Regent, “an unrivaled experience” is one I have no intention of replicating. Here is a rundown: 1. Arrival at airport was disorganized. After waiting about 15 minutes in airport we waited about another 45 minutes at the curb. 2. Next morning at hotel, breakfast ended at nine am with checkout at noon then a wait of a further hour+ before bus to port. On the way to port the bus driver kept drifting in and out of lane on the 710 to Long Beach and at one point came within a few feet of rear ending a stopped truck at about 50 mph because he fell asleep at the wheel, if the collision avoiding alert had not alerted we would have hit. 3. When boarding the ship there was not one staff member available to assist in directing to cabin, so we wandered around and eventually found the cabin. 4. First day on pool deck attempting to get a bite to eat after a fifteen minute wait for service finally found someone to assist. 5. Cabin was clean but very worn, sloppy caulking, dining table well stained and etched, rust around veranda (picture sent separately). 6. Initially wait staff not responsive but did improve significantly over a couple of days. 7. My comments on the initial survey would have demanded management contact me but the butler was sent to inquire, that was poor form, management should have called me. 8. Late getting to Hawaii, helicopter ride was cancelled and a bus tour substituted (poor substitute), ten minutes from ship engine blew up on the bus, my wife and another couple took a taxi back to ship rather than wait as it turned out 90 minutes for another bus to show up. 9. An island was eliminated from the agenda because of slow transit time even though activities were organized and we stopped at an atoll with no activities planned (just a gas station, store and arts store) when I asked why pick that schedule I was told it was pretty and anyway at the missed island the guides didn’t speak English anyway. 10. We told we had to slow down and miss some activities because of sea conditions, others were told the ship had mechanical issues. The latter seems more believable as sea conditions were just fine. Someone who claimed to know about these things calculated the ship would have had to travel at maximum rated speed to meet the published schedule 11. The activities did not meet the description, seemed to be somewhat ad hoc. 12. All in all quite a number of people seem to have similar feelings. Read Less

This was a back to back cruise. There are many very good aspects to this ship. It’s small leading to great interaction between crew and passengers. Even the entertainers spent time with the passengers. The Captain was very accessible and courteous. The General Manager the same. The executive concierge helped us with several personal problems. The destination staff went out of the way to find us good excursions. With the exception of 3 meals, the food ranged good to excellent. The butler and room cleaning staff were friendly and efficient and courteous. Prime 7 restaurant has great service although I was disappointed in two steaks. Compass Rose restaurant had excellent service most of the time but some of the service areas are remote to the tables they support There were some negatives as well. The ship is in need of a massive makeover. Our suite, 931 is under a smoking area. The smoke was not a problem, but the moving of the furniture was noisy and bothersome, particularly after 9:00 pm. And as late as 2:30am. I would never recommend this room. We had been reassured by Regent that this suite would not be noisy. The trouble was addressed, but we did not see a solution. Rust is showing in many areas. The Diesel engines are noisy and have much vibration in the rear of the ship. Disembarking was very inefficient compared to other lines we have cruised. Read Less

We actually didn't choose this cruise or itinerary but voluntarily accept a bump off our original cruise in exchange for numerous upgrades and rebates. We flew coach to LAX with me squeezed in the middle seat and I was unable to get upgraded with my AA miles. The return flight arrangement took us 30 hours from the time we disembarked in Papeete at 8:45 AM until we touched down at JFK at 8:30 PM Christmas Eve. There were excursions (6 in total because we missed a valuable port in the Hawaiian Island due to technical problems which were never explained or reimbursed)that were too commercial including stops at the tour operators' relatives' establishments. We were not advised to spray ourselves with Deet, nor was it provided, in French Polynesia where the mosquitos attacked us and boarded the tour bus at a scenic view stop. The ship is still wonderful, the nightly piano player, Jeff Spence, was incredible, some of the shows and entertainment marvelous, the Internet was spotty, the Library did away with its free passenger book exchange, Trivia was great, the service impeccable and the Cruise Director Jamie and his wife, the assistant cruise director, perfect and the food was fabulous. Will I cruise with Regent again, absolutely. Would I choose this Itinerary, absolutely not? Because of our age, travel insurance was exceptionally expensive. The boutiques are only suitable for those who don't have great shopping near them and have shipboard credits to spend. The enrichment lectures were generally not my cup of tea. The program leans heavily toward early morning activities with not much to do until 4:00 pm, by which time very little time is left of the afternoon to freshen oneself for the evening "elegant casual" or optional "formal" dress requirements after 6:00 pm in all public indoor spaces. Once you disembark and are thrown off the bus at a deserted airport with no sense of where to wait and nowhere to sit, the bloom fades from the rose. I must say, that once we boarded Regent's charter Atlas 767 airplane, we were treated perfectly. The employees of Atlas were wonderful and all seats equally fine business class accommodations. I personally will never return to French Polynesia because their International airport is a disaster and caused us great stress as well as physical pain after standing without information for almost two hours. The French equivalent of inspection is antiquated and elderly people had to remove shoes, belts, watches, suspenders, etc. Read Less

