Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises is deceptive at best and fraudulent at worst.
Standing water in the state rooms, raw sewage overflowing from toilets, scalding hot water only in the showers are completely unacceptable onboard any ship.
The Emerald Princess voyage of December 19 – 27, 2015 was plagued with serious mechanical and service issues. The ship, having just come off dry dock for repair was not prepared to handle the Christmas travelers.
Twenty-​three (23) members of my family were onboard for an eight day celebration of my parent’s 50^th wedding anniversary and the Christmas holiday. It was the worst cruise I’ve ever taken hands down. To be fair, the Emerald Princess was a solid C– for the week.
Considering the amount we paid during the high season, we were sadly disappointed at the service we received and our overall experience. To add insult to injury, Princess promised to rectify the situation but did not honor their word.
The crew had to live onboard this ship for three weeks under these same conditions and by the time we set sail, they were too worn down, stressed out and under performed as they were now dealing with a shipload of angry passengers.
ACHV onboard was also a major issue that soured this experience. The AC in my stateroom simply did not cool the room nor lower the humidity. I complained to the front desk on the Saturday we departed. It wasn’t until Thursday evening, a technician was sent to fix the problem. I understood by then that the entire ship was having issues. When the engineer adjusted the amount of air that was able to flow, smell rank raw sewage filled the stateroom and made me sick to my stomach.
By the eighth day I was exhausted from the stress of having been onboard a ship that had too many problems to be classified as seaworthy.
I filled out an extensive online survey Princess sent out days after we returned. I then spoke with a friendly up-​beat consumer relations representative at their Santa Clarita, CA offices named Jessica and described the myriad of problems my family experienced. She suggested I write an email to document the issues. She assured me that they would respond within three to five days after reviewing the matter.
Two weeks went by with no response. My father called me and said a representative from Princess called him and said that they would call him back within four weeks.
Princess has yet to respond, let alone resolve anything.
I feel ashamed for Princess Cruises. Truly. I think they oversold, under delivered and are ashamed of themselves. While my family believed that Princess provided the services and quality they advertise and promote, we now have accepted that they are just another Carnival Cruise Line that does not treat humans as people and they are only concerned with their bottom line.
As my father put it, «They got their money upfront, they don’t care what happened after that.»
We will not be returning next year.

Island Princess cruise line;
My wife and I contracted the Norovirus on the Island Princess cruise from LA, Panama to Ft Lauderdale.
Because of their negligence of cleanliness my wife and I suffered for 5 days in our room. Many others also were infected with the norovirus. If you look at the news it is very prevalent especially with Princess.
BTW: This was a trip of a life time for my wife who has stage 4 cancer.

After cruising with Princess on two other occasions, which were terrific, I decided to take my daughter and her four daughters on the cruise to Mexico. We all looked forward to it for months and all was great until we were two days out, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean… My mother passed away in Texas. I had given my son 2 emergency numbers just in case. Neither of them went through. which I was later given a lame excuse by the purser! My daughter had gone up to the computer area and sent her husband an email… many hrs. later… and he wrote back immediately to tell her of mother’s passing. Total chaos. couldn’t leave my daughter as Princess refused to allow to let the 4 children to sleep in my daughter’s room (I had gotten 2 rooms in which I had my 4 & 6 yr. old staying w/​me.) My daughter wasn’t about to let 2 of the kids sleep alone! The purser did nothing to help w/​anything! After many problems… I missed my Mom’s funeral. I got so sick I went to the ship doctor who continually told me I was seasick. I told him I had a seasick patch behind my ear and it always worked. I didn’t get sick until I found that my mother passed away but he refused to listen. He gave me medicine for seasickness! In any case, the entire cruise was a nightmare and I swore I’d never get on Princess cruise lines again… And I haven’t! I did write Princess corp. to no avail! They lost 6 customers that day!

My mother and I are currently aboard the Grand Princess on a Hawaiian cruise that has been altered due to some damage caused by a small fire in their electrical system. The captain has done an excellent job of keeping us informed of the progress of repairs. We were never concerned for our saftey, and the crew and staff have done a fantastic job of ensuring that we have a pleasant experience, regardless of the changes of plans. All of the passengers have been credited 100% of our fairs, as well as generous credits toward future cruises, and a generous shipboard credit. I cannot say enough good about the way that the Captian, crew, and staff, as well as the Princess Cruise office have addressed this difficult situation. I would no hesitate to book another cruise with Princess. We have had an extremely pleasant experience regardless of the alteration of our plans.

