Princess Cruises

Ruby Princess Vancouver-​San Pedro. First/​last Princess cruise. LOVE cruising, been on Royal Caribbean (RCI), Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian & Windstar. I’ll preface it by saying that even a «meh» cruise I find good/​enjoyable aspects. After our last «meh» cruise, decided to do short cruise when trying first time.
Good: Cabin stewards and dining room staff were all good. Your typical cruise line service. The dining room staff are weaker compared to RCI/​Carnival (which has some of the best, IMHO) in terms of having to ask for refills, etc. But nothing that I would say was bad service.
The cabin (interior) we had was actually the best layout compared to other cruise lines. It was a great use of space and made us feel like we were in a hotel. Spacious.
The gym had plenty of Precor: bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, and weight machines.
Had a special celebration and they put balloons on our doors and gave a yummy chocolate cake. Other cruise lines will celebrate w/​a treat but charge to put decorations. This was included.
They have paper towels in bathroom.
The ok: Food was decent. Nothing close to RCI/​Carnival, but better than Norwegian (too salty). Celebrity beats them out because they had more variety. A lot was comfort food, bland. Dinner time bizarre that salad wasn’t on the daily menu. No lobster night (but most cruise lines eliminated that on short cruises).
Bad: this is hands down the most poorly organized, inefficient cruise I’ve been on. Ex: buffet line– unlike other cruise lines, they only allow one point of entry. So you stand in this long line to get plate/​utensil from worker. Let’s say you want to come back for 2nds, you must stand in the long line to get a new set of utensils etc. Let’s say you just want bread– you have to stand in from the beginning, or hope someone let’s you cut in line to grab bread. I let a lady cut in front of me at the salad bar section b/​c she just wanted cucumbers for her kid and the line was around the corner. Horrible layout.
EVERYTHING ran out. Rather than replenishing when it’s ¾ empty, they let it run completely out & several bins sit empty for 10+ minutes, including desserts and fruits. Hard cookies/​bread.
You want tea? You have to flag down a worker and ask for a cup of tea, then they are either out of green/​peppermint teas or if they happen to have it, they open the bag and put it in your cup. With cold and flu season, and seeing the workers handle dirty plates, wiping tables etc. I asked them for tea bags on the side to avoid them inadvertently touching my tea bag and getting cooties. The only tea they put out for self serve are the cheap a$$ nasty Lipton (yellow/​white bag) or Earl Grey that NO ONE drinks.
Anytime dining isn’t anytime. You go down there and there’s a long line (no other cruise line has ever had this kind of wait). Then they tell you it’ll be 60 – 90 minutes. WTF?
Our last nite took us going to 3 restaurants to try to get seated and even then they said «you have to wait 30 min for us to release the seats. HUH? Dude, we’re right here and clearly the 5:30 early dining people didn’t show up. It’s like that episode on Friends where Ross is told to «stand behind the yellow line» at the airport til his row is called, even though there was no one there. By the time we were seated, the restaurant had a ton of empty tables. Y’no why the wait is so long? Cuz probably the folks w/​the reservation did anytime and they were waiting too.
No luggage tags. Asked why. They said it was a short cruise and we didn’t leave flight info. So? U think I came on the ship with no bags? So they make you go to the customer service line and get tags there.
Horrible: 12 public bathrooms on a ship for 3000. 99% were overflowing with $hit everywhere. I had to climb 10 flights of stairs and go 3 – 4 bathrooms to find ONE functioning toilet. Their bathrooms have 2 – 3 stalls max, most of which broken. When you report it, they don’t say sorry for inconvenience or thanks for telling us. They’re crabby and say «we reported it»
Whole section of our cabin toilets wouldn’t flush overnight. Their sol’n go to one of the few public bathrooms. Women sauna broken. Sol’n? Pay to use the sanctuary sauna.
Went to front desk (final nail in coffin) Jenna Whelan could care less about all the issues I reported. She should NOT be dealing with people. Next day she saw me get her card to write a complaint and I get chocolates delivered with apology note. How about partial refund?
The show ran out of seats: no other cruise runs out. 90 degrees. People fanning, no AC on. Hotter than hell. The show bizarre. One song was about «getting mugged in an alley and knifed in the chin».
Then 1000 of us stranded on ship for over 3 hrs. At least they fed us lunch. People canceling excursions, flights, etc. I had to cancel 2 appts that nite. Finally off the ship 1:45pm.
I can forgive things esp. with good service/​apology. This was the most poorly organized, inefficient cruise. Out of space. End

Princess Cruses will add charges to your bill for things they tell you are included. When you call them out they will offer to remove the gratuity they charge to your bill. So, they steal from you, and if you catch them, they will offer to steal it instead from their employees. Shameful!