This was my longest ever cruise, at 15 nights aboard the Emerald Princess. I got to be reacquainted with the good, so-so, and bad in the 2+ weeks. Embarkation was a nightmare. The inbound arrival was 5 hours late in disembarking. Check in actually stopped, as they had no place to put anymore people without violating the capacity for the fire escapes. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles vendor staff made very few announcements, and what was mad was in that condescending and shouting tone on the PA. After 3 hours of waiting, we boarded to find they didn't keep the dining room open, and that pushed everyone to the buffet. The captain apologized and issued all of us a voucher for $12.00. Being a Panama Canal cruise in early December, the median age was in the 70s. This is either good or bad, depending on your perspectives. The pools were never full, plenty of deck chairs, and never a line for dinner after 700pm! There were plenty of underused spaces on board, so finding a place to chill and relax was NEVER a problem. The Emerald Princess hides her 3000+ guests very well. The Sanctuary up front never seemed to have more than 10 people, regardless of the time of day. The rate is $20 for a half day, and $40 for a full. Great service and the staff will move you from sun to shade as you wish. Princess needs to fix the dreaded nylon curtain situation in the showers. My curtain had mold growing on the bottom. It was addressed immediately and replaced. Crown Grill was excellent, and worth the $29 upcharge in my opinion. The filet mignon was almost butter smooth to cut through! Service was spot on, with the waiter and maitre d checking in frequently. We had anytime dining, and had no issue getting a table for 2, or sharing. If we had a time factor to consider for a show, we let the waiter know in the beginning, and always made it out on time. The cruise staff was great, and truly seemed to enjoy their jobs! On a side note, this cruise did not push BINGO BINGO BINGO every hour like some lines (you know who they are)! [ ] There was a medical emergency on board after leaving Cartagena. Early in the morning a request was made for guests with a certain blood type and donor card to give blood. Mid morning the captain advised we would be diverting to Kingston, Jamaica and offload the ill person. About 2 hours later it was announced their situation was critical and they would be evacuated by helicopter. The crew was excellent on how this was handled! They had obviously trained for this before. Disembarking was rather painless in Ft. Lauderdale. Many were worried about a repeat of embarkation, which didn't happen. I purposely waited to write my review of this for a few days and let my thoughts and views not be so negative. Sadly, it wasn't the standard that I hold of Princess. It was obvious towards the end of the cruise when the staff started mentioning the guest comment cards and reviews. I don't believe in that type of implicit bias. I would have to think a little harder before I would sail on the Emerald Princess again. Read Less

Our 20th cruise with Princess, 20 days on the Crown in January/Feburary 2019, was one of the three best we’ve taken with this line, thanks to the creative activity and entertainment options on board. (You can read my review here on CC). Our 21st Princess cruise, through the Panama Canal December 3-18, was, on board at least, pretty much the worst. We felt like second-class citizens because of the way we were coerced and manipulated by the cruise line and its employees. The problem: we chose late-sitting dinner at 7:30 p.m., which meant if we wanted to see the main Theatre show, we had to do so at 6:45, which meant getting ready for the evening earlier, which meant eliminating the advantage of eating later. To add insult to injury, the post-theatre amusements we so enjoyed on our winter Crown Princess cruise – when they showed up at all – were scheduled before nine p.m., meaning we could stop eating and go, or just not see these shows at all. The solution: “eat in the buffet or go to Anytime Dining;” in other words, change my evening arrangements to suit Princess and, I’m thinking, save the company money. Well, no thanks. I can find other cruise lines where this nonsense is absent. But wait, could I find out before final payment date what the show times will be? In a word, no: all decided a few weeks before sailing, on board, not by head office. Good old Princess couldn’t have designed a better way to alienate later diners if it worked on it for months. Anyone who dined at 6:15 or later was similarly afflicted. But back to the cruise. Only one of the six ports – San Juan del Sur – was new to us, but we took Princess tours at all but Puerto Vallarta. Detailed information about these excursions was sorely lacking; neither, on a ship filled with seniors, was there nearly enough information, on board or on line, about the walking challenges of the various tours. The tours themselves were as expected: some pretty good, some very good. By the end of the cruise, hordes of passengers were sneezing and coughing, in part the result of going from buses cooled below 70F to the outdoors with temps and humidity near 90. Back on board, the food was hit or miss. The World Fresh Marketplace (aka Horizon Court) has been reorganized, for better or worse being debatable. The pizza, Salty Dog burgers and ice cream bar continue their good quality and service. In our dining room (Botticelli), appetizers and desserts were excellent, but main courses ranged from pretty good to pretty bad, as in too dry, overcooked, or too bland. Service in the eating places, bars and lounges was excellent; our room steward, as usual, was a gem. Entertainment was like the food: hit and miss, but generally mediocre. The seven-piece Princess Orchestra was outstanding, as was singalong crooner Kory Simon. But the production shows featured some poor casting in tired productions. The “fly-in” entertainers were, on average, not of the quality one would expect. (Or maybe I’m wrong on that: Princess offered cabin fares below $1,000 for this cruise; you do tend to get what you pay for. The Cruise Director (whose name escapes me) was at least an accomplished actress, deftly playing the role of clueless airhead. Her staff did most of the work while she mostly told very bad jokes. Daily activities showed almost none of the creativity or interest we found on our previous Princess cruise; trivia and bingo headed the daily list. An enrichment speaker did well presenting facts anyone could find online. So, overall, a disappointment, particularly for veteran cruisers like us. If we can’t be sure we won’t be treated like second-class citizens on this line, we’ll give up the free laundry and cruise with other companies. Read Less

We picked this cruise for the South Pacific ports. Captain Tuvo was outsatanding - very friendly with a great sense of humor. His attitude was reflected throughout the crew. We had a mini-suite which was good, except for the love seat. We really enjoyed the extra room and balcony. The bath tub is a nice extra.Anytime dining worked very well for us, with good service in both dining rooms. Entertanment was good, but we missed the big production shows Princess used to have. We would have liked to had more educational type lectures on the many sea days. The entertainment in the Piazza was generally good, but the seating is very limited. Overall the cruise was very good except for a horrible experience with a Princess shore excursion in Somoa. The Island Drive and Tafatafa Beach excursion in Apia was not as advertised but the really bad part was the condition of the bus and the poor driving. Disembarkation was handled very well, There were a few delays but that was caused by Immigration, over which Princess had no control. We will try to sail with Captain Tuvo again. Read Less

