Disney cruiser tries Princess...bummer

[stingmom]

Just off the Caribbean Princess 4 nighter..

 

Our cruising history includes 3 with Royal Caribbean and 4 on Disney since 2005. We had the grand illusion of how awesome Princess must be, so we thought a 4 day sampler for our family of 5 would be just the ticket to convert a hard fast group of fans of Disney cruising.

 

Here are the basics: We had a total party of 8 guests traveling. (Me, hubby and our 3 kids, plus one of my folks and a set of grandparents - 3 generations on one last family cruise.) and 3 cabins, all side by side "linked" by the reservations.

 

Embarkation was a nightmare!! I had requested wheelchair assist on and off the ship for my grandparents. I was told by Princess over the phone to "just let a Princess member know at drop off and they would help/direct us." This was a joke. My dad drops us all off curbside and goes to park the car and we look for someone to get us a wheelchair. I was told by a staff member outside to go INSIDE to get a wheelchair (but I could not use the one HE was pushing?) So, I had the family wait while I go through security and then I was told there was a wheelchair waiting area. Huh? Then I was redirected outside to get a wheelchair from outside the terminal. By this time, my father had found a wheelchair attendant outside and we loaded up the g-parents. Back now through security and to the wheelchair waiting area. Whew! Worst is over, right? WRONG!!!

 

We have some cold water to cool down and wait patiently, we are in no rush. We are instructed to begin boarding. We have out birth certificates, driver's licenses and marriage certificate, just in case. Now, mind you, we are traveling by BOAT so a passport is NOT mandatory at this time. I do have to use my Disney Cruising comparison here, because when you board a Disney cruise, you have ONE designated traveler per room that brings all the documents to check in while the rest of the group waits in the terminal and this one person is provided all the room keys. This is not the case with Princess, but we understand all cruises will be different. So, the 8 of us, plus the wheelchair attendant are the 2nd in line for our deck (dolphin). The first couple went through quickly, no more than 5 minutes. (I can taste the endless buffets and room service already!) We step up and hand her the documents for the first cabin. Immediately she asks for our passports. We do not have any. A naughty little glare peeks over the counter at me. Sighs begin to erupt from her she then asks for my 9 year old's photo ID. Um, she doesn’t have one. “Why not?” Because she has never needed one (unfortunaetly they aren't required for scooters!). Then the lady asks me if she has a school ID card? HUH?! She’s in 3rd grade for crying out loud!! No, I tell her. Again sneers of disgust and more sighing. So, she asks my daughter her date of birth and decides that will have to be sufficient enough to match her notarized birth certificate. Then we go through this again with the 2nd cabin (my dad and our 2 sons, age 14 & 12). More remarks and questions about why we don’t have passports, school ID and then instruction about getting a government issued ID for the kids. I explain that we are not new to cruising and they aren’t required this date anyway. We NEVER have had these problems before. Third and final cabin was more of the same for my elderly grandparents. This debacle took 45 minutes to get through.

 

Soda cards....ok, I am used to free soda on Disney whenever we want, but we bought 4 cards for the kids and myself. (They grown ups couldn’t seem to find a Bombay Sapphire card or a Grey Goose card.....just kidding! We are tea, water and coffee consumers. The kids and I had great difficulty getting any decent service on the soda card. If the card was shown before we ordered, we were completely ignored, but held deftly in my hand until I ordered, then told to “show me your sticker,” I was served eventually and dismissed with a quick turnabout by the bartender. Alcoholic beverages were a complete rip-off. I ordered something frosty (Loco-Coco?) and you could not taste anything in it. Very disappointing.

 

Grand Turk was okay, similar to Costa Maya, which I enjoyed more. Margaretville was full of chair hogs that would yell at you from across the pool that “that chair is saved!” Settled in our chairs, I wandered to the poolside bar for the $15 “Big Rita” banana something, which lacked any booze. At least I was able to get the kids some water in a cup to drink. They had variety mix music playing, between games of which topless guy can chug his bear the fastest, a kids game that involved people with more than one tattoo (that had to be shown) and of course a lady’s dance off. (Had to shield the kids from this one!)

