A general observation is that I feel that gone are the days of cruising that welcomes all who board to feel special. The industry seems be catering more to share holders than us “common folk.”
The entire experience now seems to be catering to the “Ruby Medallion Class or above and Suite passengers” that are willing and able become frequent customers are willing and able to spend freely on all the “extras” that would add hundreds of dollars to your final costs.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Swift with the medallion!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Specialty (up charge) dining areas used to be open for no-charge lunch menu’s. Not the case now. It also seemed that the World Fresh Marketplace (Deck 16) cafeteria style open food area was not as well stocked and not open as long it was on the Caribbean Princes that we were on last year.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The live entertainment for this maiden voyage had only one major production, that was repeated for the second week. I expected at least a second or third production for a 2 week cruise. They mentioned that more productions were coming for later in the season, but were not quite ready.
Children's Programs
Did not have children with us!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All staff were extremely willing to help, if they didn't know the answer to our question, they made sure they escorted us to someone who could.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Since this was a maiden voyage - all areas were exceptionally clean! However - the overall layout layout of the Sky seemed to be smaller than the smaller Caribbean Princess ship we were on in 2018!
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Regular balcony rooms seemed to be smaller than the same class balcony rooms on the previous Princess ship (Caribbean Princess) that we were in last year. However, the balcony was bigger on the Sky. (When I mentioned this to a crew member - he replied “You should see the size of the new crew’s quarters!”)
Take the cruise directors word that if you go up to the Top-of-the-Rock or the cave tours that they are difficult! Some of the tour group really should not have gone! Lots of walking up relatively steep inclines! ! ! But worth it.
Cinque Terre area is now very overcrowded. There really was not enough time to explore the charm of the towns. All in all - I'd skip this excursion and do something else!
If you plan ahead (meaning like six months of more!) contact the Vatican Excavations office and get tickets to the Scavi tour. This takes you far beneath St. Peter's Basilica to the 1st century archaeological excavations to the area where the actual burial place of St. Peter are assumed to be. (Scientific dating proves the bones are of a first century male, aged 60-70.) Groups are restricted to 10-12 at a time - with only 5-6 groups a day. Tickets were only 13 euros each. O once in a lifetime experience.
I was on the same cruise you were, and my experience was incredibly positive. I’ve been on 8 cruises (3 different cruise lines), and I’ve never seen a specialty dining venue open free for lunch. We never felt like 2nd class passengers (we were gold level at the beginning of the cruise). The service was impeccable. I can’t comment on the World Market; didn’t eat there much.
And I thought the entertainment was top drawer. It’s not only the big production shows .... it’s Take Five, the great band who played every night in the Piazza, the comedians, the classical string quartet, the piano players — all of it. All of these were talented musicians and entertainers. I’m a musician, and I can say with full confidence that the Sky Princess had the best big ship entertainment I’ve ever seen.
I believe you have a misconception about Ruby medallion and up. We are elite, and except for a few perks (all lines have perks for loyalty), we have the same cruise experience as a first timer. Oh, and other than paying for the cruise, we spend very little“ on the up-sell” thing, maybe $15-20 for soda/mocktails on a seven day trip. Looking forward to October 2020.
I have to agree with booger1xx
Princess is a wonderful cruise line, we were treated no different from the first to the last one we were just on.
We had to pay extra for speciality dining as well, every time we’ve sailed.
Hmmm I've been cruising Princess since 2007 and the specialty dining was an up charge then so the open no up charge must have been way back. You made reference to the cruise line seemed to cater to the Ruby Medallion class and suite passengers because they were willing and able to pay for all the up charges. Again this sounds like you just aren't happy that you perhaps aren't a loyal customer because Ruby is just a loyalty class in their loyalty program. We are Elite members not because we can pay for all the extras offered but because we have been loyal Princess cruisers. I believe just about all businesses give their loyal customers special treatment.
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