A very interesting, rejuvenating and memorable 24-day last segment of 2019 World Cruise Pacific Princess Cruise Review by romyfernandez My wife and I did not take the complete 111 days 2019 World Cruise with Pacific Princess (PP), Jan 3-Apr 27, Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale for two reasons. 1) We had been to almost 93% of the first 87 days, from Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Town in our earlier cruises. 2) We needed time to prepare our 2018 income tax returns in Canada due April 30. While we had been to Barbados, Guadeloupe and St. Martin several times in the past, we’ve not been to Cape Town, S.A., Luderitz, Namibia, Walvis Bay, Namibia, St. Helena (U.K. Territory, Natal, Brazil, Fortaleza, Brazil, and Devil’s Island, French Guiana, interesting and historical ports in this voyage. This had been in our bucket list for quite some time. Luck was in our side when due to a cancellation, Oceanview stateroom 4056 was available for our taking on January 28, 2019. Having cruised with this ship three times in the past, involving a total of 60 cruise days, we knew what to expect on this boat. Pacific Princess continues to live up with Cruise Critic’s assessment as the Best Small Cruise Ship. An intimate ambience with the amenities of a larger ship, this old but elegant beauty sails the world. With only 670 guest capacity, the 423 guests completing the 111 day world cruise, many had become intimate. We were a couple of 141 guests who joined the last segment of the cruise at Cape Town on April 3rd, disembarking at Ft. Lauderdale on April 27. What we didn’t expect was Oceanview cabin 4056 would become our home away from home for 24 days. It is one of only two staterooms with wheel chair access. As such, it has more floor space than our balcony staterooms we stayed in mega ships in the past – approximately 280 sq ft of total room space. The washroom and bathroom area was about 56 sq ft, of which the shower area was about 20 sq ft, the largest shower area we’ve had in our many years of cruising. There was a grab bar near the sink. There were two grab bars and an emergency call button near the toilet bowl. And there were four grab bars in the curtained shower area and a collapsible seat for physically-challenged guests. Immediately next right to our cabin was the Passenger Service Desk, the Shore Excursion Desk, the Destination Expert Desk, the Purser’s Foyer area with beautiful furniture and furnishings, which we considered as our living room where Arts & Crafts Classes, Carpet Bowls Challenge and other indoor sporting events were held. The impressive ala Titanic stair case joins Deck 4 and Deck 5 Atrium where big events were held, including Champagne Waterfall Night, and Easter Eggs Exhibits. A short walk on our hallway to the left was a small but reliable Medical Center. Pacific has only two lifts—FWD and AFT. Being on midship location, from our cabin just required a short walk to either lifts to reach public areas on Decks 4, 5, 9, 10 and 11. Being a small ship, we could easily walk from AFT to FWD or vice-versa with ease, and use the lifts or walk up the stairs from our deck to Deck 9, where the Panorama Buffet Restaurant, Pizzeria, BBQ Grill, ice cream parlor, the Bandstand, pool bar, the pool (only one and small), whirlpool, Internet Cafe, Card Room, Lotus Spa and Fitness Center are located. Gangway for going off and boarding the ship was often located on Deck 4 FWD, a short walk from our cabin. Gangway for tender was located one deck below, Deck 3 FWD. Having also cruised with other cruise lines, we always enjoy the food served in the buffet and main dining restaurants on Princess Cruises, especially on this voyage. Good and friendly service is the norm that can be expected from every cruise lines these days. But having our stateroom steward, our waiter at the main dining room, and many dining staff in the buffet restaurant coming from our native country was a bonus, who treated us royally and pampered us with their friendly and outstanding housekeeping and dining services, making our cruise pleasant, relaxing and memorable. The guest performers at showtime at Cabaret Lounge were all great and entertaining artists. Being a small ship, PP did not have a production show of its own as being shown in Princess bigger ships. As the norm with smaller ships with other cruise lines, PP has farmed out its production shows to Belinda King Creative Productions (based in Southampton) whose professional singers and dancers (former ballroom dancing winners with ballet and gymnastic training) always dazzled the audience with their every performance. On this voyage, we enjoyed the informative destination talks and slides shown about the ports we were about to visit and the various interesting and informative enrichment lectures, both held at Cabaret Lounge and replayed the following day on cabin TV. At this lounge, they also showed new movies with free popcorn every time the ship was at sea (the same movies replayed in Cabin’s TV the following day). The synopsis of all movies shown was available at the Library or at Passenger Services Desk. One of the unique services provided by Princess only on world cruises was the availability of five abridged newspapers available at Passenger Services daily to keep up with current events while away from home—USA Times, The Canadian, Britain Today, Australia Today ,and European News. At the end of the cruise, Princess also provides each stateroom informative “Log of the Cruise,” summarizing the ports covered, distance (Nautical Miles) sailed from embarkation to disembarkation and speed (Knots) between ports for every cruise that other cruise lines do not provide. On a cruise, one can be active or lazy. Many of the 423 guests completing the 111-day are ‘senior seniors’ who retired to their cabin after the first showtime at 8:00pm. Given our ‘junior senior’ age (79 and 73), we attended events that still gave us enjoyment, and did our own things to have the relaxation we needed after the last harsh and extremely cold winter we had in Canada. To enrich further our travel experience, we booked for shore excursions on places we’ve not visited yet, organized by Princess (which the ship will wait for any unexpected delay returning to the boat). It was worth every penny we paid for them. Cape Town, S.A.: We were disappointed our prepaid excursion to the summit of Table Mountain was cancelled on April 4 as it was raining hard that day. Instead it was replaced with a visit to South African Museum and driving tour of the seacoast which we did not see much because of the bad weather. Because the replacement tour was short by 1.5 hours of what we paid, as a good will Gesture, Princess offered us 75% discount! Our tour of the museum for one hour was not wasted. Apart from the floor having dinosaur exhibits we failed to cover (we’ve seen lots of them in Canada and USA), we covered three floors showing stuffed mammals and birds of South Africa, vicariously enjoying the experience of having taken African Safari excursion. Part of the museum was about Nelson Mandela, Tata Mandiba to the South Africans. Again, we saved time and money going to Johannesburg to visit Mandela’s Museum. Luderitz, Namibia, an isolated town built on a rocky promontory. Visited Felsenkirche (the Church on the Rocks): and Goerke Haus, a grand estate dating to the early 1900s that has been restored to its former glory and authentic period furniture and furnishings, a historical old mansion also sitting on a rock. Walvis Bay, Namibia (another German colony): Many in our group climbed Dune 7, the highest of the famous massive sand dunes that line the coast, an experience of a lifetime. Even attempting to climb part of the dune is a lifetime experience. Visited Mondesa Township, a village just a few kilometers from the resort of Swakopmund (where Angelina Jolie delivered one of her daughters), but a world away, less developed and less familiar to Westerners. Explored the real Africa-immersing ourselves in its people and authentic experiences. St. Helena, (UK Territory in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil where Napoleon Bonaparte was last exiled [he escaped on his first two exiles], died and buried, although his body was returned to France in 1840): Apart from climbing Jacob’s Ladder, built in 1829, with 699 steep steps connecting the lower Jamestown(Capital) to Ladder Hill Fort above, we also had the Napoleon Experience visiting Longwood House, his final residence during his 6 year exile on the island from 1815-1821. The house is now a museum (no photos allowed) maintained by France showing the bed he died, medals, handwritten manuscripts, and other memorabilia. Visited his well preserved tomb (1821) located on a beautiful, serene rain forest. Also visited The Plantation House, a handsome, Georgian-style house built in 1792, as the country residence for the Governor of the Honourable East India Company, now home to the Governor of St. Helana. The Plantation Grounds are home to Jonathan, a Sychelles Giant Tortoise, approximately 187 years old, considered to be the world’s eldest living reptile. Natal, Brazil, the 400-year old “City of the Sun”: Visited the largest cashew tree, close to the beautiful Pirangi Beach. Measuring 1,640 feet around, it’s earned a place in the “Guinness Book of Records.” It can be a misnomer though. It’s not a one-trunk tree, like the giant Sequoia trees. The main trunk is more than 125 years old, its roots underground, however, spreads and sprouts as new trunks covering the 1,640 feet enclosed mini-park for this phenomenal tree. Fortaleza, Brazil, Brazil’s 5th largest city, formerly a Dutch fortress built in 1654: Lovingly nicknamed the “city of light” for its sun-filled days, drove through its many, long stretch of beaches, where the locals and tourists flock all-year round. Drove through its historical buildings downtown. And a stop for almost 50 minutes in Central Market, a 4-storey building, where souvenir items abound for purchase at a discount after bargaining! It was the last stop where the women in our bus, including my wife, said they needed more time! Note: Local craft markets in Namibia and Brazil didn’t accept U.S. currency. To exchange US $ into local currency with Passenger Services on the ship, there was a commission of US$4.50 per transaction. As well, local craft vendors in these two countries we visited, hardly spoke English. Pacific Princess will still make the 2020 World Cruise for Princess Cruises. However, Island Princess with more guests (2,200) and balconies (700+) will make its debut making the 2021 World Cruise, covering 111 days, cross the equator 2 times, 50 destinations, 14 late night calls, 32 countries, 34,000 nautical miles and 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For business reasons, Island Princess is replacing Pacific Princess in sailing around the world. With more cabin rooms, the guests will also benefit in that compared with Pacific Princess with lesser guest capacity being a small ship, the cruise fare will be lesser sailing with Island Princess. To entice guests on this voyage, Princess had special but limited time offers – 2021 World Cruise Early Booking Benefits for guests still on board the PP and before disembarking at their final destination, Ft. Lauderdale or L.A.: Free Onboard Credit (by stateroom category), Free Gratuities (by stateroom category, Free Wi-Fi, Free Air (by stateroom category), Free Stateroom Location Upgrade, Free Specialty Dining (up to 4 dining), Free Wine: Up to four bottles worth $32 per bottle, and Princess Cruises Captain’s Circle Launch Savings up to $1,000 per person discount applicable to all stateroom categories for guests completing the 111-day voyage (FLL/FLL OR LAX/LAX), or 97-day voyage (LAX-FLL). Because of the above tempting early booking benefits, when we disembarked Pacific Princess at Ft. Lauderdale on April 27, 2019, the 2021 World Cruise with Island Princess was almost or practically sold out! As of April 27, 2019, contrary to circulating rumors, Princess Cruises does not have any plan of selling Pacific Princess after she completes its 2020 World Cruise. Whatever the fate of Pacific Princess after that voyage, my wife and I could cherish we’ve been part of her cruising legacy. Read Less

