Compared to other cruise lines we have sailed with, Princess provided inferior service, inferior value for our dollar and an overall disappointing experience! While the embarkation and disembarkation were excellent, everything in between left something to be desired. The crew, as a whole, were not very welcoming, friendly or kind. It wasn't until the third day at sea that the servers smiled. On previous cruises we sailed on, the wait staff in the dining room were happy, engaged, conversational, and friendly. None of these attributes were present on this cruise. The dinner service was particularly slow. We selected the early seating (5:30) yet sometimes our order was not even taken until 6:15-6:30. By the time our dessert was served at 7:25pm, we were the last diners in the room, having to awkwardly rush through our dessert, while the waiters impatiently stood around our table and stared at us. Most nights we ended up leaving without finishing our dessert.

The quality of the food was beyond disappointing. Most people look forward to the deliciously prepared foods served on a cruise. On the Princess, the meats were gamey, gristley, difficult to cut and not at all pleasant. Some of them were not even identifiable by others viewing their dish. The food was uninspired, and not even well-presented. We expected so much more.

The ineptness of the wait staff further disappointed us when they kept dropping things. My 94-year old dad had a buttered knife drop on his pants...my brother had a dirty knife fall between his back and the back of the chair. The waiter spilled ice-cold water on my head. These incidents surely could have been prevented. Read more