 

Food....We chose anytime dining, figuring we would be seated in a relatively timely manner and when we were ready. No the case... On formal night, we waited 30 minutes for a pager, then waited an additional 45 minutes for a table. This caused us to miss the Captain’s cocktail hour. The service was, to be kind, POOR. Our waiter was busy schmoozing with another table and left us for about 15 minutes by ourselves. Menus were dropped off and no recommendations or descriptions were provided. I asked about of couple of things, but the waiter didn’t even seem to sure himself. Did I forget to mention the breadbasket with all five pieces in it for all of us? The food in general was mediocre (instant potatoes anyone?!) Nothing outstanding or out of this world. We realized the buffet may hold the answer to providing quicker food with more options. Not so there either. The Horizon Court Buffet has entry sides on both sides that cross paths in the middle. This led to much confusion and disgust from other guests who thought you were cutting them in line. Desserts were the same almost each night. Again, nothing amazing.

 

The “Boutiques.” The jewelry was pretty limited. I thought there would be a nice variety of gemstones and sparkling items to choose from. This was the smallest selection of jewelry I had seen. None the less, something caught my eye and hubby got a watch. The saleswoman told me how to “make the claim on my customs form. She said to claim hubby’s watch at full value, but to write JEWELRY for my newly acquired ring and put a $0 next to it. She said it is tax free and they will only look for my stamped receipt. I wrote it as she said, but kept the receipt with my customs form for disembarkation.

 

Customs...Thanks to the kind jewelry sales lady, a flag alarm went off as we tried to leave the ship and we were all peronsally escorted to have our bags searched and a close scrutiny was made of our receipts and purchases. I have never had this occur and we explained to customs exactly what the sale lady TOLD us to do! He said it was for HIS decision to decide what was tax and duty free. How embarrassing!!

 

Okay, I am tired and here is my final $.02...

 

This was our 8th cruise in 2 years and this was the rudest group of cruisers we have ever traveled with. People were reaching over my granddad at the buffet to get a dessert slice before he could reach it! My grandmother looked like a car spun out in Nascar as people bumped, pushed and spun her so they could get past her at the buffet. This rudeness was seen every time we went to eat or sit or walk. This has nothing to do with Princess, just a personal observation.

 

Cabin D527, 525 and 523...we were pleased with the sizes of the room. It was more than adequate for all of us and the door opening between the balcny gave us more bang for our buck. Our stateroom attendant did a nice enough job on our keeping our room tidy and prepared for us. However, the last night, he actually called our room to see if we needed him for anything before he was done for the evening. Well, we needed the sofas pulled out so our kids could go to bed. I can pull my own covers down. Oh yes, and as everyone says, the beds are hard and lumpy.

 

 

Princess will definitely not be a line we consider for future cruising. We may try others, but this was HUGE disappointment from the fantasy of the “Love Boat.”

 

Happy Sailing!!

[bdjam]

We had the grand illusion of how awesome Princess must be, so we thought a 4 day sampler for our family of 5 would be just the ticket to convert a hard fast group of fans of Disney cruising.

Sorry your cruise wasn't what you wanted it to be. Princess is awesome - but since 4-day sampler cruises aren't regular for Princess, I don't think they are an adequate representation of what the cruise line can do. Unfortunately, Princess shoots herself in the foot by offering these in the first place.

Best of luck on your future cruises.

[Scooter-n-GB]

Sorry your cruise wasn't what you wanted it to be. Princess is awesome - but since 4-day sampler cruises aren't regular for Princess, I don't think they are an adequate representation of what the cruise line can do. Unfortunately, Princess shoots herself in the foot by offering these in the first place.

 

Best of luck on your future cruises.

 

I think the only reason they offered the 4-day sampler was to fill in a cancelled dry-dock, on short notice. If this is, in fact, the case, Princess has absolutely no experience in this cruise duration space, and it is, IMO, unfair to rate them based on something they are no good at..

 

then again, we have no kids, are from Maine, and probably have no taste on what is good anyhow. BUT.... CB last Sept was an excellent time, and frankly our vacation money is always well spent, in part because we research, and research some more.. Cruise or land vacation, we know exactly what to expect. Know one thing though... No matter where you go, in the customer service industry, NEVER forget that real people make the difference, and REAL people have off days, just like you and me... Unless, of course, your all fake...

