Just returned today from a four day Vancouver to LA, so my thoughts are all very fresh here.

We are "Platinum" members with Princess and wanted to take a quick get away cruise from Vancouver to LA, and I cannot stress how poorly run this ship truly is.. From Stem to Stern this ship stinks and I mean literally. The sewage system had numerous failures, as I witnessed several toilets either overflowed or backed up throughout the ship on the voyage. My first complaint was with the head waiter (Marcos in the Portofino Dining Room), as I have never been charged a "corkage" fee for the one bottle of wine that you are allowed to bring onboard, but on this occasion I was told that it is "policy". Funny, because I brought on 15 bottles of wine for my 28 day Tahiti Cruise and only paid corkage on 13 of them; the rest, they were more than happy to open without question, but the manner in which he handled the situation made me feel less than warm and fuzzy about being an upstanding Princess Patron...If this encounter didn't make matters worse, the meal in the Portofino wasn't very good that night period, so I proceeded to eat my next two dinners in the Capri Dining Room, but to be honest those meals were hit and miss just like the first. The Crown Grill, which is normally a fantastic meal experience was unbelievably bad, as the Rib Eye steak was so tough you could barely cut it. The server Steven was very nice and apologetic, but what could he do? I should have returned the steak immediately, but I've never cooked a steak that tough in my house and I guess I was just too surprised that they would serve it. Also, the food in general was just plain mediocre and very inconsistent. Generally the food on Princess in the Horizon Court is very, very good, but again not on this ship. If this had been my first cruise I probably would not sail with Princess again, but I know first hand how this is not the norm for any Princess ship. Very astonishing considering this ship was in Dry Dock just last December. The only saving grace was the balcony cabin, which was indeed very nice and comfortable, and the music on board was very good, otherwise it was a complete bust......Never again on the STAR....