We have cruised several times and usually go Norwegian. We are a couple in our 40s, with 18 yo and 11 yo sons. We love NCL for the food and all the activities they have on board. We decided to try out Princess because we loved the 10 day holiday itinerary of this cruise. I knew it was a bit of an older demographic, but honestly said to myself "how bad can it be?" We travel a lot and always are able to make the best of any situation so I thought we could do without some of the amenities that other ships offer since we would be at port most days anyways... We just got home yesterday and I can say confidently that we will NEVER go Princess again.

I have a whole list of issues with this cruise line, but to summarize:

1. Food was not good. We are used to knock-your-socks-off food with lots of dining options, specialty restaurants, etc... The buffet food was better than main dining room on most days. But the buffet was random, small and not great. For example... here is what the lineup was on one day for lunch and in this order: Black beans, indian butter chicken, steamed cauliflower, grilled zucchini, mashed potatoes, crock pot stew, creamed corn, steamed fish of some sort.... there were a few more items, but you get the idea... I wish they would have done something that made sense- a day of Indian, for example, with 3-5 Indian dishes followed by the mashed potatoes and regular American food options. Or how about a day of Chinese food, Mexican food, etc? It was like they pulled out whatever was in the fridge closest to them, warmed it up and slapped it down on the buffet line. Weirdest thing ever. And the buffet was TINY. My 11 year old lived off of grilled Hamburgers from the poolside grill for 10 days. The breakfast buffet was worse. The most watery scrambled eggs you've ever seen- reminded us of the free breakfast you would get at a Holiday Inn. No omelet station unless you found a crew member and specially requested it. Then it took 15-20 min to make (they prepared it in the back). Microwave bacon. Yuck. I ended up eating an English muffin with mystery jelly (it was never labeled on what flavor it was) and a bruised banana most days. Read more