Have things improved on the Enchanted

[QueenieA]

Interested to know if we were just unlucky or is the below the ‘new norm’

 

 

Despite reserving dining in Capri every night via time- consuming App prior to boarding - all reservations were scrapped as the 3rd main dining room was ‘reserved’ for Suite guests and the remaining 2 couldn’t cope with a nearly full ship.  30 minute plus queues to be seated.  30 minute wait for drinks.  2 hours to order/serve/eat a mediocre 2 course meal - gave up on dessert and coffee.  Gave up after wasting 2.5 hrs for first 3 nights and paid for Speciality and GiGi (which went downhill as cruise progressed).

We were told by Dining Room Manager that the ship was understaffed and restaurant staff had to be seconded to the Galley.

Standards In Buffet very bad.  No hand washing by majority of guests, sneezing into hands and then using ‘communal’ serving utensils, lukewarm food with very few changes each night.

Had to change cabins - 2 nights in cabin with overwhelming drain smell.  Reported immediately on arrival but just ignored.  Allocated another - packed, moved - entered and strong smell of urine and large stain on carpet.  Turns out a child had ‘wee’d’ on the previous cruise and it had been ignored.  Took 3+ hours to find us an empty cabin.  Ended up on deck level and side of ship different from what we wanted.

By Day 3 people were being moved to Deck 9 Covid quarantine cabins and the situation got worse each day but no extra health/hygiene protocols were put in place.

we were not surprised when we caught it as long queues for non-Suite guests for water shuttle and people obviously ill from the amount of coughing and ‘nose-blowing’.  Luckily we didn’t get it until Last 4 nights.  Isolation was grim.  Impossible to get food suitable for feeling very ill.  Room Service let the phone ring and ring and then disconnected.  ‘Phone didn’t reach the bed so this all had to be done sitting on hard chair with ‘pounding head’.  When order finally placed the quickest delivery was 1 hour.  Couldn’t order toast after 13.00 as a breakfast item.  Couldn’t order Baked potato before 18.00 as a Dinner item!!!!!!

Nobody contacted us after telling us our test results.  No clean sheets despite us having a fever and ‘sweating’.  

 

At Captain’s Cocktail party - clear evening weather-wise but No Captain (sorry Commodore),  no canapés, very few Officers (we saw 2).  Wasn’t something that bothered us but sad for those who look forward to this event.

In hind-sight I expect the reason as the rapid spreading throughout the ship so Commodore was sensible not circulating.

 

We have done many Princess cruises but having sailed on Celebrity 6 weeks ago we have direct comparison on Hygiene protocols (on Celebrity staff only serving food in Buffet, toilet attendant at every public toilet 24/7 - well all hours we used them - , cleaners wiping all surfaces continuously, etc.), we will probably never sail with Princess again.  Yes they sold it ‘cheap’ - but what an unprofessional and extremely bad business decision to cut costs in this manner.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, QueenieA said:

Interested to know if we were just unlucky or is the below the ‘new norm’

I guess you didn't get a satisfactory response the last time you posted this.

[AZjohn]

Yep, two posts on CC.

Both in the past 24 hours.

And almost identical. 

 

[antsp]

Yes, it's all perfect now

[Potstech]

Wonder if anyone else on this cruise experienced this? Any idea which Enchanted cruise they are posting about?

Edited August 9, 2022 by Potstech

[AF-1]

I would assume it was a fairly recent trip. Maybe within the last month. The ship is in Europe now so OP must have been in europe.

[Pack Leader]

Yes, on Enchanted now. Just as described. Back from walk around Bilbao fancied a burger. Half hour wait at Salty Dog. 2 hours for dinner in MDR the other night and only 2 glasses of wine poured in that time. Commodore only heard from once to announce we were not tendering to Guernsey. Massive queues at bars, app not working as they can not service demand and lots of people complaining.  Oh dear Princess. Cruise over sold and under staffed. Any new cruisers will be put off. Sky last year was brilliant and introduced us to Princess. May look at Celebrity again next year or bite the bullet and move up to Oceania with whom I have wanted to cruise with for some time 

[Pack Leader]

My wife drinks Chardonnay. 3 choices in Plus package. They only have 1 in stock - Adesso an Italian Chardonnay. Its rubbish according to my wife. Online shopping suggests it is very cheap. Put issue to guest services as a "disappointment" not a complaint. 36 hours later had heard nothing. Happened to see F&B manager and had a chat. Turns out this wine is an alternate they purchased when Decoy Chardonnay delivery never arrived. Said she would let us know if they picked up a new delivery of other Chardonnay at next port. Still heard nothing. She did send us a nice Penfolds. No note, so no explanation and no solution going forward. My wife has about 5 drinks a day and to her the wine is important. I think quality of drinks is quite emotive with cruisers. She has now been ordering a wine at $17 a glass and is questioned every time as it is above our package but we will take this matter up with Princess later, if we are charged. 

