We previously heard that Princess was Highest standard of cruise line; we were very excited to be cruising with them~ We were very disappointed with the poor customer communication, you were made to feel very unimportant and having no family pools bopen on a cruise is a disgrace! We were unable to even be given a reason why by the front counter when questioned, just ignored and told that they did not know why? It was really sad seeing all the children dressed in their bathers waiting for pool to open that never did. The food was fantastic and the kitchen do a great job to create the Meals and so efficiently but the waiters and bar staff had no personality or entertaining value. We were just served. The Entertainment around the boat was minimal and often quiet boring However the Comedy show and Dolly Parton show was very entertaining thankfully. Overall we were very disappointed and will be only cruising with other liners Read Less

We had an enjoyable cruise on the Sun Princess, the overall service from staff is wonderful. The food in the dining room was very ordinary, the buffet was very good with a nice variety of freshly cooked food each day. To be honest about the ship itself the Sun Princess is a plain ship with nothing flashy about it, it is a good design and easy to find your way around. The exterior of the ship is an embarrassment to the Princess line, I know it's an older ship but there is soo much rust weeping down the sides and covering a lot of the external steel areas of the ship, it really needs cosmetic attention urgently. The balcony cabin A408 Aloha deck was quite good, clean and the bed comfortable. There is a vile smell around the ship particularly around the outside promenade deck making it an unpleasant walk outside. We have done twelve cruises with varying cruise companies including several with Princess cruises before this one but this ship cosmetically was a disappointment and not what we expect from Princess. The entertainment in the Princess Theatre was good and most musicians around the ship were also good. We did enjoy visiting Moreton Island our only port on this short cruise. Read Less

It was relaxing Cruise to South Australia with mininium Sea days and more ports which were great.Good cruise with Princess high quality of food probably need to change the menues as it is the same after a number of cruises we have travelled and the same with the entertainment especially the Dance shows currently five are repeated with different people. Tours were good and exciting. Need to improve dress standards in the dining rooms.All staff are friendly and helpfull especially the cabin stewards.Always something to do during the sea days and easily disembarkment on port days and could always find your tour with good transport to the cities if required. Princess cruises high standards have been maintained. The Golden Princess has been refurbished for the better with new carpets and better lighting in the dining rooms. Specilased shoping was good at reasonable prices and good specials on board,no hard sell. Very good cruise Read Less

As always easy embarkation in Melbourne. Have not cruised Princess before and was pleasantly surprised (did not enjoy Carnival Legend last month) at the Golden Princess. Passengers were all well behaved and very friendly and we enjoyed the interactions we had with them and the wonderful crew. The ship itself has many lounges and bars to accommodate the large number of passengers and because of this it never seems crowded (our cruise was full) and the ship copes and flows well. Food was great in both the Horizon Food Court or Donatello’s anytime dining. We recieved a room upgrade the week before from an inside to a window. Room was small but with a dressing area. The bed was one of the best we had ever slept in - soft and comfy. The Cruise Director on the Golden Princess is PJ and he and his team are wonderful. Lots of things to do and great entertainment. Apart from the GP band and entertainers we had George Kalombaris from “Acropolypse Now” doing a comedy routine and the next night Donna Campbell presenting her Dolly Parton show. Both were great. The crew did a wonderful Jonas for the first 24 hours we had terrible weather and many people were unwell - the cleaning staff were put to the test. Overall we enjoyed this cruise very much and look forward to traveling on Princess again or on the GP when it goes over to P&O. Also particularly enjoyed the safety videos presented by the original Love Boat crew. Nice touch! Read Less

This is the second time I have travelled with my daughter and grandchildren on the Golden Princess. I have travelled with other cruise companies, but find the food in the main dining room the Bernini restaurant to be of a excellent standard. My grandchildren 12,17,20 also love the food and get to try different foods that they may not have at home. They also love the Horizon court for their lunch and breakfasts. I would prefer to eat in the main dining room for all three dining occasions, but I understand that once a day is enough to dress up! The entertainment is great for all ages and there is so much to do, my grandchildren loved the movies under the stars. Of course they swam on sea days. The soft drink package was well worth it for them and mocktails were a big hit. I especially love the International Cafe and purchased the coffee card for 15 cappuccinos. The food also at the cafe is always fresh and yummy for a late night or early morning snack as the cafe is open for 24 hours. Again a very enjoyable holiday. Read Less

