Princess Cruise Lines markets this type of a cruise as a "Grand Adventure." The problem was that there was nothing "grand" about it what-so-ever. Aside from the amazing ports of call the on board experience was mediocre at best. There was nothing innovative or unique at all, just a 7 day Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise recycled week after week. Every sea day at 10 a.m. (there were 39!) the co-called cruise director would announce over the ship's P.A. system in a flat, monotone voice we luck passengers were in for a day full of "Effy sales...bingo...on board outlet sale...Princess Pop Choir rehearsal." But when we were stuck on the ship at an anchorage in Tokyo Bay for 24 hours and not allowed off the ship because Princess couldn't get the ship fueled (we missed the stop at Osaka!) the cruise director did announce that "bingo was cancelled but a special event was planned." The "special event" ended up being a vegetable carving demonstration...i kid you not! Not once in 60 days did I see the cruise director "out and about" and actually being a proper "cruise director."

But the biggest problem with the cruise was how organized and chaotic everything was. And this was entirely the fault of the ship's captain, staff captain and hotel general manager. The captain made very few announcements and was never seen except at the events he was required to attend. The few announcements he made were only to deliver bad news (there was a lot of it), but he made sure to blame "corporate," over and over again. Because of the lack of leadership in all aspects of the cruise I have never seen morale so low among the crew members on a cruise ever before. the staff captain ate several times in the ships' buffet while in port and was mean and nasty to the crew members working there and did not acknowledge us passengers in the very least. If the had a complaint for any reason, big or small instead of trying to solve it on the ship you simple got a form letter from the hotel general manager informing you to contact "Princess Cruises Customer Relations Department upon your return home." I booked this cruise over a year before the embarkation date and was looking forward to a cruise of a lifetime but now cannot express how disappointed in Princess Cruise Lines for the joke of a "Grand Voyage." P.S. my Captain's Circle level on Princess is the highest "ELITE."