[QueenieA]

Sorry MIssP22 and AZjohn - didn’t realise it wasn’t correct protocol to post on the same subject twice.

 

Didn’t mean to ‘buck’ the system.

 

 

 

 

[villauk]

26 minutes ago, Pack Leader said:

Yes, on Enchanted now. Just as described. Back from walk around Bilbao fancied a burger. Half hour wait at Salty Dog. 2 hours for dinner in MDR the other night and only 2 glasses of wine poured in that time. Commodore only heard from once to announce we were not tendering to Guernsey. Massive queues at bars, app not working as they can not service demand and lots of people complaining.  Oh dear Princess. Cruise over sold and under staffed. Any new cruisers will be put off. Sky last year was brilliant and introduced us to Princess. May look at Celebrity again next year or bite the bullet and move up to Oceania with whom I have wanted to cruise with for some time 

 

 

Are you having to wait to be seated in the MDR or is the quoted 2 hours just for the meal? Is the service just slow or are there other issues? Is the buffet completely self-service now? Just wanting a general feel of the ship as we are sailing on her shortly.
 

Good news, though: your Wi-Fi is obviously working as you are able to post on here 👍.

Edited August 9, 2022 by villauk

[villauk]

9 minutes ago, Pack Leader said:

My wife drinks Chardonnay. 3 choices in Plus package. They only have 1 in stock - Adesso an Italian Chardonnay. Its rubbish according to my wife. Online shopping suggests it is very cheap. Put issue to guest services as a "disappointment" not a complaint. 36 hours later had heard nothing. Happened to see F&B manager and had a chat. Turns out this wine is an alternate they purchased when Decoy Chardonnay delivery never arrived. Said she would let us know if they picked up a new delivery of other Chardonnay at next port. Still heard nothing. She did send us a nice Penfolds. No note, so no explanation and no solution going forward. My wife has about 5 drinks a day and to her the wine is important. I think quality of drinks is quite emotive with cruisers. She has now been ordering a wine at $17 a glass and is questioned every time as it is above our package but we will take this matter up with Princess later, if we are charged. 

 

I did notice on the recently posted menus that all the wines appeared to be from Italy. I was looking for a Malbec and I think it’s only available in the MDR. I would appreciate you enquiring if at all possible. TIA. 

[Pack Leader]

Have queued 10 minutes to enter MDR but service night 2 was 2 hours. Yesterday it was normal speed with v attentive waiting staff. Only red I am drinking out of choice on plus package is Sicilian Syrah which is quite good. No Malbec on Plus otherwise I would be drinking it. WiFi is slow as it has been previously so as expected on Plus package, so photos slow, videos don't bother but all as expected. 

[QueenieA]

19 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Are you having to wait to be seated in the MDR or is the quoted 2 hours just for the meal? Is the service just slow or are there other issues? Is the buffet completely self-service now? Just wanting a general feel of the ship as we are sailing on her shortly.
 

Good news, though: your Wi-Fi is obviously working as you are able to post on here 👍.

For the first 3 nights we queued over half an hour first 2 nights and 20 minutes 3rd.  Once seated on all 3 nights a 2 course Starter/Main took from 1.5 hrs to over 2 hours from ordering to arrival of Entree (Main).  Did Speciality and GiGi or ate on-shore most nights after that.  The entire Santorini Dining Room was used solely for Suite guests.  Have nothing but praise for Guest Services.  

[Pack Leader]

Think the Commodore has lost his voice!

 

Leaving Bilbao now.

[Pack Leader]

Quite impressed with Bilbao. La Coruna tomorrow 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Pack Leader
Added explanation

[Itchy&Scratchy]

7 hours ago, QueenieA said:

Had to change cabins - 2 nights in cabin with overwhelming drain smell.  Reported immediately on arrival but just ignored.  Allocated another - packed, moved - entered and strong smell of urine and large stain on carpet.  Turns out a child had ‘wee’d’ on the previous cruise and it had been ignored.  Took 3+ hours to find us an empty cabin.  Ended up on deck level and side of ship different from what we wanted.

do you remember the cabin numbers?