Wanted a holiday cruise to be with family and began a new tradition. The ship was beautiful and well maintained. Had no issues with maintenance. Really enjoyed all the food offerings regardless of where we chose to eat. The main dining room was nice and the food and service were superb. The buffet had a lot of varied choices that were good. I chose the main dining room often to avoid having to deal with hustling through the people at the buffet and finding a table. Sometimes a single person would take a table for six. During busier times, it was a hassle to deal with too many people, some with less manners than others, and finding a place to sit and eat. We also had a person with a wheelchair so we had to consider her ability to get around. There was no way she could go through the buffet so we had to get her food for her. The pizza was good. The "free" ice cream was ok. Better ice cream was offered in the main dining in the dessert options. Even room service was nice. Too bad there was a charge for hot chocolate though. The staff was always friendly and helpful. Embarkation went very smoothly as did disembarkation. They were organized and we didn't have long wait lines. There was too little time in the ports so we didn't get to do as much as we would have preferred to do, making us feel we only got a glimpse of the ports before having to rush back to the ship. Will consider how long a ship is in port in the future. Having to use tenders in Lahaina was a nightmare coming back. The lines were half a block long, and it was hot. Staff finally resorted to passing out water and cool cloths. The line moved, but it was not a good experience. We didn't do any excursions, preferring to rent a car in advance and explore on our own. Didn't care for the offerings in the onboard shops and refused to go to the 3 hour sales. My opinion is the purpose of those sales were to create a frenzy and have passengers act like fools to get a discount. There were plenty of activities, lectures, and entertainment options including lessons. I would have liked to learn to play the ukulele but that was a progressive class and if you didn't attend the first one, you missed out. The lei making class was so full you had to go at a specific time and place to get a ticket to a class. Well, I missed out on that. When I went, the ticket folks were gone. Too much trouble to participate in the worthwhile lessons so I unfortunately missed out. Also, regarding entertainment, if you didn't show up at least 45 minutes early for a production show, then forget about it, seats were full. There were too many people trying to see shows and not enough seats. This was a problem in the piazza also. People would arrive and start arranging and saving the few seats so attending those entertainment offerings became an uncomfortable hassle too. It also interfered with the ability to just go to International Café or Vines for coffee or wine because all the seats had been taken or occupied to view the entertainment. I think it defeated the ideal of a piazza. The entertainment should not be scheduled on th3e patter. and instead seem more impromptu so if you happen to be in the piazza, you can catch the entertainment without fighting for seating. The ship simply has inadequate seating for entertainment and this distracts from the ability to relax and enjoy yourself. We did not travel with children and frankly had issues with parents who let their children run wild all the time. The ship became an enclosed baby sitting trap for children of all ages, including teenagers, who were inconsiderate of others. There was running down the halls at night time, groups of unruly kids pushing ahead in lines when the older people were more mannerly, and therefore, at a disadvantage. In the future, I will look for more time at ports, and I will read reviews for adequate opportunities to participate in entertainment and activities, including seating and crowd control. Overall, however, the experience was positive and enjoyable and very much worth the value. Read Less

As an enjoyable & relaxing getaway, I would give this cruise no less than 4 stars. On the other hand, for the cruise line that is most associated with the popular 1970s and early 1980s TV show, "The Love Boat," I was very disappointed at the lack of organized social activities for single (heterosexual) men & women age 40 and older. I loved my stateroom though! Best experiences: 1) My steward, Liezl Castro, was EXCELLENT!!! Her customer service was outstanding! 2) The helicopter ride at The Grand Cayman Islands was thoroughly enjoyable 3) Ochos Rios, Jamaica was very fun ... particularly the Dune Buggy ride 4) Viewing the Panama Canal up close was worth the price of the cruise itself! Not-so-enjoyable experiences: 1) The swaying of the ship on Wednesday, January 2, 2019 (I experienced motion sickness for the 1st time) 2) The total lack of organized social activities for the single (heterosexual) men & women. I had high expectations for some "Love Boat" related events, but ended up feeling severely disappointed 3) Some of the street merchants in Cartagena, Colombia were overly aggressive and persistent, generally annoying, and even rude if you refused to purchase any of the products they were offering for sale 4) Photos were sometimes highly over-priced Overall, I would give the cruise a thumbs up Read Less

