are we getting less satisfied with princess?

[coiran]

What new beds?

 

These were only put in the suites not the other cabins.

 

I Know that!!

 

Ron

[bdjam]

It doesn't say your opinion is invalid and it wasn't even saying you. And I do stand firm that if anyone has only experienced one cruiseline they cannot compare what the other cruiseline mattress has to offer because that person has not tried the other cruiseline so its speculation not fact.

 

The fact is also there are alot of posts on this board about the awful mattresses on Princess and reviews stating this and needing the eggcrate toppers. This is a fact. Just because you have no problems with the mattresses doesn't mean a problem doesn't exist.

I only compared the mattress I had on Island Princess with mine at home - no others. I agree that some posting here find the mattresses on Princess to be uncomfortable - I was just offering the other side of the coin. As you say, just because some people have issues, doesn't mean everyone does.

And now I'll go back to the topic - because really, the mattresses on Princess haven't changed in the 11 years I've been sailing the cruise line - so their condition can't really point to less satisfaction with Princess.

[junglejane]

I don't have the vast cruising experience of many of the posters on this thread. But so far, I have never had a bad cruising experience. I've had minor complaints here and there (disappointed in the buffet on the Diamond Princess; thought the mattresses and pillows were hard and not comfy) but overall have felt very satisfied.

 

I do think it's important to be realistic in your expectations. Given the price charged and the number of pax to be accomodated, I think Princess delivers a very good product. It's not perfect, but more than good enough to keep me coming back.

 

--Junglejane

[Sandytoes]

Never had a problem falling asleep on Princess mattresses....

Never asked for an eggcrate....

 

Beds are extremely comfortable, top-quality cotton bed linens, and fluffy pillows which were not old and flat.

[CrusinAgain]

I Know that!!

 

Ron

 

Thank you for clarifying. The vast majority of cruisers do not get full suites so we don't know what you are talking about regarding the mattresses.

 

Quite frankly I can't believe why I am getting jumped on here when I like Princess except for the mattresses and I think they could improve like the other two cruiselines (Carnival and HAL) and change the mattresses in ALL the cabins. Why is it I only see some Princess loyalists respond and defend when someone says something a bit negative yet I don't see the loyalists respond to all the many newbie questions?

 

It certainly doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about wanting to go on Princess again when I feel like I am getting attacked simply because I and many others do not like their mattresses. Don't know why I would have to get a full suite just to have a decent bed.

 

Flame away.

[bdjam]

The mini suites on Dawn Princess had the new "suite" mattresses when I sailed her two years ago.

As for warm-fuzzies about going on Princess, we all know the people posting here are a very small percentage of the overall passenger load...anyone who might have an opinion is sure to be lost in the crowd.

[junglejane]

The vast majority of cruisers do not get full suites so we don't know what you are talking about regarding the mattresses.

 

I'm a Princess fan but I agree with CruisinAgain. For us non-suite pax, the mattresses are lame. So are the pillows.

 

I'm still booked on another Princess cruise, so this isn't a huge issue for me. I'm usually exhausted enough at the end of the day that I can sleep even on a hard mattress and a thin, unfluffy pillow. But CruisinAgain is right, this is an area that needs improvement.

 

--Junglejane

[ISABELLA]

Could you define for us what you mean by "going down the hill?" I had excellent service a week ago on Island Princess in the dining room - in fact it was too fast for a five course dinner some of the nights - and there were more choices on the menu than I wanted.

 

There probably isn't enough demand for Smoked Salmon every day of the sailing, but I bet if you asked one of the staff members, they'd see to it that you got it every morning. Princess normally will handle a special order for you - and that's why Princess ranks high in some of our books.

 

Your ranking of the cruise lines meets most professional evaluations. It will be interesting to see how Celebrity handles their new big ships coming off the line and what that does overall to their product.

