Review: Crown Princess 8/19-8/28: Part I

[drummondcreek]

This was the fourth and likely last cruise on Princess. To put this in context, we are mid forties and travel with our two teen age boys. We echo many of the sentiments others have expressed. The best over all summary was, as many of you have said, it feels like Princess is heading towards being Carnival. We enjoyed ourselves despite the decline we have seen in Princess - dress code, food, security, service........... but we don't want to take a cruise that feels like we are at WalMart.

 

Cheers

[BuzzingBee]

I was also on the 8/19 sailing with my husband my sister and my mom, and I have to agree with most of what has been said, both good and bad. We've been on quite a few cruises in the past, (with the majority leaving out of NYC) and this one was a little "off".

The lines at check in were long but bearable; I'd say we were on the ship within an hour of parking the car. The muster drill was more a mob scene than an organized drill. My husband and I were in the photo gallery which was so full it was overflowing into the hallway, (it also was HOT, due to the bright spotlights they have to showcase the pictures), and my mom and sister were in the princess theatre, which they said was full. At our muster station, our cruise cards were scanned for attendance purposes, while my mom and sister said that nobody in the theatre was scanning cards, which I thought was odd, and I figured they'd get a note in their stateroom about not attending the drill, but they didn't so....why they took attendance at one venue and not the other is beyond me. One statement made over the loudspeaker at the drill which I've never heard before, was not to go into any area marked “crew only”, even if asked by a crew member. This struck me as a little odd, ominous even, like they were saying “don’t trust our crew” but the drill was over within about 20 minutes and we went on our way back to our cabin.

The crowd was the most diverse crowd I’ve seen on any cruise. Lots of NY, NJ, CT people, but also quite a few people from England and Canada. There were over 800 children on the cruise, and while they were EVERYWHERE, I wouldn’t say they were markedly bad. The tweens/teens on the other hand, IMO were pretty bad. Running the halls at night, stealing the name tags from the post boxes, and the privacy please signs from doors, congregating in the aft stairwell between the 12th and 15th floors (also mainly at night), packs of teens seemed to be everywhere. More than a couple times I saw teens in the “adults only” pool horsing around, only to be told by another passenger that the pool was for adults only. It would have been nice if someone from the staff was around to say that but the point was taken, and the kids left after being scolded. On the last night of the cruise, the future cruise sales area was especially full, I wondered why until I saw that every computer in that area was on the internet (NOT princess.com as they usually are), at least 20 teens were online on AIM, myspace etc. So either someone was a pretty good hacker, or there was a glitch in the system. One last thing about the teens – quite a few teens had alcoholic drinks in the pool at margaritaville. With no parents in sight, and the bartenders not checking Id’s, it was a bit of a mess but we weren’t bothered as much as we were astonished. (and yes, we realize the drinking age is 18 in Grand Turk, but I saw young young kids drinking I’d guess as young as 14.)

The call in the middle of the night for the missing person was a little unnerving. Since everyone on the ship was already awake (after the second announcement which was loudly broadcast directly into the cabins), an “all clear” kind of message would have been nice, it would have set my mind at ease. I had a feeling it was just a teen not being where she should be, but in the back of my mind I thought the worst.

 

The food was fine. Not the best food I’ve seen, but not the worst either. We weren’t thrilled with the dining room menus, but three out of the four people in my party are slightly picky eaters, and found ourselves ordering from the “always available” menu probably 5-6 nights of the cruise. The desserts were just ok, again we had ice cream quite a few nights which was a little disappointing. We really liked the anytime dining. On the first night we made a reservation for a table for 4, and kept that same reservation for the rest of the cruise. Our servers were fine, not rude, and quite friendly actually, but not as on top of things as we’ve experienced on other cruises. (Though they had two other large tables who were a group, and they seemed to dote on them, which was odd, but whatever.) We tipped them extra in the end since they were pleasant and accommodating.

As far as dress code, there absolutely was none. It was not enforced AT ALL. Dinner was a mixed bag of attire. Some (very few) dressed to the nines, but mostly jeans and shorts. At lunch in the dining room, I actually saw a family come in and eat in towels, they must have been on their way back from the pool – I wouldn’t even eat at the buffet dressed like that. But if they were allowed in by the head waiter or maitre‘d (or whoever seated them), who am I to say what they can and cannot wear.