I love cruises with lots of sea days so we picked this one for that reason along with the fact we had not yet visited the South Pacific islands (Samoa, French Polynesia). Pros: - Captain Tuvo. Of all our cruises I have never met a more perfect captain for a cruise ship. He was always very informative about activities and ship movements but even more so he was out and about constantly talking to people. One shipmate said he even stopped by her ribbon lei craft class and helped show her how to make the lei. - our aft suite cabin. Except for a few minor issues this was a great cabin with a fantastic steward, Rollie. Perfect for long sea days with warm, not hot, temperatures. Fully covered balcony. D737. - Club Class dining. This was our first experience with that and we enjoyed it quite a bit. We got to know the group that waited in this area and they were all great. Almost like having traditional seating but with the option of anytime dining. You got to know the staff much better and they knew you and your preferences. The made to order dish options that came with that service were almost always the best choice for that meal. (Mostly pastas and desserts). - Crafts. They had them almost every sea day and even some port days. I like the new SeaCraft concept of showing you a free new craft with a small kit but then selling small and large boxed kits for you to take with you to continue. I do wish they had a more difficult craft like macrame or crocheting that they taught over multiple days. It would work well on a long cruise like this. But all in all I enjoyed what they had. - Specialty dining. As always, Crown Grill was great. We also had the Crab Shack with King Crab legs. So much I couldn’t finish although I really wanted to. We will choose this again whenever offered, just bring a big appetite! - Pizza and Fresh French Fries. In port they didn’t serve club lunch so the pizza and fries on deck were my goto. So, so good. The trick with the fries is to ask for freshly fried fries and that you will gladly wait. Lots of people do this I found while on this cruise. - Deck bar. The one in the indoor pool area. The bartender would see us coming at certain times and have our regular drinks ready by the time we got there. Very impressive! Crew - no issues and most of them were friendly and helpful. Tours - no issues as we pretty much did our own thing in all ports. Cons: - Cabin issues. Main issue was the sofa/sleeper bed we were using as a sofa. Something was wrong, it was hard to sit in. We called them immediately and about 2-3 days later an engineer type person showed up and managed to level out the seating but it still was too low and stiff. We were able to use it but just not comfortable. Minor issue was one day at sea I was out on the balcony when all these “shavings” started blowing in from above. Got on me and in my drink. I called Rollie and he had it stopped and explained they were working on the deck above. It was cleaned up on my balcony by Rollie. It didn’t happen again. Weird they did it on a sea day. Just not thinking, I guess. Second minor issue was they did some sort of blackout test which took away the mid elevators for about two hours just as we returned from port...bad timing. But then we lost both AC and lights in our cabin for about 4 hours. Not good in a 90 degree port. Later we had another light loss same day as we returned to our cabin. It was fixed in about 30 minutes. These were minor in that they were resolved in a reasonable time with minimal impact. Just annoying. Food - Horizon cafe. We hardly used it because it was rarely good. The only things I had that were reasonable were some sautéed fish dishes and various burger patties/meatballs. Those both were seasoned well. Oh, and string beans one day. The rest was pretty bland and I eventually stopped going. Too bad, they used to be pretty good. Activities on sea days - hit and miss. No culinary shows, imo. Just a few piazza demos of drinks and chocolate making, bad location as minimal seating. One outdoor ice carving demo. What I missed was where the chefs would demonstrate cooking in a big venue. What they did do was a big show on the last sea day where it was mostly a scripted comedy and song and dance with minimal cooking. Not the same at all. Also, they could have offered classes beyond ukulele (already did that on Hawaii cruise) that spanned the four weeks. They did offer Spanish lessons but I know Spanish so not for me. This is somewhat minor as I brought my own activities but it would have been nice to have more group social class options available. I’ve noticed that this is becoming more of an issue as the years go by, cutting down on ship sponsored activities. Read Less

We chose this twice a year itinerary because we wanted to see Hawaii and French Polynesia. The Star is older but clean and a manageable size. Our obstructed view 8th deck cabin was conveniently located, and we had a pretty good view. I have to say that my husband is a picky eater so we chose the Horizon Court more than the dining room. When we went to the DR, the service was good. Entertainment: good comedians, OK singers. The entertainment staff were mostly English as a second language speakers and this negatively affected some communication and particularly the trivia questions, which were often awkwardly structured. But...Captain Bye Bye! We’ve never experienced a captain that mingled with the masses like Capt. Tuvo. He established a good rapport from day one. Each day he was out and about SPEAKING with the passengers. We looked forward to his noon reports each day, which he’d finish with: “Nevertheless, Bye Bye!” We enjoyed all the ports except, surprisingly, Papeete. It was dirty and heavily trafficked. It was the only port we wished we had less time, but it was the longest, probably due to resupplying. Would I do the same itinerary again? Yes, but I’d probably choose more independent tours. Read Less

