How much are you willing to let slide?

[milogurd]

36 minutes ago, AlibearNS said:

The only thing sub par for us was that the theatre entertainment was absolute pants.

"

From https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/slang-school-ricky-gervais-teaches-you-british-slang

"Pants.

Well, two, there's two slang really,

pants is short for underwear, underpants,

you use it to mean trousers, we don't,

but pants in the slang sense strictly would mean rubbish,

that is absolute pants, that is awful,

it's not worth the trouble,

don't go and see that film, it's pants, rubbish."

[bjkTX]

On 6/18/2022 at 12:39 PM, Sea Hag said:

 

 

• Made the mistake of booking in the aft deck 6 dining room on the Ruby. Every night, it was a disaster at 5:00 when the world showed up and many of them didn't want to stand in line since they had reservations. The waiting area outside that dining room is ridiculous.

 

 

That caused me to go look at what I had booked for our Ruby cruise later this year 🙂  Fortunately I selected the other dining room - realizing of course it may be just as crowded - but I feel better 🙂

[caribill]

2 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Service level decreases and the suggested gratuity increases. Anyone else see a disparity here?

 

The service level by the staff has not decreased at all. Look at all the posts saying the best thing about their cruise after the restart was the attentiveness and efforts of the crew.

 

The services provided (quality of food, less food options on the menu, 1/2 the buffet not open, specialty restaurant closed, slowest Internet on the sea, multi-hour waits on the phone with Princess, etc.)  have been what has decreased and that is not the fault of the onboard staff that is servicing your needs.

[Astro Flyer]

3 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

That caused me to go look at what I had booked for our Ruby cruise later this year 🙂  Fortunately I selected the other dining room - realizing of course it may be just as crowded - but I feel better 🙂

Hopefully it won’t be like our experience on Discovery…midship dining room was changed to aft deck 6 upon boarding with no option to change our reservation.

 

 

[bjkTX]

7 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Hopefully it won’t be like our experience on Discovery…midship dining room was changed to aft deck 6 upon boarding with no option to change our reservation.

 

 

Ugh!  You changed your avatar!

 

[Astro Flyer]

8 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

Ugh!  You changed your avatar!

 

Yes…I was working cats when this 1971 photo was taken…my first cruise ship where I had to let many things slide. ☺️

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[Steelers36]

50 minutes ago, bjkTX said:

That caused me to go look at what I had booked for our Ruby cruise later this year 🙂  Fortunately I selected the other dining room - realizing of course it may be just as crowded - but I feel better 🙂

Where you book and where you end up can be two different things.  Happened to many people reporting on here.

 

My own experience so far has been that Princess initially released only the Deck 6 Mid-Ship DR into DMW.  That got filled up over time with the smaller tables and I had to re-engage with DMW after various re-book/re-fares for same voyages (B2B2B).  Eventually, I could no longer get a Private table for 4.  Not too long ago, they finally added a second DR, so I set us up there as was only way to get Private 4-top with our friends at our preferred time (or pretty much anytime by the time they added it).  I am not sure how many guests have CC Member status to advance book, but sure took up the space.  So, now we are in the Deck 6 Aft DR (my least favorite).  Hope to be able to move, but our highest priority is to get the proper TD experience with same table and wait staff each night we dine in the DR. 

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Steelers36

[caribill]

4 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 Not too long ago, they finally added a second DR, so I set us up there as was only way to get Private 4-top with our friends at our preferred time .....but our highest priority is to get the proper TD experience with same table and wait staff each night we dine in the DR. 

 

 

You may very well be able to get the TD experience you seek since your dining companions will be the people you are traveling with.

 

In our case, our TD experience depends on the same people we never knew before the cruise but met the first evening in the dining room would be or table mates every evening of the cruise. With DMW, that is unlikely to happen and we would be with different people each evening. Not what we want to happen.

[cruzsnooze]

59 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

The service level by the staff has not decreased at all. Look at all the posts saying the best thing about their cruise after the restart was the attentiveness and efforts of the crew.

