What's Up With Princess Cruises These Days?
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- Has Princess Cruises lost its way? Or is it just a temporary blip as it gets back to speed? I've been asked this increasingly by cruisers coming off recent Princess cruises. Based on my 3 recent trips here’s 4 things they’re getting very wrong 4 things they’re getting very right.
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00:00 Start
0:33 Wrong: Confused
04:40 Wrong: Fares
06:06 Wrong: Food
07:08 Wrong: Medallion
10:00 Right: Popularity
11:00 Right: Places
12:38 Right: Generations
13:23 Right: Affordability
More kids? No thanks! Love your videos, mate, you do good work.
Gary, thank you for this video. All your points are correct. We just got home from a 5 week cruise on the Sky Princess. We sailed on her October 2019 and now last month. The changes were amazing. Yes we expected less crew but that was just the start of the downfall. The food was really bad, and we are avid Princess cruisers. There were times we ended up eating at the International Cafe since the MDR didn't have a good menu and the buffet looked very unappetizing. I do not complain unless there is a reason and the time to complain is now. We are canceling a Princess cruise next year, we have to go on the one in Dec since final payment has been made. Princess, bring back the smaller ships and the attention that your customers expect. Thank you for letting me vent.
Sorry to hear! But definitely an issue
We went on Majestic Princess for 30 days in September and were so disappointed in the food in the MDR and International Cafe. Last time on Princess.
We have been on 2 Princess cruises this year, Panama Canal and British Isles, both 14 (15) days on Emerald and Island Princess …we experienced non of the negatives. We are going on another cruise again soon. That will be our 7th cruise with Princess since 2019.
We love this cruise line, learned our lesson and try to avoid cruising when school is out because this “new way of parenting” seems to inconvenience others. Children running around unattended, feeding themselves, entertaining themselves on a “family” vacation.
We love Princess because we don’t want to pay for things that have no value-add to us, like specialty dining and beverages/alcohol. We love having the option of opting out of these when choosing to pay the Standard fees.
The Medallion experience has been improving every cruise and now the staff is more comfortable using it and greeting you by name. The door unlocks perfectly in front of you and it’s easy to book excursions. Checking in on embarkation day is a breeze. There are minor glitches but the most important functions work properly. We never used the internet, because the whole point of cruising for us is to be disconnected from it, but a little internet always trickles through MedallionNet and Google Search works, so it’s fun looking up information about sea creatures and check the maps for the next port of call.
I think the medallion is awesome. I have not had problems with it. Easy to find my travel buddies. Wi-Fi was fine.
Question:
Can we have a Gary Bembridge Cruise?
You pick your favorite itinerary/time of the year and your most preferred cruise line and make it known so we can join you.
This could be a really funny and fun idea
A cruise line should have him as a “keynote speaker” and comp him everything and $$$.
Gary you are so right about their destinations, we chose them for a 16 day Norway cruise as they were the only line at a good price that went right to the top of Norway. We chose them for South America as they went into the Falklands and did Santiago to BUE, others only did this at a huge extra expense. So even though we prefer the food on Celebrity, we choose by itinerary first. As we cruise to explore, not to sit by a pool all day.
We are platinum on princess and are noticing the changes. Seems they are morphing into carnival. I miss their small ship experience. May be time to change. Great videos we watch every one of yours.
Thanks so much for watching and adding your thoughts. Definitely they seem a bit “adrift” but so many people sailing with them are saying same things so hopefully they will tighten up!!!
@@tipsfortravellers we are going to book Holland for the Panama canal right now! Thanks!!! Retirement has begun and you are so so so helping us!
There's nothing wrong with Carnival, which you seem to be alluding to. I've cruised 48 times on many ships and, in some ways, Carnival is much better. Those that are critical of Carnival haven't cruised with Carnival or are inexperienced. All cruise lines have their signature and all ships have different crews and, therefore, are different.
We were on Emerald Princess in January 2023 for the 15 day Panama Canal cruise. We enjoyed it very much. Only one kid on the whole ship, a teenager.
Food was good, we enjoyed our excursion, and staff was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed it enough that we are going back for a Caribbean cruise in April.
I’ve always cruised with Princess and have never had any issues, to me they are the best cruise company with best services, everything is first class with friendly staff, I will continue cruising with Princess because I know I can go wrong trying another one .
Thank you Gary. We have cruised extensively with Princess, over 17 years. Our biggest issue with Princess is their customer service (support). The issues on getting through to speak to someone and finding a person who can help ....huge gaps in consistency with the service, the information and results.
It's clear that the majority of staff, now answering the phones, are not as knowledgeable, compared to 2019/pre lockdown.
Whilst we would say, all cruiselines are adjusting, have used the lockdown to update and make changes etc. Things/underlying issues are really standing out to those of us who have sailed extensively with them.
We are now trying new lines, in hopes, through time, Princess works things out
Thanks for watching, as always, and adding your thoughts. This is definitely an issue many are flagging....
Princess hiring very non knowledgeable empkoyees for low money. Their customer service always sucked especialy now. We will never again cruise with them. Customer service employees don't speak proper english. Awful.
I just got off a 7-day with Norwegian and many of the staff seemed new because they didn't know much of the details on various topics. It's the same at local businesses in my neighborhood at home. I think this is the world we're living in right now. We just have to go with our gut and speak with others to get information until confident that it's correct.
We will have our first cruise with Princess in April and already have concerns about customer support services-long wait, not knowledgeable staff (cannot even make spelling errors for my name).
@@newlearner5560 congrats on your first Princess cruise!! Don't be concerned. Just go and plan on having a great cruise. Princess crew and staff are committed to making it a great cruise experience for passengers and it will be for you. Bon voyage!!
I think the Princess advertising that I have seen in recent years, even just before the pandemic, definitely reflects their move toward being more family and multi-generational family friendly. We're booked for a multi-generational family cruise to Alaska on Discovery Princess in June. I'm optimistic that all of us - ages 15-81, will enjoy it.
I think part of the increase in families is the cruise cost. I find Princess substantially less expensive than Other lines. I keep looking at other lines and any cruise I have looked at is usually $800-1000 higher. This is based on the fares with no included perks which is the best option for me.