I will try to explain. We had PC dining and were sitted at table for 8, which we liked. We always enjoy meeting people. After having dinner for a hour and a half, waiter still didn't get anyone's dessert/ coffee/ tea order, he was standing and chatting with a couple at the next table, who already finished their dinner and were standing, ready to leave, completely ignored all of us. We waited about 10 minutes, and then, we all got up and left, he even didn't noticed us leaving the table. The other night, the waiter was very nice, but still took us almost two hours. About the smoked salmon - we had plenty on CP last year, twice on Coral. We did asked, they said, not today, maybe tomorrow. A lot of small things are not the same - from charging for juices and cappucinos in the dining room, charging for regular tea in the lounge, fruit at the buffet is limited variety, no exotic fruits, a lot of desserts looks different, but taste the same. At the buffet were only 3 kinds of cheese. No sign of Blue cheese, Stilton, or Garganzola, or Brie. I don't want to make a federal case about it. It still just our experience. We sail with Princess since 1990. Believe me there is a change. We will be sailing on the Galaxy next November and I can do the comparison.

[Lightsluvr]

Yes, I have. On this and other boards. People with 1, 2, 3 (usually less than 10) posts who post proportionally larger percentage of the less than positive comments.

 

I begin to wonder if some of these people may work for the marketing departments of other, non-Carnival Corp, Cruise Lines?!? :rolleyes:

 

I don't think it's the "competition" - I think it's just uninformed cruisers who never did any research before they cruised.

Something (or things) didn't meet their expectations about cruising, so they get home pi$$ed off, sit in fornt of their computers and Google "cruise complaints". Guess which forum is going to show up?

Then these one-cruise wonders spew forth their disappointment, in many cases showing their ignorance and lack of planning.

Then of course there are the trolls who do it for kicks...:rolleyes:

I think it happens in all cruise line forums.

JMHO

 

LL

[Sandytoes]

Junglejane

I'm a Princess fan but I agree with CruisinAgain. For us non-suite pax, the mattresses are lame. So are the pillows

 

As a non-suite cruiser, I always book a balcony stateroom....as stated above, do not fine the matresses lame.

 

 

ISABELLA - After having dinner for a hour and a half, waiter still didn't get anyone's dessert/ coffee/ tea order, he was standing and chatting with a couple at the next table, who already finished their dinner and were standing, ready to leave, completely ignored all of us. We waited about 10 minutes, and then, we all got up and left

 

Let me get this straight....After you completed your main course, you waited 10 minutes but the waiter was being kind and curious to other passengers and you felt he was ignoring you? Did you kindly wave to him, call him by name, or get out of your seat, approach him with a "excuse me, we are ready to order coffee & dessert".....:rolleyes: ...:confused:

[junglejane]

We had PC dining and were sitted at table for 8, which we liked. We always enjoy meeting people. After having dinner for a hour and a half, waiter still didn't get anyone's dessert/ coffee/ tea order, he was standing and chatting with a couple at the next table, who already finished their dinner and were standing, ready to leave, completely ignored all of us. We waited about 10 minutes, and then, we all got up and left, he even didn't noticed us leaving the table. The other night, the waiter was very nice, but still took us almost two hours.

 

I think it's funny that some people complain that Anytime Dining is too rushed, and others complain that it's too slow.

 

One night on our last cruise we were anxious about getting a good seat for the show, so we left before dessert. This was toward the end of the cruise and by then we felt we'd had a few desserts too many. Our waiter, however, was very distressed that we left before he could serve us dessert. We tried to explain that we weren't in the least bit unhappy, but he looked so upset about our leaving that we felt guilty about it!

 

--Junglejane

[vacationhappy]

We love Princess and it is our first choice however what I have seen is that the "other" line has made great decisions in terms of itinearies. For example, on the Emerald Med cruises, the port days are shorter almost in every port - 7-5 versus 7-8:00PM. The extra couple hours makes a big difference in some ports. Princess is crammining in two half days at two different ports rather than providing a full day in one port.

 

So, for this time around, we are going with "the other line".

[play21cw]

This is the type of board I like to see! I have my first Princess cruise in August and a thread like this one is very reassuring

 

Thanks everyone!

[Desert Cruizers]

Hello Ron, I am a Princess Fan, you have every right as we all do to speak up on something you don't like. I dislike the way the Horizon Court is set up, but I will always go back to Princess. Each and every one of us on any given Cruise lines, will find something we didn't like. Whats more important is the enjoyment we have cruising and meeting new friends.I better stop before I get yelled at <g>

[bacm]

I also am a princess fan and I like to hear different views on all topics. These boards don't do me any good if everyone just says everything is great. It also helps me to have more insight into a person's recommendations if I know their likes and dislikes. If their views are similar to mine I can use the imformation as more reliable to me. I love princess, but honestly, if I had not gone on other lines I would not have experinced different things that I also like. For instance, I don't like the bedding on princess (really wish the would upgrade), but it doesn't stop me from booking another cruise on them.

