This was a short 3 day cruise from LA to Vancouver. It is spring break so there were lots of young people and kids onboard, many celebrating special events like birthdays. We dined in both the Crown Grill and Share and the food was great. Service in the main dining room and the food seemed the usual Princes approach. There was concern expressed by someone that since the ship is heading to dry dock in Victoria that there would be less staff and poor food supply but that was certainly not the case. The staff told us that during the 3 weeks in dry dock, their jobs continue, as they must serve the 1000 construction workers who take up residence on the ship and work 24 hrs a day to complete the dry dock tasks. The only difference is that their days are shorter. On another note, Princess has made a decision to remove all the barrel chairs from the balcony and ocean view staterooms. I find this to be a ridiculaous move as do many others. I had disussed my concern with corporate relations and was told that if I ask for chai, I will get it. Many people on Cruise Critic had indicated that they had asked their stateroom steward and had been told that a chair was not available any longer. I did not ask the steward. I went to the Passenger Service desk soon after we boarded and asked for a chair. I happily got one within 1/2 hour of asking. I do have a bit of a caveat, though.This ship is heading to dry dock and maybe the few chairs that they may have available on board right now might disappear once in dry dock. Read Less

We chose this cruise because friends of ours saw it online and wanted to go to Hawaii. We departed from San Pedro. Departure was great. Long Beach is lovely. We were on board in no time at all. Smooth sailing! Weather was not the best, very cold in California. Disembarkation was also not a problem. Princess does that well. The ship was not in top form. The hot tubs had barely any jet power and were very old - definitely time to replace them. The ship itself was fine but very dated and the furniture in the Piazza was old and torn and stained. The Explorer's lounge was actually disgusting and had stained chairs that had lost the padding in the seats. I could smell urine at times. There is very little room there and I found this true in the theatre as well. If you don't go 40 minutes before any show you won't get a seat. Still we were on a cruise so the basic run down state of the ship did not have any effect on our fun. I found the buffet to be overcrowded and we were herded into areas at different times and could never find any seats. The furniture here was old and sticky too. I did not like the vibe there. The pools were great. I was in them a lot. Clean and well kept. They were semi warm as well. Lots of room on the deck to sun. We really did not have to wait for chairs out there much at all. The entertainment staff were great. They had me laughing more than once; Cruise director Duke and Asst Director Mark were fantastic. Lots of fun. I miss them a lot. They were very interactive with the staff. Empara from Chile was so funny. She was really fun to interact with. The service was okay. Lucy in the Explorer's lounge was great. Our room Steward was good, but he looked rushed and not really too friendly. He gave good service though. The ports were amazing. I mean its Hawaii right? But Ensenada was fun too. We did a whale watch in Maui and that was fun. We did the tour of Pearl Harbour which was nice but I was not aware that it would be extra to tour Big Mo. Our cabin was not quiet. We were right under the lido - neptune pool, and next to storage mid-ship and we heard loud bangs very early and late. One night they were power washing the pool decks and it was very loud. The sideways inside rooms are wonderful though. Big, roomy and lots of storage. Overall the trip was fun. The dining rooms had good selections. The waiters were good but once again, seemed rushed. I had the overall sense that Princess is trying to cut back and even the International cafe seemed to have less choices, as did the buffet. Read Less

Excellent cruise again. Easy embarkation. Our suite was perfect. The food and service were perfect. Entertainment was top notch. Disembarking was easy and very quick. We loved being on the ocean for a total of 10 days. Really the only thing disappointing was that we were not able to get off the ship at the stop on Maui as it was by tender boat and my husband is handicapped so he was not able to get on the tender. However, we were able to watch whales and dolphins and seals from the ship which was wonderful. We received wonderful service from the staff on the ship and were always treated with extreme care and concern. The entertainment was great. The shows were Vegas quality. They are always packed but Princess does a good job setting aside seats for this disabled and their partners. We will try to do our future cruises with Princess. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the time spent sailing and for a get a way. The embarkation and disembarkation went very, vey well.The food in the dining rooms was super. Very, very good, the help was so great. Just loved our server and helper. I didn't take advantage of the entertainment but my husband and sister-in-law hit all the shows, even the small lounges and loved them all. We have been with Princess a long time and have made many trips with them and yes we would go again. We are now elite passengers and we love the extras that go along with that. Once again loved our trip as we usually do with Princess and will be sailing with you again. I also enjoyed the shopping aboard and got some very good deals. Another favorite of mine was the casino and I did very well with that too. See you on our next voyage!!! Read Less