I was on the Grand Princess for a mid-September Alaska cruise - last one of the season. There were no kids and at 61, I was bringing down the average age of the passengers and there were not a lot of people younger than me, and it was about 3/4ths full. However, the difference between my cruise and Gary's might be the time of year. If he took his Alaska trip in June, July, or August it was at a time school was out, so families could go, and hence the ship being more geared towards having more kids related activities. School being out is why I take my trip in May and September.
I had no issue with the food, and my Medallion worked great, I was easily able to switch between using my cell phone and iPad, and the only issue with the wifi is when we were deep, deep, deep in fjords looking at glaciers. But it was my first cruise, and I have always had pretty good luck when I travel - even though I always expect one thing to go sideways, and it always happens. This trip it was leaving Vancouver 12 hours late because of a generator issue. We lost Icy Point, but we got to see scenery that normally the ship would be traversing at night. I liked it and really, really glad I went.
We also went on the Alaska cruise out of Vancouver (in early May) and loved it. The Medallion worked great 95% of the time, but the Internet connection was awful. The meals very, very good, and the dining service was very good, also, except in the Specialty Chophouse, where the service was awfully slow for some reason; we think understaffed. Overall, I highly recommend the Alaska cruise, our favorite so far!
We just got off the Caribbean princess,10 Days from NYC to Quebec. We are Elite status and I can tell you the service, food, entertainment and guests made it one of the best cruises we have had. Ship had to be 75% full . Getting on and off was a breeze.
I was on the 16 days cruise to Canada and Greenland before yours ,I found the food and entertainment was terrible,very disappointed.
Just finished a 14 day on at 60 we were some of the youngest passengers on board. The app was great to use and we food the service wonderful .
What I object about Princess are basically the cabins. If you decide to pay a bit more to cruise on Princess, shouldn’t you expect a better cabin experience? But they don’t offer you one unless you choose a more expensive cabin. No seating in their basic balcony cabins. A shower curtain instead of glass shower doors. No place to rest you feet when you need to shave your legs. Of course if you spend more money you can have these conveniences.
The problem is, most other cruise lines don’t charge extra for couch. And newer ships on other cruise lines usually come with glass shower doors and a shave bar at no extra cost.
I happen to have a bad back. The thought of spending a week sitting on a bed instead of a couch, whenever I’m in my cabin, hurts just thinking about it. So that tells me Princess has decided to give their passengers less , hoping they’ll spend more, when I get these basic conveniences at no extra cost on Royal, HAL and Celebrity.
It all comes down to how you treat your customers.
Totally agree about the cabins. They even removed the one barrel chair from balcony rooms. As an alleged premium line, it is a travesty that in order to watch TV, you must sit on the bed. We now will inly sail the Royal class ships in a deluxe balcony that at least has a loveseat, but Royal balconies are also the smallest at sea. We left Celebrity after many years due to their increased fares, but now will probably strongly consider a return to them.
Thank you for this updated information. Also, condolences to the people of the UK on the death of Queen Elizabeth. What a gracious and remarkable woman she was. Related to cruising: Just watched a tv show that featured her Britannia yacht. I hope the transition to King Charles III goes well.
Good take on the review Gary. I appreciate your objective approach to this assessment.
Thanks Gary for an interesting insight and analysis of Princess Cruises. I like kids and have 4 grandsons but I shall continue to avoid cruising in school holidays and, if I’m able, will always opt for an adult only ship. As one of your other followers has already said, the problem often lies with parental control more than it does with the children themselves.
It is definitely the case that the kind and style of cruising I enjoy is becoming more difficult to find as cruise lines move to having bigger ships and, as you point out, need to fill them by appealing and catering more to families. So, I guess, if I want to continue to go cruising I’m going to have to expect it’s going to cost me more.
Thanks for your reports. They are very informative and helpful
Having only been on one cruise in my life, I can’t obviously compare lines or previous experience but my trip to Alaska with my parents last year was amazing. We sailed in the Majestic Princess in September 21. The staff were amazing, super friendly and personable, the price was great, the drinks and the food were great, and the entertainment and activities though reduced due to Covid were still plenty. There were few kids on board as this was pre kid friendly vaccines, but it also felt inclusive for all generations. Princess also made sure to reimburse us for any excursions changes as there were a few. I found the medallion app mostly reliable and even my 65+ year old parents had no trouble using it. I feel like Princess is making premium cruising more accessible and less intimidating for first time and younger cruisers, with less stress about dress code( at least in Alaska), interesting activities for different ages, and many dining and beverages choices. I Am glad we ended up on Princess for our trip and plan on sailing with them again in the future
One cruise in your life? Yep you should not comment!
What an unkind thing to say. There's no need to have previous experience to give a relevant, detailed, thoughtful review, which is exactly what @vanniechan has done.
@@redrospective Yes you're right, now that I look at my reply it did sound unkind. I meant no disrespect. I was only trying to point out that after 23 cruises you learn that sometimes things don't always go as planned. Had some great cruises, but also my share of nightmare cruises. Take care and happy Thanksgiving!
@@denniscostabile4264 Hi Dennis, thanks for clarifying. Yes, there's definitely valuable perspective gained from multiple cruises (on the same or different lines). I just think that first-time cruising must be extremely important for the cruise industry (and therefore for cruisers too) because getting that experience right ensures more repeat cruisers which keeps the ship sailing (literally and metaphorically!) So that's why I think vanniechan's perspective is valuable and that it's important that they and people in a similar situation feel welcomed and able to share. I'm in the UK so we don't have Thanksgiving but Black Friday is getting bigger every year, so we get all the commercials but not the tasty food! I hope you have a great day tomorrow.
Friends on Celebrity Edge for two weeks followed by Regal Princess for two weeks. Princess self service laundry was a nice plus on a longer trip. Other than that they gave the edge to Celebrity. Food on Princess was good, yet they now charge for a second main in the MDR. The Princess new fare structure is the move to bundle. Celebrity and NCL have variations on it. Don’t like it as they show a lower fare, you click on it and they immediately push a higher fare. Feels like bait and switch. Prefer Royal’s simple fares. You have the option to add on what you want without feeling like a have not. Thanks for a great video!
Just came off the Majestic Princess south from Anchorage to Vancouver. Almost no kids at all. It was a great cruise, no complaints.