 

 

All the posts do not say this. Further more the daily service has not been defaulted to once a day, that's a significant decrease in service. 

[cr8tiv1]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

Remember that JP comes from the Disney organization. When you arrive at a Disney park with your pre-purchased ticket you are greeted with a sign listing what attractions are closed during your visit..

 

Much the same practice with the Crown Princess when after having made final payment and embarkation day approaches you are informed of where you will not be going and where you will not have enough time to do anything on shore at the places you will be visiting.

 

And this is why I don't visit Disneyland any longer.  $150 per person to get in the gate, pay for all foods, maybe get 3-4 rides in, although staff is very friendly.  Lines and lines and hordes of people.

 

The big difference is, you do not have to commit 90 days out.  You do not have to spend an arm and a leg (just a few phalanges).  You don't have to test.  You don't have to wear a mask (although I would). You don't have to spend a week there.   Plus it costs multiple times more.

 

When I cruise, I expect (my mistake) to be catered to and spoiled.  Fortunately, I cruise to be on a ship.  Ports are secondary.  I know I am in the minority.  It is not fair to the Crown passengers to have the rug pulled out from under them.  Where is the Sapphire/Diamond?  why couldn't they have been substituted?  Deja vu:  Caribbean Princess propulsion issues.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, nini said:

 

$100.00 a day- I WISH!

Try $292.83 per day/ per person WITHOUT the flights! This was for a 12 day British Isles cruise and reservations were made dating back to 2019.

Of course the cost per day is highly dependent on the cabin category booked and that was not mentioned by the other poster nor you.  I can say we have never even come close to $300/pp/day on Princess (sounds like a Suite). 

 

I can say that we get generous cash discount from TA, so the $100/pp/day is achievable - esp in the Caribbean.  At least with good Inside cabins.  We now have that kind of pricing in the Med for October.

 

How about this?  When I first booked our four voyages for Europe (OCT 2022) in the Med area back in JAN 2021, our pp/day net-net(*) cost was in the mid-$160's for first three cruises and $196 for the 4th.

 

After several re-farings between SEP 2021 and just this past week, we are now at net-net(*) $95 - <$105/pp/day for the first three cruises and $118.50 for the 4th. 

 

* - By "net-net", I mean our invoice cost + Crew Incentive + Internet, less all OBC (including any SD credits as we would go there anyway).  Only extra is what I buy in wine and pay in corkage and any on-board drinks which I place in the discretionary category, whereas everything else is "hard costs". 

 

Airfare is extra and I don't calculate that into my pp/day figure which I really only use as a reference point.  Through monitoring Princess for cruise fare promotion/pricing opportunities, we have saved over $5,000 since original booking.  I have also saved over $1,500 in airfare since original bookings and we are now in Business Class both ways.  It pays for sure to continue shopping and don't just "book-it-and-forget-it".

 

[BarbinMich]

I've just read thru this thread and want to share what was my (much better) experience on the Crown in mid-May.  I sailed to Alaska out of Seattle (a first for that departure port for me).  In my humble opinion it was a great cruise.  Made all the ports, generally when scheduled.  I had a cabin just "outside" the Art Gallery on Deck 5 so it was quite convenient.  I qualified for the "most traveled pax" luncheon with the captain, to my surprise (1st time in 30+ cruises).  Glacier Bay was outstanding--why I went in May to see as much snow on the mountains as possible.  The snow was also good on the train ride out of Ketchikan.  I always ate at the buffet because it's faster and food is ok to good.  There were no issues with the ship's propulsion as far as I could tell (i.e. schedule changes, etc.)  The only port I didn't care for was Icy Strait Point.  Should have taken a whale watch trip there as an amusement park (the main other thing there) is not my go-to place.

 

This was my fifth cruise on the ship since 2009 (60 days in all) and I've enjoyed them all.

