Selected this cruise because of the date and location. We were very interested in seeing the various stops as we had not yet been to some of them. Getting on the ship was really easy and we had our card and boarded without waiting in any lines. The priority boarding arranged by the agency we used was great. Unfortunately, the stop in Florence was a disaster. We paid $110 each to Princess for a comprehensive three-hour walking tour of Florence. The group was about 50 people and one person decided he did not like the narration being provided by the extremely knowledgeable tour guide so he got vocal and rude telling the tour guide this was not what he signed up for and was going to leave the group if she did not speed up the pace. He did, in fact, leave the group and invited others to go with him. We ended up with a much smaller group, about 20 people, however, at this point, the guide thought she needed to speed things up or risk losing everyone. The three-hour tour was reduced to one hour so missed out on a lot of information we paid to receive. Not a good result. We did talk to someone on board the ship about our experience but she simply talked about what a positive experience it must have been to be able to see what we did see in Florence! No empathy at all. So, for the remainder of the trip, we booked tours ourselves off the ship with private cars and drivers. We paid much less money and had a custom tour each time seeing only what we wanted to see and taking as much time as we wanted. The dining experience was pretty average. The Horizon Lounge was what you would expect in any buffet line. The food was usually okay, however, the staff serving drinks and clearing tables were hit or miss. Usually, we had to get our own drinks unless we got lucky and were able to find a table being served by staff we had gotten friendly with. The premium dining experience was better. We ate a Sabatini's using a certificate from the agency that booked the tickets for us. It was what you would expect from a more upscale place though certainly not worth the $60 it would have cost dine there if we had to pay out of pocket. It was interesting that Princess sent us lots of emails about making reservations at the upscale pay-to-dine places on the ship as they were filling up fast. During the cruise, we did not see once any of the upscale places even close to being full. In fact, many times they appeared to be empty. The evening shows in the theater we sometimes better than expected. Most of the cast was pretty good and at least one cast member (the only Asian in the group) was being underutilized with the talent she has. The house band was relly good. Read Less

We have cruised with Princess 10 times and wanted a getaway with no flights. Which is very rare in Perth as the Cruise Lines are ignoring Perth especially for Fremantle return cruises and North instead of cold rough South cruises now almost never happen. Princess think Aussies love cruising now at any cost and are continually increasing cruise prices drink prices and decreasing service just to see how far they can go I think. Drinks in a year have almost doubled shots of Drambuie for instance last year $7.95 this year $13.75 for 45ml. Stopped all Happy Hours so the Wheelhouse bar is now like a morgue and used to be the party place. Most passengers in bed by 10pm now as to expensive now to party an enjoy. Closed the fantastic free pizzeria to put another rubbish over priced almost unused restaurant. No Kettle in the rooms is ridiculous they prefer us to call room service continually for boiling water and have staff walking the corridors with that thinking its safer. Surely two adults in a cabin can have a kettle even if we signed a waiver. Cabins are tired an outdated, bed was very good though. Guest entertainers were very good but the same old Princess shows every time we are with Princess gets boring. Need much better music by the pools with Aussie themes not Jamaican, and use the big screen for up to date music videos to get a great pool atmosphere not old movies blaring out while passengers trying to enjoy relaxing and the pool area. Almost no pool area drinks service you have to queue at the over used pool bar with everyone sitting in front of it so almost impossible to get served. Princess need to listen to their passengers especially in Perth an base a newer larger ship here and do more Fremantle return cruises and go North not South, bring back Happy Hours, Pizza and fun! Read Less

Thought it would be a great little spring get away..Was not disappointed. It was a 4 day cruise to Albany and Busselton From Fremantle. Service was great.The ship looks pretty good after her small facelift..The Food was as usual very good and the New Curtis Stone restaurant, Share was excellent. Due to the inclement weather we were unable to stop at Busselton on the way back however the activities on board kept us entertained.. I have cruised many many times. The Sun Princess is not The QM2 and does not pretend to be ..nor is she the Oasis but she is a clean and comfortable..with wonderful staff.. My only request would be, better Coffee in the Horizon Buffet and not such long queues for a coffee at the Coffee shop. I do prefer a ship of the Sin Princess size. it is easy to get around.The Lounges and Atrium areas are lovely with lots of entertainment..There are also nice quiet areas such as The Library if you want some quiet time.Great Value. Read Less

I won a cruise voucher in competition. I had never been on a cruise before. I chose a short cruise just to see how we would like it. We had a fantastic time! The cabin was very comfortable, I chose a balcony as I hadn't been on a cruise before and thought an inside one without windows might be a bit claustrophobic, but now I have been I would be happy to be in either type on any future cruises, there is so much to do on the ship and so many quiet places to sit and read or do other things that you hardly spend any time in the cabin anyway. There is also plenty of places to sit and watch the ocean, you don't need your own balcony. The entertainment was awesome, you were made to feel welcome and encouraged to join in with the dancing and activities and I mean encouraged in a good way, not pushy. There was so much to do on the ship, great live shows in the theatre, movies in the theatre or outside under the stars, parties, dancing, bars, casino, kids club, library, gym. You can make your holiday a quiet relaxed one or you can party every day, make it whatever you want. We had a wonderful time and will definitely go on another cruise with Princess. I travelled with my 12 year old daughter and she loved it, she met a lot of other kids on the cruise and made some friends, they then met up and did activities together, she said the kids club was great. It was Halloween and the kids club took the kids trick or treating. Read Less

