Princess cruises, shame on you. Am an experienced cruiser, 30+ at this time, and have cruised with Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, and some other smaller cruise lines. After not cruising with Princess for 10 years, decided to give it another try. What a disappointment, cannot begin to tell you how horrible this ship is run. Embarkation went not too badly, but once on the ship, left to own devices. Booked Anytime Dining but quickly realised that they don't run it properly (started with no reservation for the first night) so quickly got a permanent table and time from the Maitre'd which worked out much better. Long lines for dinner every night at the dining room, not what you wanted to see on a cruise ship, and many angry people in that line. Around the pool (all 3 of them) people were saving seats from the crack of dawn, if you got up at 9 a.m. there was nowhere to sit - and if you happened to leave your pool towel in your cabin (what the hell is that all about anyway) there were no towels available around the pool decks and we were told to get them from our cabin. The worst of all was seeing several people slip and fall on the wet pool deck (3 in the space of 30 minutes) and no pool attendant in sight to help. Passengers were going to the rescue of these unfortunate people. What was the reaction from a crew member who was told that people had fallen and the deck should be wiped down "There is a sign warning that the deck is wet". Upon complaining to passenger services, the front desk manager had nothing to say but "sorry". That giant jumbotron showing movies night and day is lovely at night, but during the day it is a non stop noise machine. The sound is so loud it throbs right through you if you are sitting level with the speakers, and there is a loud hum. Nowhere to escape the noise. Food was mediocre at best. The buffet is too small for this size of ship, plates ran out quickly, food was not refilled fast enough, and salad on hot plates is not very appetizing. The food selection also was limited at the Horizon buffet. Apparently there were better selections at the Caribe, but we didn't find out about it until day 8 of a 10 day cruise. The dining room menu also was unimaginative and boring. Who wants meatloaf or fried chicken on a cruise ship. Even the deserts were not very tempting. Sabatini's specialty restaurant was the one bright spot - well run, attentive staff and a lovely menu. Food was delicious there, and that was well worth it.

They are not taking hand washing seriously enough - not like other cruise lines that stand at the entrance to all dining venues with the hand wash ready to squirt in your hand. Here it was voluntary, and not too many people I saw using them.

Entertainment venues were overcrowded and again, seat saving in the theatre had people going an hour in advance to get a seat. Also, the times of the shows conflicted with the most popular dining times, making it difficult to get from the dining room at the back of the ship to the theatre at the front, on a very very very long ship!!! Read more