It was their first cruise ever.. after listening to us rave all these years.. their Day 1, I said 'its not really like this'

[Rick&Jeannie]

Your DR neighbors apparently booked using the Princess "No Class" fare package.

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Your DR neighbors apparently booked using the Princess "No Class" fare package.

Good one!

[melodyina]

5 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Your DR neighbors apparently booked using the Princess "No Class" fare package.

love it!  That's good, but I will say that he was with the gal, and the gal was embarrased. He was just a jerk.  I hope their cruise went better for her, or she saw the true personality of him before that relationship got to far. 

 

[CynCyn]

16 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I always print an extra tag and throw right  inside the suitcase.  If the outside plastic sleeve comes off (never has) then they will open the suitcase for identification.  They can easily see our cabin no.

 

Thanks for the good idea!

[DavidsNana]

@melodyina Just a hint about soft side luggage and rain.  Maybe this will help.  I use large trash bags and line my luggage with them bottom, sides and top so that if they are sitting out someplace in the rain, the clothes inside stay dry even if the outside gets wet.  So far so good.   So sorry about your problems on the Caribbean Princess.  Sailed on her with my grandson and his wife the first week of April and had none of your problems and we had a full ship.  I am wondering if they have had an extensive crew change since then. 

[melodyina]

6 minutes ago, DavidsNana said:

@melodyina Just a hint about soft side luggage and rain.  Maybe this will help.  I use large trash bags and line my luggage with them bottom, sides and top so that if they are sitting out someplace in the rain, the clothes inside stay dry even if the outside gets wet.  So far so good.   So sorry about your problems on the Caribbean Princess.  Sailed on her with my grandson and his wife the first week of April and had none of your problems and we had a full ship.  I am wondering if they have had an extensive crew change since then. 

We sailed on the same ship a year ago, though we were in a different dining room last year, I didn't see anyone familiar, but that's not surprising as I'm bad remembering names. 🙂  Its a fun ship and we enjoy this class of ship.  I will say the cruise director Jodi is fantastic. 

[startedwithamouse]

24 minutes ago, melodyina said:

love it!  That's good, but I will say that he was with the gal, and the gal was embarrased. He was just a jerk.  I hope their cruise went better for her, or she saw the true personality of him before that relationship got to far. 

 

How do you know they were new? 

[Paula_MacFan]

3 hours ago, melodyina said:

Finally! My daughter-in-law and her husband (lets just say mid 50's) joined us this past week 

 

I'm sorry, but I've been reading this thread and just can't get past this first line.  

 

Wouldn't your daughter-in-law and her husband be your son and daughter-in-law?  Maybe it's my detail-oriented brain but I'm trying to figure out who is who in this scenario.  

[cruzsnooze]

" What we take as normal they were amazed with the Int'l cafe and choices and 'Really its free?".. "YES"  (we all had the beverage package). "

 

No it's NOT free , you paid for it since you had the beverage package. The other foods were not free they were included in your cruise fare. It seems a common mistake that people ( not just the OP ) state something was free when in reality it is baked into your fare. 

[KarmaCruisers]

27 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

I'm sorry, but I've been reading this thread and just can't get past this first line.  

 

Wouldn't your daughter-in-law and her husband be your son and daughter-in-law?  Maybe it's my detail-oriented brain but I'm trying to figure out who is who in this scenario.  

This actually may be a thing; cuz we were watching Marriage Match Game on our last cruise and the one dude said “my brother-in-law’s wife” and the CD (and crowd) said..”wouldn’t that just be YOUR sister??” Haha

they cleared it up..it was his wife’s brother and HIS wife..

So in this situation it could be her child’s spouses sibling+husband (no relation to cruiser at all; but she did say “daughter-in-law”…so…

Edited July 10, 2023 by KarmaCruisers

[suekel]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

We are booked on the sold out Solar Eclipse cruise next April. 12 days with an overnight in Cabo. One of our sons is booked with us along with his wife and our second youngest grandchild (she will be 6 when we sail). It will the the first time cruise for the three of them and I keep hoping things go well. We're booked on Discovery Princess which is a ship we are totally unfamiliar with as we've never been on it before. We've only cruised on a Royal class ship once (Royal Princess) and, personally, I much preferred the Grand class ships. As this is an unfamiliar ship and a sold out cruise I cringe thinking of things that might go wrong for their first cruise.

You'll be fine.  The Discovery crew has their act together.  The CB is a mess. 

