Picked this cruise because I wanted to transit the Panama Canal to celebrate my 70th birthday. Everything was just perfect with one glaring exception. I booked one of the 6 Owner's Suites which are all located at the very stern of the boat. I purchased Princess' Premium Unlimited Internet Package for an additional $199. The signal strength in our cabin at the stern of the boat was so poor as to be nonexistent. If I took my Ipad to a public area a midship on the boat the internet worked OK (not particularly high speed). If I tried to log on in my cabin either I got no connection or if it connected the signal would be dropped after a few minutes. If you need to stay in touch with the outside world DO NOT book a suite at the rear of the Pacific Princess. Food was better than I expected, especially in the specialty restaurants ($29 P/P upcharge). The public rooms are quite nice and remind you of the luxury liners of the past. The staff on board were all very friendly and knowledgeable. They really strive to make you feel special and they go the "extra mile" to make sure you are enjoying your experience. The boat is quite small (650 passengers) so you get to know almost everyone. Read Less

Princess was doing the Panama canal ... we had been on the sister ship Ocean Princess, so were happy to go on the Pacific Princess. Loved the cruise....weather just o.k. service, food, entertainment great......except for the dining room. We were told that princess had changed there dining hours to 5p.m. early and 7:15p.m. for late. Since we like early dining and felt 5 was too early, we chose 7:15..... SURPRISE......each ship can decide on their hours.......5:30 and 7:45. We tried late dining......still at the table at 9:30. We requested early seating, a large table and was given table 34. The next night there were 6 people at a table for 8 including us...and were told that no one was at the other 2seat the previous night. We requested that friends be put at our table and again was told no....the table was full....... we spend 10 nights alone at a table for 8. The Matre De Albert Noversa would walk by each night and ask the diners how everything was. He could see we were alone.....did he not think.....I should try to put them at another table. Or just to lazy or could care less... certainly Not doing his job. I put a note in the suggestion box on board. I HOPE SOMEONE READS IT and that it does not happen to another couple. Makes me question going on another Princess cruise. Read Less

My husband has always wanted to do the Panama Canal adventure so upon his retirement, we chose the Panama Canal Cruise. We were told by friends, Princess Cruise Line does this cruise. So, we visited our travel club and booked the 15 day cruise aboard the Pacific Princess. Little did we know what lay ahead!! Everyday was a neat adventure; never a dull moment even on sea days. So much entertainment it’s hard to choose which one to attend. Our favorite port stop was Huatulco! Mexico! Such a quaint secret on the coast line. This town is what it’s all about. Just big enough to taste the real flavor of Mexican life. The people were so nice even when you didn’t purchase their wares. The food was excellent and the setting at the restaurant we ate at was just breathtaking!! We truly think we will revisit Huatulco!! The cruise even had a choir that practiced on sea days and we performed the last day aboard. Such a fun experience. The food choices were excellent and “ If you couldn’t find enough there, something is wrong with you.” Anything you wanted. All our on shore tours were first class. We are already talking and planning our next cruise!! So until next time; “Happy Sailing”. Read Less

