Not choosing Princess for next cruise…..

[So_Tweetie]

2 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Thank you for your honest report. It seems that a number of long time Princess cruisers, including myself, are thinking about or are trying other cruise lines. Princess may be getting a lot of new cruisers booking but they also need to keep their existing cruisers rebooking. I cruised with Celebrity for the first time last June and it was so good that I have booked two cruises with them for 2024. I have a Princess cruise to Alaska this June and I will be very interested to see how it is.

 

On the sailing in question they said at the Captain's Circle party that there were only 192 elites onboard, and almost a third of the ship was first-time cruisers. Very interesting in my opinion. 

[JGmf]

Ha! I'm an NCL loyal guy who is reading these boards b/c I'm doing my first Princess cruise (Emerald) in June.  The OP's experiences can't be discounted, but I'd just say that I read the same type of "I'm leaving this cruise line" posting on the NCL boards all the time.  A lot of times it's about the age of the ship and the crowds, but the issue with quality of cuts of meat is happening on NCL too regardless of the ship.

 

I haven't done Celebrity in 20 years, so given @dandonna's talk with fellow passengers about it being better, maybe I should try it too.

[phatlad]

1 hour ago, CapnCrews said:

They’re up 36% in the first quarter.  
 

 

Easy to be up 36% when you cut services to artificially inflate your price.

 

Newspapers are making a profit this quarter too. Wanna know how they're doing it? Cuts, cuts, cuts. As the product suffers. 

[Guest ldtr]

Spa upsells is pretty much the fact on all of the cruise lines.  On pretty much all of the cruise lines they are run by a 3rd party that pays the cruise line for space and high prices and upselling is pretty much the norm.  Want a relaxing massage do it on shore not on a cruise ship.

 

[Daisyloo]

1 hour ago, dandonna said:

Our waiter was working so hard as he has at least 8 tables and besides there was enough other food. But when 2 other tables also complained that shocked me as I always loved the Crown Grill. Maybe just an off night but not good

We were disappointed with the Crown Grill on our November cruise on the Regal.  I had the lamb chops and they were as tough as an old boot.  My husbands steak was "okay".  Not great, just okay. We also found all the food to be overly salty. And we are not people who are used to a low salt diet.   Service was not good.  The waiter was obviously overworked and seemed unhappy.  I don't know if they were short staffed or not.  We have enjoyed the Crown Grill many times in the past, but this experience was sub par.

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, CapnCrews said:

They’re up 36% in the first quarter.  
 

 

You’ve cut the heading off the chart, but I’m pretty sure this is CCL price per share, not revenue. They really had nowhere to go but up, and percentage increases on such a small number aren’t especially meaningful unless you’re a short term investor. 

[sammyjoanne]

1 hour ago, lovetexas said:

Going on Ruby next week.  I am hoping it looks good.  We will see.

 

I have found most of the negative points that were made, are kinda true across the board.

 

For ex...  went on Holland America in December. I saw so much that was really annoying.  HUGE upscale on the spa services!  I lied and said I had to use the ladies room to leave after the massage!

 

Celebrity was the same... 

 

I'm just asking if we think it's all cruise lines?  Or just some?

 

Was on the Ruby last year, and loved it. Didnt use the spa services, but the room, the crown grill, medalion services, entertainment was great 🙂

[sammyjoanne]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

Ha! I'm an NCL loyal guy who is reading these boards b/c I'm doing my first Princess cruise (Emerald) in June.  The OP's experiences can't be discounted, but I'd just say that I read the same type of "I'm leaving this cruise line" posting on the NCL boards all the time.  A lot of times it's about the age of the ship and the crowds, but the issue with quality of cuts of meat is happening on NCL too regardless of the ship.

 

I haven't done Celebrity in 20 years, so given @dandonna's talk with fellow passengers about it being better, maybe I should try it too.

Im on the Emerald in about 3 weeks time. Did the Ruby the sister ship last year and thought it was great. Not overly a big ship which is what I like and the MDRs were pretty decent and crown grill. Will be interesting to see if theres any comparrison between the two sisters, especially now the emerald will be a more fuller ship than Rubys April 2022 visit.