 

I didn’t see too many instances of chair hogs, we spent a lot of time by the adult pool all the way aft, and the chairs were all FULL with actual people, not just towels, most of the time. I thought there were plenty of chairs by the main pools, maybe not right by the pool, or even on the same deck, but there were many empty chairs on the decks overlooking the pools, which is where we sat on the occasions when we actually used the main pools. A couple of pools were actually closed a few times. The seas were a bit rough at times, and the pools were very wavy. I heard that a wave from the lotus spa pool actually flooded the spa, the pool was closed and there were towels everywhere to clean up the mess. At least one of the main pools was emptied (and refilled), and a staff member was saying that it was because the cruise line takes it very seriously when someone gets sick. One can only guess what that means.

The ports were beautiful. We have always loved Bermuda. Horseshoe bay was PACKED! Most of the stores in Bermuda were closed since it was a Sunday, and I guess everyone flocked to the beach. We went to Maegans Bay in St. Thomas, which was also beautiful, but it also got fairly crowded as the day progressed. We took a tour in PR, and did a little shopping but spent a good part of the day enjoying having the ship to ourselves. Grand Turk was ok, there wasn’t much to see, and the sand at the beach by the ship had a lot of rocks, which I don’t like, so we spent a lot of the day in the pool at Margaritaville, which was a mob scene, but fun.

Oh yeah, the singers and dancers – one word – BAD. The other entertainment was good though.

As you can see, I could go on all night. Don’t get me wrong, we all had a great time and loved the cruise, but I can definitely see where everyone is coming from with their comments. None of this really “got us down”, we really had a great vacation. I will cruise princess again, in a heartbeat.

[lysolqn]

This was the fourth and likely last cruise on Princess. To put this in context, we are mid forties and travel with our two teen age boys. We echo many of the sentiments others have expressed. The best over all summary was, as many of you have said, it feels like Princess is heading towards being Carnival. We enjoyed ourselves despite the decline we have seen in Princess - dress code, food, security, service........... but we don't want to take a cruise that feels like we are at WalMart.

 

Cheers

 

Thank you...I couldn't have said it better myself!

[rdsqrl]

I took this cruise in July, and noticed some of the same issues everyone else has commented on. I think "a little off" is a good way to describe what I experienced. Mind you, I had a great time (when you're a doctoral student, ANY time when you're not sitting in an archives or writing a chapter of your dissertation is a good time!), but I would say that the service and overall mood/atmosphere of the ship was quite unlike any other Princess cruise I've taken. Our cruise also had a large proportion of first-timers (as attested to by the blue namecards), and a large proportion of New Yorkers, who -- god love 'em -- do tend to be louder and brasher than those from other regions. I'm not sure what the nexus of the Crown's problem this summer is, except that maybe 3,100 passengers is just too many.

Interestingly, as others have stated in their reviews, both in this thread and others, I also had very bad service in Michaelango on consecutive nights. So if anyone reading this is boarding the Crown soon, dine in DaVinci instead!

I guess what I'm saying is that I think a combination of factors have led to the Crown's cruises this summer disappointing some of Princess's long-time customers as well as those trying it for the first time. Will I never cruise Princess again or never cruise on the Crown again? Of course not -- BUT I will think long and hard before taking another summertime voyage out of New York.

[CandyApples]

I was also on the 8/19 sailing with my husband my sister and my mom, and I have to agree with most of what has been said, both good and bad. We've been on quite a few cruises in the past, (with the majority leaving out of NYC) and this one was a little "off".

The lines at check in were long but bearable; I'd say we were on the ship within an hour of parking the car. The muster drill was more a mob scene than an organized drill. My husband and I were in the photo gallery which was so full it was overflowing into the hallway, (it also was HOT, due to the bright spotlights they have to showcase the pictures), and my mom and sister were in the princess theatre, which they said was full. At our muster station, our cruise cards were scanned for attendance purposes, while my mom and sister said that nobody in the theatre was scanning cards, which I thought was odd, and I figured they'd get a note in their stateroom about not attending the drill, but they didn't so....why they took attendance at one venue and not the other is beyond me. One statement made over the loudspeaker at the drill which I've never heard before, was not to go into any area marked “crew only”, even if asked by a crew member. This struck me as a little odd, ominous even, like they were saying “don’t trust our crew” but the drill was over within about 20 minutes and we went on our way back to our cabin.

