LIVE * Discovery * 4-day West Coast Getaway

[victory2020]

We were on this cruise & were slightly underwhelmed. Many things with the plus package were unavailable when we tried to order them ie, "premium" red velvet cake (when we did get a slice the next day it was probably the worst cake I've ever had, dry & frosting was NOT cream cheese as listed), exercise classes were cancelled, & juice bar was out of ingredients for the juice we wanted. Not fun to pay extra for stuff we can't get. 

I found Gigi's & Salty Dog gastropub subpar for something that is extra. 

Bartenders were all wonderful & hard working. Luckily our cabin steward was great ( we were in inside cabin on Dolphin) as were all of our servers in the main dining room.

 

[HBCcruiser]

11 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

We were on this cruise & were slightly underwhelmed. Many things with the plus package were unavailable when we tried to order them ie, "premium" red velvet cake (when we did get a slice the next day it was probably the worst cake I've ever had, dry & frosting was NOT cream cheese as listed), exercise classes were cancelled, & juice bar was out of ingredients for the juice we wanted. Not fun to pay extra for stuff we can't get. 

I found Gigi's & Salty Dog gastropub subpar for something that is extra. 

Bartenders were all wonderful & hard working. Luckily our cabin steward was great ( we were in inside cabin on Dolphin) as were all of our servers in the main dining room.

 

I am glad your cabin attendant was good to you. I agree, the bartenders and wait staff were overworked.  I forgot to mention that for some reason we were never added to Princess Prizes. Our App kept saying that we had to register, and our door never recognized that we had it. Did you have that issue as well? 

[victory2020]

3 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I am glad your cabin attendant was good to you. I agree, the bartenders and wait staff were overworked.  I forgot to mention that for some reason we were never added to Princess Prizes. Our App kept saying that we had to register, and our door never recognized that we had it. Did you have that issue as well? 

We just had the Plus, not premium. So you didn't get all you paid for either.

[HBCcruiser]

Just now, victory2020 said:

We just had the Plus, not premium. So you didn't get all you paid for either.

Nope, and they tried to charge me extra for Gigis and for the wine I was drinking which was $18 and covered by the Premier Package. Hence the multiple Guest Services visits. The Concierge said he would remove the charges but never did. Once I realized that I just went directly to guest services to get the random charges removed.  

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 minute ago, HBCcruiser said:

Nope, and they tried to charge me extra for Gigis and for the wine I was drinking which was $18 and covered by the Premier Package. Hence the multiple Guest Services visits. The Concierge said he would remove the charges but never did. Once I realized that I just went directly to guest services to get the random charges removed.  

Sorry to hear all that. We board on Saturday. 1st Princess cruise since 2007 although we've cruised on other lines in between. What great red wines did you try? 

[startedwithamouse]

20 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

We were on this cruise & were slightly underwhelmed. Many things with the plus package were unavailable when we tried to order them ie, "premium" red velvet cake (when we did get a slice the next day it was probably the worst cake I've ever had, dry & frosting was NOT cream cheese as listed), exercise classes were cancelled, & juice bar was out of ingredients for the juice we wanted. Not fun to pay extra for stuff we can't get. 

I found Gigi's & Salty Dog gastropub subpar for something that is extra. 

Bartenders were all wonderful & hard working. Luckily our cabin steward was great ( we were in inside cabin on Dolphin) as were all of our servers in the main dining room.

 

It was by far worst piece of cake we've ever had too. Yeah, tasteless cake glue? Definitely not cream cheese or buttercream.

[victory2020]

2 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Nope, and they tried to charge me extra for Gigis and for the wine I was drinking which was $18 and covered by the Premier Package. Hence the multiple Guest Services visits. The Concierge said he would remove the charges but never did. Once I realized that I just went directly to guest services to get the random charges removed.  