[capriccio]

3 hours ago, dandonna said:

 For now Celebrity and MSC will get our business for our next 2 cruises. If Princess wants us back they need to step it up if not we just move on.

 

We did one MSC cruise right before Covid hit.  They matched our Princess Elite to their Black (now called Diamond) tier and immediately qualified for at least a 5% discount (and double that on certain cruises).  They also have a military/civil service (active and retired) discount of 10% (can't combine discounts though) so check those out.  We were in the Yacht Club (their ship within a ship area) and loved it.  On the other hand I found the rest of the ship (Meraviglia) chaotic with just too many people.  Our TA was right when she said she would only recommend the Yacht Club.  We are cruising again in the YC next December on the new Seascape because retaining your MSC status requires at least one cruise every 3 years (extended a year because of Covid).  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[SCX22]

Sorry to hear about your cruise.

 

As much as I like the feel of the Princess' smaller ships, I try not to sail on them because they are getting up there in age.  If you drove a car that was approaching 20 years old, nothing about would feel new about it despite having maintained the engine.  I wish Princess would rethink the bigger is better strategy.

 

I wonder how long a reasonable time to give the cruise lines a break on service issues?  At this point, 1.5 years has passed since the restart.  Will cruising with the major operators return to pre-pandemic standards or will they continue to slip?  There's a lot of raving going on about Celebrity right now, including the recent accolade by Forbes, wonder what they're doing right behind the scenes?

 

 

[dandonna]

1 minute ago, capriccio said:

We did one MSC cruise right before Covid hit.  They matched our Princess Elite to their Black (now called Diamond) tier and immediately qualified for at least a 5% discount (and double that on certain cruises).  They also have a military/civil service (active and retired) discount of 10% (can't combine discounts though) so check those out.  We were in the Yacht Club (their ship within a ship area) and loved it.  On the other hand I found the rest of the ship (Meraviglia) chaotic with just too many people.  Our TA was right when she said she would only recommend the Yacht Club.  We are cruising again in the YC next December on the new Seascape because retaining your MSC status requires at least one cruise every 3 years (extended a year because of Covid).  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

Thank you for the yacht club recommendation as we will be trying MSC after our Celebrity cruise. Happy cruising!

[antsp]

2 hours ago, dandonna said:

Chose MSC because they transfer your loyalty tier to theirs so Elite on Princess gets the tops benefits on MSC.

Again wouldn’t even be trying this but Princess failed us so trying some different lines: Celebrity & MSC. 

Yes I know, I've sailed with them once, have you sailed with them

[dandonna]

2 minutes ago, antsp said:

Yes I know, I've sailed with them once, have you sailed with them

Have not but one friend loved MSC and another said it was  like Carnival and hated it. Have to see for myself I guess. Have a great week 

[snoozecrooze]

Re: the cabins

I will give Celebrity credit for putting in the effort to gut Millennium's and Summit's cabins to the bones and make them like new again. I don't recall Princess ever having any plans to do that, but they should....once they have the proper funding. Otherwise, the 2004-era cabins on CB will stay that way until she's transferred out elsewhere, because the pandemic threw a wrench in what was likely to be ambitious projects of the like.

 

I will add that there is always a "grass is greener on the other side" vibe if you're consistently a routine cruiser on one specific line. The same vibes of "I'm not coming back" persist on every forum here. I encourage anyone to try out as many lines and ships as you can; variety is genuinely the spice of life.

[Jase0581]

I am sorry to hear about your experience on the Caribbean, and cannot fault you for wanting to try other lines after it.  My 2 cruises since the covid restart have been on the Discovery Princess and I just got off of the Celebrity Solstice.  The Discovery was a beautiful ship and service was excellent, helps that it is the newest ship in the fleet.  I still will look at Princess first when booking a cruise.

My Celebrity cruise was also great, the Solstice was starting to show some age, but the cruise was only 50% full and service was way above anything I had experienced on a cruise ship.  I will say that the specialty restaurants on the 2 Celebrity ships I have been on are infinitely better than the Princess offerings.  They also cost more than Princess charges for specialty dining.