Did a 4 night from San Pedro. The bed was like grandmas pull out, with one sheet and one blanket. The food was garbage, how do you ruin lobster? How do you burn coffee all day everyday? The staff where over it, and would lie to you over and over, including getting off the old gal. Made Carnival feel like a 5 star resort. Plus we had poo in the pool, a bee swarm and late arriving guests. Oh yeah if you get motion sickness easy your trip will be cut in half cause the boat rocks and sways the whole time.

((((((((24 hours till I set sail, 28 days of no email! Sandy shores of Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji –you don’t complete me. Why is it that every adventure I go, I wonder and ponder, «When’s the next show?»
Dance and be free… What’s your anthem call?
Love, hope & liberty. Break down those walls.
Kept from FB, you don’t how it feels. To want to KIT, can’t respond to v-​mails. Don’t hold it against me, it’s not my fault. Walk in my shoes, I’ll give you my all.
This next voyage touches New Zealand, Aussie friends, we don’t see get to see them. BM I missed, no camouflage.
Birthday bashed, Ohhhh… Tenaya Lodge.
Wait for me, I’ll be back with my next rhyme… All aboard… It’s Princess Cruise time!))))))))

Wow have times changed. This is not the same Princess Cruise line I had years ago. Talk about being nickeled and dimmed. The room
Service food was so below standard. Remember… You receive only a Continental breakfast consisting of cereal, yogurt, orange juice, and a crusty muffin with an egg and piece of cheese thrown in. Don’t expect
To have bacon and eggs in your room. That’s history as well.
Dinner was even more limited as far as choices to your Room.
Service is not free. A service charge is tacked on. Room service was prompt however at times we were on hold for ten minutes. Our mini suit was large and spacious however upon out arrival my wife wiped down everything and was appalled at the filth on the cleaning wipes.
My last cruise with princess was so different. Every night the drink of the day was placed in our room. A large basket of ship made potato chips was left and every night the bed was made up fancy. If we were going onto shore a lunch would be made and brought to our room under the old
Princess line. No more.
Day two I walk down to deck five where the pastries are free but wait… They charge for the coffee.
We found the signage very poor and confusing. We also found a large part of the staff not the friendliest. A large part of the staff is from
the Phillipines and the rest from Eastern Europe. My last Princess cruise had a Italian crew and wow.
Last night in the main dining room
I ordered Tri Tip. The waiter responds that will take a while. I said ok. Let me have the chicken then. Sir he says… Everything on the left side of the menu will take longer to prepare. The right side of the menu is our nightly dinners. Are you kidding me.
It’s apparent since Carnival Cruise Line has taken over Princess service and the little extras are long gone. Alaska is an excellent choice however not on this line anymore.
Entertainment I found was above standard on this cruise activities were plenty and one could stay busy day and night.

We went on a Hawaiian cruise several years ago and to say the customer service was lacking is an understatement. we were out to sea for 5 day and many of the just treats you like you’re in the way. At dinners we shared a table with a mother from England and her 17 year old daughter and her 17 year old friend, and the waiter was too busy drooling over these girls to help anyone else at the table, even offering them free alcoholic drinks (mother stopped them from getting drinks). We even had 2 staff at our table and when we asked for a refill, they told us that they were busy with the girls. When we were relaxing in the room or balcony and the house keepers came to clean the room they told us to get out, even the one day when my sister was sick and laying in bed. When we went to Oahu, we wanted to see Pearl Harbor so we asked about the expedition to Pearl Harbor and they told us it was booked. Then when we asked how to get there on our own, they told us that it was closed and only open to expeditions. When we returned from Oahu and got back on the ship, we talked to another couple who rented a van and went to Pearl Harbor, which was not closed, they deliberately lied to us. During the whole cruise many of the staff was curt with us and they seemed like they tried to avoid the passengers. When we contacted Princess Cruises after the cruise they just avoided and hung up on us. It seems like once they have your money customer service goes out the window.
Recently I booked a cruise with Princess, only because my Aunt and Uncle were renewing their vows and to surprise them and be with family. I was late and had to put on the wait-​list, right after we booked the rep told us we were at position number 2 and we were definitely going to get on the cruise. This week we were moved to position number 1 and the booking was canceled because it was under 24 hours before the cruise. Yet another time they lied to us.
My mother is on this same cruise and had the plane and hotel booked as well and they booked the plane for the wrong day, and told her that it was her mistake and she had to pay to transfer the tickets to the right day.
We have been on Royal Caribbean Cruises several times and the Customer Service between them and Princess is like night and day. So I’ve experience good customer service and could compare what customer service is like.
I just learned that this cruise was overbooked and Princess tried to get my cousin to cancel the booking to his parent 40^th anniversary, renewal of vows. This company is just in it for the money.

