We loved Alaska and the shore excursions we did there. Princess Cruises, not so much....

I wanted to try Princess Cruises because I thought the demographics might be more fitting for my husband and I as we are in our thirties. I'd cruised on Holland America and the service was great but definitely seemed a bit more catered to an older crowd. We were so disappointed in the service we received on the Princess Cruise. We paid $5,000 for our balcony stateroom and were woken up every day between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. because our whole room would shake when people in the gym above us would drop their weights on the floor. All day if we were trying to relax in our room, the whole room would shake. We were told it was our travel agent's fault for putting us in that room (even though we didn't book with a travel agent). They shouldn't even be using these rooms since they are clearly not suitable and IF they are going to use the rooms, a disclaimer of the noise should be made and they should be sold at a discounted rate. The guest services staff couldn't care less about our problem and did nothing to help. I've been trying to get in touch with customer service and they don't respond to my inquiries.

Additionally, other service on the cruise was sub-par. I purchased a balcony breakfast before we left and it took me forever to get through to room service to actually schedule the breakfast. I finally got through after waiting on hold for 10 minutes at 11 p.m. - I called earlier in the day several times and the phone rang and rang. Same thing when trying to book specialty dining. While we had reservations for specialty dining a few nights, we decided on a whim we'd like to go to the specialty restaurants but they don't answer the phone when you call to make a reservation. We went without a reservation and they were so rude about the fact that we didn't have a reservation even though the restaurant wasn't even half full. Then the manager walked around shaming people for eating the bread. It was such bizarre behavior. The food at the food court was honestly inedible. It reminded me of the food they used to serve in my elementary school cafeteria in the 1990s. Read more