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#51
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Vikings are Back
Although I've been a big fan of Princess, we didn't care for our cruise
on the Caribbean Princess. We must have encountered the same surly staff that you had on the Crown Princess. I was not used to that kind of treatment on Princess. Prior to that cruise, we had always had exceptional service. We had Personal Choice dining and the food was mediocre at best, and the service was terrible. I never considered that traditional would be better, but some of you have brought up some very good points which make sense. We had a maitre de who was very nasty on that sailing, and one of our waiters actually yelled at me. I had ordered a pasta as a starter dish, as well as an appetizer. He kept telling me I had already ordered an appetizer, why would I also want a pasta. After bickering back and forth, I wasn't sure I was going to get my fruit appetizer. He brought my pasta first, while everyone else had their fruit (I just thought it would make more sense to serve the fruit before the pasta, but what do I know). Anyway, figuring he wasn't going to bring the fruit, I took a taste of my friend's. Well, the waiter came scurrying over and yelled at me that my order would be coming and I should be patient. He said it in a very nasty, loud, condescending manner. I was completely embarrassed. I don't know why I didn't report him. To this day I could kick myself for letting it slide. I want to try Princess again; I'm hoping that particular sailing was just a fluke. In our future we'd love to do the 15 day RT from LA to Hawaii. Anybody have any comments about that? Jo-Ann Cal Ford wrote: You are absolutely correct Sheree. We have noticed from our numerous cruises on the Dawn out here on the Left Out Coast that the food for "Anytime" is cokked and left in a Warming Oven until someone orders it. That is why some Entree items are good during Traditional and not so good during Anytime. Point however, if you go to Anytime early in the evening the food is much better. Overall however we still prefer Late Traditional Dining. Cal Ford Lido Deck Cruises In article , sheree says... hardly sounds like the same ship that we were on in august!! the food was excellent as was the service. i really think tradition vs anytime is the issue. as for food quality with traditional it's done at a certain time and served, with anytime it's just sitting around. service too seems to change wtih the type of dining. as for the layout i didn't find it confusing as much as huge!! always found my way (which is a shock unto itself as my sense of direction is lousy!!) very few crowds, friendly staff etc. i wonder what has changed sheree "Tom K" wrote in message ... The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire, Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts. Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love. The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy. Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new. Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That sure made the comment card. I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before. Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good. Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward. Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us. Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done) but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money. Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape. --Tom |
#52
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Vikings are Back (another view)
"Nonnymus" wrote in message ... Any deck with a railing is a bathroom. As are all snorkeling excursions. |
#53
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Vikings are Back
Most of us were in traditional, not personal choice dining.
Don't make the assumption that traditional dining will be better. That's what we had. Our complaints are about traditional dining and the buffets. --Tom wrote in message ups.com... Although I've been a big fan of Princess, we didn't care for our cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We must have encountered the same surly staff that you had on the Crown Princess. I was not used to that kind of treatment on Princess. Prior to that cruise, we had always had exceptional service. We had Personal Choice dining and the food was mediocre at best, and the service was terrible. I never considered that traditional would be better, but some of you have brought up some very good points which make sense. We had a maitre de who was very nasty on that sailing, and one of our waiters actually yelled at me. I had ordered a pasta as a starter dish, as well as an appetizer. He kept telling me I had already ordered an appetizer, why would I also want a pasta. After bickering back and forth, I wasn't sure I was going to get my fruit appetizer. He brought my pasta first, while everyone else had their fruit (I just thought it would make more sense to serve the fruit before the pasta, but what do I know). Anyway, figuring he wasn't going to bring the fruit, I took a taste of my friend's. Well, the waiter came scurrying over and yelled at me that my order would be coming and I should be patient. He said it in a very nasty, loud, condescending manner. I was completely embarrassed. I don't know why I didn't report him. To this day I could kick myself for letting it slide. I want to try Princess again; I'm hoping that particular sailing was just a fluke. In our future we'd love to do the 15 day RT from LA to Hawaii. Anybody have any comments about that? Jo-Ann Cal Ford wrote: You are absolutely correct Sheree. We have noticed from our numerous cruises on the Dawn out here on the Left Out Coast that the food for "Anytime" is cokked and left in a Warming Oven until someone orders it. That is why some Entree items are good during Traditional and not so good during Anytime. Point however, if you go to Anytime early in the evening the food is much better. Overall however we still prefer Late Traditional Dining. Cal Ford Lido Deck Cruises In article , sheree says... hardly sounds like the same ship that we were on in august!! the food was excellent as was the service. i really think tradition vs anytime is the issue. as for food quality with traditional it's done at a certain time and served, with anytime it's just sitting around. service too seems to change wtih the type of dining. as for the layout i didn't find it confusing as much as huge!! always found my way (which is a shock unto itself as my sense of direction is lousy!!) very few crowds, friendly staff etc. i wonder what has changed sheree "Tom K" wrote in message ... The Vikings are back home after a week on the Crown Princess. Had a nice week with the group, and a new