I just returned to from a 12 day Mediterranean Princess Island Cruise that had the worst food I have every eaten
I had severe stomach aches and bloating after every meal I ate
Its been 2 weeks since I returned from this cruise, I still have stomach aches.
I had «food poisoning for 12 consecutive dinners I will have to see my doctor this week
I went on all the „off shore excursions“ and when I came back in the evening I usually ate at the Horizon Court Buffet on 14^th floor. All the salads, cold cuts, cheeses. dressings and many of the entrees had been prepared and left sitting without refrigeration from 12 noon — 12 AM when this buffet closed This is disgusting and unacceptable!
I did try eating in the main dinning rooms & every entrée was e very fatty, greasy or not fresh…
IThe bread was hard as a rock… They did not even serve real orange juice! Many evenings I would go back to my room and eat a few protein bars that I had
The food servers, many whom were foreign were often rude and inattentive
The gym was pathetic, with only 2 benches, and not a lot of exercise equipment or good ventilation It was a dark dimly lit small room with minimal space &equipment
Entertainment? Virtually non existent unless you would enjoy seeing the „Sound of Music“ film again, play bingo, board games, hear one of their off tune bands playing boring tunes from the 1980s and 1990s or play a slot machine in their small sleazy casino .
I won $ 48 in one of their slot machines on the first day and when I requested a» cash out” receipt from them slot machine but it «informed» me that my $ 48 winning would be returned to my credit card. 11 days later after checking my card balance by paying for the ships” overpriced slow wifi internet «my $ 48 casino win was still not credited
I had to go to the manager of Casino and threaten to inform the U.S. Gaming Commission of onboard casino violations before he gave me my $ 48 casino cash winnings .
I went on every «off shore excursions Mostly they were good, led by knowledgeable tour guides who gave in depth information on the ancient history of the sites/​museums
However one of the «tour guides» in Capri Italy «Carmine» after giving a «designated» place to meet after a 20 – 25 minute rest room or go shopping was always late himself because he was off to drink in any bar he could find I found him sipping wine while the tour group was waiting in 100 degree heat
In Toulon France„ the off shore excursion guide took us on a 2 hour bus ride to St Tropez dropped everyone off and told every one to have lunch somewhere and have fun
Both the tour guide & bus disappeared for. 3 hours &return over half hour late leaving everyone in extreme heat This was a big rip off The tour guide should have at least arranged to offer dropping everyone off at one of the main beaches like «Tahiti «which was 8 miles away

Then there is the poor judgement of Captain Andrea Poggi, let 118 Syrian Refugees trying to escape. The Princes Cruise line was en route to Istanbul when it got a distress call from a stranded sailing ship with supposedly «25 Greek Nationals» (The Captain lied. was 118 Refugees from Syria trying to escape) The Greek Coast guard ship was closer to this boat then the Princess Island. but asked for the Princess to pick up these people After the 118 Syrian Refugees boarded they began to push & fight each other. gmen between 18 – 35) did not want to leave our ship. Finally the Greek Red Cross sent men over to «convince» these Syrian Refugees to leave
I am aware of «Maritime Law «but in this day and age of «Isis threats and terrorism, it potentially jeopardized and risked the lives of thousands of passengers aboard the Island Princess!
What if one of those Syrian Refugees had a bomb in his knapsack?
In addition, this picking of 118 Syrian Refugees created a situation where the Captain was not able to stop off at Istanbul the next port we were going to visit 99% of the people, including myself, that booked this particular voyage did so because it included visiting ‘Istanbul’
I have written to the costumer relations department at the Princess Cruises Line and received a call from one of their executives who offered me a very «minimal amount» refund of my cruise purchase This is unjust and cheap after my suffering from 12 consecutive dinners of spoiled food, stomach aches and food poisoning !!!