Just returned from a 14 day cruise on the Royal Princess to Alaska. Medallion System worked well as a room key but every other feature of the app was a dismal failure. PRINCESS REALLY NEEDS TO FIX (or scrap) THE MEDALLION SYSTEM.
Fabulous video as always! I’ve just disembarked Emerald and had a great time. The app worked about 50/50 which was annoying, but we had no problems with service or food. Emerald is a little ship though. Barely any kids onboard too (British isles). 😀💕
I think of Princess as the American P&O.
agree it has become that :-) :-)
Is 50/50 good enough for a program that is central to one's business model-----totally unacceptable to have difficulty accessing one's cabin.
@@amandareiche9083 Oh no it worked to get into the cabin 100%, just talking about the app :)
The cabin just uses the medallion. That worked fine.
Very good overview of the issues and positives about Princess. It’s our favorite cruise line. Last year when Alaska opened to cruises I got right online and booked a cruise.
This summer we and 6 other family members took the Princess UK cruise. Our 11 year old granddaughter was with us. She very much enjoyed the kids club. She enjoyed the entire cruise and wants to go on another.
I do like the medallions but agree about the app. It’s slow and we ended up not using many of the features. One reason we like Princess is the itineraries. We enjoy going to different places and Princess has the variety we desire. We are booked this winter for the Panama Canal and winter 2024 going to Australia and New Zealand.
The new ship looks amazing. I cannot wait to be on board. Thank you princess for giving me one more reason to love sailing with Princess!
Great vid guys thanks for sharing your time with us 2 Canadians 🇨🇦 living in Mexico sending you support cheers ✌️🥰🙏
Thank you. Your reviews and information summaries are always excellent.
I don't cruise, but I enjoy hearing your insights and tips on the cruises you take.
A few years ago I did a huge trip with Princess to Alaska. Solo. I took every excursion I wanted since it was a "Bucket Trip." Loved the Princess Lodges! Would definitely do it again. But, solo to the Caribbean? I found it almost "boring". But, after the Pandemic, I was grateful and patient. Seriously.....we have a lot to be grateful for so we must not, must not forget that.
I went on a Princess cruise in May. It was my fourth Princess Cruise, and my first time cruising with princess since 2019, before the pandemic, and we went on the Sky Princess. And I must say... the services was a bit disappointing. Many niceties such as the chocolate you get when your room is serviced had gone. There was no balloon drop. Gone was the free popcorn with the movies under the stars. Something definitely felt off about the whole trip. I'm sure much of this could be explained by covid or budget cuts, so okay.
But. One thing was so bad it can not be excused...
The food was awful. I found myself eating at the Salty Dog most nights, because the restaurants had done a complete nosedive. Compared to my first Princess Cruise in 2011 - and the food I experienced on Celebrity - the food on the Sky Princess in 2022 is in DIRE need of improvement. Firstly, I have allergies and they KEPT GETTING IT WRONG. They almost fed me something which had my allergen in it, and one night they even gave me the wrong meal. But aside from that, the food itself left so much to be desired. I found most evenings that I dined in the restaurant, my starter was a bowl of vegetables in hot water that they called soup. Every soup I had was the same. Random vegetables and a bit of meat in hot water. Often with a fancy name, but it was all just the same and because of my allergy it's about all I could have from the already very limited menu. I paid 5 grand for this?! Come on! Likewise, most of my mains involved some cut of red meat in some generic gravy (also often given a fancy name), where the meat was often full of fat and gristle. There was one evening where I had veal and was so excited for it. The veal was basically inedible, it was something like 70% gristle and that's not even an exaggeration. Also, on port days they often used to serve local dishes from the country of the port you were staying in, that was largely no longer a thing. I dare say the food situation in the restaurants was unacceptable.
And then there was the buffet. The buffet seemed to have less than half the options it used to have, and everywhere was so tucked away and impossible to find. It felt more like getting a school meal than anything else. No longer could you spoon yourself out some food, now they dished it to you. The buffet felt sprawling and confusing, and the food again had done a total nosedive in quality. Also, I went to get myself some water and a steward told me off because the dispenser is now staff only. Since when?! There was absolutely no sign telling me that this was staff only. It never was before!
This is why I ate more at the Salty Dog Grill than any other restaurant or buffet.
Princess, you need to URGENTLY step up your food game, because you have fallen into serious decline with that.
Great video! Very informative and no fluff! Keep up the good work - your time is not wasted!
This is so helpful. Thank you.
Another great video. You definitely hit it on the mark. We are going on our 5 th Princess cruise in a few weeks.
We've been on Princess once and decided it wasn't our favorite. They seem like they're trying to follow Ncl instead of being unique. We would be willing to give it another try but it didn't seem worth it and I was finding better fares elsewhere for what you get.
We LOVE Holland America and their customer service and their food and everything else!
If Princess is going “family friendly,” it looks like we will be avoiding that cruise line. We are past the “family friendly” stage in life 😄
We are in our '70s and have been cruising for over 35 years. I couldn't agree more with you and we have three kids lol. But we are dinosaurs my friend and they don't care about us they only care about the young people who spend money as if it grows on trees or at least because we the taxpayers are subsidizing them lol
I was just on the Discovery Princess to Alaska and there were very few kids on-board. And the kids area is so far removed from everything else, you hardly know it's there. There were more kids on the cruise I took to Mexico on the Majestic, but again...I didn't feel like it was geared towards kids...but I also wasn't looking for that. And they do have an adult only pool section, so you can definitely avoid any little kids who might be hogging the main pools on the Lido deck. 😊 I wouldn't avoid Princess just because they are "family-friendly".
I don't care about families. Is there a way to keep all the fat people off the boats???
Liz that's where the money is...Big Disney cruise line.
Same, I’m not into being around children on my vacation
I’m on a segment of the 2023 world cruise. I think the Wi-Fi is actually very good, the food on board is fine, and I think the issues with the medallion is more user based than the system. The island princess is an older vessel, but it does the trick. I actually do not want to cruise on a floating amusement park. I Agree the the value and cruise locations are unmatched by most of the major lines.
I loved almost everything about my cruise on the Majestic last year. I found the Medallion program to be a game-changer. The app was extremely glitchy, but I loved the medallion itself. As for the food that week, it was horrifying. Whether you ate in the MDR or any of the specialty restaurants, the food was pretty revolting. Even Alfredo’s pizza was awful. Everyone I was with complained about the food. As for overall value, I felt like Princess has much more to offer. So there’s goods and bads with Princess. Now, if I’m headed to a more tropical destination, I prefer NCL or RCL.