[nini]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Of course the cost per day is highly dependent on the cabin category booked and that was not mentioned by the other poster nor you.  I can say we have never even come close to $300/pp/day on Princess (sounds like a Suite). 

 

I can say that we get generous cash discount from TA, so the $100/pp/day is achievable - esp in the Caribbean.  At least with good Inside cabins.  We now have that kind of pricing in the Med for October.

 

How about this?  When I first booked our four voyages for Europe (OCT 2022) in the Med area back in JAN 2021, our pp/day net-net(*) cost was in the mid-$160's for first three cruises and $196 for the 4th.

 

After several re-farings between SEP 2021 and just this past week, we are now at net-net(*) $95 - <$105/pp/day for the first three cruises and $118.50 for the 4th. 

 

* - By "net-net", I mean our invoice cost + Crew Incentive + Internet, less all OBC (including any SD credits as we would go there anyway).  Only extra is what I buy in wine and pay in corkage and any on-board drinks which I place in the discretionary category, whereas everything else is "hard costs". 

 

Airfare is extra and I don't calculate that into my pp/day figure which I really only use as a reference point.  Through monitoring Princess for cruise fare promotion/pricing opportunities, we have saved over $5,000 since original booking.  I have also saved over $1,500 in airfare since original bookings and we are now in Business Class both ways.  It pays for sure to continue shopping and don't just "book-it-and-forget-it".

 

This was a plain balcony with NO loveseat. It was odd that I started to think about that and thought that I should have mentioned it. Also, please remember that these were rates from over 3 years ago.

[nini]

3 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

I've just read thru this thread and want to share what was my (much better) experience on the Crown in mid-May.  I sailed to Alaska out of Seattle (a first for that departure port for me).  In my humble opinion it was a great cruise.  Made all the ports, generally when scheduled.  I had a cabin just "outside" the Art Gallery on Deck 5 so it was quite convenient.  I qualified for the "most traveled pax" luncheon with the captain, to my surprise (1st time in 30+ cruises).  Glacier Bay was outstanding--why I went in May to see as much snow on the mountains as possible.  The snow was also good on the train ride out of Ketchikan.  I always ate at the buffet because it's faster and food is ok to good.  There were no issues with the ship's propulsion as far as I could tell (i.e. schedule changes, etc.)  The only port I didn't care for was Icy Strait Point.  Should have taken a whale watch trip there as an amusement park (the main other thing there) is not my go-to place.

 

This was my fifth cruise on the ship since 2009 (60 days in all) and I've enjoyed them all.

When we were on the Crown in September 2018 (Alaska), we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the Crown.

[suzyed]

7 minutes ago, nini said:

This was a plain balcony with NO loveseat. It was odd that I started to think about that and thought that I should have mentioned it. Also, please remember that these were rates from over 3 years ago.

My DH would say "yes" to a cruise if I could get it for $100/day....of course that is figuring in obc and possibly gratuities....I used to do it easily.  NOT now!  Not even close!

[Steelers36]

49 minutes ago, nini said:

When we were on the Crown in September 2018 (Alaska), we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the Crown.

We were fine with Crown in the past.  I'd rather be on KP/EP/RU/CB in Caribbean because the Sanctuary is way better than Royal Class due to more shade.

[Guest ldtr]

Over the past year I have sailed over 40 days on 5 different cruise on Princess.  Will be getting on the Ruby in 10 days.  Going on a HAL cruise in August.  As that point I will have used up the last of my FCCs.

 

Has the experience changed on Princess compared to pre-pandemic?  Certainly. the staffing is more erratic, the services on ship more subject to things not being available, there seem to be more issues with the pools and hot tubs, and most of all a lot more changes in schedules with changes in itineraries, ships, etc.