[sunsurf]

I'm kind of at a loss for words after reading your post. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience on your first Princess cruise. I'll tell you though, I'd be pretty upset too if some of those things happened to me & my family...especially the issue at embarkation .

 

I wish you many wonderful cruises in the future.

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry things were not as you anticipated they would be on your sailing. It seems that Princess isn't as good on these shorter cruises as they are on the longer voyages. Lots of complaints coming back I have read this past week or so.

Maybe they need to stick to the longer voyages they are so good at and stay away from these quicky cruises? :(

Again, wish your first experience would have been more positive, but you aren't the only one with a gripe.

[Andy]

Hi Stingmom !

 

We were on the same sailing. I am sorry to hear you were not happy with your Cruise.

 

While we may not be in agreement on a few things, as we (overall) were very happy with the Cruise. I totally agree about the embarkation. It was one of the worst I have ever experienced at Port Everglades, and I have been through dozens of them. We were sailing with my Parents who must have wheelchair assistance, and Princess completely dropped the ball on this. The Pierside crew was completely disinterested and they made us all work far too hard to get any assistance. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we finally did get assistance, but my Parents had to walk quite a bit to get to the proper area. We were exhausted after that experience. In addition, we were supposed to have 1 wheelchair available to us to use during the Cruise. Again, it was noted on our reservation. Bottom line is... it never happened. Fortunately, we rented a scooter for Dad, and it saved the Cruise for him, no thanks to Princess. From what I saw on this sailing, Celebrity handles wheelchair assistance far better than Princess does.

 

Fortunately for us, things only got better on the Cruise. Our cabin and attendant were excellent, and we enjoyed the food in the Dining Room and Buffet. We had assigned Dining, and our wait staff was excellent. We also had 1 Dinner in the Sterling Steakhouse, and it was outstanding. I also purchased the soda card, and I never had any problems using it, although I have had bad experiences with them on past Cruises.

 

I plan on trying some longer sailings on Princess later this year or perhaps in early 2009. Should you not sail Princess again, I sincerely hope you will find another line that will make you happy. Good luck !

[Woobstr112G]

I think the only reason they offered the 4-day sampler was to fill in a cancelled dry-dock, on short notice. If this is, in fact, the case, Princess has absolutely no experience in this cruise duration space, and it is, IMO, unfair to rate them based on something they are no good at..

 

then again, we have no kids, are from Maine, and probably have no taste on what is good anyhow. BUT.... CB last Sept was an excellent time, and frankly our vacation money is always well spent, in part because we research, and research some more.. Cruise or land vacation, we know exactly what to expect. Know one thing though... No matter where you go, in the customer service industry, NEVER forget that real people make the difference, and REAL people have off days, just like you and me... Unless, of course, your all fake...

 

I Agree;

 

Even though I've yet to sail on princess, I have noted that they are generally not in the business of short term cruises. Give princess another chance, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

Bob

 

Future: Diamond Princess Aus/Nz 01/09

Future: Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Constellation Europe 07/06

Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[mytime53]

Personally, I don't see how the length of the cruise would affect most of the items the OP is posting about. Embarkation issues, food quality (should, in my opinion, be better for a shorter cruise because can be fresher), and service should be topnotch all the time.

[-Lew-]

I do have to use my Disney Cruising comparison here, because when you board a Disney cruise, you have ONE designated traveler per room that brings all the documents to check in while the rest of the group waits in the terminal and this one person is provided all the room keys. This is not the case with Princess, but we understand all cruises will be different.

I am truly sorry Princess did not live up to your expectations. As a big time Disney fan who has cruised on DCL a number of times, I can understand your frustration.

 

Unless DCL has changed their procedure, we have always had to have everyone in our party present themselves at the check-in desk with IDs in hand. I don't see how DCL can issue a cruise card without first confirming everyone's identity.

 

Soda cards....ok, I am used to free soda on Disney whenever we want, but we bought 4 cards for the kids and myself.

You're right! There is no extra charge for soft drinks on DCL. However, if you compare pricing cruise for cruise, DCL vs. Princess, DCL is usually more expensive. You're paying for the free soft drinks in the increased fare.