In late October 2018 my wife and I embarked on a 38-day Princess cruise from Southampton to Singapore via the Suez Canal, the choice of cruise was largely influenced by three of the ports of call. Highlight number one was Malta and Valletta the capital, steeped in history and grand historic buildings this was a truly magnificent location and I would certainly like to return there one day. Highlight number two was the Suez Canal transit, while strictly not a port of call this amazing feat of engineering continually amazed with its everchanging vistas and was so unexpectedly different from what I had envisaged. Alas due to flash flooding and unfortunate death of a dozen lives we were unable to visit Petra in Jordan and the third highlight on our list, but at least we were safe and able to continue with our holiday. Sapphire Princess lived up to the usual excellent Princess standards of food and service, but it was the steam room and sauna that stood out as being properly hot with the facilities designated their own proper area and not out in the public arena, much better than on many other ships. One down side (my hair grows fast) being that I was starting to look scruffy and needing a haircut. I decided I couldn’t wait and would have to check out the salon and see if they do men’s haircuts. No problem and I was soon looking much neater and was pleasantly surprised at the price I was charged. Another great feature we have found on Princess ships is the self-service laundrettes (necessary on cruises of seven or more days) as we like to do our own laundry, maybe this is an Australasian thing? only trust this is a feature that is still being designed for and included on all new ships. Ps I have plenty of photos. Read Less

