This was our fifth Princess cruise and did not live up to the expectations we had based on our previous Princess cruises. We have, to date, been very loyal Princess customers however in a number of areas, we felt Princess was not up to standard on this particular cruise.

That said, we had an excellent cruise, due in large part to the wonderful Antarctica itinerary, excellent food and dining room service, and the great group of fellow passengers we met on this cruise. The highs and the lows -

Embarkation in Buenos Aires Ghastly. Arrived at 2pm (having been advised to arrive after 1pm for "faster checkin") to disorganized mayhem. No effort made by Princess to mark lines/handle crowd control and so lots of people cutting in line etc. Took 1 1/2 hrs just to get to the check in desk and another 45 mins to get on the boat. Facilities were not air conditioned and outside temps (there was a fair bit of standing on line (no seating available) outside during the embarkation process) were 35 degrees Celsius. Bags were in the stateroom when we got there so no issues there. Disembarkation went smoothly and to schedule. Read more