I’m glad the cruise line is more appealing to families as I have young kids. We went on our first cruise this year.
Going on my first cruise from Vancouver to San Francisco on Princess, sort of a 3-day "test" cruise to see how it is before I take my sister to Alaska in the spring. I got a solo balcony room midships for only $200, added on crew appreciation and a soda package, total about $300. My airfare will cost more than that. I'll only have to take 2 days off from work, hopefully will eat some tasty food, do a little gambling, some reading, and see the shore as it passes by. I seldom drink alcohol, so the soda package and regular coffee is fine with me. Last thing I want is wifi, I get enough computers at work. To me, it's like a weekend in Vegas without the rip-offs of resort fees and so on. I already know the casino games will be more in favor of the house, but it's hard to mess around with the rules on craps, so that's the game for me for the little gambling I will do. Really looking forward to this little getaway, and this Tips for Travellers channel has been instrumental in helping me make the right choices. Thank you!
Thank you for the video!
Going into a recession it will not be those with families propping up Princess…
We took our first Princess cruise in January 2022 out of Los Angeles to Hawaii. LOVED this cruise, LOVED the medallion, never had a problem. It worked flawlessly. This was my husbands 1 st cruise and I was a little nervous, as this was a 15 day cruise. He loved it. We do have to say the food was a little under. I have been on cruises before.
Good to know about Princess. We are thinking of taking an Alaska cruise next year, so we will try to book HAL.
I am sure these are lovely changes for those with children. It is a reason for those of us who do not want them in our spaces on vacation to choose a different line. I am fond of children. I am also very fond of peace and quiet.
Thanks for the video
Being of a certain age with a grown up child and no grandchildren I prefer to travel on lines which cater more to solo or couple adult cruisers than to multigenerational cruisers but destinations and super deals will always override our preferred lines. My husband and I just choose not to travel during school holidays or festive seasons wherever possible and if we had to we would consider choosing a suite to gain access to kid free retreats.
I cannot recommend Viking Ocean enough! Truly high caliber hospitality industry attention to detail! Have been on six, each one better than the previous. You will be treated like royalty.
@@trainattendant5810 I’m an Aussie so being treated like royalty is not of interest to me or my husband 😂 we love plebs like us, quiet, considerate and like minded fellow travellers. I would love to try Viking because I like the all included adults only and European owned cruise line concept but we have been happy cruisers with all the services we have received on more budget friendly cruises lines so far, we just wished they were paid a living wage and not this gratuity nonsense.
In May I took a UK cruise on the Emerald Princess. It was the same for me as two previous pre-Covid Princess cruises (same route) except that the buffet food was served by the staff. I only used the Medallion for basic non-app uses. My biggest disappointment was that the gift shop had been outsourced so they no longer sold ship-specific souvenir magnets. I had been looking forward to my fifth ship magnet.
We've been on two Princess cruises this year. I agree 100% the quality of the food has gone down as well as the service. We've been sailing on Princess since 1991 and noticed the quality is just not there anymore. They have taken away many of the nice things we were use to. That said, we are booked on two more Princess Cruises next year and all things considered we still love Princess.
Been on Princess twicw before the pandemic and went on HAL recently to Alaska. The menus and choices were pretty limited on HAL, eg. only choice of ice cream in the main dining was vanilla....and the overall quality across board was so so. Thought it was not as good as Princess, now it looks like they are about the same... everything was going downhill... I hope things would improve, fingers crossed!
I also started w/ Princess in 1991 when there was still a lot of Sitmar influence. What I wouldn't do to sail aboard the original Pacific/Island & Dawn/Fair Princess's! They didn't have all the bells & whistles of modern day ships, but there was a completely different atmosphere onboard. The focus was on the service, food, passengers, & crew. Lovey era of cruising!
@@trainattendant5810 Our first Princess cruise was on the old Dawn Princess and it was fantastic. We then went on the Island Princess, again perfect. Those were the days!
Those who have been cruising for several years know that amenities and perks have been reduced or eliminated long before the pandemic. Now that cruising has resumed, we have to be patient and expect changes. With the total shutdown for a couple of years, it's a challenge for cruise lines to stay afloat (pun intended). Many ships were scrapped to reduce the fleet. It's a bit harsh to expect things to be what they were. If you expect perfection, you'll be disappointed. We shouldn't even expect what was normal. I'm just glad that cruising is back. Give me a lounge chair on deck with an adult beverage and a view of the deep blue sea and I'm happy!!
@@trainattendant5810 I agree. Cruising was much different back in the day. You may recall that not many people had cruised back then and it was believed that it was for those with money. Nowadays, cruise lines are appealing to a larger market with alll of the amenities on ships. Cruising and vacationing on a ship are two different experiences. I enjoyed cruising better in the Sitmar days!
Hi, Gary,
Thanks for all your great videos. We agree about the changes Princess Cruises is making. Overall, we're disappointed by them. We are Elite with Princess and have been on eight cruises since the return to sail in August 2021 on both Grand and Royal class ships. There has been a marked downward change in the quality of the cruises. Some of it can't be helped with the current labor shortages all cruise lines are coping, so we tend to overlook that, expecting it to improve over the next year. When we boarded Majestic Princess in August 2021, right after startup, we expected food to be fantastic as they would be looking to spoil us upon return. While we enjoyed the cruise, the menu was underwhelming in the MDR. Crown Grill was excellent as always. Our Regal Princess cruises (3) in Nov/Dec 2021 also had a disappointing menu in the MDR. Service was better as the ship was about 30% full on each cruise. In February this year we sailed a B2B on Caribbean Princess. In all our cruising, this was the first time we couldn't wait for the cruise to end. Service was fair and food mediocre, but our biggest complaint was the non-stop ear-splitting music around the pool every afternoon (82-85 decibels continuously). Since it wasn't a school break period, most of the passengers were 60+ and many would just leave the pool area because you couldn't talk to the person next to you. I talked to several officers about it but nothing changed. It was awful. I imagined it was what a Carnival cruise is like. Princess may be trying to woo a younger crowd, but there weren't young people on this cruise yet they didn't adjust the music or the volume.
