For us this was the cruise of a life time for us. Celebrating a Birthday, 45th wedding anniversary and retirement Cruise. We live on the east coast. And proberly will not go west ever again. So we picked this one. The itinerary was great. The island of Moorea was the most beautiful island we have ever seen. True paradise. We have seen every island in the Caribbean,nothing even comes close. Oh well the ship. This is the 5th cruise line. Our 10th cruise. Our first and (last) on Princess. Top to bottom I can complain about everything. It would be to long and nobody would read it. I will try to keep it short. You have to understand a 28 day cruise is for older people. A lot of snobs. Just rude. For the most part their head was up their ...!! Average age 70 to 80. We are 66. They think they had money. Well if they did they wouldn't be on this cruise. They would be on the high end lines or they would go to there villa. The ship had a bad layout. Food not good. Entertainment terrible. Nothing to do on sail days. Could't wait to get of that ship. Most of the staff was new on their first contract. So most of the service was not good. Language barrier was a problem. Most of the workers did not seem happy. Internet was a problem. The good- Casino,International Cafe,Wine Bar. We did meet some good guest. 9 Read Less

We selected this cruise in order to escape some winter in Michigan. The sixteen sea days appealed to us. The schedule was changed in route and we were unable to visit American Samoa which meant we spent more time in Hawaii, Bora Bora and Papeete. Still a restful experience. The response time of the Internet was reasonable but the system was unstable at times causing people to lose their minutes. For some reason the Internet policy was to deny restoring minutes if minutes were lost more than once. Yes, I lost my minutes twice due to a system problem. This provoked a confrontation with the Internet Manager who wouldn’t restore my minutes even though the problem was caused by the system's instability. This provoked a confrontation between Guest Services and the Internet Manager. I was told that my problem would be directed to higher authority for review. The next day I was informed that I would be granted unlimited minutes for the remainder of the cruise. I confess that as the dispute developed and I was getting the round around I became angrier and angrier. Clearly this problem could have been handled very easily if common sense had been applied. The Internet Manager might ha e been technically qualified, but he was woefully prepared for dealing with customer service interactions. Based on what I learned subsequently, neither he or Guest Service Staff had the authority to solve what should have been an easy problem to resolve. The quality of the food in the dining room on the hole was fairly good. Some entrees excellent, other entree’s not particularly up expectations. The menu would benefit some new dishes. With the exception of the problem previously cited, service staff did a very nice job. Entertainment on the ship was very good to excellent. Read Less

Tough to review what you have as a bucket list check off. But, the mold on this ship is out of controll. My eyes burned, my throat burned. I have no doubt this was the real cause of so many being sick on this ship. It was visual and the smell so strong in halls that I had to run through the halls. The consistent overcharging by Princess was a constant visit to the front desk. That said, many staff members are so wonderful that really made this trip very special I give 5 stars to many in Vines, casino staff and my cabin steward. The energy of the dance aerobics instructor was inspiring not unhealthy. To the best Room service delivery at sea I’ve seen in over 30 ships I’ve been on. Don’t place that on the food, it was the great staff. In the end bucket list checked Staff in many ways saved this trip Would I go on this ship again. Hard to say yes. My health is important too, the mold is beyond. And they know it. Read Less

We really wanted to see Apia and PagoPago but these were substituted for Hilo and Kona. Had we wanted to see more of Hawaii we would have just booked Hawaii. We were also somewhat disappointed in the food, not what we expect from Princess. The Crown grill was a disappointment, filet was burnt, we didn’t say anything, by the time we saw the waiter, my wife had finished her meal. Share restaurant was delicious. Our cabin steward was very efficient and friendly. Crooners bar waiters were very efficient and friendly. Guest services is hit and miss, conflicting answers to questions, it’s in a bad location in the piazza (but then it’s like that on all Princess ships), when there’s entertainment in piazza it is difficult to communicate with crew - can’t hear them and I have excellent hearing but with accents it’s even more difficult and waiting in line, the smell from the casino is horrible. I’m especially disappointed and I understand why but when crew see people picking food from the buffet with their fingers eg French fries and eating it then going for seconds, or licking their fingers because a spoon dripped it disgusting, this should be better surveyed and passengers approached. Read Less

