Just returned, yesterday, from a 7 day Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Caribbean Princess. This was my 4th cruise and 2nd on Princess and was by far my best ever. Have cruised RCCL and Carnival and I find the crew on Princess sets it apart from the other lines. The major difference in crew is the fact Princess allows the staff to hang out with the passengers when they are off duty. I went up to Skywalkers night club every night and there were always members of the crew having drinks, talking to, and dancing with the passengers which is a wonderful touch only offered by Princess. Also, after leaving Skywalkers I would go down to the Caribe cafe for a late night buffet and there was always staff in there eating. I went with my mother so I was always eating alone and the staff would ask me to sit with them for my late night meal. Also, a little known secret is on lobster night they serve the claws and other parts of the lobster not used for dinner on the late night bistro buffet. I'm a little concerned because one of the staff members told me Princess was considering ending this and forcing crew to only socialize in the crew areas which is the policy on all other cruise lines. I will be writing a full review later.
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Socializing with the crew is not necessarily a two way street. It's great when crew members join passengers at various social functions but be assured the crew go out of their way to avoid passenger contact when off duty and on shore leave. They want and need the time to be with their own. When approaching a crewmember off duty, even to say hello, you are cutting into his/her personal time. We avoid all such personal contact as this point has been clearly and understandably made.
... be assured the crew go out of their way to avoid passenger contact when off duty and on shore leave. They want and need the time to be with their own.
As a crew member, I respectfully disagree. It really is an individual thing. I know many crew members who enjoy passenger interaction and some that share excursion/port time with them. Others prefer to socialize with fellow crew members. Personally, some of my best memories at sea have been with passengers and many remain long distance friends to this day.
Were the crew you met from all "walks" of the ship's crew? Or just the entertainment staff and Cruise Director/Host departments? Curious. I'll be on the Caribbean Princess end of May.
I was a dance host on NCL and HAL a few times. NCL treated us as both crew AND a passenger...was great! On HAL we were treated like we were neither crew NOR passneger. Total gray area and not much fun.
HLR
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Carnival Paradise March 2001
NCL Dream February 2006
NCL Jewel September 2006
NCL Spirit November 2006
HAL Rotterdam April 2007
NCL Spirit August 2007
Caribbean Princess May 2009
NCL Star RFamilyVacations July 2009
Carnival Glory July 2010
I absolutely feel that Princess Cruise Lines, selects and hires the best staff, I would put that they are the best, and I have sailed the following other cruise lines: Carnival, Royal Caribeean, Norweigen and Disney.
Disney is s close second, and maybe better for when travelling with kids in their activities but Princess Staff is the Best, for adults.
Celebrity staff and crew ratio to passengers are much higher than Princess.(ie more staff per passengers than any "regular" cruise line.) This includes:Carnival, HAL,NCL,Costa,RCL,Princess,Disney
Thats a fact that you will feel when you sail one of there ships. I know I sure notice the higher level of service.
Just returned from a b2b cruise on the Island Princess. After cruising Celebrity and Princes for several years, I can say that service was good on Celebrity but the service on Princess was definitely a step above. I have seen the raves about Celebrity's passenger to crew ratios in their advertising promos, but IMHO, Celebrity still does not surpass the service and the friendliness of the crew on Princess.
There are also many other things to consider when selecting a cruise line to spend your vacation dollars with. The service level is certainly one of the things to consider. Other things that IMHO are even more important are the true character of the management of a cruise line and how they handle problems when they do come up, the way that a company maintains their ships and the reliability of a cruise lines ships. Even the past passenger programs offered to show a cruise lines appreciation to past passengers is also important. On these last issues for consideration,
my experience has been that Princess wins hands down when compared to Celebrity.
Debra
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We absolutely agree with Debra. We did a B2B Alaska cruise and couldn't have asked for more from the crew. We've always enjoyed Princess, but would have said if things weren't "right".
Everything was great on our cruise
Fern
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Fern
"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."