 

The crowd was the most diverse crowd I’ve seen on any cruise. Lots of NY, NJ, CT people, but also quite a few people from England and Canada. There were over 800 children on the cruise, and while they were EVERYWHERE, I wouldn’t say they were markedly bad. The tweens/teens on the other hand, IMO were pretty bad. Running the halls at night, stealing the name tags from the post boxes, and the privacy please signs from doors, congregating in the aft stairwell between the 12th and 15th floors (also mainly at night), packs of teens seemed to be everywhere. More than a couple times I saw teens in the “adults only” pool horsing around, only to be told by another passenger that the pool was for adults only. It would have been nice if someone from the staff was around to say that but the point was taken, and the kids left after being scolded. On the last night of the cruise, the future cruise sales area was especially full, I wondered why until I saw that every computer in that area was on the internet (NOT princess.com as they usually are), at least 20 teens were online on AIM, myspace etc. So either someone was a pretty good hacker, or there was a glitch in the system. One last thing about the teens – quite a few teens had alcoholic drinks in the pool at margaritaville. With no parents in sight, and the bartenders not checking Id’s, it was a bit of a mess but we weren’t bothered as much as we were astonished. (and yes, we realize the drinking age is 18 in Grand Turk, but I saw young young kids drinking I’d guess as young as 14.)

 

The call in the middle of the night for the missing person was a little unnerving. Since everyone on the ship was already awake (after the second announcement which was loudly broadcast directly into the cabins), an “all clear” kind of message would have been nice, it would have set my mind at ease. I had a feeling it was just a teen not being where she should be, but in the back of my mind I thought the worst.

 

 

The food was fine. Not the best food I’ve seen, but not the worst either. We weren’t thrilled with the dining room menus, but three out of the four people in my party are slightly picky eaters, and found ourselves ordering from the “always available” menu probably 5-6 nights of the cruise. The desserts were just ok, again we had ice cream quite a few nights which was a little disappointing. We really liked the anytime dining. On the first night we made a reservation for a table for 4, and kept that same reservation for the rest of the cruise. Our servers were fine, not rude, and quite friendly actually, but not as on top of things as we’ve experienced on other cruises. (Though they had two other large tables who were a group, and they seemed to dote on them, which was odd, but whatever.) We tipped them extra in the end since they were pleasant and accommodating.

 

As far as dress code, there absolutely was none. It was not enforced AT ALL. Dinner was a mixed bag of attire. Some (very few) dressed to the nines, but mostly jeans and shorts. At lunch in the dining room, I actually saw a family come in and eat in towels, they must have been on their way back from the pool – I wouldn’t even eat at the buffet dressed like that. But if they were allowed in by the head waiter or maitre‘d (or whoever seated them), who am I to say what they can and cannot wear.

 

 

I didn’t see too many instances of chair hogs, we spent a lot of time by the adult pool all the way aft, and the chairs were all FULL with actual people, not just towels, most of the time. I thought there were plenty of chairs by the main pools, maybe not right by the pool, or even on the same deck, but there were many empty chairs on the decks overlooking the pools, which is where we sat on the occasions when we actually used the main pools. A couple of pools were actually closed a few times. The seas were a bit rough at times, and the pools were very wavy. I heard that a wave from the lotus spa pool actually flooded the spa, the pool was closed and there were towels everywhere to clean up the mess. At least one of the main pools was emptied (and refilled), and a staff member was saying that it was because the cruise line takes it very seriously when someone gets sick. One can only guess what that means.