Well, if 28 days aboard a beautiful cruise ship, being catered to, sailing to Hawaii and Tahiti - AND not getting sick isn't Fantasyland for the Senior Set, than I'll have what you're having. Embarkation was uneventful, after a night at the Long Beach Hilton and a Princess arranged transfer. We enjoyed the cruise card again, perhaps for the last time, as the Medallion era is now upon us. The ship has begun the refitting for the medallion - no more name tag and mail shelves outside the rooms. Captain was the imitable Steven Lewis accompanied by his lovely family. Captain Lewis's noon-time positioning announcements and "something completely different" observations became an amusing must and were talked about by many throughout the cruise. The original itinerary has us going to Samoa, in addition to Hawaii to Tahiti, but on the 2nd or 3rd day, Captain Lewis made the call that we would abort the Samoan ports due to the Samoan authorities insistence that all crew and passengers would undergo a comprehensive health screening to eliminate any threat of the virus du jour - the coronavirus. Naturally this was not possible so we extended on the heretofore not included Big Island with calls in Hilo and Kona, and some additional time in Tahiti. This unfortunately eliminated the dateline crossing but did reinstate Valentine's Day to the calender. We found the Enrichment lectures by Mike Raick and Sharron Faff quite good. We also had the wonderful Hawaiian "hosts" Kino and Lokelina aboard entertaining us with Hawaiian song, teaching us to hula and play ukelele, and just plain spreading joy throughout the ship. Five stars across the board for those four! We had a fair number of comics aboard, mostly very good - Gary Delena, Carlos Oscar, and Mike Wilson notably. The Emerald Princess orchestra was well-staffed with the typical Princess sharpshooters on horns, bass, guitar, drums and keyboards. Great band! We caught the three (3) jazz shows fortunately, since there were only three this time cruise. One up in the way under-utilized Adagio Bar, one in a Explorer''s Lounge show, and one in the Piazza with the fantastic Michael "Banjo" Young accompanying them. Other entertainment was very good as well: a terrific Piazza/Lounge pianist Marius Beatica whom also played a fine electric violin, Arny G was our Crooner's pianist, the Charme Duo were quite good - a male keyboardist and female vocalist, a folk-rock duo Char & Philly held court most nights at the Wheelhouse, and the LADO strings brought the classical genre forward with style, blending in some pop classics. My favorite though was Heather Sullivan a songwriter, pianist, and one heck of performer. Ms. Sullivan was a Crooner's pianist ten years back and was now onboard as featured performer. She was a knock-out! More please! Food was very good throughout. We loved the new format World Fresh Marketplace which replaced the outdated Horizon Court mess. Well done, Princess! Entrees in the MDR were consistently good if you are an adventurous diner and will at least try something other than beef or lobster. The fish dishes in particular (mahi, snapper, cobia, etc.) were all delicious. Our servers in Botticelli late sitting, Victor & Hendri were superb. Kudos also to the area's Heard Waiter, George who thoughtfully stopped by each table in our area every night to check on us. We tried Share, Curtis Stone's new venture which curiously replaced Sabatini's space next to the Adagio. The restaurant is decorated nicely, but we found the decor more interesting than the very limited cuisine. It was good, but not return good. We also ate in the Crown Grille as is our custom and thoroughly enjoyed the Veal Chops - too much food though! That brings me to my latest pet peeve on Princess, which has been simmering for the last few cruises: the wine service. We enjoy wine - with our meals mainly. We also generally travel with the Beverage package. That would indicate that our best bet is wines-by-the-glass. And that's where Princess just doesn't do very well. My primary complaints about this are the availability in the MDR, the main place to enjoy a glass of wine with one's meal. Aside from the paltry selection (in comparison to a well-thought out bottle selection), Princess has an annoying tendency to run of the by-the-glass selections in the MDR, some very early in the cruise. The Chablis was gone in Week 1 of a 4 week cruise. This was closely followed by the Mondavi Cabernet, the Pinot Grigio (absurdly featured on the menu on the night I tried to order it), and ultimately the Poully Fume (which became my go-to white by default). There were probably others that I never ordered. Now I get the argument that we're at sea and so on, but what I don't understand is 1) Some of these very wines were in stock at other bars - one at another MDR, necessitating the overworked Asst. Waiter's run to go get it, unasked by me). 2) Why not replace the stock outs by opening up other similarly priced wines by the bottle? Additionally, my wine peeve extends to the rose bud vase that Princess apparently thinks is one size fits all wine glass in the MDR. This is really poor, considering that the water glass would serve as more appropriate wine vessel, let alone using one Holy Grail Rieldels under lock and key at the Vines. Want a glass of real Champagne? That sir, is only available at the Crooner's Bar. Want a glass of the excellent and popular Embruix Priorat red wine offered at the Vines? Not in the MDR, but it was also found available at the Explorer's Lounge - no other bars. This is nonsense, IMO. Standardize your wine lists - AT LEAST to the extent that ALL wines-by-the-glass available on the ship are made available in the MDR. Frankly I shouldn't have to plea for this on a revenue conscious operation such as Princess. You'll sell more, if you haven't figured that out yet. And bring back the wine stewards while you're at it! Four stars. Read Less