Carnival Inspiration 2002 Carnival Elation 2004
Grand Princess 2004 NCL Sun 2005
Sun Princess 2006 NCL Dream 2007
Caribbean Princess 2007 NCL Dawn 2008
Island Princess 2008 Island Princess 2009
Golden Princess 2009 Carnival Conquest 2010
Grand Princess 2010 Island Princess 2011
Grand Princess 2011 Carnival Magic 2012
Carnival Dream 2012 Island Princess 2013
Just returned from a b2b cruise on the Island Princess. After cruising Celebrity and Princes for several years, I can say that service was good on Celebrity but the service on Princess was definitely a step above. I have seen the raves about Celebrity's passenger to crew ratios in their advertising promos, but IMHO, Celebrity still does not surpass the service and the friendliness of the crew on Princess.
There are also many other things to consider when selecting a cruise line to spend your vacation dollars with. The service level is certainly one of the things to consider. Other things that IMHO are even more important are the true character of the management of a cruise line and how they handle problems when they do come up, the way that a company maintains their ships and the reliability of a cruise lines ships. Even the past passenger programs offered to show a cruise lines appreciation to past passengers is also important. On these last issues for consideration,
my experience has been that Princess wins hands down when compared to Celebrity.
Debra
There is no way that I want a member of the staff calling me by my first name, especially the Room Steward.. and yes. I agree that it is part of their job and they would rather hang around with other members of the staff.. First of all your on the ship for one week, maybe two.. then there are a new group coming on... Never in 24 years have I found a more, lets put it this way, no better not.. incompetent Purser than on the Pacific Princess..rude, could not understand english. and a simple name like "smith" and every time I had to SPELL IT when I wanted that particular cabin.. Oh yes.. and if your a repeat client.. how do you tip.. Do you expect the crew to remember you cruise after cruise wen they have more than 1000 people at a time usually.. I think not.. Some people leave an impression....for better or worst. Besides.. the nicer they are to you.. the better the review which they want and maybe you will slip than an extra tip.. BTW that's another story..the tipping....
Sometimes being nice to them will get you good service.
MY GOODNESS!!!!! I should hope ALL cruisers would have the courtesy and decency to "be nice' to everybody...and a big "Hello", Good Evening" Please and Thank You...no matter whether who or where is normal behavior.. Rude and demanding is not appropriate on a cruise ship or anywhere else, don't you agree? I'm sure we have all seen boorish behavior whether on land or sea....A big smile to EVERYBODY does work wonders.
Sometimes being nice to them will get you good service.
MY GOODNESS!!!!! I should hope ALL cruisers would have the courtesy and decency to "be nice' to everybody...and a big "Hello", Good Evening" Please and Thank You...no matter whether who or where is normal behavior.. Rude and demanding is not appropriate on a cruise ship or anywhere else, don't you agree? I'm sure we have all seen boorish behavior whether on land or sea....A big smile to EVERYBODY does work wonders.
Just returned from a b2b cruise on the Island Princess. After cruising Celebrity and Princes for several years, I can say that service was good on Celebrity but the service on Princess was definitely a step above. I have seen the raves about Celebrity's passenger to crew ratios in their advertising promos, but IMHO, Celebrity still does not surpass the service and the friendliness of the crew on Princess.
There are also many other things to consider when selecting a cruise line to spend your vacation dollars with. The service level is certainly one of the things to consider. Other things that IMHO are even more important are the true character of the management of a cruise line and how they handle problems when they do come up, the way that a company maintains their ships and the reliability of a cruise lines ships. Even the past passenger programs offered to show a cruise lines appreciation to past passengers is also important. On these last issues for consideration,
my experience has been that Princess wins hands down when compared to Celebrity.