We have been on Star Princess before, and to Tahiti before, and combining the two as we did to celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary seemed ideal. Sadly it was not. The food on Princess has deteriorated so much I can't even explain it. We ate in the main dining room only three times. On the first occasion one person returned their main course.... on the second three people returned their main course, and on the last occasion two people returned their main course. I have never been on a cruise where even one main course has been returned before. The menu has been reduced to such a level, starters including five bits of melon in a syrup, and one entrée I noticed was fajitas!!!! - in a dining room on a top cruise line. The buffet had quite a bit of choice, not all of it needed or necessary. Some staff were surly. A lady buffet steward was standing behind a counter full of bread rolls and I asked for two of the long ones. She said... the buffet over there is open now. I only want two rolls I said, nothing doing to them.. sorry madam... the buffet over there is open. So I went "over there" found a person in charge, brought him back to the counter and in two seconds had my bread rolls and walked away... WHY. Room service was something else. Most times we had a cabin breakfast (which was usually one of the port days when we had an excursion) the breakfast was fine, but not always. On three nights the main dining menu, and the food in the Horizon court (on one evening centred around German sausage) provided nothing for us so we went back to the cabin and ordered peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You would think this was impossible to mess up. No sireeee… ask for strawberry jam, you got raspberry, ask for brown bread and you got white, ask for 2 jugs of hot water and you got one, ask for four teabags and you got three. I kept an evening stole that creased easily over the dressing table chair, and one day when the bedding was changed it vanished. I thought the steward had swept it up with his laundry, but a search did not find it, then a couple of days later the steward asked me more about it. He said "in one of the waste bins in one of these cabins, he had seen something with like "dot dot dots" all over it... this I presumed was the dull metallic sequins on the stole. He had seen it in a bin, but not thought any more about it and thrown it away. At least Princess credited me the modest cost of this item. Two cocktails were around $23. I have discovered even I have a limit for not buying something I enjoy. We treated ourselves occasionally, and the first two margaritas we had were wonderful. On the first occasion the margarita was the cocktail of the day, so reduced, and this is what I asked for.... got a lovely cocktail, enjoyed it so much, asked for another the next day. This one came the same, and when I checked the bill had been charged the same, so on the first occasion my request for cocktail of the day had been ignored, but I let this pass. On the third occasion I bought these cocktails the guy just merrily tipped in the sour mix and syrup things (two different items), and halfway through the cocktails we realised they were wrongly made and quite sickly, but didn't bother to take them back at that point, although I did write to the front desk saying with cocktails so expensive they need to ensure strict quality control. Never even got an answer to that. Checked our bill each week and the second week somebody had had a quarter bottle of wine in Skywalkers bar, and it was on our bill. We never drank in that bar, but when I pointed it out to front desk they asked me "are you sure you never had it".....as if I would lie about $11. I did wonder how this had happened as now Princess do not give you receipts, as your card is digitally scanned. Later in the cruise I realised that serving staff look at the number on your card and remember it, inputting it manually, rather than scanning the card itself. Of course it just takes a seconds distraction for them to get two numbers mixed up, etc. and I wonder how many people checked their bill for this type of thing. Those I called the Crispy Critters, who thought a deeper shade of mahogany was a desirable tan colour, hogged sun-beds with the use of those plastic towel pets, which went on before 9am and stayed on all day. Crew never moved them even if the beds were empty for a couple of hours. Both my husband and I came back very poorly, seeking doctors advice the first day home. I understand from ship's gossip, that the chesty/throaty infection we got was doing the rounds of the ship from when it left Hawaii. My husband went to the Doctor which cost $250 (when it is a shipboard infection why should you have to pay?) The medicine he gave him did no good. One thing he gave him was a bottle of cough medicine, the same one of which was available in the ship's general shop for $7 less than he was charged. I didn't bother going as he was not impressed with the help he got. At some point in the voyage it was announced the ship had cases of Noro Virus. Not surprising, I saw buffet staff sweeping crumbs off tables with used napkins, and they wiped the tables with a wet j-cloth, leaving them soaking wet but probably not much cleaner. One show, The British Invasion, has been doing the rounds on Carnival Company ships for YEARS. We don't cruise every year and this was the third time we would have seen it had we gone. Entertainment was fair to middling, with some good acts and some mediocre. They had a duo who played violin and piano very well, and they performed in the piazza area every day, maybe three times a day. The first week was original, and they were good, but one got bored with the little joke of the pianist playing "chicken dance" and the violinist's little tricks of stopping, or speeding up, etc. Not only that, but if you wanted a cup of coffee in the piazza when they were on, forget it... people claimed seats up to 30 minutes before the show, which lasted maybe 30 or 45 minutes. Other original things they used the piazza for was racing wooden horses by the throw of a dice, beanbag tossing... and oh yes, just behind the piazza in the lift area they played "elevator roulette" when those really bored could bet on which elevator door opened first. The best show they had was the traditional dancing show they brought on board in Papeete. The pizza shop was mediocre unless you were lucky and got a freshly cooked slice. Princess achieved what I would have thought impossible and managed to combine the two most inedible things you can have on a pizza, burned cheese, and cold cheese. Burger bar was good, food was hot. Ice cream Sundae counter was fine, but frequently ran out of some of the sugar free versions of the ice cream. Ports of call, were fine, sometimes the ship was a way out, sometimes not. In Honolulu a taxi back from the centre of town cost us $24. Because we thought the two Samoan ports, Pago Pago and Apia, would not be that used to tourism, we took Princess excursions. These were over-priced for the content and disappointing. At the Tahitian Ports we did our own thing every time, and had a great time. We took a disembarkation tour of Los Angeles, visiting Santa Monica. This was good value and very interesting and the content was good. The only problem was they had the starting time as 0750. I know they want you off the boat early, but surely they could have given you a bit longer. Once on the tour the courier checked everybody's flight times, and it transpired that, even given the tour's normal time, one couple had been booked on who really should not have, as our arrival back at the airport was very tight for their check in time. Maybe this was why the other 50 of us had to have such an early start. Possibly the tour would have been a tad less rushed as well without this pressure. The captain was a wonderful people person. Put himself about the ship several times a day just on a walk through, but you got the impression he really cared about how Princess passengers enjoyed their cruise. My husband and I are vegetarian, which I add to be fair. Some days in Horizon Court there was nothing at all we could eat for lunch, unless you just wanted vegetables, which is why the pizza and burger place (veggie burgers)got used a bit more than they should have. Princess have had in the past the best itineraries and durations out of all the cruise lines, and whilst we enjoyed this cruise I have to stay we did it in spite of Princess, not because of them. We certainly did not come back "new" far from it, because we were fit and healthy when we joined the ship, and $250 richer for the doctor's fee. Sorry Princess, enjoyed the itinerary, hated the ship. Read Less

