To the Princess folks (who don't only sail Princess).. am I now going to be disappointed?

[Griff4AU]

I'm Platinum and relatively close to Elite... but I haven't been on one of the Princess ships since 2014. I'm looking at both the Sky and Island for Europe (I need to be in the area) and all I am seeing is how Princess is falling off the map in terms of service (which is why the old timers used to sail Princess).

 

Admittedly nearly every CC poster for every cruise line says "service is dropping"... but am I going to be disappointed?  Admittedly I have been spoiled by the Yacht Club on MSC, but I wouldn't sail MSC any other way (and 2 YC cabins are a bit pricey). 

 

I see the 14 day Island sailings are priced about the same as 7 day Sky sailings..... got it, newer ship.. but it also may add credence to the blisteringly ('not sure that's a real word) bad reviews I am seeing on the Island and the stupid refurb they did. 

 

So for those who don't only sail Princess has the line moved closer to NCL / Carnival levels?  There's 4 of us, with 2 teenagers, so X and HAL probably aren't the best options.

 

[justafem]

Princess hasn't fallen as far as carnival.  It would still be a large drop for that!

 

Several of us were discussing the differences between the lines.  For me it was, on princess you'd be hard pressed to find somewhere to put your trash, on carnival, you're expected to bus your own table.  

[memoak]

I have been on 5 cruises with Princess since the restart. Was only disappointed in service on one of them the others seemed to be about the same as before. It seems that the captain sets the tone for the whole crew. Those with upbeat and personable captains had very happy crews while the one did not and the crew reflected that

[voljeep]

the crew that's there is great ... the 'problem' is the crew that is not there for whatever reason.🤔

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, Griff4AU said:

all I am seeing is how Princess is falling off the map in terms of service

I have to ask...what sources are you consulting?  Because if you are reading trip reports and "Live" threads on this board, I am not at all sure how you could reach that conclusion.  We just finished a cruise (two weeks ago) and there was no discernable drop in quality or service.  I am nearing the end of my Review and Journal and when I post my "Final Thoughts", that will come through loud and clear. 

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I have to ask...what sources are you consulting?  Because if you are reading trip reports and "Live" threads on this board, I am not at all sure how you could reach that conclusion.  We just finished a cruise (two weeks ago) and there was no discernable drop in quality or service.  I am nearing the end of my Review and Journal and when I post my "Final Thoughts", that will come through loud and clear. 

so, is a 2 hour to 2 hour 15 minutes dinner in the 'mdr' on a 'regular' night acceptable? - and this is a 2 top, not a group...  this is a service problem of the crew that is not there

[LACruiser88]

Since the re-start, we have logged in over 125 sea days with Princess.  As mentioned above by @voljeep, the crew has been great and the service exceptional.  If anything is amiss, it has been the inability of the cruise lines to properly staff their ships.  Many pre-pandemic crew members have opted not to return to the sea.

 

Hopefully, this situation will correct itself over time.

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by LACruiser88

[Wandawithdogs]

Our Princess cruise in Europe was wonderful! Service was outstanding! My cruise in the US was the one with the issues and poor service.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

I've done three cruises with Princess since the restart.  I hadn't had any cruises with Princess before then.  I have no complaints about the service and in fact find it hard to imagine it could ever have been any better.  YMMV.

[justafem]

31 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Since the re-start, we have logged in over 125 sea days with Princess.  As mentioned above by @voljeep, the crew has been great and the service exceptional.  If anything is amiss, it has been the inability of the cruise lines to properly staff their ships.  Many pre-pandemic crew members have opted not to return to the sea.

 

Hopefully, this situation will correct itself over time.

 

 

 

I'm just over the same sea days since the restart.  I sure do miss 700 pax and 900 crew! 

 

I have noticed changes in the service and the food quality.  So we made adjustments.  We no longer eat when everyone else does.  We go later, so the crew isn't nearly as overwhelmed.  We ask for the same table with the same servers every night, instead of utilizing walk up service. 

 

Mostly, we try to go when demand is lower and we get more individual service.  

 

That's our work around. 

[Griff4AU]

Thanks folks. This is what I have been looking for.

Admittedly folks tend to post the bad more than the good. Heck, I don't even like the name of this forum. But the last 12-18 months there seems to be more than the typical imbalance between bad and good - so I was really wondering if PCL has fallen off that much - or people are just more vocal with their griping. 

Tangible critiques I get (sounds like the Island had a "dumb" refub adding pax and taking away common (and used) spaces. But the subjective stuff it is difficult to see what's real and a gripe from the people who are impossible to please. 