We also noticed after January the internet was considerably worse, to the point on our cruise on Emerald Princess in April and Enchanted Princess last month, it was almost unusable. It was a constant complaint among passengers. We're leaving on a 21-day Med Cruise in two weeks on Regal Princess and we're praying the internet is better.
We like Princess, but we're afraid they are going to leave us behind. We're trying Azamara Onward in December and Oceania Riviera in January to see if we'll enjoy them that much more to make the higher cost worth it.
Keep up the excellent work and keep on cruising!
Kevin
We have done our first 2 Princess cruises this year. The first was on Sky and then the second on Emerald - We found that Medallion and Wifi were significantly better on Emerald which suggests a capacity problem with their infrastructure. Service on Sky was much more stretched too suggesting staff shortages. We are due to go on Sky again at the end of the year so it will be interesting to see if there is an improvement but ref Gary's point the key to our New Year cruise was the cruise destinations and itinerary.
We sailed on the Emerald princess through the Panama Canal in January and didn't have the same Medallion disasters that we experienced on the Royal Princess to Alaskan Itinerary in August. Probably will not be sailing with Princess again.
Went on the our first Princess cruise 3 weeks ago. Crown Princess out of Seattle doing the Inside Passage. Gary is spot on, totally agree with almost everything he said. Medallion nice, app glitchy, food so so, service uneven.
Just got off my 8 the Princess cruise around the UK. It wasn't first cruise back since 2018. I didn't notice any difference in the food and I found the service to be excellent. The wifi was spotty . Mine worked very well but my wife's did not. The Medallion app worked well for us.
My Princess stories: I was on two of the ships you were on (Majestic and Regal), though not at the same time and places. These were my first sailings on PCL (I had one scheduled that was wiped out during the pandemic). I have another PCL cruise scheduled next April. I agree with a lot of what you've said, but I did find the Internet good by cruise ship standards. Princess seems to be trying to be all things to all cruisers with some success and some confusion. I think they're decent enough.
I am on the Emerald presently doing the British Isles. I preferred the food we had on the transatlantic on the NCL Escape last May but the embarkation and disembarkation was chaotic and Princess was a breeze. Next week we will be on the Celebrity Silhouette and in November on Holland Koningsdam. So we will find what will be our best cruise company for us.
I just got back from a 16 day on the Royal. I experienced zero negatives.
Oh and I would love to see them mix up their summer Med itinaries. They've been literally calling at the same ports each year since I sailed back in 2017. That puts me off as I like to visit different places.
Took a cruise on the Regal Princess in December of 2019. Everything was great, especially the food. My post pandemic cruise was May 2022 on the Grand Princess. What a disappointment in many areas and we'd booked a full suite! The food was the worst of the 13 Princess cruises we've taken. This last cruise made us Elite but we're thinking about jumping to Celebrity and trying out HAL. Princess has lost its way.
We always felt there were many similarities between HAL and Princess. While we like HAL a lot better, some of it is solely personal preference. We kind of felt like Princess was a slight step down from HAL. Princess was more of a 4.5* cruise and HAL more 5*. But again, personal preference. For instance, we don't care about big shows or name brand comedians, but adore a very happy and healthy crew. HAL has better crew than many six star lines, imo.
But both lines have suffered in many categories during the past few years. HAL has tried to recover its reputation for food quality, as Gary talked about a while back. Princess seems to be really trying to up their game with regards to technology. Time will tell.
The only Princess cruises we are even remotely interested taking are the older ships with window suites that are priced less than balconies.
Holland America is better than Princess
I’ve been cruising since I was 4 and have been on 7 Princess Cruises with my 8th one this May. I’ve been on 5 other cruise lines but Princess has been my favorite overall. I do see the changes you have pointed out and I do miss using the keycards. But me and my parents love the cruise line!
We sailed for 2 weeks on the Sky in the Caribbean last December. Both weeks were 1/3-1/2 full, as they were just getting started post-pandemic. Everything was quite fine--I love the medallion and the internet service. We'll be back this Dec on the Regal, hoping for another excellent experience. To us, it's a floating resort!
Thank you for this insightful and thoughtful video, Gary. It really synthesizes much of our family’s experience with Princess. We feel Princess is making a choice to leave the “premium” category and become a more mainline cruise line that competes more with Norwegian and Royal Caribbean than Holland America, Cunard, and Celebrity. Maybe that will change, but we are avoiding Princess for now. We also think the details of the new Sphere class of ships will help us see even more clearly the direction they’ve decided to take.
I think the reason they can get away with this though is because guests can still choose from Holland America (also owned by Carnival Corp), so having that option doesn’t entirely alienate guests who still want a premium, more adult focussed cruise line.
@@reececollison5101 It does make sense from Carnival’s perspective. Princess and HAL were previously quite similar from what I’ve heard.
Customer Service department on Princess sucks, Holland vustomwr servuce way much better
Good review
For me I am moving back to Holland and Celebrity for adult cruising. For quick cheaper trips 4 or 5 days to sail with my teen grandkids I go to Carnival.
Did 3 Alaskan cruises this summer, Majestic, Discovery and Crown Princess. I felt the good in the MDR and speciality restaurants were more of the Princess quality on the Crown. All ships had spotty Wi-fi but found the app to order things to your location very consistent. Discovery and Majestic had lots of multi-generational cruisers but not so on the Crown. MDR service most consistent on the Crown. I am hoping things will have improved by my winter cruises on the Enchanted.
Thanks. Very Informative. I will be on Coral Princess from Aus. I can compare Princess with other cruise liners
On the discovery princess right now on it’s way back to Seattle (stopping in Victoria BC) the service is very good, the staff really makes every effort to please. The wifi is not good at all. The medallion experience is okay, I like that it automatically opens the cabin door. I feel like they could have more onboard activities on sea days. The thermal spa is beautiful but very small and extremely over crowded. Overall I would give the experience an 8/10. I am booked on the Enchanted Princess in October to New England.
WiFi in Alaska is always poor.
