We were in a large group. Perfect fir us to hang out and also do things separate from group. Our room was great, service was not amazing and the communication of where entertainment was held was missed by most of us. Probably our fault. We all had many drinks, ate with the sane servers each night and no attempt to make trip special was seen. I just found that the service was not personal or personalized in any area. Some of the bar staff were rude and the wait times were long. Overall a good trip, just surprised by the lack of smiles, greetings and interaction from service personnel. Comedy show was great, the pool area was nice and the fitness center all though crowders at times, it was nice equipment and you were able to get a good workout in daily. Highly recommend the drink packages! Making reservations for dinner was easy. Read Less

This was my first Princess Cruise and I did book another cruise, but unsure if I won’t go back to Celebrity. The crew on this ship was incredibly inconsistent. Some worked hard and were friendly, while others seemed to hate their job. The food in the main dining halls was just okay, but then sometimes the buffet delivered even though sometimes it didn’t. The cruise director’s team is a lot of fun and actually helped me enjoy the brand more. That said, here are some things they could work harder to make my trip better: 1) karaoke: having it in the Vista theater vs. a bar is a big mistake. It doesn’t bring the fun as the activity should be. It feels like auditioning for American Idol. Only for the brave. The point of karaoke is sounding awful with too many drinks for liquid courage. 2) enough with the old jokes by CD Matt O. I’m in my mid-40s and chose Princess because it cruises out of LA and isn’t full of kids. However, telling all these old jokes made me feel like the brand isn’t made for me. 3) Old Fashions do not need soda when you’re calling top shelf bourbon. ASK if I want club soda in it. I was rudely blamed for not proactively telling them. No bar I’ve ever been to in the US serves the cocktail with soda water. 4) I never saw our stateroom attendant. Never checked in with us. 5) Every spa on every ship tries to upsell you product. I get it. But NO MEANS NO! My sister and I were pressured and when we said no, we were each individually treated incredibly rude. Each time, we were met with passive aggressive and even just plain aggressive attitude. 6) Elevators are a huge challenge. I realize there is no way to fix this. But they’re the worst I’ve ever experienced on cruises in size and delays. 7) order now in the app is absolutely useless. I ordered drinks that never came. Sometimes the screen would lock for days (I have an iPhone Xs). 8) Sanctuary is great! However, understaffed and you’ll be stranded without drinks being served to your table despite advertising otherwise. 9) women bartenders seemed to be all business no chatter. I like talking to barstaff, regardless of gender, but I noticed the women bartenders seemingly unfriendly. 10) Future Cruises needs overhaul. Whomever I talked to there seemed to care less about selling me a future cruise. My sister and I got “go to the website” as an answer a lot. MISSED OPPORTUNITY! I could use some excitement and “insider” information about some of the cruises. Demographics, something special not in the brochure, etc. Celebrity does this incredibly well. Princess could learn a few things about retooling their Future Cruises office (open for two hours per day by ONE unsmiling staffer. 11) not a comment card available to fill out as of the fifth day. (I’m reviewing on our last day.) 12) Do more programming for the Gen X crowd. 13) the “library” had very few books and mostly stale reading. Fill it up! 14) bring silent disco! 15) keep the racist jokes by AJ Jamal off the ship. Horribly dated jokes against Asian Americans, uses accents like something out of 1950s. Awful and uncomfortable. He made the audience the butt of jokes and it was clear they were laughing in politeness. Just hearing people as they exited the theater would give the ship enough insight to ship this guy out. I don’t mind blue humor, but this guy didn’t have very good material and so when the audience wasn’t impressed, he just started picking on Asians in the crowd. He mentioned he has a wife from Thailand, but he should know better rather than use her as a license to offend. 16) LGBT mixer was unhosted while there were MANY gay staff on the ship. Would love to see the representation at the mixer by the staff. It’s sometimes easier to approach a staff member about LGBT questions and programming if we know who is who. Read Less