I loved the itinerary offered on this cruise. I had not sailed on Princess since 2005 so I was looking forward to my cruise. Even though we were not able to get into Samoa, we had a couple of extra days in Hawaii and one in French Polynesia. The ship is 13 years old but I thought for the most part it was very clean. The staff was outstanding and the Captain was amazing interacting with the passengers and leading a couple of interfaith services in the theater. There were plenty of activities to choose from and impossible to do everything. I love going to the casino but I have to say whatever product they use to mask the smoke smell really irritated my throat. I did notice the casino was not a popular venue during the times I was in there but maybe because there were not many people winning anything on the slot machines, This was probably the worst casino on a cruise ship that I have been on for the payout reason. My husband thought the food was terrible, particular the buffet.The traffic pattern at the buffet was a nightmare, no organization for passenger traffic. My husband actually lost weight on this cruise and who does that?? I managed to find things I liked for the most part but we have different likes. Entertainment was hit or miss but you can't please all of the people all of the time. The volume in the theater is almost unbearable. Overall we really enjoyed the cruise, particularly the itinerary. Read Less

Sailing on Emerald Princess was a great experience. Captain and staff were great communicators and provided great service. Dining room food choices were great and no repeat menu items although some choices were repeated . . Choices were mixed up in future menus so it was no duplicated. Jay our room Stewart was excellent. Spoke fluid English and was always helpful. No room problems. Shore excursions were organized but over priced. Shore excursions operators were excellent except for the bus driver/guide in Tahiti. Would not recommend Island Tour with Museum tour. Poly Cultural Center tour in Honolulu was excellent. Bora Bora 4 wheel drive tour was excellent for getting the high photos of Bora Bora. Lanai ROAD TO HANA was a great day tour away from the city of Maui. This tour featured great waterfalls and scenery. On ship visit the Club Fusion Bar as the bartender Micheal was great and the Bar Manager Maria is a great communicator. We really enjoyed spending time in this bar. The Explorers bar has a dinging bartender named Jonathon. Ship theatre entertainment is good and bad. Singers struggled with some songs. But they were excellent in the production type shows. Do not miss those shows. Also must do Crab Shack and Planks . . They charge $12 and it is worth much more. A MUST. GAVE A 5 star because I had a great overall cruise that I will never forget. Read Less

We have done a variation of this cruise before and are seniors so we knew we could enjoy this trip without worrying if we might miss something. It is a wonderful cruise and very friendly people on the Islands. Embarkation and disembarkation went well. We had a balcony suite which was just fine for us. Although we were on starboard I would book port if doing it again as the sun was alway on the port side. We did AnyTime dining which gave us options as to when to go for dinner. We sometimes ate up in the Lido deck for dinner if we wanted stay in shorts. We did one tour from the ship which was a whale watching tour. On Bora Bora we wore swimsuits to see if there was a bus or taxi that would take us to a beach. But when we got on shore we saw a sail and snorkel tour which was half the price of Princess Cruise tour at $70. It was a fantastic tour, we went around the Island and into the Lagoon. We made three stops to snorkel, two were in deeper water and one was waist deep. We swam with Black Tipped Sharks and Stingrays. All in all I would recommend this cruise, it is longer than most at 29 days. There were a lot of seniors and wheel chairs but everyone seem to treated well. Read Less

I chose the cruise for the port of calls and being a new Ship.What I found was this cruise is for the over 70's and disabled .Many of the crew members were enjoying guest services.the older people were hogging all the facilities and were a pain to walk past or get a seat anywhere. Food and entertainment is repetitive and boring,everytime I went to eat I felt like being in a hospital. The shuttle service to shore is packed before it leaves the ship and is extremely hot. On port days staff have no idea where people should go and NOT go. staff were overworked and seemed not to care. no decent music or shows to mention, only violin and piano everynight. There is DJ who is as boring as the music she plays. There is live band which makes a joke of any song they play. Female staff are dressed up to bring some glamour. Smoking faciltities are aweful. I would not recommend this ship to anyone under 50. Only highlight was the port of calls and the staff in the bars and children and youth program. Read Less