We have voyaged on the Pacific Princess for almost two months. Our first on this vessel was in November and December 2016. I posted an excellent review back then and this ship still remains one of our favorites. However, since then on this ship, there has been a little improvement here and there and some degradation. Which has resulted in my dropping the previous rating. Let me begin with the positives: Terrific---- --We really like the ship and the crew, from the Captain on down. The main dining room (MDR) folks are exceptional. The high point for us is that the main dining room service and cuisine has restored our faith in the MDRs, at least on this vessel. Maitre d'hotel, Oscar Perego, has to be one of the best if not the best in the business. We originally intended to do a few dinners in the two speciality restaurants but the staff and service was so great in the MDR the only speciality we bothered to use was a Ultimate Balcony Dinner, which was exquisite. --Our cabin was super just like the other deck eight mini-suite we had one year ago. We really like the size along with the balcony which represents a large picture window facing the sea when you pull the drapes all the way back. The bathroom was typical, not very large and the closets are not walk ins but the closet space was much larger than one realizes at first glance. The bathroom medicine and toiletry cabinets have doors like they used to have in the old days so stuff doesn't spell out in rough seas. The temperature in the cabin can be regulated perfectly, cold outdoors and comfy inside or 95 F outside and cool inside. --This was the third time we have been on a cruise that coincided with the Super Bowl. This was the best bowl coverage yet, excellent, and outstanding too was because it was offered in the Cabaret Lounge, where three huge screens were used to display the action with the crew outdoing themselves by having a huge tasty buffet line of goodies and eats available throughout the entire game. Good--- --We certainly appreciate the loyalty perk(s) for free internet and laundry. The internet speed for me is satisfactory and reliable and wife loves the care, reliability and quality of the laundry and cleaning service. --The two main hot tubes on the pool deck were great and I used them some times twice a day. The pool deck on this ship doesn't have chair hogs and I never ran into a time when there wasn't ample fresh towels awaiting at three different locations. The only complaint I had was they got the hot tubs way too hot at times, one time they were at 107 F for two days. --The vessel is very well maintained and the crew is constantly scrapping, painting and keeping the ship in tip-top condition. --Love the balcony railings as well as the railings around the vessel where three horizontal bars are below a teak top railing allowing for clear views of the ocean instead of solid steel or Plexiglas which is almost always fogged up. --Often I'm not certain what the pre and post cruise hotels cost as we like to use the cruise line transfers and hotel package(s) which are lumped together price wise. Normally I believe the entire package is reasonable----this arrangement has really come in handy in the past when things got confused the day before embarkation due lost airline luggage or other problems. Nothing more comforting than to have an agent at a strange airport with a sign and your name. --The ship's library is the best and largest we have seen. Truly a library designed for exploration cruises. --The buffet is very good, food wise, service wise and table wise. They even change things around in part of it in the late afternoon making a more formal section with table cloths, flowers and wine glasses. This buffet has ample seating which gets constrained only when inclement weather forces everybody off the outdoor seating areas, which has even a larger number of tables than inside. During the entire cruise we never ran out of cantaloupe, not once, first time I recall that ever happening. --Cabin T.V.s work great and programming good. Certainly appreciate my favorite news channel MSNBC being available with a good signal all the time. I recall the days when we had no other choice for news but-----LOL. Sure wish they could figure a way to place larger TVs in the mini-suites though, --No complaints over embarkations and disembarkations. All handled well and luggage arrived in the cabins timely. --Although our segment involved mostly sea days, the shore excursions we did take were good, typically we never go the independent route on shore excursions but use those provided by the cruise line. One in particular illustrates how Princess stands out here----"We were confused about meet times one morning, so when we showed up for our muster time they told us our excursion had already left. Anyway, bummer, but then, the shore rep said you can get on "this one" if you want instead, which was leaving just then. We took it. We were supposed to be on a rain forest type hike and glow worm cave visit, which we were regretting due to all the rain. As it turned out, the alternative was much better and dryer, plus the one we were to be on they didn't even get into the caves as they flooded and during the rain forest hike portion everybody got soaked. Mistakes sometimes turn out for the better. --The cruise director on this voyage was a gal from Juneau, Sammi Baker, she managed the Red Dog saloon in Juneau back in the 1980s and had her own band there "Moondance". She got a job with the Italian cruise line "Sitmar" who merged with Princess in the late 1980s. We never ran across her before in our travels with Princess, she is retiring after this voyage. Too bad, she is well liked. Needs improvement--- --We never personally experienced much of a problem here, however, something is amiss. We did witness the considerable confusion which apparently exists within the cruise line fleet at large, this is over room service liquor order policy and even water bottle orders, as pre-orders prior to initial embarkation get tangled with room service liquor order requests due contradictions emanating from staff and company both orally and written. It might well be that the line is determined to eventually eliminate service to cabins where spirits or wine can be ordered for consumption within. If not, I suggest Princess better start attempting to squelch rumors and altercations that suggest otherwise, bring forth a consistent written policy/procedure, since a practice like that if it materializes, will be a real downer for cruisers like ourselves. --I do miss the enrichment lecturers that Princess used to provide, like naturalists, biologists, area historians and geography experts, I thought they would bring someone on board at Honolulu but didn't. However, at Pago Pago they brought on two New Zealanders who were pretty good, too bad for us though, as this occurred two thirds of the way through the cruise. --I'm not big on the production shows anymore where you got a bunch of young folk jumping around singing, dancing and doing hand stands. But on this voyage I guess they should be given credit since I attended most performances and thought they were okay, most guests appeared to really like them. I also don't care much for ventriloquists, comedians or jugglers, what I like is the individual singers, violinists, etc but only if they stay away from attempting to articulate political jokes, most of which are tired and ancient and usually irritate more than amuse. In fact, on the larger vessels I quit going to the overcrowded theatres with too few isles all-together, it wasn't until on this ship, a year ago, I became interested again due the comfort and convenience of the Cabaret Lounge. Here is my opinion of the entertainment list --- Good---(1) The Lions Den (2) Dave Klinberg (violinist and enrichment lecture--ancient cultures) (3)The Stevie B. Show, (5) Monty Cotton-- "Johnny Cash" (4) Production Shows, Jennifer Andres and Charlie Vose with the Belinda King Dancers. (5) Diane Cousins, singing and jokes. (6) Russell Harrison So-So--- louie Shelton, Bad----(1) Bayne Bacon, mediocre piano man and right wing sick joke critic of the Clinton family----(3) Domenick Allen, disorganized music performances---(2) Ventriloquist, Mark Merchant, good ventriloquist but that is where his talent ends; he also should stay away from right wing leaning ignorant jokes. Not so good---- --The gym is in an excellent location but too small for the number of guests wanting to use it. Only two ellipticals and five treadmills, that doesn't cut it in the morning. The gym doors open at 7:00 PM and often if you aren't in line at least 20 to 30 minutes before you better plan on waiting at least an hour. I have to admit though, we were on the Prinsendam for almost three months, a larger exploration type vessel than the Pacific Princess carrying 200 more guests, but their gym was almost half the size of that on this ship. Watch out for the "Man Killer"---Normally I would go out onto the circular track on deck 10 and walk or jog if the gym equipment was busy on this ship, however, this is a dangerous track early in the morning, as water collects on the track and it is very slick even after they mop it. I almost fell completely down four times and witnessed others crashing down, it is a wonder there hasn't been serious injuries. Apparently they tried to remedy this recently by painting the primary center running and walking area with a red substance which was actually slicker than the old surface which most runners or joggers tried to favor due better traction. Terrible--- --Platinum & Elite Lounge, Princess has changed their format here from what they used to provide. Now they offer a selection of eight different alcohol drinks which they apparently came up with as substitutes for the more traditional drinks they used to offer for $5.00 per. They now charge $6.50 for these new concoctions. We gave them a chance. Went three times and tried three different drinks each, most of the time we didn't finish the drinks due to not liking them. Their hors d'oeuvre offerings were still pretty good but the only way we would want to take time to attend is by purchasing their old traditional drinks for the full price. Thus, we say goodbye to this once great loyalty perk. ---This cruise involved one sement of a world cruise, 47 ports, five segments, 111 days. We originally purchased the second and third segments, 49 days. The third ended in Dubai. I had arranged and paid for air transport back home from Dubai when I first booked, about 11 months before embarkation. Our flight left at 9:30 AM in the morning of our second day in port at Dubai. That turned out to be a bad assumption and mistake. Unfortunately, Princess said we couldn't get off the ship that day that early since our flight left before 11:30 AM. After much discussion, Princess allowed us a "cruise deviation" under which we could get off early. They provided us no help or advice as to how to get off but did offer a lot of worrisome suggestions, like: "You are on your own" and "It is up to you to arrange with immigrations at that country when you get off our ship". Thanks but no thanks, we decided to cancel the entire voyage, both segments. At the last minute we decided to stay with the first segment only. It seems to me that for $34,000 to $37,000, which the second segment alone was going to cost us or in the neighborhood of $57,000 for the entire two segments, they could have given us just a little encouragement and assistance for our disembarkation. Recommendation------ Since we were on part of a world cruise it gave me an opportunity to evaluate the merits of these since this got me to focusing on the merits and dismerits of booking the entire package if we had chosen to do so. We have never booked a "world cruise". Our longest cruise was one just shy of three months, which was 95% Africa ports. Most likely the reason we haven't booked longer voyages is that by now we have visited just about every port offered on those, many, multiple times. My advice to those just beginning cruising careers, if they can make it work, take a world cruise as soon as you can, that way most ports on the itinerary will involve first visits making the voyage that much more enjoyable. I did note on this voyage over 80% of the guests were taking the entire 111 day world voyage and out of those there were a lot who love to do this time and time again regardless of the number of visits they may have had at the same ports. We met couples that have been on more than five and often they were friends with others that had been on the same voyages. Camaraderie was a big inducement factor. Obviously, cruising is not the same for all, there are many types and variations. However, we see now the world cruise probably isn't for us. We do love sea days and you do get a lot of those on world cruises, which is a plus for us. But It seems to me that the industry is rather coy in describing "world cruises" or "world voyages" as these are somewhat misnomers. The one we were just involved in was indeed a cruise that went all the way around the globe, beginning and ending in Florida. However, to call this a "world cruise" is rather disingenuous. 20 of the 47 ports are all in the Mediterranean, there is no Africa, no South America, no---Indonesia, Asia, Malaysia, Baltic, British Isles, Holy Land, Antarctica or Arctic or much more, most all of it is confined to traditional tourist haunts within the Northern Hemisphere, with the exception of a jaunt down the Pacific to Australia and then back north. One fellow, on his 5th world cruise, told me he was "bored". My preference now would be to get more bang for my buck by booking separate cruises of four or five week durations each, maybe lumping two together as a back to back (B2B). Read Less