We had planned this cruise for several months and this was the longest cruise and the largest ship we've ever been on to date. We were disappointed in the basic fact that there is very little benefit in being Elite on Princess when it comes to a trip like this one. First complaint, Elite gets a FREE liquor setup. The same liquor setup whether you are on a 4 day cruise or a 30 day cruise, geez, can they afford it??? What are your benefits? Free laundry, that's about it. I firmly believe that they cater to people that are in a suite and care less about everyone else on the ship. Kind of a reflection of the Titanic era where the suite people were treated like royalty ad everyone else was steerage.Once you are there, they could care less. All they care about is extracting as much money as they can while you are on board. The ports were definitely too small to handle to quantity of passengers delivered to them. Trying to dump 3000 elderly passengers in a port, via tender on top of it, in a town that has a population of less than the passenger population. I watched in horror over 2000 people standing line to get on the tenders for 3 hours in Lahaina, unacceptable. Answer was that there was another boat in port and they couldn't handle the traffic. Food was OK but had many of the same items, difficult to get something different. We managed to find a couple of very nice servers in the dining room and frequented their section which made that part of the trip much better. Also disappointed they had cancelled their happy hour in the Wheelhouse where you received a 2 for 1 drink of your choice. We were told it was cancelled because they were losing money. Simple math tells you it's impossible for them to lose money since everything is overpriced. I will mention that the ship's captain (Michele Tuvo) was definitely an asset to the cruise. One day, I ran into him on 8 separate occasions, he was always walking around the ship and taking care of business. We started cruising in 1977, we were on The original Love Boat 3 times and have been on over 70 cruises. Read Less

As a frequent cruiser, I tend to expect a lot. I travel on various cruise lines and am on Princess at least half of the time. The service and food on this ship was noticeably superior. Ship management and staff should be congratulated. Attentive wait staff and overall food venues were exceptionally good. Pastry,bread,soup, buffet, dining room presentations were available and at the right temperatures etc. We choose this cruise to get away for a while and the itinerary was perfect for that. The ship handled the long sea days well and was about the right size for a 28 day trip. The ship is scheduled for a facelift which should make the experience even nicer. Keep it up Princess and we will be back! Shore excursions were good but like most ships, the price seems to go up along with drink prices. Overall, it was a memorable experience. Most passengers were very happy with the cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and met several cruisers who had been on this same cruise 3-10 times. I'd never been to Hawaii, Samoa, or the South Seas islands of Tahiti, Moorea or Bora Bora, so this was a big thrill for me. Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze. It probably helped that we were some of the last people on (2:30pm) and off (10:30am). With a 28 day cruise, there aren't many children and we perhaps saw 15 under 20. A few things to address that I read comments on in prior reviews: there were three evening shows - 6:30pm, 8pm and 10pm. They were packed (particularly the two earliest shows), but still, if you really wanted to go, you could. You just go early and get a seat (many did and brought something to read) or go to the late show. There were plenty of lounge chairs. We could always find two together. There was plenty of room to sit and eat in the buffet. Sometimes you'd have to not sit at a window or sit with others, but you could always find a seat. There was plenty of activities to keep you busy all the time. We enjoyed the Enrichment lectures, Tai Chi, football games on the big screen, World Series games, movies, working out in the gym, checking out makeup and facial tips, trivia games, Pop Choir, Voice of the Ocean, Talent show ------etc., etc. There was a band that played familiar tunes you could listen to by the pool or dance to in the evening. They always had great energy and played a wide variety of music. I must say tho that the female singer frequently sang flat and so sort of butchered some songs. The lead male was pretty good and very energetic. Princess varied events so that you might have ballroom dancing one hour in one room, then the next hour might be a trivia game, then back to dancing, then something else. There were two great hardwood floors - which we really liked to dance on - even tho the one at the stern frequently moved with the ocean waves and sometimes felt like your feet were not below you. The staff were just friendly, always helpful, and called me Madame. I loved that. Dining - some people complained and I understand now what they were talking about. The quality was excellent; it's just the choices were sometimes odd. We ate in the Horizon buffet almost exclusively. They frequently served lamb, duck, various kinds of fish, bok choy, had two German nights with bratwurst, sauerkraut, stuffed fish, etc. We don't care to sit for hours in the dining room, but just about every afternoon, I'd check the dinner menu and 9 times out of 10, there was nothing that would draw me in to want to go eat there anyway (Frog legs? Duck? Pheasant?). Sometimes even the 1st course items were just..........odd. Cold soups, odd salad combos, just weird stuff. Now, my husband isn't as picky as me and loved the fact that there were tons of different kinds of choices. And believe me, I never starved. Loved their oatmeal. Creamy good. Always salads, breads, a carved meat, a hot dessert (as well as many others), variety of cheeses, etc. Ports - we did our own thing. I rented cars on the Big Island, Kauai, and Tahiti. They were around $50 each and first two had unlimited mileage. Budget picked us up at the cruise terminal and brought us to the airports where we got our cars. We drove to the Volcano Natl Park (don't forget your Senior Natl Park pass - it'll save you $50). On Kauai, we drove up to the north coast as far as we could and both were quite doable in the time we had. On Tahiti, Hertz was there to get us at the port, but Expedia failed to tell me they would do that - and we went to the airport via bus. It took a lot of time. That being said, we drove from Papeette to Teahupoo (Tahiti-iti) and back in 4 hrs. Small islands. Tahiti was neat in that we docked right in town, could walk around for a few hours, go back on the ship for lunch, then back out. There's a beautiful walk along the malecon of gardens. When we got off the ship, there were vendors there for Moorea offering tours for the following day. In Moorea, there were basically the same three vendors all selling essentially the same thing - unlimited beach time at a private beach, a 1/2 hr snorkel with the rays and sharks, and fresh fruit and water/punch at the beach for $50pp. You could stay all day or a few hours. We stayed about 5 hrs. Moorea is GORGEOUS. Sales pitches - as with any cruise, you get these. Mail with champagne parties at art auctions, the jewelry store, photos, etc. Easy to throw out. Some of the talks during the day (like Learn about Acupuncture) were really an attempt to get you to sign up for treatments. But, again, you can always walk away. Didn't care for the Spa personnel always being at our elevators just waiting to write your name down for a massage or something - but, you can say hi and walk on by. Did not participate in the rip off Art Auctions nor buy expensive jewelry. Oh - I was told by the front desk that my onboard credit would not apply to tips, but it does. The tips are just a debit on your account and the credit is a credit. So, it goes towards any charge on your ship account. All in all - we had a wonderful time and felt that Princess did a great job having to please 3000 passengers. My cabin review is below. Very few complaints. Read Less

