

[*Miss G*]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

No pepper or I gag really bad, turn blueish, hard to catch my breath.

 

I have the same sensitivity to pepper.  It sets off my asthma so it’s nice to be warned, when ordering, not to order a specific dish or the server making special efforts to ensure the order comes without it.  Having to explain this to a new server every night is tiresome and awkward.

[Steelers36]

47 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

people like us. We don't want to have dinner at 5:30 pm - it's too early. We also don't want to have dinner at 8 pm - it's too late. 6:30-6:45 is just right.

That said, I believe it was poorly organized on Regal Princess pre-pandemic. Most of the time the times we wanted were not available for reservation for the duration of the cruise, and we had to wait for 20-30 minutes (a party of 7). This MTD worked much better on RCI, where we could make reservations online long before the cruise started and we never have to wait for more than a couple of minutes.

They had AT dining for your desires.  They still have it.  It's even better than before (on paper) because you can decide to book individual evenings in the App or on cabin TV, or you can just show up and wait for next table.  I can see the most popular times being booked up in advance which is no different than the long line for AT that would develop pre-DMW.  I don't know that they have all tables for a DR loaded to DMW, but I do know they have not been opening up all DR's in DMW before sail date, so there should be plenty of options left once on board.  If not, they are really messed up on whatever ship.

[cltnccruisers]

6 minutes ago, Ombud said:

No pepper or I gag really bad, turn blueish, hard to catch my breath. Coffee from salad through dessert. And plain gelato or sorbet. No toppings. Just a chocolate chip cookie. Yes I'm picky

 

Can't wait until I'm back at IC & MDR 🙂

C'mon, live a little.  Try an oatmeal raisin cookie for a change.  😀

[Ride-The-Waves]

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments.

 

We are not newby cruisers.  First Pond crossing was as an adolescent in 1949 on the original Amsterdam and maybe 20 or so crossings n various lines.

 

It does appear, taking onto account most comments, that this is the Princess "New Normal."  Which from our perspective is not the best way forward and not what we want to experience on a cruise or with a cruise company.

 

Another quirk:  The Concierge invited us and and others to visit the "Sky Suite" which overlooks MUTS on Deck 18 as the ultimate suite.  It was not occupied.  It consists of two inside-sized cabins connected by a small dining room (4-person table) and a small entry-way.  It was NOT "opulent" by any stretch of the imagination.  Yes, it did have a large balcony overlooking MUTS...that was it.  Other ships/lines we have sailed have really opulent top suites with hot tubs, huge living and bed rooms, pianos, nice furniture, etc.  Not Sky.  

 

Next cruise is central Med on Celebrity Reflection, then close the year with a westbound Trans-Atlantic on Oceania Marina.  Looking forward to seeing if those two cruise lines have also opted for a "new normal."

 

 

[cltnccruisers]

6 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments.

 

We are not newby cruisers.  First Pond crossing was as an adolescent in 1949 on the original Amsterdam and maybe 20 or so crossings n various lines.

 

It does appear, taking onto account most comments, that this is the Princess "New Normal."  Which from our perspective is not the best way forward and not what we want to experience on a cruise or with a cruise company.

 

Another quirk:  The Concierge invited us and and others to visit the "Sky Suite" which overlooks MUTS on Deck 18 as the ultimate suite.  It was not occupied.  It consists of two inside-sized cabins connected by a small dining room (4-person table) and a small entry-way.  It was NOT "opulent" by any stretch of the imagination.  Yes, it did have a large balcony overlooking MUTS...that was it.  Other ships/lines we have sailed have really opulent top suites with hot tubs, huge living and bed rooms, pianos, nice furniture, etc.  Not Sky.  

 

Next cruise is central Med on Celebrity Reflection, then close the year with a westbound Trans-Atlantic on Oceania Marina.  Looking forward to seeing if those two cruise lines have also opted for a "new normal."

 

 

We always liked Reflection.  We were on Equinox end of summer and it was excellent.  Sister ships as you probably know.

