ship needs revamp. dining ok if you like a curry or high fat foods.Entertainment .poor. The only good thing about this cruise were the bar and waiting staff and the ports of call . Only ate in main restaurant four times as was put off by the chicken drumsticks chips and gravy,hardly a la carte. Buffet curry eggs and onion rice for breakfast or full English dripping in fat. cruised many times before and have never had to leave a bad review .you need a new cruise director as his vision of good entertainment is perhaps suited for an old peoples home at best.Kids club was a joke and they wanted $25 to ice a cake where as on all other cruises this would have been free . We spent in total £9000.00 on this holiday for two adults and two children paid for a la carte got chicken drumsticks paid for our children to be entertained did not happen,paid for great entertainment was not entertained Read Less

I am a Princess Platinum Member, I selected this cruise for the itinerary. This ship needs updating and maintenance throughout. She is old and tired and in definite need of refurbishment. The ship in general felt dirty and unkept. The toilets were smelly even in our cabin. Honestly, have to say, Princess Cruise Line has deteriorated along with this ship. Crew appear tired and overworked. I suggest Princess pay crew more and give them more time off. Shorter contracts, better pay, more training. On this 12 day cruise I rarely seen the officers and the ones I crossed paths with could not say hello or nod. Very poor. Food quality was horrible. The Crown dining room was the only decent place to dine for a half way decent meal. It was only adequate and had always been outstanding. I didn't mind paying the extra charge. This was shocking to me as I always found food served on Princess ships excellent. Read Less

Not to bore my fellow cruisers , imagine : plastic cups , plates and glasses , a daily programme of bingo, quizzes and kids programmes , food you would normally never want to pay good money for and environment where most of the passengers are crowded into a central area to watch their so called" best " entertainment! "Saphire Princess" is your kind of ship . We hoped for refinement , culture and excellence.. what we got was far far from what we hoped.. such a waste of money . Lack of Security presence in public areas was alarming , there was definitely some under age drinking going on and young children seemed to be everywhere on the ship!! Most ships have family zones but parents were doing as they please . We were late arriving at ports , so little time on shore , one port was missed altogether and Princess CHARGE FOR SHUTTLE SERVICE .. Never been charged with any other company.!! Appalling !! Read Less

I have sailed on Princess twice, and I had a wonderful experience. My last Princess cruise was about 10 years ago. I have wanted to cruise again, but I have been waiting for my son to get a little older. Now that he is 7 years old, I felt it was the right time to cruise. I only looked in to Princess because of my past experience. And honestly, I regret not looking into other cruise options. Last week we sailed to and from London and Oslo on a 7 day cruise. I really wish I could say that I had a great time, but it was a subpar experience. My two issues were food and the amount of time you actually spend in a town/city. The food was below average especially when you factor in the amount of money you are spending. Honestly, you are on the ship about 80% of the time. The food must be good whether it is a la cart dining or buffet. I remember when Princess offered twin lobsters during dinner at the international dining hall. Now they want you to pay extra for good food. In the past, the buffet had smoked salmon everyday for breakfast. On this cruise, they offered it on the last day. I feel like they offered at the end of our trip so we would only remember the last dish. Last, we ate a 3 course prefix meal at Sabatinis. You have to pay a premium to eat there, but the food was great. However, in the past Sabatinis offered an 11 course meal. The food offering is declining. In regard to my comment about the time spent in a town/city, well it only represents 5 hours per port. Most of the excursion start mid-morning, and you are back on the ship by 3pm. We have no time to explore, eat, or shop. In conclusion, if you are on the ship most of the time, the food better be amazing or you are really there for the entertainment like bingo, art auction, town lectures, etc which you can do at your local city. If you like to cruise, and don't care about food quality, go on Princess. Read Less

I chose this itinerary because of its itinerary. Had never cruised around the British Isles even though I had cruised about 30-40 times before world-wide. This is my first cruise with Princess. Front Desk experience was worst ever, with staff giving incorrect answers (rather than saying that they don't know). Embarkation/Disembarkation was VERY SLOW, possibly because they were trying to use a new system. Cabin needs complete overhaul (I do understand that a major renovation is scheduled at the end of this season). Air Conditioning duct sent out black particles on our bed (and we could have breathed in some of those while we were sleeping). After many calls, someone finally came and put in a temporary make-shift filter. The cooling "thermostat" failed one night, and the cabin was freezingly cold with strong COLD air blowing out right above our bed. Calls to Passenger Services that night did not help. No one came (even though we were told that someone would come and take a look). It took 2 more calls in the morning for someone to finally come. Dining and Casino staff were great though. Excursions were very expensive/over-priced (a similar local tour would likely cost half or less) and yet most of them were quite disappointing. e.g. One full-day excursion departed an hour late (because of the disembarkation long line), and returned 15 minutes early. As a result, of the 2 major visit/stops, one 2-hour stop became a basically 40-minute photo stop (barely time to go into the castle ground, took a few garden photos and left). Then, with a long 2-hour lunch, the afternoon stop (with free time, shopping, promised/stated) was completely cancelled...not even a photo stop. We went barely into that town, and immediately turned around and came back to the ship. Everyone complained, and we received a 40% refund (but the whole day, and probably my only chance of visiting those cities/castle totally wasted.). Another excursion used a fairly old bus. Not only that there was no air conditioning, but also no air circulations...for 2-3 hours. It was a hot day and a FULL bus too. Again, I believe everyone complained and we got a 20% refund (but the condition was so bad that I hope no one got sick afterwards). If you like comedians, then the entertainment was good (good guest performers), but that seemed to be the main thing this cruise offered. No magic show, no acrobatics, no jugglers, and horrible singers. I ranked Entertainment worse than all my previous cruise experiences (even though I do enjoy comedians....but not almost EVERY NIGHT!). The 2 violinists on board were great though, but they performed at times when I was either on a full-day excursion or busy eating dinner. Read Less

