We were on the Eurodam from San Diego - 3/1 - 18/20 to Hawaii. This was during the Grand Princess from Hawaii to San Francisco, that docked finally in Oakland. We were all concerned about corona virus positive crew or passenger(s) being on board our ship. The Captain gave us daily updates, changes in hand sanitizer use, cleaning, food being served only in buffet, etc. and lack corona cases. Passengers were generally good about hand sanitizer use, but not about covering up when coughing, and no social distancing was recommended or followed. No special procedures (other than filling out the standard CDC form) were followed at ports, or embarcing/disembarcing/customs (no temperatures taken, medical interviews or recommendations of the use of masks or gloves). On the last night of the cruise, a note was slipped under our door advising the CDC had notified HAL Medical Officer that a passenger on the previous Eurodam cruise had tested positive for COVID-19. We have not had any COVID-19 symptoms. We live in Northern California, and were under shelter in place on 3/18/20. We'd love to hear other passengers experiences upon return from the cruise. Read Less

Location of travel. Not a good experience with room staff that took an item from the room, Onboard shops pushy, harassing and unethical. Food was average and allowed many people on excursions and onboard move around the ship that were sick in lite of the Corona Virus issue. Almost on a daily basis, I was standing in a food line while someone was sneezing, on a bus or tender coughing and sneezing, in the upscale dining room a few nights and still the same. In the upscale restaurant brought the wrong order or forgot to bring an item requested on the menu. The wine steward many times dripped wine on the table, and try to upsell a wine that I can get at home which a low grade of wine. The wine tasting had a collection of really cheap wines that you can easily find at a big box store. The person at the dessert counter when seeing a line of people was very rude a short with every customer request. This was the worst cruise experience I though you always get what you paid for but in this case, you will pay more and get less One last item would be the fitness center trying to push a product that you can get a lot cheaper at home. Read Less

It was on our bucket list and we were traveling with friends. Staff was not friendly. Food not very good, Pink Champagne Lounge smelled like sewerage. Overall this wasnt a good experience and we spent alot of money on this cruise., NCL has definately changed since we took an Alaska Cruise. The Specialty Restaurants wer okay. The staff seemed to be bothered by being there. The Cruise DIrector was not friendly. They definately didn't make us feel special. This was an expensive Cruise . Disembarkation was a joke. Took hour to get off the SHip out of the Terminal and on buses to transport to airport. Excuses and more excuses.. Not worth what we paid. Very disapointed in the attitude of the majority of the Staff. Entertainment was good. Booked a ATV Shore Excursion through the shio with friends and one couple was changed to a different time with no reason and offered no assistance when we went to the excursion deck. Guest Services was understaffed and not very friendly. Read Less

We did the Hawaii cruise. The entertainment and activities offered were second to none. Our shore excursions were excellent. The accommodations on excursions made the overall experience very memorable. The embarkation and disembarkation process was very smooth. The dining experience was one of the highlights of the cruise. Great food but even greater service by the staff. Overall, I would recommend the Hawaii cruise to others. The dining experience, the entertainment onboard, and the shore excursions could not have been better. Not sure what I expected before the cruise but think the Star Princess far exceeded anything I could have hoped for. This is a bucket list cruise. The days at sea were full of entertainment and activities. The shore days provided wonderful excursions or time to just get out and explore. The staff onboard were friendly and helpful. The food in the dining rooms provided a great selection and delicious dining. This is a MUST travel if you wish to explore Hawaii. Read Less

We've cruised with Princess before and four other cruise lines. We have Princess as our vacation of choice. We actually have done this cruise before on the Grand Princess. And, will be sailing on the Star Princess at least three more times before she is reassigned later this year. When living in France and Singapore we went with local cruise lines, but they didn't compare to Princess in terms of Ship accommodations, itinerary, food or staff services. We selected a cabin with an unobstructed view. We have made this cruise before on the Grand Princess, and going this early in spring, across the Pacific Ocean, at 20+ knots or 23 miles per hour, you don't really sit out on your balcony for very long. Once you are in the islands and the warmer climate, a balcony is very worth while. But, we had chosen extensive shore excursions, so we wouldn't be sitting of a balcony anyway. We lived in Hawaii for about a year back in 2008 so we already know much of the history and culture. But, Dr. Anne, the naturalist's talks about culture, history, fish and animals and details about each island were excellent, and we learned even more. Tikki Dave and his wife are wonderful entertainers, trainers [hula and ukulalee] as well as making nut necklesses. Great fun, but mostly they provided hours of entertainment. Other entertainers, the commedians, impersonators, singers and the production shows were supurb. Overall, the Star Princess is feeling her age, will be getting a spruce up this summer, but she is still a wonderful experience with a wonderful crew. Great food in the Princess fashion of excellence and we're already booked 3 more cruises on her because she still shines in the Princess tradition which is as good as it gets on the seas. Hope to see some of you in March-April and again in September aboard the Star Princess, you won't be disappointed. Read Less