[dandonna]

3 minutes ago, snoozecrooze said:

Re: the cabins

I will give Celebrity credit for putting in the effort to gut Millennium's and Summit's cabins to the bones and make them like new again. I don't recall Princess ever having any plans to do that, but they should....once they have the proper funding. Otherwise, the 2004-era cabins on CB will stay that way until she's transferred out elsewhere, because the pandemic threw a wrench in what was likely to be ambitious projects of the like.

 

I will add that there is always a "grass is greener on the other side" vibe if you're consistently a routine cruiser on one specific line. The same vibes of "I'm not coming back" persist on every forum here. I encourage anyone to try out as many lines and ships as you can; variety is genuinely the spice of life.

Just to be clear my review was fair and honest as I never stated I’m not coming back. I simply stated due to my disappointment I am now willing to try 2 other cruiselines before returning to Princess. Had I not had a bad cruise I would have continued with my Princess loyalty. I agree with you wholeheartedly as to trying other lines so heres hoping for some good cruises Be well

[snoozecrooze]

Just now, dandonna said:

Just to be clear my review was fair and honest as I never stated I’m not coming back. I simply stated due to my disappointment I am now willing to try 2 other cruiselines before returning to Princess. Had I not had a bad cruise I would have continued with my Princess loyalty.

And I value your comments here, wholeheartedly. No offense taken at all regarding anything you said. I was just speaking more to the abyss out there, because I think most of the cruising fatigue out there comes from expecting more (or even the same) from a cruise line people are so familiar with, despite the reality that we know (cutbacks, setbacks, etc.). I always recommend others to try something new and to avoid sticking too closely to a routine for a vacation.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, So_Tweetie said:

On the sailing in question they said at the Captain's Circle party that there were only 192 elites onboard, and almost a third of the ship was first-time cruisers. Very interesting in my opinion. 

That says to me that the Elite cruisers just know better.

 

[Cruise Raider]

We cruise quite often and cruise amongst all different lines .. I think that’s a good thing!  Variety in food, cabins, entertainment and demographics keep cruising very interesting.  
Find out for yourself the pros and cons of each cruiseline.  We have enjoyed Princess more than ever since the restart .. some have not but we all enjoy different aspects of cruising.  I don’t eat any beef, lamb or pork and my fish, seafood and chicken dishes have  been spectacular.  So, we all see things from a different perspective.  I don’t consider myself loyal to any specific cruiseline nor, would I want to be.  Variety is the spice of life!   Explore and enjoy all the different experiences .. without threat or regret.  That’s a life worth living!  
 

[jaycruising]

Thanks for your honest review. 
 

I do really want to try celebrity, but am having trouble with finding one that is worth me flying across the continent for to Florida as the prices are definitely higher, but I’ll keep looking as I hear good things. 
 

I had a massage on a ship once and will never do it again, it was so overpriced and the upswell was terrible. From what I understand is that they are all ran by third party vendors and they work on a commission basis. So I’ll be saving that money for my celebrity cruise 😉

[vantec]

I totally understand where you are coming from.  My husband and I have done over 50 cruises, the majority on Princess.  We have decided to take three cruises in the next year: MSC, NCL and Princess - then we will decide if we should take a break from cruising all together and just do land vacations, or if we should refocus our loyalty. We definitely do not feel our loyalty is appreciated, and that goes with hotels, also. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

My last Celebrity cruise was on an older ship.  We were on a 7 day cruise and the toilet in our cabin did not work 5 out of 7 days.  Just awful.  

[reedprincess]

Enjoy Celebrity, OP! 

Very different experience, but heck - why not?

Some differences to be prepared for: limited buffet hours. Much shorter pool side grill hours. No self service laundry. Limited Ice Cream hours at buffet. $9.95usd+18% gratuity room service delivery charge for any order except continental breakfast (unless you're in a suite). $17.95+18% gratuity for a second lobster tail (unless you're in a suite, eating in Lumimae).  Closed off deck areas and lounges solely for Suite guests.  Great food (even the lowered quality in the MDRs and buffet is better quality for lots of things than Princess). Much larger and more varied MDR menus. Escargot, French Onion Soup, filet mignon, chicken, salmon, shrimp cocktail, etc always available (and listed) every night. Beautiful ships. Overall you get more diverse demographics.. couch in your cabin. Smaller closet, less storage space in cabin.  Lots of different stateroom classes with different perks for each level (ie, need Concierge Class at least for embarkation day lunch in MDR, for example).  