Just off the Royal this morning. There was 7 in our group, including my wife and son, in laws and sister in law and her husband. Overall enjoyed the ship and the cruise. The food was better than expected, the ship is in lovely condition. The cruise director, Matt O is very funny and has more energy than the Energizer Bunny. We were in a mini-suite (B337) midship. The cabin was nice for three people. Our son slept on the bunk bed that came down from the ceiling. We really enjoyed the bedding. Two large screen tv’s on the wall. Lots of free movies to chose from. The bathroom was nice enough. We would prefer a nice shower over a shower/tub combo, but it was fine. Lots of storage space. Our cabin attendant was simply adequate. He came in the first day and told us three things he couldn’t do, before we opened our mouth. We picked the cabin because it has the bunk bed in the ceiling. Our 14 year old is 6’0 and the couch was just too small. He was not happy that we asked for the bunk bed but he made it up. We asked for three towels in the bathroom as there was three of us and he told us we were lucky to have 2 towels as the machine was down. While I’m sure this was true, all he had to say was that he would get the third towel in asap. We asked that he replenish the ice bucket in the morning and at night and we failed to do that most of the time. None of these issues is major, but we have never encountered this type of average service from a cabin attendant in over 25 cruises. Usually we are making sure to tip extra to our cabin attendant who took such good care of us, but this time there was simply no “above and beyond” type of service. We had lovely service in the Allegro dining room every night. Civil and Ariel were great waiters. The food in the main dining room was better than past cruises on Princess. The food in the Horizon Court buffet was also good. The design of the Horizon court is awful. They have “alleys” that are perpendicular to the seating areas. The ship was full and there was narrow walk ways and congestion, partly caused by the fact that there is no front/back of the lines. We had breakfast in the dining room a couple of times just to avoid the buffet. The pizza and burgers were also delicious by the pool. Loved the pool area. Lots of loungers, the Movies Under the Stars was great, and the waiter service at the bar and all areas of the ship was excellent. We worked out in the fitness center twice over the 5 days and the gym is a little tight but the equipment was in good shape. Our son played hoops on the basketball court and loved that there was a competitive game with adults. We did the virtual clay pigeon shooting one afternoon that was also fun. The casino was nice (other than overwhelming cigarette smell). I do love the new ships that ban smoking in the casino. The casino dealers were nice and friendly. The coffee shop on level 5 was fantastic. They have fabulous espresso, great sandwiches and desserts. We enjoyed the jazz septuplets in the Wheelhouse Bar and the piano players throughout the cruise. They had mariachi music throughout the week and while it was great it got a little old as it felt that we heard it in the piazza every day for three days straight. The regular band played by the pool and in the piazza and had a great guitar player and lead singer. There was a good selection of shops on board that my wife and son loved and good advantage of! Read Less

Nothing but great things to say about this experience. From the check in to disembarking it was flawless. The staff was wonderful and tried to get all involved. Inwas nervous if I would like it, being a first timer, but it was AMAZING! Had wonderful excursions and met a bunch of wonderful people. They had a great system for departing the boat for Cabo and plenty of tenders going back and forth. The food and wait staff was amazing for our scheduled dining. Great photographers and the cost was very reasonable to purchase our photos. Wonderful pools and hot tubs and very well staffed. They were always on task to make sure you had everything you needed; no matter how busy. The had a cake extravaganza and the cake were beautiful. The club's were great and well maintained and staffed. Overall wonderful experience. We just got home and already planning the next with Process. Thank you Princess Royal! Read Less

Have cruised with Princess many times and overall, the standard is consistent. This time room steward exceptional, captain and officers daily update and log, exceptional, food average in fact almost disappointing in some areas, captains club cocktail party very disappointing. Ship in good condition and easy to navigate if sailed Princess before. Shops average. Not much 5o buy if you've cruised before. International Cafe very good but extremely busy. Love Princess champagne waterfal but no officers this time - oh well!!. Buffett boring, and not well organized. Have had much better but still enough selection in buffett to fill an appetite.MDR in but not that impressed with food or menu. Embarkation easy and seamless. Love the fact that Princess gives a local map for each port. All over a reasonable cruise and Princess maintained its consistency - some excellent highlights and some disappointing as expected. My second favorite cruise line so will travel with Princess again Read Less

My wife and I wanted to visit Tassie so we decided to take a cruise there it worked out to be a great choice . Modern ship great decor, service was very good , the ship was at full capacity but never felt crowded . We had a mini suite located deck 14 mid ship.Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze no hassles.Meal menus and choices in the dinning areas we felt could have been a little better, still good and should fulfill most people’s appetite.Shore tours where well planned and well organised by the crew . Would recommend you book prior to boarding the ship however as they were limited. Entertainment was good plenty of different themes from musical to comedy . The theatre was big and plenty of seats it’s pillarless and you have a great view of the stage from every seat.I would highly recommend the Majestic Princess for your next cruise. Read Less