The POA is refurbished and looks nice and modern on the inside. The food and entertainment is sub par from the other Norwegian cruises we have been on we figured it was because they have to pay American wages and had to cut back on money. Still good food but no shrimp or lobster nights and just a little less variety. The bar service is sub par they just move very fast takes a long time to get drinks. Now to the islands: Maui first stop we did the Molokini crater snorkel we had good weather so it was fun not the best snorkeling we have done but good and turtle town we saw three turtles it was a good excursion the company pacific whale where fantastic they say 80% of the cost goes back to saving the ocean and each person where very nice and friendly and the food was good also. When we got back we walked out of the cruise terminal which takes you to Whole Foods across the street then take a Lyft to the airport to rent a car cost about $12. We Rented a convertible for the drive to road to Hana I recommend getting a convertible for this drive keeps away the motion sickness and it makes it fun. We parked our rental next to Whole Foods if your looking at Whole Foods it’s on the right is an open parking lot without the no parking signs seems this is where other cruisers parked as well. So if you are going to drive the road to Hana start early about 5:00am yes this early there’s nothing to see for about an hour and half so by that time the sun will rise the only thing you will pass is garden of Eden which opens at eight but you can do this on your way back. The other must is using the Gypsy app it is awesome we used it for every island it will tell you all the best places to stop only stop at the best recommendation places from the app a ping sound will worn you of a must stop. you won’t have time for the so so stops. The app takes you to the 7 pool water fall and Bamboo trail and another water fall which is a two mile hike and up hill most of the way.This is a very windy road and yes 59 one way bridges but if you start early there’s not much traffic and it is a beautiful drive. Then to Hilo we used the Gypsy app to go to rainbow falls, peppee falls, volcano tubes, Akaka falls and a few others. If you’re going to the volcano national park it will go there as will and has a walking portion for the park the Gypsy app tells you all the history of each island plus the best places to go. Then on to Kona , We where a little tired so we went to a beach we first stopped at Kua bay but the tied was in so no beach and only one tree for shade that was already taken so off to another beach, Kona is volcanic rocks for miles so the beaches are small but nice. Off to Kauai. The rental car companies have shuttles from and to the port or you can Lyft for about $10. we used the Gypsy app to do the Waimea canyon which in my opinion is awesome the best one of the islands but don’t stop at the canyon look out keep going up the road there’s some other stops off the road that gets you closer to the the waterfall but keep going there are two other look outs that look out of the canyon to the Nepali coast and is way more impressive and beautiful than the canyon don’t get me wrong the canyon is fantastic but the other two look outs are the most beautiful places on earth absolutely amazing can’t miss. We where there on a beautiful day this area is one of the most rainiest places on earth so it might be raining on minute and not the next we where lucky and it was sunny the whole time but just an FYI bring a rain jacket and a long sleeve shirt it gets a little windy also. After this we went to the beach Salty pond beach which is very nice and had lunch. then off to Wailua falls and other stops the Gypsy app will help. If you want to keep the rental over night there is parking along the road just outside the port. The islands are amazing you won’t be disappointed! Read Less

My partner wanted to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge one last time so he convinced me it would be great for both of us. I had expected to have sunny days with a little bump here and there but that is not what happened. No sun, cold wind and all kinds of sea bumps. I enjoyed the food in the buffet and the dining room but my partner did not. Our cabin seemed smaller than usual for a balcony cabin but the mattress on the bed was heavenly. Could have spent the entire cruise on that mattress. We did 2 shore excursions with 1 in Kauai which was cooler than I expected and the other one in Hilo which I knew would be cold. However besides being cold it started raining and became very windy. Both of us ended up with a cold. On Maui and Honolulu we shopped since both of us had previously been there. The weather for these two islands was perfect and warm. When the call came that we were to be confined to our cabins, we just enjoyed our balcony more than ever. Read Less

This was our first Princess cruise, so we truly didn't know what to expect other than what we had read and what Princess is known for. Embarkation was a breeze even if we were required to fill out a medical questionnaire stating our exposure, or lack of exposure, to Covid-19. No temperature check or screening of any kind. Once onboard, we found evidence of what all the previous reviews had mentioned. This is an older ship and shows it with rust in many areas, disabled elevators, etc. Even with these shortcomings we were still quite excited to begin our 25th wedding anniversary cruise. The first noticeable observation was that this cruise was populated with older adults. The largest age group represented was the 70+ group. Many walkers, canes and electric scooters. Since this itinerary was 15 days and right in the middle of the school year, we didn't expect to see many young people, but we weren't truly prepared for this demographic. All that said, we had a great time. Our dining room staff was top notch, the Broadway-type shows were very good and the magician/comedian(Christopher James) was hysterical! There were several activities during the many sea days and the food was quite good. We paid the up-charge for the Crown Grill steakhouse and felt it was money well spent. Sadly, everything changed on the 12th day. We were informed that a passenger on the previous cruise has contracted the Coronavirus and, regardless of usual cleaning practices, we were now considered exposed to the virus. We were allowed to dine for our lunch meal after which we would be confined to our rooms. Masks were issued and social distancing was encouraged for lunch, but instead most folks treated it as if this would be the last meal they would receive. Taking as much food as they could carry to their rooms. While confined to our rooms, Princess did an amazing job of keeping us fed, amused and informed. The captain would make frequent announcements and we had meals and activities delivered to our rooms. Our stewards would place a tray/container at our door, knock and then stand a safe distance away. We had booked a balcony, so access to fresh air and sunshine was immediate. The folks in inside staterooms were allowed to walk the upper decks, in small groups, on a controlled schedule . Princess also gave everyone free wi-fi and added new content to the "on demand" TV viewing options. Our last port, Ensenada, was eliminated so we could head directly back to San Francisco. We floated in limbo for a couple days until Oakland graciously accepted us. We didn't realize how good we had it until we were placed in the hands of US authorities. Princess did everything right with the information and supplies/services they were provided. The generosity of Princess was exemplary. I have nothing but good things to say about how our crew, and the Princess team, dealt with our constantly evolving situation. Read Less