Rachel Ganz

We took our honeymoon on the Golden Princess to Alaska. I really wish we chose a different cruise line, because now I’ll just have memories of how horrible our honeymoon was instead of how romantic and amazing it was.
First things first; this is not a good romantic vacation. They clearly cater to families with children. They continuously allowed children to break the rules on the ship and ignored how upset many of the other passengers were. If you have children this is probably a great cruise line for you; if you want a romantic getaway, choose a different cruise line.
THE BAD
1. We booked our room far in advance. Whenever I tried to call or email the Princess Cruise travel representative, he never answered. THE DAY BEFORE THE CRUISE, I got a mysterious call from Princess Cruises telling me to call them back ASAP about something regarding my cruise. I was terrified that the trip was going to get canceled even though we already traveled to the port city. I finally got a hold of someone and found out that the call was about moving our trip to September and getting upgraded to a balcony for free. NO THANKS, wish they told me sooner!
2. The room was awful. We paid a pretty penny for our interior room and I was extremely disappointed at the lack of oversight. Our bedspread had blood stains all over it and we had to call and ask to get it changed (why is this acceptable on a cruise line??). Our TV had a huge red line down the picture and the sound was static-​y. Our queen bed (two twin beds pushed together) would separate when we slept on it and someone would always end up in the huge, uncomfortable gap between the two beds. A board was loose somewhere in the room, and would rattle and vibrate extremely loudly when the ship was moving in and out of port. To top it all off the toilet seat had a huge blood stain on it that couldn’t be scrubbed off — I’m shocked they never removed the stain or replaced the seat. Ridiculous.
3. Several of the hot tubs around the ship were out of order. On top of that, the staff let children get into tubs that were «adult only.»
4. The amount of sale pitches on the ship made me sick. We went to an event that we thought sounded fun, and found out it was an extremely long sales pitch that we weren’t allowed to leave (the staff scolded us when we tried to!). It was our first night on the ship, and it set a bad mood for the rest of the cruise. We avoided most events in worry it would be like this one.
5. The dining rooms are very poorly run. We got irritated and the people sitting around us always looked irritated too. The staff try to get you out really fast, but the food comes out at a snail’s pace. The staff would also get mad if we didn’t order from the bar — sorry, my husband and I don’t drink! One night a staff member pushed REALLY hard to get us to order a specialty drink after we said we didn’t want it. We felt like we got treated badly for not ordering alcoholic drinks at dinner, and the service seemed to suffer greatly.
6. The ship did not follow its own rules regarding children. I often saw children in the adult only areas. In the Princess Theater, the announcements said SEVERAL times for children not to sit in the first three rows. When I looked down, there was a row of six children sitting in the very first row. What’s the point of having these rules if they’re not enforced? Children were often running around, screaming and otherwise behaving inappropriately in public areas.
7. THIS IS WHY PRINCESS GOT 1 STAR! Our room was directly below the room of several teenage boys. Our very first morning, we were awaken to a boy screaming, at the top of his lungs, for his phone. After that, it continuously got worse. The boys would jump off furniture and cause our room to shake, they’d scream and yell as loud as they could, and they would be doing this all really early in the morning or late at night (sometimes in the afternoon when we tried to snag a nap). We visited the front desk once and called four times. Nothing ever happened. Princess didn’t care.
THE OKAY
1. We were happy with our excursions, for the most part. We felt overcharged with many of them but we figured it would be better to book with Princess instead of taking our chances at port.
2. The food was okay. I felt like the desserts were waaaay too sweet. It was sometimes impossible to find seating at the Horizon Court (buffet).
I’d highly recommend to find another cruise line. Princess doesn’t care about its customers and had NO INTEREST in making us want to return to their cruise line. I wanted to take a British Isles cruise soon, but we’ve decided we’re never sailing with Princess again.

We went on the 7 days Alaska trip. Food was not as good as carnival nor was the entertainment. We ended up sleeping a lot because it was so boring. This was our 7^th cruise but our first on princess; the Ruby to be exact. The staff was unfriendly. We reported our broken AC twice the guy finally showed up to fix it when we were disembarking to go home. We will not sail princess again. EVER!