I love princess as a cruise line. I have completed over 30 cruises in my lifetime so far. I have tried multiple cruise ship companies and Princess is on of my favourites. They seem to get the balance of Classy, fun and relaxing correct every time. This one was a short 5days to Tasmania. This is definitely not long enough. It would be great to see a longer cruise itinerary for this location with more to see. You just start to relax and then it is time to get off. It’s really on 4 days as the 1st day is boarding the ship. We booked the enclave this time and it was incredible. As Tasmania is freezing. It was lovely to have a warm pool, steam room and sauna to relax in each day. It is also really quite private due to the extra expense. It is really worth it. Our cabin was prime position. We got a balcony cabin right near the back lifts. There was no outside noise from the lifts at all and it was only a few floors away from the market place above us and the traditional dining restaurant below us. Renato our cabin steward was fantastic. This ship is one of the newer in the fleet so is beautiful and in great condition. There are more passengers on this ship than some of the smaller ones so this can slow down service. However, I was on this ship a year ago and you can see massive improvements since the last time. This shows that princess really do value our feedback and take it onboard. Great to see :) If you get the chance to see Chris Watkins. Do it. He is incredible :) I have seen him twice now onboard this beautiful ship and he is incredible. Read Less

Was taken on this cruise, I did not choose it. Years ago I experienced large ship cruising on the now retired QE2, about 30 yrs ago.... it seemed more elegant then and less cattle herding. The cabin had a balcony and I found it extremely comfortable and by past standards, roomy. it was clean and the steward was a dream. The activities were never ending and there was something for all. The food was inconsistent and I have to say sweat shirts and blue jeans are not casual smart dress for dinner. I would say cruising for the masses has definitely dumbed down the experience. The shore excursions were varied but way over the top in expense. Luckily I new some of the ports and we went out on our own. Rereading this I sound very snobbish, but I have to say the romance has been taken out of the cruise industry, even if it is The Love Boat. Read Less

This is my 7th Cruise, 2nd time with Princess who I did rate my favourite. However, not anymore. This cruise has been my worst experience ever. Very embarrassing when we have brought our friends with us and it’s there first cruise! The food in the main restaurant Bottecelli is absolutely disgusting. The presentation is the lowest I’ve ever seen. There seems to be a selection of 2-3 soups on the starter menu every night. This is a choice out of 5-6 starter choices so this leaves you with practically no choice. My friend ordered the chicken pie it was presented in a pot on a plate, no veg nothing just pastry over what you can only describe as a bowl of soup! There is a steward operating the pool bar on 16th deck by the smoking area who refused us straws for our cocktails said it was management/company policy that straws were only allowed with blended drinks! Very rude argumentative Asian guy. The ports apart from St Thomas have been very poor. We docked in Dominica and expected some nice shops but instead we had a run down shanty town with nothing to do and this was our longest stop. Today in Grenada it’s a Sunday and all is closed up. What a waste of time! A very poor cruise iTunes U and shockingly disgusting tough badly presented food! Read Less

buffets are horrible theatre seating is a disaster ship needs to be drydocked and modernized medallion service and increasing the size of the casino only updates very very limited shade around one pool and no, nil, nothing of shade around the other pool captain and staff never seen formal night pictures usually have the captain and some crew available for pictures they weren't front thrusters on ship failed forcing us to tender instead of docking this ship does not live up to the standards of the Princess fleet stateroom was changed on date of embarkation before we left the room for the last time we had selected to sail on the Baltic heritage trip in July 2020 but when we found out it was on this ship we cancelled music around pool is inappropriate for a group of middle age and senior citizens unless of course you like rap music Read Less

We've cruised the Mediterranean twice before and have been on many other cruises. We chose this trip because friends were going and we had loved visiting Spain, France and Italy in the past. We had never been to Gibraltar and really knew very little about it - yet it turned out to be our favorite port! We upgraded to a Balcony room so we could enjoy quiet time to ourselves - turned out to be a waste of money. The Pacific Princess is a very small ship - easy to get around, however, not much to get around too. The staterooms were typical, however, no special touches or service from the staff. The entertainment was VERY limited and honestly poor quality talent. Cruise director staff was the poorest and most boring we have ever experienced. There was no energy or enthusiasm on the ship - no dancing, no "playing". Even in the casino the staff was not engaging. If you are looking for a very quiet ship, basically in bed by 10 - this may not have been the disappointment it was to us. We found the quality of the food to be below average as well as the service. This was our first Princess experience, so I don't know if this is typical of Princess, however, when we get together with our friends and/or family to decide what our cruise will be next year, we will make a pretty strong case that we would prefer not to sail again on the Princess line. No special touches or special care in ANY of the aspects. Poorly scheduled and planned activities, excursions were very generic and the tour guides for the excursions spoke very poor and accented English so it made it very hard to follow. Read Less