A very interesting, rejuvenating and memorable 24-day last segment of 2019 World Cruise Pacific Princess Cruise Review by romyfernandez My wife and I did not take the complete 111 days 2019 World Cruise with Pacific Princess (PP), Jan 3-Apr 27, Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale for two reasons. 1) We had been to almost 93% of the first 87 days, from Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Town in our earlier cruises. 2) We needed time to prepare our 2018 income tax returns in Canada due April 30. While we had been to Barbados, Guadeloupe and St. Martin several times in the past, we’ve not been to Cape Town, S.A., Luderitz, Namibia, Walvis Bay, Namibia, St. Helena (U.K. Territory, Natal, Brazil, Fortaleza, Brazil, and Devil’s Island, French Guiana, interesting and historical ports in this voyage. This had been in our bucket list for quite some time. Luck was in our side when due to a cancellation, Oceanview stateroom 4056 was available for our taking on January 28, 2019. Having cruised with this ship three times in the past, involving a total of 60 cruise days, we knew what to expect on this boat. Pacific Princess continues to live up with Cruise Critic’s assessment as the Best Small Cruise Ship. An intimate ambience with the amenities of a larger ship, this old but elegant beauty sails the world. With only 670 guest capacity, the 423 guests completing the 111 day world cruise, many had become intimate. We were a couple of 141 guests who joined the last segment of the cruise at Cape Town on April 3rd, disembarking at Ft. Lauderdale on April 27. What we didn’t expect was Oceanview cabin 4056 would become our home away from home for 24 days. It is one of only two staterooms with wheel chair access. As such, it has more floor space than our balcony staterooms we stayed in mega ships in the past – approximately 280 sq ft of total room space. The washroom and bathroom area was about 56 sq ft, of which the shower area was about 20 sq ft, the largest shower area we’ve had in our many years of cruising. There was a grab bar near the sink. There were two grab bars and an emergency call button near the toilet bowl. And there were four grab bars in the curtained shower area and a collapsible seat for physically-challenged guests. Immediately next right to our cabin was the Passenger Service Desk, the Shore Excursion Desk, the Destination Expert Desk, the Purser’s Foyer area with beautiful furniture and furnishings, which we considered as our living room where Arts & Crafts Classes, Carpet Bowls Challenge and other indoor sporting events were held. The impressive ala Titanic stair case joins Deck 4 and Deck 5 Atrium where big events were held, including Champagne Waterfall Night, and Easter Eggs Exhibits. A short walk on our hallway to the left was a small but reliable Medical Center. Pacific has only two lifts—FWD and AFT. Being on midship location, from our cabin just required a short walk to either lifts to reach public areas on Decks 4, 5, 9, 10 and 11. Being a small ship, we could easily walk from AFT to FWD or vice-versa with ease, and use the lifts or walk up the stairs from our deck to Deck 9, where the Panorama Buffet Restaurant, Pizzeria, BBQ Grill, ice cream parlor, the Bandstand, pool bar, the pool (only one and small), whirlpool, Internet Cafe, Card Room, Lotus Spa and Fitness Center are located. Gangway for going off and boarding the ship was often located on Deck 4 FWD, a short walk from our cabin. Gangway for tender was located one deck below, Deck 3 FWD. Having also cruised with other cruise lines, we always enjoy the food served in the buffet and main dining restaurants on Princess Cruises, especially on this voyage. Good and friendly service is the norm that can be expected from every cruise lines these days. But having our stateroom steward, our waiter at the main dining room, and many dining staff in the buffet restaurant coming from our native country was a bonus, who treated us royally and pampered us with their friendly and outstanding housekeeping and dining services, making our cruise pleasant, relaxing and memorable. The guest performers at showtime at Cabaret Lounge were all great and entertaining artists. Being a small ship, PP did not have a production show of its own as being shown in Princess bigger ships. As the norm with smaller ships with other cruise lines, PP has farmed out its production shows to Belinda King Creative Productions (based in Southampton) whose professional singers and dancers (former ballroom dancing winners with ballet and gymnastic training) always dazzled the audience with their every performance. On this voyage, we enjoyed the informative destination talks and slides shown about the ports we were about to visit and the various interesting and informative enrichment lectures, both held at Cabaret Lounge and replayed the following day on cabin TV. At this lounge, they also showed new movies with free popcorn every time the ship was at sea (the same movies replayed in Cabin’s TV the following day). The synopsis of all movies shown was available at the Library or at Passenger Services Desk. One of the unique services provided by Princess only on world cruises was the availability of five abridged newspapers available at Passenger Services daily to keep up with current events while away from home—USA Times, The Canadian, Britain Today, Australia Today ,and European News. At the end of the cruise, Princess also provides each stateroom informative “Log of the Cruise,” summarizing the ports covered, distance (Nautical Miles) sailed from embarkation to disembarkation and speed (Knots) between ports for every cruise that other cruise lines do not provide. On a cruise, one can be active or lazy. Many of the 423 guests completing the 111-day are ‘senior seniors’ who retired to their cabin after the first showtime at 8:00pm. Given our ‘junior senior’ age (79 and 73), we attended events that still gave us enjoyment, and did our own things to have the relaxation we needed after the last harsh and extremely cold winter we had in Canada. To enrich further our travel experience, we booked for shore excursions on places we’ve not visited yet, organized by Princess (which the ship will wait for any unexpected delay returning to the boat). It was worth every penny we paid for them. Cape Town, S.A.: We were disappointed our prepaid excursion to the summit of Table Mountain was cancelled on April 4 as it was raining hard that day. Instead it was replaced with a visit to South African Museum and driving tour of the seacoast which we did not see much because of the bad weather. Because the replacement tour was short by 1.5 hours of what we paid, as a good will Gesture, Princess offered us 75% discount! Our tour of the museum for one hour was not wasted. Apart from the floor having dinosaur exhibits we failed to cover (we’ve seen lots of them in Canada and USA), we covered three floors showing stuffed mammals and birds of South Africa, vicariously enjoying the experience of having taken African Safari excursion. Part of the museum was about Nelson Mandela, Tata Mandiba to the South Africans. Again, we saved time and money going to Johannesburg to visit Mandela’s Museum. Luderitz, Namibia, an isolated town built on a rocky promontory. Visited Felsenkirche (the Church on the Rocks): and Goerke Haus, a grand estate dating to the early 1900s that has been restored to its former glory and authentic period furniture and furnishings, a historical old mansion also sitting on a rock. Walvis Bay, Namibia (another German colony): Many in our group climbed Dune 7, the highest of the famous massive sand dunes that line the coast, an experience of a lifetime. Even attempting to climb part of the dune is a lifetime experience. Visited Mondesa Township, a village just a few kilometers from the resort of Swakopmund (where Angelina Jolie delivered one of her daughters), but a world away, less developed and less familiar to Westerners. Explored the real Africa-immersing ourselves in its people and authentic experiences. St. Helena, (UK Territory in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil where Napoleon Bonaparte was last exiled [he escaped on his first two exiles], died and buried, although his body was returned to France in 1840): Apart from climbing Jacob’s Ladder, built in 1829, with 699 steep steps connecting the lower Jamestown(Capital) to Ladder Hill Fort above, we also had the Napoleon Experience visiting Longwood House, his final residence during his 6 year exile on the island from 1815-1821. The house is now a museum (no photos allowed) maintained by France showing the bed he died, medals, handwritten manuscripts, and other memorabilia. Visited his well preserved tomb (1821) located on a beautiful, serene rain forest. Also visited The Plantation House, a handsome, Georgian-style house built in 1792, as the country residence for the Governor of the Honourable East India Company, now home to the Governor of St. Helana. The Plantation Grounds are home to Jonathan, a Sychelles Giant Tortoise, approximately 187 years old, considered to be the world’s eldest living reptile. Natal, Brazil, the 400-year old “City of the Sun”: Visited the largest cashew tree, close to the beautiful Pirangi Beach. Measuring 1,640 feet around, it’s earned a place in the “Guinness Book of Records.” It can be a misnomer though. It’s not a one-trunk tree, like the giant Sequoia trees. The main trunk is more than 125 years old, its roots underground, however, spreads and sprouts as new trunks covering the 1,640 feet enclosed mini-park for this phenomenal tree. Fortaleza, Brazil, Brazil’s 5th largest city, formerly a Dutch fortress built in 1654: Lovingly nicknamed the “city of light” for its sun-filled days, drove through its many, long stretch of beaches, where the locals and tourists flock all-year round. Drove through its historical buildings downtown. And a stop for almost 50 minutes in Central Market, a 4-storey building, where souvenir items abound for purchase at a discount after bargaining! It was the last stop where the women in our bus, including my wife, said they needed more time! Note: Local craft markets in Namibia and Brazil didn’t accept U.S. currency. To exchange US $ into local currency with Passenger Services on the ship, there was a commission of US$4.50 per transaction. As well, local craft vendors in these two countries we visited, hardly spoke English. Pacific Princess will still make the 2020 World Cruise for Princess Cruises. However, Island Princess with more guests (2,200) and balconies (700+) will make its debut making the 2021 World Cruise, covering 111 days, cross the equator 2 times, 50 destinations, 14 late night calls, 32 countries, 34,000 nautical miles and 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For business reasons, Island Princess is replacing Pacific Princess in sailing around the world. With more cabin rooms, the guests will also benefit in that compared with Pacific Princess with lesser guest capacity being a small ship, the cruise fare will be lesser sailing with Island Princess. To entice guests on this voyage, Princess had special but limited time offers – 2021 World Cruise Early Booking Benefits for guests still on board the PP and before disembarking at their final destination, Ft. Lauderdale or L.A.: Free Onboard Credit (by stateroom category), Free Gratuities (by stateroom category, Free Wi-Fi, Free Air (by stateroom category), Free Stateroom Location Upgrade, Free Specialty Dining (up to 4 dining), Free Wine: Up to four bottles worth $32 per bottle, and Princess Cruises Captain’s Circle Launch Savings up to $1,000 per person discount applicable to all stateroom categories for guests completing the 111-day voyage (FLL/FLL OR LAX/LAX), or 97-day voyage (LAX-FLL). Because of the above tempting early booking benefits, when we disembarked Pacific Princess at Ft. Lauderdale on April 27, 2019, the 2021 World Cruise with Island Princess was almost or practically sold out! As of April 27, 2019, contrary to circulating rumors, Princess Cruises does not have any plan of selling Pacific Princess after she completes its 2020 World Cruise. Whatever the fate of Pacific Princess after that voyage, my wife and I could cherish we’ve been part of her cruising legacy. Read Less

We booked this trip to try something different. We have sailed on 53 cruises, have sailed with Princess 4 times before this sailing. We have sailed on many cruise lines and have our favorites but wanted to try the Regal Princess. The ship is very pretty inside and our stateroom was very nice at at the back of the ship on the Baja Deck. It was very quiet there and we enjoyed the views. The one thing that we did not like was the elevators. We found that when you wanted to go to a deck you sometimes had to get off of one elevator and walk to get to another one to get to where you wanted to go. Never have seen that on other lines. We were not happy with breakfast on this ship. There was only one restaurant open for breakfast and the hours were from 7:30am to 9:00am. So if you wanted to seep in you had to go to the buffet on Deck 16. We do not like buffets at all and it was very crowded most of the time. Dinner in all of the restaurant were very good and also a lot of choices. The staff in all of the restaurants work very hard and always had a smile on their faces and made sure the passengers were taken good care of.. The shows were outstanding and we went both weeks every night. Had no problems getting off the ship and they did an excellent job getting people to where they needed to go. Read Less