itinerary for me that included Bonaire, Aruba, Grenada, and St. Kitts. Loved Bonaire. Liked Aruba. Grenada was rather different from the typical Caribbean port. I liked it. Didn't care for St. Kitts. Went to Trunk Bay in St. John, which I love. The ship? Not my cup of tea by any means. Most confusing layout I've ever seen. Pretty ship. I like the very restrictive smoking policy. Ship in perfect condition since it's brand new. Service? We had a table full of people one night with dinners that went un-eaten because they were so bad, and the head waiter Antonio came proudly and asked how our dinner was. When we said "Not Good"... he got into a fight with us. When Susette said the food wasn't very good... he jumped all over her and told her that it was "only her opinion". That sure made the comment card. I've never had a crew member get into a fight with someone before. Overall much of the crew seemed.... maybe I'll use the term "surly". Not happy. Interaction of crew with passengers wasn't good. Dining room waitress was excellent. As was my cabin steward. Anytime dining? I hate it. Because of it, our group couldn't all be seated in one dining room. It definitely didn't work for us. Food? IMO... now pretty much worse than both RCI and NCL food, which I don't care for. Lots of really weird items on the buffets and dinner menus. Lots of scallops, muscles, etc. Not my cup of tea. Steaks sent back. Fish that smelled "fishy". Beef tenderloin that didn't even taste like beef (I just ate the veggies that night). Excellent pizza. Excellent cold seafood buffet the first evening. Lobster seemed OK. Not crisp, but not mushy either. Veal chop in Sabbitinis that was fatty. Fillet in Crown Grill that came out overcooked (ordered medium, came out well done) but still tender. Neither specialty restaurant seemed worth the money. Overall, fun week, but many in the group said they won't go on Princess again. I most likely only would if it was an unusual itinerary, that did something like Iceland or Norway's North Cape. --Tom |
#54
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Vikings are Back
Tom K wrote: "Charles" wrote in message d... In article . com, " wrote: Wow, it's hard to believe that so much has changed in three short months since the SGC. We had wonderful food and great service and didn't find any surly crew. I'm curious as to why a large group would have chosed Personal Choice dining, I think you might have been better to chose a traditional seating. It's too bad you didn't have Sergio in the DaVinci dining room, he would have taken better care of you than your Head Waiter. Most of the group did have Traditional dining including Tom and myself. Some of the group did not. The reason is that some booked later. Yes they booked later... but that was mid summer. Just not as early as we did last XMAS. To not be able to accoomodate them with is is simply not acceptible IMO. Not when they have 6 months notice. This is the problem with having both Traditional and Anytime dining. We have heard many people here say that they didn't get what they requested. sue |
#55
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Vikings are Back (another view)
I hope princess is not changing for the worse because CARNIVAL is now
running the show cruise lover |
#56
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Vikings are Back (another view)
NONNY,not all people can use any deck,only you males
cruise lover |
#57
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Vikings are Back
Thanks Kerry, if Susette doesn't post the info., I know where to find
her. sue kerry ambler wrote: sue, susette has the contact info for the aruba tour company. i just talked to her on the phone and told her she better get over here and post. someone who had been to aruba earlier this year said she could not believe and the building that has gone on there. completely different than it was. it was my first time there and i liked everything. "Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message ... Charles wrote: The tour of Aruba with ER tours was very good too. We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed. sue |
#58
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Vikings are Back
"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message ... Charles wrote: The tour of Aruba with ER tours was very good too. We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed. sue I thought Aruba was OK... but liked Bonaire MUCH more. --Tom |
#59
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Vikings are Back (another view)
kerry ambler wrote: just like their lack of public bathrooms cannot be changed. some are there but are hidden. I think there were enough public bathrooms on the Crown, just that they were well hidden.lol Once you found them, they were in very convenient placesd. and speaking of hidden (secrets), princess has many secrets. like the free ice crean (everyday) at 3:30 pm in the horizon court (on the closed side). 4 flavours and even the staff laughs. why is it secret? who knows, it's a big joke. the suitcases on the last night should be out before dinner (or so the patters say) but after midnight is okay (said my room steward) that is another secret the staff laughs about. Sheree and Charles found the hidden ice cream for us.lol We had first seating for dinner and I laughed when I read that my suitcases should be out before dinner. No Way and no problem. there was no more laughing from the staff. i never such such a group of miserable people. the pursers desk was abominable. mean to pax and cruel. yelling and telling the pax they were terrible. no smiling crew here. This is such a shame and a huge change since the SGC. There were several times we dealt with the pursers desk and the staff was very helpful and pleasant. i had the veal chop in sabatini's and it was very good. crown grill was fabulous and everything from service to food was great. Glad you enjoyed sabatini's and crown grill, they were excellant on our cruise. I am still a bit shocked over the changes in the dining room, food and service, since our august sailing. sue |
#60
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Vikings are Back
Tom K wrote: "Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message ... Charles wrote: The tour of Aruba with ER tours was very good too. We will be going to Aruba in Jan. on the Volendam. Could you tell us more about this tour and maybe a link for ER tours. The one time we were in Aruba(long time ago), we were not impressed. sue I thought Aruba was OK... but liked Bonaire MUCH more. On this cruise you went to a lot of ports we have not been to and Bonaire is one of them. Only problem is that the southern cruises are too port intensive for us. I am waiting to hear about the tour you did in Aruba! sue |
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