 

Margaretville was full of chair hogs

Princess doesn't have the chair hog market cornered. There are plenty on DCL cruises...yes, even at Castaway Cay.

 

Food....We chose anytime dining, figuring we would be seated in a relatively timely manner and when we were ready. No the case... On formal night, we waited 30 minutes for a pager, then waited an additional 45 minutes for a table. This caused us to miss the Captain’s cocktail hour. The service was, to be kind, POOR.

Again we have had good and poor service on both DCL and Princess. We love anytime dining! Perhaps you should have made a reservation for your party. One reason we left DCL was the poor food quality. Overall, the food on Princess is much better.

 

The Horizon Court Buffet has entry sides on both sides that cross paths in the middle. This led to much confusion and disgust from other guests who thought you were cutting them in line.

There is probably no perfect way to set up a buffet in the limited confines of a cruise ship. We feel the layout of Horizon Court is much better than Topsiders on the Magic. In Topsiders the buffet is set up like a school lunchroom...in a straight line with no possibility of skipping around to see what is available before deciding what you would like to eat. In Horizon Court it's easy to go back to get some more salad, another roll, etc. This can't easily be done at Topsiders.

 

The “Boutiques.” The jewelry was pretty limited. I thought there would be a nice variety of gemstones and sparkling items to choose from. This was the smallest selection of jewelry I had seen.

Are you saying the selection of jewelry on DCL is better? Again, unless something has changed, all I remember is two Disney themed shops with very little non-themed merchandise. The jewelry offered on Princess ships range from inexpensive costume jewelry up to very expensive jewelry including top quality watches.

 

Princess will definitely not be a line we consider for future cruising. We may try others, but this was HUGE disappointment from the fantasy of the “Love Boat.”

Again, I'm sorry you did not enjoy your Princess cruise. Believe me, your experience is not typical.

 

DCL and Princess are both great cruise lines. They both have a huge following for some very good reasons.

 

Lew

[stingmom]

I can appreciate the comments that this short cruise is not standard for Princess and perhaps this added to the "discombobulation." But, bottom line is customer service, be it 2 days or 20 days, should always be at the fore front and why we cruise in the first place. (Like picking a motel 6 over a Ritz... To us this was like chosing between Carnival or Princess I deal in customer service daily, and it makes you or breaks you. There were too may staff having "off days." I only got a shrug and thank goodness a fresh plate from my breakfast waiter in the Coral Dining room when I saw an unmistakeable hair laying over my apples. Blech! :(

[Woobstr112G]

Personally, I don't see how the length of the cruise would affect most of the items the OP is posting about. Embarkation issues, food quality (should, in my opinion, be better for a shorter cruise because can be fresher), and service should be topnotch all the time.

 

That is a vald point, but did you ever consider the fact that if Princess is not focused and/or experienced in shorter cruises, they may not be as good as on their longer cruises.

 

Bob

 

Future: Diamond Princess Aus/Nz 01/09

Future: Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Constellation Europe 07/06

Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[JWJs]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review.:) Wow. That is a major bummer that your 1st Princess cruise was such a mess. :eek: So sorry. You got the short end of the stick that's for sure. Hope you find it in your heart to give Princess another try someday...maybe a 7 or 10 day would work out better. However, if it were me, and I tried a cruise line and had so many complaints, I would turn tail and run back to the line or lines that delivered the best cruise experience.

[dforeigner]

Bummer you had such a bad time. But thank you for taking time to write a review.

[junglejane]

Personally, I don't see how the length of the cruise would affect most of the items the OP is posting about. Embarkation issues, food quality (should, in my opinion, be better for a shorter cruise because can be fresher), and service should be topnotch all the time.

 

I agree that these things shouldn't differ on a shorter cruise, but my experience was that they did differ. I was on the 2 day Dawn Princess Pacific Coastal cruise (May 4-6) and the food and service were very disappointing compared to my three prior Princess cruises. For the first time, I felt that the crew seemed to view the pax as a nuisance. (Embarkation was a breeze, though.)