 

During that same time period we have done several land trips and visited several different countries.  Guess what the travel experience when it comes to airlines, hotels, trains, etc have also changed and are in general not up to the same experience that one had prior to Covid.  Hotels are generally not doing daily room service, often some of the amenities like pools/spa are not available, restaurants are often short staffed with limited selection.  Airport clubs have just started to get back to running as they were pre-covid.  Airlines schedules are pretty much falling apart with many cancellations.  I do not thing that we have had a reservation over the past year that has not been changed prior to the actual flight.

 

Add insult to injury hotels and airlines are now charging much more than pre-covid for the right to experience sub par service.  In addition one often faces more crowds in tourist destinations that pre-covid, diminishing the overall experience.

 

While I certainly agree that Princess and other cruise lines need to get their act together, but so does the rest of the travel industry.  Capacity and staffing is being overwhelmed by demand.

 

The grass might not  necessarily be greener away from cruising and Princess.

 

All one can do is make the decisions that they feel is right for them with their travel dollars.  But to do so with the understanding that what they get for that money may not be the same as they expected before the pandemic.

[donswife]

14 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Such as no longer putting chocolates on the bed each evening.

We are fine with no pillow chocolates.  We brought most of them home, left them in the pantry, and gave them out if we ran out of Halloween candy.  I might still have a few in there if anyone wants them 😁

[SargassoPirate]

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

― Benjamin Franklin

[MissP22]

22 hours ago, Sn0cruiser said:

What worries me is that once a service level is lowered, that may become the new normal long after the reason for it is gone.

You mean like gas prices?😁

[Riley_Mon]

Many may not agree but imo missing ports on an Alaska cruise is much more of a penalty than say a carribean cruise. On an Alaskan ship there isn’t a water slide or active pool , mini golf or go karts. It’s easy to go stir crazy on an Alaskan cruise ship if you aren’t breaking it up with ports. I would think the cardinal sin of Alaskan cruising is to limit the Alaskan experience.

 

I have posted more than once on my tolerance levels on the crown. I am on the crown as I type this and I do believe they have put effort into the on board experience perhaps more so than what I have read for other ships. What isn’t being written is the people on the Discovery are victims in this as well. As hundreds of people leave the crown they go to the Discovery so that just adds to the stresses the staff on that ship have to deal with. 
so as a by product of a poor decision for short term gain, they may have actually increased those questioning whether Princess or cruising at all is worth it. 
 

for now it seems pent up demand will ride this wave out until 2 or 3 years from now. Princess may see people gravitating to Celebrity and Virgin based on their Covid era experiences.
 

 

 

 

[CineGraphic]

9 hours ago, ldtr said:

Capacity and staffing is being overwhelmed by demand.

 

Princess could easily reduce capacity to make things more manageable for what crew they do have, but the powers that be have decided fuller ships is the answer to their problems.

[Guest ldtr]

21 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Princess could easily reduce capacity to make things more manageable for what crew they do have, but the powers that be have decided fuller ships is the answer to their problems.

Would it really solve their problems? I sailed on ships as low as 40% occupancy. Guess what, those cruises had some of the greatest impacts on features.

 

A large percentage of cruise line costs are fixed for any given itinerary. Limiting occupancy, means having to cut what they can control, staffing, food costs, etc. Even then it means more losses.

 

Cruise lines pre Covid generally made their profits on higher than 95% occupancy. Normal occupancy was around 104% of the 2 berth per cabin numbers.

 

With space set aside for quarantine cabins, do not think they can get to that number even if everything else is filled.

 

So they need to solve the operational issues while they get back to full occupancy or they cease to exist. Same for the rest of the mass market portion of the industry.

[Sunwanabe]

In summary very little. We are paying for the full meal deal and the PC promoted wonderful experience so that's what I expect. For our upcoming July cruise, looking for great service, memorable moments and a fun time.                

[CineGraphic]

Just now, Sunwanabe said:

In summary very little. We are paying for the full meal deal and the PC promoted wonderful experience so that's what I expect. For our upcoming July cruise, looking for great service, memorable moments and a fun time.                

 

I hope they're able to provide as promised, but don't hold your breath or you'll end up bluer than the seawitch