After being on the Regal and the Royal, this was a much smaller ship. It is also a much older ship and is in relatively good shape. We had a mini suite on Caribe and it was a great location and everything in the mini suite was fine. I did miss the International cafe but we did adjust to just having the coffee bar. Breakfast buffet was fine, but the lunch buffet has no imagination. I love a salad at lunch, but the same boring items were offered every day. No glaucamole, no diced eggs, no chicken, but lots,of pork done any way you can imagine. If you eat pork, you are fine for a meat selection but for those of us who like a little chicken on a salad, we were out of luck. They need someone to redo the entire salad bar and make it interesting, not the same dull and not many items to choose from. How about a taco bar once in a while. Dinner in the Provence dining room was very good. Lots of items to choose from and it was always different. My only complaint was the coldness in this dining room. People complained every night and nothing was ever done about the temperature. Take a coat with you as most,of us wore one at dinner. Sad, when you can’t enjoy a meal without your coat on. This really needs to be addressed. The indoor pool was a nice option on the rainy day we had at sea. You have your usual chair hogs at the main pool, but the deck attendant was very good checking chairs and removing items if left for an hour. Limon was a horrible place to walk around. Trash and graffiti everywhere. We will stay on the ship next,time. Amber Cove was fine and we enjoyed our day there. Falmouth, Jamaica has an enclosed area that was wonderful to walk around in. In Cartagena, Columbia the vendors totally ruined the day. They were in your face and way too aggressive. That is another port we will avoid and we were on a tour, which made it worse. The Panama Canal was amazing and so glad we stayed on ship to go through the locks. Such history and it was fun to see all the ships,going the other way. All in all a good,cruise but do,wish they would go to some other,ports that are more pleasant to visit. Read Less

Great cruise, great food, great service, but mediocre entertainment.Two of the port visits were too short. No free time to wonder around the port cities. The cruise director was never seen by me or my wife. The music in the pool was mediocre to poor. No stimulating activities for the younger crowds. The shows were few(3). The port cities were great, but in Cartagena and Jamaica the port time was too short. The dinning experience was great as well as the food. The waiters and the greeters were amazing. The room service was excellent as well as the Gym. After dinner was not much to do, activities were boring. We went to bed early. Overall a good cruise, with great ports. By the way, the city of Colon was scary at best. I hope passengers are never allowed to walk alone in the area. Again the cruise director was NOT GOOD Read Less

Room on 16th floor front of ship balcony smelled like a locker room. Food quality was very poor. Carnival cruise line has way better food. Customer service is not honest with average age group traveling. They herd you in like cattle. Very disappointed on first cruise with Princess. Dancers were very very very good. Well done. Carlos Oscar comedian was very good. Just felt like there was lack of communication from staff. Like you are on your own. If you want to be on a cruise with the average age of 70 plus, than Princess is for you. Captain Tim was not honest about the rough seas. People were tortured because of rough seas. Took us around subtropical Storm Melissa. Not a great experience, but hey, they had to get the next cruise out Saturday afternoon. It’s all about making money. I get it. Not cool though taking passengers in a storm. Our steward that cleaned our room was very sweet young lady. Read Less

We chose this cruise to hopefully catch some great fall colors and - perhaps - the Northern Lights. We got one out of two! Colors were gorgeous, especially in Canada. We took our daughter and her husband with us and had a delightful time with them! Embarkation was amazingly smooth - probably a function of not trying to get on board as early as possible, like we usually do! Really enjoyed the ports and the on board entertainment. Dining room food was a bit below Princess' normally high standards. Cruising through sub-tropical storm Melissa was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience that the ship and captain handled amazingly well - making it actually an exciting experience, rather than scary. Although this itinerary is not one I would repeat (unlike others we have taken), I am delighted that we had the opportunity to see a part of the Northeast we had not previously experienced. Peggy's Cove and the Reversing Rapids were especially amazing! Read Less