I initially chose the cruise for the dates and the aft patio stateroom availability, which was taken from me. I booked the room and after they charged my american express card and sent me the info, they had assigned a room to us that we did not book. That was very disheartening. When i called them about it they said it was an "upgrade". They said that there was nothing i could do about it and since they already charged my amex, what could i do? The ship was in surprisingly good shape for its age. The staff as usual was great. The entertainment director was super proud to be gay with a young husband and continually let us all know it, that was getting old. Otherwise he and his team did a reasonably good job for the 28 day cruise. The food seemed super duper salty and i had never spent so much time in the restrooms. Had to visit the infirmary and they did a great job for a reasonable price. The DR told us he was going to provide a referral letter for an MRI, but never did. The spa was a huge let down. The mens area was terribly neglected. The steam room had tons of mens hair on the walls that had obviously been there for a while.... There were no shoes in the mens room and after my super brief visit there, my feet itched the whole time until i bought some athletes foot powder in Hilo. Gym was really nice, dining was really good and again, the staff do an amazing job. Hats off to all of them. Read Less

Wanted to see the Samoa Islands and the French Polynesia islands. The exit to the Club Fusion Lounge were blocked by Bingo sign ups and people could not exit Club Fusion. Bad set up! Also using the Piazza for events is totally unacceptable. People standing on all levels of the stairways make it so unsafe If just one person missteps, they would take down dozens of others. The Piazza is just way too small for events. No seating and folks using the stairs to watch. There was only one Emergency Drill before we left port. Unorganized by crew. Lifejackets were not worn and guests took much too long to assemble. The very large scooters drove way to fast on the passage ways on the Promenade Deck. Since many areas are blocked by selling merchandise, people walking, scooters, walkers for handicapped folks, etc. all trying to maneuver around all the merchandise displays and tables. AGAIN UNSAFE!!! We are Platinum Members and would like to see these areas of unsafe conditions remedied. Would appreciate a feedback from Princess executives. Thank you!! Read Less

The Hawaii islands were as green and pretty as ever, but I didn't see any rainbows due to the overcast clouds. A tour took us to the lava fields on the big island where we walked on a lava field which was laid down back in June. When were told it was a recent flow it was a surprise! I was on a bus trip to Hilo Hattie's which filled my needs for buying trinkets. After stops on Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui we had 4 sea days to reach Pango Pango. another day to reach Apia, Samoa. We finally got to French Polynesia which was on my bucket list. The people on islands were so happy to greet us. The island of Moorea was everything I had wanted to experience. A tour on the glass bottom boat was outstanding - don't miss it. This 28 day cruise was a real chance to experience a variety of all the dining venues. The shows were very good and the lectures were presented by experts on the islands we visited.The 8 sea days gave me a chance to relax. I met new friends on my morning coffee in the Elite Lounge, where a wide choice of beverages is available along with fresh out of the oven pastries.My disembarking at San Pedro was the easiest ever. My best cruise so far. Read Less

My wife chose this cruise because of the 28 day length and the island destinations south of Hawaii. We have been on 4 previous Princess cruises but this added more to see compared to a previous Hawaiian cruise. The ship is very nice and as it turned out some of the machines in the casino were very generous. I actually came out ahead. Thanks Princess for your generosity. The buffet was adequate but the dinner plates always seemed a lot hotter than the food was. We haven't done formal dining for a few cruises now. Why go on a vacation and dress up? I can't think of anything about this cruise that wasn't nice although after a number of days the constant humidity gets to you if you're not used to it. As far as I am concerned if people have a lot of complaints about this cruise it is probably because they are the type that look for something to complain about. Like mentioning a .4 mile walk to have coffee? C'mon! Read Less

Choose this cruise for a few reasons. First didn’t have to fly which was great then for the destinations. Wife and I took cruises before but this was First with Princess, it was ok, different from others. Have to admit that our experience was better with Royal Caribbean, food selection, cabin and buffet layout , entertainment and theatre. Cabin was small, shower curtain was smelly and had to have it change. Balcony was large that was great. Steward was good. Dinning room (anytime dining) was very good, staff was smiling and courteous every night. Maître D (George)was moving to sit people the best he could accommodate request. Lectures throughout the were very pleasant and informative. Nightly band Pinnacle was very very good, thank god cause the entertainment in the theatre most was average. Theater for nightly show was small for the number of cruisers(3000) space was good for the 10pm show only... Overall we had a good cruise. Read Less