Folks worry about how quickly the cruise lines were able to ramp up post pandemic?  Try the hotel industry (maid service now not a daily thing) or frequent long-haul international air travel (when staffing $ucked).

 

I just want to recognize the Princess I remember as staying in the Yacht Club / Haven / Retreat is cutting down on my cruise frequency and outside of the "ship within a ship", I always enjoyed Princess the most (and thought they were noticeably more fun than X). 

 

[donaldsc]

56 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Since the re-start, we have logged in over 125 sea days with Princess.  As mentioned above by @voljeep, the crew has been great and the service exceptional.  If anything is amiss, it has been the inability of the cruise lines to properly staff their ships.  Many pre-pandemic crew members have opted not to return to the sea.

 

Hopefully, this situation will correct itself over time.

 

 

 

 

I see lots of comments here about the fact that the crew tries but there is not enough crew.  Maybe a solution would be not to fill the ships to 125% of capacity but to the level that the crew can handle.  I guess the odds of that happening are about the same as seeing a pig fly.

 

DON

[Cruise Raider]

We’ve cruised quite often since the restart, mostly on Princess and one on sailing on Celebrity.  
of the many Princess cruises we’ve done since July 2021, only one had very questionable service and only a few staff members that were absolutely superb.   That one was on the Diamond Princess and on a positive note, they had really good food and and excellent entertainment.  The other 21 sailings on Princess have all been phenomenal in terms of service.  I’m not sure about the Island as we haven’t cruised on her in a really long time but I must say, the service on the Majestic, Grand, Discovery, Royal and Ruby has been so very awesome.  
The only thing I could even possibly complain about, if I was a complainer, and I am usually not, is that their wine choices on some of the ships has been quite poor.  But the Grand, Ruby and Royal have been very accommodating and at least have had something decent by the glass for us to drink.  Whomever thought that Canyon Road is a suitable choice to drink with dinner has probably never drank a decent glass of wine before.  Again, the Diamond had the worst possible selection I could even imagine.  But, I digress … the service has been second to none on these other ships mentioned, IMO.  I do love that I can now just order food on my app from a large selection of options and they deliver it to wherever you might be seated.  

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

so, is a 2 hour to 2 hour 15 minutes dinner in the 'mdr' on a 'regular' night acceptable? - and this is a 2 top, not a group...  this is a service problem of the crew that is not there

I haven’t noticed anything close to that. Our standing reservation was for 7:30. The people at our table before us could not possibly have had meals that lasted that long or else the table would not have been ready for our arrival. And if we had dinners that lasted that long we would have been leaving the restaurant at 9:30-9;45 and we were never close to that. So no. We did not experience any service issues in the MDR that would call into question the level of service in either the front or back of the house. 

[Kay S]

Our other "regular" line is HAL.  I prefer the food there and so many other things, but service has suffered across the industry due to staffing shortages and limited training.  Will you be disappointed in Princess?  I guess you need to decide that for yourself.  (BTW, my daughter and family are just back from Carnival, and they said service was good.)

[EDVM96]

3 hours ago, Griff4AU said:

Heck, I don't even like the name of this forum.

😄

[CruizinSusan70]

I have 50+ cruises under my belt.  Have cruised on Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, RCI, NCL and MSC.  Have primarily cruised on Carnival, have 8 or 9 on Celebrity, RCI and NCL.  Our lone MSC cruise was 5 years ago in the YC on the Seaside.

Have only cruised on Princess on a 14 day B2B on the Discovery last year.  Had a great time.  Will be on the Majestic for 14 days next week to Alaska for the first time.  Will be on the Enchanted for 14 in August of 2024.  Will be on the Sun for 2 different B2B's in the fall of 2024 and winter of 2025.  Will do the same for the Star once Caribbean bookings open up.  So, the bottom line is that for the most part, Princess will be our primary cruise of choice.  We will still occasionally cruise on the Excel Class of Carnival, but the Plus package on Princess represents great value to us.  We're hoping that the Sphere Class will be a game changer for Princess.

[Nelsj099]

I am cruising on the Island this summer.  I have read all of the negative reviews.  I am also cruising on the Crown this summer.  Which has had horrible feedback since last summer with the engine issues.  I am sure both will be fine.  I am really there to look out the window at the glaciers, fijords, and wildlife while sipping some vodka by the Ultimate Texas Hold'em table or a slot machine.  The food will be fine, the decor will be fine, the vodka will be cold, and crew will smile and do their jobs that require them to work obnoxious hours every day for little money.  I am not complaining about anything the 36 days I am spending at sea this summer cost less than my Emirates flight.  