Our latest cruise on the Pacific was supposed to be for a World Cruise. Unfortunately, due to health concerns, we had to cut it short. That in no way had anything to do with the excellence of the staff and ship. The Pacific is our favorite of the Princess line. We love her classy look, the highly trained staff (look at their pins to see how many years with Princess). The entertainment is totally different than the rest of the line because of the smallness of the ship. One feels a part of the entertainment in that the stage is a circle with the passengers right on the same floor. There is ONE main dining room so you know your wait staff so well; almost as well as they know you. The ports for this particular cruise were outstanding (23 countries), however, the ports have been just as good on past cruises on her. The cabins have more than ample room. Children: I don't believe there is a children's program on this particular ship but I have seen children sail. Truly amazing how much can be done on a small ship. If you read the patter each evening to plan your next day you will not be bored. The only con I would have is the cost of some of the excursions. Not sure if they are set by Princess or the companies in the ports but we thought they were on the high side. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the amount of sea days! Floating on the blue pacific is heavenly! The entertainment was great and the food was too! But the ocean wins the prize for the best of all! The ship was the smallest I have ever ridden on. I liked it because I could get around easy. It was fun getting to know people because there were not so many. I have some knee trouble so needed to take the elevators and on this ship the elevators were usually empty!! I took advantage of the spa and had many treatments to help my knee. i felt like the spa personnel were friendly and very helpful. We enjoyed the gym too. I do not eat in the main dining room much as most guests do. We like to dine at different times so the buffet is more convenient for us most of the time. Read Less

My 13 yr, old grand daughter wanted to see Iceland. It was her first cruise (my 24th on Princess), so I saw it through her eyes. Princess transfers were hassle-free. Getting on the ship was a breeze. Service throughout the cruise was superb. Our cabin steward and waiters were great. I'm not terribly fond of the layout of the Sea Princess since many spaces do not lend themselves to the activities offered, but we can't do much about that. We did only one tour (Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik). That worked well for a pre-teen. There weren't enough kids her age on board to make the chhildren's program really interesting, so she was happy to do adult crafts, trivia, shows, etc. All in all, we had no complaints....well, maybe one. Five dollars for a scoop of ice cream??? Really? I think that's a little over the top. for any ice cream, anywhere! Read Less

To get away from our Winter. We started in Dover,our suitcase had its wheel broken off by the rough handling of porters. After dealing with the arrogance of a member on customer services whom would not do any thing about it till I signed a form indemnifying Princess I had to wait a fortnight for them to finally agree to its replacement.(you are made to feel as though you do not have any rights! ) I found over all, the waiters and stewards very disappointing and no where up to the standard of there compatriots from previous princess cruises,let alone Celebrity Solstice with whom we cruised at Christmas. Princess waiters I found soppy in their attentiveness,only making the effort to seat you if they happened to be beside the table at the time you were there. Most times we were late getting to ports or not getting there at all. Live entertainment was very good,afternoon films on the longest of the sea days from Peru to Auckland were non existent in the Princess Theatre but instead out on the cold open deck. Princess adds read Come Back Feeling New. For the Money spent it was very poor value! Obvious cutbacks right throughout making it a two star ship Read Less

We boarded Golden Princess in Osaka after spending 2 days there which we thoroughly enjoyed. Embarkation was a breeze as we got to the port at 12.00 and were on board and having lunch at Horizon Court at 12.45. This was after we had dropped our hand luggage in our stateroom. It is easier when you have cruised with Princess before as the ships are very similar so it is easy to find your stateroom. We had traditional dining which was very good and we sat with 4 passengers and we had a good time together. Meals were very good but somehow the level of some of the dishes were not as we had experienced on previous cruises. More sauces and the desserts were more with puddings and strudels. Chocolate journeys were very few and far in between. Our stateroom was fine and the stewards we had were excellent and nothing was too much for them. We always found room on the upper deck to relax. Sometimes we had to move the deck chairs to get out of the sun but never a problem. Some guests are rude when they leave their towels on a lounge and don't come back which then restricts other passengers from using them. Why cant the passengers put their used towels in the used bin provided when they leave the area. I suppose they expect because they paid then they don't have to lift a finger. Small change we found was that the staff did not come around the lounges to see if you wanted anything to drink as they did on our previous cruises. As we boarded the ship in Osaka we expected to have the Waterfall champagne during that leg. On the first formal we just happened to walk to the Vista lounge to find out that there was a private function for some invited guests only which happened to be the ones that boarded the ship in Osaka. We never got an invitation and so we put a complaint at the Service desk which has been ignored. Voice of the Ocean is advertised on all Princess cruises. They had one on the Sydney/Osaka leg but none on the Osaka/Los Angeles on.e. When I questioned the cruise director's staff I was told that they did not have it as there were no registration made by passengers. Hey listen there are auditions where the passengers that are willing to participate can sing and get voted in by fellow passengers for the final. It was just laziness on the part of the cruise director's staff to put it on. So those that left the ship in LA missed out. We were on a cruise last year that had 2 segments and they had 2 Voices of the Ocean. The piano man should be retired as he was hopeless. My wife nicknamed him "Mr Personality" as he had none. He would stare at the window all the time and sometimes it looked like he was lip syncing. He was not interested in the guests he was only there because he got paid for a job. That is why the promenade bar was empty most of the time after 10.00pm as he was gone and there was nobody about. We have on previous cruises where the piano man would keep us entertained until midnight most of the time. I am an entertainer and found it most unacceptable. We enjoyed all the ports we visited and had no issues with the tour we had booked with Princess. I had prebooked tours and excursions privately on the internet and they were all ok. We had the best weather in Alaska,Canada,USA,Hawaii,Tahiti and New Zealand. The sea was good until 2 days before we got to NZ when we rocked a bit. And then also from NZ to Sydney. My wife and I were not the best then. We danced most nights and had a good time meeting with lots of people and having fun. Maybe the band should play some slower songs at the beginning and then bring the tempo up. It was too much rock and disco right from the start which I think put quite a few people off. Would we go with Princess again? Yes we will and we look forward to the next one with anticipation. Indigo the band was excellent and the the Irish shows that the 2 sisters did were very good. I had the opportunity to sing with the pianist on 2 occasions and had a top time. I think that Karaoke was fairly poor on the ship. I like to sing and went to all the karaoke and make people happy but they only had them every 3 or 4 days. One suggestion is to have them at the happy hour so people would be able to have a go and pretend they are Beyoncé,Elvis for an hour. It seems that they were always in a rush to get it done and sometimes just cut them short of time. Read Less

Always wondered what a world cruise would be like, 105 days... would we get bored? Would we get tired of the food, the cabin, the ship, the people??? No!!! We could have stayed on board and done the trip again. The food was incredible from the dining room choices ...lobster, pheasant, juicy steaks,wonderful soups , appetiser and desserts. The Buffett selection was huge and very high quality as were the other eating places. Well catered for Australian and New Zealand tastes Entertainment was a bit of a mixed bag but overall was of a high standard and good variety. Daily lectures were mostly very interesting and the movie selection also good ,watched a few movies under the stars and enjoyed the experience wrapped in blanket and eating hot popcorn. This was one of the best things we have ever done. Although not perfect,( but then what holiday is) we found Sea Princess and the crew to be very enjoyable. The destinations we went to were so many of the places around this incredible planet that we wanted to see and do it in a short time frame too in comfort and be able to relax between ports instead of rushing to airports and time wasting , delays etc. We have already booked two more cruises with a Princess and await with great anticipation to cruise again and meet many more wonderful people Read Less