We booked this cruise to spend time with family and visit places we’ve never been. However, the ship was old and falling apart and caused us to miss Dublin and be late to Liverpool. We didn’t even get to stop at Guernsey at all, and the captain announced it as though it was a good thing we “get to” spend another day at sea. In every case the time spent at each port was much too brief. The smell of sewage came up from our shower drain, water soaked the carpet in the halls, a toilet that didn't always flush, broken elevators, bit up by something during sleep with new red marks each morning, internet that didn't work. Four of us were crammed into the tiny cabin and it was torturous, but there was nothing we could do so we tried to make the best of it. With such an incredibly small shower, it was a wonder why so much space was taken by a thick folded metal stool double zip-tied hanging from the handrail inside. The gym was old with broken equipment. For all the technology they’re adding with touch-screens and their new “medallion,” the ship itself is still a dump. The “entertainment” was embarrassing, with the target audience being over 90 years old no longer of sound mind. I watched three shows to be nice to other family who wanted us to go with them, but each show was awful. Ship activities consisted of those you’d see at a retirement home, like bingo. Unfortunately we witnessed a Zumba class right in the middle of a main open area, and we will never be able to un-see it. We felt generally trapped without anywhere nice we could go, and it was like a prison on the sea.  The food was not good and literally inedible in some cases; fake eggs, plastic bacon, rubber cheese, food with a chemical taste, and lots of breads and sugar. Princess Cruises lied to us about some of the excursions, inclusions and packages, and when we brought it to their attention they didn’t make things right. Multiple lies to trick us into spending more money, like promising a free reservation for premium dining but then telling us after eating it’s not free, or telling us we can’t leave the ship unless we pay for one of their excursions. We purchased soda packages for the kids and yet they were often told “no” or only allowed a very small portion, so we can warn everyone the packages are not worth it. Prices charged were higher than what was listed on the menu, and it’s unfortunate you can’t trust them to be honest. This cruise was a waste of time and money. It even made us all sick, probably from the bad food and being trapped on a dirty old ship. “Come back new” is a lie - I feel wiped out and ripped off. It was a terrible, awful experience, and one that I never want to repeat as long as I live. Now I need to plan another trip to the UK without the limitations of having to get back on a ship by dinner time. If I ever take a cruise again, it won’t be with Princess. Read Less

We chose this cruise to celebrate my mothers 80th birthday and because of the the Ports of call.The best part of this ship was the bed other than that the entertainment on board,food quality,friendliness of staff,and the organization of disembarking the ship at ports of call was terrible.Our room at 7am ran out of hot water to have a shower so did everyone on our deck and the cabin attendant response to us was we didn't know how to use the shower.This was day 3 of the Cruise. In the dining room the menu was very limited but if you wanted to pay a additional $20 you could get a steak etc.The wine list was way over priced and nothing we would pay over $40 a bottle for. They also forgot my mothers Birthday and apologized they got to busy but would do the next day.We told them not to bother we will do it somewhere else.The buffet was like going to a upscale cafeteria very bland food and no imagination and the worst tasting coffee ever, glad I paid extra for the coffee card.Disembarking by tender to Guernsey took 2 hours and another 1 hour to get back to the ship.Shore excursions where almost double what I paid for the same thing and in Dublin,Belfast and Le Havre if you wanted to just go to town and wonder around you had to pay from $16 to $20 per person for a shuttle to leave the port.There is a free shuttle in Dublin but they didn't tell you that we found out by asking the taxi driver we hired that was cheaper than the shuttle.We have been on many cruises and this Princess cruise has put us off cruises for awhile.Even at the end of the cruise after paying to have them take to Heathrow to go home there was no staff around to assist us to finding our coach to take us to the airport.Our Group of 7 with another 10 plus guests eventually found our ride to the airport no thanks to the Crown Princess staff.If you like boring entertainment,activities,bad service,overpriced excursions and being nickled and dimed then this is the ship for you. Read Less