We did this cruise 6 years ago and really enjoyed the islands tour. Our favorite islands when all was said and done are Maui and Kauai. Ship is smaller and being American flagged means the crew gets decent pay and US work rules which translates to high morale. Recommend 2 days minimum in Oahu on front end to adjust time zones and relax a bit. You don't have to stay on the crowded Waikki Beach area. Check out the North Shore area for a quieter venue. P of A Complimemtary Food quality B+. The upgrade restaurants were enjoyable. We did the French Jefferson's Bistro (A) and the Brazilian churrasco restaurant (A) which had an impressive salad bar and of course meats in the Texas de Brazil tradition. Most popular option was Cagneys Steak which no longer has a special surf and turf night. Shell fish now just on the menu. If you like to eat early, reservations not always needed but wise on the more popular venues. For our cruise, the first 3 days had more restricted buffet access (no self serve) for virus precautions but that was relaxed back to normal ops for last days of trip. Recommend bring your own coffee for the room machine-- we like the Starbucks powder straws with hot water from machine. CPAP users... you can order distilled water in advance delivered to your room. Bring 2 X 9 foot extension cords. Maui Like the first cruise, we rented a car and rode the shuttle from the pier to the closeby airport to get a car. Bad news....there is now no overnight parking lot across from the pier area if you want to keep the car for day 2. However there are about 6 disability parking spots inside the gate perimeter at the pier so bring your disability parking tag with you as it might enable you get a permit to use those slots during your stay. Kauai Ditto on the rental care but the area around the pier has no overnight parking options period. You need to park at the shopping area a quarter mile from ship for 20.00. With the ship leaving the next day around 2pm we are not sure keeping the car a second day is worth it. Maui Drove up the mountain to the Lavender Farm near Kula-- wife loved it!! Helicopter Tours Have flown on Blue Hawaiian 3 times and the third was on this trip out of Hilo on the "Circle of Fire" tour of the volcano areas. Wife has bad knee and the multi hour drive and walking to the national park was not a player. The air tour was SPECTACULAR and well worth it. Contact Blue Hawaiian direct to take advantage of military discounts! If you have the concentration to watch, you can see the humpback whales from the ship here and there. No spectacular water breaches but water spouts and big tails visible. Lastly, if you have transportation, hit the Costco on Maui or Kauai for a great selection of Hawaiian shirts etc at much better prices than the ship gift shop. Cheap gas for the rental car refills as well. Mahalo and Aloha!! Read Less

While the port locations were great and the excursions varied, the ship is old and tired and with the new focus on preventing virus spread on the ship for the first 3 to 4 days when the passengers cannot serve themselves or touch anything on their own, you are going to experience just horrible service onboard. Sitting out by the pool, you'll need to find a service person to take your drink order (if you ever do). Most likely you'll have to do your own ordering and carrying from the bar. Not quite what I'm used to at these prices. My steward was non-existent until the "incubation" period was over with and then he magically appeared to greet us one night more then halfway into the cruise. Some of the furniture in the room is worn and the carpeting and couch were stained. Other cruise lines keep the public bathrooms spotless due to sickness control... not this one! The public bathrooms were disgusting. Paper and soap all over the place. Every time you go for food or walk onboard someone will be there with a spray bottle of who knows what to spray your hands (and your clothes if not careful) to sanitize. They all say "washy, washy!" which I was sick of hearing after the first time. I don't know if it's because they have mostly an American crew or not, but they need to do something to up their game. The laziness is very apparent. I won't ever cruise Hawaii again on this ship. It's a shame. This turned out to be our least favorate cruise in 12 years of cruising. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we had never been on a cruise or to Hawaii so we figured we would kill to birds with one stone. We had a fabulous time. The crew was absolutely great! DJ Lovely, Molly, and Coco, to name a few were the absolute best! We loved doing the activities the music trivia and regular trivia was wonderful. But it was to hard to do everything. The ship excursions were to expensive you could get them much cheaper off the ship. Most of the food on the buffet was great and the servers were great as well, however being a previous owner of a bakery and baking many different desserts...the desserts were terrible!!! Cakes were dry and tasteless the pies were so thick like they added TOO much flour. Looking for Jan that won voice of the ocean, they gave us a card with their last name and info on it but we lost it. If we could find that out it would be great they live near us Read Less

In the past, the culture of Princess Service was Excellent. All members of the staff used the word excellent frequently. On the Star, I did not hear the word excellent one time from a staff member. Princess' culture of excellent service does not exist on Star. Perhaps it is because the ship is being sold (there if much deferred maintenance to show current staff knows this - leaky plumbing with buckets to catch the water, rust on exterior of ship, etc) or perhaps it is because staff are used to the current gratuity system where everyone gets gratuity regardless of service level. Whatever the reason, the service was only adequate, NOT SPECIAL Regarding the cabin, on one occasion we had to request the room be vacumed. On another day we did not get our bed made. There were no swans or other animals made from towels left on the bed (as in the past. There was not a display of towel animals at the pool. There was no ice carving.Various venues had lines. the British Pub was open only 2 days on a 15 day cruise so everyone did not get to dine there. Entertainment was scheduled such that you needed to arrive an hour before the show to get a seat. The entertainment was mostly marginal - simply not special Read Less