We chose this cruise primarily for the itinerary. Secondarily, we had prior experience with the Princess brand and felt that we could expect a certain standard. In this aspect, we were thoroughly disappointed. Our embarkation was delayed half a day due to required extra sanitation because so many passengers on the prior cruise had suffered gastrointestinal illnesses. The Caribbean Princess was refurbished this year. Despite this, our stateroom had maintenance issues. The carpeting was stained. The wooden trim was broken and missing above the doorway. The TV worked only when it felt like it. The lighting above the desk and the only available electric outlets went on the fritz halfway into the cruise. The "Medallion" which is your room key and access to anything on board, failed FOUR times and needed replacing. The stop at Bar Harbor, Maine required use of tenders to transport passengers between the ship and the pier. Due to heavy swell and good-sized waves, there was a considerable delay of approximately two hours in getting passengers into tenders for the 20 minute trip to shore. However, for the passengers of Tender #19, it was a nightmarish crossing as the engine failed and the tender was rocked violently whilst taking on water from the chop. Several passengers were drenched. Buffet dining areas were understaffed and lacked adequate seating for passengers. The end result is that a passenger could go through the buffet line for food and then be entirely unable to find somewhere to sit and eat, resulting in a seven to ten minute search for a table. When a table was finally located, your food was stone cold. Adding insult to injury, it was virtually impossible to find a waiter willing to deliver beverages. In on disastrous incident, we got up from the table to hunt down a waiter and order a Coke, only to be delivered the wrong item some 20 minutes later. This level of apathy and disservice is a direct result of the Princess policy to automatically charge passengers $15.50 per person per day for tips. There is absolutely zero incentive for any employee to give anything other than mediocre service on this ship. Never again. We'll take our business elsewhere. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the ports and they were amazing. The Princess staff is mostly awesome. Sadly, we were disappointed in a lot of other aspects on this cruise. Does Princess ever have easy embarkation? We’ve always had issues and this cruise was no exception. We were not allowed to board until 7PM and really missed the whole evening because of that. We also had no place to wait with our luggage for an extra 7 hours. Apparently the ship needed to be “sanitized”, but the passengers were really left hanging around with no place to go. It was handled poorly. Princess needs a course in communication skills, I think. We liked the ship! There was an issue with norovirus and the staff were constantly sanitizing but I question how well. In Skywalkers the waiter was swabbing down the table tops but that is where it ended. The curved underside of the tables were sticky with past residue. Gross. We didn’t get sick. We washed our hands a lot. Our dining room waiters were fabulous and worked hard. Their great service and attentiveness made it a bit uncomfortable to complain about the quality of the food which was NOT good. We haven’t cruised withPrincess for 2 years and noticed a very big food quality shift. The beef was tough. The scallops were inedible. The lobster was shrivelled and dry. Rubbery prawns. The salad lettuce was tired, wilted and soggy. The desserts were good in the dining room, though. The buffet food was better. Sadly, the service was not good. There were long waits for tables and the staff couldn’t keep up with the clearing tasks or getting beverages in a timely manner. Chaos, especially at breakfast and lunch. Part of the fun of cruising is the variety and quality of the food. We were saddened and disappointed with how far Princess has slid in this regard. There were no talks or seminars on the ports. There was no naturalist or historian. There was nothing that I could find except the excursion desk. The day we went there the staff person was quite unhelpful. The “250 free minutes” of internet time was useless in my cabin. Logging out was next to impossible despite following all the instructions. Eventually, I gave up rather than be intimidated once again by the internet staff. The passengers were a fun bunch, though. We commiserated about the bad food, the long tender waits, the lack of communication. I guess it is what you make of it but I doubt I’ll cruise with Princess again. Read Less