I always wanted to visit French Polynesia and this turned out to be an excellent way to see Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, and Samoa. We also got to visit Hawaii again. We had a wonderful time from start-to-finish with no complaints at all. Everything was great - food, service, ports, and the ship. We always book a mini-suite mid-ship or near mid-ship aft. Love having all the extra room, and a comfortable sofa, and a larger bathroom and balcony. Candido kept our cabin spotless. Really enjoyed the Crown Grill (went twice as the Filet Mignon was out of this world) and Share's six-course-dinner was divine. Ate most of our breakfasts and dinners in the main dining room, but went occasionally to the breakfast buffet. It was always good, but we preferred the great service in the main dining rooms. We're avid theatergoers and felt the entertainment was very good. We only booked three excursions during the 28 day trip, as we prefer planning and doing our own thing in port. We rented cars on Bora Bora and Tahiti, which worked out perfectly and was actually less expensive than excursions that can be crowded and rushed. We felt this cruise was worth EVERY single penny! Read Less

We saved up quite a while for this dream vacation of a lifetime on Princess Cruise Lines. We were very disappointed in our balcony stateroom and even more disappointed in the lack of response from Princess Cruise Limes customer service and passenger services. When booking our cruise and choosing our balcony stateroom, we selected a top floor (Lido 15th floor) balcony room at the front of the ship. When selecting our room, you select the room you are requesting and a picture pops up of what the room looks like. It showed a typical room with a balcony with the blue tinted plexiglass wall on the balcony. When we arrived on board the ship and went to our room, we discovered that it did not have the transparent plexiglass wall on the balcony, but it had a white painted metal wall instead. Our dreams of waking up in the morning with the curtains open and being able to see the ocean from our bed were dashed. Having coffee out on the balcony in the morning sitting in the chairs watching the ocean was also impossible. Having a romantic dinner catered out to our private balcony as they advertised? Not an option unless you think sitting in a metal box is romantic. There are 2 balcony rooms with this metal box configuration out of the 900 balcony rooms that are on the Emerald. These 2 rooms (L201 and L202) cost just the same as the others in their category, but they should be highly discounted due to their lack of visibility. There should be some kind of designation or remark in the description of these 2 rooms when you are choosing state rooms. We met the couple that was in L202 during dinner one night, and they were just as disappointed as we were in our balcony room. They have cruised 56 times and this was their first Princess cruise, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Let me just say that they were NOT impressed with Princess. They also complained to passenger services and customer care and they at least got a phone call and a letter. Neither one of us would have chosen the balcony room that we did if we had known that there was little visibility from our balconies. We immediately went to passenger services to complain about our room/balcony. Passenger services promised that we would receive a letter delivered to our stateroom no later than the following night. Well, the cruise was over yesterday, and we are still waiting! On the 3rd day of the cruise, I used some of my Internet minutes on board and emailed corporate customer care. I got an automated message verifying my letter and said that they would respond to complaints in the order that they were received. It has been 28 days, and I am still waiting. We have earned Platinum status with Princess and have not had issues on the 10 previous cruises. Apparently Princess does not believe in customer service or customer loyalty. We also had another issue with Passenger services. My wife forgot to take her watch off when getting into the pool and set it on the bench at the side of the pool when she got in. Five minutes after getting out of the pool, she remembered her watch on the bench, but someone had already picked it up and taken it to passenger services. My wife went to passenger services to retrieve her watch within 30 minutes. Passenger services said that they didn't have the watch. Over the next several hours, she called passenger services 2 times about the watch, and was told that they did not have the watch. Finally after finding the woman who turned in the watch and having her come with my wife to passenger services to get her watch back.....it magically appeared. The watch had been there all along and much stress could have been avoided if they were doing their job. Not sure what happened, but it was the same passenger services person that was involved with this fiasco as well. Other than these 2 issues, we had a good cruise. The room/balcony was quite the downer, but we made the best of it. We had fabulous dinners with excellent staff and service in the Michelangelo dining room every night. Francesco the head waiter was the best by far that we have ever had. Food was great but the menus were totally out of date. Recommended wines in the menu were not available, and some items were not available. We were told that they were waiting to print new menus. The horizon court was typical buffet food. More on quantity rather on quality. I think that their food quality has gone down hill a little in the last year or so. Some of the quality of the food in the dining room was also not up to previous cruises. Things like the quality of the beef cuts of meat and the size and quality of the lobster were not up to par. One thing that Princess has changed that I believe really cost them a bunch of profit was the discontinuing with happy hour in the lounges. On previous cruises, during happy hour the lounges were packed with standing room only. Now you can rarely find anyone in the lounges unless there is an exciting entertainment venue, and hardly anyone is ordering drinks. I bet that the liquor profit for Princess is WAY down due to this decision. The entertainment in the theatre was pretty good, with some entertainers that we have seen on prior cruises. Our entertainment director, Alexander, and his staff were amazing. Our room steward Frankie was great. Couldn't have asked for anything more from him. Our room was always spotless and all needs were eagerly met. Hawaiian islands were great as always. THe south pacific islands were amazing. Bora Bora is as beautiful as the pictures in the magazines make it look. Moorea was too. Samoa islands were beautiful. We were a little disappointed with Tahiti as the port city was just like any other big city. Should have done an excursion and got out of the city. Probably will not do this long of a cruise again and not with Princess. We had been happy with Princess cruise lines up to now and have earned platinum status. We were excited to earn Elite status and cruise with Princess exclusively. We now are going to try some other cruise lines after the lack of customer service that Princess gave us this last cruise. Read Less