This was to be a get away to make up for a trip that ended because of a family tradgedy. The ship was fine, but the extra amenities were lacking. We tried the special dining at the steak house and the porterhouse was chewy and the filet mignon that replaced it was not much better. The wine package was not adequately explained and could only be used in a specific dining venue. There were only a few wines that met the criteria for inclusion and others were surcharged although there was no refund if the cost was below the ceiling price. The entertainment was professional and well done, although I was a tad surprised, when a Motown show had no black singers or dancers. None of the shows had any black entertainers. The spa offered a thermal package, but the only difference between it and the regular free salon activities were plastic sandals, and a robe. Although there was a pool, it was not private with the exception that no children were admitted. The general ship population was able to use it at any time. The balcony cabin we had was not private because the Promenade was just outside and on weather permitting days had a steady stream of people traipsing by at all times. The cabin steward was excellent and everything was done promptly and effeciently. The regular dining menu,service and quality was very good. The excursions offered by the ship were very expensive and did not live up to expectations. One port was bypassed because of weather and safety concerns. I had expected this trip to exceed the amenaties and experiences we have previously had with Norweigian, but alas they did not. Read Less

We felt that this cruise was the perfect blend of relaxation and travel. Unlike a transatlantic crossing, the ports were buffered on either side by sea days. I've included a detailed review of our room in the ratings. Embarkation We flew into Burbank around 11 am and took a 45 minute Lyft ride to the ship. Embarkation took less than 20 minutes, and we appreciated that the main dining room was open for lunch until 1:30 pm. Our rooms were ready by the time we had finished lunch. Food We ate the majority of our meals in the main dining room. We were pleasantly surprised to never be disappointed by a main course. The meats were always tender, and the fish and shellfish were always perfectly cooked and not overdone. Syam and Juliana were our waiters, and were some of the best we've had. We also enjoyed the two British-themed Pub Lunches in the Crown Grill. We also attended the Hawiian-themed lunch, but all agreed that those particular food items weren't spectacular. One reason we loved this itinerary was the afternoon tea on sea days. However, we were disappointed by the 5pm time for 1st seating supper. This made tea time (3:30 to 4:15 pm) seem more like hors d'oeuvres before supper. Fitness Center and Entertainment The fitness center was small, and the low ceilings made it feel even smaller. We did appreciate the complimentary sauna. We absolutely loved the live Amethyst Trio (classical instrumental music) performances in the piazza. However, we were disappointed by the lack of variety in the evening main theater entertainment (mostly comedians). But this gave us an excuse to go to bed early and get lots of extra sleep! Ports Hilo, Hawaii We took a private excursion through Big Island Aina Tours to see Volcanoes National Park. We had a fantastic experience! It was quite chilly at the park, and we were grateful the tour confirmation had recommended bringing jackets. Honolulu, Oahu We hired a Lyft to and from the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and took a private tour offered to veterans and active-duty military and their families. Nawiliwili, Kauai We were disappointed that this port was bypassed due to inclement weather. We were grateful to have reserved our rental car through Costco, so there was no cancellation fee. Lahaina, Maui We booked a rental car through Costco (the company was Budget), and were picked up by the rental car shuttle. Because this was a tender port, it was about an hour from the time our tender number was called to the time we were driving off in our rental car. We drove to the Maui Pineapple Tour (Maui Gold Plantation) in Makawao (an hour drive with breathtaking scenery). The tour was informative, fun, and much cheaper than booking through the cruise line. We also stopped at a Costco on our way back to the ship. This is a great place to buy macadamia nut gift boxes. We also saw the Maui Gold labeled pineapples for sale there. Ensenada, Mexico We docked here, but our party opted to stay on the ship and catch up on calls and emails since Mexico is in our phone plan. We did enjoy seeing dozens of seals swimming in the harbor near the ship. Disembarkation Extremely easy and streamlined. We flew through customs, even though we were bringing home pineapples from Maui (we were told they were fine to bring back to the mainland, but one never knows with customs!). Read Less

We chose Princess to see Hawaii. Our most desired stop in Kauai was cancelled due to weather letting us down hard. Then we spent 5 days (5 windy cold days) returning to N America to visit Ensenada, a marginal town at best. Why not spend another day in Hawaii or San Diego not Ensenada) The old ship ( due for refurb in April) is dated and needing paint. The wifi was awful and expensive ( shouldnt wifi be free in 2020). The Gym is small, only two Specialty restaurants ( changing the menu does not constitute another restaurant). Entertainment, educational talks and casual bar food and drinks were great. Senior officers were aloof and unfriendly, the Captain was rarely seen and never heard. Older waiters weren't very helpful but the younger new ones were very enthusiastic. The cabin was small and had 1 chair and small table. When it could be used the balcony was nice. We have cruised on two other lines and had 4 great experiences. This was not Better to fly to Hawaii Read Less

We wanted to visit Hawaii, and at the same time, renew our wedding vows. We love sea days and this cruise had many. From the moment we came aboard we had a terrific experience. Now, truth be told, the Star is far from the pride of the Princess fleet. It is showing its age with rust lines all over, leaking ceilings in many places, older carpet in passageways, and so forth, but the crew worked hard to keep it as clean as possible and their attitude and smiling faces overcame any concerns about the ship. From the dining staff, to the entertainers and cabin staff, the crew was wonderful. Our vow renewal was everything we had hoped for and more, from the captain officiating to the rose petals scattered on our bed that night! Even though we had to skip Kauai because of the wind, the other stops were just fine their were shore excursions for everyone. We particularly liked the variety of entertainment around the ship, and the Piazza was our destination for several hours per day, just for the variety of entertainment and the great food in the International Cafe. Crooners Bar on Deck 7 was another favorite for us. Embarkation was fast and easy, and disembarkation was the fastest I have ever experienced. Bravo Princesss! Read Less