Cabin and staff are fine. Entertainment apart from main shows is third rate. Food is bland and cheap. THIS IS A PROFIT DRIVEN SHIP AT THE COST OF QUALITY. Entertainment Staff appear to go through the motions and do the minimum that is required. i think i spotted the cruise director once off stage, that was when he was recording in his private studio (Live) That was a joke Ship entertainment is equal to a Thai karaoke bar. There is no specific late night club, the ship is well equipped but badly used. The Pacific is a beautiful area we do not need to visit the rectum of the pacific. Please do not visit container ports, we are not goods for trade, i know you like to think of us so Rear cabin balconies are fouled by soot from burning cheap low grade fuel. Save the waves are you joking?? COME ON PRINCESS YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS AT WHAT YOU CHARGE! Read Less

We have cruised Princess several times . looking forward to Majestic but have to rate it around a 3 out of 5. Layout seems to be a bit disjointed ! ie seems whereever there was a small area with nothing in they just plonked something there - ie small bar area. - another internet area - there are 2 of these 1 has 2 terminals and a very very small selection of books(ie library) and the other from memory has 4 or 5 - not many considering the size of the ship. The market place buffet was very confusing - long and segregated sections - if you wanted sweets/'desserts you had to walk ALL the way back to nearly the beginning - older style layout is much much better for the amount of people. cabin fabulous L108. entertainment was average but production shows as usual were great. Pizza area was downstairs and was a restaurant - would have loved this upstairs on pool deck. Service was really just on what was expected - nothing exceptional here. First time I was worried about my safety in PORT VILA - seems they are so desperate for the cruise work they have no consideration for the passengers when trying to get out the gate on the wharf - security and police had to forceably push them back to allow the passengers to even get out the gate. This is a worry and have sent an email to Port Vila as a complaint. Read Less

…..BUT COULD DO BETTER. Most of the usual PRINCESS pluses were apparent. Great entertainment, hard working cabin, food and wait staff. A decor not as over the top as some competitors. Lower booze prices and the chance to bring on-board 329 2 free bottles of wine + pay corkage on more. This particular ship is one of the bigger cruise boats out of Australia but had no shortage of bars, lounges etc At no time did I find areas overcrowded – the usual lack of sun-lounges on the pool deck didn’t eventuate. I thought its 3 storey PIAZZA area was way more sensible than the towering atriums found on some competitors. Many bars and restaurants were on the 3 levels and usually some entertainment at base level. The adults only HOLLYWOOD area was brilliant. Ship seemed to have many special interest areas - lotsa table tennis areas, a golf driving area, karaoke rooms etc. But certain things were not all that great: - carpets faded and marked - maybe a shortage of workout machines in the gym, although the number of walkers, X-trainers and bikes very good. - tender operations off DRAVUNI and SABUSABU hopelessly disorganised and chaotic. - only one security scanner on return to ship led to huge lines of people waiting to re-board (in the hot sun AT LAUTOKA.. - hopeless wine bottle corkage payment system on Sydney departure - only one guy manning table saw a 15 minute wait. - often no cooked tomatoes at buffet breakfasts (I thought them a breakfast staple). Sometimes no tomatoes of any kind. Often no french fries at buffet (another staple?) No ice-cream at buffet dinners although soft serve available just out the door on pool deck. Note however that I thought the range and quality of buffet food overall was very good. - some structural issues: cabin door needed slamming on exit (not great for neighbours when going on the 6am coffee run: cabin door hard to latch from inside: banging in the roof cavity above the life jacket area in rough seas: cabin aircon variable. Some of these failings are systems bases and will hopefully be fixed with more experience. Others are structural which should be addressed at the upcoming first (warranty – this ship was launched in 2017) refurbishment at the end of the Australian summer season. - an oily slick extending from the side noticed at anchorage in the DARVUNII LAGOON. Looked to light for bunker oil. TIPS – don’t miss any lectures put on by PRINCESS staff. The navigation and engineering talk was to a full auditorium (hats off to PRINCESS – on this ship the main theater seemed way big enough) and the cooking lesson from the head chef and maitre d was both informative and humorous (this was followed by a free quick tour of the galley – must have had a line of 1000 people). - if you miss a pm performance in the theater be aware they are often repeated as a matinee next day. - the second pool on the pool deck is a very small sauna-sized deep bit surrounded by a spacious area abt 2 inches deep. Latter ideal for non swimming kids and parents wanting to sun/stay cool and keep an eye on offspring. Kids will also like the circular splash deck nearby. - if you enjoy serenity, head to the adults only HOLLYWOOD pool and lounge area up top forward. Although underover, not chloriney smelly {treatment and pool water is that easier on the eye salty stuff). The lounge area just forward has great 17th level views over the bow. Read Less