 

Sounds like our upcoming Enchanted cruise is going to be far removed from what we have become accustomed to on Princess cruises. Ours isn't cheap by any means, and we are in an inside cabin... But we still have about 10 days to back out before final payment.

[Pack Leader]

Specialty Dining was booked up very quickly. Many couldn't book prior to embarkation. My theory is that there are a lot of people who have been given sweeteners after their cruises were cancelled in the Pandemic 

[villauk]

Thanks for the information posted above. I’ll take a note of the Syrah you mentioned if there isn’t any Malbec on offer 😉 . What’s the mask and Covid situation onboard, many cases being reported? 

[villauk]

36 minutes ago, QueenieA said:

For the first 3 nights we queued over half an hour first 2 nights and 20 minutes 3rd.  Once seated on all 3 nights a 2 course Starter/Main took from 1.5 hrs to over 2 hours from ordering to arrival of Entree (Main).  Did Speciality and GiGi or ate on-shore most nights after that.  The entire Santorini Dining Room was used solely for Suite guests.  Have nothing but praise for Guest Services.  

 

Had you pre-booked your dining times on the app and if so, what time were you due to eat? Just trying to work out whether it’s because of certain peak times etc.

 

Did Guest Services rectify your issues?

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, QueenieA said:

For the first 3 nights we queued over half an hour first 2 nights and 20 minutes 3rd.  Once seated on all 3 nights a 2 course Starter/Main took from 1.5 hrs to over 2 hours from ordering to arrival of Entree (Main).  Did Speciality and GiGi or ate on-shore most nights after that.  The entire Santorini Dining Room was used solely for Suite guests.  Have nothing but praise for Guest Services.  

I'm curious as to what time you arrived at the DR door to eat? 

It can mean a big difference in service at their busiest times.

[Pack Leader]

Not heard any gossip on Covid. Staff wearing mask. Odd passenger with a mask. Dinner was booked for 6.40pm. Only time pre cruise I could book. Other night arrived 7.15 ignoring booking, as it made no difference. Yesterday no queue at 7.30 and had fast service

 Seems hit and miss. Waiter on the night we had fast service offered us doubles on wine! Accepted  - Reckon he knew orders for drinks would be delayed. 

[Pack Leader]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

Thanks for the information posted above. I’ll take a note of the Syrah you mentioned if there isn’t any Malbec on offer 😉 . What’s the mask and Covid situation onboard, many cases being reported? 

Tini Syrah from Sicily from memory 

[Pack Leader]

Chased Guest Services for update. They said case was on file but closed because we had been sent a bottle of wine. She reopened the case as we explained we had now docked twice and wanted an update to let us know if any further stocks had been loaded.

[QueenieA]

Rooms B624 (I think)  and C515.  Both were nice cabins apart from smells (although B624 does get a lot of ‘vibration’ coming up through the bed).   Hopefully by now they will have sorted the ‘smell’ problems.

GS were pulling their hair out liaising with Hotel Management (were given room numbers and when they took us there to see if OK - already occupied - were taken to 4 Rooms before we got our final one).  Were given a nice bouquet of flowers.  

As I said - GS were doing their absolute best.  When we asked to speak to Restaurant Director - they said ‘no need’ - so many complaints and people wanting to see him (her) he’d stopped seeing people but was aware of all the problems so we wouldn’t be giving him any new ‘constructive criticism’ (a Rose by any other name .......) 

Our pre-booked time dining time was 19.20.  Arrived just after 19.00.  Decided to go early the 3rd day as they said this would help.  Went about 18.30 - no queues - but then realised doors closed.  When stepped inside they said they were not letting people queue and no more availability until 19.45.  Asked if we could reserve - “No”.  Tried Amalfi - long queues.  Couldn’t get into Specialities.  Went back to Capri (I think about 19.30) and as I said a shorter queue and wait - but didn’t gain anything as they had a row of tables for 2 (about 6+) but until all were filled they didn’t take orders and then all meals came up at the same time - so those that only ordered 1 Starter were waiting for their Entree until others who had ordered Soup, Starter and Salad (some 2 ‘first’ courses, some ‘3’ and some like us just ‘1’.)

As I said - we gave up after the 3rd day so I don’t know if it got any better.

[CineGraphic]

3 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

She has now been ordering a wine at $17 a glass and is questioned every time as it is above our package but we will take this matter up with Princess later, if we are charged. 

 

I like your solution.

Instead of waiting to hear back from the F&B, drink what you like instead of settling for the substitute-swill they expect to you accept, and ask for an adjustment after the fact.