This cruise was for a very special occasion for 15 days to the Hawaiian Islands. On bording the ship the exterior was running with rust streaks and large dents on the outside.This did not look good as first impression. I had been upgraded to a fantastic cabin I was told. The cabin straight away smelt musty and looked tired with old furniture. The valance around the bed was dirty and my bed sheets had tears in them. The bathroom had mould around the sink as did the shower tray. The outside balcony furniture was torn and old. The pipes around the balcony were covered in so much rust and the railing varnish was nearly all peeled away. the balcony door did not close properly and when crossing over to the Island in rough seas kept opening!! The pool areas of the ship were old and tired. There was large patches of rust in the pools and the Jacuzzi was cracked and leaked. It looked so tarnished and very uninviting. the steps were dirty and the pool furniture torn and old. the outside areas were in a very poor state and everywhere needed a good clean and paint. The lounge areas are worn and the theatre had wall covering peeling off. In 20 years of cruising I have never seen such a unkept ship and only to find out she is due a full re-fit in April. Why are they still selling this cruise ship as also she has been purchased by P&O so will no longer be in the Princess Fleet. There was a bad respiratory infection going around which a lot of people caught and it didnt help that there were lots of ceiling leaks and broken air conditioning. I have never been so disappointed on the state of a ship and will never travel with Princess Cruise lines again. Read Less

We are from Michigan, mid 30's, were on a 10-year anniversary trip to Hawaii and thought this would be the best way to "see it all." This was my 10th cruise (others being Disney, Carnival, and NCL). Short story is the trip was great because Hawaii is great. Unfortunately, NCL didn't do much to help make it better besides provide a room and food. If you just need a moving hotel to see Hawaii, do this trip. If you are wanting "the cruise experience" you'll be disappointed. We got to see everything we wanted to and are happy but would not recommend this trip for anything seeking anything else than to see all of Hawaii in one week. We won't being doing this cruise again. Getting on/off the boat - We flew in from Chicago to Honolulu non-stop and went straight to the boat. Got to port at 5PM and had zero wait to get on board which was nice. Bags got to room in 30 mins. Disembarkation: we walked off with our bags pretty easily. Planned on doing Pearl Harbor (PH) then flying out at 5PM. Airport will only take your bags 4hours prior to flight. The port will hold a bag for you for $5 all day. PH does not allow bags of any kind (even purses, clutch only). Unsure if they would take our rolling baggage, we left them at the port, took an Uber for $28 to PH and arrived at 930. Had time to do the submarine, Arizona, Missouri, pick up wife's purse at bag check @ 2PM..., Uber back to boat, pick up bags, and then to Airport ($34 for second Uber ride total) at 3PM. Didn't have time to do the airplane museum. Ports/excursions - ONLY Kona has stuff to do right at the port. Everything else is a mile-ish walk and or bus ride from the boat!!! Wish we'd have known this ahead of time. Excursions are great but read reviews to make sure you don't waste time or money on boring things (i.e. coffee plantation and macadamia nut factory). Excursions are EXPENSIVE because you're on Hawaii. In the Caribbean, I've always used boat excursions but here (in American Hawaii) we tried some on our own. We saved a TON of money and had more fun because if we were all done at a spot, we moved on and didn't have to wait for 60 people. We bought the same helicopter ride on Kauai for litterally half of the NCL cost and they picked us up at the port. You can also take the Maui bus for $4pp all day. There is a "hoppa-on hoppa-off" service on most islands for $20pp that lets you do self guided tours. Great bus drivers and super nice. This is also a great way to see areas relatively close to the boat. We wish we'd have known about this ahead of time. Boat/Atmosphere - I want to be clear that the boat experience wasn't bad, but it was apparent that the level of service, attention to detail, and general atmosphere on board was not up to par. My wife and I agreed that as for on-board experiences, this was the least fun we've ever had. Other guests agreed who were past cruisers. There's not one single thing to put your finger on to say this, but rather a general consensus that this is not the "A-team" of NCL. We knew the boat would likely consist of people well above our age. An honest guess is roughly 65 for an average age so plan on slower moving traffic, listening to lots of complaints, and zero night life on board. This isn't NCL's fault, except that they do close the pool bar at 7PM so if you want towels or drinks, you have to go inside the ship. The boat is smaller so there is only a single deck theater, small pool (that only gets used on the last day of the boat), but basically zero kids to be seen because nobody brought them (like us) or doesn't have any young kids. If you're planning on bringing kids, they will not make lots of friends like on other boats. They'll have fun off the boat but will not enjoy the on-board experience as much. Food - great food as you'd expect, but the selection and "wow" factor of it was definitely less any boat I've been on. Keep in mind, you will likely only be eating breakfast daily, and dinner probably 2/3 of the time as you are on islands overnight in some cases and can board the boat 24/7. Staff - There are some absolute stars on this boat like there are on any of them. The staff is much less diverse (still very diverse compared to the common workplace) on this boat which is likely from is location. Great guest services help. Great bar staff. Dinner servers seemed inexperienced and a lot were "in training." Never met our room staff though which was a first. Also heard the most chatter between staff about their length of contracts and where they were going next? It just didn't seem like the place most people wanted to stay. Cabin - we had an inside cabin because we didn't plan to stay inside much. Great decision to save money here. No regrets. We were on deck 4. You get off the boat on 3, eat on 5, and never go to the pool. Other boats with more "deck time" I want to be on 9/10/11 but this worked out great actually. Minimal elevator time and stairs. Entertainment - the same as every boat. Nightly show, comedian, magician, not so newlywed show, etc. The smaller theater made the shows less amazing but still good. Average age and time-zone changes mean this boat goes to bed earlier than normal so night-life is virtually non-existent. Read Less