 

The ports were beautiful. We have always loved Bermuda. Horseshoe bay was PACKED! Most of the stores in Bermuda were closed since it was a Sunday, and I guess everyone flocked to the beach. We went to Maegans Bay in St. Thomas, which was also beautiful, but it also got fairly crowded as the day progressed. We took a tour in PR, and did a little shopping but spent a good part of the day enjoying having the ship to ourselves. Grand Turk was ok, there wasn’t much to see, and the sand at the beach by the ship had a lot of rocks, which I don’t like, so we spent a lot of the day in the pool at Margaritaville, which was a mob scene, but fun.

 

Oh yeah, the singers and dancers – one word – BAD. The other entertainment was good though.

 

As you can see, I could go on all night. Don’t get me wrong, we all had a great time and loved the cruise, but I can definitely see where everyone is coming from with their comments. None of this really “got us down”, we really had a great vacation. I will cruise princess again, in a heartbeat.

 

 

You have hit all the good and bad points my family has also thought of this cruise. Teens/tweens were obnoxious and I felt bad for the staff who had to deal with them because obviously their parents were not. As with the drinking it wasn't only Grand Turk. After Skywalkers one night we went to the bar at the back of the ship and watched a man buy a bucket of beer, bring it by the pool and give it to a bunch of teens who scrambled to it and devoured it. The bartender did call security and youth security showed up but not the teens nor the man got in any trouble. This made me so mad and just shows me how Princess doesn't enforce any rules, either with the dining room dress code or underage drinking!

 

Thanks for all of your reviews and I'm glad to hear more people felt the way my family did about this cruise!

[jbrambach]

I am sorry that you had this experience on your cruise. But glad you made the best of it...

 

As for swiping the cards for the muster drill???:confused: I have been on 10 Princess Cruises and I have NEVER swiped my cruisecard or been asked for it at a muster drill. Is this something new? Also, as soon as the announcement comes on over the PA, everyone is asked to be quite so everyone else can hear. Then the crew show you how to put on your lifevest and then ask you to put on your lifevest before you leave.

 

I find it a VERY serious issue if it was too loud or crowded to actually know what to do in an emergency!

[BuzzingBee]

I am sorry that you had this experience on your cruise. But glad you made the best of it...

 

As for swiping the cards for the muster drill???:confused: I have been on 10 Princess Cruises and I have NEVER swiped my cruisecard or been asked for it at a muster drill. Is this something new? Also, as soon as the announcement comes on over the PA, everyone is asked to be quite so everyone else can hear. Then the crew show you how to put on your lifevest and then ask you to put on your lifevest before you leave.

 

I find it a VERY serious issue if it was too loud or crowded to actually know what to do in an emergency!

 

I don't know, this was the first time I've had a card scanned. it was a little hand held unit that scanned the card, and showed your name, stateroom and your picture. I thought it was cool, but odd that it wasn't done in all areas of the ship. Maybe it's something new that they're testing?

In my area, nobody was asked to be quiet, but I did see crew members yelling at passengers to take off the life jackets until they were told to put them on. This wasn't because they might trip, we were already standing at our station. This was another thing that didn't necessarily bother me, just left me thinking :confused:

[BuzzingBee]

we received a flyer for a special at the spa...my sister called to make an appointment and was quoted the original price. She asked about the special, and the girl said oh, from the flyer? Let me check if we can give you that price. (it was a sea day, so it wasn't like we were in port for the morning, and the price only applied to the time we were in port) She came back on the phone and gave my sister the flyer price, and my sister booked it and had a great treatment, but the whole thing seemed a little shady to me, and turned me off to the spa a bit.

[CraigRDR1]

1 - It's hard not to make judgments based on one's own disappointing experience.

 

2 - A staff tired of putting up with difficult passengers is no excuse for poor service. That's the cruise line's problem, not mine. When Princess is willing to share its profits with me, I'll be willing to share its problems. As a paying passenger, I don't want to hear about it.

 

3 - They should have tried.

 

4 - Is it unreasonable to book a cruise and expect that things will be "normal"?

 

5 - A reflection of parenting skills? No...it's a reflection of "human" skills - which were seriously lacking in too many passengers who, IMHO, behaved like farm animals.

 

6 - My thoughts exactly.

 

 

You know maybe its me...but...