We wanted a holiday with the whole family to celebrate my wifes 61 birthday and my daughters 30 birthday looking forward to a fantastic 11 nights cruise. We were totally amazed to find that we were being charged gratuities up front before we started our cruise at what only can be described as extortion even my 18 month old grandson was charged and the total bill between us was more than 1500 dollars in addition to this we were charged 18% gratuities on all drinks I did manage to get the upfront gratuities removed but the 18% on drinks have not been removed even after I requestid this before we disembarked the ship at the end of the cruise. The price of beer and wine was extortionate with a bottle of beer costing 7$ plus 18% gratuities and a medium glass of wine 10 -12$ plus gratuities We were forced to have 4 sea days due to weather after missing a port stop in Lanzarote we were not offered any compensation or reduction in barr expenses while on the extra see day. The food was OK but not great and we all found that food in the buffet was bland and the area felt like a cattle market. On a positive note the staff generally were great. Overall we fell as if we have been robed and it feels like every attempt was made to squeeze every last Dollar out of us even when it came to the options for paying in Dollar or Sterling we were not told the best currency to pay in and it felt as the cruise line were even trying to take advantage of the exchange rates. Our view is that these additional charges should have been advertised clearly and simply in the upfront price of the cruise, we feel we have been mis sold this holiday by the cruise line who seem not to have been totally honest about the hidden costs. In short if you are a teetotaler who likes bland food then you may find this OK but we will never book another holiday with Princes Cruises. Read Less

We were first very disappointed with the ship. Being a bigger newer ship, we thought we would see a lot more shops and things to do. We were very wrong! Seems like the ships layout was similar to others we had taken on smaller ships, just with loads more people. Also I highly recommend checking the average age of the cruise passengers. We experienced mostly seniors and the activities were directed mostly towards seniors as well. Many passengers were rude, unsanitary and also dissatisfied by the crowds. Our excursions were even cancelled due to lack of interest or operational issues which we are unsure of that meaning. The night club never had more than maybe 5 people in it and the music was horrible. The entertainment was lack luster and also very crowded. We spent most of the cruise watching movies under the stars as it was cold and the least crowded area of the ship. We were also more comfortable with the food out by the pool as it hadn't been touched or coughed on by the crazy crowds at the buffet. Read Less

We always wanted to Cruise the Baltics and overall our trip and the port was very nice, but the moment we got back on boar we encounter an old ship very rudew crew and the service at the main restaurant was terrible we complain and they didnt do anithing to acomodate us un another table or try to make it right. Our cabin was always dirty the food options on the bufete was very limited. We bought the soft drink package for all of our family and every time we order a drink they ask us every time for all the cruise cards like if we were goin to steal their drinks. The mood of the crew around the ship were rude and unwilling to help. I like princess cruisess but they really neet to treat their passangers like they deserve it seems like their crew is the most important thing on board not their passangers I will never cruise with princess thats for sure Read Less

Our experience with Princess is still ongoing 2 months later. Princess booked our flights and we thought that would be the best idea. We were to fly Delta from Evansville to Atlanta then to London. We had upgraded our seats for the long flight, but after changes in flight we no longer had the upgrade. After numerous delays from our first flight we were rerouted to Detroit to Paris then to London, where we were staying to tour for a couple of days before the cruise. We were 6 hrs late arriving which caused us to miss our transfere from airport to hotel. That costs us $100 cab fare. The ports were very nice and we enjoyed our tours. We were traveling with another couple and had booked our balcony cabins together. On the 9th day of our 12 day cruise a pipe above our bed broke streaming water from our ceiling pouring water out of the light fixtures over our bed. It traveled into the closet soaking our suitcases and in the self closet getting those wet to. They weren’t sure where to put us so they put our clothes in the hallway. Finally I asked our friends if we could put our personal belongings in their cabin, which we did for a couple of hours till Princess could find a cabin for us. They did find another cabin but it was a downgrade from what we had. So very disappointing. They kept telling us they would treat us right about the situation. They did take our clothes to the cleaners and reimbursed us for other laundry which we had done prior. They gave us $50 apiece on board credit, but did nothing for downgrade of our room or for inconvenience. Our friends had their home bound tickets mistakenly cancelled by Delta and had to pay $5300 (booked thru Princess too) for tickets to get home,plus what they had already paid. They have not seen any money( or apologies) yet from Princess. They are contacting an attorney. We also paid for upgraded seats coming home but did not get reimbursed for those from American. We did receive reimbursement from Virgin Atlantic for seats. We found when we first got onboard crew was very nice but as trip progressed their attitudes changed, except our first cabin steward and he was exceptionally nice. His name was Rusty. We will NOT book a cruise with Princess again. This was the Royal Princess line. Extremely disappointing. Read Less

Wanted to see more of Ireland, Scotland and England without having to drive. Foods in the Harvest dining room over cooked, dry and bland. Most foods are premade and sitting in warmers. Pizzas, hot dogs, ice creams, etc. are set menus and not customizable. Senior Crew members rude and unapproachable. Shuttle services for ports poorly organized. Long distances from docks to key sites. Entertainment and social activities are not aimed for seniors. Bands and singers were quite good and varied. Wide variety of choices and mainly held in piazza which allows comfortable seating and suroundings. Social Director fails to make any announcements which would allow you to attend events as all activities are not always in the newsletter. Beautiful ship but with 3600 passengers becomes crowded. Stewards and waiters are quite cheerful but not as relaxed on other cruise lines. Does have some pluses but not ideal for seniors or disabled. Would not travel Princess again. Read Less