[Doubt151]

I just had a similar experience on the Ruby (the trip with the dock crash).  It was my 40th cruise (36th on Princess) but the 1st for my daughter and her kids (10 and 8).  I was so excited for them to be

impressed.  Embarkation in SF went smoothly.  DISAPPOINTMENTS: 1.  The 1st night, we ordered room service for both our

cabins (side-by-side balconies on the oh-so-handy Lido deck).  The order for my cabin came in a 

timely fashion.  Dau told me to go ahead and eat while they waited for their order.  After waiting for

30-45 min after I had eaten, we called Room Service and were told the rest of the order was "on its

way."   We waited another 30 min but it NEVER did come.  The kids started to cry, so we just went to

the buffet.  2.  The hair dryer kept shutting itself off.  Cabin steward was able to get a new one.  3.  The safe didn't always "recognize" that I had pressed a key, even though it would beep during the press.  Its handle was a piece of folded up duct tape.  4.  Total chaos at the Salty Dog grill poolside.  Slow lines of

15 people.  At front of the line we were given pagers, then had to wait another 10 to 30 min. Some of them did not even work..  People were getting very angry.  5.  The production show Stardust needs to be retired ASAP.  IMHO it is lame and dated.  Even my daughter (a dance studio owner/dance teacher) rolled her eyes at it.  6.  One of our Princess tours was for 9:20 AM.  Instead of having us gather in the theater or other indoor location, the tkt said to meet ashore.  The problem was that thousands (it seemed) of passengers were already lined up to disembark at 9:00.  The line snaked around and around and was slow and frustrating.  No sep line for those with tours.  7.  Cabin steward said service would be 2 x per day, but often the "first" service did not happen until after 6:00 PM.   I told my dau that if this had been my 1st Princess cruise, it would have been my last.  ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, the food was really good, especially in the buffet.  The kids loved the pools and were not bothered like I was by the broken tiles we saw in 4 or 5 areas.  The production show Colors of the World was fun.

 

We did not feel or hear the dock crash.  We did not even know about it until after we got home.  

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

IMHO, tipping the porters is just a guarantee that your luggage doesn't intentionally go swimming.

 

The porters are already highly paid people who are picking up a huge amount of "extra" income acting as porters. They likely make far more money than I ever made working for the state.

[c-boy]

and there's the rub .... this thread isn't about wage disparity, let's move on . 

[Doubt151]

I just had a similar experience on the Ruby (the trip with the dock crash).  It was my 40th cruise (36th on Princess) but the 1st for my daughter and her kids (10 and 8).  I was so excited for them to be

impressed.  Embarkation in SF went smoothly.  DISAPPOINTMENTS: 1.  The 1st night, we ordered room service for both our

cabins (side-by-side balconies on the oh-so-handy Lido deck).  The order for my cabin came in a 

timely fashion.  Dau told me to go ahead and eat while they waited for their order.  After waiting for

30-45 min after I had eaten, we called Room Service and were told the rest of the order was "on its

way."   We waited another 30 min but it NEVER did come.  The kids started to cry, so we just went to

the buffet.  2.  The hair dryer kept shutting itself off.  Cabin steward was able to get a new one.  3.  The safe didn't always "recognize" that I had pressed a key, even though it would beep during the press.  Its handle was a piece of folded up duct tape.  4.  Total chaos at the Salty Dog grill poolside.  Slow lines of

15 people.  At front of the line we were given pagers, then had to wait another 10 to 30 min. Some of them did not even work..  People were getting very angry.  5.  The production show Stardust needs to be retired ASAP.  IMHO it is lame and dated.  Even my daughter (a dance studio owner/dance teacher) rolled her eyes at it.  6.  One of our Princess tours was for 9:20 AM.  Instead of having us gather in the theater or other indoor location, the tkt said to meet ashore.  The problem was that thousands (it seemed) of passengers were already lined up to disembark at 9:00.  The line snaked around and around and was slow and frustrating.  No sep line for those with tours.  7.  Cabin steward said service would be 2 x per day, but often the "first" service did not happen until after 6:00 PM.   I told my dau that if this had been my 1st Princess cruise, it would have been my last.  ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, the food was really good, especially in the buffet.  The kids loved the pools and were not bothered like I was by the broken tiles we saw in 4 or 5 areas.  The production show Colors of the World was fun.

 

We did not feel or hear the dock crash.  We did not even know about it until after we got home.  

[Doubt151]

Additional disappointments that embarrassed me on my daughter's 1st-time Princess cruise (Ruby to Alaska 6-26-23). .......

 

Re terrible ROOM SERVICE I already mentioned.....I spoke with at least 3 other passengers who all

said their room service order either took 2 or 3 hrs, or never came at all.   Our disappointment with it

was when we ordered by phone.  Whenever we ordered by hanging out the room service breakfast order on the door knob, it came on time.