We really wanted to cruise the panama canal but didn't have the time to do sea to ocean so the 10 day Princess cruise just suited us perfectly. Everything went perfectly well with the embarkation and disembarkation, Princess has it down to a science. the Island Princess, even though it was refurbished in 2017 is rather dated looking. We had a mini suite and the sofa needed replacement cushions! The accommodations were really good and we were glad we made the decision to get a mini suite considering it was our home for 10 days. The evening entertaining was great fun, just some great games and laughs in the Explorer Lounge. The service on the ship was overall really good. We did each in each of the specialty restaurants once each and they were all very good. Glad we did that, it was a nice change and quite reasonable for what you got. You can't go out for dinner to any restaurant for what they charge. We did our shore excursions through Princess directly and they too were very well orchestrated. Very well organized and quite enjoyable. We did Dunn's River Falls (and walked the path immediately beside the falls rather than climb the falls), we did the hop on hop off bus tour/walking tour in cartagena which was also very good. It gets very hot very early there so we did our excursion at 7:30 and were back on the ship by noon. We did not get off the ship in Panama or Colon. Did the coffee and banana plantation/city tour which we also quite enjoyed in Costa Rica. In Grand Cayman, we just got off the ship and walked around on our own as this was our third time there. One downside to the ship is that their fitness room in the the "dungeon". No windows!!!!! I was shocked but still used the treadmills. the equipment was fine, the location was so not expected. I thought it would be in a room that we could see the ocean from! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and the date, we wanted to be away at New Year. After reading some negative reviews I was a little worried but I didn't need to be. Embarkation was smooth and we were on the ship in no time at all having a nice lunch. Our cabin was ready soon after and with the cases delivered we were ready to unpack. Cabin # C426: The cabin was a good size with a decent balcony and plenty of hanging space. The only couple of gripes were the towels are too small and the shower was very small. However we are not big people and we managed. Food: We enjoyed most of the food in the Horizon Court and the MDR. There was plenty of choice and if we were not sure what we wanted in the MDR we ordered two different options, no issues with doing that. The only gripe was the food on the last night, it was really not good and the service that had been great all week was sadly lacking, we waited nearly 40 minutes for our main course. It was one blip in a 10 day cruise so not that bad. Excursions: We booked all our excursions through Princess and they were all superb. We decided to be brave and take a helicopter ride in Grand Caymen. wow!!!! We did the Banana train and canal cruise at Limon which were both really interesting and we saw a total of 8 sloths along with other wild life. My partner did the Panama Canal by boat which was a long long day but he loved it. I stayed on ship and really enjoyed the Gatun Locks and Lake. We went to Yamaan Park in Ocho Rios that was a blast and the jerk chicken lunch was to die for. Cartagena we did the highlights which was great and we got free time to look around the old town. All in all a great cruise with amazing friendly staff. Read Less