Just come off the Enchanted, on a N Europe cruise. Its a lovely ship but the food was variable, wifi almost unusable and there wasn't much 'serious' entertainment. Mainly sales events and slightly cheesy quizzes. Staff were lovely
@@andyrawlins I'm on the Enchanted Princess now on the Transatlantic. The service is excellent. But I agree that the wifi is practically unusable. I actually had to ask for a reasonable refund even though they acknowledged the issues with it. The food was horrible in the buffet. It's almost as if Princess has given up after Covid. Sad. Also on these new ships the full walk around Promenade deck is gone. And the walking track is on a very small windy dec k 17! Horrible ship design! Very hard to get from one e d of the ship to the other. The rooms are the smallest I have seen at sea. But at least comfortable and functional. Sadly may be my last Princess cruise.
Spot on!
Agree with everything except you understated the food issue. I am used to Carnival, but my family took the Grand Princess in Alaska last June. A bucket list trip for my 75 year old mother..
I am celiac. Carnival is very accommodating by providing gluten free versions of virtually any of their dishes, allowing me to choose breakfast and dinner items the night before. I expected similar service from Princess. Many of the menu items were a "no, that cannot be adjusted" answer. Additionally, I was told there was no option for dessert. They would bring me something. That something was five nights out of seven chocolate mousse. I was upset that we spent nearly $16,000 for four of us and they offered me pudding for dessert.
Additionally, no one in my party thought the food was above mediocre, and Sabatinis was horrifyingly bad.
The Princess trip was so disappointing, I canceled the inside cabin British isle cruise with my mother next summer with Princess and booked Carnival balcony for less money.
You're saying that Carnival is better than Princess?!?
@@cherylkoski7184 surprisingly, yes. I see Carnival as the Motel 6. I was extremely disappointed to pay a lot more to get worse food.
All cruises are what you make of it. Carnival is not Motel 6. The Panorama is a beautiful ship with all of the amenities that are needed for all passengers. The Breeze is another excellent choice. If you expect perfection, you'll be disappointed in everything life has to offer. I've cruised 48 times all over the world on several cruise lines and many ships. Cruise lines are different with their own signature experiences. I have enjoyed every cruise from three to 21 days and several B2B. Usually, complainers are too demanding or are inexperienced. It's best to try each cruise line and find what is most appealing. Also, crew turns over on 6-8 month contracts, so the experience may be very different on the same ship. As in day-to-day life, there will be disappointments, but letting them be the focus is counterproductive.
Thanks for your insights Gary.
My pleasure!
I hope Princess gets their things together as they used to be our favorite. I like the same ship layout on all their ships.
First timer here, and in Australia. We're booked on Princess to go to New Zealand in February and while I'm excited, watching all these videos is doing my head in! I never realised so much was involved. Looks like a lot of study between now and then 😃
Did you end up going on the Princess? if so how was it?
@@ryderstrong3899 yes, I did and it was amazing. I loved it. I love NZ, so that was a bonus. The staff on the Grand Princess were amazing and couldn't do enough for you, especially the staff in the dining room. Going on another Princess cruise in November.
@@queenslanddiva awesome glad to hear that!!! Thanks for the quick reply too!
I have found the ships to be in good condition and well looked after. The food has been very good and a good choice. The service in the restaurants has been good especially club class. The bar service has been bad the App is awful and the internet in Europe terrible.
The medallion program just seems like a typical way for big corporations to lean on data to make things easier for them, couching it as a big win for the customer, which is baloney. Disney does crap like that all the time.
We sailed on the Emerald Princess out of South Hampton, our biggest stress was the lack of consistent commuincation between the medical dept and guest services. My husband was in isolation for 6 days , Covid. We were in a state of constant stress because of miscommunication .
On a plus we had no issues with the medallion.
Ditto, Gary. I hope Princess gets their app working efficiently soon.
We have sailed on Princess 18 times and are Elite status. The thing we are concerned about is the focus on the mega sized ships. These ships are beautiful and the dining is fine but we miss the ability to view the nature around the ships. Everything seems to be directed into the ship. When we sail to Alaska we want to see nature, not he crowed pool. The older class of ships had many decks where you could sit outside and enjoy views all around the ship.
I agree. I may have to find another line
Hey Gary, you Rock!
Next 2 cruises booked are Cunard, a local and a Transatlantic. After that I have my eye on a HAL South American
Thank you Gary for a comprehensive and interesting video on Princess. We are Elite Level Cruisers and haven't been on a cruise with Princess since just before Covid Lockdown (Feb 2020).
We will give them another opportunity later this year, but as you say, their Pricing Packaging seems complicated and their Drinks packages are outrageous. 🤨
Hi Gary we have just got off the Coral Princess around Australia cruise. There wasn't any kids on board most had walkers lol. We found the medallion to be great, is it perfect , no . But like any technology it will improve. Wifi was also good, Trouble with wifi can be with weather related. People sometimes complain about nothing. One woman complained to the desk that the captain was going too fast🤷♀️. It was an amazing cruise the staff were unbelievable. The captain did a wonderful job missing all the storms. We are now looking to go to fiji on the Royal Princess which is here as well.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It is staggering what people complain about !
The Princess line is not trying as hard as some other lines to find its way--they are not refunding promptly, rectifying shortcomings, attending to Covid suffering passengers or meeting their itineraries as they could. Fix the Crown and refurb where needed! The medallion is not lining up to the hype and is not yet consistently reliable---possibly rolled out too early??? I, personally prefer their smaller ships, but if they chose to accommodate a different crowd, my money can and will go elsewhere.
We cruised from Brisbane and Sydney to all South Pacific destinations with Princess achieving a Platinum status. The final cruise from Sydney was with their large Majestic Princess. That finished us with cruising. Too big, too impersonal, too many people, poor service and a decided drop in food quality. When it all comes down to it, the big ship phobia is all about economies of scale and contribution to the bottom line. At circa 3500 passengers that pales when compared to the recent RC Wonder of the Seas with a capacity of just shy of 7000
passengers. I could never contemplate being on a ship of that size. They have never built a ship that is unsinkable. Let us just hope that tragedy never befalls a mega ship....the loss of lives will be horrendous.
It seems like the Carnival executives have decided all their subsidiaries need to be more like Carnival.
Don't know why they couldn't just let Princess be princess, they could've branded the mega ships as Carnival.