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

@cltnccruisers touches on the same things which we enjoy about building a rapport with your servers.  They quickly learn your likes, dislikes, and quirks in order to make recommendations or even to just stop asking whether you’d like cracked pepper on that.  It’s really nice to have our wine already pulled and waiting for us, and it’s really nice not having to repeat your likes, dislikes, and quirks every single evening.

 

 

7 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

I'd forgotten about the pepper.  I think they'd put it in my coffee if I let them.  Speaking of coffee, we're used to having coffee served while waiting for desert then topped off during.  On Princess we had to ask for it early or else they'd take our coffee order when desert was served.  I found that really odd.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Thrak

[soccermommy]

I was on the same cruise, and I can actually understand why the OP was disappointed. I just came to a different conclusion. 
As a first time Princess cruiser I went on this cruise with no real preconceived notions of what to expect…. except to enjoy myself. And for the most part, I did.

Food is subjective. DH wasn’t a  big fan but I found much to enjoy, and I thought the buffet food was actually pretty good. That is, when I found what I was looking for, the layout is confusing for a newbie. We both really enjoyed the Crown Grill. 
I don’t think Princess has mastered the anytime dining style. It was hard to make reservations, but we never actually needed them. I think if Princess wants to accommodate the set time diners as well as people like me who prefer to wing it, they might try using one dining room for traditional dining, and the other one for anytime dining. 
I think a lot of the problems on this cruise had to do with the internet and Medallion. I just don’t get the hype with the Medallion. It didn’t work, except to open our cabin door, and even that failed when we got locked out of our room the last night! When taking orders, servers sometimes could identify us, many times they couldn’t and just wrote down our cabin number.
The internet was just bad. When it was available, it worked fine, it just wasn’t available much.

The crew was fantastic. But I think sometimes they had less information  than we did, and Princess wasn’t exactly volunteering any. 

I don’t think it’s fair to judge a cruise line on the basis of one cruise, but that is just my opinion, no more valid than anyone else’s. I would cruise Princess again, and might sooner than I thought. My Celebrity Japan cruise just got canceled and put back a year. 

 

[Steelers36]

35 minutes ago, soccermommy said:

I was on the same cruise, and I can actually understand why the OP was disappointed. I just came to a different conclusion. 
As a first time Princess cruiser I went on this cruise with no real preconceived notions of what to expect…. except to enjoy myself. And for the most part, I did.

............................

 

I don’t think Princess has mastered the anytime dining style. It was hard to make reservations, but we never actually needed them. I think if Princess wants to accommodate the set time diners as well as people like me who prefer to wing it, they might try using one dining room for traditional dining, and the other one for anytime dining.

 

............... 

 

 

I had to laugh a bit at this - not at you.  Just that a first-timer with Princess had this criticism of the dining situation.  There was NOTHING much wrong with AT dining on the ships pre-Covid - which is also pre-DineMyWay functionality.  They DID have separate DR's pre-Covid/pre-DMW for TD and AT!!!

 

One DR was TD all night long.  One DR was AT all night long.  Third DR was TD for early dining and then changed over to at as tables cleared. 

 

DMW is madness in terms of TD experience (which they promised to maintain and still claim so to this day).  First, it is clear they did not set aside dining space for TD purposes.  Second, it is impossible to program in an App to dynamically assemble guests for TD experience at same time and table location with the simple technology solution they have implemented.  So, the whole thing is like AT, but they have a lot of issues even doing that.

 

[brisalta]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

DMW is madness in terms of TD experience (which they promised to maintain and still claim so to this day).  First, it is clear they did not set aside dining space for TD purposes.  Second, it is impossible to program in an App to dynamically assemble guests for TD experience at same time and table location with the simple technology solution they have implemented.  So, the whole thing is like AT, but they have a lot of issues even doing that.

 

 

Then they had the  madness of making the person who brought in the idea of the Medallion and Medallion app the head of Princess!!! As the saying goes a fish rots from the head down.

[caribill]

18 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

  I'd love to hear what rational was used to come up with this process as an improvement.

 

I think it was all the requests by those who had anytime dining but asked to be able to specify what their anytime was.

 

In theory at least, DMW should satisfy those who like the anytime concept but do not want to wait in a line each evening (if it actually worked).

