Pacific Princess fell short of Princess standards

[j!m]

i guess thats why there is chocolate and vanilla ice cream

 

we have spent a fair amount of time on the TP and both of the Az ships, they are the same ship

 

anyway, we prefer the smaller ships

 

the bigger ones like CB just overwhelm us

 

it is annoying though when little things go wrong no matter what the ship size

[Mom33]

My husband and I recently returned from a 14 day cruise to Alaska on the Pacific Princess. We celebrated our 35th anniversary while on board. 2 days prior to boarding, we received a wonderful upgrade from an OV cabin to an aft balcony, category BA. We were on the very back of the ship (7116)…what a treat! (Thank you Princess)

 

This was our 15th Princess cruise, our 22nd overall, and our 8th Alaska cruise. We are loyal Princess fans.

 

I am posting because there were some things that did not seem up to Princess standards on this ship. Our last Princess cruise was 15 months ago, so don’t know that this is a recent Princess issue or one related to the ship which is the reason that I am posting. I do not want this to be seen as bashing Princess. It is without a doubt, our favorite cruise line.

 

They are small things, but seemed to add up:

 

1. Once our cabin was changed, our mail never fully caught up to us in spite of numerous visits to the Purser’s desk.

 

2. We like to have wine in our room. Every time we called room service for clean wine glasses, we were told “we’ll see what we can do, but we are running short” Sometimes we got glasses, sometimes we didn’t.

 

3. We were told by the MD that because we were Elite, we would receive an invitation to the wine tasting so did not need to sign up. We never got an invitation (see #1) nor were we ever on the list to receive one.

 

3. There seemed to always be an elevator that was out of service. Keep in mind that you have very few elevators on the smaller ships.

 

4. There were no washcloths in the public restrooms just paper towels.

 

5. Our anniversary cake did not arrive at our dining table until 3 days after our anniversary date.

Like I say, they are small things, but we have never encountered this on a previous Princess cruise. We did have a wonderful cruise due in large part to the great itinerary and ideal weather.

 

We are cruising again with Princess (CB) in Oct.

 

Just thought I would share….

 

Judith

 

On our anniversary cruise on the Crown, we received a card in our stateroom to give to our waiter at dinner so that we could receive our cake.

[SwKnight]

We board the Pacific in three weeks. It will be my first small ship ever. My DW started cruising in '73 on a smaller Princess Italia than even this one. I can see what many posts were about and why they were posted and I truly understand. The sad thing is that human nature allows us to compare. But, with your posts I will not be expecting as much because of the size of the ship.

 

I've started and put some 16 or so Cruise Critic parties aka meet & greets - together and plan one on the Pacific. I have over a 100 people coming to the Ruby 10-26 and the Golden 12-21 parties. The Pacific probably being a much older group and way smaller passenger count(s) is rather different than I'm used too from the get-go.

 

Again the wonderful PACIFIC PRINCESS hints are really appreciated because it made me understand what I was feeling.

 

Frankly, I was happy on the Star Dancer later the Viking Serenade and she was really cheesy and saltly by then.

 

But you did give me a good HEADS-UP - and that's appreciated by all of you.

[kooljamming]

I would have thought your BIG UPGRADE would have negated all the little things that went wrong. I would be over the moon if I were to get an upgrade, never had one in 212 cruise days (10 cruises.)

 

As for Pacific Princess, I have been on her 3 times, thought she was the best.

 

I fear the upgrade fairy does not like Aussies!

 

Is it normal for one to lower their expectations because a hand out is given:confused: Maybe freebies and upgrades mean different things to different people. Only better service negates mishaps and inconveniences.

 

BTW - one cruise, (7 days) with Princess and was offered an upgrade from an aft balcony to a mini-suite but turned it down. If Princess needs the cabin they can offer to move you but you don't have to accept. Upgrades really don't mean that much to some people while good service is everything.

 

JMOP

[California Native]

Dear Princess,

If you are reading this could you please give me Kooljamming's upgrade?

I promise I will not complain about ANYTHING!

I will make my own bed and clean my own cabin while still tipping the cabin steward

Kindest Regards :)

Where2next

[dottiedef]

We were on the same cruise as Judith, but I'm not sure we were on the same cruise, if you get what I mean. Both my husband and I commented that even though there were only 2 elevators at each end, they seemed to work more efficiently than the big bank of elevators on the big ships. You could count on one hand the times one was shut down and then it was only for a very short time.

 

As for the dining room, we loved it--the huge windows from which we could see the beautiful sunsets and scenery etc.

 

We felt that the crew was exceptionally attentive and polite, especially the dining room people. It was good to get away from all the glitz of the big ships for a change and enjoy the elegance of a bygone era. We chose the cruise for the itinerary but enjoyed the size for what it was--FUN and relaxing. Never smelled any musty smells. didn't think there were as many smokers as usual--at least there was not one in a nearby balcony as we have had on our last 2 cruises.

 

Just had to put my 2 cents worth in--we did miss anytime dining but late sitting worked great for us.

 

Dottie