The itinery looked promising. Very disappointed. Itinery, Cork, arrived on a Sunday. Fair distance from Port to town so took a train, only pubs and churches open. Next, Dublin two hour wait to get shuttle service. Drop off point a dozen long blocks from pubs and shops. Belfast better organized. Most tours are expensive with a three hour ride each way. Not well organized. Most towns a distance from port, no shuttle services prepared. Food in Harvest restaurant over cooked and dry or kept in sauces to keep warm, tasteless. Menu very repetitive and unexciting. No custom choices for pizza, hot dogs or burgers. Senior Crew members never around and unsociable. Stewards and waiters mechanical compared to the crews on other cruise lines. Piazza entertainment quite good and varied. Better than theater seating for entertainment. Limited services and programs for seniors. Health and safety standard low. No enforcement of antiseptic hand cleaners when boarding the ship or when entering the dining rooms. Passengers coughing or wiping noses then transmitting viruses to hand rails and elevators. Still trying to be seen as love boat cruises and not building cruises to actual passenger lists. Read Less

Embarkation becomes a huge disappointment for Elite when you hear the call out "boarding cards". And boarding has only just started. What happended to the benefit of priority embarkation? But compared to the ship, that disappointment paled in comparison. Who designed that disaster? Trivia in Princess Live? Come on! Zumba in the Piazza on deck 5? Come on! And don't complain because everything that is exciting is done in that area. Just check the Princess Patter - the word exciting is next to the activities just in case you hadn't realised. We called Vista "the best room" because on this ship it was rarely used. Why? Probably because they forgot to put the bar in that room. When is Wheelhouse not the Wheelhouse? When it suddenly becomes the Crown Grill. Not an enjoyable area when you have paid the extra charge for a meal in the Crown Grill. If the food had been bearable in the dining room and buffet we wouldn't have felt the need to go there to get a decent meal. I am grateful that the shore days were full on though because we were that tired at night that we didn't need to go to the "entertainment". Staff were great though. Take a bow. Sorry Princess. WE ARE ELITE WITH 23 CRUISES WITH YOU UNDER OUR BELT. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW WE WON'T MAKE NUMBER 24. Read Less

Food was so terrible in the restaurants that we ate pizza 4 nights in a row. Room steward refused to change of bed from full and twin and made the comment in from of our friends " Do you not sleep with your husband anymore? Very embarrassing!!!! Went to the casino every night ...on night five I went to a machine to play. No money in the machine no one there. Inserted my card with large balance to play. Hit the button and won several times. Then all of the sudden a casino employee demanded to get into the machine as some man complained I STOLE his $99. Remember no one was there and there was no balance showing on the machine. I let her and went back to playing while the other customer hovered over me. Then about 10 minutes later she comes up again demanding to get into my machine. At that point I said no and send your supervisor. She continued to harrass me and finally let ats customer screamed in the middle of the casino I stole his money. My husband had just arrived and suggested we just cash out which we did. We moved to another machine and about 10 minutes in the assistant manager of the casino came over with a lot of paper saying I had taken the money not true and everyone around me stopped playing and listened to his accuse me. At that point, I told him to go away and I was not going to talk to him in the center of the casino as private meeting would be ok of which he continues to accuse me. At that point, I was in tears and my husband and friends were furious. In about 5 minutes we cashed out I went to the casino manager and handed him a $100 which he took and explained to him that I took nothing. the next day I called the casino manager (female) we talked she invited me back to the casino to talk and have a drink to which I replied no. She said she would investigate everything and be in touch that was 2 days before the cruise was over. I never heard anything from her. The mos embarrassed I have ever been in my life. We have noticed Princess Cruise lines has really lowered its standards in the last several years. Needless to say, neither I or the group we were traveling with will EVER NEVER EVER travel on Princess Cruises and we travel a lot. They just do not care. WE also asked for a meeting with the Captain and we assured that would happen... never did. Does that not tell us all something. Read Less