My wife and I took the 15 day Los Angeles to Hawaii April 7, 2015 on the Ruby Princess. The ship was nice and very roomy. The food was VERY marginal and bland… and you quickly grow tired of seeing the same buffet breakfast every day. Be aware, on a 15 day cruise, there are 3 formal nights, which for our taste seemed too much. The pay extra dining ($ 25 per person) was just OK, nothing special.
We did enjoy the lunches at poolside at the grill, but again you tire of hamburgers
and hot dogs every day.
A couple of warnings for this cruise. You are at sea for 9 entire days, and you quickly become bored on the ship. Out of the 15 days, you are only in port for 5 days. Also,
for our cruise, this was a very aged group of travelers. I have never seen so many
wheelchairs and walkers in my life. We are in our early 60’s and we felt very young on this cruise. Not many kids were on this cruise. We were expecting to be able to lay
around one of the many pools the ship had, but unfortunately it was so cold most days
you needed a jacket. The movies under the stars was enjoyable, but again most nights were so cold, you couldn’t enjoy the movie.
Probably the thing that bugged us the most was that Princess wants to sell you something, morning noon and night. We have been on other cruise lines and never felt this way before. We went to Alaska on Holland America last summer and felt Holland
offered sooo much more value for our dollar.
It was fun to do this once, but doubt we would ever do again. We did learn a couple of things. We will never book another cruise that doesn’t have ports every day or so
and would probably never cruise with Princess again.

Just got off the Crown Princess in LA! Had a great time and the ship was in great shape (not like the Grand that really needs some TLC). Great costal cruise and will plan on taking again. Just had sticker shock on parking went from $ 11.50 a day to $ 16.00 a day $ 112.00 for 7 days, wow! Maybe Princess needs to add this in for a perk, or better yet Valet Parking — that would be nice and would be a great start and end to the cruise!

Cruised on the Royal Princess from Ft. Lauderdale to the Eastern Caribbean. Loved the ship! It really is really huge and was something to look at. We walked so much on it that I actually lost a pound when we returned. Which was excellent because we chowed big time at the buffet. Dinners in the dining room (Concerto and Symphony) were very good and the wait staff were very attentive. Only thing I wished for was for the kitchen to warm the rolls (at least a little) that came before the dinner.
Had a lot of fun dancing in Club 6, watching the shows in the Princess Theater, and dancing out at the pool deck on Salsa night. The ‘Night at the Movies’ up at the pool deck was nice too. Pretty awesome just wished we could have done it more. The weather wasn’t very cooperative. :(
As far as prices of alcohol goes, I didn’t really see any difference between the ship prices and what I pay at home. In some cases, the ship was actually cheaper. We didn’t try the premium restaurants. Thought about it because the price was reasonable, but the buffet and dining rooms was good enough. Although if I go again I might consider it if I go again in the future.
The one thing I didn’t like — and this has nothing to do with Princess — was the zoo the boarding passengers made of the whole ‘boarding and then first stop to the buffet process’. Wow. Never been around so many impatient retirees acting like toddlers in my life.
I was more impressed with the ship than the destinations. Yeah it was neat being in the Caribbean, but I really wasn’t ‘wowed’ with it. Just seem like being in California. Only less people and more humid. And there really isn’t much time to see anything if you aren’t taking and excursion (which vary from being very cheap to very expensive). So maybe I’m not being fair to the islands and would have a different opinion if I was staying there instead of sailing there.
I know some have complained about the tips, but I really didn’t find anyone on board who didn’t work for it. Our cabin steward was excellent! (wish I could remember his name).

To be succinct, Kristen in Customer Relationships is a huge assert to PC as well as to those passengers lucky enough to find her. She is a decision maker and if you are having problems with your Cruise Planner dial ext 44 411 and ask for her. She listens and is fair and does a stellar job of making a department with no customer respect at all, look like it cares.
Now the details:. In Jan I reserved a cabin for my 50^th year high school reunion cruise. I did not make payment at the time because I did not know if I would be travelling alone or with my husband. My Princess Cruise Planner told me she would contact me regarding payments. I heard nothing from her. I call her and she tells me «too late, the ship is sold out; yes she remembers me and my cabin choice and had emailed me for payment». Fine, except I never received an email. As it turns out she misspelled my last name which is a part of my email address, the email did not transmit and when it failed to deliver she took no further action. By the way, she had it spelled correctly elsewhere.
My tough luck on this once in a lifetime trip in which a very large group is booked. She is sorry about her mistake but I am # 15 on waitlist and frankly, not a chance.
Princess Cruises you are fortunate to have Kristen cleaning up mistakes made by others that those others do not even attempt to correct. If anyone can wait days and days, hours and hours on hold just to book a cruise, eventually a very pretty voice will answer assist you. That said; that very pretty voice is the only thing pretty about the Cruise Planners Dept.