Cruise did not our meet expectations. Disappointed in dining Two meals were poorly cooked or over cooked and sent back to the kitchen No one asked why or if I wanted a replacement dinner. Never asked during dining if the meals were ok. On the formal night the meals plates were cleared from the table part way during dinner for photos but not returned to finish eating. During dinning we felt rushed and pressured to finish and move on We were offered a drink before dinner but nothing after. On previous cruises we sat and visited over coffee and drinks with are table mates. The medallion thing was a waste of time and did not work. Some times a drink would arrive in reasonably time but often it would not arrive or the system was not working. There was a lack of accurate communication on delays One hour wait turned into 4 hours Compared to our other cruises this one was a disappointment. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the fall colors and primarily to see Quebec City and Boston for the first time. All of the ports of call were great. We took cruise ship tours in all but Syndey (which is too small to justify a tour) and Halifax. Embarkation was delayed about four hours due to deep cleaning from novovirus scare. They did a great job with that, though, and had us on the ship two hours before promised. None of our group of six got sick with gastrointestinal flu-like symptoms, so we are very happy about that. We had the best stateroom attendant we ever have had! All the staff we encountered were very hard working, eager to please and pleasant, particularly in Crooners, Vines, and the bar across from the World Marketplace 24 hour food kiosk! High kudos for all! We had a balcony stateroom. This is the most cramped we have ever been in any balcony stateroom on a ship! The shower is so tiny that the shower curtain sticks to your backside if you turn around. Bed, small desk with a chair and a too-much-space-taking closet. Get rid of the huge closet and at least add a second chair to eat or drink!! I sat/lay on my side of the bed for 90 percent of the time we were in the room. If my hubby and I tried to move about we had to constantly dance around each other. I felt claustrophobic. We used to cruise all the time, but we have opted for land tours for the last seven years, so it was quite the disappointment to discover how drastically it has changed, I am assuming industry-wide. I am on vacation, so I love to wake slowly and have breakfast and coffee in my room. The menu has dwindled to continental breakfast only with one little (but tasty) egg mcmuffin, basically. Speaking of room service, they rarely answer the phone. I was on hold one time for 55 minutes. I was told they were very busy. But I also was put on hold at 9:30 pm and after midnight, so....... No. They just don't answer much of the time. When they do, the service was prompt. Big deal for me on sea days as I tend to feel urpy and something to eat helps me get up and about. Can't use the Medallion to order room service much of the time because it, too, would go on the blink. It "crashed" constantly. Good idea, though. Need to work out the kinks. Also need to streamline the service. I had FOUR APPS downloaded by the time was on the ship! I was glad to delete them all afterwards. It IS nice though to enter your room without grabbing for your key. And when it DOES work, it's pretty cool how people call out your name as you walk around the ship. The televisions didn't work at all a few days, most notably for a full day at sea!! No movies, not TV, no music -- nothing!!!! The food in the main dining room was hit-and-miss. Certainly NOTHING like it used to be! The upcharge section irks me to no end. The menu was so lackluster that we only ate there three out of ten evenings. Others in our group only went twice. The salads are sad little things. What we did enjoy was seasoned well, though. So we did what I think Princess is trying to make you do, that is pay the added fees for the better food venues -- Sabatini's, Royal Crown and Steamers. They were all great. How the main dining room USED TO BE WITHOUT THE ADDED FEE!!! The brochure seems to suggest the ship has four restaurants -- Salty Dog, Pizzeria, Planks and Steamers -- that is very misleading. Steamers and Plank operate as a restaurant only during the evenings. During the day they are just additional space for the buffet -- which was awful, by the way, IF YOU COULD FIND A SEAT!! We did the buffet only once. Salty Dog and the pizza place are kiosks by the pool with very little seating and it is outdoors, so on this freezing cold cruise it was not usable unless you had your coat and scarf on. The average age of this cruise was 75, I would estimate. I'm no spring chicken myself at 53, but it was pretty boring, even my parents agreed, and they are in their late 70's. The music venues aimed at their audience, understandably, but it was SO FRUSTRATING for us, especially when the lead singer from Project 7 can sing as well as Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross!! The gym was open 8 am to 8 pm. NOT ACCEPTABLE!! And it was way too small. Felt like a petrie dish of germs. THERE IS NO JOGGING TRACK! It has been disrupted by the for-a-fee Sanctuary (25 dollars a day I think) that was too cold to even operate on this cruise. The worst part, though, is when my dad went to voice his concerns to the front desk and they absolutely did not seem to care in the least, indeed they were defensive and rather rude. When my dad asked if he was even going to make a note of it to pass along, he just said, "We are doing the best we can." At LEAST PRETEND to care!! Before this, when my father was asking about the mini-suite layout on a sister ship, the Star, he was given the run-around. "You need to go to future cruises." "No you need to go to guest services." He never was provided the info, but I was able to google it in less than five minutes. Geez! I don't think I will ever do a Princess cruise again. The bang for your buck is awful. The most expensive trip we have EVER taken, and that includes two 12-day Europe cruises WITH AIRFARE! This cruise was considerably MORE MONEY!! I will look into the more expensive cruise lines now. they always seemed to fussy to me before, but with all the nickel and diming going on, upcharge here, upcharge there, maybe it's not such a disparity. And maybe at least I can get some room service, a TV that actually works, and guest relations staff who know how to pretend to give a ****. Read Less

I chose this cruise to see the fall foliage in Canada and New England. I was not disappointed - just beautiful in every port. I have always told people I haven't felt crowded on a cruise ship, but in the buffet I did on this one. The cruise prior to ours had a virus outbreak so I think they were trying to control the space where people ate, and there was no salt or pepper on the table to handle (the waiter had to s&p for you). Of course we were strongly encouraged to wash our hands before entering. The food in every area we went was a disappointment. Low quality food, so don't have high expectations if you go. Even the steak in the Crown Grill was average. Mushrooms were good though! I think all the wait staff had extra duties and I think managers should have pitched in to help. That would have created good will with cruisers and cruise staff, but they were no where to be seen. I have not seen so very many elders on a cruise as I did on this particular one. Seeing someone under the age of 60 was rare. We did three Princess excursions, all very good. Read Less

I organized this cruise with 18 of my clients who love to sail on Princess Cruises. We have been on this cruise before and enjoy the ports and the time at sea. Sailing on the larger ship was a little overwhelming in the beginning of the cruise but very shortly found our way and found that there was so much room especially the piazza area and the pool area and the entire ship. The food was outstanding in all the dining rooms and specialty dining restaurants. We also enjoyed the sushi bar and the piazza café. Loved having coffee in the piazza in the morning before breakfast. Also, loved the buffet area. So much more room and the food was delicious. I was very happy with our dining room and having 18 people in my group Generoso Mazzone arranged a great dining room and table location for my group. All of these people are Princess cruisers and were very impressed with the ship, the dining rooms, specialty dining and activities on the ship. The entire Princess staff were very helpful and pleasant and they are all a credit to Princess Cruises. Read Less