That's nonsense! All cruise lines have their signature experience and will be different. I've cruised 48 times all over the world with several cruise lines and many ships. I've enjoyed every single one. If you expect perfection, you'll be disappointed. Carnival is much better in some ways, just as Princess is much better in some ways. The Carnival Panorama is a beautiful ship with all of the amenities that are needed. Those that are critical of Carnival haven't cruised with Carnival or are inexperienced. Cruising has just returned and there will be hiccups. There are staffing shortages and many employees are inexperienced. That's true onboard ships and at businesses ashore. Some venues on ships are still closed. While disappointing, at least the ship is at sea with me onboard. Suck it up and Bon voyage!!
I booked my first Princess cruise and was lucky to find a balcony cabin. They asked if I would be willing take to take an upgrade if available, so I said yes. Upon full payment two months later they changed our room to one underneath the lido deck which is a no-no. What bothered me about this is, even though they insisted it was an upgrade, they know perfectly well that these rooms can be noisy (I had a bad experience under the lido deck on a Holland America ship and swore I would never book a room there again). At first, they were unwilling to change the cabin back, but after much persistence they did. Unfortunately, I lost perks that originally came with my package including Premium drinks and $150 room credit. My cruise is upcoming so I hope it's a good experience because they have much to make up for as far as I'm concerned.
Gary talks about automatic upgrades in several videos and recommends against them for this exact reason. This isn't a Princess specific issue, but an industry one.
You said yes to any upgrade and then were upgraded and that's Princess fault?
@@philschneider3606 It wasn't an upgrade. It was an inferior room. They categorized it as an upgrade because it was closer to the centre of the ship. The hardest rooms for cruise lines to get rid of are rooms below lido deck. It was their way of filling of the last rooms to sell out. Did you not read my original comment?
It's considered an upgrade according to the cabin category, which is determined by cabin type and location (aft, mid, forward). Above and below is not really considered. Agreeing to an automatic upgrade is risky because they can shuffle cabins according to last minute demand and the upgrade can be a higher category in a less desirable location. The original cabin will be gone. All things to be considered. I have specific locations that I prefer, so the upgrade offer is not always a good option for me.
Interesting point on solo cabins. Will be hard to fill mega ships if they can't cater for that part of the market.
Thanks for this video. A a regular Princess traveller, I appreciate your honesty. I found in my recent 2 cruises, the food is not up to par and I am hoping this will improve. I am NOT a fan of the medallion. I t has more hype than functionality. As far as the price packages, I am a plain person and go for the traditiona price and will gladly buy A drink when it suits me, not a week's worth.
Just disembarked the Coral Princess after a short cruise from Sydney first cruise back for over 2yrs. We are Elite with Princess we found the Medalion a pain good service in main dining room the food was good and the crew were glad to have us back
I made a purchase in the shop a gift they had no bags to put the item in very poor however we've waited so long to cruise here. Booked on Majestic in November so we hope it's better we are just glad our ships are back Hooray!
Princess really is just too large for us who cruise 4 to 5 times a year. We have settled on Viking and HAL.
Viking is everything I want & expect in a cruise line & ship!
So much for the oryginal "Love Boat" feel... I have only been on the sold small Pacific Princess in Tahiti. It was wonderful. Sadly - no more. Thanks Gary ❤
Sailed on my very first cruise back in May on the Disney Dream. I have a West Coast cruise booked on the Grand Princess the end of April. As I don't have any real point of comparison, I will be going into this cruise with open expectations.
I have been meaning to watch this vid for ages. Well, we just got back from 2 months of travel that included a b2b on Azamara, followed by 12D on Celebrity (Dubai to Australia to New Zealand). After 10+ years of cruising, we learned A LOT! We were supposed to join friends on Princess on a transatlantic this spring, but due to a drastic change in my wife's health, we had to cancel the Princess cruise. We have been in love with Azamara for years. Small ships make a HUGE difference in the cruise experience. Celebrity couldn't come close, and this was our second experience with them. My chief complaint was the unreal noise level on Celebrity, with 2600 passengers on board. Whether it was the band noise on Level 3 reverberating up the atrium to Deck 8, or the out of control kids screaming or running everywhere, or just being unable to hear conversation in the main dining room during dinner, serving 1000 people a pop, we didn't like it! Now knowing Princess is even larger in all categories we dislike, pricing would have to be spectacular for me to book with them. Next BIG lesson is that you most definitely get what you pay for. Food in Celebrity was good to very good, and always served cold. Not merely my experience, but those of long time Celebrity cruisers. Celeb is unquestionably less expensive than Azamara, but when the nickel and diming is included, it isn't that much less expensive. So all in all Gary, you have delivered a video that knocked the ball out of the ball park, and saved us a lot of money and future grief. I won't say I'll never travel with them, just that it is highly unlikely that we would actually go and seek them out. Now let me check out their Japan cruises. Thanks again, excellent job. Oh, my offer to join you as a travel partner still stands...
Looking forward to rebooking our P&O cruise from Brisbane up to the tropics & back next year & we’ve thoroughly enjoyed this cruise line previously.
No bells & whistles but relaxing as we’re not at work.
Yes, the bells and whistles are designed to attract the non-typical cruiser. I don't need them to have a great cruise experience. I began cruising in 1978 when ships were small and there was an MDR with two seatings. There were no "speciality" restaurants and one formal night that was formal. That was a true cruise experience. Nowadays, ships are floating theme parks. Give me a lounge chair on deck with an adult beverage and a view of the deep blue sea and I'm happy.
@@caseytcat888 Good to hear Casey, we all have those nice things we like & my wife & I both work 60+ hours a week so all those add on restaurants & pampering services are super nice 🤠
@@sumosprojects oh, I agree with you. Nothing wrong with pampering. I'm fine with specialty restaurants and other amenities. I don't need the water slides and those things that are aimed at young families. I avoid them and prefer a more subdued experience.
I will be on the Majestic Princess in May for my 4th trip to Alaska. Thank you for your thoughts on Princess.
Hope you have a great trip. Going at that time of year is my favourite !
Just finished watching your video, and in many ways you are correct, we have done 2 Princess cruises in the last 4 months, West coast on the Discovery Princess, which was great, and we had no issues with the medallion, but most recently on the Crown Princess, which was a less than desirable experience, although the cruise director and her staff were outstanding. The ship however was in a sorry state. But as you nemtioned with their transition to a more "family friendly" experience, this will most likely be their downfall as they are trying to be everything to everyone, and they are clearly losing their way. We are both elite travelers with Princess, and we are seeing the many negatives. We are slwoly looking to transition to Celebrity now, as we are not interested in the family experience. And now based on the other bloggers we follow, we are considering Virgin next. We have an upcoming cruise next on the Grand Princess, will see what its like.