we have sailed many times, generally split between Princess, RCL, Holland America, Norweigian and Carnival.....mostly Princess and RCL...about 22 Cruises Last August we took the 12 day UK, cruise out of Southampton, to Ireland, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Guernsey Island and Le Havre. We noticed lack of Purell Hand Sanitizing stations, instead they had double sinks in the LIDO but nobody was using them.....there were a lot of sick people with the Australian Flu, they sent around a notice warning us to wash our hands and avoid the public washrooms. We have always had good service and no problems, on our second day my wife and I have allergies and we noticed strong smell of mold in our cabin....we reported it to our cabin steward, who used chemicals in the drains etc but to no avail, then they javexed everything which lasted one day, by the fourth day (at sea) we went down to the infirmary but arrived at 12:01 pm but they were closed, thanks goodness! We were both experiencing all the signs of reactions to mold and mildew (sore throats etc), we went up for lunch and met another couple at our table that warned us to stay away from the infirmary, they had friends that went there and got quarantined to their cabin for the duration of the cruise.....so instead we went to the main desk and complained, not very sympathetic.....finally we got a hold of the Cabin Supervisor Manager who asked us to return to our cabin and they would be down shortly to investigate....about an hour later the Cabin Manager and Cabin Supervisor showed up, they both smelled the mold and mildew and were able to get us another balcony cabin on a lower deck. We then spent the rest of the day moving all our stuff down to our new cabin (they did offer to help us). When we got the surveys we gave them a very poor mark, the Manager was supposed to get back to us with an explanation of what they were going to do to fix the mold and mildew problem, I went down to the main desk and saw him and asked him again for an explanation, I was concerned that they would do nothing and the next people taking our balcony room would run into the same condition.....even though he promised me an explanation we never received one.....my wife and I both gave them a failing mark on the survey and asked for a response.....no response ever came. I wrote to Princess about our experience two times, no response, I finally phoned them and the customer service girl confirmed that I had the right email address, she said to send again and guaranteed I would get a prompt response......once again no response ever came. I am still getting their monthly sales bulletins etc.... My wife and I are disappointed with Princess we thought they were a world class cruise line......by the way we have booked a Baltic Cruise with RCL Brilliance of the Seas on June 9th, 2018.....and have invited two other couples to join us all with balcony cabins, I guess Princess has lost a good customer due to their lack of concern ..... Read Less

My wife having cruised with Princess many times and myself four years ago I was disappointed to find how much things seem to have slipped in the meantime. Boarding did not proceed by decks as indicated in precruise material. As a result my wife and I found ourselves having to wait for over 90 minutes to be processed. we had gone to some trouble to arrive at the time requested by Princess. Having got onboard we found our stateroom keys were not working and had to stand in a long line to get that fixed. Princess had failed to give my wife her Platinum status. She had to spend quite some time getting this fixed only to find that this had not been done properly causing more problems in getting her internet entitlement. Anytime dining was a disaster. Long queues and harassed maitre d's. We finally managed to get changed to traditional dining after two requests to that effect were ignored. The Princess accounting system requires major overhaul. To reverse an erroneous charge is not a matter of passing a credit. The system reverses an earlier correct debit thus creating two erroneous entries. I must have spent at least two hours dealing with problems of this kind. The passenger service personnel have language and competency problems. Their instinctive reaction to a concern seemed to be defensive. Princess can do no wrong. Usually the problem had to be referred to someone else. Often there was no follow up and I had to go back, stand in line and explain everything again to a different person. One night we were woken twice in the night by a faulty PA system which rang bells loudly. We reported this. No one got in touch to explain let alone apologise. It took three requests before a plumber came to fix a faulty tap. The Crown Princess is in need of major refitting and that is not confined to the tired fabric and fittings. Our balcony floor was covered by paint spots and there were major rust areas that clearly had not been attended to for ages. A number of seats in the theatre were broken. The only bright spots were a good quality cabin and excellent service and cuisine in Sabatinis. The whole experience can be summed up by the notice we received on our last evening. Having spent a considerable time and effort getting my wife recognised as Platinum status, which you get after a number of cruises, the final note congratulated her on completing her first voyage with Princess!! It was not her first, of course, but it will almost certainly be her last. Read Less

We chose Crown Princess because we had experienced such a good cruise on Sea Princess 9 years ago. The itinerary was identical and we thought it would be nice to visit the same ports but different excursions. As a treat, we upgraded to a mini suite as we wanted a bath - what a rip off that was - it was nothing but a larger cabin with a balcony. The bath was disgusting and had a yellow 'tide' rim inside of it. The toilet had black like soot/ granules every time it was flushed. We were on cabin deck 9 and we experienced the most awful sewage smell every day - it made you gag every time you went pass the culprit area. We reported it constantly to no avail - the ship clearly has a problem as I have since read many reviews where passengers thought it was a smelly ship. We have cruised many times in 9 years having had 13 ocean cruises and 1 riverboat cruise and not once did we ever experience eating off of plastic plates, drinking a beverage from plastic cups or wine/beer from plastic glasses in a buffet restaurant. We did on this one!!! The food choices was certainly not great and nor was the food ever hot so to be given a cold plastic plate to put luke warm greasy food on is beyond belief!!! There was no trays at all, so it became a juggling act with plates and cups. Entertainment???? Mmmmmmmm, if you like art auctions then you will be in seventh heaven. We experienced 3 in our 1 week cruise. 2 of them were held in the Explorers bar and it became very annoying when you are trying to read or just want to be quiet - one went on for about 3.5 hours. You might think why didn't we move to another area - well, it was hard to find another quiet area that was attended by bar staff. A glass of wine was absolutely silly money - 8 dollars for a 175ml glass which at the time was equivalent to £6.45! Prior to this cruise we had 2 further cruises booked - one was on Sapphire Princess Sept 2018 and the other was on Arcadia (P&O) May 2018. When we returned, we cancelled these 2 cruises as they are both owned by Carnival - what ever Carnival touches, it turns into a holiday camp at sea. Standards have certainly dropped - it seems they are just out to fleece you any way possible - excursions, special restaurants add on cost etc etc. We went with Celebrity Cruises last year and it was faultless so we have booked with them again for next year. Read Less