I chose the Royal for a new sailing experience, looking for exciting adventures and it was all this and more. The ship is absolutely stunning and has great offerings of food, entertainment and activities. Many events centered in the Piazza. However, with a larger passenger list, there is not enough crew. Longer than usual wait times for drinks and meals at dinner. At times we were unable to find waiters for a glass of ice tea, or coffee in Horizon Court. Our room attendant was unable to keep up with the demands of having 18 mini-suites to clean thru little fault of his own. Sadly, the Effy store had so many aggressive sales people I was turned off and refused to buy an anniversary ring. The Sanctuary service was fabulous! We tried the Sanctuary Cabana and were very pleased to not regret the $140 per afternoon cost... it was that great. Also, I got a world class hair makeover from Yureli in the Salon and I couldn't be happier. I wholeheartedly recommend the Royal... bear in mind to be flexible and in some ways lower your expectations. Who knows, may your cruise on the Royal Princess will be a 10. Read Less

Our daughter and son-in-law chose this as their first cruise and asked us to join them. We've been to Mexico several times with Princess, but never sailed on the Royal before. I was impressed that we never felt crowded despite the number of people onboard. She's a huge ship, so walking from one end to the other was a workout. (We were glad our cabin was almost midship). Our mini-suite was excellent, as always, and the staff members were outstanding all across the ship. It was some of the best food we've had on a cruise ship and the entertainment was top notch. The highlight of the trip was snorkeling with wild sea lions in Loreto on a private excursion for 4 people with Sea and Land Tours. I highly recommend them as they were waiting for us at the port, customized the day for us, and even fed us the best tamales we've ever eaten. Manzanillo is a rather unexciting port, but Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are always fun with a plethora of activities to enjoy. Read Less

We've taken this cruise a number of times specifically because San Francisco is the point of departure. We don't need to fly, worry about parking the car, or leaving our house at the crack of dawn. We also love the Mexican Riviera. Embarkation and Disembarkation were a snap. We arrived at 1:30 pm, dropped off our luggage and were through check-in and on the ship in our cabin within 30 minutes. There was plenty of staff in all areas: all x-ray security lines were open and staffed (first time). Disembarkation was called right on time and we were out and ready to head home within 45 minutes. We lead hectic lives and look to relax and let go of stress on this particular cruise. This is our 4th time on the Grand Princess (Hawaii & Mexico) and while she is an older "work-horse", the recent spring 2019 refurbishments were nicely done and appreciated. The service all around the ship was great. We were greeted with smiles everywhere. The crew seemed genuinely pleased to be on the ship; no grumpiness or surliness. We ate all dinners in Club Class dining. We enjoy this because of the specialty dishes, the level of service and attention and the more intimate surroundings. Being able to order a steak from the Crown Grill for a nominal fee was a delightful surprise. The specialty pastas and the beef dishes were delicious. I also had salmon from the 'everyday' selection and that, too, was prepared perfectly. We didn't experience any poor tasting food. We're not big on in-room dining or breakfast so our day usually started with 'brunch' at the Horizon Court. There was a wide selection of food choices and while they did seem monotonous by the end of the cruise, the food was well prepared and tasty. The daily assortment of fresh fruit was perfect...best watermelon ever. We ate at Alfredo's Pizzeria, the International Cafe, the Salty Dog and the food was good. An afternoon treat was the soft serve ice cream, which tasted smooth and creamy like ice cream...definitely not ice milk. Entertainment has vastly improved. We attended the nightly shows in the Princess Theater (9:30 pm) and were pleasantly surprised with the improvement in quality of the material and expertise of the performers. I usually pass on a number of shows but not this time. The cruise director and his staff were the best we've experienced. We explored each port on our own as we've been to each one many times and have taken a lot of the tours. Relaxing and letting go of stress included spa time. I got the Seaweed Wrap, Thai Poultice Massage, Reflexology and Bio-metric Facial, spread over the 10 days. I've had each on prior cruises and I look forward to this 'me' time. I was not disappointed. Each attendant was knowledgeable and proficient. Many knots and kinks were massaged away. One thing I wish is that the Grand Princess had a Thermal Suite or Thalassotherapy pool. For swimming and pool time, we avoided Neptune's Pool and headed each afternoon to the Terrace Pool (adults only). It was filled with fresh water and the temperature was refreshing - not too hot or cold. Met a lot of the same people each afternoon; nice social time. We were sorry to learn that the Grand Princess will reposition to Asia next year so this was probably our last time on board. It was a great cruise - a great vacation. Read Less