I agree with Cramp's review from their cruise the week before ours, both in December 2018. We were only one family of four in D530, a balcony cabin with four twin beds. It was tight but worked well for us considering our budget. A suite would have been more comfortable but I would use this room and in this configuration again. I think rooms from D510 - D530 are all great choices. We had a balcony room and not a deluxe balcony room. If we go again I would try the deluxe balcony because our balcony was really tight for all four of us to stand and there is only room for 2 chairs so we couldn't all eat breakfast out there, which would have been nice. We were just above the tender/lifeboats on deck 9. Deck 8, E rooms, are at the same level as the lifeboats and on tendering day will probably be really loud. We could hear them but with our balcony door closed it wasn't too loud, and we wanted to get ready to leave the boat so it didn't matter to us. In general, lines and waiting put a real damper on our cruise, so much so that I don't want to go again. Embarkation day was impressively fast and easy, and started our vacation off well. The disappointment started with the first port, Princess Cays, and the long hassle to get on a tender and then again to get back on the ship. The same happened in Grand Cayman. On disembarkation day we had to exit our room by 8AM to sit in a dining room with all other passengers and sit there long after our 9:30 departure time, listening to them call out all the luggage tag colors. Once off the ship, get in line to find luggage, then in line for customs, then in line to get on the bus to the airport, then wait to get to terminal, then in line at terminal, then in line to drop luggage, then in line at security, then finally, waiting at the gate for the airplane. What a horrible way to end a restful week. Wheelchairs are the best hookup here and will get you expedited. Compared to my terrible experience, reviewer Cramp had a wheelchair and was out in 20 minutes. Also, I would never again put my luggage out for Princess to take the night before. My family is perfectly capable of taking our own luggage off the ship and into the customs line and this would have allowed us to walk off the ship at will at 8AM and get on a bus to the airport. We could've avoided the entire, "sit in the dining room" debacle. I don't have any suggestions for making tendering more tolerable, just plan on waiting a lot...or choose a cruise that uses piers for all ports. I talked so much about the part that ruined our trip but everything else was wonderful. My 13 & 14yo teens loved the beach house teen center and we allowed them to roam freely about the ship. We gave them a time to meet at our room for dinner and we gave them a curfew, usually 11:30PM so we could all go to sleep together. Many families let kids stay out all night according to our room steward, and it worked fine. We bought the drink package for our kids so they could drink as much soda, juice, and mock cocktails as they wanted, and they loved it. They ordered virgin frozen margaritas from the bartender every day. We used magnetic hooks and clips to clip our medallion and ship card lanyards, hats, and important papers to the wall. As other reviewers noted, the walls are all metal and magnets work great. We didn't buy internet intentionally so we could unplug..mostly to make the kids unplug. We have t-mobile One cell provider and though we didn't have service at sea, we did have service at each port, usually inclusive and at no extra cost (included as part of our regular US stateside plan). In every dining room the water, milk, fruit juice, and coffee (with cream and sugar available) are free, included in the cruise price. Soda and alcoholic beverages are for sale. There are coffee shops on the ship where you can get custom made coffees with syrups, these Starbucks type coffee shops sell coffee, this is what is purchased via the coffee plans, not the free coffee served in all the dining rooms and buffet style cafeteria (Horizon Court). You do not need to buy any beverage plan to drink all the water, juice, milk, and coffee you want during the cruise. If you want alcohol or soda you can buy them individually or buy an all you can drink plan. The ship laundromat has three ironing boards and irons and the washers and dryers operate by charging your ship medallion, no cash needed. Let the ship's photographers take pictures of you at all stops and in the dining rooms. We didn't care for it but in hindsight, some of our best pictures are those and I wish we would have taken a minute on the piers and disembarkation ramps, and at dinner, to let them photograph us. You don't have to buy them but you might want to. We rented the basic tuxedo for just under $100 from cruise line formals and it worked wonderfully, we'll do it again. My husband and teen son both had their tuxes waiting in the room and we left them there on departure. The quality was excellent and couldn't be easier. Menus for the dining rooms are posted outside the dining room so you can choose where you eat based on a preview of the menu. We chose anytime dining because we like the flexibility to eat when and wherever we want. We also used room service daily. We drink our morning coffee in our room every morning and you can order anything they serve in Horizon court so don't limit yourself to the menu card you find on your pillow each night. My kids loved getting french toast and syrup delivered to the room (no cost). When returning to the ship after exploring a port, order room service right away to beat the rush, having a snack while showering and dressing for dinner kept our family in good spirits. We brought our own snorkels and masks and carried them in backpacks to every port so we could snorkel anywhere and not have to rely on a mask rental facility. Cozumel has the 2nd largest reef in the world. We took the Atlantis submarine excursion there and thought it was excellent. We went down to 102 feet. If that's not your thing, I strongly suggest you snorkel at Chankanaab Marine Park. It is my favorite place to snorkel, there are statues underwater for you to discover. The taxi from the port cost $12US and entrance to the marine park is $21US per person. The taxi takes about 15 minutes without heavy traffic. The trip back to port took us 45 minutes in very heavy traffic, stop and go traffic. We took the Dunn's river falls and dolphin park excursion in Falmouth and although the tour guides at the Falls were annoying with their attempts to make us perform for their video cameras, the falls are so beautiful and unique that we would all do it again. The dolphin park was fantastic for a dolphin lover. For $20US my daughter got to have a dolphin push her on a boogie board and she and the dolphin faced each other and the dolphin pulled her through the water on it's stomach, called a belly ride, I think. ....for $20!! Amazing value in my opinion. We received free lunch in the cafeteria upstairs by the shark pools and the jerk chicken and jerk sauce (on the side) was the best i've ever had. It looks low budget, but tastes great. In Grand Cayman we took the Turtle Centre , Hell, Rum Cake tour because I love sea turtles. Everyone can hold turtles, they are in tanks and you can reach in and hold as many as you like, they have small and medium sized ones to hold. No hatchlings this time of year though, I was disappointed about that because I wanted to see them in their tiny stage. Hell and Rum cake were not at all exciting to me but I enjoyed the driving tour so we could see the island beyond the port. The rum cake factory sells beer for $1.88 each US, so it is a great place to sit by the water or on their shaded porch, and drink a few cheap beers. There is an almond tree next to the parking lot, on the right side of the building as you look at the angel and devil photo-taking activities. We smashed them open with a rock and they are different from those purchased in the grocery store in the US, but delicious anyway. In Princess Cays we used the surf fishing excursion and my son, the fisherman, considers that his favorite day of the cruise. He caught a yellow tail snapper and a parrot fish. The rest of us caught nothing. Bring water shoes, or you'll want to buy them. Walking on the beach there was interesting because I found hermit crabs, sea urchins, sand dollars, and corals. The ship serves you lunch on the island at no extra cost so you can plan a day of buffet, barbecue lunch. My kids snorkeled and had fun there too. Read Less