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Having heard good things about Princess, our overall impression is one of disappointment! We departed from Tahiti on 27 February on the Tahitian Princess, booked into an Owners Suite - so expected the best.
What was good. The staff tried hard - and seemed to be worked into the ground. However this ship was clearly understaffed. For example there was no sommelier in the restaurant, no-one to serve water - and the waiting staff had to take on all these functions.
Having travelled on Celebrity and RC previously, and on the same class of ship with Oceania in 2006 - I have to say this was the worst of all.
In the Owners Suite - one would expect 'in room' breakfast to be laid out - but no - a cheap plastic tray was just ploncked down - no service at all.
The ship (which as I have mentioned have been on the same class with Oceania) is lovely - and the service and standards on Oceania were perfect - so the ship was capable of much, much better!
The staff, who worked extremely hard - were clearly demoralized! Our room steward was excellent and tried very hard - and succeeded in meeting our expectations.
The greatest shortfall was in the main Dining Room. The food served was of poor quality - and the ship can do better - serving up great lunchtime buffet in the buffet restaurant. The Steakhouse was good - but not outstanding. The Italian restaurant was poor.
2 hours for a starter salad and maincourse in the restaurant is just not acceptable! Then to serve poor quality, overcooked food is even worse.
My suggestion to Princess is a change of chef. Also employ more waiters. Both the maitre d and waiters all worked hard - but there were not enough of them. Re-vamp the awful wine list and employ a sommelier and water waiters. Your turnover would increase. The wines were cheaply priced - but were cheap wines. I would have happily paid more (on Celebrity expect to pay $20 more a bottle) but expect a MUCH better wine list.
The faults on this ship are down to Princess - not down to the staff who really tried - (with the exception of the Chef). Invest a little more in the quality - and you will see the return.
So I have a poor impression of Princess and am unlikely to travel with them again.
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