We chose this cruise line because 9 years ago we had a lovely cruise on Sea Princess to the same ports we were visiting on this one. OMG how Princess Cruises have gone downhill. Crown Princess had the most awful sewage smell on our cabin deck (deck 9) that was quite putrid and it was also smelt on the Promenade deck (deck 7). We reported it numerous times to no avail - in fact the smell worsened as the week went on. There was clearly a problem because on disembarking in Southampton, a working boat pulled alongside the ship with pumping equipment. In the 14 cruises that we have done, we have never ever had to serve our buffet restaurant food onto cold PLASTIC plates, nor have we ever had wine with the meal in plastic glasses! Tea and coffee was in plastic mugs and no teaspoons whatsoever - you had to stir your beverage with wooden sticks! We thought we were at a children's tea party! The food was warm at best and greasy - there was no presentation. Entertainment????? Mmmmmmmm if you like art auctions, then this is for you - we had 3 in a week which had a duration of 3 to 4 hours. You couldn't escape them as 2 of them were in the 'Explorers Bar' where we used to like to sit for a quiet drink and read. There was no guest speaker apart from Edwina Currie of all people - no idea what she may have had to say. We upgraded to a Mini Suite as I actually fancied using a bath as opposed to showering (we only have a shower at home). The bath was unusable as it had a horrible yellow tide line round it. The shower curtain was filthy. The mattress was very lumpy and needed replacing and the sheets and towels were never replaced in the week. How the cabin was classed as a Mini Suite I do not know as it was no different to a balcony cabin on other cruise lines. On our return home, we have written to complain and we have received a reply back - the reply was a lengthy 2 page waffle but not aimed at our complaint but to another passengers complaint who had been on board ROYAL PRINCESS. Just highlights the incompetency of the cruise line! We will stick to Celebrity Cruises in future and if anything goes downhill with them, we will hang our passports up and go UK cruising!!!! Read Less

I can't imagine how an earlier reviewer on the same cruise though it so good. Engine or other vibration could be felt throughout many areas of the ship including our cabin which is on the small side. The "bathroom" doesn't have a bath - just a small shower and the whole room is tiny. Food was OK but nothing special, limited in selection and tended to be the same each mealtime. Some of the entertainment was first class - but it was very much a mixed bag as some was just boring. Cabin had marks & stains on the walls which should have been addressed. Enrichment activities could have been better chosen for a wider audience though Mike Gatting was quite entertaining. Shame he was only on the once. Ship overcrowded; advertised as 3080 Passengers, they squeezed over 3500 on; too many kids running around and far too few pool loungers available. Not helped by many selfish people grabbing them and keeping them even though the ships rules say you can't! Read Less

My partner and myself have just returned from a cruise around the Mediterranean . We paid £3650.00 , we paid £150 for parking , £490 for excursions and £981.85 . This cruise was something we had planned and looked forward too for the last 6 months, however it fell short of our expectations from day one. We had to queue to board the ship for 2 hours, we had to queue to leave the ship for at least 1 hour on more than one occasion. The ship was overbooked and overcrowded , with people reporting being offered money not to attend this cruise. We had to queue to get seats for coffee and in every bar on the ship. We had to queue to get seats in the restaurant most evenings. We had to queue to get sun beds and we were only successful on one occasion. The food was of a poor standard with small portions and often cold after waiting so long. Three restaurants had the same menu with little choice. The ship was tired and shabby. We are dismayed at the amount of money this cruise cost and feel it was a complete waste of our money . Poor service and lack of facilities , substandard food. We will not travel with Princess cruises again and will not recommend them to family and friends Read Less