 

Re BUFFET SERVICE.    There were waaaaay too few waiters.  We almost always had to fetch our own drinks, and often had to look on 7 or 8 occupied tables before we saw any rolled up napkins with silverware.

 

Re PRINCESS TOUR IN PRINCE RUPERT:  My daughter and grandson went on the guided Princess forest hike.  I forget the official name of the tour.  They said it was beautiful, but afterward their whole group had to stand for over an hour waiting for the bus to bring them back to the ship.  The bus driver told them there were not enough buses.  

 

There was no PUB LUNCH and no AFTERNOON TEA (unless I somehow missed notification of them).

 

I had built up the kids' club in my grandkids' minds.  There were so many children onboard that the clubs were like chaotic zoos.  Stressful to even be on that deck.  My grandson only attended for 30 min (for the junior ranger event in GBNP) the whole 10 days.  My granddaughter disliked the crowds and never went after checking it out the 1st day.  Also, after hearing some mention on the safety video about how the camp counselors would TRY to reunited the kids with their families during an emergency, my granddaughter got scared and decided not to risk being separated from the rest of us. 

 

OK.  I will stop complaining now.

[cr8tiv1]

Pub lunches area hit and miss.  If they have them, it’s now on a sea day in the MDR.  Even then, it’s not truly Fish and Chips or others. 
 

Afternoon tea time is listed in the Patter.  You had several sea days.  It should have happened.  I’m happy now that they serve scones in the buffet.  
 

Sounds like the Ruby was lacking in many areas.  That’s so sad to hear.  For what it’s worth, one of Princess’ best Alaskan itineraries is from San Francisco (and San Pedro in the past).  They dropped the ball here.  

[Buckeye10640]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Pub lunches area hit and miss.  If they have them, it’s now on a sea day in the MDR.  Even then, it’s not truly Fish and Chips or others. 
 

Afternoon tea time is listed in the Patter.  You had several sea days.  It should have happened.  I’m happy now that they serve scones in the buffet.  
 

Sounds like the Ruby was lacking in many areas.  That’s so sad to hear.  For what it’s worth, one of Princess’ best Alaskan itineraries is from San Francisco (and San Pedro in the past).  They dropped the ball here.  

About the scones...are they in the buffet during late afternoon 'snack' time between lunch and dinner, or at breakfast. lunch, and/or dinnr?  I have never noticed them.

[Coral]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Pub lunches area hit and miss.  If they have them, it’s now on a sea day in the MDR.  Even then, it’s not truly Fish and Chips or others. 
 

Afternoon tea time is listed in the Patter.  You had several sea days.  It should have happened.  I’m happy now that they serve scones in the buffet.  
 

Sounds like the Ruby was lacking in many areas.  That’s so sad to hear.  For what it’s worth, one of Princess’ best Alaskan itineraries is from San Francisco (and San Pedro in the past).  They dropped the ball here.  

Our Pub Lunch was in Crown Grill. It was sort of hidden in the Patters and not advertised greatly. I have also seen it in the dining room.

 

Afternoon tea was listed in the Patters. Again, you have to read through it to find it. I only did because someone asked if they still offered it.

 

Last cruise I saw scones in the buffet, I didn't this time.

 

Not always consistent.

[cr8tiv1]

I was on the Emerald when the buffet had scones and clotted crème in the afternoon.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

20 hours ago, melodyina said:

Finally! My daughter-in-law and her husband (lets just say mid 50's) joined us this past week for their very first cruise ever! on the Caribbean Princess.

well, that was definitely a mistake. After our 2016 cruise on Caribbean Princess we vowed never to sail on her and to always choose much newer ships.

No wonder it was a mess.

[wrongwaywatson]

17 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

I'm sorry, but I've been reading this thread and just can't get past this first line.  

 

Wouldn't your daughter-in-law and her husband be your son and daughter-in-law?  Maybe it's my detail-oriented brain but I'm trying to figure out who is who in this scenario.  

I'm glad you asked, because I have been racking my brain on this one!

[melodyina]

2 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

I'm glad you asked, because I have been racking my brain on this one!

yes so true, thanks for the correction

 

[wrongwaywatson]

1 minute ago, melodyina said:

yes so true, thanks for the correction

 

But....what is the answer??  LOL

[lizwil10]

Just a side note about the rude guest at dinner...

 

It may be a generational thing, but people are no longer standing idle while they watch a guest berate an employee. Interject. Just be firm and calm. “Sir, you're being inappropriate.” If he snaps back, you can say, “I’m sorry you got the wrong drink. I’m sure you would agree we’d all like to move on and enjoy our dinner.” 
 

It's the same as my elementary school-aged kids. If they see someone bullying another kid, they're supposed to speak up.