Background information My husband and I are in our 80s, and I use a small mobility scooter to help me get around. This was his first cruise on Princess and 16th cruise on commercial cruise ships (he was in the Navy for 20 years so he has been on other cruises) and my third Princess cruise and my 29th cruise overall. I booked this cruise primarily to visit four ports that we had not been to before. Since there were nine ports in a row with no sea days, this was a very strenuous cruise Because we have both had melanomas, we do not visit the beaches. What we generally do in port is our hobby of cemetery documentation (taking photos of gravestones and adding them to a database). Embarkation - We drove down from Maryland to the Florida and stayed with our daughter in Miami before and after the cruise. Embarkation was very quick and we could get to our cabin right away. Our suitcases arrived before the drill (which was held in the dining room.) Ship: The ship was a lovely small ship. We did not miss the climbing wall/water slides or the International cafe or the large casino, or any of the extras that larger ships have and we also did not miss the crowds or waiting for the elevator. There was a lovely quiet library. The internet was quite good for a ship. The bow camera was excellent. The captain gave a briefing each noon and each night but his accent was such that Bob couldn't understand (or even hear) him at all. There were some minor deficiencies - the Princess Patter was not proofread well so it was not always accurate. In particular the first day, there was a list of formal nights, and they left one out. The thresholds, both inside the ship and to the deck were raised enough that it made a wheelchair or scooter ride over them uncomfortable. I would have liked to be able to go completely around the promenade deck, but it was only a short section on each side and much of it was blocked off when we were at a tender port. Neither of the ATMs worked. There is a laundry but it needs tokens and the token machine will take your money and not give you the tokens so you have to come down to the desk to get tokens. Activities: We did trivia and had a good time with that. It was nice that the people running the trivia were also performers at night. They do a scrumptious afternoon tea in the main dining room. New Years Day they had a big brunch buffet in the main dining room. I got to swim in the pool once before they drained it. They announced the draining in the Patter, but not that they had refilled it. The port lecturer was an old man with a heavy accent. He was not only hard to understand but he was confused - he mixed up the port excursions and had them at the wrong ports. We went to the first lecture and never went again. Service was very good everywhere. Our cabin steward did a good job and was able to find me a smaller pillow. The man in the internet cafe was very helpful. There were four tender ports and the personnel helping us were quite experienced and did a very good job. But no one ever offered to help me get my food in the Panorama Buffet. My husband had to help me get something to eat (I can't easily run the scooter and hold a plate) Dining: The Panorama buffet was too small for there to be a good selection of food. We ate there when we were in port, but if you lingered too long, the ice cream section was packed up and disappeared. Sometimes the labels on the food were wrong. My husband went up once at dinner and said the selections were lame, and there wasn't a lot at breakfast either. In the main dining room, we had a nice table at dinner but we were always the last to leave because the service was a bit slow. The food was good as a rule. There were some dishes that I actively disliked (the way Princess does Brunswick stew for instance). But there were some that I really liked - I had the Chicken and leek pot pie a la Curtis Stone twice. We had two huge lobster tails at the second formal night but the next night the lobster tails were tiny. Bob had what was called chilled pea soup, and it was not chilled, it was hot (which he preferred). The clear soups tended to be a bit too salty for me. The cream soups were served in a glass, but now they no longer give you straws to drink them with. The eggs at breakfast were variable - sometimes a poached egg would be almost hard boiled and sometimes they were almost not cooked. Port & shore excursions: I did not take any Princess excursions because they were either too strenuous or they were canceled (in St Barts) or they were full (Virgin Gorda) St Barts: We had been to St Barts before and rented a car, but the roads are so narrow and twisty that we had a hard time actually getting to the places we wanted to see. The excursions in St Barts were all cancelled because it was Christmas day. I thought (correctly) that I might have trouble getting a taxi. So I booked a taxi driver through the internet and we had a very nice tour for 150 euros. Antigua: We had been to Antigua twice and had done the usual tours, so we just went down to the dispatcher and asked to hire a cab for a couple of hours - this cost $200.00 Terre-de-Haut: This was tender port which we had not visited before. Terre de Haut is a very tiny island. It is less than two and a half square miles. It has most of the population of the archipelago, but this population is less than 2000 souls. We took the tender in and spent some time watching the activity here. The place is a magnet for French tourists who want to spend time at the beach. Martinique: None of the excursions would take my scooter, so I booked an excursion for the two of us through Expedia. Very expensive, but very satisfactory. Tobago: We went on a tour of the island booked through another Cruise Critics member. This was a six or seven tour of the island in a small bus, lunch and ice cream for $80 each. It was a nice tour and we got a lot of good information about the island and saw quite a few things, but I booked it without realizing how long it was - we really do not have the energy to do more than about a five hour tour. Bob was in the back of the bus and there were so many hairpin turns that he said he was about to get car sick. Barbados: We spent a week in Barbados in 1996 and also been there four times on a cruise ship. The one thing I really wanted to see there was St. Nicholas Abbey which we visited in 1996 but has been closed on subsequent visits. I wanted to go back there because they showed old home movies taken in the 1930s and I wanted to see them again. The film is listed by the Barbados Tourism Authority as one of the "Seven Wonders of Barbados". St. Nicholas Abbey is not a religious institution. It has always been a sugarcane plantation house. The great house, built in 1658, is one of just three Jacobean style mansions remaining in the Western Hemisphere. (The others are Bacon's Castle in Virginia and Drax Hall Great House in Barbados.) So I went out to the dispatcher and asked her if I could go there and to a church for $100. We got a taxi and not only saw St. Nicholas Abbey and went to St Philip-the-Less Church, but we also got to see the Morgan Mill and some chattel houses. Bequia: This was another new port for us. Bequia is the largest island of the Grenadines (part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) at 7 square miles. Another tender port. After the first fiasco, I had stopped listing to the port talks. But I did go to the official Bequia website and I had seen the maps. So I knew that things were compact in Port Elizabeth and I just scootered down the main street to St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church where we got to listen to a man singing and look at the church and cemetery. Then we took the tender back to the ship. Dominica: We have been here twice before so all I had in mind to do was to visit the Catholic cemetery and take some photos. It was close enough to the ship that Bob could walk and I could go by scooter. Virgin Gorda: In 1997, we visited the Bath's in Virgin Gorda, and I would have liked to go again but even in 1997 I had trouble with the steps and could not do the Devil's Bay trail. I really would have liked to go back to the Baths and get some better photos. But since the excursion was full, that was not a possibility. So we took a tender in and got a taxi. The scooter had a problem yesterday and Bob wanted to get some stuff to fix it so we visited three hardware stores and a couple of cemeteries and had a nice morning for $70.00 Disembarkation: The information on disembarkation was a little misleading (the information given us said that it might take four hours. It took 10 minutes. Summary: A strenuous trip on a nice small ship. Read Less

I chose this particular cruise because of the ports and because I chose to spend the holidays differently this year. That being said, I was looking forward to some good meals, relaxing in the spa and a beautifully decorated ship. What I experienced was the total opposite. The decor looked like it was 30 plus years old, maybe even the original. The spa lacked any amenities (except a sauna) and the manager was unpleasant. I usually shower in the spa after my services and one day there wasn’t even hot water. No hair dryer, toiletries, etc. As a vegetarian, I struggled with all the dining options. I was hungry one night and tried to order a grilled cheese sandwich from room service and they had no idea what I was talking about! The veggie burger was the worst I’ve ever tried and there was never a veggie pasta option in the buffet. All sauces were pre made with meat/seafood. And no one was making any exceptions. I would rate the food overall a 4/10 stars. And I’m basing that on the few average meals I had. The ship is dated with obvious wear and tear. I didn’t feel like our cabin was my standard of clean and sanatized it myself upon arrival. The room also smelled terrible every night after turn down service—not sure why. Very disappointed with my first Princess experience. Read Less