If I could give a negative star review, I would pick NEGATIVE 5 stars. I just came back from a Princess cruise in French Polynesia, it was one of the worst experiences of my adult life. First of all, the room steward was caught going through my personal things, he was fired and the housekeeping supervisor, who was a very nice person and very concerned about this, sent us champagne to try to make up for it. Then EVERY time we went to the pool, the ENTIRE pool area is polluted with second hand cigarette smoke, mostly by the staff and cruise director. It was absolutely disgusting. I heard the people who run bingo, Karina and Xavier say,“They just hate the Americans”, I could not even believe what I was hearing and Warren, who pulls the bingo balls, has a juvenile sense of humor, full of sexual inuendos, MEAN spirited statements, at the expense of the passengers, even making fun of them, including the most travelled Princess passenger Andy G, who has over 500 days of cruising with Princess Cruise line, making fun of his weight. The security team headed by Tony M. is more like Darth Vader and the storm troopers, they were so unfriendly when getting on and off the ship, I felt like I was was waiting for a strip search, and someone was going to ask me to grab my ankles and cough, the security team thrived on intimidating the passengers, like the passengers were terrorists and they were new hire rent a cops and this was their first cruise. I found the cruise director and his sidekick, the chain smoker that spent most of his time next to the pool smoking his disgusting cigarettes, unapproachable, uncaring and unfriendly, just like the Purser Bobs, who seemed very unprofessional, slobby, and certainly not very,“Officer”, like. I saw with my OWN eyes him dismissing passenger complaints and letting everybody hear about it, he just made himself look like a fool. The ’”Hotel“‘ part of the ship is just terrible. I had dried urine on the bathroom floor, lots of dust, holes in the sheets, lumpy pillows and no introduction by our room steward Carmelo, he is the person who was fired by the housekeeping supervisor, horrible, horrible person and a very BAD housekeeper, where the heck did they find these people, a Princess Cruise Line job fair for hateful rejects??? The food and beverage service part is a whole different situation. I found the managers of this department to be very good. I would love to say,“Thank you very much”, to Gabriel, Luigi Siratapa, Iryna and Vellop, Faye and especially the lady Veronica who runs the Tara pearls shop, I learned EVERYTHING about south sea pearls, they were so kind to me and I really enjoyed talking with them and do appreciate that part of the cruise, Princess Cruise line is very lucky to have these caring, loyal employees, this is the treatment I EXPECT when I travel halfway around the world and spend $ 15 000.00 on a vacation. I think the Captain, Fabrizio of The Pacific Princess needs to take off his uniform and walk around and see what’s going on HIS ship. The most disturbing part of the cruise was the GROSS, disgusting, brown water that was being dumped in PORT, into the pristine waters of French Polynesia. So SHAME on you Princess Cruises!!! If you love your planet as much as I do, DON“T EVER USE PRINCESS CRUISES, they just don’t CARE!!! For your information, Princess Cruise line has a NEGATIVE status with the Better Business Bureau, THIS IS A HUGE RED FLAG TO CONSUMERS! You should also look at the Department of Consumer affairs complaints about Princess Cruise Line, good to know, it’s not just me, TERRIBLE!

After reviewing the recent post here about Princess, I call foul! You can have ANY tip removed if you feel someone didn’t earn it. The person who posted the nasty things must not have even told one person on staff, or Princess could have tried to correct it. It’s sad that they didn’t even give them the opportunity! SHAME ON YOU!
Princess is not perfect, as long as humans are involved, nothing will be. But I will say, they do try to fix things they know about (we will see how they handle my written letter).
A complaint I do have: that they now try to make money at every angle. For example, you booked a cruise to a tropical destination, and you booked and paid for an excursion/​tour and have water for sale on the way out, GIVE us a bottle (or more) for our tour. Don’t you car about us? This is the tropics! And add $.50 to the tour to pay for it, it would at least show you really don’t want us to pass out from dehydration a. Now they hound us to buy bottled water at the dining areas, soda and drinks are not included, only water and iced tea! And now they sell soda cards $ 7 a day, coffee (specialties) card, wine club, and many more. This really bothers me!
I empty my mini fridge when I get onboard. It will have water and sodas (Coke/​Diet Coke Sprite), I just put them up and use the fridge for the flavored water I bring with me (you may bring your own wine/​soda/​water), just carry it or put a luggage sticker on it! I’ve done it, after watching others for a year;). (Wine is charged a corkage after the first bottle).
More later

