This past January we went on an Asian Cruise with Princess Cruises. We were to board our cruise in Shanghai, reporting to board our cruise beginning at 12:00PM, Jan. 5fth. Then, the night before, I received an e-mail indicating the ship was late arriving on port and we should report beginning at 4:00PM. As we arrived at the terminal, our taxi driver noted the main gate was closed and a worker was directing him to go on. We arrived at a building crowded with thousands of tourists. One clerk told us to go upstairs and wait for further boarding instructions. We went upstairs, sat along with other passengers waiting for further instructions, I glanced at a passenger sitting next to us and he had a boarding card and an ID card. I asked him where he got them and he directed me to an area on the first floor where people were being processed in a very disorganized way. I finally had documents to board the ship"THANKS TO INSTRUCTIONS FROM A FELLOW PASSENGER" and not one from the cruise company. Well, before we knew, it was 7:00PM and we knew nothing about when we would begin boarding. A poor lady, who had arrived at 12:00PM, per the original schedule, had not had a meal since her breakfast. Around 8:00PM, someone came to offer water. How sad to be mistreated this way. When we thought we had had the worst, we were finally told to proceed down a hallway that led to the outside parking lot? What? It is raining and we have to walk in the rain to the next building?. The rest of the ordeal on this cruise was not that better. The food at the dining room was simple and after few days eating the same stuff, we decided to skip meals. We signed up for two tours, one for Ho Chi Min City , Vietnam and Bang Kok, Thailand. The port in Vietnam is 2:00 hours away from the city and by the the time you get there, there is not much you can do, before the last bus goes back to the ship. During the two tours, the native tour guides spoke very poor English and we looked at each other wondering what is he saying?. On one tour we asked the tour guide if we were going to go to a place where we could buy souvenirs. Consistent with everything else, we stopped at a rest area with just food shops. My wife went everywhere looking for souvenirs and came back to the bus empty handed.

To add insult to injury, we both got a cold from our fellow passengers, who were coughing and sneezing everywhere. When we went to the nurse's office to get some medications, a rude older woman at the desk, greeted us like dogs, " As we walked in, she just said SIT and wait, in a rude tone. Well, I am not dog and went to her and asked to get some over the counter cold medications.

The one consolation during this horrific cruise was to know that many times before we had great experiences with other cruise companies. Read more