Ports. Ports. Ports. The Pacific Princess is a small ship that can visit smaller ports that larger ships can only tender. That part of it we really liked. We didn't like being confined to our cabin during Tropical Storm Arlene because of 15-20 foot waves. The PP I believe has stabilizers. They must be 3 feet long. People were being seriously injured because of the rough seas. I fell, hitting my head, and pulling muscles in our cabin when the ship lurched violently (add that to being sick for 3 days). A 18 day cruise turned into a 13 day one. The entertainment was mediocre with the exception of the dancers (who left the ship in Fort Lauderdale). Best dancers we had ever seen. Everything else was oh-hum. One comic was gross and we walked out. Another used sexual references that we thought we inappropriate. The tenor was excellent. The mentalist was entertaining even though he only had 3 effects I believe in his act. Food was very good in the dining room and the buffet. Princess made the buffet into a 'bistro' on sea days that had pretty limited offerings. I did not like it after the 2nd or 3rd time we used it. The desserts were outstanding. The presentation and selection in the buffet when we had one was very good. Our waiter and his assistant in the dining room were excellent. The personnel on the ship were great. Great, friendly, helpful service with just a few exceptions. One of the best cabin stewards we ever had. The ship is in dire need of a refurbishing. It is scheduled for one I understand. There isn't a chair on the ship that has a firm bottom. Lots of dings, rust, and fading paint everywhere. Carpet is dated and faded. Kind of depressing. During one show a light fixture fell out of the ceiling. Our cabin, a balcony one, was very, very small. Mattress was shot. Linens were adequate. There are few 'American' outlets to plug a computer into anywhere on the ship. The size of the ship is perfect however. Instead of walking for 20 minutes to get anywhere, everything is a short hike away from any cabin just about. The library if it had better chairs would be a delight to hang out in. Internet was adequate except that it could not be accessed very well in our cabin. We learned 3 days before the end of the cruise that it helped get service if we propped the cabin door open. Terrible. Met people who didn't understand that their free internet service extended to both people in a cabin. Sad. Disembarkation was perfect. The best we ever saw. Read Less

My husband and I enjoy repositioning cruises, and we picked this itinerary because the port of calls were unique and more appealing than most bigger ship itineraries. We are frequent cruisers on Princess, but have never cruised on a small Princess cruise ship like Pacific Princess. At first, we were concerned that we would be bored with a stretch of 6 days at sea, on a small ship. Our fears were soon overcome, as we enjoyed the many activities, superior entertainment, and fabulous food, made available on this ship. We joined up with the Pacific Princess in Venice, Italy, and with the help of the Princess staff, booked our overseas flight through their EZ Aire Program, and saved hundreds of dollars on airfare. We embarked at 1:00 pm, and were the only passengers in the Terminal ! Needless to say, there were no lines, and no waiting. We walked right on board. Pacific Princess is a classy older ship, who will soon go into Dry Dock for upgrades. Our segment of the cruise was part of a World Cruise, and most of the passengers were cruising for 111 days.It was quite different to be in a small environment where most of the passengers already knew each other. It did create a cozy environment, though. Everything from the personal attention we received, to all the activities we enjoyed, to the port calls themselves, was super!! We especially enjoyed the "Top Notch" variety of entertainment, some of which was Broadway quality. This was a great cruise, and we left with many wonderful memories. Disembarkation took about 10 minutes, from the time we cleared the ship, until we went through Customs. Read Less

Am a past Princess passenger with 3 decades of wonderful experiences with the line, until recently. I have found a sad downturn in the products service levels over the past 5 years or so, which includes, staffing, catering and general value for money, which I believe has unfortunately taken Princess from a 4 star offering to a 3 star basic cruising experience. The Princess cruise line of old no longer exists but in name only - or so I believed. I decided to take this 18 day segment of the Pacific Princess's world cruise rather than the general round trip cruises offered for a change of scenery. I was pleasantly surprised. Though the ship is small compared to the regular tonnage the line offers, she was a boutique offering with an old world atmosphere. The cruise was only 18 days - being part of the 101 day world cruise offering. Many of the small touches which Princess was known for and are now lost forever on all its larger ships, this ship manages to retain the values of Princess brand prior to Carnival's take over. On board, the catering was expansive and well presented and I found more meal and menu options on this tiny ship than that on the larger ships. The old fashioned menu items, like escargot, variety of soufflés, proper surf and turf with lobster, along with the evening dinner menus showing more options than that on the other ships in the fleet a refreshing change. The ship also able to retain alternative dining options like Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's given her smaller size. Whether this improved catering was in line with the World Cruise experience, I cannot confirm, but was good to see it was provided. Sunday brunch in the main restaurant was another nice touch where it is transformed into a hall of culinary delights with food stations, chef carver's, and international flavours dotted around the restaurant in a semi buffet presentation, another great feature and a pleasure to enjoy. In the evening she offers the traditional 2 settings in her main dining room which may not be everyone's choice, but the system worked well with options to make table or sitting changes if required simple and efficient. the buffet also transforms into an evening al arcarte bistro for a 4th alternative dining choice. The cabins, though the ship is originally from a different cruise line, are very comfortable and functional with a beautiful wooden panelled and old world feel which Princess has kept. Even the smallest and economical cabins have a sofa and other small touches only now provided in the larger and more expensive cabins on Princess's larger ships. The best thing - no queues anywhere at any time, and only having a max of 600 passengers also assists with this. No need for a black card to see the front desk, you will be the only one in the queue at anytime. The same goes for the buffet, the pool, the lectures, the shows etc. The cruise was a pleasure, and a delightful change to the mega ships in the fleet. Her size of 30,000 tons may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you are tired of the inch of gold sales along with the hyper marketing and art auctions of the bigger ships challenging your senses everyday, then this one will be a definite surprise and refreshing experience. She also has a beautiful old world full promenade deck with space and multiple lounges for those who enjoy this feature of a cruise ship which is now sadly becoming something no longer supported in future ship designs. Another feature this ship has is her size allows her to dock nice and close to her ports of call, not like her larger cousins who sometimes need to dock 1 or 2 hrs drive from the centre of town. I would not hesitate in cruising on her again and bypassing the other ships in the fleet. If however your cruise focus is on having pool side pizza bars, waterslides, outdoor movie screens, and queue for everything while fighting to find a vacant deck chair, then this ship may not be for you. She does not cater for children so family cruising would not be for her either, but if you are looking for a quiet old world style of cruise she may be the vessel within Princess's fleet for you. Read Less