Organized embarkation. Had lunch at buffet and luggage was waiting in room. I always practice extreme sanitation— wipe down room (doorhandles, light switches, remote, desks, patio furniture, bathroom), frequent hand washing, no touching handrail/elevator buttons (elbow) and being very selective about exposure to crowds. Did not get sick, and I notice this cruise did not have a lot of sick coughing people by the end of cruise (sorry, but that’s been the norm). This is our 11th cruise, all on Princess, and the 4th on the Grand. It was our 50th anniversary and did not disappoint. We made it restful and relaxing and did not overdue things. FOOD: First, I want to compliment the food. Where do these reviewers normally eat that they find the Princess food below standard? There are so many places and things to eat on the ship, how can you not find something? We started in the buffet— even mundane things like rice or carrots were perfectly cooked and seasoned. The pasta was al dente. The buffet had some basic things that would be there every time, and many things were switched out. A seafood salad contained shrimp, baby scallops, oysters with no grit– sweet! The Grill (hamburger stand) had great offerings, this time including tacos, and a pizza stand. We didn’t eat there, but our travelmates did. Alfredo’s Pizzeria is gourmet. More selection than in the past, and they will customize, ie: adding pepperoni to your vegetarian pizza. The International Café is perfect for a light snack. The main dining rooms were great with a mainstay menu on the left, and changing offerings on right. I love the salmon and am hard-pressed to stay with it or try something new. Service is still slow and harried– they’re too busy. We did not see any lines except when passengers gathered prior to opening, but we also showed up to eat on the later side, around 7, when early diners were leaving. Here’s a secret for anytime dining— go to DaVinci from 7pm on and the maitre D (head waiter) will get you right in. On our anniversary night, we ate in the Crown Grill and it was stupendous! They now limit the steak and lobster and have a $10 additional fee to have both. Probably from that cruise our party of 5 ate too many! Food complaints? The coffee cards are different. We brought an unfinished card from the last cruise and it was ‘confiscated.’ The barista keeps them in a cup and punches them each time you order. When that card was used up, we purchased another, calculating using the last on departure morning. Otherwise, you’re out of luck! And there’s so much card swiping and key entry on the part of the barista it was hilarious– what industrial engineer thought that up? You can’t get a large orange juice in the buffet— have to order 2 small. I’ve been a critic of the 2 sink hand-washing station in the buffet but it is closely monitored. It’s still glitchy in that you have traffic heading to the pool, or returning from the rear dining area but it’s not disastrous. I like the ‘smart casual’ dress code in the main dining room. It needs to be more proactively displayed so it doesn’t put the maitre D in a tough spot. On formal night, there were several diners who were not formal; a group of 4 girls next to us were in their bluejeans and Ts, except one had her jammies on. PHOTOGRAPHY: The photogs make you look good. Picked our favorite photos and got digital files too. Included one with Captain John Smith who was very obliging. There were not as many set-ups on formal night, but there would be photogs on ‘casual’ night. Hate the port jackass photos and ducked out of every one. ENTERTAINMENT: CD Steve Campbell was talented. Attended every art event, especially the history or artist lectures, and the auctions. Art Director Henry was a walking encyclopedia. The Crew Show is always entertaining. The last night was a new Princess production, Born to Dance. It was fabulous! No Spanish class, no port lectures. CABIN: The cabin size is fine. You want to hear about my brother’s facilities in the USN? We booked with adjoining travelmates and kept the patio door open between balconies for memorable visiting. There’s shampoo/conditioner, bath wash, soap, lotion, hair dryer. There’s now plug-ins on bedside lamps to recharge phones. I don’t go on a cruise to watch TV, but it’s limited– you select an on-demand program or movie, it plays, then ends until you select another program. The ‘live feed’ includes 2 sport channels, MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox but they don’t have ‘news,’ only politicizing. Entry is a swipe of key card, no more mail box or name on room. Greatly reduced ship mail, tucked under door handle. We had a problem with shower temperature water– tepid at best. Reported, argued, and it was never fixed. SHIP: The Grand is in good condition, with the expected rusty places the sea demands. The numerous repainting causes drips on the balcony— painters don’t bother with drop cloths. The elevators can be slow. The sofas in the venues sit too low. The public can lack consideration: jumping on elevator before riders can get off, stopping to have a conversation in an aisle, and please, don’t take your shoes off and put your bare feet on the table!! This was a wonderful, relaxing cruise to a warm place. I’m happy to celebrate with Princess. Read Less