 

The problem for others is that when they implemented DMW, they basically eliminated the Traditional Dining concept of dining at the same time in the same dining room at the same table with the same waitstaff and same dining companions each evening.

 

Theoretically there is a way to make a DMW reservation for the entire cruise in the same dining room at the same time and get the same table and waitstaff. But there is an alternate path where you can make the DMW request and not get that.

 

At the very least Princess should bring back the traditional dining concept in one of the dining rooms.

[Bgees]

6 hours ago, soccermommy said:

I think if Princess wants to accommodate the set time diners as well as people like me who prefer to wing it, they might try using one dining room for traditional dining, and the other one for anytime dining. 

Our Sapphire Princess cruise to Norway July 2019 had that set up. The four mdrs were divided into one for set times and the remaining three for AT. I thought it worked very well. We are now all set for a 14 nt med cruise on Enchanted and it will be interesting to see how that works. Our last two cruises on P&O Iona in October and April saw the ship wit all freedom dining and no set times and it seemed to work well with very little wait times recorded on the app.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Bgees said:

Our Sapphire Princess cruise to Norway July 2019 had that set up. The four mdrs were divided into one for set times and the remaining three for AT. I thought it worked very well. We are now all set for a 14 nt med cruise on Enchanted and it will be interesting to see how that works. Our last two cruises on P&O Iona in October and April saw the ship wit all freedom dining and no set times and it seemed to work well with very little wait times recorded on the app.

If Princess issues a press release and states they are canceling TD concept and updates website to remove TD marketing language, then we'll live with the new way or move business elsewhere.  But as long as they promise it, it's what we want to have (same table & waiters particularly) and I will hold their feet to the fire to deliver on their promise.

[FlaMariner]

30 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

But as long as they promise it, it's what we want to have (same table & waiters particularly)

 

Perhaps Princess defines Traditional Dining as:  Same Time, Same Dining Room

and guests define it as:  Same Time, Same Table, Same Waiters.

 

So Princess says they have TD but it's a different definition.

 

On the Sky last month, the assistant mgr would not guarantee same table, same waiters...but we begged and pleaded each evening at the door and we got it.  LOL. 

[RNRcruisers]

12 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Perhaps Princess defines Traditional Dining as:  Same Time, Same Dining Room

and guests define it as:  Same Time, Same Table, Same Waiters.

 

So Princess says they have TD but it's a different definition.

 

On the Sky last month, the assistant mgr would not guarantee same table, same waiters...but we begged and pleaded each evening at the door and we got it.  LOL. 

 

But there was Traditional Dining way before Any time Dining, there shouldn't be a question about the definition. They are promising us the SAME experience we had before but we are not getting it.

 

On Regal they seemed to understand what we wanted and did their best to give it to us. But I don't want to have to beg and plead to get what I have been promised. This isn't something out of their control like missing a port or bad weather, it is very much in their control. I really hope Princess sees the problem here and decides to fix it. 

 

[soccermommy]

 And I had to laugh that my so sensible dining idea of separate restaurants were the norm, pre Covid. I think most people would agree that traditional dining is same restaurant, same time, same table, same serving staff. It can’t be that hard if other cruise lines offer it, and especially if Princess used to do the same. You know what they say, if it ain’t broke….

I got the impression that if I wanted same restaurant, same time, etc, I had to request it for each day on the App. Which might be okay if the App worked, but isn’t it easier to request it once for the entire cruise.

You can tell I still don’t have the complete idea of what the Medallion app is supposed to do since my exposure to having one work continuously was limited. Oh, well, maybe next time.

[cltnccruisers]

4 minutes ago, soccermommy said:

 And I had to laugh that my so sensible dining idea of separate restaurants were the norm, pre Covid. I think most people would agree that traditional dining is same restaurant, same time, same table, same serving staff. It can’t be that hard if other cruise lines offer it, and especially if Princess used to do the same. You know what they say, if it ain’t broke….

I got the impression that if I wanted same restaurant, same time, etc, I had to request it for each day on the App. Which might be okay if the App worked, but isn’t it easier to request it once for the entire cruise.