We wished to go on a Fremantle to Fremantle cruise and this was the first available for a booking. Happily we received an upgrade from the balcony cabin booked to a club Class Mini Suite We found the experience restful, comfortable and a joy to undertake. The two highlights were the friendly staff (particularly the Regency club class staff and our cabin steward Joseph) and the amazingly comfortable bed with cloud like pillows. Also worthy of mention are the spacious cabin (Club Class mini suite), some top class entertainment (notbly singer ..Joli), amazing food in the Regency dining room, some fun activities and great shopping opportunities. Less positive were that we could not go ashore in Busselton due to weather concerns keeping the ship overnight in Albany, and subsequent less than comfortable travelling in the morning. Still, we can see Busselton any time and got to experience more luxury on board. I would repeat that trip in a heartbeat. Read Less

Princess cruise have the best staff- keep everyone safe and ensure quality and good service. We had a great time and enjoyed talking with other cruisers and staff. It was a shorter cruise and no passport required which always brings a party demographic but still enjoyed the food and entertainment. Thank you to the Captain for keeping everyone safe in poor weather. Some were disappointed by the cancellation of some onboard entertainment and also the cancellation of Busselton port, but we were thankful for the Captains call and appreciated his decision to put the safety of those onboard above pleasing the masses. It was a short get- away in difficult weather with uncomfortably big waves. However, the smiles and pleasant nature of staff onboard made our little holiday fun!! May I also take this opportunity to publicly offer a Thank you to Suresh, Harold, Rudielo, Phoebe, Adrienne, Daisy, George , Alvivio and our Captain for all your efforts. Non Voyage until next time. Keep up the great work and fabulous standard. Wish we could have brought you all home to our place and made you dinner. Read Less

We were so excited for this cruise. A number of people had told us that Princess had great service and fantastic food. We were excited for SHARE and other specialty restaurants. I anticipated days full of exercise classes and crafts, and nights of luxurious dinners and dancing the night away. Alas, it didn't live up to expectations. Embarkation took forever - just a ton of waiting and standing around in a too crowded space. Ship activities were a disappointment - most were based around selling us things; a raffle in a jewelry store is not exactly what I had in mind. There were very few exercise classes, and the ones they did have came with a hefty fee - TRX was $20 per session. It turned out, that while we had anticipated that most things on the cruise other than booze would be included, almost everything came at an extra charge. Even room service pizza came with a fee. Food was another area of disappointment. In the dining rooms, servers were not trained properly in how to serve, resulting in an awkward and clunky experience. Room service had tons of rules - you could only get iced tea in an 8 ounce glass, nothing larger or a pitcher (though you could get a carafe of coffee). The food itself was mediocre - the quality was not at all what I expected. Very little use of spices, and traditional ethic dishes such as lamb shawarma in the dining room were laughable parodies of the real thing. But specialty dining was even worse. Salty Dog featured a surly hostess and staff who didn't know the menu at all. The Ernesto burger, which supposedly came with kimchi and pork belly, was actually topped with sad wilted cabbage and undercooked bacon. But SHARE took the prize for a bad dining experience. Curtis Stone should be ashamed that this place is attached to his name. The space was really lovely, very modern and open. But the food was truly terrible. The burrata was inedible, and my salad course was literally grocery store bagged salad mix spilled sloppily into a bowl (greens were falling out one side of the bowl). While the scallops were nothing to write home about, they were the highlight of the meal, as they were followed by an unevenly cooked steak that was so lacking in flavor I did a double take when I bit into it. The dessert course featured ice cream so poorly prepared and stored that it was full of ice - vanilla ice cream shouldn't crunch. So that too was left uneaten. I'm still frustrated that we paid $58 to eat there. On the ship, everywhere we turned there was someone trying to sell us something. Most days, the Piazza looked like a swap meet with tables of knockoff jewelry and t-shirts in every hall. And that continued when we left the ship - in Cabo and Mazatlan you were stopped every few moments by someone wanting to sell you cigars or crafts. We didn't notice the same in Puerta Vallarta, as we did an all day excursion that left yards from where the ship was docked. We did really enjoy our excursions. In Cabo, we took a luxury sunset sail on a gorgeous 50 foot boat, complete with a light meal and drinks. And in PV, we did the Sea Safari, a 7 hour adventure with a speedboat, horseback riding, swimming in a waterfall, snorkeling, and a barbecue on a private beach. Those were the moments we wished comprised the whole trip. Disembarkation was a mess - too many people not knowing where to go, and the groups were too big to fit in the designated spaces. It really ended the cruise on a sour note, although customs and immigration once we left the ship was a smooth and easy process. We would definitely not go on this, or probably any Princess cruise ever again. Read Less