Service has dropped considerably. After 3 cruises with Princess cruises we are now considering other cruises companies not connected with Princess or Carnival. No happy hour. This gave us an opportunity to meet new people and enjoy our cruise. Over priced Princess excursions. We and just about everyone we speak to will not consider booking on shore excursions with Princess when then the are around four times the price. Majorly over priced Soda package. It has doubled in the last couple of years. However we have reduced our expenditure by buying less soda packages. Staff not knowing ingredients of cocktail menu. Some have no idea. Slow service all round. Like four small orange juices instead of one large. Over priced wine. Half the price by bringing your own and paying corkage. Stupid cruise ship policies. The majority of people I spoke to are not happy with Princess Cruises. From where I’m sitting this is costing you the company big time. Read Less

We sailed on the majestic princess to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji from Sydney. Embarkation was smooth, super quick and easy. Best we have seen yet. The ship itself is amazing, so so big. Are room wasn’t ready yet but that was alright, we went and purchased our drink packages and headed to lunch in the marketplace, the marketplace was a bit crazy and hard to find a seat for the first probably 2 days, after that people seem to eat at different times or used a lot of the other options available, eg: burgers, pizza, other restaurants, as it seem to settle down after a couple of days and we had no problems finding a seat. After lunch we explored the ship, how amazing this ship is. My favourite place where I spent a lot of time during the 14 night cruise was the hollywood club. Cool and peaceful (no children aloud in this area). We finally went to check out our room which was a balcony room, midship on the 15th floor (marina deck) amazing views from here. Although small ( compared to the mini suite we had last time) it was all that we needed and made ourselves at home for the next 2 weeks. Emergency training conducted and we were off to the sail away party. We were at sea for the first 2 days and this is where we first became disappointed with the activities/ entertainment staff. I thought at first that maybe we had just been super lucky on our first 2 cruises to get amazing entertainment teams that were funny and well ENTERTAINING, that made you want to go to everything on offer as you knew you were going to have a great time and come away laughing as you never knew what they were going to get up to. But as the cruise went on and the more we spoke to other guest we soon realised that NO it wasn’t just as, The entertainment team on this cruise were not as good as on other ships, (No I shouldn’t say not as good, as at times they could be funny and entertaining) but I really don’t know how to explain it, we and others were just really disappointed with what was on offer and things that you did go to were just ok. As I heard one guest say, we (the guests) have to provide our own entertainment on this cruise. Not good enough for the money we pay. Other then that we still had a great time, other entertainment such as the performances in the theatre, and the musicians in the piazza were excellent. The destinations we visited were amazing and well worth the visit. The tenders on this ship are new, spacious and much easier to get on and off. Housekeeping as per usual - amazing, these people do not get paid enough for what they do, our steward Eric, couldn’t do enough for us. I paid to have access to the enclave in the lotus spa everyday. How amazing is this place, well worth the money - TIP - buy the package on the first day when they are doing the tours through the spa, you get it cheaper. Getting back to the entertainment, 2 things we did look forward to and I did hear other guest say the same thing was the Australia Day party, fantastic idea but why would you have it at 9:45 at night after people have been on shore all day. I would of loved to go but after a full on shore excursion that day I was exhausted as I’m sure other were too. Then came the Latin dance party, another great idea, again late at night, for what reason I do not know. This one I did stay up for, it started, the professional dancers and singers from princess came out to perform, performed one song, it started to rain so they went off. Now fair enough I wouldn’t want to see them get hurt, however it rained for a couple of minutes and then it was alright for the guests to get up and dance on the dance floor so why couldn’t the others come back and finish there performance. A lot of disappointed people soon went back to there rooms or on to other things. Finally the time came to disembark back in Sydney, I know it sounds like I didn’t have the best time on this cruise but I still absolutely had a great time just a little disappointed. I still as always never want to get off, I could so live on a cruiseship and have often dreamt of working on one (maybe one day I will ). Disembarkation was just as easy and smooth as embarkation and we headed off to our hotel just down the road for a few days site seeing in Sydney. I watched the ship sail away again that night wishing I was still on there. Read Less

Chose this cruise as part of a move over offer. We had cruised previously on the Majestic Princess in March 2019. Cruise itinerary looked interesting although this time of the year temperatures 30C plus did not encourage us to take up any shore excursions. Prefer traditional dining but allocated anytime dining due to late booking. Required to make a booking daily to guarantee a table and time although after first few days you could roll up and get a table with minimal delay. Food and service very good albeit little change from March previous. Enjoyed a meal at the crown grill however less impressed with Harmony restaurant and avoided La Mer bistro (no privacy walk through thoroughfare) Alberto's pizzaria and noodle bar for lunch worth a visit. Private dinner on the balcony was excellent and well worth the $125 cost per couple. The party band evolution were excellent and first production show "Fantastic Journey' was also outstanding. Overall the standard of entertainment was higher this cruise than in March previous. Read Less