Great cruise around the world. Chose this particular cruise because of the itenarary, size of the ship and the fact that I could leave from Ft Lauderdale and disembark in Ft Lauderdale since I live in Florida. First the good things on this cruise-the friendly helpful staff onboard the ship. Really made the cruise special from room stewards, staff at front desk, excursions area, bartenders, staff in dining rooms, buffet, casino, shops and cruise directors staff, one of the best managed ships that I have been on. The entertainment that I attended was well done and enjoyable. Enrichment lectures were good through out the cruise especially the ones on segment 2 and 3 of the cruise(LA to Sydney and Sydney to Hong Kong). Additionally the destination expert Deb was fantastic. Really knew her destinations and provided good insight into what there was to see and do at each destination. Also Sammi, cruise director from Dubai to Fort Lauderdale brought energy and fun to her area. Especially enjoyed the sessions she held with the captain, the singers/dancers and the hotel management staff where you got to hear from each of them about themselves, their jobs onboard, etc. great insight into the behind the scenes of a cruise ship! Finally the destinations visited were great and the shore excursions that I did at each port were well managed and provided a great experience at a reasonable price. Also embarkation and disembarkation was the best I have experienced on 30 plus cruises. The not so good-ship staterooms are in need of a good cleaning/sprucing up. My stateroom the drapes were badly stained, linens were dingy and stained, cloth on bedboard was peeling and ripped. The room just felt tired and kind of ratty. Bed was hard as a rock, but in fairness the ship is heading to dry dock shortly so I'm sure a lot of these items will be taken care of. Lotus Spa issue-I spent over $5,000 over the course of the cruise in services and products. I have cruised a lot over the last 20 years and have always used the spa services onboard and this is the first time that I had a bad experience with Steiner/Lotus Spa. I have contacted them separately in regards to this issue of over $700 of services charged to my account that were never rendered. Was unable to get any assistance from the spa manager on this issue as she was not the manager at the time when these charges were billed. Comment was made by one of the front desk staff, I guess she must of just overcharged you...The person who billed the charges and the manager at the time had both left the ship by the time the over charges were discovered and the new manager just refused to check into the issue after being asked on two separate occasions to see what was going on. Poorest customer service I have ever experienced onboard a cruise ship. That being said I will never utilize their services or products again onboard any of the ships that they are on. In closing it really was a trip of a lifetime and I would recommend a cruise around the world to anyone who loves to travel! Read Less

It was a smaller ship sailing at the right time. Enjoyed getting to know people well enough to make good friends. The numerous days at sea were most enjoyable as we are old time sailors and found the time, the weather and the quiet appealing. The staff were friendly, all of them and we joined dance classes for the first time making for challenging moments across a rolling dance floor. I joined the chior and had a very talented director who really made joyful noise from a very diverse group of passengers leading up to a full performance on deck as the ship sailed under the Sydney bridge at 5:30 AM! The food was very good and though it was a set seating we got to know people on our adjoining of six who rotated seats so we sat next to everyone many ones and they became good friends. We especially enjoyed breakfast on the open aft deck most mornings and the lounge on a top deacon for afternoon cocktails. Read Less

I/we chose this cruise because it was different from any other cruise from Australia and neither of us had been to this part of the world before. If anyone is going on this vessel or her sister ships, Dawn or Sun Princess, my advise is DON'T BOOK ANY CABIN ON "E" DECK. Why, it is directly below the Promanade Deck where everybody walks or runs for exercise. As a result, the thump, thump thump for there shoes/runners comes right through the deck into your cabin. We had people running at 2345 hrs and again at 0445 hrs. It was a nuisance and as a result of a complaint by me and others to the Captain, the forward section of the Promanade Deck was closed off nightly from about 1930 till next morning. Further, be advised that on the Sea Princess, the deck immediately in front of the Horizon Court Buffet, that is the deck immediately above the Bridge, is closed off at sunset and opened again after sunrise. This is unlike the Dawn Princess where that deck is closed only in adverse weather conditions. Can't speak on the Sun Princess as I have not sailed on her. General comment. The ship did the innaugaral voyage that circumnavigated South America, Sydney to Sydney, all 84 days of it. Seas were smooth for 82 days except the trip from bay Of Islands to Sydney where we copped the tailend of Cyclone Debbie with winds of 120 kph or more. The ship certainly needs a good port visit and overhaul. Many repairs being done throughout the voyage. The crew were tremendous and couldn't be faulted. What could be faulted was the selfish passengers, who, after being drummed every day for five weeks by the Captain to wash your hands after using the toilet or sanitise their hands before entering a food station, persistently refused to sanitise and as such, for approx. five weeks, norovirus was on board. All I can say is this, if you don't want to wash your hands after going to the toilet or be prepared to sanitise your hands before going through a food station, THEN DON'T BLOODY WELL GO as you are jeapodising everyone on the ship because of your stupidity. Outside of that, all was well and I/we enjoyed the voyage very much. Read Less

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Thought it would be a lot different !someone forgot to tell me it was a geriatric paradise tour, I did meet a lot of lovely people but organised daily programs were not for me! Ship is filthy ,food very good, entertainment very poor quality,cabins are disgusting & old fashioned, beds have passed due by dates & haven't been refurbed since sea princess was launched, missed a lot of ports & others we stopped at mostly berthed in working ports. Customer service is not what it should be,they are supposed to help the customer not swing it back to princess ways. Felt like your controlled by princess & should be enjoying a fabulous holiday which I thought it would be! I feel very ripped off by the price of cruise after speaking with other passengers ,some who had paid very little.i doubt very much I would ever consider princess again.over bitterly disappointed by my whole experience . I could have used my $66,588.00 ( yes that is the money I paid )in so many other places, & had a much nicer time. The crew & staff were very hospitable but again the money I paid I think it should have been 5 Starr class but no it doesn't even rate 1 Starr .sorry to be so negative but that was a really bad experience . Read Less

We always wanted to go on a world cruise, as flying is no longer a option for us. We enjoyed most of our ports and enjoyed them. Was of course disappointed at the ports that we could not visit due to bad weather conditions, totally agree with both captains who made the correct decisions for everyones safety, however disagree with why Princess continue to highlight Easter Island as a port when they hardly ever make it into this port. I also found Princess shore excursions so over priced, only used them a few times. We found the cruise director not at all helpful, and enterainment so so. I am not including the dancers who were just the best we have ever seen on a Princess cruise. Could not fault our waiters, who do a amazing job. After 104 days of course the food becomes repetitive, but that is to be expected. Read Less

Choose this cruise as I liked the itinerary particularly St. Peters burgh which I always wanted to go to. Ship is not too big which we liked, it is getting older but in good shape overall. As we had a premium sea view one cabin it was quite roomy. Thought the food overall was very good, plenty of variety for such a long cruise. Entertainment was mostly quite good. Could not fault the service of the staff in cabin, dining room and overall. Service desk I feel could have been more informative often, not quite as happy with them Shore excursions I thought were very expensive. In Europe we only booked with Alla Tours, who were not only much cheaper but very efficient. I would recommend them and have to anybody who wants a stress free tour. All their guides speak perfect English, no waiting in lounges like Princess Tours, Alla Tours are there waiting for you. The tours are done in smaller groups which is good too. With Princess Tours you sometimes had guides whose English could have been better. Our tour in St. Peters burgh with Alla was an experience we will not forget, they were brilliant , I was so glad that my agent recommended them. Embarkation was a bore as always but I must say Princess was very efficient with disembarkation in Sydney. Would I recommend a World Cruise, yest most definitely and would love to go again myself. Overall was very happy with it all. Did feel the boutique was very overpriced Read Less

I wanted to visit Russia and I like cruising for a long time. Food was excellent, could not fault and I felt it had a lot of variety. Service was great by cabin steward and waiters. Felt customer relations could have been a lot better, not very knowledgeable people felt often and many felt the ship could have been run better, mostly small things on my part but I did hear of a couple of complaints. Saying this we had a wonderful time and sadly its coming to an end. People mostly were great to be with, as the staff and good entertainment. Would do it all again tomorrow. Excursions were of course overpriced and I tended to book with Alla when I could. Often you can pick up cheaper venues of seeing things in the port and I would recommend that for first timers. I would bring less clothes on a world cruise as you tend to buy more and then have the problem of bringing it back. If you do craft join the knitting group as you can make a lot of friends and have a great time. Read Less