We had a cruise on Crown Princess to Alaska earlier this year. It was awful, we took another Alaska cruise two months later on the Discovery and it was perfect. We have cruised with Norwegian and Celebrity. Celebrity to us was a big disappointment. We would never go on Celebrity again. Since we are platinum cruisers on Princess I think we will stay for awhile longer.
@@jeffreytreganowan797 Yeah, Princess has seriously dropped the ball with the Crown Princess, we sailed on the Discovery as well recently, and it was nice, but somewhat to big, and not well planned out...our prefernece is always the smaller ships. We just got off the Celebrity Solsitce last week, and it was amazing, hands down better than Princess with far better food and service.....do give it another chance as it tends to be less family friendly.
Currently on the Grand Princess. While service has been excellent, there are 2 issues that makes us reconsider booking again with Princess: #1 is the food. There are usually 6 entrees for dinner and 6 “Princess Favorites,” which do not change. There is very little variety. Most of the time there is a pasta (no meat), a vegan dish, fish and then 3 selections that I have never heard of. They try to dress up the entrees up with sauces and other additions. Even the soups lack imagination. And kale and romaine salad? Tried the Lido for dinner. What a disaster. Warmed over or dried out food. The pizza is pretty good although there is little toppings selection. Vegan, cheese or pepperoni. That’s it. The bright spot was the ice cream and cookies. But you can’t live on sweets alone. #2 was the on deck movies. So very LOUD! It also seemed like most of them were animated, lots of car crashes and mayhem. As this is an extended cruise, I have seen no more than 4 kids on board. So why the cartoons? Most of the passengers were not watching the movies, only tolerating them. Live music was fine, a little loud at times but entertaining. The service and condition of the ship was excellent. The Medallion app. needs to be more user friendly. But the food and noise alone will make me gravitate to HAL for a quieter cruise and better food. Just my experience.
I sailed Princess Feb 2022 for Mexican Riviera. Ship was beautiful, but the food was greatly disappointing. The buffet served leftover meatloaf cold in martini glasses at breakfast, the MDR offerings was not even Golden Corral worthy and at the specialty steak restaurant we had to ask for a refund for one meal because the meat and service was terrible.
We sailed 15 day Hawaiian cruise from SFO on Ruby Princess and the food was even worse than Majestic. The ship had so many issues with wear and tear and damaged areas-tiles falling off in the pool areas, brass caps in hallway handrails held on with Scotch Tape! Along with the pleated shade on the laps in our cabin. I am not kidding-I have pictures. We had issues with the a/c unit and then the heat not working, then the toilet. Only reason we took this sailing was to get my terminally ill mom in law- she could not fly to Hawaii to see her invalid sister. poor Ruby-she was the plague ship at the beginning of the pandemic and unlike NCL or Royal, Princess did not use down time of 2 years to do anything for this poor ship. I think she has gone into dry dock in the past few months.
My heart ached for the crew on both ships, they were trying so hard, but didn’t have the training or tools to be successful.
We were fine with the Medallion on both ships. Sometimes is spun. I just deleted and reinstalled it. I spoke with the internet person and they are at wits end-he said the Wi-Fi company they are in contract with have given Princess ships all they have. Seems that more and more guests are spending time on their on devices streaming Netflix etc and the platform is strained.
Entertainment was very dated and just one variety show remixed over and over. I felt like I was trapped in a Laurence Welk fan conference. I don’t think Princess will be very successful making this a family cruise line. I wouldn’t bring kids on one of their cruises. Keep it the way it is for guests of a certain age and demeanor. And by the way-I am 62 and still want to have fun. My line of choice rn (and I still love Norwegian) is Virgin Voyages. No kids-ever, amazing food, edge and inventive entertainment and the staff is stellar-and very happy.
We have Enjoyed many Cruises in Our 30 Years , But
Princess is Our GO TOO for Alaska ... But They are all
great ...And ,
Cruise ON !!!
Planning a Panama Canal trip in end of March 2024....hope things get ironed out by then !
Love your channel Gary! We did a cruise with Princess to Alaska recently and found the same. We usually cruise with MSC so we were expecting Princess to be more premium but we actually preferred the food on Msc. I would love your thoughts on a cruise from Dubai to the Middle East, its ports and excursions.
Wow, if the food was better on MSC then Princess has dropped standards horribly! I agree Princess food isn't as good as on Celebrity but we've had a bad experience on MSC and would never go on them again, whereas we were considering another Princess trip.
We have a dozen trips with Princess. The last one was on the Majestic to the south Pacific. Oct 22. All of your comments resonated with us. Poor internet, very glitchy app, average food quality and selection. After booking, they cancelled one of the island stops and replaced it with another stop in new Zealand. We really didn't want to go after that but met only resistance to change itineraries. Our hopes rose when princess sent us an email stating masks were no longer required. When we arrived to board, they were not only mandatory but accompanied by threats of being denied boarding if you did not comply. When we arrived at Tahiti, we got the announcement that we would not be allowed on shore. For a company that offers access to the ports of the world, they did not have a grip on the current issues around covid.
This is a spot on analysis of Princess in 2022. I sailed aboard Discovery Princess in April & don't think I'll be returning. This after cruising over 30 years with Princess. So many changes to the line regarding ship design/size, food, service, ect. Truth be told I don't think Princess is concerned with loosing us Elites & Platinums. Back in the 90's Princess was a decidedly upscale line. Miss the days when Princess was a very British & Italian experience(I miss Sitmar!)
On Discovery in April the whole experience felt like staying at an airport corporate chain hotel, not a beloved cruise line. Too many people everywhere all the time. Crew interaction felt anonymous & perfunctory. The constant daily MUTS playing action/adventure movies at inappropriately high volumes made lounging by the pool impossible. The Retreat & Wake View pools were too small h shallow. The lack of a fully encircling promenade deck & observation lounge is egregious. My six previous cruises to this Discovery were aboard Viking Ocean. Night & day, apples & oranges!
I miss Sitmar, too. Was pleasantly pleased that Sitmar served Omaha Steaks in the MDR!!