 

There I was sitting in a lovely dining room, my beautiful wife and daughter sitting across the table... People running around trying to serve me good food and drink. We are all healthy and enjoying life. We have the unique ability to experience travel and good things. There are people on this planet that have NOTHING...not even a glass of water..and no hope...

 

Im the luckiest person on the planet...hands down..and If the worst that life can deal me is cold toast, a wait for a glass of water, some noisy children or adults...I'll take it!!!

 

Who gives anyone the right to say..or judge anyone based on whether they meet their standards on being cooth...or proper...

 

Everyone should step back and think about their life for a minute and see how lucky they really are...

 

but again maybe its just me...

[Clutterlady]

Well said Craig! :)

[lysolqn]

You know maybe its me...but...

 

There I was sitting in a lovely dining room, my beautiful wife and daughter sitting across the table... People running around trying to serve me good food and drink. We are all healthy and enjoying life. We have the unique ability to experience travel and good things. There are people on this planet that have NOTHING...not even a glass of water..and no hope...

 

Im the luckiest person on the planet...hands down..and If the worst that life can deal me is cold toast, a wait for a glass of water, some noisy children or adults...I'll take it!!!

 

Who gives anyone the right to say..or judge anyone based on whether they meet their standards on being cooth...or proper...

 

Everyone should step back and think about their life for a minute and see how lucky they really are...

 

but again maybe its just me...

 

Sorry, but "things could be worse, look how lucky we are" just doesn't cut it.

[The Big Booper]

These late summer reviews of the Crown's Brooklyn sailings are very informative. Just backs up my feeling that the ship is way too small for the passenger load. An additional passenger deck added to the Grand Princess hull and not one iota extra of common space. No wonder the staff is going batty. And it is disappointing to hear how awful the embarking and disembarking procedures are. I had looked forward to trying Brooklyn, we went on the Grand several years ago and enjoyed it.

 

We will continue sailing out of Bayonne, a walk in the park compared to the chaos on the ship and in the terminal area. And far less tolls and hassle.

[kates70]

Just to clarify, the scanning of the cards during muster is a new process that they were piloting the week we cruised - Aug 1 to 10.. I didn't bring my card (didn't think I needed to), and the took my name and stateroom number.

 

There is in fact a computer "glitch" in the future sales office that if one is the least bit technical, you can figure out and use the computers for internet access. My DH who is a software developer figured it out by accident when we were booking our next cruise. He thought it was funny… but we did not take advantage of the situation, for obvious reasons. We are grown ups, and didn't want to "steal" internet access. Although, with the prices that Princess charges for the internet ... I think they are stealing :)

 

Once last thing, I am curious to know whether or not a "full" cruise in the summer holds more people than a full cruise in November. We have sailed on the Crown three times and told it was "full" on all sailings. However, the Aug 1 to 10 cruise felt much more crowded and congested. Do they take more people because there are 3 to 4 in a cabin?

[lysolqn]

Once last thing, I am curious to know whether or not a "full" cruise in the summer holds more people than a full cruise in November. We have sailed on the Crown three times and told it was "full" on all sailings. However, the Aug 1 to 10 cruise felt much more crowded and congested. Do they take more people because there are 3 to 4 in a cabin?

 

There is a distinction between sailing "full" and sailing at "capacity." I believe sailing "full" means all cabins have been sold, while sailing at "capacity" means the ship is holding the maximum number of people it's permitted to carry. The difference is attributable to the use of all berths, pullmans, fold-away beds and sofabeds. Then, of course, there's that gray area between full and at capacity, meaning that all cabins have been sold, some holding more than just two occupants. The difference between sailing full and sailing more than full or at capacity can be significant.

[Dixe Lee]

Dixie Lee - You will not be berated by anyone for simply being a first timer. We were all first timers once. I traveled on this cruise with my sister and her husband who have cruised many times, but never before on Princess. By the way, they loved it and thought it was among the best they had ever taken.

 

The point that I and I think think others were trying to make was that there was a large number of people who were rude, crude and clearly had no idea that cruising is a bit more of a refined vacation than packing the kids in the car and heading to the shore.

 

I retreated to my balcony for peace and quiet only to sometimes hear people yelling to people in other cabins or even to their family members in their own cabins. It kind of reminded me of the Honeymooners with Alice yelling out the window to Trixie.