We're pretty savvy on Princess, having sailed with them multiple times, previously. My impression is that service is excellent (i.e., if they're having a bad day, it rarely shows). Add to that, now, the excellent and dedicated Medical Staff. 7 days into our 28 day cruise, my wife became ill with a kidney stone which refused to pass; her pain was extreme! For two days, we were in and out of the Medical Center at all hours, as they made her comfortable and gave her anti-spasmodic medication, in the hopes the stone would pass. Finally, the day before we reached Maui (the last stop in Hawai'i for this cruise), the doctor suggested that we pack our suit cases that afternoon, because, IF she had to return that night due to extreme pain, without passing the stone, we would need to be medically disembarked the next day. That night, we had to return, and she was admitted as an inpatient, and the next morning, there was an ambulance waiting at the tender port to take her to the hospital. The care we received on board was both compassionate and efficient, and the communication with the ambulance team (a nurse accompanied us on the tender, to hand her off to the ambulance) as well as the hospital Emergency Room was excellent. Because they recognized their limitations, we were able to procure care in the USA (hint: they accept Medicare and supplemental insurance), and we are so thankful that we purchased travel insurance (they were most helpful in arranging flights home, etc.). The only glitch in the system was that the shore agent in Maui wasn't especially helpful, but in all honesty, she likely doesn't have to deal with these situations often. We are scheduled to be on the Emerald Princess again in 2019, and feel very comfortable that, in the unlikely event a health issue comes up, we are in excellent and caring hands. Read Less

Overall good experience with mini-suite D120 in forward part of Emerald Princess.. Had a round trip walk of .4 mile to International cafe each morning for coffee and similar walk to Michaelangelo dining room at dinner. Good exercise. Ship could use some updating. Tahiti was a disappointment, i.e., seedy. Moorea was the best port of all. If I had a "do over" I would take ferry from Tahiti to Moorea after docking in Tahiti and spend night there and pick up ship when it docked in Moorea. Friendly staff, excellent enrichment lectures. Wished they had a stir fry operation. Food and service in dining rooms was excellent. We were anytime dining. Staff was eager to please. Liked the bathtub in mini suite. Entertainment was excellent (singers, dancers, comedians. Had to get to theater half hour before start time to get good seat, i.e, crowded which says something about the quality of the entertainment. Read Less

Having tried Seabourn's Odyssey last December in the Caribbean, we were blown away by how fabulous it was. We like sea days, and decided to try the Sojourn's 18 day LA-Hawaii-Tahiti cruise. We had some trepidation, because we thought our wonderful experience the first time around might have been a one-off. No worries. This was even better. This talented crew knocks themselves out for you. They want nothing more than to please you. Food, service, attention to detail, you name it. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give them a 22. It's difficult to believe a trip could be this good. Officers and cruise staff that remember your name from the very first day; interesting lectures (retired chief engineer of the space shuttle, as an example); Food and Beverage officers and staff that can't do enough for you; and the list goes on. You can't walk 10 feet without someone offering you champagne or a drink. Truly delicious food, the best we've ever had at sea, and with only 450 passengers we thought it rivaled fine restaurants ashore. We can't imagine ever taking another cruise line, and we're already booked on the Odyssey's Caribbean/transatlantic in March/April 2019. Kudos and high fives all around to Seabourn and the staff onboard the Sojourn Read Less

We chose this cruise because we’ve always wanted to go to the South Pacific. It did not disappoint at all. We would definitely do this cruise again. We would like to try it on another ship. The Emerald Princess was in good shape. Most of the crew were very friendly and helpful. The food was just average. The worst thing about this cruise was how crowded it was when trying to go to anything. They did the shows sometime three times a night and you still had to go minimum an hour early to see one and still you might not get a seat. We could not get in to a few shows at all and had to watch one standing in the hall! It was unbelievable. Same thing at the Horizon Court on port days, lines down the hall to get in. They only opened one side and it’s a small area. “Share” the restaurant was underwhelming. The food was average and way too expensive. Even with the above complaints this was s cruise worth going on. Read Less

cruise chosen for the ports of call. embarkation was such a disaster it is difficult to be objective regarding princess cruise line. apparently the coast guard boarded the ship prior to disembarkation, which caused a huge delay in embarkation for this cruise. unfortunately the passengers were without information, food, water and any necessary items while waiting to embark. passengers with disabilities were left to fend for themselves. the only information given during the wait was there was a delay. there was no apology or compensation for the disaster of embarkation. the theater is too small to accommodate all the passengers even in 2 seatings. the theater has 750 seats and the ship has over 3000 passengers the ports of call were great. the south pacific was as expected. hot and humid! the french polynesian countries are very expensive. the scenery is beautiful. american samoa was a pleasure. the weather was very cooperative during the cruise. Read Less

28 day cruise, food was good when first onboard but steatly down hill. From the buffet to main dining to Crown Grill. Most time the food was over cooked in the buffet, way too much food that was in my opinion over spiced, over cooked....from way too much Curry dishes, lamb, veal, when beef served was at least two days old, beef used for beef stew was from beef ribs served the night before....desserts were either diet type or just plain terrible. I lost 6 lbs on this cruise. Way too many sea days, the last leg was over 8 days, with really no intertainment , there was a few bands but during the whole cruise there was only 4 production shows. also average age on people was approx 80....seems that allot of them should have been in nursing home, needed added attention taking way normal duties. We did have a great bartender on deck 16 and in the Cigar bar. Casino was bare most of the time too...... Read Less