 

Sorry the OP had such a bad experience. I too think that Princess may be turning off as many new cruisers as it's winning over with these short cruises. If I were a TA, I wouldn't recommend these short cruises to anyone new to Princess.

 

--Junglejane

[karatemom2]

I think you have a good point JungleJane. It seems that on these short cruises that Princess probably has a lot of first time cruisers and it would be a great opportunity to win them over by making sure they have a great experience as most people do on the longer cruises. Instead it seems the exact opposite is happening.

 

To the OP, I'm sorry you had a disappointing experience, but I would encourage you to give Princess another try someday. We have cruised DCL twice and I can honestly say as enjoyable as it is, we prefer Princess. We have found the food is much better on Princess and the service is as good if not better. As far as soft drinks go, they may be free on DCL, but as Lew points out, DCL is MUCH more expensive. Plus you can only get free sodas at the soda station on Deck 9 which can be pretty inconvenient. I like that with a soda card on Princess you can get sodas at any bar throughout the ship. You didn't mention the kids program in your review, but I will add that our kids really like the Princess program better than DCL. And it's too bad that your Anytime Dining experience didn't work well for you because that is one of the big advantages we feel Princess offers. We really prefer the flexibility it offers.

 

Thanks for sharing your comments.

[Coral]

Just some comments....

 

Disney is the only mainstream cruise line that provides free softdrinks and their cruises are often up to 2x as much as Princess. Otherwise, you need to move to Crystal and other lines for free soda.

 

Government IDs - while not required, I personally would not take children out of the country with out a passport or government ID. I am surprised with as much as you have traveled, that you don't see what the big fuss of this is. If you are out of the country and need to fly home, you really need an ID/Passport. While I know no one plans to have emergencies, they do happen. Or if your children get hurt and need to be hospitalized while on the trip and you need to fly home... I have friends who work in embassies and they deal with this type of nightmares all the time. It is not pleasant.

 

Checking in - every cruise line I have checked in with, everyone had to check in. Many lines are now taking pictures for cruise cards while checking in. This is reality - if you like it or not.

 

Soda card - is it really difficult to go up to a bar and get a soda? I do this all the time as there are bars through out the ship. It never takes more then a minute to walk to a bar.

 

Costa Maya - last time I checked, this port was closed due to hurricane damage and the duration of the closing was a very long time (year?). Again, not Princess's fault.

 

Stores - I have cruised many cruise lines (Carnival, RCCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess and Crystal) and with the exception of Crystal - the stores seem very similar to me.

 

I personally would not trust any store person who suggests cheating on customs forms. One really needs to use common sense here.

 

Embarkation - there are good and bad embarkation with all lines. A lot has to do with how customs goes earlier that day, how pier staff is staffed, etc... For the most part, my best embarkations have been with Princess but I am not going to blame a cruise line for this as there are too many factors that contribute to this that is not under Princess's control.

 

One last comment - these cruises went for dirt cheap. I would be curious comparing how much you paid for this cruise compared to your Disney cruise.

[KKB]

We have done 2-7day cruises on the Star as well as a 7 day on the Magic.

 

Frankly, we found no definitive difference between the 2 lines....pros and cons to both. But with the price difference Princess wins, no contest.

 

Princess...far better food in dining rooms

casino:D

fewer children (nice when travelling WITHOUT them!)

bingo far better

more activities overall

active night life

30%+ less expensive

 

Disney...Palo; best food EVER

GREAT sports bar

terrific nightclubs area; unfortunately VERY dead by 10PM

fantastic kids club; Disney knows kids

hate split bath; give me one larger bath

family suite set-up is stupid; TV and balcony on kids side (murphy bed pulls out in front of balcony door, which is difficult to open)

 

Service, amenities, cabins....like I said, no definitive difference to us

 

My folks prefer RCCL over Princess also. But I always feel it unwise to make a decision on one cruise; even Princess has ships that consistently rate better than others. I'm sure other lines do, too.

[woodofpine]

And embarkation is not the measure of any cruise or cruiseline. The comments "sneers of disgust" is a bit over the top and dare I say it projection or applification.

