Sea Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
0 reviews

Dissapointed Cruise with Sea Princess

Review for Asia Cruise on Sea Princess
User Avatar
DaveWhe
10+ Cruises • Age 80s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Aug 2014

As platinum members of Princess we have had good experiences with this line before, the last, Ocean Princess across the Pacific last year. In comparison, this ship and the voyage were very disappointing. The itinerary was changed prior to sailing because the ship was underpowered and we lost one port of call, Surabaya. There were further generator problems during the voyage. First the good points. The ship, whilst old and needing a refit, was clean, the balcony cabin small but clean, the food service staff were attentive and the entertainment generally good.

The Less than Satisfactory. Princess seem to be looking at ways to cut costs. The food apart from breakfast, was way below the standards we have experienced on other cruises. The lunch buffet in the Horizon looked unappetising and was, especially the hot dishes. Dinner quality was erratic, some OK but mostly poor. The vegetable offerings were pathetic. The best food was in the Pizza restaurant. Half the buffet was closed at 9.30am and 1.30pm when the demand was still high resulting in overcrowding in the open half. There was no towel service round the pool deck. You could only change your towels by taking them back to the cabin. If you had a swim and got your towel wet you had to lay on it. The internet service was not available for about half the cruise. We had 3 different cabin stewards but they kept the room clean. We found some of the officers arrogant and argumentative. Worst of all were the shore excursions and the ports of call. Princess use ship lifeboats as tenders and it seems to me that even when port docking is available they favour mooring and tendering. This no doubt has cost advantages to Princess but is disruptive and inconvenient to passengers, especially the elderly and those less than mobile. So at Komodo, Bali and Lombok we tendered with the delays and waiting for your number to be called. Bali, where the sea was rough, was chaos, badly organised and frankly dangerous. Many passengers on excursions did not get back on board until 8.30pm instead of 5.30pm. We had an excursion on Lombok to Cocotinos Beach which should never have run. The road was undergoing major road works and has been for some time. It is virtually impassable for coaches and the journey which should have been 1 hour was double that. Out time at the beach was half what it should have been and we were about 90 mins late getting back. I took a video of this journey to show how unpleasant and dangerous it was and showed it to the Excursion desk. The girl looked at it, showed it to her supervisor in the back office who said that Princess were not responsible for road conditions ! Strange that since they sold, and profited from, the tour. I could say more about this cruise but you will have got the drift. One good point though our dinner companions could not have been nicer.

I hope soon that there is a better choice of ships departing Fremantle. In the meantime if you are thinking of a cruise, save up and choose a different ship in a different cruise location.

Cabin Review

previous reviewnext review

Find a cruise

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.