we decided to try an more elegant n new ship.majestic n that she was beautiful new n elegant the renewal of vows was the best thing we chose to do if you get the chance do it well worth it . the staff n captain put everything together beautiful . just make sure you have friends n family with you for photos. there was good n bad with our cruise like you get on most cruise ships.we done 14 nights n went to fiji , amazing. i would NOT recommend this ship if you are a smoker.or younger. there is very little to do for kids..or younger adults. i would recommend CARNIVAL. as smokers we were made to feel like we had a disease or something we were verry isolated especially on deck 7. were they refused to come out n serve us because we were smokers. we were excluded from all the entertainment out on deck 7 .the good thing about been isolated on deck 7. we meet the most amazing group of people . we all hang out together they made our trip FRIENDS FOR LIFE.. also coffee cards need to change they charge you for coffees you dont even buy or if you want an extra shot they charge you for 2 coffee..our cabin was amazing . love the big balcony n the fact you can choose movies for free. toilet was to close to door. no room other than that couldnot fault our cabin.. room service was excelent .. for food.. personaly we will stick with CARNIVAL. unless smoking areas change.. we would recomend if youy want an awsome tour n tour guide in savusavu.. ELAYNE. BENNET.cheap kind caring . well worth it. Read Less

We wanted to try out the new Majestic Princess and it went further than we had travelled from Australia so very appropriate choice and exciting for my husband and I. The ship is well organised and caters for all ages and cultures both in their activities and food choices. We chose a Mini-suite and had an outstanding cabin stewardess who looked after us well. In fact, she went over and above her role and we were impressed at her efficiency. The Dining rooms were well serviced, quick and efficient, friendly and entertaining. We were impressed by how the activities were based around different cultures including Australia Day and Chinese New Year. The service in all areas was efficient and helpful. Most of the Ports and Shore excursions were enjoyable and well organised. We enjoyed the more traditional cultural villages and ceremonies. Loved interacting with the children in their uniforms at schools. Read Less

We figured we'd probably never fly to Vanuatu or Fiji so why not try cruising. This South Pacific 14 day cruise offer popped into our inbox and we signed up - no consideration for the ship or the time of year - but it turned out to be a great decision. We had such a good time! The Majestic Princess is a very big ship but we never felt crowded. It did take us a while to find our way around but all that walking helped work off the extra food we ate. It was a largely older group of people on board, but there were families and quite a few children too - a nice mix. Embarkation in Sydney took quite a long time but was well organized. Once on board we found our balcony stateroom and met our steward (the lovely Sherill, a real gem). One of our suitcases was damaged in transit to our room but I spoke to the Guest Services desk and the suitcase was fixed (totally new handle) by the following day. My only gripe would be that there is a lot to do on board but much of it is aimed at getting you to buy something. I'm sure this is only news to newbies like us. We thoroughly enjoyed the shows (get there about 30 minutes early to get a seat) and made the most of the Movies under the Stars - whoever selects the movies does a great job (new releases - some not yet released in cinemas in Australia). Trivia was fun, we also tried Bingo once. The virtual tours of the bridge and engine room, and the cooking demonstration and galley tour were highlights for us. The fitness centre was great, though a bit warm at times. The weather was perfect so we made good use of the pools too. The Hollywood Pool Club (adults only) was, obviously, a little quieter than the fountain pools and you could find a nice spot to relax and read without getting too much sun. We had Anytime dining but also ate at the World Fresh Marketplace, Alfredos, the International Cafe and Crown Grill. We found the food to be of a consistently good standard across all venues. I really liked the Noodle Bar and regularly had the wonton noodle soup for lunch on sea days. The port visits were amazing. We did a couple of tours through the ship and two independent tours. The tenders were always very well organized. Noumea - we did the Amedee Lighthouse Island tour. Would thoroughly recommend. A great day snorkelling with the turtles. Saw sea snakes. Delicious lunch. Great dancing and demonstrations. Walked to the top of the lighthouse for a magnificent view. Lifou - no tour. Another gripe - the ship didn't tell anyone about having to buy passes to Jinek Bay on board, so there were a lot of people turned away when they couldn't get access. Beautiful island with lots of photo ops. Good swimming. Nice walk to the church on top of the hill. Would have been better if we could snorkel at Jinek Bay. Port Vila - probably our favourite day. Did a tour through Vila Hope Tours - visited Rarru Falls, the Blue Lagoon, Hideaway Island, the Tanna Coffee Factory and duty free shopping in town. Our tour guide William was charming - informative and funny. Dravuni Island - stunningly beautiful but tiny island. Walked and swam and relaxed. Suva - Jewel of Fiji tour through Viator tours. Amazing day - long boat ride up the Navua river through the rapids, swam in a waterfall, bamboo raft down the rapids and lunch, dancing, kava ceremony, local arts and coconut demonstrations in a beautiful village. Wonderful guide - Malachai. Savusavu - so hot and humid. Pretty place. Walked around town and had a beer in the pub. Latouka - we did the Oolala cruise to Savala Island tour through the ship. What a day! Fun boat trip to and from the tiny island - served homemade pineapple and banana cake and a singalong with the Oolala team. Perfect weather - we swam with the baby reef sharks, snorkelled on the reef, kayaked, took a glass bottom boat tour to feed the fish and ate a BBQ lunch. Everyone was in high spirits - singing along on the way back to the ship. Great end to a wonderful last port day. We had nothing to compare it to but we loved this cruise. We felt very well looked after - it was relaxing but exciting too. If you've never cruised but are curious, just give it a try. You won't regret it. Read Less