You can tell I still don’t have the complete idea of what the Medallion app is supposed to do since my exposure to having one work continuously was limited. Oh, well, maybe next time.

I think PCL was hoping Medallion would prove to be leading edge technology.  Instead it is bleeding edge technology.  Very little is intuitive with the app.  IMHO, this is a result of poor project continuity combined with developer turnover.

[USCcruisecrazy]

On 4/9/2022 at 8:47 AM, Ride-The-Waves said:

NOT the great itinerary Princess promised at booking.  “Moroccan Passage” it was NOT.  Third effort to visit the country of Berber, Arabic and European cultures unsuccessful.  Likely no more opportunities.  While the first miss was on me (medical), the second on COVID, this one squarely was on Princess.  CDC currently rates travel to Morocco as “Level One” (Low threat).  Princess failed to insure the ship was covid-clear as it presumably was on embarkation and reportedly was the reason for denying entry to Casablanca at the “last minute.”  Rumors before departure had the ship missing Casablanca…  This was our 5th cruise on a “Royal” class, and the worst.  We really like the layout of this ship class, but Sky doesn’t enjoy the same respect as a ship of its predecessors (Royal, Regal, and Majestic), all of which we have sailed and offered a warm and inviting welcome.

 

The Good:

 

• Embarkation was easy and the “medallion” actually assisted.  Whether it made embarkation faster and more secure (and healthier) is unknown.
• The contract crew were wonderful. The officers not so much.  Standoffish and with an attitude of “don’t bother me.”
• The officers appeared unconcerned over Ukrainian nationals in the crew, of which there were many young men and women.  Little to no assistance.  They suffered similar difficulties like passengers with connectivity off the ship.  One told me she finally found one officer who let her make a call home…

 

The “Not So Good” in no particular order:

• The “medallion” stopped working immediately after embarkation.  Internet off the ship was unavailable.  Intranet (Medallion Net) also was unavailable.  Lines at the help desk were terribly long and answers unforthcoming.  Everything was blamed on “poor satellite coverage.”  Really?!? Pierside Port Everglades?!?  Only Internet access whole cruise was in port from mobile phones.
• Our cabin (R614) never warmed up.  Setting the thermostat as high as it could go made the room barely tolerable.  Stewards were great and respectful of our priorities.
• Food was not up to pre-Covid Princess standards.  Tolerable and edible come to mind.  Breakfast in Sabatini’s was good, as was dinner.  The claimed “best hamburger” at sea from the “Salty Dog” grill is actually possibly the worst on the high seas.
• The ship rides like a 50-year old pickup with no springs over a washboard rutted road.
• Enjoyed an average meal in the Crown Grill first night.  Better steak in the Bistro, with better and friendlier service and view.  Sabatini’s was okay for Italian.  Tried Soleil twice.  US mass-market level fare.  We are NOT foodies, but nothing good calling us back to any of the venues.  Relegated to eating mostly in the buffet for the second half of the cruise.
• Buffet itself was substandard compared to two years ago.  Less choice and fewer options.  The chocolate chip cookies, a spouse favorite, were mostly missing and when present, not good.
• Entertainment in the theater was several notches below what Princess provided in the past.  The comedian’s shtick was to make fun of people in the audience.  Two violists instead of four.
• Trip to the Medical 6 days into the cruise to treat a suspected UTI was as if we were pariahs and disturbing the front office quiet.  Appointment required but door was always locked.  Did eventually get treatment and one pill!
• Officers treated us like 5-year olds.  I’ve spent 30 years in the US Navy and first crossed the Pond in 1949.  Princess’ posture of restricting information is unsatisfactory, and demeaning.
• Princess’ onboard mask policy was a recommendation only - up until a large segment of passengers flying back to the US tested positive for Covid 36 hours before arriving Southampton.  Then mask wearing became mandatory everywhere.
• Washing of hands was monitored by crew at entrances to the buffet, with crew stationed to watch.  No where else.  The “watching” practice made and makes little to no sense and wastes crew man hours.
• The ”medallion” is useless.  Throughout the cruise wait staff had to ask for our room number when ordering/delivering libations.  Had better responsiveness with a cruise card.

