Princess Cruises?
 

My husband and I have booked passage on the Princess Cruise line through Saga Holiday for travel to Italy, Eqypt, Greece and Turkey. After reading all the horror stories about cruise travel, I'm concerned. This will be our first cruise. Has anyone ever been on this particular cruise line? I would like to hear positive and negative reactions. Thank you, I appreciate your input. <BR>

I have only heard good things about Princess- & we've been on 7 cruises. Tho never on Princess. We went to Turkey on a semi-tour last Oct.We loved Turkey!! Be esspecilly sure to see Epheses- it was outstanding. If the boat comes into Kusasdassi you can get a taxi on your own -it's only about 15 minutes away. Plus, there's lots of guides for hire at the entrance. This way, the trip will be cheaper & you can have your ouwn personl guide which is preferable. If you have time,see Mother Mary's house

We have been on several cruises, so far two were with Princess (with the third scheduled in a few more months). You picked a great line to start your cruising experience with. Of coarse it all depends on the ship that you booked, your age group, your likes and dislikes and what you are looking to get out of the cruise. Princess has wonderful service with a good, well presented selection of food. A nice choice of entertainment and an assortment of ships to choose from. Their new mega-ships are a bit more glamorus then their smaller older ships, but all give you a great cruise to wonderful ports of call. <BR>We have taken one of their smallest and oldest ships, the Fair Princess (which is now somewhere down in Australia, and run I think by one of their parent companies) and we have taken the Regal. Although both ships are totally different in size and luxuries, we enjoyed both cruises. Princess is pretty much stable in giving the same service and luxury no matter which ship that you take. I hope you have a wonderful first experience and if I can be of further assistance, please e-mail me and I will try to answer any questions that you might have. <BR> HAPPY CRUISING Sue <BR>

Angie -- forget the horror stories - Princess is an old pro at cruise travel and if not the absolute top of the line, it is certainly right up there - particularly considering the volume of business. It is safe, reliable, consistent and they do know what they are doing. There are a few pointers I would recommend to make your trip more enjoyable. <BR> <BR>1. Dining -- if you find someone whose company you enjoy, have your husband head straight to the dining room when you board and while you unpack. Ask to be seated with your friends. That removes all uncertainty over dinner accommodations. Failing that, if you want to be seated alone - make your preference known and get your assignment early. Otherwise you will be seated with a group of strangers. This could be good or not so good - depending upon your personality. Some people have a knack of getting along with everyone - others prefer company demograohically similar to themselves. If you believe after the first night that you are going to be compatible with your dinner table - by all means - ask for a change of tables. You might feel a little embarrassed but shouldn't. It happens all the time. If you run into your ex-dinner companions you can always tactfully say that you found friends on ship and are eating with them. Better than put up with a table you don't like -- that can ruin a trip. <BR> <BR>2. Dress. Along with dinner, you will feel a lot more comfortable adhering to the dress code of the ship. Generally, days are sea are formal nights -- either suit or tux for men. Believe it or not, it is most enjoyavble to spend a day in the sun or ounging around and then dressing up to go out on "the town". This is what is special about cruise ships -- informality combined with formality. go with the flow on dress and you will always feel comfortable. <BR> <BR>2. Excursions -- do your homework before you go - do you really need to take a ship's excursion or can you do it yourself. We do not particularly like ship's tours for many reasons -- we perfer going off on our own. But sometimes ship's excursions are the best way to see the sights - particuarly if the attractin is some distance from the ship. Otherwise, we prefer to get with anther couple and hire a car or do our own thing. One important thing to keep in mind however is that if a ship excursion is late returning, the ship will generally wait or will assure you get to the next port. If you are on your own and late - well good luck. Rule of thumg -- for long distance touring - use the ship's excursion -- short distance -- do it on your own - leaving ample time to get back to the ship. <BR> <BR>3. Complaints -- invariably there are some things on a ship which may warrant a complaint - like in any resort. If it is serious take it to the ship's hotel manager - who is in charge of all guest services. Do it early - you will usually find a line outside of his office -- you will find your complaint will receive prompt and usually satisfactory attention - which will allow you to enjoy the rest of your trip. <BR> <BR>4. Airlines travel -- if you are booking through Princess - make sure you take a good look at your plane itinerary. Remember, the cruise lines block large volumes of space on planes and they don't know about the particular idiosycrancies of your local airport. If you know based on past experience that you mave a problem with the 30 minute allowed for the connecting flight to Europe - contact Princess immediately and try to get it changed to something better. They may or may not be able to do so. Also, I recommend leaving a day early to allow for airline cancellations, missed connections and the like. Much better to spend an extra day in the port of embarkation than miss the ship and try to catch up - even with the help of the cruise line. <BR> <BR>5. Most of all RELAX -- there is as much to do on a ship or as little to do as you like. Generally the horror stories you hear are due to a weather act of God - over which no one has control - such as being caught in an ocean resort in a hurricane - and even that is unusaul today because of the sophistcated radar and weather reporting enables ships to avoid storm areas - or the horror stories are due to some personal quirks of those relating them. <BR> <BR>6. prediction -- the biggest problem you will find on the cruise is trying to decide where you will go next year.

Have cruised with Princess twice..on the Sun and Regal. had a GREAT time!,,Excellent service, and Staff.. Amazing staff in fact..As we were looking for our cabin apon boarding, we were walking down the hallway..not even close to our cabin yet, we passed a steward and he greated us by name!!..??? <BR> <BR> <BR>

Thank all of you so much (especially Zoey) for the information. You've been extremely helpful and it's greatly appreciated. <BR>Angie

Our recent experience on the Crown Princess from Copenhagen was not a very good one. We also went to London and Scotland on Princess land tours before getting on the cruise ship and were very dissatisfied. This was our first trip to these areas of Europe. The land tours did not include the basic highlights of each country. The tour guide was very rude and uninformative The ship was in poor condition as far as carpets, bedspreads etc. We have been trying to find someone from Princess to discuss this with but have had no response whatsoever. We would not take this cruise line again. If you do have a problem or problems, they will not be willing to discuss it at all..

I've cruised on the Royal Princess and the Crown Princess. Both were great. Princess IS a very good cruise line. (Although I must admit that I have been on a "better" one, but with a better pricetag.) Which ship will you be on? I was on the Crown in December and did not find it in shabby as a previous poster described. Excursions can be costly though and I often found you don't get what you pay for, but sometimes it is the most convenient or the only option when you are in port for a limited amount of time. Angie, what in particular has you concerned? Then we could address those issues.

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Just got home from a cruise on the Golden Princess. The food in the dining room was poor and the service poorer. The dining had open seating for all three meals. The waiters knew that the tip was going to be added to our bills and most of them weren't interested in giving good service. They would probably never see any of us again. So What!!!!!!!!<BR>