Wow, you must have wasted a lot of time at guest services, the lines were long! I had to go because we had a charge for drinks - the bartender misunderstood my request & gave us a tequilla that was more than our $15. I had to have them look at my account to see that was not what I was ordering every time I went to the bar

[HBCcruiser]

3 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Sorry to hear all that. We board on Saturday. 1st Princess cruise since 2007 although we've cruised on other lines in between. What great red wines did you try? 

My favorite is Silverado cab. That is my goto on Princess. 

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, victory2020 said:

Wow, you must have wasted a lot of time at guest services, the lines were long!

Exactly! 

[victory2020]

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

It was by far worst piece of cake we've ever had too. Yeah, tasteless cake glue? Definitely not cream cheese or buttercream.

Right? It was REALLY bad. I can't believe they try to charge for that.

[startedwithamouse]

5 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Nope, and they tried to charge me extra for Gigis and for the wine I was drinking which was $18 and covered by the Premier Package. Hence the multiple Guest Services visits. The Concierge said he would remove the charges but never did. Once I realized that I just went directly to guest services to get the random charges removed.  

We were on the same cruise too. 

 

Had one extra charge for Gigis and two extra charges for Salty Dog. Tried to take these off via chat to no avail. Required guest services visit.

 

We have Plus. All bar charges after 10:00pm on the 18th were appearing on our folio. Had two lattes in the morning and they were on our folio too. I think it's becoming the norm as guest services takes off the charges without saying a word.

 

They charge and charge and see what sticks? It is not the Discovery we've previously sailed on multiple times.

 

[HBCcruiser]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

They charge and charge and see what sticks? It is not the Discovery we've previously sailed on multiple times.

Exactly this! 👆👆 Same with us. 

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

We were on the same cruise too. 

 

Had one extra charge for Gigis and two extra charges for Salty Dog. Tried to take these off via chat to no avail. Required guest services visit.

 

We have Plus. All bar charges after 10:00pm on the 18th were appearing on our folio. Had two lattes in the morning and they were on our folio too. I think it's becoming the norm as guest services takes off the charges without saying a word.

 

They charge and charge and see what sticks? It is not the Discovery we've previously sailed on multiple times.

 

In 60 cruises with Princess we have only had maybe 3 charges that we had an issue with and they were all dealt with quickly and corrected. 

[Wishing on a star]

These comments are NOT reassuring....

We have two cruises booked...  SUN, when she gets here to FLL, and another next year.

One hopes that issues are temporary, and one-offs...   but maybe not.

[HBCcruiser]

17 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

These comments are NOT reassuring....

We have two cruises booked...  SUN, when she gets here to FLL, and another next year.

One hopes that issues are temporary, and one-offs...   but maybe not.

Or it is just the Discovery? My TA did tell me that they are switching out one of the higher-up officers (hotel GM perhaps I can't remember) for someone who has a good track record for making sure guests are taken care of. I hope this is the case. I do know that climate, attitude, and customer service starts at the top.  

[Steelers36]

45 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

It was by far worst piece of cake we've ever had too. Yeah, tasteless cake glue? Definitely not cream cheese or buttercream.

Lots of times, food pictures can be a challenge to figure out details.  That said, this one is quite clear in terms of visual recognition on the icing not being as you stated.  I have not read the cake descriptions for some time now.  Do they claim to use real buttercream icing or cream cheese icing?  One might expect such ingredients in a premium dessert.

 

PS - Either cheaper ingredients or left out for some time???

Edited February 20 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

35 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

They charge and charge and see what sticks? It is not the Discovery we've previously sailed on multiple times.

 

34 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Exactly this! 👆👆 Same with us. 

 

Sorry, just seeing this thread and not going to read it all.  Did anyone speak with the F&B Manager to find out what going on with all the erroneous charges?

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

Sorry, just seeing this thread and not going to read it all.  Did anyone speak with the F&B Manager to find out what going on with all the erroneous charges?

It was only a 4-day cruise. By the time I noticed that the concierge had not removed the first days' charges it was the second day in the evening. That was GS visit one. Other charges showed up the following day - day 3 ad again day 4. I was back at guest services that day and our last day. By then it was time to get off of the ship. 