This ship is my idea of "average". Everything was okay and nothing was great. Correction...the staff was great. Everyone was smiling and ready to help at all times. The departure went smoothly, as did the disembarkation. The food was okay, but nothing special in the Aloha Buffet. I have sailed on equal value ships that had better variety. The Liberty dining room had a bit fancier foods. The exception was the East-West cafe where I found the menu to my liking. The sushi was an extra charge, however. so it really wasn't a "free" choice.The costly restaurants were a better value. We had the option of choosing 3 meals in the restaurants that charge extra. The rooms are adequate and our steward was quick to change towels and keep the room vacuumed. We enjoyed the cruise but I was annoyed that they closed the game room several times for events or private parties. Be careful with the Internet billing. If you have 1 free connection be sure that your cabinmate does not try to use it too or you will find yourself with a hefty bill. The Internet is per person and not per cabin. The entertainment was okay. I thought that Deck 6 smelled like sewage. Read Less

I'll start with the embarkation process at the San Pedro port. Very quick, no lines and friendly staff! Overall very easy and straightforward. Only thing I noted was there was no health screening (I recall going through a health screening questionnaire on the last cruise I did) and given the coronavirus risk at the moment I'm surprised this didn't occur. Once on board our cabin was ready for us. Our luggage showed up shortly thereafter. We opted for an interior stateroom with twin beds. It was dated and underwhelming. The ship was built in 2002 and refurbished in 2017 but I feel they didn't do much with the refurbishment as the stateroom had dated finishes, colors, tiles etc. The beds were very comfortable with nice down duvets and pillows. Plenty of storage and a large closet with plenty of hangers. A 40" television with a great variety of movies and tv channels. Being an interior room it was tiny but the layout provided us privacy for getting ready each day and we never felt claustrophobic. Now for the bad stuff... We had a broken toilet, and two leaks in our stateroom throughout the two week period. The toilet was noticed by the steward and he had it fixed while we were out and about the ship during the day - so that wasn't so bad. The first leak was noticed by me around 9:30 pm on a sea day. Called it in right away, but it took almost two hours for them to send a plumber to fix it. It was over my bed. I had to specifically ask the steward for new bedding and a new pillow as it was wet. He had already felt the bedding at this point and was giving no indication he was going to change it. The second leak started around 10 pm on a port day. We were getting ready for bed when we noticed it. This one was in between the two beds. We called it in right away and waited. After an hour I called again and it was after midnight when a plumber showed up. At this point we put the trash can under the leak and were already in bed. He didn't ask if he could come in - he just walked past me when I opened the door and I had to tell him to come back tomorrow as we were sleeping. Luckily when we returned to the room after returning from the port the next day the leak was fixed. After the first leak they sent a complimentary bottle of wine, and after the second they gave us a complimentary dinner in the Italian specialty restaurant. I was not impressed and did ask for a new stateroom but none were available. The ship was dated and underwhelming as well. It shows its age and a lot of rust and leaks in public areas. I'm surprised there wasn't more of an effort on behalf of Princess to keep it in better shape as I know other lines paint the hull while in ports and make more of an effort on the interior as well. Despite the lackluster look, everything was clean. Several pools on the deck and lots of hot tubs on board. Plenty of lounge chairs on the deck as well. Seating in the main piazza (central atrium on decks 5/6/7 had hardly any seating though). Shopping on board was ok - they're big on Effy jewelry and try to sell it to you every chance they get! Duty free alcohol was well priced. Entertainment is very much geared towards an older clientele and also shows the lack of amenities on board as the staff are limited in what they can even do or offer. The production shows were mediocre and pale in comparison to the more Broadway-esque shows on other cruise lines. All the shows were also very short in length. The Voice of the Ocean is one of their highlights and allows the guests on the ship to compete. It's modeled after the TV show. Sadly there wasn't much talent among the guests on board, but this one has potential but is dependent on who's on board. The on board bands play in different venues around the ship but only for 30-45 minutes at a time and then silence (even up on the pool deck). The selection of music played is also dated - lots of 50s/60s/70s music from the bands and the DJ. Otherwise it's classical music in the piazza. Lots of trivia on board but the quality of it was lacking - the PowerPoint presentations for the trivia looked like they were made by a kid and not professional or sleek like I'd expect. Much of the other entertainment were seminars or classes that needed to be attended every day during the cruise (i.e. hula classes or ukelele classes). I think these offerings are spectacular but I did not want to commit to attending every day at the same time - I'm on vacation after all. My favorite thing on board was the movies under the stars each evening. On the pool deck they have a huge screen and show new releases; deck chairs are outfitted with plush cushions, pillows and blankets and popcorn is available! We had a few good meals on this ship, one great meal and then a lot of bland, overcooked food. Princess pushes hard for sharing tables with other cruise passengers. I'm not a fan of small talk so we always asked for a table for 2 and often had to wait for one in the main dining room whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The menus didn't provide much variety and they lacked in vegetarian options and even poultry. The food in the main dining room is not cooked to order. It's mass produced and kept warm under heat lamps. The wait staff really make it feel as if it's an inconvenience if you ask to alter the menu items at all. The speed of service is great though. No problem to have a three course dinner in under an hour. The Curtis Stone menu options in the main dining room did tend to be better than the other items. The Chocolate Journeys desserts were always fantastic. We did have some particularly bad food - I rarely send my food back but the scallops they served one night were inedible yet they were the top recommendation of the server and he tried to make excuses for them when we indicated they were overcooked and rubbery. The great meal was at Sabatinis Italian Restaurant - this one is not included with the cruise fare and is an additional $25 per person. They offer a 6 course traditional Italian menu. Well worth the extra money! The Crown Grill is the other specialty restaurant but we didn't try it as the menu was pretty much all beef and pork which I don't eat. The other good food we had was at their pub lunches - there were three of them (English, Hawaiian and Mexican) and they were all good! Room service is included and is available 24-7, the room service menu is varied and provides good options for a night in. The pizzeria on board is fantastic and they brag about how they have the best pizza at sea and I just may have to agree! The Trident Grill and Sundaes are up on deck next to the pizzeria and serve burgers, hot dogs, fries and ice cream. All good food and prepared for you right then and there. I tried the buffet one night - the food was bland, limited selection and also not hot enough for my liking. Plenty of bars on board, and a good variety of beverages - service at the bars was always great and never any lines. Plenty of staff floating about the ship both on deck and below to take your drink order as well. Drink prices were quite reasonable (we didn't add the drink package). The international cafe in the piazza offers nice sandwiches, salads and desserts as well as specialty coffee and tea. The internet connection on board was great, I was surprised at how fast it was. The laundromats are also a nice touch as most cruise lines have gotten rid of them. Now onto the formal nights. Princess takes them seriously. Lots of tuxedos and ball gowns and ballroom dancing in the piazza. Not quite my thing - we participated on two of the three formal nights but opted to skip the third and did burgers and a movie up on deck instead. The staff were all fantastic. Absolutely no complaints about any of the staff. They were always pleasant and greeted us as we walked about the ship. Our room steward did a great job keeping our room clean. The nightly chocolates on the pillow are a nice touch! The on board website/app is great. Better than those provided by some other lines. All the info on the daily activities is in there plus the ability to order room service breakfast, check your account etc. Sea sickness was a real thing on this itinerary. There were gale force winds on a couple of the sea days (think drawers flying open in your stateroom and things falling down). From what we heard, there were days when hundreds were confined to bed and unable to do much. Sea sickness is not a nice feeling. And given there's 9 sea days on this itinerary and out in the middle of the Pacific it's a real risk. I've saved the best for last. The highlight of the trip was the ports! We visited 4 islands - The Island of Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai and Maui and also Ensenada, Mexico. It was my first time to Hawaii and I fell in love with it! We rented a car on each island and did a little road trip each day. We didn't partake in any shore excursions so I can't comment on those but from talking to other guests, Princess cancelled several excursions in various ports and left people scrambling trying to arrange something else. I feel like I got to see the highlights on each island and thoroughly enjoyed my time. Read Less