We did not choose this cruise for ourselves. Our cruise-loving family chose it for us, then they cancelled at the last minute. We are so glad to have gone anyway! We were probably the youngest people on the boat who weren't there with their parents or grandparents, and given that DH is a happy introvert, it was for the best. I was able to be my social butterfly self with all the other passengers and he was perfectly happy to sit off on his own. At the same time he got a chance to actually engage with our tablemates and other passengers in a meaningful way if he chose. LOVE this ship! We were on a port-intensive, 14-day Cruise through the Southern Caribbean. Four of our ports were accessed by tender, and one of them was just too choppy for me to head out on. My knee failed me on the third island, and the response was absolutely fantastic. I've never had to use ships medical before, but the team on our ship was attentive, and thorough. Thanks to the ease of navigating around the ship, and the next few ports, I was able to do everything I originally planned on doing while on crutches. It was amazing!!!! The entertainment staff on this ship does dual duty as both the Cruise Director's staff and the singers and dancers, and they are fun! They put on a good show and then turn around and do some mean trivia. If you're into all of the wild bells and whistles found on so many other ships, this one doesn't have them. They have uncrowded spaces, elevators without lines, lots and lots of lounge chairs on the deck, the love boat vibe, and plenty of down time to relax. There were two children on our cruise. They were sweet, and one was too young to notice that there was no entertainment for her. The other was well-entertained by his parents. We said it many times on our cruise, and we'll say it here too: We're deathly afraid we've spoiled ourselves for the future cruises because we really enjoyed the small ship so much. Read Less

A couple of things to know about myself and spouse. We are very much Princess cruisers. We've enjoyed all the cruises we've taken. I'm not going to review the food, because to me, if I can eat what's served I'm happy. I haven't experienced a cruise (this one included) where I pushed away the food I've ordered. We have also usually cruised the bigger ships, so I was worried about the small ship, but it turned out I had nothing to worry about! We chose this cruise because of the itinerary. We have also never been on a small ship. The small ship experience was terrific. No lines for embarkation. No lines in the buffet. There is also a great space at the back of the ship off the buffet where you could enjoy your selections from the buffet and look out the back of the ship on your surroundings. We got to see people we met on excursions around the ship more often. We do like to gamble while on cruises. One of the great benefits of this ship was that the casino was non smoking. One of the disadvantages was there were only 4 tables, one 3 card poker, 2 black jack tables (started with 3, but they changed one to a texas hold'em table where you play against the dealer). So it may be they don't have your game. Another disadvantage, again because of the size of the ship was the music in the casino bar could be a distraction at times. Bingo was also fun. However, because of the small crowd on this cruise the pots were smaller. Some people would find this as a benefit. There are no art actions on this ship. Some other differences between big ship and small ship. Sterling steakhouse (which we got to enjoy twice) and Sabitini's switch off. This made it a little difficult to get times for the steakhouse. On the smaller ship, there is no international café, there isn't the pizza restaurant, no gelato shop, there is no anytime dining. You only have the selection of early or late seating. This wasn't an issue for my spouse and I. But it may be an issue for other cruisers. In my opinion there weren't as many activities on the ship during port days, and even on sea days. There are the usual trivia times, and as I mentioned bingo [during sea days], a movie is shown daily in the cabaret lounge, and I noticed bean bag toss, there were also discussions on ports, and other items (I didn't attend those so I can't speak to that). So that may be a consideration. Speaking of stuff to do on the ship, the ship's library is fantastic! It's beautiful and there are many books in the library. If you have the chance go check it out. We didn't check out all the entertainment, but we did enjoy the production shows. Some of the entertainment didn't interest us. There was a magician, a couple of vocalists, a pianist, a violinist, a juggling and acrobatic troupe, and a comedian. Over all, I would gladly take this ship again. We enjoyed everything about this cruise! We would gladly do this trip again, and we would gladly sail this ship again. It was very relaxing! If you think you might enjoy a different experience, I encourage you to take this ship wherever it travels. Hope this was helpful. Read Less

We, recently, got home from the Dec 5th Transatlantic on the Pacific Princess. This itinerary started, for us, in Civitavecchia (Rome) and included the ports of Naples, Palermo, Gibraltar, Cadiz, and Santa Cruz De Tenerife before the crossing to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived in Rome the morning of Dec 2nd and had a wonderful three day stay at the Palazzo Naiadi near the Roma Termini. The complete staff at this hotel was very courteous and helpful during our stay. While in Rome we saw the Colosseum and the Vatican on Monday and Tuesday with a considerable amount of walking the entire time. We booked our transfers from the airport to Rome (VIP transfer) and Rome to port (Countryside Tour) with Rome Cabs. I would recommend them as your first choice as they were very, very, easy to work with. Our Driver, Rosselina, was our driver for both transfers. She was on time, very knowledgeable and was a great companion as well as driver. She showed us many sites on the way into Rome. On the way to the port the tour was to Lake Bracciano and the Bracciano Castle where we toured the castle and spent some time in the small town enjoying an espresso and had time to purchase some cheese, meats, and bread for the ship. After this stop we went to the small town of Ceri for a nice lunch in a local cafe. While eating, Rosselina arranged for us to purchase a bottle of local olive oil before the store closed and we were able to pay for it with our meal. During the rest of the drive, Rosselina shared much information on the area and the port. We arrived at the port in the early afternoon and were the only passengers boarding so the process was as easy as any we had experienced. We were on the ship and in our cabin within 15 minutes. Our luggage arrived soon after. We were in cabin 8069, an aft cabin just below the Panorama Buffet. We, rarely, had any excessive noise from the deck above. For the most part, we had a quiet cabin. The cabin was suitable in size and the bed was very comfortable. The bed was lower than we’re used to, and we could not fit our large hard side luggage under the bed as with previous cruises. Although we had issues with where to put our luggage, we had plenty of space to place our clothes and other items. For your reference, my suitcase is 12” thick. Our cabin steward, Ronaldo, was very busy with many cabins, at least 12, and he did his very best to take care of all the cabins. He was, also, very good at keeping our bucket filled with ice and the cabin in good order despite his hectic schedule. We did grow very fond of him during the cruise. Our experience in the dining room was very good. Our Maître d was Luigi Pascale who was very entertaining and managed the dining room with precision. Our head waiters were Vincenzo Del Santo and Joao Serra Da Costa Santos who took very good care of us. One of our table mates needed a special menu and Vincenzo was there every night to provide him with his special menu for the next evening meal. The menu was more than sufficient, and we had many choices every evening, although there was some repetition of menu items. Overall, the food was very good with only a couple things I would not have ordered again. The Panorama Buffet had good variety of choices for breakfast and lunch. The food was always fresh and there were ample places to sit. A few times we would be joined by random diners who were, for the most, very engaging and enjoyable. We very much appreciated eating in the outside deck area. The only downside is that when we brought our fresh coffee the service staff would tend to assume we didn’t need other things like juice and water. We, frequently, had to get those ourselves. We ate in the Sterling Steakhouse once and found the steaks were only average. This is subjective though as we can get excellent cuts of steak where we live, and our expectations are high when it comes to steak. That said, the services were fine in the restaurant. After a premium wine tasting I was offered attendance at a special “Super Tuscan” wine and food tasting lunch in Sabatini’s. This was put on by the chef Alessandro Carrer and presented by the maître d and head waiters. This was a 5-course tasting menu with wine pairing and was excellent. For me, this was one of the highlights of my cruise. The entertainment, especially the ship’s production staff, was outstanding. The band was very good and played a variety of music genres. The singers were very entertaining and, again, very diverse in what they presented. The six dancers were all top notch and talented. I would have to say they were the best of any ship we have sailed. In addition to their amazing performances, the dancers also worked at the deck activities and other venues such as dance instruction and trivia, to name a few. The other entertainers who were booked during the cruise were good as well. The bars on the ship were good but our favorite was the Casino Bar. This is where we, and some of our new friends, would meet for drinks before and after dinner and after some of the evening shows. The two main people here were David and Mickey, who took excellent care of us during the entire cruise and were always there for us. Their service was probably the best during the cruise. We looked forward to seeing them daily. Naples - We took a ship excursion NAP-310, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Cheese Tasting. The tour was 9 hours and well worth the time. The first stop was to a place that produces Limoncello where we were able to taste and/or purchase the product. After, we stopped at a farm that produces handmade cheeses and we were shown how different cheeses were made. We were then treated to the cheese and wine tasting room where we tasted their fresh cheese and local wine. We, also, spent a couple hours in Sorrento, where many people wandered and shopped. After, we drove to Pompeii for the remaining time and explored the ruins. This was the highlight as Pompeii was number one on my bucket list. Palermo - We took another ship excursion PMO-210, Capuchin Catacombs and Mysteries. This was wonderfully enlightening tour that gave some insight to modern mummification was administered. After we toured the catacombs, we were taken to the historically private Oratories of Santa Cita and San Domenico where we learned of those practices and saw the magnificent artworks in each oratory. Gibraltar - We left the ship and walked to the cable car which took us to the top. Our tickets allowed access to many attractions on the walk back down such as St Michael's Cave, the Siege Tunnels, and Moorish Castle to name a few. After our walk down we stopped at Grand Casemates Square for a late lunch at the Lord Nelson Pub where we enjoyed a couple Guinness beers and a lunch we could not finish. All very reasonably priced. Cadiz - We went on a private tour with fellow roll call members to Seville that was organized by a roll call member through Spain Day Tours. The main attraction was Alcazar of Seville which was, in my opinion, more enlightening than a previous tour to Alhambra in Granada a few years ago. Alcazar was also a setting for some of the filming of Game of Thrones. Fun to see that if you're a Game of Thrones fan. Santa Cruz de Tenerife - We walked to the main downtown area, shopped and returned to the ship. The Ship - The ship is well maintained although she is still showing her age to some degree. Captain Spinardi, and his crew were remarkable and the service was very top notch, for the most part. Many thanks to the crew, in particular our waiters, bartenders/bar servers for their most attentive service. That made the cruise very enjoyable. The entertainment staff was, also, second to none. The six main dancers were exceptional in their talent and visibility during the crossing. Our, primary, reason for this cruise was to test the ship to determine how we wanted to accomplish sailing around the world. The fastest would be on the Pacific Princess but there are other options within the Princess fleet but on different ships. What I found was that, while I loved the ship and crew, it may not be of sufficient size to keep us occupied and physically active enough for a 111 day world cruise. That said, we will probably circumnavigate in segments sailing on bigger Princess ships. It's nice to have those options with Princess because we, very much, love this brand. Read Less