This is the 1st negative review I have ever written, after ~14 cruises (1st time on Princess celebrating our 15 yr wedding anniv.). This is the 1st time we were treated dishonestly & the room was represented so unethically. We paid Princess Cruises $4,482.99 for a "Guarantee Unobstructed Oceanview" room, exact title of the purchase. Our room was obstructed by columns, railing, & a full walkway in front of it (photographed). An other cruises that meant a window with the ocean in front of it. On Princess, people constantly walked in front of our window & tried looking in! So we had to keep the curtain closed at all times making this an interior room! Upon seeing our room was not what we paid for, nor represented, we asked very nicely to Princess to exchange our room for either an interior room & refund part of our money (because we were essentially in an inner room anyway) or we would gladly pay extra for a balcony... THE ROOM WE PAID FOR WAS NOT THE ROOM WE WERE STAYING IN! Princess Cruises responded they had no other rooms & would not refund anything yet did not give us a reason why. When I said, 'You're forcing me to write my 1st bad review ever.' They didn't seem to think it would make a difference. After trying to ask Princess to remedy this, we find out at dinner that night the people at our table PAID $3600 per couple for BALCONY rooms PLUS our room was extremely outdated with old brown carpet, plastic counter-tops, & 70s style cracked blue tiles. EMBARKATION - The ports were great, but this was the most disorganized ship we've ever been on! They KNOW how many people they are going to need to disembark, yet do not provide enough transports where every stop required passengers to wait 1-2 hours for either the boat transfers or the cruise ship bus. We were left to wait in the rain or burning sun for between 1 to 2 hours at nearly every port! When there was a tender they made us wait for up to 2 hours before finally getting a tender boat. **AGAIN, THEY KNOW HOW MANY PASSENGERS THEY NEED TO DISEMBARK BUT CHOOSE TO STEAL 1 - 2 HOURS FROM OUR PORT VISIT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT TO HIRE ENOUGH BOATS and/or BUSES. The FOOD- I am the least picky person, but it was hard to find something I truly enjoyed eating. I said nothing, because the staff seemed like they were trying, but we only remembered one enjoyable meal. ON BOARD ACTIVITIES - roughly 80% of the "activities" on the ship were not actually activities, but sales presentations trying to get you to spend more. All the other cruises we've been on the activities were fun or at least engaging; on Caribbean Princess we left as soon as we politely could. The CLEANING STAFF - the gentleman who cleaned our room was wonderful. He seemed to always be working & looked exhausted, but was always cheerful & greeted us with a friendly smile. THE PORTS (LOVED the cities and their citizens) SOUTHAMPTON -We did an independent tour (not through the cruise) with GoldenTours Private Viewing of Stonehenge. AMAZING! It was breathtaking to be in the center of those 5,000-year-old monoliths, the tour guide was funny, informative, and organized. To stand next to the huge stones was awe-inspiring. GUERNSEY - Such a friendly and informative guide. She loves living in Guernsey and was a wealth of knowledge. The people were so kind there. Even as we waiting for nearly 2 hours for the Princess Cruise's tenders to slowly take us back the Guernsey travel board brought out water and sun block lotion to us. St. Peter Port was beautiful. CORK/COBH - FANTASTIC!!! Blarney Castle TOUR with eCoach Bus Tours from Cork/Cobh, FANTASTIC!! **** Not only did this independent tour get us there BEFORE the Princess tour buses allowing us to go up the Blarney Castle and kiss the Stone in about 15 minutes, it was a THIRD of the cost of the excursion from Princess. However, Princess kept us on the boat for an extra 40 min. so the driver had to wait for us. We still made it to the Blarney Castle before most other groups so were not only able to get up the castle fast, it gave us enough time to explore the vast storybook style gardens, eat lunch, and see the beautiful castle estate on the grounds. DUBLIN - The Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus allows you to ride around enjoying the city highlights with guide descriptions and then you can get off to see the Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, etc. Another bus will pick you up when you're done. LIVERPOOL to WALES - It was nice, although a very long ride to Conwy Castle. The sweet guide tried her best, but she had such a monotone delivery it was hard to stay awake. We didn't realize it would be such a long, long drive but it wasca nice to see the countryside and the Moors. We returned so late that we didn’t have any time left to see Liverpool. BELFAST - The Giant's Causeway was a good experience and impressive, but not as impressive as the photos on-line. The Odyssey Coach Tours Shore Excursion: Giants Causeway Tour from Belfast Port was so rushed we only had about 10 - 15 minutes and had to run to get back in time. The buses took so long we beat the bus ride both down and back up the hill. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge - Odyssey Coach Tours Shore Excursion: Giants Causeway It is an amazing natural phenomenon that has made an incredible series of structures. CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE - Beautiful landscapes and huge cliffs. It's a nice long walk with picturesque views, but you need time to get there and return. They have a limited amount of tickets so buy ahead. Independent Cruise Excursion Tour from Belfast Port. Our guide did not bother reserving tickets for us to go across the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the operators told everyone that EACH TOUR GUIDE GROUP KNOWS IF THEY DO NOT RESERVE TICKETS THEN THERE WILL BE NONE AVAILABLE. By a miracle we still found tickets. There was not a single ticket left and lots of people were yelling they were so disappointed. The tour guide co. which did not reserve our tickets was “ODYSSEY COACH TOURS SHORE EXCURSION: Giants Causeway Tour from Belfast Port.” We walked down anyway hoping for a miracle and a kind man standing off to the side said he was not going to use his tickets because he's been over the bridge a hundred times and gave us his tickets! Otherwise we would not have experienced it nor went over to the island. It was a great walk and beautiful view. Thank you kind stranger. GLASGOW – is a lovely and artistic city. It was very hard to get to but once we were there we did the Hop-on Hop-off and were able to tour this delightful city. Glasgow also had great shopping and more Ferrari’s than I’ve seen in a single day. The ship drops you off over 1-1/2 from Glasgow and you have to find a train station to take a 45 min ride into the city. The Scottish people on the train were very upset that Princess Cruises did not call ahead for the big train. Since they did not over half the people had to stand for nearly an hour with their purchases. The city itself was beautiful. INVERGORDON - Excellent Tour, well-organized, and with plenty of time to see Loch Ness, the castle, and explore Invergordon. Plus it was a about 30% of the cost from the cruise ship. We kept beating the ship's bus to each location so we entered with no wait and looked for the Nessie. Very informative and great guide who wore traditional Scottish kilt and was very friendly. EDINBURGH - Hop On Hop Off bus tour & tickets to ‘Skip the line’ to Edinburgh castle. Again, the bus tour guide is so informative and buying the Skip the Line tickets on Viator are well worth it if you'd like to get in without a long wait. The lines are massive if you don't have the Skip the line ticket. The castle is quite impressive as it sits upon the lava rock. Side note: The cruise ship will have you wait between 1-2 hours for a tender HOWEVER, they don't check the ticket number they give you. So we had number 1170, but could have gone with the 1st boat transfer since they don't check. Otherwise, you'll be sitting like we stupidly did waiting for our group # to be called to disembark. LE HAVRE - We took the bus in to the city and enjoyed Le Havre. (Le Havre is not close to anything and we were tired of the long rides. Every tour through the ship was a 2 - 3 hour bus ride each way.) It is a nice city with very friendly people. We enjoyed shopping, their Cathedrals, art, and museum. We've now been to 41 countries & 14 cruises (1st time on Princess). This is the FIRST time a cruise ship company (PRINCESS CRUISES) treated so dishonestly & the Cabin was represented so unethically. Read Less