We are seasoned cruisers and Princess is our cruise line of choice. We have been on 5 other lines but this one always comes out on top. We decided to do the world cruise which was actually 111 days and we would do it in a heartbeat again. What can I say about the staff other than exceptional. THE CAPTAIN: If you ever have a chance to be on a cruise with Captain JP. Bryant you are in for a treat. How many captains have you sailed with that came around to every table the night before disembarkment to thank everyone for sailing with Princess and to wish us a safe journey home. Even the morning of disembarkment his announcement on the TV was very cute. He said "the good news is that we are cleared to go, the bad news is that I know you don't want to leave but you have to". THE MAÎTRE de : OSCAR, there has never been or there will never be anyone like him. He is extrodinere, bends over backwards for everyone, and he also hosts the Knitter's and Knatters group. This group was so large that we able to use large tables at the back of the main dining room. The rest of the staff, and there are way too many to mention were just the same, nothing was too much for them to handle. THE ENTERTAINMENT: Over the top CRAFTS: very wide variety of things to make. 2 different couples hosted this activity THEMED SUNDAY BRUNCHES: absolutely over the top I could go on and on but you might like to look at the blog I have done about this amazing trip of a lifetime. Check out duncancruise2016blog.wordpress.com. You can experience the staff, the ship and the 33 ports in 26 countries with me. Read Less

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This trip was on my bucket list and far surpassed my expectations. Going again in 2018! The ship's staff was wonderful. Each port was a different experience from cruise tours just walking in town, private tours to hop on hop off. The food was all prepared wonderfully and after 111 days there was always a variety to choose from without getting tired of the same old menu. The theme Sunday brunches led by Oscar were memorable. There was always something to do any time of the day. Evenings were pretty much over by 11 PM so those folks looking for more night life will be bored then. No children, or very young so there were not activities for them. Our mini suite was very nice and in a good location. The ship being small was easy to around on. One could walk from the front to the rear in about 2 minutes. I had a health issue on board and the medical staff was absolutely wonderful. All in all this is a great ship if you want a relaxing voyage, good service and delicious food. Can't wait to see the ship as it was just refurbished in June 2016. Read Less

My husband and I travelled on the Sea Princess from Fremantle back to Fremantle a total of 114 days from 29th May to 21st September 2015. We had sailed with Princess before and had been completely satisfied with the cruises and the ships so we were looking forward to our world cruise. Unfortunately the ship itself was very rundown. Leaks all over the place, carpet on deck 14 was worn and had holes in it. Furniture in the Crooners lounge was badly worn, dirty and the settees had no padding so when you sat on them you were actually sitting on the wooden frame. The worst thing was the terrible smell of sewage in different parts of the ship, when we complained about the smell we were told that they blow air through the system now and again to try and get rid of it and there is nothing else they can do. After writing to Princess three times we got a reply telling us that Princess cruise ships are always being upgraded while they are sailing and periodically go into dry dock when more extensive work is needed. Sea Princess is currently in dry dock in Singapore so we hope that it comes out better than it went in. Was not very impressed with some of the entertainment. Service on board was very good. All crew members were very helpful and pleasant. Got to know some of them quite well and it was sad to say goodbye to them after 114 days. Just to add to the above mentioned we were very disappointed that there was no apology whatsoever from Princess. Read Less