 

I've never been on DCL or RCCL, but I've cruised 5 different lines and they all have had basically the same sort of check in, which in 2008 means an expectation of passports. I travel with kids and they've all had them from pre-school or elementary school age. No - you don't necessary have to have them, but I don't think that hassle free international travel can be expected without them (or even with them). I not willing to accept that somehow DCL has some method that trumps the INS and TSA.

 

My first cruise with Celebrity was a disappointment due to line snafus but also LARGELY because I had bought the hype and had overly high expectation of Celebrity. I could carry on about the gliches, but no matter I gave them another chance and the second cruise was one of my very favorites. If I cruise DCL sometime, I might be disappointed in that DCL charges about 50% more than most lines and I might be put off if they were only 'a little' nicer (or maybe I be critical and discover too many kids :))

 

Short cruises also tend to show the shortcomings of cruise lines and cruise travel generally. If you've given up on Princess that's too bad, your choice, a second go might give you the same superior second I had with Celeb.

[bdjam]

Personally, I don't see how the length of the cruise would affect most of the items the OP is posting about. Embarkation issues, food quality (should, in my opinion, be better for a shorter cruise because can be fresher), and service should be topnotch all the time.

More shorter cruises means the port and land-based service providers are stretched more than usual - but quite frankly it doesn't sound like the original poster was fully ready for embarkation - I'm sure the agent didn't ask for what the original poster didn't have just to delay their boarding of the ship.

Food is stored on board the ship and there is usually two weeks worth (more for longer cruises). The food you eat tonight on a ship - no matter the length of the cruise - was probably brougt on board a week ago.

Right - service should be top-notch at all times, but again, more shorter "party" cruises can stretch the staff.

Princess shines on longer cruises - the original poster didn't experience Princess' quality on the shorter one. Unfortunate that Princess didn't take the opportunity to win a new customer - and for those of us who enjoy Princess' excellent service...whatever. We're not going to convince the original poster of anything other than what they feel - so it is what it is.

[Ethel5]

I am truly sorry Princess did not live up to your expectations. As a big time Disney fan who has cruised on DCL a number of times, I can understand your frustration.

 

Unless DCL has changed their procedure, we have always had to have everyone in our party present themselves at the check-in desk with IDs in hand. I don't see how DCL can issue a cruise card without first confirming everyone's identity.

 

You're right! There is no extra charge for soft drinks on DCL. However, if you compare pricing cruise for cruise, DCL vs. Princess, DCL is usually more expensive. You're paying for the free soft drinks in the increased fare.

 

Princess doesn't have the chair hog market cornered. There are plenty on DCL cruises...yes, even at Castaway Cay.

 

Again we have had good and poor service on both DCL and Princess. We love anytime dining! Perhaps you should have made a reservation for your party. One reason we left DCL was the poor food quality. Overall, the food on Princess is much better.

 

There is probably no perfect way to set up a buffet in the limited confines of a cruise ship. We feel the layout of Horizon Court is much better than Topsiders on the Magic. In Topsiders the buffet is set up like a school lunchroom...in a straight line with no possibility of skipping around to see what is available before deciding what you would like to eat. In Horizon Court it's easy to go back to get some more salad, another roll, etc. This can't easily be done at Topsiders.

 

Are you saying the selection of jewelry on DCL is better? Again, unless something has changed, all I remember is two Disney themed shops with very little non-themed merchandise. The jewelry offered on Princess ships range from inexpensive costume jewelry up to very expensive jewelry including top quality watches.

 

Again, I'm sorry you did not enjoy your Princess cruise. Believe me, your experience is not typical.

 

DCL and Princess are both great cruise lines. They both have a huge following for some very good reasons.

 

Lew

 

Having sailed with Disney 4 times, I have to agree completely with your assessment. The Princess food is better and so are the shops. I can't understand how she didn't find bling on PCL! Yes, the soda is free on DCL but you are paying almost twice the price for the cruise. I wouldn't go on any cruise without at least a birth certificate for my kids. How she expected a party of 8 to just waltz right into anytime dining is beyond me. I think her expectations were set way too high for a large group which included wheelchairs.

[caribill]

Not sure about Port Everglades, but in most ports the embarkation staff are not really Princess emplopyees, but work for a local contractor and will service all the cruise lines that use that port.