Ideas for some Island benefits -

• Small - less people, easier to get on and off the ship 
• Cheaper - all those people want to be on the big fancy ship with all the bells and whistles 
• Better Ports- Island is a smaller boat so it can get into some of the more difficult to dock and reach ports.  

[Redwing55]

On 5/21/2023 at 12:36 PM, voljeep said:

so, is a 2 hour to 2 hour 15 minutes dinner in the 'mdr' on a 'regular' night acceptable? - and this is a 2 top, not a group...  this is a service problem of the crew that is not there

I've had long dinners before covid.  Since covid, we've been on 2 14+ day cruises.  Dinners were done in about an hour or so.  We had one long one.. but they lost the order (so we were told as others around us got served.)

[Guest ldtr]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:36 AM, voljeep said:

so, is a 2 hour to 2 hour 15 minutes dinner in the 'mdr' on a 'regular' night acceptable? - and this is a 2 top, not a group...  this is a service problem of the crew that is not there

Why not. 2 hours for a full dinner with 2 appetizer rounds, entree and desert is not unusual in many places.

 

A lot depends upon when you eat. Start when the dining room opens and you can get through in about an hour. Dine an hour later when the table in your section are full, especially if their are large tables then it may take 2 hours. Does not matter what your table size as much as how full your waiters section is.

 

Eat after 7 and thing start thinning out again 

Edited May 25, 2023 by ldtr

[Guest ldtr]

On 5/21/2023 at 1:12 PM, Kay S said:

Our other "regular" line is HAL.  I prefer the food there and so many other things, but service has suffered across the industry due to staffing shortages and limited training.  Will you be disappointed in Princess?  I guess you need to decide that for yourself.  (BTW, my daughter and family are just back from Carnival, and they said service was good.)

Early in the restart there were some staffing shortages, along with passenger shortages. Not so much on recent cruises. Service on last 3 cruises on Princess in the last 6 months seemed to be in line with pre covid standards.

[CruiserN1]

All of the cruise line corporations took on massive loans to make it through the COVID shutdown. Now they have to pay those back while also turning a profit for shareholders so that their stock prices can rebound. The executives need that to happen because so much of their compensation is stock options. So they have to find a way to generate more revenue, whether by cutting expenses (crew numbers, food, etc.), charging more, or finding extras that people will pay for that are highly profitable.

 

As long as they are sailing relatively full while making cutbacks and increasing revenue from passengers, the cruise experience will not be what it was pre-COVID. We all get to decide if the value proposition is good enough that we want to sail anyway.

[Guest ldtr]

57 minutes ago, CruiserN1 said:

All of the cruise line corporations took on massive loans to make it through the COVID shutdown. Now they have to pay those back while also turning a profit for shareholders so that their stock prices can rebound. The executives need that to happen because so much of their compensation is stock options. So they have to find a way to generate more revenue, whether by cutting expenses (crew numbers, food, etc.), charging more, or finding extras that people will pay for that are highly profitable.

 

As long as they are sailing relatively full while making cutbacks and increasing revenue from passengers, the cruise experience will not be what it was pre-COVID. We all get to decide if the value proposition is good enough that we want to sail anyway.

From what I have seen on 3 different cruises on Princess during the last 6 months, the experience was very much like that prior to Covid.  Steward was back to full twice a day service, the entertainment was some of the best I have seen on Princess even prior to Covid, dining and buffet operations was back to norms, even the menu seemed to be back to pre-covid.

 

There have certainly been price increases, but not as much as hotels have gone up.  There were some changes such as the permanent elimination of the coffee card, but not much else.

 

 

[dave_k58]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:12 PM, Kay S said:

Our other "regular" line is HAL.  I prefer the food there and so many other things, but service has suffered across the industry due to staffing shortages and limited training.  Will you be disappointed in Princess?  I guess you need to decide that for yourself.  (BTW, my daughter and family are just back from Carnival, and they said service was good.)

We recently took the Grandkids on a Carnival Cruise ( mainly because of the water slides etc) - I thought the service was very good, and the food was also pretty good. There were more "included" venues and I thought the Steak House was excellent, the Italian just as good as princess. There were not kids running amuk all over the place either. I think sometimes Carnival sometimes gets a bum rap.  Still,

 Princess my favorite because in my opinion its a bit more "refined" and more suited to my age group . 

[Coral]

The only thing disappointing on my recent cruises have been the quality of the food and the menus are not what they used to be. Service has been pretty good.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Coral