Having previously cruised with NCL, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, and as this ship is rated about a 4 star we were expecting a similar experience – but whilst I would probably use Princess again (if the price was right) this cruise did not live up to my expectations. The ship has had a recent facelift in the public areas, but cabins are a little ‘tired’ – but our accessible cabin was OK with a big bathroom, perfect for my wife in her wheelchair. There were always plenty of bar staff, so getting a drink was no issue – but as on many ships the audacity of adding 15% even when you get the drink yourself from the bar is quite shocking. I was on an inclusive drinks package so this charge was already included – but at about $54/day, you need to be a serious drinker (whiskies/spirits are about $9) My wife being teetotal chose the ‘soda’ package – but this did not include water or canned drinks, only coke/lemonade from the ‘pump’ and sickly sweet alcohol free cocktails – these ‘mocktails’ normally cost about $6 – yet she had to pay for a $2 bottle of water – weird…….

The arranged trips were extortionate – over £200 for a trip to Paris – which included sitting in a coach for 5 hours. There were often bus transfers at the harbour to get people into the town – but this information was intentionally not mentioned in the daily bulletins – to encourage people to spend on daily trips. In La Havre, the 4 of us used a taxi for the 5 minute trip into town for a TOTAL COST of 7.20 Euro, we walked back to the ship and I enquired at the bus waiting near the ship what the transfer cost was - $16 return EACH, on my obvious shock the driver stated it was Princess Cruises who dictated the price.

The entertainment was quite acceptable and there is always something to suit everyone. The food was generally quite good and service overall was OK – but not sure about the idea of removing peoples plates whilst others are still eating - and reaching across people who are still eating to lay the next set of cutlery is hardly fine dining – luckily this was only a particular waiter and we did not sit in his area again. Read more