Updating my review as I completed my second vacation with Princess last month on an 11-​day Scandinavia & Russia cruise to Oslo, Aarhus, Warnemünde (Berlin), Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Nynäshamn (Stockholm), and Copenhagen.
THE SHIP
We boarded the Royal Princess from Copenhagen. The second newest ship in the fleet was christened last year by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, is the flagship of Princess Cruise lines, and the 10^th largest passenger ship in the world. There are plenty of activities and services on board, however, there didn’t seem to be much to do this time around. Perhaps it was cos this was my second cruise, so I didn’t have as much desire to explore every nook and cranny aboard.
OUR ROOM
Our stateroom this time was a balcony cabin, which was around $ 2,800 pp. I do prefer the mini suites as they’re larger, but our cabin did the job just fine. I definitely do recommend splurging on a room with a balcony. The cruise is all-​inclusive, meaning the price of the stateroom includes most dining, entertainment, and activities onboard. Our room also had $ 200 onboard credit, which could be used for alcohol, food, or services that have fees, gratuities, and shore excursions. Most of the time while we were at sea, I stayed in my room watching the wide selection of movies and TV shows and preparing for the next day’s tour. When choosing your rooms, location is key. Our room, A701, is located on Aloha Deck 12 and right next to the aft elevators. It gave our fatty asses easy access to the buffet and our main dining room, Allegro.
ACTIVITIES & SERVICES
Internet is incredibly, ridiculously expensive, so turn off your data & Wi-​Fi! Princess charges by the minute and the cheapest plan is 120 minutes for $ 69. The fitness center is large, clean, and there were more than enough machines for everyone to use. Along with an outdoor jogging track, there’s a court for basketball, volleyball, tennis, a golf driving range, and a laser shooting range. The ship also features Movie Under the Stars, which is a really neat idea, if only it wasn’t so cold. I don’t even remember Alaska being that cold.
FOOD & DINING
The food didn’t seem to be as good as the food on Sapphire, so it was definitely the most disappointing thing. The fruits weren’t as sweet. The seafood weren’t as fresh. The overall food was generally around 3-​stars quality. I don’t know how these ships work but we figured it might be due to the area the ship is sailing and dependent on the local produce. On the bright side, room service is included so that was perfect when we didn’t feel like getting off our lazy bums and walking to the (very close) buffet. The buffet on this ship also seemed smaller than the buffet on Sapphire and didn’t have a huge selection. For dinner, you may dine in any of the ship’s restaurants or in your designated main dining room (all main dining rooms serve the same menu). I don’t mean to sound like a food snob but I felt like the main dining room cuisine strove to be fine dining, but fell quite far from the tree. If you’ve never experienced fine dining, you may enjoy it. If you have, you may want to lower your expectations.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
If you don’t want any stress from planning independent tours, I recommend booking your tours and shore excursions through Princess if you can afford to, simply because they arrange everything for you. You’re paying for the convenience essentially, since some of the excursions really aren’t worth the cost. After going on a few excursions with Princess, I recommend doing as much research as you can and if you’re able to, independently explore the cities on your own. If there’s one lesson to take away from my trip, it’s to arrange your own transportation (preferably on the ICE) to Berlin from Warnemünde. When you arrive in Warnemünde, you may stay in the small resort town or head out to Berlin, which is 3-​hours away. All of the excursions to Berlin include a 3-​hour ride on the Regional Express train with no air conditioning. On the day we visited, the weather was around 80% humidity with thunderstorms in the evening, and the train ride to and from was absolute living hell. On top of that, the train was old, dirty, smelly, and the humidity didn’t help. Do NOT book any of Princess’ shore excursions to Berlin, unless you’re a masochist.
Overall, Princess isn’t my first choice when it comes to cruises and I’d love to check out Crystal or Seabourn. However, I’m more inclined to book another cruise with Princess due to its loyalty program.