[cruisingpeople]

48 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Or it is just the Discovery? My TA did tell me that they are switching out one of the higher-up officers (hotel GM perhaps I can't remember) for someone who has a good track record for making sure guests are taken care of. I hope this is the case. I do know that climate, attitude, and customer service starts at the top.  

We board her on March 31st. I'll have to keep my eyes open and check my charges daily as you know I don't really drink much.        😅🤣😂YEAH, RIGHT!!!!!!!!!😅🤣😂

[memoak]

49 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Lots of times, food pictures can be a challenge to figure out details.  That said, this one is quite clear in terms of visual recognition on the icing not being as you stated.  I have not read the cake descriptions for some time now.  Do they claim to use real buttercream icing or cream cheese icing?  One might expect such ingredients in a premium dessert.

 

PS - Either cheaper ingredients or left out for some time???

You paid for special desserts and you got special desserts so what is the issue. Personally I cannot stand the so called premium desserts but they are what they are I saw tons of people gobbling them down on my last several cruises. Not everyone wants every item on any plan

[TheMichael]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

It was by far worst piece of cake we've ever had too. Yeah, tasteless cake glue? Definitely not cream cheese or buttercream.

 

We had a double chocolate "premium" cake recently and it was incredible, moist and rich and just the right amount of cocoa, we almost went back and got another one immediately, it was so good. So YMMV depending on the type of cake and personal taste...? 

 

(Edit: just remembered the reason we got the double chocolate was that the red velvet had sold out, so maybe the dessert chef was exceptionally good that day, or hadn't run out of "real ingredients" yet? 😁)

The cakes are pretty new though, so maybe they're still dialing it in and experimenting - guess they needed to add something for people who take one look at the premium gelato desserts and go into sugar shock just from the photos.

 

 Also, If I had a dime for every person on CC who declared some sort of fake ingredient was in use because the flavor or texture was not to their taste, I'd have enough dimes to go to culinary school and become as much of an expert as they are. 😁

 

Edited February 20 by TheMichael

[Wishing on a star]

Yes,  some of this could be specific to the Discovery...  I have seen this, as I have especially noticed with the food and dining...  The top Executive person and staff can make a huge difference!!!

All ships seem to be suffering with inadequate bartenders and service staff.

And, the thing with all of the charges??????

 

Two things are coming to mind...

1.  With all of the newer changes with Plus and Premier, etc..  Could their system be wonky and just not handling it right????   I have heard of staff 'winging it' with the charges, and not relying on the system and the medallion system because, with issues, it was seemed to make their job easier.  That leaves a LOT of room for error...  and while not purposeful overcharging... yes, a problem.

 

2.  The number of staff having been flown over to Europe to staff the new ship.   I can see how this would have to affect staffing on some of the other ships...  Perhaps the newer ships most affected???

I think staffing is a huge challenge for all businesses...  Maybe, especially, cruise lines.

 

It has been a while since we last cruised...  I do have to say that the STAFF were a huge high spot!  They all worked hard with a smile...  no issues, except for overwork bartenders who simply could not keep up with the demand.   They did try!!!

 

I did send rave reviews on many staff, as I forwarded my cruise feedback to upper-positions at Princess.

Edited February 20 by Wishing on a star

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

Or it is just the Discovery? My TA did tell me that they are switching out one of the higher-up officers (hotel GM perhaps I can't remember) for someone who has a good track record for making sure guests are taken care of. I hope this is the case. I do know that climate, attitude, and customer service starts at the top.  

We got a new hotel GM halfway through our cruise - a lot of crew changed in San Diego. 

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

We got a new hotel GM halfway through our cruise - a lot of crew changed in San Diego. 

That was probably who my TA was referring to. Hopefully things will change then. I DID see a group of people with luggage getting on in SD. Interesting. 

[chubbypiggy]

8 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

We got a new hotel GM halfway through our cruise - a lot of crew changed in San Diego. 

Do you know the name of the new hotel GM?   TIA.