Old ship, not fun, unfriendly staff, boring, captain was no where cruise directer invisible, food basic, not late night food , Air Conditioner broke, ship smelt funny, activities boring, same old Princess show, seems they live in the past, buffet not good The entertainers were basic and the music in the lounges was fair our stateroom's a/c failed,room Stewart was basic, specialty restaurants were just ok The bars staff were unpleasant and at time uncaring general staff seemed not to care Forced tips make them work without fear of not getting a tip Captain said very little and no party for repeat customers very little announcements no music around the ship They did not use the outside at night for anything but the Princess party which was old and dated princess seemed to be living in the past Recommend not spending the money to eat a Curtis Stone Try another ship Read Less

We had high expectations for Ruby Princess but were disappointed. The entire cruise, the crew was tired, aloof and not attentive. No interest in service with a smile or going out of their way. Bar Service: We purchased the drink package which totaled $965 for both of us. Drinks often came out wrong. We had to tell the bartender what a Dirty Martini is. ORdered Vodka Tonic for a departure drink and it came out as a Vodka Soda with lemon. Tried to tell the cocktail server and she looked at us like we were speaking a different language. Please note, this was not just the first day. We complained on the second day and this behavior continued throughout the entire cruise. Bartender at the Calypso pool was a grouch. We avoided him at all costs. No talking, just took order after a long wait then slid the drink to you. Most of the time "The wrong drink." He didnt like it when I asked him to fix it. Often, we were ignored by other bartenders when ordering drinks. It was not just us. Others on the cruise had the same issue. No management oversight to ensure bartenders were doing their job. Coffee Bar: We thought we would try a mixed coffee freeze. After asking the Barista if the rasberry freeze had milk, he advised us "no it does not." Took one sip and it had milk. Spouse is allergic to milk and got sick. Spent the afternoon in the cabin. Ship Design: Although the main foyer was pretty; overall flow of the ship was cut up and did not flow. Had to talk through the buffet to get to the rear pool. At the rear ppol, had to climb two flights of steps to get to the Jacuzzi. Pool and Jacuzzi: Rear ship Jacuzzi was broken the entire cruise and the rear pool had a two foot ball of slime floating around that looked like a giant wad of flem. Dining: Food in dining room was 50/50. Most of the time, the food and appetizers had a mushy consistency and lacked flavor. I ordered the stuffed trout. No taste and loaded with tasteless mush. The Princess favorites - Shrimp Cocktail - shrimp were flat like a pancake. Prime rib dinner was ok. Another night, ordered the Beef Tips from the Curtis Stone menue but it tasted like salt stew. Breakfast in the main dining room was pretty good however. You could order Smoked Salmon or a variety of things; eggs benedtict, omlettes. Buffet: Breakfast was the same every day. No smoked Salmon to be found. No specialty egg dishes; and fresh fruit was not ripe. Entertainment: Huge star to the comedian that came onboard. He sang an array of 60's tunes and changed the lyrics to funny jingles. However: Ruby Princess Dancers were geared towards a blue hair crowd. We walked out of the Magic and Show Tunes. Had a somewhat Lawrence Welk feel to the entertainment. Pros: I wish I had more, but Embarkation and disembarkation both went very smooth. There were some nice crew members and it was not a horrible cruise. However, there was no wow factor on this trip. Just dissapointment and probably wont use Princess again. Read Less

What a great ship! Large ocean view cabin with big window, lots of space in room and closet. Big screen TV in room. There are 4 pools and never had an issue getting a seat at the pool. There is a full pizzeria which is excellent and great staff. The buffet was the worst I have seen or tasted in 30 years of travel. Unsanitary, people dropping food in food, and just awful tasting. I have been on many cruises but this was something I never experienced on a cruise ship. The dining room was ok. Gave it a try a few times, the food was cold, the waiter kept telling me there was no Savingon Blanc I didn’t care anything would have done I was just looking at what was on the dinner menu. I stuck to the speciality restaurants which were fantastic. Crown Grill was excellent. Well worth the price. Also I had the best hamburger in my life at the Wheeler Pub. For $12 it was a 3 course meal and so delicios. The hidden gem is the International Cafe and coffee shop. Fresh food and sandwich fresh pastry excellent. I ate there most of the cruise. Entertainment was good and don’t miss the Mariachi band and in Cabo they had entertainers come onboard to do a Mexican entertainment show. Don’t miss it was fantastic! The big screen over the pool had concerts (Rolling Stones from Cuba). And saw Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, football, World Series entertainment was really good. Puerto Vallarta is my favorite place I go every year at Halloween. Take a cab downtown it cost me 5 dollars and five back to the ship. If you go to the taxi stands they will charge you more. Hail one on a side street. A Halloween dress up cruise is fun for all ages. I would go on this ship again to Mexico but I travel internationally too but loved the boat but not impressed with Princess for long Hall travel. Read Less