 

However, that is no excuse for the treatment that the OP was given. Princess should be made aware via a snail mail letter of how poor that part of the experience was.

 

In addition, there is no excuse for poor service on board the ship and that is Princess' fault. Again, a nicely written snail mail letter to Princess is in order.

 

Princess is not responsible for chair hogs at a land establishment ("Margaretville was full of chair hogs").

[Islandbuoy]

Maybe people shud read the stuff Princess sends you. Our TA forwarded a spl notice from Princess that "Passports are required". Maybe their agent didn't. But any cruise critic regular shud know it.

 

The only thing I could fault on this ship was the service in the "anytime dining". Lack of accountability for the waiters( no feedback form and they share the tips anyway) seemed to cause them not to be as personable & attentive.

 

Otherwise everything on this ship went off lock clockwork, including disembark, which was an hour early.

Met a nice group of ccer's !!!

 

Congratulations Princess ( and Carnival Corp).

[Guest arowe6]

Immediately she asks for our passports. We do not have any. A naughty little glare peeks over the counter at me. Sighs begin to erupt from her she then asks for my 9 year old's photo ID. Um, she doesn’t have one. “Why not?” Because she has never needed one (unfortunaetly they aren't required for scooters!).

 

 

I hope you said that to her. ;)

 

Many people who don't like their cruise with Princess just like to write a review to bash the cruise line. On the other hand, I felt you had valid complaints that would annoy almost anyone, including myself. I'm sorry you had a bad cruise but you're a great writer and your review was a lot of fun to read. :)

 

Good luck on Disney.

-Andrew:)

[pablo222]

I do have to use my Disney Cruising comparison here, because when you board a Disney cruise, you have ONE designated traveler per room that brings all the documents to check in while the rest of the group waits in the terminal and this one person is provided all the room keys.

 

This sounds like a huge security hole. ...where they don't match

the individual traveler to the id presented.

[willysgrandma]

Embarkation was a nightmare!!

 

What time did you arrive? If you get to any pier too early, embarkaton can always be a problem, especially if the cruise prior to yours is still disembarking. You can avoid this by arriving at 1:00 or later. This can happen on ANY line.

 

I do have to use my Disney Cruising comparison here, because when you board a Disney cruise, you have ONE designated traveler per room that brings all the documents to check in while the rest of the group waits in the terminal and this one person is provided all the room keys.

 

Well, you say you have cruised Royal Caribbean too. They don't do embarkation like Disney either. Was this a problem on your RCCL cruise?

 

Soda cards....ok, I am used to free soda on Disney whenever we want, but we bought 4 cards for the kids and myself. (They grown ups couldn’t seem to find a Bombay Sapphire card or a Grey Goose card.....just kidding! We are tea, water and coffee consumers. The kids and I had great difficulty getting any decent service on the soda card.

 

I had the same issue on RCCL. You didn't notice the same problem when you sailed with them? As someone else pointed out, you are paying for your soda with Disney whether you think you are or not with their higher sailing prices.

 

Food....We chose anytime dining, figuring we would be seated in a relatively timely manner and when we were ready. No the case

 

That happens when you eat during the busiest times - I would imagine you went to dinner at about 6:30 - 7 PM? You can usually avoid this by getting to the dining room earlier, or by going with assigned dining.

 

The food in general was mediocre (instant potatoes anyone?!) Nothing outstanding or out of this world.

 

I like Princess but have to agree with you here - we also think the food on Princess is mediocre.

 

Sorry it wasn't all you expected, but a short cruise often doesn't get the best flavor of what a cruise line truly can offer. You did mention that you found a lot of rude people. Princess had some deep discounts int he prices for the short cruises to fill the ship. I have found when you find inexpensive cruises, the caliber of clientele on them is a little different.

 

We found something similar on our recent Dawn Princess cruise. I spoke to the Future Sales consultant on the ship and she told me that cruise is the least expensive cruise Princess offers and that the ship had the lowest ratio of people booking future cruises on it because a lot of the people who sail on her are really on a tight budget and can't afford to book another cruise. We also saw many rude people and out of control kids on that cruise and I chalk it up to the low fares attracting pepole who may not have cruised before and really don't have any understanding of cruise etiquette.