We chose this trip because we wanted to see Hawaii. It was beautiful, and so happy we got to visit Pearl Harbor. The sea time was perfect to catch up on reading, watching movies, and taking in some enrichment lectures and classes such as ukelele and Spanish--different!. The ship needs to update their tv guide, as some channels and listings are not there. This is an old ship that has some leaking ceilings and some rust in places, but hopefully it will be refurbished. Our cabin had a worn out mattress. It made for backaches every morning. The steward tried to change the pad, but not much help. The sofa cushions were almost flat, likely the same sofa for the entire 18 years of ship life. This made watching tv a bit uncomfortable. We did enjoy the food. There was a wide assortment in the Horizon, and it was always fresh and tasty. Dining in the Alfani was good, and service excellent. Entertainment most nights was good, but some of the theatre seats are worn and some broken. Theatre was more than packed with people every night. Live music around the ship was great, we especially enjoyed the talented young lady at the piano. Shocking that so many adults do not cover their mouth when coughing and sneezing. There was a lot of flu on this ship, and we can see how it spreads. Perhaps the ship needs to reiterate how to cover ones' mouth. When it came to disembarking, there was too much time from when we had to be out of our room until we left the ship. Then, when we got on the bus shuttle to the airport, we were left sitting at the dock for almost an hour, a bus full of people coughing and sneezing, and with on one coming on the bus to tell us why the delay. Some feared missing their connections at the airport, creating a lot of anxiety. Read Less