We chose a 16 day cruise to Hawaii to celebrate my wifes 50th birthday. The ship ( Emerald) is 12 years old but it was fine for our needs. Food: The buffet had choices and always found something to eat. The 24/7 cafe is very good as was the burgers and fries by the pool. We had a great time relaxing on the sea days to / from Hawaii. Great Pizza by the pool. Movies under the stars was great and food in general was good. Always a choice of options and waiters were always happy to assist and or change dishes as needed. Wine options are not great if you like sweet wine. 5 pools to swim in and always free space and not crowded. Gym is very good and plenty of space on the decks. The sanctuary is great if you need privacy. Dining room was very good but not excellent. Shows were ok but not fantastic. Crowd was too old to go to a disco but were always happy to go line dancing etc. All staff were friendly. Room attendant was efficient and serviced our needed. Ports in Hawaii were all good. We both had a great time and would go on Princess again. Read Less

OK, first of all this is our fourth cruise, our 1st on Princess. We booked this cruise to visit four of my sisters in the Islands. We've sailed on Norwegian, Celebrity and Disney. We flew into the L.A. area a few days early and stayed at the Crown Plaza in Redondo Beach, nice hotel and staff. Nice pier to hike around with good seafood to boot. We took an uber over to the Reagan Presidential Library and enjoyed it very much. Worth checking out in beautiful Simi Valley. The Emerald Princess was going for an 18 day re-fit at the end of this cruise, and it was very much due. I will commend the vessels maint. crew for constantly painting and varnishing whenever the weather permitted. I was told the buffet dining rooms were getting a complete makeover. Also, a new medallion system would be used for passenger access. Embarkation was a breeze, well organized, everyone was very helpful. The entire process took about 20 minutes and we were in our cabin. We booked very late so the best we could do was a room (E311) with an obstructed view on Deck 8. The room was not as big as the new cruise ships, but clean and well maintained. Bathroom and shower were on the small side but what I expected on a vessel built in 2007. Our cabin attendant Nester kept the place spotless the entire voyage. Although the view was obstructed you could still see the ocean going by. On the down side, since the window doesn't open the room can get a bit stuffy at times. For lunch we ate at the Horizon Court Buffet the first couple of days. You won't starve, but just your average fare there. About the 3rd day we started having lunch at Botticelli's on Deck 6 Aft. It was set up for open seating just for lunch and the food was better. For supper we ate mainly at Michaelangelo's and Da Vinci main dining rooms. The menu's between the two really didn't change much, so after three days at sea the food was not so good. I will say they know how to cook Salmon to perfection, but after many, many Salmon suppers I won't need to eat it again for quite awhile. One item that didn't sit well with me concerning the menu was the "Side Menu" with the higher end items (Maine lobster, steaks, ect), at an additional cost. We both loved getting our morning coffee at the International Cafe on Deck 5 Piazza for a small fee. And their freshly made sandwiches and pastries were always excellent. We had "anytime" seating for the main dining rooms and almost always sat with other couples and got to visit people from all over. I would say most of the crowd on this ship were in there 70's to mid-80's. A very nice group of people, we felt young being 56 and 65. We only took two of the offered excursions because we were meeting family on two of the islands. The whale watching in the bay at Maui was great, Humpback Whales that seemed to be everywhere in that bay. It was fun! There wasn't a cruise ship dock there so we had to us the ships Tenders. Added a few minutes getting off the ship, but no big deal and it was kinda fun. We took the wine tasting excursion during our stop at Ensenada, Mexico and absolutely loved it. Well organized and very smooth. They gave us two free bottles of wine and we couldn't be happier! We only attended one show the entire trip, for about ten minutes the first or second night. We were content sipping on wine and finding cozy spots on the ship to kick back and read. We probably won't do another Princess cruise based on the food issues. We just got spoiled on Celebrity. The crew on this ship went above and beyond to make you feel at home, we especially liked the "Main Dining Room Singers"! Disembarkation was smooth, we caught an uber to John Wayne Airport, no problems! We volunteered to give up our seats and ended up staying another day in Santa Anna, so we visited the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. Another day well spent. Read Less

