The Southern Caribbean itinerary was very attractive, but we should have done more research on the ship, which was launched in 2006 and badly needs a complete overhaul and refurbishing. The engines are seriously in need of repair, as other reviewers have noted. The engines' poor performance slowed the ship so that one scheduled stop was cancelled, and we have been late in arriving at others, although the Captain prevaricates by repeatedly blaming the problems on the high winds and choppy seas, which really aren't bad at all. The water on our deck was shut off for 150 minutes one afternoon "due to urgent maintenance" that we were told about in a notice put in our stateroom the night before. The cabins are filthy in places (mold in the shower, soiled headboards above bed, stained sheets, etc.), and white paint splatters or bird poop cover both balcony chairs.
We have taken more than 20 cruises and have sailed on Princess more than five times since 1996, but this is our worst cruise ever in terms of food and service. Many servers in the buffet are rude and unhelpful, cutting in front of passengers and saying nothing. Others working on the ship show very little concern for passengers and have no common courtesy. They need to be fired or retrained. For example, roughly one hundred passengers were kept standing outside the ship for 5-7 minutes in a sudden rainstorm as the crew blocked the entrance and fumbled around, doing nothing that we could observe before letting us board the ship and offering absolutely no apologies or excuses. The coin changer in the laundry room was out of order, forcing us to go to the Customer Service Desk, where some working there are ill-informed and have acted as if they didn't want to be disturbed.
Lacks modern plus for phones, and has far too few electrical outlets. Everything badly need to be updated.