It took 2 years for Princess to reply to my email about what ended up being our last Princess cruise

[CineGraphic]

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

But no medallion. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

This is probably the only similarity, Virgin has “The Band”. The red ones are for “sailors” and the black ones are for “Rock Stars”. They are made from recycled plastic from the sea, and you are encouraged to drop them off when disembarking for further recycling.

 

[pompeii]

The Princess email address pattern is first initial last name at Princesscruises.com.  His doesn’t fit that pattern at all. 

[phabric]

14 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

🙀 Two years & $50....🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️

No wonder we haven't seen you around Princess threads!

The offer of $50 OBC is Per Stateroom not even per person.

[lahlah57]

1 hour ago, sttopmh said:

Curious, why even post this if you're not sailing Princess anymore?

Because of the ridiculous offer Princess put out there to "win" them back. Truth be told 💯 and they think $50 will do it?! 🤣😂

........and 2 years later....WTH???

Edited May 10 by lahlah57
Added

[arizonaperson]

@CineGraphic status match program from other cruise lines Sounds like a very good perk on VV. Enjoy your upcoming voyages. Some day I would like to try VV.

Edited May 10 by arizonaperson

[kywildcatfanone]

7 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 
Thanks to their status match program, every time we sail with Virgin, Pam and I each get $100, free specialty coffees daily, free laundry, upgraded wifi, early boarding. and an invite to a champagne reception.

$50 is a joke.

Status match?  Can you elaborate?  Who are they matching?

[CineGraphic]

12 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Status match?  Can you elaborate?  Who are they matching?

The original status match program for which we qualified is more generous than the new current one, but for Princess, Platinum and Elite qualify.

Details and the levels they match for other lines can be found here;

https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

 

 

[richsea]

7 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 
Thanks to their status match program, every time we sail with Virgin, Pam and I each get $100, free specialty coffees daily, free laundry, upgraded wifi, early boarding. and an invite to a champagne reception.

$50 is a joke.

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

[CineGraphic]

11 minutes ago, richsea said:

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

They cost more, but include more.

These are the only cruises we’ve been on where we haven’t had a balance due when disembarking. The food is also on an entirely different level, with no specialty dining charges.

[mtnesterz]

9 minutes ago, richsea said:

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

There is a website where you can sort by cruise line prices, unfortunately I cannot mention them here because they are a TA. But while prices vary by ship and itinerary, Princess often comes in at US$80-100/pp/night for an inside cabin. An inside on a less expensive Virgin itinerary starts about $150/pp/night inside. 

If you are interested, I'd spend some time reading the Virgin board here on CC. Especially this thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3005702-how-do-virgin-cruises-differ-from-carnival-rcl-etc/

[CineGraphic]

24 minutes ago, richsea said:

I am curious. How do the cruise fares compare between Princess & Virgin?

We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on a 12 day sailing from Portsmouth to Barcelona in a Sweet Aft Suite, for $200 per person per day.

[richsea]

2 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on a 12 day sailing from Portsmouth to Barcelona in a Sweet Aft Suite, for $200 per person per day.

Thank you! Much more reasonable than I imagined. Have fun & congrats!

Edited May 10 by richsea

[Mark_K]

13 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

The demographic you see advertised is quite different from reality. We’ve yet to smell any weed while on board Virgin.

So far only Princess potheads 😁

Gummies, no muss, no fuss, no smell.

[ontheweb]

18 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on a 12 day sailing from Portsmouth to Barcelona in a Sweet Aft Suite, for $200 per person per day.

Happy anniversary coming up. We actually had our first cruise for our 25th anniversary back in 2002, round trip Barcelona to Barcelona.

[voljeep]

4 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

in the past.

exactly - and if you remember the past before ...

[PescadoAmarillo]

28 minutes ago, voljeep said:

exactly - and if you remember the past before ...

I don’t. Why don’t you tell us what you’re not telling us?

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

They cost more, but include more.

These are the only cruises we’ve been on where we haven’t had a balance due when disembarking. The food is also on an entirely different level, with no specialty dining charges.

That sounds similar to the Oceania cruises we’ve enjoyed…think both are truly premium lines in addition to Azamara.

 

[nini]

6 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

At one time he was a Princess loyalist and very active on these boards.  He witnessed the decline of Princess and chose to cruise elsewhere.  He came back to share his most recent experience with us.  He knew that we would appreciate hearing from him.  You probably haven’t been around long enough to know how much he added to the Princess boards in the past.

 

Thank you for providing that history. Now we know where @CineGraphic has been, and am glad @CineGraphic checked in to say hello.

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, nini said:

 

Thank you for providing that history. Now we know where @CineGraphic has been, and am glad @CineGraphic checked in to say hello.

Me, too.  I used to enjoy reading his posts.  Didn’t always agree with him but always respected his opinion.

[Mississippian]

On 5/9/2024 at 4:01 PM, CineGraphic said:

Our last sailings with Princess were b2b sailings on the Ruby out of San Francisco in April of 2022. These were the worst cruises we’ve ever taken. Among other things, they were taking reservations for both specialty dining rooms but only opening 1 each night. We were served a partially eaten appetizer from another table in Sabatinis, and they did nothing about the pot smokers on board, despite the posted policy. Since then, we’ve been very happy sailing with Virgin Voyages, in fact we’re sitting in a hotel in Miami at this very moment as we are boarding the Valiant Lady tomorrow for our 6th sailing with Virgin since October of 2022. I just received an email from Alvin Stokes, the new head of customer support for Princess in which he apologizes for the delay (2 years) and as an offer to win me back, he’s offered us $50 OBC. 🤣 Needless to say, I think we’ll pass. So glad we unloaded our CCL stock too. I hope they put that $50 to good use instead of digging a bigger hole for themselves.

 

As terrible as it is, it is good that he is at least going back through the files and doing the job that should have been done years ago.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Mississippian said:

As terrible as it is, it is good that he is at least going back through the files and doing the job that should have been done years ago.

I guess his title should be head of the Princess Cold Case Department.

[Cruise Raider]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I guess his title should be head of the Princess Cold Case Department.

That’s hilarious 

[Bemidji Ty]

. 

Edited May 11 by Bemidji Ty
Govt Regulations

[Bemidji Ty]

Take 2.  FWIW.  I was talking with some friends last night at an event.  They were describing the very expensive problems they've been having regarding their upcoming cruise on Viking (not Virgin, I know, but certainly an upscale line).  I am not excusing Princess' absolutely dismal response to the OP.  I am only suggesting that this pattern is not endemic to Princess.

 

Cheers

[stoneharborlady]

No one else seems to be the least bit curious about how a partially eaten appetizer was served to you, but I am.  What was it, and how did that come about?