Auntie Mae

We got ripped off.

If a passenger is on the balcony with the door closed, is it possible to hear announcments? I have trouble hearing announcements in the state room.

I will begin by saying I didn’t know Princess caters mostly to an older crowd. I should’ve done my homework before booking. I have cruised with Carnival, MSC, Costa and now Princess. If you’re just going to pick apart my review in the comments, please stop reading now. This is my opinion and my experience that I am sharing for the benefit of others like me who may be considering Princess. This is not to dissuade loyal Princess cruisers or anything like that. If your experience was great, good for you!! This is my perspective only.

 

So. Let’s start with the GOOD!!

 

The service was fantastic! There was nowhere on board that the service wasn’t great. Every crew member I encountered was polite. The wait staff was great. Our cabins (one balcony for hubby and I, one inside for the kids) stayed clean. There’s lots of wait staff in the buffet and around the pools at all times. At first I didn’t like that there weren’t many beverage stations, but I quickly realized that the wait staff was more than happy to serve anything from water to included beverages to bar drinks.

 

I like that Princess isn’t ridiculous about what you can’t bring on board. I brougnt on 6 bottles of wine. I had them in my carry luggage. I wasn’t sure where to go or what to do to pay the extra $15/each corkage so I ended up just keeping them in my room. I brought two back though. We also brought three 12 packs of soda for the kids and a case of water for port days. I put luggage tags on them. They arrived fine. My water case could’ve used some tape though.

 

The food was decent. I read a lot of meh and bad reviews about the food. It wasn’t bad. Some of it was great. Some of it was meh. Nothing was just plain bad.

 

I liked that we kept local port time instead of “ship time” like other cruise lines. I liked that the pools were open late. Salty Dog food was good. Especially the hot dogs. Perfect since the lunch buffet is pretty sad. One day the lunch buffet only had vegetarian sandwiches left by the time I got there.

 

Disembark was a breeze.

 

The On Demand movie list was great!! I’ve never been one to watch movies on a cruise, but the entertainment wasn’t really our scene so between the 6 of us we watched quite a few movies.

 

Medical staff... my daughter fell out of the top bunk. We still aren’t sure if she fractured her arm. The physician on board didn’t think so, but it’s been 2.5 days and I’m not convinced otherwise. We will get her checked at home tonight. Anyhoo, I called 911 around midnight. A nurse came promptly. She was so kind, patient and knowledgeable. She took us down to medical quickly. The physician (I don’t think he was a doctor - the credentials on our invoice are foreign to me and he looked maybe 25) evaluated her and said he didn’t think it was broken. I was surprised to find that they had x-ray equipment and the ability to set her break if it had been broken. I’ve always wondered the extent of the care available in medical. I’m not sure why he didn’t x-ray her though. Either way, I’m happy with the speed and care received. $200 for a midnight trip.

 

Not sure if this is a Princess thing or what, but the two times we had to tender, the Princess line was much shorter and moved faster than the Carnival tender line. Also loved the cold towel and cold water. Oh and I enjoyed the dirty towel bin just inside the gangway. Perfect! Princess has lots of nice little touches that offer guests convenience and relaxation. That’s wonderful!

 

And the bad...

 

Room service menu is terribly small.

 

The only food open after 11:00 pm is the international cafe on deck 5, which is a small selection of sweets and honestly nothing too appetizing. No one wants shrimp pasta at midnight lol. We want pizza lol.

 

If Carnival is the Booze Cruise, this was the Snooze Cruise. I don’t remember how many nights the nightclub DJ played nothing but Michael Jackson from 10-11 pm. There was very little entertainment for people our age. Typical evening entertainment was very repetitive- one guy with an acoustic guitar (he couldn’t sing very well); a guy on the piano singing; steel drums in the piazza; a lady that sang slow, monotone songs; jazz jazz jazz everywhere; trivia (themes including Harry Potter, Disney, etc), family karaoke (which was actually fun)... for the most part, the entertainment was dull (in MY personal opinion). They kept playing the same music loop on the lido deck every day and most of the songs were several years old. I never want to hear that “this is gonna be the best day of my life” song again lol.

 

I get that Princess caters to an older crowd... but even my mom and mother in law would’ve been bored. Where’s the Tom Petty? Jimmy Buffet? Any rock music other than the sad guitarist??

 

Then on the one night we managed to stay awake past 11:00 pm, the music the DJ played in the nightclub was still disappointing, old and tired.

 

Our muster drill was a mess. There was a system problem with their card readers so everything had to be done by hand. I didn’t come prepared for an hour long muster drill. It would’ve been great if they could’ve passed out water or something.

 

Cabin gripes - the look of the cabin is reminiscent of a 1990s Holiday Inn. There were numerous scratches and dings in the wood. Spots where caulk had been peeled off in the bathroom. Raw edges of carpet were exposed and pulling at the balcony door frame. You can really tell the cabin is 14 years old and hasn’t been updated.

 

The top bunk fall could’ve been avoided if the railing were sufficient. There was a wide gap between the top rail and the bottom rail. There really needs to be a much longer rail. There were stickers on the bunk saying not recommended for children. We brought my cousin to help with the kids. She weighs about 250 lbs. None of us were comfortable with her sleeping on the top bunk with one of my elementary age children beneath her lol. I’ve never seen a cruise bunk say not recommended for children. Who else sleeps on them but children??

 

I’m not going to comment much about the ship decor, but I will say this is the most underwhelming ship I’ve ever been on. And the oak wood everywhere is dated. Oak hasn’t been on trend since the late 90s. The specialty restaurants and buffet were updated. Also Vines and the bar adjacent to it. The Fiesta Suites hall was much more appealing than the rest of the ship. I’m used to seeing nice little touches like that throughout the entire ship.

 

The shower must’ve been the smallest I’ve ever seen on a ship. I didn’t like that the shower head wasn’t detachable. Never been on a cruise where that wasn’t a thing.

 

The kids club doesn’t do dinnertime pickup. We either had to have our kids endure the whole shebang or one of us had to leave to run them upstairs between courses.

 

Conclusion....

 

Overall, we had a wonderful cruise. My husband and I spent a lot of time enjoying the peace on our balcony. We had a lot of quiet time together watching movies with the kids. So while we never really got to enjoy a party scene that we enjoy or found much of the entertainment very entertaining, we are certainly rested and have cleared our busy minds. We come back refreshed! And that’s what vacation is really about. We probably won’t cruise with Princess again (RCI is next!) but I have no regrets.

Good for you. You have realized what is important to you while crusing. I suggest the celebrity edge and Virgin is coming out with a new ship in about two years. It sounds exactly like what you are looking for. The new larger ships will suit you best and remember to research the night life first.

Please remember that we all age, even you. To your children, your old. And for the sake of God stop discriminating because of age..

Good to know. Thanks.

Does Carnival allow for food from the Buffett to be brought to the room?