Princess Cruises
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Going Downhill
After having a couple of wonderful cruises with princess pre pandemic we looked forward to our Seacation in September on Sky Princess. We made the most of it and enjoyed being at sea again, but the experience had some real shortfalls. Food was hit and miss. It was evident cut backs were being made, even in the speciality restaurants. I couldn’t count how many times we were told things on the menu were not available. I was served raw ‘boiled’ eggs for breakfast in the main dining room (and I mean hadn’t even touched the water) The waiter said he was nervous they would be over cooked and to let him know if so, which did give us a little giggle. We had a lovely meal in Sabatini’s although they did forget to serve one of our courses. The wait for a drink was up to 40 mins at the bars and we got to the point where we just asked what wines were actually available from the list as everything seemed to have ‘run out’ When finding a table in the evening it would be full of empty glasses already and they would remain there all night. Not nearly enough staff to cope. On sail away I felt so sorry for the bar staff running around on the pool deck in absolute chaos with everyone complaining about how long they had been waiting. We were given the wrong drinks on one occasion and politely mentioned it to the waitress who told us ‘I’m going on my break now, go up to the bar and ask someone else!’ I put the shortfalls of housekeeping down to covid as we told by our room steward on arrival that it would be limited. Although I hope a turndown service and room amenities such as robes will be available on future cruises and not now be a another princess cutback. My husband had also ordered champagne and strawberries for the room on arrival for us as a surprise. The strawberries were there but instead of a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, a voucher was left to go and collect a bottle later from one of the bars or restaurants. This was disappointing as it defeated the whole point. So we just left the champagne for when we went to Bistro Sur La Mer one night- the restaurant manager then made us feel it was a real inconvenience for her to try and locate a bottle. I have to say the entertainment was really great, Rock Opera and the Jazz in Take 5 were real highlights, the bar service in Take 5 was also better. The Medallion and app is just a nuisance, every day we had to ask to have incorrectly charged items removed from our bill! We have another upcoming 14 night cruise booked with princess (booked prior to the seacation) and the app does not recognise the booking number for us to fill in the required pre cruise information and nobody at princess seems to be able to help us rectify the issue. It’s just stressful and time consuming! Please get it together princess or lose your customers. Instead of investing in an unreliable and irritating app, invest where it counts- in good service! Give your staff the skills and support to succeed and enjoy their jobs, so in turn your customers will have a great cruise experience and will want to return!