We really enjoyed the Pacific Princess, it is definitely our favorite Princess ship. The ship size is perfect. It's small and intimate and there was never a wait for anything. Embarking was easy, disembarking was easy, tendering was easy. It never takes long to get anywhere. The ship has recently been refurbished and it feels new. Service onboard was fantastic, as well as the food. The only down side to a small ship is less onboard activities. However, that does not matter to us since we tend to choose port-intensive itineraries and spend all of our time on the ship just relaxing. For those not familiar with Princess, be aware that it is a slow and calm atmosphere. We were the youngest people on the ship at 32 and 45 years of age. We have no problem with this and made plenty of new friends with different generations. I almost did not want to write this review because I'd love to keep the ship all to myself and not let everyone else know what they're missing. We can't wait for our next Pacific Princess cruise. Read Less

We just completed our third voyage on the Pacific Princess. Almost three months total sailing on this vessel. But this one was different, in that we booked our first full suite after over 600 days of sailing and had Club Class Dining. By far our greatest cruise ever from a cabin and dining standpoint. Other aspects of the cruise were good to very good but the cabin and dining made this an excellent cruise experience overall. As before, we really liked the ship and the crew, from the Captain on down. The main dining room (MDR) folks are exceptional. The high point for us on our two previous cruises on the Pacific Princess is that the main dining room service and cuisine had restored our faith in the MDRs. However, this time the Club Class dining at dinner and lunch as well as the suite breakfasts every morning we received in the Sabatini's restaurant on deck 10, elevated this experience to an entirely new high for us. Between receiving this quality meal service and having an "Owners Suite" the voyage resembled a fantasy of high seas travel in the days of yore, which many can only dream of nowadays. Going up to the quiet Sabatini's restaurant in the morning and sitting at a table for two next to floor to ceiling windows providing a panoramic view of the sea was something we didn't expect. The cabin was much larger than I had imagined it would be as well as the huge balcony in the stern, which overlooked the ship's wake. Not only that, a portion of the balcony was on the port corner so one could see forward on the port side as well as everything off the stern on the starboard side. We had booked this cabin due to my wife's sister being with us on the first segment, we wanted her to have her own toilet. This is the only Princess ship which has a half bathroom as well as a full sized one in the suites; we discovered too, that very few other cruise line's ships offer this option. Pictures on the walls in the suite even had individual lighting over the frames. Room service personnel and our steward, Teddy, were the best we have had throughout our cruising days. We certainly appreciate the loyalty perk(s) for free internet and laundry. The internet speed for me is satisfactory and reliable and wife loves the care, reliability and quality of the laundry and cleaning service. The two main hot tubes on the pool deck were great and I used them a lot, sometimes twice a day. Due to our suite status the huge forward hot tub as well as the steam room and sauna in the Lotus Spa area were also available to us for no extra charge. The pool deck on this ship doesn't have chair hogs and I never ran into a time when there wasn't ample fresh towels awaiting at numerous locations. The vessel is very well maintained and the crew is constantly scraping, painting and keeping the ship in tip-top condition. Often I'm not certain what the pre and post cruise hotels cost as we like to use the cruise line transfers and hotel package(s) which are lumped together price wise. Normally I believe the entire package is reasonable----this time it was no different. Having cruise line folk meeting us has really come in handy in the past when things got confused the day before embarkation due lost airline luggage or other problems. Nothing more comforting than to have an agent at a strange airport with a sign and your name. The ship's library is the best and largest there is. Truly a library designed for exploration cruises. The buffet is very good, food wise, service wise and table wise. They even change things around in a portion of it late in the afternoon, making for a more formal section with table cloths, flowers and wine glasses. This buffet has ample seating which gets constrained only when inclement weather forces everybody off the outdoor seating areas, which has even a larger number of tables than inside. There has been some discussion over the quality of Princess Pizzas recently. Not true, on the Pacific Princess anyway. However, due to our suite status we didn't visit the buffet as much as usual this voyage. Cabin T.V.s work great and programming good. Certainly appreciate my favorite news channel MSNBC being available with a good signal all the time. I recall the days when we had no other choice for news but-----LOL. Sure did like the large flat screen TV in a cabinet in the main living room of the suite. No complaints over embarkations and disembarkations. All handled well and luggage arrived in the cabins timely. We took a lot of shore excursions this time. We had 16 ports to do that in. Typically we never go the independent route on shore excursions but use those provided by the cruise line. All were very good. The only exception was on the disembarkation excursion at Port Everglades where the weather was beautiful and warm. Our flight for Alaska didn't leave until 6:30 PM so once again we took an inland coastal waterway and city tour to kill time. Guide on the coach was real knowledgeable about the area but too poor a speaker, or the PA system was not good, for most of us to hear him. Folks were really complaining about this, which he acknowledged and would talk louder for about 30 seconds then go back to endless mumbling. Guide on the boat though, showing us the haunts of the rich and famous in the area, was really good. We certainly appreciate the loyalty perk(s) for free internet and laundry. The internet speed for me is satisfactory and reliable and wife loves the care, reliability and quality of the laundry and cleaning service. I do like the enrichment lecturers that Princess provides, like naturalists, biologists, area historians and geography experts. One of my favorite features of a cruise. On our last cruise though, L.A. to Sydney, in January, this aspect was bad, i.e. to Hawaii--none, after which I thought they would bring someone on board at Honolulu but didn't. However, at Pago Pago they did bring on two New Zealanders who were pretty good, too bad for us though, as this occurred two thirds of the way through that cruise. However, on this cruise they had two excellent lecturers. I really enjoyed their presentations. One was David Sisler who began after Rome and prior to that, from Venice to Rome, was a fellow who did mostly upcoming port history lecturers but unfortunately I can't remember his name, however he was good. Platinum & Elite Lounge----Princess has changed their format here from what they used to provide. Now they offer a selection of eight different alcohol drinks which they apparently came up with as substitutes for the more traditional drinks they used to offer for $5.00 per. They now charge $6.50 for these new concoctions. On our last cruise in January we gave them a chance. Went three times and tried three different drinks each, most of the time we didn't finish the drinks due to not liking them. Their hors d'oeuvre offerings were still pretty good but the only way we would want to take time to attend is by purchasing their old traditional drinks for the full price. I wanted to try this out again, this cruise, to see if there was any improvement, but from the looks of their menu selections I wasn't optimistic, to be fair though, due to the free canapes we received in the suite every evening before dinner, we simply didn't make it to the lounge. The gym is in an excellent location. I use it every sea day. I previously thought it was too small for the number of guests wanting to use it. But this time that wasn't the case, plenty of ellipticals and treadmills to go around. The gym doors open at 7:00 PM. Read Less