This was our first Princess cruise and having sailed on Celebrity many times it was a lovely surprise. The ship is only a few years old and well looked after, everything sparkled. We loved the fact that everything onboard was in AUD$ and reasonably priced, e.g. the coffee card ($36 for 15 speciality coffees), the drinks, the shops. Princess entertainment is first class, the Production shows are a visual delight and the guest entertainers were good. Our favourite was The Voice of the Ocean, such a professional show. Our Cruise Director was a fun guy who made our trip and there was always something happening, activities all day/night long so no time to be bored. The weather was glorious with only a couple of rain showers so no ports were spolit. We had never been to Fiji and the 4 ports of call gave us a good look. The Buffet restaurant was OK although not our favourite place to eat as it was always packed with people rushing around bumping into you. The Symphony dining room was our favourite with every meal of high quality and always hot. Alfredos Pizza makes a nice change for lunch or dinner and its no extra charge. We will definitely sail with Princess again, excellent service, wide variety of things to do and great food. Read Less

The timing was ideal and we hadn't previously been to a number of the ports of call covered by this cruise We had previously done one Princess cruise and had heard some very good reports about Princess from friends. Overall the cruise represented very good value for money. The Majestic Princess is a very nice, comfortable ship. Given the number of passengers on board, most areas of the ship do not appear crowded. The Crew/Staff were in almost all occasions friendly and helpful. The embarkation and disembarkation process was quick and efficient - I can't recall a ship where this process was done better. Getting on and back on the ship at the ports of call was also handled very efficiently. The Majestic Princess also handled the tender process brilliantly. The three ports that required the use of tender craft/water transfer to the pier proved to be a very smooth operation. I have never encountered a tender process as smooth as this on any cruise ship. The only disappointment was the food in the Dining Rooms and Buffet which, on most days, fell short of my expectations. The fact that you are able to take wine on board (after paying a corkage charge) is a real bonus. Well done Majestic Princess Read Less

Overall, it was a great cruise, probably one of the friendliest crew we have ever experienced. Positives: 1. Great crew. Very friendly especially at all the bars. 2. Very comfortable bed. 3. Free room service, very decent menu and you now order through the TV. Very timely service. 4. Great variety of entertainment. 5 very smooth and efficient embarkation and disembarkation. Negatives 1. This is a big one, the food was okay to terrible. In the main dining room, the food was inconsistent as was the service. Some meals were good, others not so much. The issue was the quality of the food and the inconsistency. The food at the buffet was simply terrible. No variety, very poor quality (mostly Ragus and stews = leftovers). There was literally nothing made fresh for you at the buffet no matter what time of day. We attempted twice to get an omelette on three occasions but they give you a number and promise to deliver at your table. It never made on either occasion. We spoke to people about this and it was a general comment. We enjoy getting dressed up for dinner and going to the main dining room, but most times, it was simply frustrating. We are at Share once and it was terrible. 6 courses served in 45 minutes despite our constant requests to slow things down. The main meal, pork chop for two was dry and tasteless. We also tried the Crown Grill and it was amazing. One of the nest steaks I have ever had anywhere. Highly recommend it. 2. The drink package. We purchased the drink package know king that it was limited to 15 drinks. The issue is that you can now track your drinks on the medallion app and every single day we were seeing drinks being added to our total that we did not order. At one point I was at 7 then I ordered a drink and I was told that I was past my 15 and would have to pay. Whether the drinks were added on purpose or by accident I cannot say, but it was a general issue that many were complaining about. When I went to customer service they said that they didn’t have that information (I had more info on my app than they did on their system?) and could do nothing for me. There was no mechanism for correction. This whole counting business is ridiculous. Some days you have more, some days you have less. Overall, If I had to redo the cruise, I would chose another cruise line with a similar itinerary. The food and service in the main dining room was that bad. We had taken a cruise with Princess before and the food was good, so I’m not sure if it was a Ruby or the quality of food on the entire cruise line is found down. Either way I wouldn’t take a chance with Princess again. This is the first time that I was ready to get off a cruise ship and leave when it ended Read Less

