My FiancE and I just took the Western Caribbean Cruise on the Grand Princess on 11/25/06 - 12/2/06. I wanted to write to let you all know how disappointed we were with this cruise. We will never travel with Princess Cruises again and we will be telling all our friends, family and everyone we know about our awful experience. Although the destinations were what we expected and we have a wonderful time in each port, that is where our happiness ends, as when we were on the ship, we were miserable. This is a review of the ship and one excursion we took through Princess, this is not a review of the activities we did in port, which we had a great time as we did mostly private tours etc.

To begin with, the food aboard the ship was awful. I was disappointed every time the food was placed on the table. Not only was it cold most of the time when it should have been warm, but the quality was awful as well. The service was below average, which is disappointing because it is boasted all over the brochures and website that the services and food meet five star quality. The waiters never brought us the right food, or forgot what we ordered altogether. I can however say that one particular waitress from Hungry exceeded our expectations, but we only had her two times. Unfortunately, I didn't get her name. We choose the personal choice dining, as we liked the flexibility of eating at a time we wished. However, I did notice that a lot of people whom had the traditional dining still came to our dining rooms as well because they missed their times. They didn't check your cards to see if which dining you have selected. My advice is to choose the traditional and if you can't make it go to the other dining rooms. No need to rush.

Our stateroom was small as expected and we did enjoy having a balcony as we spent a lot of time out there. However, the bed was awful!! I have never slept so terribly in my life. I had to see a chiropractor as soon as we got back home as I could barely move. I have never in my life seen such neglect to a place that claims they are like a five star hotel. The beds were merely cots and 2 beds were shoved together to make a queen sized bed. Now this wouldn't have been a problem if they were nicer beds. In addition, there was a piece of ply-wood under the mattress, that I would only assume, was placed there to add firmness to the cots that were shoved together. I keep scraping my legs on the splinters on this piece of wood. The springs kept jabbing my back. The center of the bed was so hard because that is where the two beds met. We couldn't even lay in the center of the so called queen sized bed. It would have been better to keep the two beds apart. I ended up having to sleep on the floor because it was so awful. I would think with the money I paid for the room, I would at least have a comfortable bed. I think the only reason I actually ever slept was because I was so exhausted from walking around all day in the port. The other nights I just drank enough alcohol to put myself to sleep. Once good thing I could say is that our room attendant was awesome! Which takes me into my next topic of tipping. Read more