We chose this cruise just 2 weeks after returning from a land trip to France. We went online and instead of choosing a cruise for 2019, we chose this 29 Night Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Ft Lauderdale because our Princess agent found us a great, super low one-way air fare to take us from Orlando nonstop to Frankfurt then nonstop to Venice with only a 3 hour layover. After being booked for one month, Princess offered us an upscale to a mini suite from a balcony on this sold-out cruise, and we accepted. Embarkation - We were the only ship for the cruise terminal, as November is low season in Venice. Very easy. Cabin- 8009 was just gorgeous. We used both US and European outlets as we brought our adapters, there are 4 outlets at the huge desk/dresser. The lamps each have USB ports at the bedside. We took an 18 foot regular extension cord and definitely used it as we settled in to 4 weeks at sea. Our cabin was the most spacious, and is comparable to HAL's Oosterdam signature suite we stayed in Nov 2016. The cabins had been totally refurbished in 2017 and looked like new to us. The room was at least 15 feet wide at the balcony, so we had lots of room and seating to invite other guests to visit with us after dinner etc. Dining was the greatest as far as food is concerned comparing it to the Veendam (which is 2nd place, and other yearly cruises since 2013 on HAL, Princess, and Scylla River cruises. Our 2 servers were excellent, and I enjoyed the 2 wine tastings that were offered by our waiters for afternoon diversion on sea days. The other cool thing, unknown if serendipitous or planning on their part, but we were assigned to a table of 8, and 3 of us women were raised in California, 3 of us were born within 12 months of each other, and our men were all within 10 years of each other. We got along great for 29 nights! Excursions - Our private train ticket plan from Civitavecchia to Rome was cancelled due to some problem, so our excursion lady suggested Orvieto as I didn't want to go on a long bus ride to Rome. Orvieto is a place NOT TO MISS! That tour was fantastic! We also bought wine and olive oil and its great too. The other wonderful excursion was to Seville and we were on our own there but it is an easy, beautiful city that has all the initial great cathedrals and palaces located within 0.25 mile and very near our departure point. On our own, as we met nice people at lunch, and at dinner, we did venture out and rented taxis (negotiated first and split the fare) in Naples, Catania, Athens, Santa Cruz de Tenerife instead of relying on Hop On/Hop Off bus lines. In ports of Athens and Naples, the Archaeological Museums tours were not offered as excursions by Princess and we thought these 2 were among the best in world (including the Louvre and British Museums). The taxi driver in Athens made a new negotiation when we arrived at the Athens Museum and proposed we keep him for other sites and he would drop us off at a wonderful open air restaurant in the Plaka, and we accepted. He waited from us the whole time - with driving about 30+ miles roundtrip in traffic - about 5 hours total (4 of us split the fare plus tips totally about 75 Euros per couple). Wonderful day in Athens! The taxi driver in Naples took us to the Via Duomo (avenue) and dropped us off at the Naples Cathedral/Basilica. It was breathtaking, and we decided to use our feet to take us the 3/4 mile to Archeological Museum (with all the riches and treasures from Herculeneum and Pompeii that was turned over to the Duke of Naples when found over 200 years ago). We then walked downhill on the Via Toledo from the museum, and its an easy walk to the ship but about an hour if you don't stop to shop and eat. I think the itinerary was great, especially for first time travelers, and we were 2nd time travelers except to 6 new ports. We stayed 3 nights in Venice before the cruise. Stayed at Allogia Barbaria which is only 200 feet from the vaporetto stop on the Alilaguna blue line from Marco Polo airport. Then when we left the B&B for the ship, we took the Alilaguna direct to the ship. We didn't have to go through the People Mover or Piazzale Roma, etc. It was easy as we didn't have to lug suitcases over bridges and lots of cobblestones, but was able to visit Venice easily us - an older couple. We want to go again to Venice, and stay a whole week before leaving. Venice in November is quiet. Never colder at night than 50 F. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the ports and the fact that it docked at the destination port for two days, allowing us to spend some time there prior to heading to the airport. We did go into Rome three days earlier than the cruise so we could tour sites there. This particular ship was small, which allowed us to get to know others quite well that were on our same cruise. The Dining was experience was so good, because of the small size of the ship, but also because they paired us with two other couples at our table and they couldn't have picked more perfect combinations for us to dine with. The entertainment was top notch. The singers and dancers were well trained and practiced. The others that came in on certain ports to entertain us were well chosen. Comedian was great and the local talent orchestra and musicians were well done to give us a taste of the local entertainers. I would take this same cruise over and over again. The ports were amazing and the timing of at sea days with the excursion days was perfect. The bar staff took the time to get to know you, so they prepared the perfect drinks both alocoholic and non for you during the entire cruise. The cruise directors that did the trivia were fun and the late night music and piano bar were very enjoyable. Read Less

Ports advertised. Dining staff was wonderful as was our cabin steward. Port excursion in Kotor, Montenegro was well below Princess standards. It was advertised as a dining experience with an experience chef in a private home. It was supposed to be a three hour tour. The food was poor and was not a meal. The food was also not presented well and would be considered a snack at the very least. The tour lasted less than two hours as well. All of this for $99.00. The port in Ravenna, Italy was 30 minutes from the town of Ravenna and if you wanted to leave the ship there was a $26.00 fee for a bus to take you to Ravenna. It appeared to be a relevently new port and offered little to do. There was very little information regarding transportation options when you left the ship at ports if you were not on a ship excursion. The staff on the Pacific Princess was very friendly and accommodating on the cruise making the time on the boat enjoyable. Read Less

We loved the smaller ship experience which only had 670 people on board. We made many friends because you see them often at dining areas, entertainment areas and on excursions. The staff is very attentive because there are less people to take care of. We sailed to Greece and Southern Italy and the ports were marvelous. We only took one cruise excursion because we find taking private tours with other people we meet on cruise critic is far less expensive and much more fun. If you only have two or three other couples on your excursion you don't waste as much time waiting for the excursion to start or waiting for people to reboard the bus after a scenic stop or restroom break. The ship is smaller and so it is able to get into smaller ports without the need for a tender. We had a cabin on floor 7 which meant we were only two floors from the main dining area and two floors from the buffet. We were able to avoid the elevators for almost all of the trip. Even the couple times we used them, they were never busy. The food was very good and the staff were excellent. We loved our balcony and used it every morning for breakfast and for a glass of wine before dinner. Here are the only issues I saw with the ship. There were a few areas on the ship that I smelled a sewer smell. I am quite picky and have a keen sense of smell so this probably will not bother some people. There were some issues with the public restrooms that my husband did not like. He stated they were sometimes not clean. The ship did not have as many activities for families but our cruise had very few children on it and catered to an older crowd. We actually liked this. The ship could not go to Sibenik becasue of the weather and this was a great disappointment to us. We would definately go on another cruise on the Pacific Princess. Read Less