What was to be a celebration of our birthdays turned out to be the worse cruise we ever sailed with Princess! We are platinum members and have never experienced such rude and brusque attitudes from crew members from all of our travels! From a RUDE Maitre'd---who made me cry and kept walking by looking at me and never attempted to address the situation, to rudely being awoken at 5am with hammering on steel outside our porthole window to tour desk members telling us "You should expect to interact with nature" when we were upset about finding out our tour was shared with POISONOUS SEA SNAKES!! Going to the service desk was a JOKE with the response being "I'll make a note of that" and they were not even typing or writing anything down---- which meant, We don't care what you experienced, just go away! We also paid an exorbitant amount for the soda package each and it was like PULLING TEETH trying to get a soda drink in the formal dining room and when you did finally get it---- it was in the tiniest glass!! Then you had to wait another 30 minutes to get another soda! Mind you, we had paid over $300 per person for this FRUSTRATING privilege! One evening in the formal dining room we were seated and 5 minutes later, a couple was seated at a table next to us. They ordered, ate, had mixed drinks, coffee and dessert all before our dinner plates were even cleared away!! I ordered a caffe mocha to go with my dessert, dessert came..... I waited....and waited.....and finally got up and left the dining room in FRUSTRATION!! We also did not receive the birthday celebration in the formal dining room like we have on previous cruises but by the end of the cruise, we didn't want to be in the formal dining room. Frankly, we don't know if we're going to sail with Princess ever again due to this horrible behavior! Read Less

Anytime Dining was great - excellent wait staff, especially head waiter Joaquim. Wasn't as impressed at the Lido. In fact, the drinks service at the Lido seemed to dwindle markedly towards the end of the cruise. Medallion Class and associated apps were excellent. Particularly loved the 'find my friend' service on the app. Cabin steward was such a hard worker and so friendly - thank you Manu. We had a balcony on level 12 and were very happy with it. Aileen and Sticks - entertainment - were fabulous, as were The Sound. The ABBA night went off!! Plenty of enjoyable live entertainment. Loved the Heist on the High Seas interactive game! Enhances my cruise experience. Plenty of choices for shore excursions. Had a great time with cultural excursions generally, but there was one that performers seemed indifferent and performance was very short and embarrassing for both performers and spectators (Lifou). I would sail on Ruby again, no question. Read Less

We wanted to visit some areas of NZ within the comfort of a cruise ship. We chose Princess as the itinerary suited the time we wanted to go. The interior of the ship was lovely. There had been a refurbishment in 2018. Lovely new carpets throughout and some new furniture. While we were on this cruise the Medallion was introduced. It was in the testing phase so we had to carry our cruise card as well. As you approached your cabin the sensor picked up that you were near and the door unlocked automatically. As this innovation takes off I can see many more positives. Sensor lights had been introduced into staterooms. When you got up in the night a little light at the bottom of the bedside table automatically came on as did the light in wardrobe area. The entertainment was very good. A young Irish band called ‘Emerald Tide’ had been employed by the ship for 4 months. They were excellent. Singing Irish folk songs and other popular contemporary songs. One of the girls in the band as performed Irish dancing ...she was very good. It was unfortunate that we were unable to visit Akaroa or Fiordland, however the weather conditions were not good .....nothing can be done about that though. Read Less

We decided to have a family cruise with our grandchildren and this cruise fitted our guidelines the best. The two youngest grandchildren love Kids Club and the older teenagers enjoyed the entertainment, pools, quizzes, shows, etc. All were kept entertained throughout the cruise. We enjoyed the Ports of Call and even though our itinerary was changed because of the cyclone, the alternate port Mare was a very good substitute - a beautiful island. In the end we only missed Savu Savu and were able to see two ports in Fiji. All in all the trip was very enjoyable, the staff friendly, helpful, and always had a smile whatever their particular task. Embarkation and disembarkation were well run and did not take up too much time so we were able to start our holiday straight away. The ship had plenty of areas for entertainment, a peaceful meditation, food and more food, and facilities. Children and adults were taken into consideration with some areas being Adults Only for those not travelling with children. And yes we would cruise on Ruby Princess again. Read Less