Debra
There is no way that I want a member of the staff calling me by my first name, especially the Room Steward.. and yes. I agree that it is part of their job and they would rather hang around with other members of the staff.. First of all your on the ship for one week, maybe two.. then there are a new group coming on... Never in 24 years have I found a more, lets put it this way, no better not.. incompetent Purser than on the Pacific Princess..rude, could not understand english. and a simple name like "smith" and every time I had to SPELL IT when I wanted that particular cabin.. Oh yes.. and if your a repeat client.. how do you tip.. Do you expect the crew to remember you cruise after cruise wen they have more than 1000 people at a time usually.. I think not.. Some people leave an impression....for better or worst. Besides.. the nicer they are to you.. the better the review which they want and maybe you will slip than an extra tip.. BTW that's another story..the tipping....
Not sure why I would be quoted here and then followed-up with a rant about being called by your first name by "especially a room steward"?????
Since we seem to be on that subject, I can say that I am not the kind of person who would have a problem with being called by my first name by the room steward.
I happened to be born in the USA with all the opportunities available here; I have nothing but respect for those who spend many months away from their homeland and family, working long and hard hours, to provide a better life for themselves and their family.
I am not one who tries a cruise line one time and then actually only comes into direct contact with maybe six or seven employees out of over one thousand then can somehow not only make a judgment about the entire staff of that particular ship, but are somehow able to judge the staff of an entire cruise line!
Things are always changing in the cruising industry, but at this time Princess does offer superior overall cruising enjoyment. Some of the main things that Princess has going for it is the consistency of the product in the areas of management decisions, ship conditions, crew and the reliability of the Princess fleet.
Debra
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Debra...it i CAN BE an overall feeling that you get when you cruise on a particular ship, and sadly that was OUR experience.. Just last night in talking to friends who will shortly I believe taking their first cruise, Parrot Pop, said he was shocked by the Purser on the ship and his inability to understand a plain name similiar to Smith, we had to repeat it several times each time we called..He talked about the Panorama Buffet negatively (oh boy, did he), yet he had many other positive items about this particular ship, the wonderful dining room food, Add that all together and toss in some Princess loyalists who under no circumstances allow negativity, As for being called by my first name or having our names outside our Stateroom...for me.. it takes away from the experience. You see Nurse Debra...that is why there is vanilla ice cream and chocolate.... individual tastes.
I guess I am not sure about the objectivity and fairness of anyone who takes one cruise on any cruise line and then can state as you did the following on the Celebrity board on a thread about "new Captains Club benefits": “I found the die hard Princess cruisers completely obnoxious and self important. It's a Carnival for senior citizens and for people who want to feel self-important”. IMHO, such a statement is simply not true about Princess or any other cruise line for that matter.
I could not care less if someone may not be able to speak perfect English. In fact, on occasions, neither do I!!! I am also not bothered by little things like a buffet that is not up to my standards. There are always so many choices on any cruise, that all you have to do is find a different dining area.
What is important is if a major problem comes up and if
it is handled poorly or not at all.
As I said before Princes does have great service, great food and entertainment. They also have a customer service department that does care if a MAJOR problem does occur.
For me Princess is now at the top of the mainstream or premium cruise lines and I will continue to sail with them. As you said to each their own, it is great we all have choices!!!
Debra
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With integrity nothing else matters; without it nothing else matters.
Well, a major problem did arise for me on our cruise and was handled badly...it included a passenger, two bartenders, the Purser and the Chief of Security.. Sadly for me..and my husband..it was the "comfort level" we found on t his particular ship..we are very outgoing people and found (remember this was a 700 passenger ship) a chilliness in the air by some of the passengers who seemed to have their own "clique".. You may not agree and of ccurse you are welcome to not agree.. but THAT WAS OUR EXPERIENCE..NO Matter...it was a first impression of the line.. and it left us with an uncomfortable feeling..Just today received a note from a crusier on the Ruby Princess who talked about her dissatisfaction and comparision to the NCL Gem...would you chastise her too? But lets put an end to this...I am going back to Celebrity and will try because of the itinerary an NCL shortly. Will I try Princess again..I think not...
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