 

I am a native New Yorker who now lives in New Jersey and am aware that New Yorkers have a reputation for being loud, brassy and crass. Many passengers on this cruise did nothing to dispel that notion.

 

Points all well taken, Booklady26. I had to chuckle over the reference to the Honeymooners. Funny, but not funny, if you know what I mean. Hopefully, this was a random occurence due to the timing - maybe the "Honeymooner" crowd had to squeeze in a sailing before the offspring head back to school. We chose Princess after much research and comparisons between all of the cruiselines that do the New England and Canada itinerary, and one of the reasons that we chose Princess was to get a little more upscale cruising experience without the "carnival crowd" passengers and atmosphere. We are really looking forward to this cruise, the ship and trying out Princess. Have to admit this thread gets me a little concerned, especially when taking into consideration that a lot of these complaints have been voiced more and more frequently, not just on this particular sailing, but when looking at the big picture, I'd say that this is more due to school being out, higher numbers of kids and teens, and maybe some lack of self-control among the adults.

[muffydawg]

Have to admit this thread gets me a little concerned, especially when taking into consideration that a lot of these complaints have been voiced more and more frequently, not just on this particular sailing, but when looking at the big picture, I'd say that this is more due to school being out, higher numbers of kids and teens, and maybe some lack of self-control among the adults.

 

That's exactly why we booked the Sept 6 voyage. The NY/ NJ metro area school-age kids will be back in school and NOT on a cruise ship.

 

And I am a born and raised Lawn Guylander disguised as a Texan...I was much more "direct" and "short & to the point" , sure, call it brash, when I lived in NY / NJ and worked with clients in NY / NJ.

[CraigRDR1]

So let me get this straight....

 

You want:

 

1. no children or loud adults

2. perfect service and food

3. the perfect cabin at the perfect temperature

4. no first time cruisers or anyone who isnt up to the correct social status

5. no excuses or failures

6. perfect weather and calm seas

7. an empty ship

 

oh and of course..everything is free...

 

OY VAY...

 

:confused:

[lysolqn]

So let me get this straight....

 

You want:

 

1. no children or loud adults

2. perfect service and food

3. the perfect cabin at the perfect temperature

4. no first time cruisers or anyone who isnt up to the correct social status

5. no excuses or failures

6. perfect weather and calm seas

7. an empty ship

 

oh and of course..everything is free...

 

OY VAY...

 

:confused:

 

It's beyond the realm of reason to hold the cruise line responsible for weather, sea conditions or passenger compliment since all are clearly out of its control. It is quite reasonable, however, to expect excellent service despite the "crowd" on any particular sailing. When you're part of the hospitality industry, it's in your own best interest to give it everything you've got and not make lame excuses for falling short of the mark. Blaming poor service on a staff and crew worn out because they've been dealing with "difficult" crowds all summer is unacceptable. As I said in an earlier post, when Princess shares its profits with me, I'll partner with the cruise line to handle its problems. Until then, they need to get their act together - "difficult" crowd or otherwise.

[jbrambach]

So let me get this straight....

 

You want:

 

1. no children or loud adults

2. perfect service and food

3. the perfect cabin at the perfect temperature

4. no first time cruisers or anyone who isnt up to the correct social status

5. no excuses or failures

6. perfect weather and calm seas

7. an empty ship

 

oh and of course..everything is free...

 

OY VAY...

 

If we are choosing, I will take 2, 3, & 6. :D

[lysolqn]

So let me get this straight....

 

You want:

 

1. no children or loud adults

2. perfect service and food

3. the perfect cabin at the perfect temperature

4. no first time cruisers or anyone who isnt up to the correct social status

5. no excuses or failures

6. perfect weather and calm seas

7. an empty ship

 

oh and of course..everything is free...

 

OY VAY...

 

If we are choosing, I will take 2, 3, & 6. :D

 

Way too funny!!! I didn't know we got to pick and choose.

