After 25 plus cruises with Princess, overall, our most disappointing experience on Princess. Many of the little touches that made Princess special for us have been discontinued or were missing. No more smoked salmon in the morning buffet. According to HC manager, “We don’t do that anymore”. To his credit though, he did track some down for me. All the great cheeses we used to have, Blues and others, we’re gone. Same boring, every day, sliced Swiss and cheddar slices I can get at the grocery store. No more of the big cocktail shrimp. Horizon court food was almost the same every day. Only half the normal selection. Meat tended to be over cooked and dry. Bright spot was the omelet station for breakfast. Deserts were terrible and almost nonexistent. Jell-O seemed to be featured a lot. No cakes or pies to be found. No holiday food and it was almost Christmas. Main DR food was just ok but not great. My favorite for years, fettuccine Alfredo, was a soupy mess of what seemed to be sauce from a jar over large noodles that was only just warm. It really wasn’t anytime dining when we always had to share a table with others. Only way we could get a table for four was to make a reservation. After 2 tries at a table for four, we stopped going to the MDR.

The daily elite lounge reception we used to love that featured specialties such as a big wheel of Stilton cheeses etc., was a half-hearted effort that was just food that we saw at the buffet for lunch each day. Why bother and really an insult to our loyalty. Trident grill was advertised to be a BBQ grill in the evening yet when we went, we again were told, “We don’t do that anymore”. They said a lot of people were asking but that corporate had neglected to update the Princess website. My favorite bourbon, Bulleit, was advertised but was nonexistent. Was told that it was supply chain issues. That might be believable if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s plentiful and everywhere in California where the ship is based.

What made the cruise tolerable given everything else was the crew. Just about the best we’ve ever had. They were spectacular and I felt bad for them that they had to keep apologizing for all the changes and failures caused by bad corporate decisions. Crown grill and Sabatinis were spectacular. Best food on the ship. It’s obvious that Princess, AKA, Carnival Corp, has rushed too many ships back into service and is too deep in debt to provide a proper cruise experience. The cost cutting was pronounced and at the expense of its guests. Elite customers no longer seem to be an important focus, and this is truly disappointing. We had a Princess cruise scheduled for April 2023 but cancelled it while we were on this cruise after all the bad experiences. We also didn’t put down a future cruise deposit as we have decided this is likely our last Princess cruise after all these years. We didn’t leave Princess; Princess seems to have decided they really don’t care if we come back.