To see four islands and cruise the ocean blue! I wanted to relax and see Hawaii with my spouse which we did but I expected there to be professional entertainment of a much higher level. I think BINGO was too expensive and trivia got boring. I did enjoy the chef demonstrations and all of the food. The game shows were fun. The Beach Boys guitarist should stick to music and forget comedy, that was not good. The big production at the end was not impressive at all, sorry. Thank goodness our room was near the exercise equipment, but charging for Yoga is not worth going. High end on-board prices for low end receivables in my opinion. The best thing was whale watching. The worst thing was the last second cancellation of our Kauai helicopter excursion which we looked forward to for months. The best part was we were with family and not alone. Read Less

We chose this cruise to travel to Hawaii. Being our first timebto Hawaii we wanted to see more than one island. At the time of this booking Princess was the only cruise line we could find that sailed round trip from California. We had a decent time but the entertainment onboard was awful especially the Atomic Party Band. The entertainment of various classes like Spanish lessons and ukulele lessons were awesome. The cruise ports were really good but not enough time at any port accept Honolulu. An overnight stay in Honolulu would be more than perfect. The crew were friendly and nice. The Casino was tight. Not a lot of winners. More losers than winners. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze. We Boarded at 12:30pm And was able to go straight to our cabin. It was good to be able to check into our room immediately. Great way to travel to Hawaii. Read Less

An overnight at the San Pedro Double Tree made embarkation a breeze. We were onboard less than an hour after leaving on the hotel shuttle. The ship was beautiful and far exceeded my expectations as I was aware she was headed to dry dock after our cruise. Nothing in the public areas looked tired as I’ve seen on other lines that were headed to refurbishment. The food was hit or miss. Our first Dinner at Share was terrrific and encouraged us to book a second. If the food on the second night had been the first we would have not gone again. Polling of various dining companions netted about a 50/50 split on favoribility. Salty Dog was the same. We had ATD and never had much of a wait though we were happy to share. I did see people waiting who were only interested in a private table. Main Dining room food was pretty good with some real misses. Twice I ordered scallops that were seriously gritty. Food seeemed to start strong and trail off to the seemingly typical odd final night. This trip offered Sweatbreads and two mussel dishes on the last night. If you don’t eat either, makes for limited choices. The chef’s table was the best we’ve had on Princess. The experience blew us away - the creativity and the wow factor were both present and delivered an amazing meal. The shore excursions were pleasant. I didn’t find anything that knocked my socks off. During dinner after Hilo I discovered there were tours that would have been a better fit but the passengers describing them were very clear that the descriptions had not come close to matching the tour tour experience. One gentleman even went to tour services to ask they change the description to match so he would know what to expect! The casino was very friendly and paid well early in the trip. We saw several large slot payouts and talked to other big winners. We were able to play on the same cash we started with and casino money most of the trip. The last 3 days the slots tightened noticeably and the staff became appetjetic - it was nearly impossible to get a drink. The did seem to be an issue with crew hygiene as the voyage Dre to a close. There was one guy (I’ll withhold his name) that had body odor so bad it literally made you gag and it left a trail behind him. Needless to say we started limiting activities in that particular lounge. The teen program was very uneven and much was tolerated that surprised me. My child came home talking about kids vaping, swearing, openly discussing sexuality, etc. I get they are teens but somehow I was expecting a bit of positive direction to activities. There was even a physical assault (acknowledged by staff) that did not result in removal from the program for the aggressor. I do think that the environment should at least be safe. Based on this cruise we are looking forward to our next, but still will not hesitate to book on anothe line if we get the right deal. Princess has still not captured my complete loyalty. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we had nearer been to Hawaii. It lived up to our expectations. Was more than we could have hoped for. Crew & staff was extremely friendly & polite. We flew from the east coast & spent night at Double Tree in San Pedro. The next morning we got the shuttle to ship. Embarking was extremely quick & easy. As soon as we got on the ship our stateroom was ready, We were pleasently surprise at this. We had a balcony cabin and plenty of room for storage of all of our items. We had the second seating for dinner and were very happy they changed the time to seven thirty instead of the eight thirty we had originally signed up for. Our best meal was in the Crown Grill. We have never had a better meal anywhere, it should not be missed. The ports were great, even Ensenada,which at first we had no interest in. We look forward to our next cruise with Princess. Read Less