Crew was lackluster like they were really tired, lots of repairs being done, long lines at custoner service because of complaints (no hot water for 4 days, lost luggage for one week which was mostly Princess' inability to communicate with airline and more), balcony cabin really showing wear and tear - my husband fixed a couple things, nowhere near enough seating at shows, dinner food in top deck buffet not great, dining room dinner companions all had complaints, took 50 minutes standing in line to reboard ship after an excursion (not well staggered for departure and arrival). Trash in the commons areas was not quickly attended to as it had been on other cruises, so the ship looked messy at times. The crew member who did line dancing was a hoot - a bright spot. I wrote a detailed letter to Princess about our experiences. They offered a future $50 shipboard credit for internet that consistently did not work. I felt they should have offered us another cruise based on what we experienced. This was just not a good cruise. We've cruised Princess and other cruise lines and had great times. Read Less

We have been cruising for a dozen or so years now and on various cruise lines. We chose this cruise for several reasons. It was a Princess cruise which we had not yet done and it allowed us to spend a few days in London before the cruise. The big attraction was it having a chance to visit Norway and the Norwegian Fjords. While the scenery was amazing and had no issues with the cruise itinerary or the ports we visited the ship experience was a huge disappointment. I describe it to friends this way. I believe the company has tried to cut costs by reducing staffing levels so low it now seriously affects the entire experience. While the service we did receive from individual staff members was good the quantity and quality of service was poor at best. The crew appeared to be working very hard, looked very tired, frustrated, were constantly rushing around and on a few occasions we witnessed arguments, some very loud and vocal. There were line-ups everywhere. I even took pictures of the line-ups at the buffets because I couldn’t believe how long they were. This, I believe, was due partly to the fact that they kept most of the buffet restaurants closed except for a very brief period at the peak of meal times. The food in trays was often empty or only a few morsels left to be picked over, until someone ran by and literally threw more into it. Many, many times the food labels did not match what was in the trays. This being more evidence to the lack of quality control we witnessed throughout this ship. Every single day beverage stations in the buffet area had “please use other station” signs on them. There were constantly dirty dishes piled up all over the place finding a clean table a challenge with guests often removing the dished themselves. Between finding a seat or a beverage we did a lot of unnecessary, and frustrating, walking around at meal time. The closing of the other buffet sections made it very, very, difficult to find a place to sit (other than as a cost saving device, I can think of no other reason to do such a stupid thing especially when people are lined up out the doors). We had purchased a premium coffee package to enjoy on the trip. Once/if we could finally catch a server to order one, the wait was incredibly long. Most times we had completely finished our meals and had to stay and wait for the coffee to finally show up. On several occasions, we simply chose to leave and not wait. At night, they featured their “Movies under the stars”. Here again, there was plenty of evidence of a complete lack of quality control. One day there had been a light rain in the very early evening. When we got to the movie, all the chairs were soaking wet. No one had come by to flip them over to drain them or wipe them down. (Something we saw done on every other cruise line we have travelled with.) On two nights, the volume was so low it was difficult to hear. Had any crew member been assigned to check on the movie venue, they would have notice that immediately or at least we could have mentioned it to them. All in all, this cruise line was a disappointment! As mentioned earlier I believe there has been a significant cut in staffing levels to appoint that they can no longer supply a minimum level of expected service. We have sailed many times in the past and on several different cruise lines, this by far was the worse. I can see by reading other reviews we are not alone in our evaluation of this ship. How sad. No more Princess sailing for us! Read Less

Very friendly hard working staff, let down by a company who seemed not to care about the condition of the ship. There was an obvious problem with the drainage system, and there were constant aromas of sewage in various areas of the ship. If you have a full ship paying Princess prices there are millions of Pounds / Dollars that can be used to get some engineers in and fix the problem. No, they prefer to bank the money and let the passengers suffer the smells and possibly risk their health. We have cruised Princess before, and the restaurants and food did not come close to previous experience. This ship is in desperate need of upgrading, and perhaps they shouldn't be charging inflated Princess prices until it is sorted. Shame on you Princess, you will not see us again. One last comment, we used CPS parking at Southampton which cost £92 for the week. The service was not cheap, but it was an exceptionally easy and quick process. Read Less