This cruise was quite telling about the degree of cutbacks Princess is implementing trying to regain financial stability at the expense of decreasing the quality of goods and services provided. At first, it did not make too much of a difference in not having any stationary or writing instrument in the cabin but then the soap bars disappeared. Now with the new medallions for the medallion class service that were to make our lives rejuvenated they want to now charge us a shipping fee of $15 just to receive the medallions. Well, I thought that enough was enough but to my amazement there was more to come. On our last cruise this past May 2023, I noticed some more cost effective reductions taking place. As elite members we are provided a minibar setup in our cabins but this time the minibar contained a secondary class of libations from some distilleries I had not heard of before nor would I consume. My next surprise awakening was in the dining room for dinner when I ordered what was described as a tasty prime rib roast. To my surprise and disgust I could not cut through the slice of roast without significate effort. In addition I could not even chew the piece I had cut without significant effort. I have never had a tougher piece of beef in my lifetime. I called over the head waiter who in turn called the chef to deal with my concerns. Unfortunately, the chef could only offer his apologies and said he can only cook what he is provided. Instead of providing a decent grade of beef for their guests, Princess apparently thought they could save more money by procuring an inferior grade of beef that had the tenderness of hardened leather, possibly utility grade or less. Unfortunately, losing customers does not appear to play a role in Princess' decision to attack one of the historical niceties of cruising called good food.

I hope that Princess realizes that it is not only the little things that count but also the big things.