Our very first Princess cruise was 19-night Panama Canal cruise on 3/18/19, and we fell in love with Princess and didn't want to disembark. My husband always wanted to cruise to Hawaii, so we were excited when my cousins wanted the 1/27/20 15-night Grand Princess to Hawaii from San Francisco! Captain JP Bryant is incredibly funny, caring, lighthearted, very personable; his communications were loud, clear, understandable and without an accent! He is a great leader! 1/27/20 Grand Princess cruise activities by the Assistant Cruise Directors Guido, Olivia, Miranda, Mina, Natalie, and Saskia were so fun and hilarious: sail away party dancing, 2 Paper Plane Challenge contests, coloring cards, Discovery at Sea, fresh orchid lei making, Group Renewal of Vows and the certificates delivered to our room; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian Paper Rope artwork, the High Seas Heist Game, Is That Your Final Answer Game, Hula Dancing, line dancing, Majority Rules Gameshow, Marriage Match Gameshow, Mexican face painting, Name that Tune with Rock Hits, Painting in 90 seconds, Princess Pop Choir, ribbon lei making, trivia, True or Moo Game, Valentine card making, and the Yes No Game! Alex Belyy- the Grand Princess House Musician did a super job as he filled in as the Ukulele instructor. I thoroughly enjoyed Musician AJ Clark, Blues Brother Tribute Band; Brian the Hawaiian Ambassador with his beautiful voice and taught us Ukulele lessons; Comedian Impressionist Mike Wilson; Comedian Michael/Miguel Washington; Culinary Show; DJ JaXx playing songs from ABBA and the 70's; the Grand Princess Crew Talent Show; Instrumentalist Doug Cameron; the Love Boat Disco Deck Party; Magician Handsome Jack's variety act; the Martini demonstration by the bar tenders; Naturalist Mark Harris' Bears Everywhere; Production Show British Invasion & Stardust; Vocalist Phillip Brone; the Supersonics band; Leo the Photographer gave an educational photography presentation with very clear words at a nice-and-slow pace so I could understand all his words the first time he said them. My Grand Princess cabin steward Romeo was awesome and always provided what I needed right away. Our clothes were washed and pressed perfectly! My husband and I loved the Grand Princess buffet (especially the Mongolian Stir Fry Station with custom-ordered Asian meal that I became accustomed to from our Panama Canal cruise), the main dining room food, the Salty Dog Grill burgers and fries, and the International Cafe sandwiches, cookies, and salad. Alfredo's Pizzeria was incredible! I usually don't care for pizza but I ate 2 whole pizzas (custom made to my liking) to myself! For the first time in our 9 cruises we've taken in our life time, we played ping pong, and swam in the pool with big waves on the Grand Princess! For the first time I did Tai Chi for many of the mornings. We loved our 2 Grand Princess shore excursions: ITO205 Akaka Falls, and snorkeling in Molokini in which we saw a lot of whales close up and got to swim with turtles! We never feel 15 nights or 19 nights is too long on Princess! We love you Princess and we will cruise you again and again! Read Less

Chose this because dates lined up perfectly with kids school break. Also a desire to go to Hawaii. It was made much more difficult due to a sick passenger, and returning to Honolulu 2 days after leaving. Add to that very high seas/winds and big storms making it difficult to enjoy the ship. Cruise did not stop in mexico as planned, and still returned far later than planned. Absolutely unacceptable to have 2 out of 6 elevators out of service all 15 days and no way to take the stairs from Emerald Deck (8). Service was good. Steward was excellent. Food was ok. Maitre'd best ever resulting in great dinner service. Only 20 kids in all classes of kids clubs so they met together. Kids loved their experience. Very pleased how Princess got us all home after we missed our return flights due to needing to leave a day later. Read Less

I understand - - many things are "out of control" when one engages a large cruise. experience On this one for example, a passenger fell sick, the ship aborted a"port of call," and our disembarkment was delayed by over nine hours. This meant, of course, that over three thousand people missed their planes, hotels and other vacation plans. The staff - mostly Filipinos, Ukrainians and Russians - worked so hard to make this difficult time easier. However, the company offered us nothing. The experience was ripe for customer service; a coupon for a future cruise, an afternoon of "free beverages" - - heck, even a trinket or a gift of sorts would have been appreciated. Instead - and for some odd reason, the company decided to shut down the pools and ban us from some decks. Throughout this entire experience, we weren't offered so much as a complimentary glass of wine. The company gave us "free internet" - and waived our phone charges or one day. This, I guess, was done to make it easier for us to find flights home. It was a nice gesture, but not enough considering the severe inconvenience. Another terrible story - - I fell during an excursion, and tried to secure an "ice pack" for my swollen leg. No one would comply. The medical staff told me to call the kitchen. Room service sent me to the front desk. In the end, I had to put together my own ice bag. . using a plastic bag from the front desk, a bucket of ice (for which I was charged!) for the ice. I kid you not. Nope. Not a good experience. Hard working, desperate and eager staff. Sad, to see them trying so hard - - working or a multi-billion dollar corporation without a soul. Never, never get my business - ever again. Read Less

We call this the "get out of the snow and cold" trip and did the same cruise.last winter with the same friends. This was a weird one but we enjoyed it greatly. After leaving Hawaii a passenger became critically ill. We doubled back toward Hilo with the thought they could do an emergency evacuation by helicopter. It was determined the patient couldn't tolerate that so we sailed all the way back to Honolulu. This was ABSOLUTELY the correct decision by Capt. JP and Princess. But this put us WAY behind schedule. Princess had to get permission from the US Govt. to not make the stop at Ensenada (Jones Act). Then we hit an extended stretch of rough seas which slowed us down and the ship arrived about nine hours late to SF. We got three separate disembarkation plans as the situation developed. I can't praise the Captain enough. Since we had never left the U.S. (this never happens with ships of a foreign registry as most cruise ships are) we did not have to go through Customs which sped things up getting off the ship. At this point my praise for Princess Ez-Air. Since we booked out flights through Ez-Air we were automatically re-booked, put up at the Hilton Union Square in SF, and given meal allowances all paid for by Princess. Granted the registration at the hotel was a bit chaotic since the hotel had short notice of the arrival of a lot of guests. Princess had a couple people on hand to explain things. Luggage was delivered to our room and then picked up again a few hours later since we had transport to the airport for a VERY early flight out (again paid for by Princess). I know there will be those who'll find fault with this and that. Some people aren't happy unless they're complaining. But I thought overall Princess did an excellent job with this issue. I will have been booking air travel through Princess for quite some time now and after seeing how they handled this will absolutely continue to do so. Kudos to Princess Cruises! Read Less