And lots of other differences in the Plus and Minus column - but hey, variety is the spice of life.  We enjoy both, for different reasons. Having sailed Apex and Regal within 2 weeks if each other in February, it was an enlightening experience to chat with frequent cruisers in both, and get the "good and bad" from both sides of the fence.  

Happy sails. 

[DallasGuy75219]

7 hours ago, JGmf said:

The OP's experiences can't be discounted, but I'd just say that I read the same type of "I'm leaving this cruise line" posting on the NCL boards all the time.

All the established mass market lines have been cutting costs and the onboard product and raising onboard prices to try to get back in the black and pay off their billions in debt, and every corresponding CC board has the same "I've had enough of this cruise line's cuts and am switching to that cruise line" threads.  

 

Assuming people actually follow through, this mainly results in just a reshuffling of passengers across cruise lines, with some passengers moving to a higher class line to get the onboard product they've grown accustomed to (e.g., today's Princess is comparable to Carnival 20 years ago) and a handful abandoning cruising partially or completely in favor of land vacations.

[suzyed]

10 hours ago, dandonna said:

We are Elite status so obviously love Princess but this was by far our worst cruise experience. We sailed 2/20 for a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

Onboard we met a first time Princess couple who are Celebrity cruise regulars and after our experience on this cruise we committed to May cruise on Celebrity. I will post that review once we return.

So why was this bad cruise bad?

1) This ship looks and feels old. Our balcony & cabin furniture were all beaten up in L256. The room smelled very musty and just needed to be refreshed.

2) Dinner waiting times were a joke. If you had a 6pm in the main dining room you stood in a line of 30 people for a minimum of 20 minutes. Here is the kicker if you didnt have reservations you could go to the 

line on the right and be seated immediately? Why make reservations??? 
3) The medallion app is a joke. It says you can order a drink and have it delivered anywhere in the ship. No not true! We tried it at the spa outdoor pool, we tried it on deck 7 walking area, we tried it on the putting green we tried it in club fusion. It doesnt work and not only that but it self cancels???

4) Do not get a massage on a Princess cruise. Not only are they overpriced but the masseuse spent the entire 75 minutes trying to upsell my wife on every salon service? She paid for a relaxing massage not a sales pitch. Sorry Princess but I am sharing this scheme with everyone all the time!

5) Absolutely terrible steak quality in the Crown Grill not only did I hate my steak but the couple next to me said it was bad then the table across from me also hated their steaks? What is with the quality? I loved going to the Crown Grill in the past no more.

6) Our toliet water twice kept running? Nothing stuck in the toliet but some kind of water pressure problem. No apology no acknowledgment nothing just fixed cleaned and left. Not the Princess I am used too.

7) No deck party anymore? It would have been perfect considering the weather and the fact a crowd outdoors is safer when it comes to Covid or Noro than indoors. Instead they called it a Love Boat gold white  piazza party which consisted of live music but nothing else that ran for 40 minutes but nothing happened other than some ballroom cruise group who just danced. Didnt see anyone in gold or white?? Yawn.

So you may be reading this and saying no

problem for me and that is fine but for a 17 time Princess cruiser this was a disappointment. Yes we will go on another Princess cruise in the future but definitely a different ship. For now Celebrity and MSC will get our business for our next 2 cruises. If Princess wants us back they need to step it up if not we just move on. I filled out the survey and would welcome a conversation but that doesnt seem to happen.

I wish all of you fantastic cruises  this year and beyond.

 

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess last October and it was very good.  It was showing some age, sure, but it was clean and kept up.  The crew was great!  We only just started sailing the newer ships in the last year or so and they are very nice. 
Ours was Canada/Colonial America 15 days.  No issues.  Could the itinerary influence the quality of the cruise?  Not really sure why it would?  But I guess possibly it could.
We had no waits for the MDR and the specialty restaurants were good>great.
I have tried Celebrity once after I heard folks rave about it....I can't say I was super impressed but I think experiences vary depending on the ship and itinerary.  We had a wait for dinner every night and though the portions were small the food was good.  Please come back and share your experience.
Sorry your cruise did not live up to expectations.