This was my first cruise with Princess — Princess Sapphire, 7-​day Mexican Rivera New Year’s Cruise from LA. Port stops were Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta.
The Princess Sapphire was refurbished in 2012, I found the ship to be very clean and up kept. Our stateroom was an ocean view room on the 8^th floor, mid ship. The room was about 168 sq. feet, just enough room for the 4 of us. The room consisted of two twin beds and the bunks were pulled out at night time. Because the ship is so big, I did not feel any movement, even during the cold season. The staff, like all cruises were great. Super friendly and accommodating.
The entertainment was ok. Food was exquisite. Something for everyone. My mornings consisted of running off calories around the ship, or heading to the gym. Each day they offered a Zumba class which I found fun. Throughout, there were a ton of activities — my little family appreciated watching movies under the stars every night up on deck. The staff would walk around with blankets and serve us hot cookies and milk.
The Ports — I would recommend booking your excursions off port. There was a significant price difference between what they charge and what you can get. Don’t worry about pre-​booking, there are many vendors just waiting for you once you get off ship and will show you what they have to offer. I did not care much for the ports. Puerta Vallarta docks right in front of a Walmart and a small shopping mall — walking distance from the port. There was nothing much to see. Ensenada — you can take a $ 3 shuttle to take you into town. The town is very small and has a bunch of shops where you can buy souvenirs and such. Again, nothing much to see. My favorite would have to be Cabo San Lucas! Gorgeous, scenic and fun. I was able to book an excursion with a vendor once I got off the port snorkel and cruise on a catamaran. It was awesome and only cost me $ 25 per person. FYI — drinks are strong, pace yourself while in Mexico =) lol
It was a great experience to be on a ship on New Years celebrating with the ball dropping, huge party with the family. However, The the guests on the ship were a bit older, around the 50 and over. Definitely a different vibe from when I went on Disney and Carnival. Overall, a great experience and would recommend trying it at least once. =)

Went on the Sapphire Princess for a 7-​Day cruise, which stopped at San Francisco (HIGHLIGHT of trip), Santa Barbara, San Diego, and a part of Mexico. This was my first time with Princess Cruise Lines, and my 20^th cruise overall!
Positives:
My room was spacious, and the room steward was very friendly and professional.
The food at the buffet was either ok or good, and the servers there were friendly as well. Breakfast was always great, especially since they make fresh omelets and waffles. Wherever I walked around the ship, and an employee saw me, he or she always greeted myself. That’s the first I’ve experienced that since on my other cruises, none of the employees did that unless you planned to buy something or participate in an event.
During tea time (which was good as well), there was a live piano player (other cruise lines used CD players). When I glanced at him, I noticed he was looking at me. When I looked at him again, he greets me and says «Hello, I’m your piano player!» and started to play a Disney tune. Thanks for the greeting, sir! :)
The bartenders were friendly as well. Whenever I had a Bud Light with Lime while sitting at the bar, sometimes the bartenders talk about their lives on the ship, and one of them even showed me a unique card trick. Quite impressive! Their specialty coffees were good as well.
The pool areas were fine. The small adult area was fine as well. The hot tub temperatures were perfect.
The itinerary was excellent, especially in San Francisco, in which the cruise line gave us the longest amount of time possible to enjoy ourselves. I had fun there, especially in the early evening hours.
Negatives:
The desserts at the buffet were sometimes bland and the drink selection at the bars were limited.
The hot tubs didn’t have enough bubbles in them, compared to some of the other cruise lines that I’ve been on. Quite surprising.
At the time I went, the two nightclubs on-​board were always empty in the night, yet the DJ played on. I know this isn’t the ship’s fault, but come on.
The karaōke song listings were clearly outdated, and were missing a good number of Today’s Hits, and 90’s favorites. Didn’t bother participating at all for that reason.
The theater was small, and every 30 minutes before a show started, all seats and most standing space were filled.
Their duty-​free liquor was the tiniest, compared to other cruise lines. I couldn’t believe it.
Finally, the ship’s stabilizers were somewhat weak. We ran into a current, and as a result, the ship started going up and down a little bit. A fellow cruiser told me that the last time she was on this, and coming back from Hawaii, the ship ran into another current, and the movement of the ship became rougher than what I’ve experienced. Those of you who have a history of motion seasickness should keep that in mind.
Something To Note: At the time I went, I noticed that there was a much older crowd. For someone like myself who’s in the 20s to 30s age group and trying to meet those who were in that same group, there was little to none of those in that age group. I was disappointed, but that doesn’t mean you have to NOT enjoy the cruise. Just simply enjoy your vacation and make the best of what’s available.
Overall: A very good cruise experience, and unless an outstanding itinerary pops up, once with this cruise line is enough.
Cheers!