[bdjam]

I will try to explain. We had PC dining and were sitted at table for 8, which we liked. We always enjoy meeting people. After having dinner for a hour and a half, waiter still didn't get anyone's dessert/ coffee/ tea order, he was standing and chatting with a couple at the next table, who already finished their dinner and were standing, ready to leave, completely ignored all of us. We waited about 10 minutes, and then, we all got up and left, he even didn't noticed us leaving the table. The other night, the waiter was very nice, but still took us almost two hours. About the smoked salmon - we had plenty on CP last year, twice on Coral. We did asked, they said, not today, maybe tomorrow. A lot of small things are not the same - from charging for juices and cappucinos in the dining room, charging for regular tea in the lounge, fruit at the buffet is limited variety, no exotic fruits, a lot of desserts looks different, but taste the same. At the buffet were only 3 kinds of cheese. No sign of Blue cheese, Stilton, or Garganzola, or Brie. I don't want to make a federal case about it. It still just our experience. We sail with Princess since 1990. Believe me there is a change. We will be sailing on the Galaxy next November and I can do the comparison.

I don't disagree with you that the quality of a Princess cruise is not what it used to be...but that's because they've looked to the mass market to fill their ships and some of those things of the past aren't as appreciated or wanted as are other things now...think formal evenings. For a higher per diem, Princess could possibly bring back all that's no longer around - but that's not their market anymore.

And while I'm at it, one of the things I miss is the crepe stations that used to be set up during Champagne Waterfall. Of course I really didn't need the extra dessert.

In the meantime, besides the smoked salmon which I still think you could have gotten every morning if you had asked for it, it seems like the complaints are mainly about food choices and service in Anytime Dining. I choose Traditional Dining and find no gap in the level of service - I did have better service on Regal Princess, but still found my latest experience on Island Princess to be excellent. Regular tea can be obtained for free in Horizon Court - the tea that they charge for in the lounge is premium boxed tea - a bit higher quality than what used to be free. Island Princess had plenty of exotic fruit - but we were on a Hawaii run - there might be a limit to the types of fruit that can be obtained depending on where the ship is stationed.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions of Galaxy.

[bacm]

As for the waiter not coming to the table. I think this is a valid point. In my opinion it is not the guests job to get up and let a waiter know that they are ready to order dessert. It is the waiter's job to coordinate all of his tasks to make all of his guest happy. It's obviously not an easy job, but it can and is done very frequently on Princess and that is a big reason as to why I stay with Princess.

[spongerob]

Personally, we've been mostly satisfied with our many cruises on Princess. Overall the quality has been good and in some cases we have seen significant improvements since we first started cruising. The complaints we have had stand out because of their rarity.

[WeBeGone]

it seems that over the past year when cruise critic posts ask for comparisons between princess and other lines, there are far less princess cheerleader type posts, and far more neutral opinions, or opinions which favor the "other" line. that almost never happened a few years ago. presumably, most of us are on this princess board because we cruise with princess frequently, yet there is less and less support for the home team. is this indicative of declining satisfaction with princess in general?

 

 

NO, NO and NO

[ISABELLA]

Maybe I did not make myself clear. I do not complain all the time, only when it's absolutely noticable. I used rave about the Princess and who sailed with them years ago, I don't beleive you don't notice the difference. About the service - waiter knew we did not have our dessert or coffee, saw us getting up and ready to leave and didn't stop yapping. I know they work very hard, but not this one. One of the reason I think they are slow is that dinner at PC dining room served between 5- 10:30, so the slower the service, the less people they have to serve. And now with automatic tipping - just a borderline good. In the past ( If I sound like a broken record, I apologize) we were lucky enough to be served by the most professional individuals. We still will cruise with Princess for numbers of reasons, they are not just my favorite anymore.

[land lover]

Service and employee retention has gone down everywhere so why should the ship be any different..........."attitude" is now world wide and often on these boards :eek: :rolleyes: :D