[CraigRDR1]

It's beyond the realm of reason to hold the cruise line responsible for weather, sea conditions or passenger compliment since all are clearly out of its control. It is quite reasonable, however, to expect excellent service despite the "crowd" on any particular sailing. When you're part of the hospitality industry, it's in your own best interest to give it everything you've got and not make lame excuses for falling short of the mark. Blaming poor service on a staff and crew worn out because they've been dealing with "difficult" crowds all summer is unacceptable. As I said in an earlier post, when Princess shares its profits with me, I'll partner with the cruise line to handle its problems. Until then, they need to get their act together - "difficult" crowd or otherwise.

 

Every crew member I came in contact with on this cruise...was polite, pleasant and helpful... always made eye contact..always said "hi how are you"

 

Here's one example for you...My wife and I are eating dinner in the DaVinci dining room... I ordered a can of Coke...The waiter's assistant brought the coke and poured it into my glass and misjudged how fast the foam from the soda was going to rise. Some of the soda overflowed and ran down the glass on to the table. The poor guy nearly had a heart attack..like I was gonna bite his head off... He apologized 20 times..ran, got a napkin and blotted the liquid which really wasn't a huge spill. then proceeded to apologize 20 times again..I smiled and told him to relax..I've done worse by my own hand...

 

The point here is that this poor guy must have had his head chewed off by some rude, demanding passenger in the past and was expecting the same from me.

 

You get what you give...If you are nice...they treat you well...if you act like they are your slave for 9 days... then they will act accordingly..and dont give me the Princess sharing their profits line... Because its human nature..treat people like you want to be treated and things work out. What Ive seen on many of this trips is that people treat the staff like dirt...and wonder why they dont get good service. We had great service and felt like these people were our friends and not our slaves...

[booklady26]

 

You get what you give...If you are nice...they treat you well...if you act like they are your slave for 9 days... then they will act accordingly..and dont give me the Princess sharing their profits line... Because its human nature..treat people like you want to be treated and things work out. What Ive seen on many of this trips is that people treat the staff like dirt...and wonder why they dont get good service. We had great service and felt like these people were our friends and not our slaves...

 

 

Craig, you are dead on right. When we travel, on a cruise or on land, we always try to make conversation with the service people we come in contact with. A kind word and a smile, and a little patience and understanding when things don't go quite right, can go a long way.

 

In 9 days, we only encountered one individual who was unpleasant. Maybe she was having a bad day or maybe she was truly an unpleasant person. We all know people like that, right? why should service staff be any different.

 

Other than that one person, everyone we met was super. Was everything perfect? No. But what in life is perfect. And after 40 cruises, I can honestly say that there is no such thing as a bad cruise. I also have t-shirt that says "a bad day on vacation beats a good day at work".

[TBear416]

I agree with you Booklady, there are no bad cruises. It's just that some are better than others. I would take a cruise anyday over work. I think the crew was stressed out. It was probably a long summer and too many kids.

[lysolqn]

You get what you give...If you are nice...they treat you well...if you act like they are your slave for 9 days... then they will act accordingly..and dont give me the Princess sharing their profits line... Because its human nature..treat people like you want to be treated and things work out. What Ive seen on many of this trips is that people treat the staff like dirt...and wonder why they dont get good service. We had great service and felt like these people were our friends and not our slaves...

 

You're one hundred percent correct - I couldn't agree more! But it doesn't ALWAYS work that way.

Despite our smiles, please and thank you at every opportunity, our attempt to connect, to ask how their day was, where home was or respectfully request something or other, we found staff and crew on Crown to be particularly aloof, sometimes downright unaccommodating and often unwilling to crack a smile, make an attempt to engage or return the niceities. There were exceptions, of course - but in general, this staff and crew were the least friendly and least accommodating of any we've encountered on forty cruises. I've no doubt whatsoever that it was the result of putting up with difficult passengers; that explains it but it doesn't excuse it.

[tishie58]

Wow now I am nervous again. We just returned from the West Caribbean on the Carnival Valor in August. It was our first cruise and although we fell in love with cruising we hated the demographics on the ship. When I submitted my reviews on Carnival it did not go over well...but it was our opinion. So when we returned off we went to our TA and booked a cruise in March on the Crown Princess....now I read this...Did we make another mistake picking a cruise line??