 

Princess has seen the last of us, sad to say.  They have become more “Carnival” and really cheapened their product.

Our experience on the Sky was nothing like this...Sorry you had a rough time...enjoy your next cruise line!!  We shall stay with Princess because they have never disappointed!!

[TXcruiser13]

I was on the same 3/12 - 3/28 TA cruise. It was challenging. lol. The busted internet/wonky Medallion app/TV reception issue was annoying as hell, plain and simple. Princess needs to do better on that end. THAT they can fix. 
 

The missed ports was a big blow. I’ll never make it to the Azores now. Ouch. It hurt to be so close and then watch the ships’ direction abruptly change . Not Princess’s fault, but still painful. Missing Morocco was a huge blow. We KNEW we weren’t going, long before the captain finally fessed up that we weren’t, because anyone could see that NO cruise ships were making their calls there. Still, it sucked to not make it. They should have been more transparent! 
 

We enjoyed most of the adventure all the same. Our ship got plastered with Sahara mud, we broke a line coming into Gibraltar, tons of people onboard caught covid …. All part of the adventure. We made the best of everything, got home in one piece, and already made a couple bookings for next year. 🙂

[dtb55]

1 hour ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Our experience on the Sky was nothing like this...Sorry you had a rough time...enjoy your next cruise line!!  We shall stay with Princess because they have never disappointed!!

Just curious, were you on the same cruise?

[caribill]

1 hour ago, soccermommy said:

 And I had to laugh that my so sensible dining idea of separate restaurants were the norm, pre Covid. I think most people would agree that traditional dining is same restaurant, same time, same table, same serving staff. It can’t be that hard if other cruise lines offer it, and especially if Princess used to do the same. You know what they say, if it ain’t broke….

 

 

Traditional Dining depends on two fixed seating times (which can change from voyage to voyage) for certain tables and/or dining rooms.

 

The DMW concept when you try to simulate Traditional Dining does not have two specific fixed times, but lets you select anytime for your TD experience.

 

The Princess DMW software apparently does not set aside any tables for traditional dining. Pre-DMW when TD times arrived, 100% of the tables were available for these fixed-time seatings.

 

But with DMW, which allows everyone to schedule their meals at any time plus people who walk up when they want to eat, means when you arrive for your reserved TD experience, no tables may actually be available, much less a table with the waitstaff you had the previous evening.

 

Until the software is changed to actually have tables set aside just for TD, there will be no TD as it used to be.

[USCcruisecrazy]

11 minutes ago, dtb55 said:

Just curious, were you on the same cruise?

Not the same dates...but the same ship recently.

[*Miss G*]

3 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

On the Sky last month, the assistant mgr would not guarantee same table, same waiters...but we begged and pleaded each evening at the door and we got it.  LOL. 

 

They guaranteed the same table, same time for 5 nights running for us.  On the 6th night they told us we were on our own and good luck with that. 😂  See THIS POST for more detail.

 

 

1 hour ago, TXcruiser13 said:

I was on the same 3/12 - 3/28 TA cruise. It was challenging. lol. The busted internet/wonky Medallion app/TV reception issue was annoying as hell, plain and simple. Princess needs to do better on that end. THAT they can fix. 

 

 

That pretty much sums it up.  😂

[Steelers36]

58 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Not the same dates...but the same ship recently.

That's the difference then.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, soccermommy said:

I got the impression that if I wanted same restaurant, same time, etc, I had to request it for each day on the App. Which might be okay if the App worked, but isn’t it easier to request it once for the entire cruise.

The DMW functionality in MC App was not designed this way.  Individual evening reservations are random in terms of table assignment.  The only way they attempted to replicate TD was by booking for the entire voyage at once. 

[FlaMariner]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

They guaranteed the same table, same time for 5 nights running for us.  On the 6th night they told us we were on our own and good luck with that.

 

You obviously did not beg and plead your case good enough to deserve "your table" on night 6.  LOL.  

 

(We tried to be so nice and good at the front door to be "allowed" to "our table"......I felt like I was in a Seinfeld episode...similar to the soup *** situation)