We chose this cruise because itinerary included Malta and a few ports we had not seen. Also we are Princess Platinum and that includes a few perks such as 250 minutes of internet time. We also liked the idea of a smaller ship with fewer than 700 passengers. However, we were disappointed in the overall condition of the ship. Cabin was too small and worn out. It is not up to date by current standards. Bathroom was not adequate and even hair dryer was old, had only one speed. Water in shower ran hot and then cold without changing temperature. Ship should be taken out of service or completely overhauled. Ship only has fixed dining which is not a good option unless you are traveling with friends and or family. We would never take this ship again or advise anyone else to do so. Small is nice, but it's not everything. Entertainment was good considering size of ship, but there is no real theater, only a big lounge and it's difficult to see unless you're in the front row. Shore excursions are far too expensive. Arrange your own if possible. Also, Pacific Princess was in terrible location at Malta. Big ships were on correct side of port. We had to take a terrible ferry to get to Valletta side. In Monte Carlo we had to tender and other ships did not. They said it was because we couldn't dock there which is a lie because we docked there before on a big ship. Princess seems to always get worst location. I guess they don't want to pay for better spot. We would not have done this cruise if we had known what we know now. Read Less

The Itinerary was nice and the length of cruise was wonderful. The assigned seating for dining is crazy. 5:45 or 7:45 are the only options. Since this is such a small ship there are not any options for dining other than the buffet. The entertainment was limited, again due to the size of the ship. So, after touring all day you had to wait, with late seating, until 9:30 to finish and try and get to sleep and ready to tour again the next day at 8:00 am. As a person in my 60’s this was difficult. So either it was eat in the dining room with the same table mates every night at 7:45 with very poor options and over cooked food OR try and have a bite to eat at an “American” dining time around 7pm in the buffet and be ready for the next port. I tend to enjoy traveling more for the locations I get to visit than playing dress up at night and staying up late. Just old I guess. The refrigerator in the room was great as I could keep food from the locations we visited. Read Less

The ship is the smallest and oldest in the Princess fleet. After many cruises this one was somewhat disappointing. The main issue was the dining. The food and service was sub-par and not up to the standards of most other cruises we have been on. The cabin was what I expected and did have a lot of storage. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom was especially challenging to use with water leaking out every time we used the shower. We were especially disappointed that we entirely skipped one port due to weather. No substitution just a port missed. We had an unlimited drink special and were made to feel like criminals every time we asked for a drink. I think a sticker or special cup or something would be better than the stewards having to take your card to go check every time you want a drink would be much better. I specifically will not chose a trip with this ship again. Read Less

Size and destinations. Hope to find more small ship cruises. We had great food, good service. Shows much better than expected. Size of the ship permitted options that big ships can’t go to. We highly recommend THE LOVE BOAT. The staff is awesome. Out stateroom attendant Rico was great, all our waiters including Noel, Tania, Russell, and others were very attentive and kind. The shows were better than Broadway in NY. All the activities like wine tasting, cooking class, margarita recipes, ice shaving, bingo, etc were fun and cool. The tour guides were excellent. However in Belgium, in Brussels, the tour guide was not great; she sped through too many cobblestones to rush us to buy bad chocolate when people couldn’t even walk and complained. The great chocolate was in main square, no need for all the rush 3 blocks away. She did not care. She didn’t recommend the waffles and good thing we didn’t listen to her. Anyway, all the other guides- Sofia in Honfluer, Robert Smit in Amsterdam, Katerina in Hamburg, Anita in Oslo, and more were amazing! They love what they do and it shows. Also, the matradee staff and wine tasting staff were fantastic!! I don’t even drink alcohol but now I will! Finally, the guy who introduced all the shows was so personable, friendly, funny and smart. (sorry can’t remember names) I think you need an Instagram campaign asking people to post on Instagram cool photos while on ship or tours. I think you can attract more young people because I had never heard of Princess, we usually take Royal Caribbean. They market more to a different crowd. I definitely will look into Princess again in the future, and I wish you good luck. Also your itinerary is superb; the ports are so interesting and overall you do a great job. Congrats and I hope we find another 600-700 size ship again next time. Read Less

We were taking a trip to London from the US and wanted to see more of the British Isles without taking several flights, driving on the opposite side of the roads or dragging luggage on trains. So a cruise out of Dover to see Jersey, Wales, Dublin and Edinburgh seemed to be a great solution. After spending 3 days in London, we hired a car to take us to the cruise port in Dover. We arrived pretty early at the port so the boarding area was not busy at all and we had just a few minute wait. The Pacific Princess was much smaller than any of our other 5 cruise ships so we wondered what type of guests we would see and how the small ship would compare. We really enjoyed getting to meet and be able to spend more time with new people and getting around was very easy. The weather was cool the entire 8 days so we didn't get to use the outside activities on the boat much except one afternoon when it was sunny and not too windy (but still low 60's F). We did the segment of this cruise that was 8 days from Dover back to Dover. I had one concern about the smaller ship that did not materialize. I do not handle a lot of rocking and motion very well and I was worried about the small ship as well as possible rougher seas around England, Ireland and Scotland especially as we went around the Northern tip of Scotland. But there was no issue at all. We found the ship to be very well decorated and nice even though it is fairly old. Our cabin was very functional with a nice bed and everything worked as expected. The A/C was easy to control. The TV was old but worked OK with the limited channels and we didn't stay in the room very much. The food was very good in the buffet and main dining area. Good variety and quality and on par with another Princess cruise we took as well as a Celebrity cruise. Probably a little better than Royal or Carnival. And the service was great in all dining venues. We attended the main entertainment each night and thought the quality was a little above other ships, both from the on-board dancers and singers, as well as the special guest entertainment nights. The highlights for us were the ports of call, that's why we cruise. Jersey, Wales and Dublin were all very good. We saw a lot and were able to get a little taste of local culture, people, sights and foods. And Edinburgh was our favorite stop. We had 2 full days there and we spent all the time off the ship seeing as much as possible. We would recommend the Royal Ticket to see the 3 major attractions as well as the Royal Botanical Gardens which were much nicer than I expected. This also included the 3 Hop-on Hop-Off bus lines. One minor downside was that we docked in across the river in Fife so we had to hire taxis and use the train to get back and forth from the ship to Edinburgh but it all worked out fine. We usually try to book independent excursions due to the overpricing by the cruise lines. We weren't able to find any at the small ports in Jersey and Wales so we used Princess. These were fine but a little pricey. We also had very rough seas for the return tender ride in Jersey. We were all a little white knuckled but I was happy that I survived without getting seasick. We found an independent bus tour in Dublin that included a tour of Malahide Castle as well as a stop in Howth. This was very nice and about 1/3 the cost of a similar Princess excursion. Overall we were very happy with this cruise and all the new places we were able to visit. Read Less

This small ship is big enough and if it's going to your destination of choice then I think it's a done deal. We chose the late dining option with 3 other couples and made great friends. I liked the "sip and sail" option but not because of the endless alcohol but because you could have what ever beverage you wanted anytime. But I suppose that "sip and sail" option is for early bookers such as we happened to be. As per usual the excursions were not used as you could get much better deal elsewhere . We would gladly rebook if the destinations matched, but I'm not a cruiser as this was my first sea cruise ever. I loved that this was the Love Boat. It even looked like it a bit like it too. I thought the pizza/hot dog/ burger kiosk was lame and wouldn't recommend it unless you were in severe calorie deficit which would be quite unlikely. My favourite place for a drink was outside of the Panorama Buffet as the views were super. The upper floor library had reasonable views and looked stately; but I never used it for reading. it never seemed busy. We did do a non buffet breakfast once and found again that meeting people was the real advantage of it. The service staff at the restaurants and rooms were always pleasant Read Less

