We had sailed with Princess in February for a 14 day Panama Canal Cruise and were please so when planning a "girlfriends" cruise I was excited to be able to go on Princess out of Houston. I had cruised out of Galveston on Carnival with family and thought that Princess would be a nice experience. What a disappointment.

The boarding experience was long and unorganized possibly due to the fact that this one of the first departures out of Houston. Once on the ship we were not greeted by staff but rather herded on like cattle. Our rooms were ready and our luggage was there. Our room steward was friendly and did keep our rooms in order during the trip but with NO extra touches that we all had been used to on other lines (i.e. towel animals, chocolates on your pillow, etc.) We also notices that the chairs, etc. were very worn and upholstery dirty (this ship is definitely showing it's age). At one point the towels in our bathroom were actually torn. The bathrooms are very small and showers tiny. The bathroom door in my veranda stateroom would not close when we got on board due to screws needing adjusting. It took several days to get this repaired. We heard from another passenger that many cabins on deck 10 had no plumbing for three days. We did notice on one evening that there were NO public bathrooms on the Promenade that worked. They were all backed up. One morning the entire buffet area was extremely hot because the A/C wasn't working. This ship needs some work.

As for bar service. It is very clear that the bartenders prefer you have a server come to you. They are slow and tend to ignore passengers at the bars. While on board we found (as did every other passenger we spoke to) that the mixed drinks tend to contain very little alcohol. The only exception to this rule is the bar in the Casino. All in all if you do want a drink you are better off getting beer or wine. Also, bring your allowed bottle of wine from home if you like it. On board you will be charged $32 for a $7 wine (at home price). While I understand a mark up, this seems really out of line for budget wines. As for the entertainment, don't bother. It is all geared for the sitting crowd. No energy anywhere (even in the "big" shows) on the ship. Other than late, late at night in the disco on the top deck the ship is pretty sedate. During the day it is a snooze fest of lame, low energy activities...such as a knitting forum, card making, and bingo. Thankfully they did offer a Zumba class on the three sea days. Otherwise there is very little to do if you are active other than swim in the pools. Unless you want to pay to go to a Wine Tasting or some other activity that there is a charge you are out of luck. Along those lines, I have never had so much "selling" aimed at me on any cruise. Everywhere you turn, at all times of day...even during your dinner in the dining room, there are crew members trying to get you to buy, buy, buy...and your room is covered with "shopping" flyers every night. It is very hard to "Escape Completely" (to use Princess' slogan) when you are being solicited constantly. Read more