Dai does Princess. (Part One)

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daib GC
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Dai does Princess. (Part One)

#1

Post by daib GC »

Well here it is or rather here is part one.

Crown Princess to the Mediterranean May 13th 17.

This was our first cruise with Princess after many with P&O. so inevitably there will be many comparisons.
Before I start I would say that we enjoyed the overall experience as much as we have our P&O cruises. In fact there were many similarities, far more than the differences.
Boarding was much the same as we had Elite status. It was a little earlier but not by much. We were on the ship by 12.15. However there was a hitch at some point as sailing was delayed by about 45 mins. The excuse given was boarding difficulties. We took the advice of others and went to the MDR for lunch which was very nice, very peaceful with very few people using the room. We stayed quite a while and whilst we were there, there was a bit of hard sell on the wine package. After some consideration we succumbed and bought a 10 bottle package, $21 per bottle instead of $29. Only we did not drink it all so brought some home. $21 is a bit more than we would pay for wine to be drunk at home.
We dawdled over lunch and went up to our cabin about 13.45. Our steward came and introduced himself. He was Angelo. Very efficient. The luggage arrived a little later and all were unpacked before we had to go for the drill. Because of my scooter we tend to go early to get a seat and the scooter parked. We then were told everything had been put back 45 minutes. The drill itself was much like P&O’s although the details were not given by the Captain.
After the drill there was the same problem with lifts with many passengers in scooters and wheelchairs waiting to go somewhere.
After this I went up to the Skywalkers Bar for the Elite drinks and nibbles with no real idea what to expect. The nibbles were more substantial and the drinks strong, and all at $5 + 15%. This was a definite plus for Princess however as often as I went, like every night, I never saw more than 50 people there. There were potentially 1200+ people who could have used the facility but the vast majority never got there. The staff in the Elite lounge were excellent and lots of them. Best service on the ship.
Dinner was at 8.00 and we had a table for 8 but only 6 turned up a couple from Glasgow and a couple from Montana and us. We all hit it off very quickly. Our lead waiter was from Peru and her name was Jhojany (Jo) and assisted by Jayson from the Philippines. Jo was very bubbly and a good laugh. The first nights meal was the best of the cruise. Rib of beef which was wonderful. As it turned out this was the only dish I would say was much better than what we have had on P&O recently. I have had beef as good on P&O but not for a year or so, although I may not have had the beef for a while. Overall the food was good and quite American, not a lot of veg. In fact some dishes came with no veg at all.
After dinner I went to the casino as I usually do. Huge place, think Azura casino with this casino covering the whole of the space that the bar takes up as well. Only as the cruisers on this cruise were mainly Brits, the place was empty, well almost. At 22.00 there were only 2 tables with anyone using them that is out of 14/16 tables. I looked around and saw 11 members of staff standing by the tables doing nothing. No action so I left.
We found out that on the ship for this cruise were about 40 from New Zealand 80 from Australia and only 154 from the U.S. I did think that there would be a lot more from over the pond.
I am not going to discuss the ports as we had been to them many times before except for Genoa. Only we never got there. It was cancelled a day or two before we got there. Instead we went to Santa Margherita. Only this was a tender port and the sea was a bit choppy. They had to suspend operations for a while and we were told that scooters were not being allowed on the tenders, because of the movement.
However we were able to now get a seat in the International Café. I did like this venue as you could get a good cup of tea for free if you had a coffee card. You could also get a range of toasted sandwiches and salads and cakes all free. There was also ice cream which you paid for. Now on this cruise with the weather on sea days being not that hot the IC was mobbed all day getting a seat was always a struggle. Those who had a seat tended to stay for some time. The same area on Azura/Ventura has more seats. The other problem was that there was some entertainment in the atrium and so people were inclined to stay longer for that. Unfortunately if it was entertainment that was to be looked at rather than listened to very few people could actually see and for most it was just a noise. It was much better when the group played or the piano player or the trio of string players were doing their bit as that was very pleasant.


Dai


CaroleF
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Re: Dai does Princess. (Part One)

#2

Post by CaroleF »

Very interesting thank you for taking the time to write and post. Look forward to reading the rest. I've always assumed Princess would be similar to P&O. What has put us off in the past is the extra 15% you have to pay on everything. It would be interesting to know how you found the total spend in comparison to a similar P&O cruise.

Carole


cruisin_duo
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Re: Dai does Princess. (Part One)

#3

Post by cruisin_duo »

Thank you for posting your review. Look forward to reading part two.

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barney
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Location: Instow Devon

Re: Dai does Princess. (Part One)

#4

Post by barney »

Cheers Dai.

I look forward to part two
Empty vessels .. and all that

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Jan Rosser
Senior First Officer
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Joined: January 2013
Location: South Wales

Re: Dai does Princess. (Part One)

#5

Post by Jan Rosser »

Your experiences sound very similar to mine - looking forward to the next episode - thanks Dai :thumbup:
Janis

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