Embarkation: Embarkation was painless. We arrived at Station Pier Port Melbourne on 24th May 2015, and dragged our suitcases to the upper level where 300 or so passengers were boarding the Sea Princess in Melbourne for a 102 day World cruise. There were no directions at to where to leave our suitcases, so we had to manipulate them up an escalator to the embarkation area, where they were quickly whisked away from us and taken onboard. Only had to wait a short time before the documentation was processed and Cruise Cards issued. Review of the Sea Princess: In writing this critique, it has to be noted that this cruise was full, with around 2000 passengers and over 1000 crew. The ship itself is getting older, and experiencing spasmodic maintenance problems that caused engine issues, and numerous episodes of leaking pipes which flooded staterooms, hallways, and the Princess Theatre. Staff were always quick to work on reported problems, & despite the age of the ship & all its fittings, everything looked clean, polished & well cared for. Dining: Despite having a pre boarding guarantee of “early seating” allocation for dining in the Traviata Dining Room, on embarkation that had somehow changed to late seating. When we questioned the “Maitre D” about the change, we were told that our guaranteed seating was only a “guaranteed request”. Following an elongated discussion, we were finally changed to our requested early seating by the 2nd day. It seems pointless in filling out the Cruise Personaliser on the Princess website, when Princess themselves have no interest in reading what we request. The information we provide appears to get stuck in Princess’s Head Office, and not passed on to the ships we travel on. The meals in the dining room remain spectacular, however a noted change was that the menu was repeated on a 10 – 14 day rotation with monotonous regularity. For long cruises like the 104 Day World Cruise, this became rather boring after a few weeks. For the first two weeks, there were only six people on our table, with another 2 joining in Freemantle. Our table of 8 became the best of friends, and apart from a few sick days, everyone fronted up each evening to enjoy the wonderful company and delicious food. Our waiters on table 184 were Mario and Alfie, who, between them, tendered to our every culinary need. Mario was a bit temperamental, depending on his mood, but Alfie being the junior waiter excelled at his job. Drink prices were expensive but wine left over was always named, recorked and available for the next evening meal. I renamed the Horizon Court buffet “The horror-zone” for obvious reasons, for it was terrible lining up for food, arguing with combative passengers, and searching for a vacant seat. The manners of many people left a lot to be desired, and you would think some people had never been fed before, the way they carried on around the buffet food. The Sterling Steakhouse was a joke, situated in a partitioned off area of the Horizon Buffet each evening. While it was busy most nights, and the food reportedly great, it could not be seen as a special dining environment. The Ice-cream Parlor outside on deck 12 under the movie screen was usually quite busy, however the quality of the soft serve ice-cream varied considerably, from very creamy to well watered down. All diners were looked after for Special occasions with a cake and a throng of caroling waiters and bar staff, which just made that special occasion even more memorable. Lounges & Restrooms: We always found the restrooms clean, tidy and well stocked. An interesting & well accepted change was that the toilets had disposable paper seat covers. Both the Vista Lounge and the Princess Theatre seat approx. 500 passengers each. With the decline in the number of evening entertainment options, seating for both ends of the ship could only seat 1000 passengers. For a ship holding 2000 passengers, a person would have to get to the main entertainment area (either Vista of Princess Theatre) at least an hour before the event started in order to get a seat. This created a lot of angst and friction among passengers, especially finding the entertainment areas completely filled 45 minutes before the start of each show. Several times over the course of the 104 days there was a leak from the ceiling of the Princess Theatre, and several seats had to be partitioned off as they were soaked. This intermittent leaking continued on for most of the cruise, despite numerous attempts by staff to try and fix the problem. The Wheelhouse Bar was used many days for trivia sessions, and trying to fit upwards of 400 passengers into an area that could only house 200 at best, was nothing short of nauseating. To get a seat, most people had to arrive for trivia almost an hour early, and this caused fights amongst passengers who tried to reserve seats for other members of their trivia team. Whilst reserving seats is a known “No-No” what else could people do. Many disagreements ensued because of this. Princess continually advocates that passengers must not save seats in the public lounges and theatres, however, despite this, seat saving continues at an alarming rate. On very popular entertainment nights, a passenger would take their life into their own hands if they needed to visit the rest room before a show started, because their seat then became fair game for whoever was waiting. The Laundry: The public Laundry was a nightmare, with only 2 machines and dryers on 3 of the passenger decks. Queuing was long and tedious, and those passengers who put washing in the machines and went away for hours continually aggravated fellow passengers waiting for vacant machines. Woe and behold anyone who touched anyone else’s laundry, and only remove someone else’s laundry at your own peril. The laundry proved to be a very entertaining area, with many altercations occurring daily. We found it easier to hand wash in the cabin, and hang it on coat hangers around the room to dry. Always take a small hanging peg line to hang in the shower, and this is great to hang smalls on, which dry pretty much within a day or do in the air-conditioned atmosphere. Staterooms: Surviving 102 nights in an inside stateroom was not a problem, given that this was our 4th time cruising for this length of time, but organization is a must. Having a place for everything, and keeping everything in its place, is a definite necessity. On this cruise we were assigned Stateroom B224, towards the front of the ship on Baha deck level 10. Our Stateroom steward was “Homer” until Dubai, then “June” from Dubai onwards. Both Stewards looked after us well. On embarkation and meeting our steward for the first time, we set out requests for dressing gowns; an ice bucket every night; extra coat hangers, and an extra chair as the stateroom only has one. This cruise we purchased a foam mattress overlay that we packed and took with us, as the mattresses on the ship are either rock hard, or very worn and dip in the middle. We also take our own pillows for much the same reason, and we were very glad we did, because the pillows in our stateroom were sadly lacking in substance. The room was always left clean and tidy, towels always changed each morning, and beach towels were replaced whenever they were used, sometimes several times during the day. Shampoo, soap, skin lotion & body wash (excellent for hand washing clothes) were replaced daily. Laundry bags for sending dirty clothes to go to the ships laundry service were sadly lacking, many times we were having to chase the room steward to get new bags. It’s not rocket science for a room steward to replace a laundry bag when they take a full one away. Entertainment: Having cruised for 104 nights with Princess previously, we had a reasonable idea what to expect as far as entertainment was concerned. In comparing the last 4 cruises we have done of 104 days, it is easy to see that cutbacks on entertainment for this cruise were very noticeable. As a comparison....... 2009 there were 104 different evening events and 14 Production Show 2012 there were 71 different evening events and 15 Production Shows, 2013 there were 62 different evening events and 10 Production Shows. 2015 there were 57 evening events and 13 production shows The Production Shows for this cruise were changed, probably because most of the passengers were repeat World Cruisers, and had seen all the Production Shows Princess had to offer. For this cruise Princess, in their wisdom, decided to employ an outside company to produce the singers and dancers. While the quality was extremely high, and the entertainment good, all of the shows lacked all the glitz and glamour that Princess advertise for their cruises. There were no sets, & costumes were bland. However, the Sea Princess Orchestra always provided a sensational music backing for the production show team. Many nights on this last cruise we found there was nothing to do other than watch a movie, which I do not consider watching movies that are years old and repeated several times, as major forms of evening entertainment. The selection of movies available was antiquated, and despite many complaints, this problem did not change for the entire cruise. Several old & new movies were played on the in-house televisions, and under the stars, however, some of these were repeated with monotonous regularity. Overall, the Production Shows were good, but many of the comedians were aged, as were their jokes and stories. At various ports around the globe, artists got on and off, always ensuring a fresh supply of good and no-so-good entertainers. Pre & post dinner dancing was always available, & passenger theme parties were scheduled at sparse intervals. Morning & afternoon trivia sessions were a must for the brainiacs, who always played for sheep stations. We always tried to catch up on the Port lectures, especially for all the new ports we had not been to before, as there was always some interesting bits of info to take away. The port lecturer “Hutch” was sensational in his port presentations, always a wealth of information, and very approachable when questioned outside of lecture time. Other ways to keep occupied included scholarship @ sea lectures; library; church services; dancing lessons; sports tournaments; bingo; card playing; game shows; exercise classes; movies; choir practice; culinary demonstrations; & ice carving demo’s. Princess offered Service club meetings, which was relevant to us being Lions; but we did not avail ourselves of the Dr Bob & Bill W meetings, nor did we join in as GLBT groups, but it was entertaining to note that they cater for these groups as well. Gymnasium: We did manage to find the gymnasium several times, although not as much as we should have. The equipment was state of the art, and reasonably well utilized, but having someone available to help you to use the computerized equipment was not always available. The only scales on the ship was located inside the gym, and these came in handy to check out just how much weight we were putting on weekly. They probably explained why our clothes were shrinking at a great rate of knots, but on this score, I blamed the washing water for shrinking them!!! Shore Excursions: We researched all the shore excursions before boarding, so picked the eyes out of what was available, and made sure we selected all the important places of interest to us. While it has to be noted that all of the ships excursions were expensive, there was the guarantee of knowing that if an excursion got back late, the ship would not leave us behind, as did happen to several passengers who did their own thing and returned late. All of the good excursions booked out early, so if there is something special that you really want to see or do, then booking early is a must. On this cruise we booked about 50% of our tours with the Cruise Critic group. This is a great way to meet other cruisers, cuts down the cost of excursions, and in most cases, you get to see more places of interest on the tours because the groups are smaller than the big Princess ones. One thing that needs to be pointed out, is that Princess are not happy if tour soliciting occurs whilst onboard, so if you plan on doing Cruise Critic Tours (which I definitely recommend), make sure you have these arranged and paid for before you get onboard. Also note that if you are on a private tour, and you get back late, that Princess will not guarantee they will wait for you. The tender service remains a nightmare, however, I don’t know how else you could move 2500 people on and off a ship any other way. Queuing for tender tickets, then queuing again when your number was called, tended to take the excitement off getting off the ship at each port. If you fore went queuing for tender tickets, then you had to wait until everyone else was off before you could try and find the exit, and this definitely would cut down your time on shore. Possibly Princess need to use more tender boats when this arrangement has to be implemented, because the current arrangement is annoyingly frustrating. Queue jumping was a frequent occurrence, and many an argument was had while waiting in line. Service: Embarkation and disembarkation was handled extremely well. The Pursers Desk, Future Cruise Staff and Captains Circle staff handled most of our needs very efficiently. The Boutiques on board sell a large variety of merchandise, however, items that sold out very quick on our cruise were cough medicine and throat lozenges. Probably due to the air-conditioning, every time we cruise we get the dreaded sore throat and cough, which seems to do the rounds of the ship. A good suggestion would be to go prepared, and ensure you have an adequate supply of an appropriate cough syrup, and throat lozenges. Toiletry items such as soap, shampoo, conditioner & body lotion are supplied in every stateroom, and balconies and suite staterooms have access to other useful toiletry items. Tipping: For all Princess Ships based in Australia, tipping is included in the price of your cruise. We always choose to provide additional tipping to our Stateroom stewards and dining room waiters, depending on the quality of service provided. All drinks purchased from the bars have 15% tipping already added to the bill. It is always a bone of contention to tip or not to tip, but if I get exemplary service, it will be rewarded. The Cruise Staff: For this cruise of 102 nights we had 3 Cruise Directors: Dan Falconer, Peter Tredgett & Mat Thompson. Dan never quite had his finger on the pulse; Peter was patronizing; & Matt at least seemed to enjoy his job. Matt's wife Kim (who acted as Matt's deputy for part of the cruise) was always pleasant and helpful, and took over the Zumba classes whenever she could. The Assistant Cruise staff this cruise seemed to be the most disjointed group I have ever sailed with. They consisted of Sarah, Maddi, Kelly, Jill, Richy Rick, Sascha, Tina & Danielle. Most of them were disinterested in what they were doing, and many times they just huddled together, & avoided talking to passengers IN CONCLUSION: There will always be a few minor hiccups on long cruises, however, despite the few problems outlined earlier, we had a fantastic 102 nights, visiting many parts of the World we had only ever dreamed about seeing. With research and previous planning, we had the most enjoyable cruise ever, and have marked a lot of places off our bucket list. We were wined, dined and entertained in style, and will definitely sail with Princess Cruises again. Read Less