We had a group of 9 people on this cruise. One of our party picked the cruise because of the date and itinerary. The cruise greatly exceeded my expectations. Pacific Princess is the smallest ship in the Princess fleet. The cruise reminded me of why I cruise. The ship is beautifully appointed and has nearly all of the amenities of the larger ships. It does not have the international cafe, but we did not miss it. Everywhere you went, there was adequate seating for the shows, at the buffet, in the restaurant, in the casino, the bars, by the pool, etc. For those who love the promenade deck around this ship with deck chars, this is the ship for you. Embarkation was a snap. We had priority boarding, but you didn't need it. Easy to get on. There just weren't a lot of people. Service was outstanding. If you went somewhere a couple of times, the staff remembered what you drank, whether you took cream in your coffee, etc. Every staff person I encountered was pleasant. Service in the restaurants was fast and efficient. The dining experience was also top notch. The food was better than I have experienced on the most recent two Princess cruises I took on the Regal and the Royal. I think a lot of this was because it was a smaller ship. We had three in our party who are gluten free. Their food was exactly what they wanted, every time. Even the buffet food was better than it has been on recent Princess cruises. We had dinner in the Grill one night. Again, the service and food were top notch. We got value for our $29 cover charge. The cabins were better appointed and larger than on the larger ships. We upgraded ours to a mini suite and it was the largest mini suite I have seen. Others had obstructed ocean views and interior cabins. Everyone's cabin was large and extremely nice. We all commented on how terrific the beds were. Cabin steward service was exemplary. The ship had fewer activities than on the larger ships, but there were enough, and the staff presented the shows and the games very well. The entertainment was very good. The highlight of the cruise was the Tattoo in Edinburgh. The ship docked quite a way from Edinburgh, but closer than a Holland America ship because Pacific Princess is smaller and could get into a port. We had two days in Edinburgh and took a taxi into the the city (there was also a train and bus) one day and a taxi to St. Andrews the second day. We attended the Tattoo through a Princess excursion and Princess did a great job in getting us there and back. The Tattoo was certainly something to see. We did another ship's tour in Wales, and it was also top notch. We booked an independent walking tour of Dublin, and did Jersey on our own. A word of caution, avoid Jersey pounds. One of our party used an ATM in Jersey and received Jersey pounds instead of Brutish pounds. He had a very hard time finding anyone to take them or even change them outside of Jersey. All in all, I will look for future sailings on the Pacific Princess. I think this is what the cruising experience is meant to be. I wish Princess had more ships like the Pacific Princess. Read Less

This ship leeft Dover for Norway and Iceland. We've never been to Iceland and this ship sailed around the entire island. We stopped four times, on the East Coast, on the North Coast, on the Northwest and in Reykjavik. The first three stops were very small towns, fewer than 10,000 people, with limited scenic spots and opportunities. They were interesting, but limited. Reykjavik is the capital, with over half the population. and museums, shops and activities to match. We chose the tour to the Blue Lagoon, and didn't get to do anything else, since we had limited time. A major disappointment. Norway was beautiful, and the cruising into and out of the fjords justified the balcony even in chilly weather. There was no enrichment program on the history or geology of these two interesting countries, just Princess's excursions. Service in the Main Dining Room was flawless, with fixed seating. There were three formal nites, largely ignored by most passengers. I wore a sports coat. Food ranged from ordinary to very good - never great. Buffet was less elegant, but also had good service. Entertainment was limited, and largely mediocre. Too chilly to swim or sunbathe most of the trip. Read Less

EMARKATION;- Embarkation went very smoothly without a hint of a queue and in fact we were allowed on the ship earlier than expected. Once onboard we were permitted access to staterooms on the understanding that they may not be quite ready, though ours was. THE SHIP;- The ship is easy to navigate being a small ship and the decor is pleasant - much better than the Princess website photos suggest. With so few people on board (roughly 650) you don’t queue for anything and there is always a seat available whether in a bar, the theatre or a sun bed. Although we didn’t experience any very rough seas, the ship is nonetheless very stable and we felt little or no motion. It was very well maintained although we found cleaning to be lacking in public spaces e.g. mirrors and windows left dirty and no toilet attendants. The gym is small but adequate. Entertainment is limited and poor and apart from one occasion there was no entertainment poolside. Despite it’s small size it’s disappointing that it doesn’t always take advantage of the docking closest to the city centre. The downsides of the ship being small are that some of the facilities that you might expect or enjoy are missing e.g. movies under the stars or an outside evening bar. We also found the ship to be way too quiet (we called it the Marie Celeste!) as after 9pm you struggled to find another soul on board on some evenings. This was possibly because many had been on board for 111 days and I guess there’s only so much partying you can do. Also the average age was quite mature - I’d estimate late 60’s / early 70’s. It was impossible to get a drink or something to eat after 11pm unless you ordered room service. I suppose they’re not going to keep venues open if the majority are tucked up in bed. STATEROOM;- Our stateroom was very good (Club Class mini-suite) with lots of space, plenty of storage and lots of coat hangers. There was an abundance of mirrors including 2 full length. The bed was super comfortable. The air conditioning was very efficient if a little noisy at times (note it isn’t possible to turn it off). Although we were 2 decks down, we experienced disturbance from the running track as a very heavy footed runner thumped their way round the track between 5am and 6am every morning. The bathroom is adequate with a plentiful supply of toiletries. There is no separate shower - it’s over the bathtub. The hairdryer is not suitable for styling hair. DINING;- The food is generally of a good standard both in the buffet and the main dining room. We didn’t feel it necessary eat in either of the speciality restaurants. There was always plenty of choice and service was mostly prompt, SERVICE;- We found service throughout the ship to be somewhat lacklustre (with the exception of 2 or 3 standouts). We didn’t ever meet our stateroom steward although he did a good job of keeping the room clean and tidy. I was never once addressed by my name and often had to go to the bar myself as the wait staff were busy chatting to one another. Even when they noticed me at the bar, they didn’t offer to bring the drinks back to the table for me. CLIENTELLE / DRESS CODE;- Although officially there were 3 formal nights on this cruise you would never have realised it. We wore tuxedos / long gowns on those nights and still dressed up on the other nights albeit less formally. The vast majority did not adhere to the published dress code. We even saw people wearing baseball caps in the main dining room on the formal nights! Men wore shorts and t shirts on the non-formal nights. I don’t wish to be rude or offensive but honestly some looked like they were going gardening ;-/ I imagine people didn’t bother to dress for the evening as they went straight back to their staterooms after dinner. Most of the passengers were from USA (approx 80%) with the rest from UK, Australia and a small minority from other countries. DRINKS PACKAGE;- We chose to purchase a drinks package but on this ship it doesn’t represent value for money as bars close relatively early. CLUB CLASS;- I question the value of Club Class on this particular ship. Priority emarkation is of no real value as there are so few people on board there are no queues anyway. Club class dining meant a small section of the main dining room being allocated. Expedited seating was largely adhered to although we did have to wait on one occasion. There was no table side food preparation. ‘Special menu options’ meant one extra dish being offered although often you had to ask what it was and then the description might be so vague that you were completely uninspired e.g. ‘it’s fish’. Evening canapés were none existent. So really we paid for club class for 2 half bottles of wine. ITINERARY;- Very good itinerary although owing to late arrival in Amsterdam for reasons outside of Princess’s control, we ended up with just a few hours there. Read Less