Princess Cruises — I was sort of familiar with this brand since I was a kid after watching The Love Boat on TV. Anyone who hears the cruising will have probably has Princess Cruises on their mind. And after hearing from people at work raving about this cruise liner, I decided to try it out. I booked a 10 day California Coastal Cruise round trip from Vancouver which departed Vancouver on Oct 4. The ship stopped at Los Angeles, Catalina Island, Santa Barbara and San Francisco. This was the first ever round trip California Coastal Cruise from Princess, as before, passengers would have to fly back to Vancouver from California.
Upon arrival at the cruise terminal at Canada Place, boarding the ship was delayed due to a norovirus outbreak and the Star Princess ship had go to additional cleaning. It was good to know that Princess was open and honest about the situation. Passengers were offered small bags of potato chips and bottled water while they were waiting to board the ship. I didn’t worry too much because the norovirus affects mostly to those who don’t wash their hands before eating.
My room on the Dolphin deck on level 9 had a comfortable and clean bed which was on the firm side and I had 10 nights of good sleep. The bathroom was small, but shower was unbelievably tiny. For most of the cruise, especially while the ship was heading towards California, the Star Princess was super stable and I didn’t experience any motion sickness at all. It was only returning to Vancouver from San Francisco that the ship began to wobble up and down a lot and I did feel slightly dizzy.
The food at the Horizon Court Buffet on the Star Princess was a little disappointing when compared to my previous two cruises with Holland America. The food was definitely on the bland side, especially during lunch and the pre-​made salads beside the entrance were as bland as tap water. Also, the pre-​made salads at the Horizon Court just didn’t taste as fresh and flavourful when compared to the amazing salads that I ate on Holland America’s Volendam ship. On a positive note, there were more fish and seafood at the Horizon Court on the Star Princess and I really enjoyed the days when there were rockfish, barramundi fish and seafood skewers with fish, scallops and shrimp. The seafood tasted good to very good, but not amazing. Note: there was no baked or grilled salmon at all, unless you eat at the main dining room for dinner.
There was only one occasion for the entire cruise when they served food that I would consider spicy and it was Mexican taco lunch day beside the pool. The taco was delicious!
Fruits at the Horizon Court Buffet were better than average, but it would be better if they removed the peels for the watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. Oranges, apples and bananas were always available. On some mornings, there were papayas and bosc pears and ripe kiwi fruit was available on a daily basis. Fresh strawberries were only available near the end of the cruise.
I did not have any desserts at the Horizon Court Buffet at all but they looked well made and they looked much better than the desserts I saw on Holland America’s buffet area.
Traditional dining for dinner at the Amalfi for dinner was excellent and to be more specific, the service was flawless from my waiters Samai and Eugene. ¹⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀ rating for the ten days! Service was even better than Holland America’s traditional dining which I gave an excellent rating too. The food was average to very good, but nothing was amazing, but the outstanding service really made dinners enjoyable.
At the Princess Theatre, there were two shows that were enjoyable: «Destination Anywhere» with the Star Princess Singers and Dancers — amazing costumes and stage effects. Another show with the singer Frankie Moreno, who regularly performs in Vegas, had an amazing voice and wicked personality.
For almost the entire cruise, there was absolutely no coastal scenery because under State laws, cruise ships aren’t allowed to cruise near the shore. As a result, I didn’t see much scenery, except when the ships docks or leaves a port
I wish smoking was completely banned inside public areas because the second hand smoke engulfed the atrium area on level 6 and 7 from the Casino. The outside walkway on level 7 Lifeboat deck had exhaust fans that smelled like second hand smoke and there was another exhaust fan on level 7 that smelled like sewage. As a result, it was hard to get fresh air on this ship, unless you go to the very top deck.
I will give four stars for this cruise because the service was excellent and I did not get sick.

Reading the other reviews has me wondering. I was originally told a passport card was all I needed to enter Canada, I however opted for the full passport as I plan to travel aboad in two years. One thing I discovered about crusing, our third cruise, our first with Princess, is that the staff can’t please everyone no matter how hard they try. They do and will try and suck you in with the on board expos, t-​shirts, watches, rings, booze, etc., etc. They work every day of the week only getting an hour off here/​there for a break or two.
We took the Coral Princess to Alaska, booked through a local travel agent, with the extended tours of Denali and Fairbanks. If you are going to go to Alaska, book a balcony. It is the best and most private way to view the two days of crusing the glaciers. The dining room staff in the evenings was 5 stars, the breakfast and lunch staff must not be as well trained, just mediocre.
The food while not a diamond resort quality, was good, the desserts, fantastic. We only went to the buffet twice, and quickly discovered that the coffee is much better in the dining room (s). The room steward was nothing short of fantastic, we received everything we asked for.
The entertainment was pretty good a couple funny comedians and the dance show was good as well. I loved that smokers had their own spot away from those of us who don’t smoke so for the first time ever, we could enjoy a piano bar.
Bottom line, don’t sweat the small stuff, this is a trip of a lifetime, for us anyway. Book with a reputable travel agent, you don’t need to spend $$$$$ on the tours the cruiseline offers when there are many vendors who will take you out to see whales/​sites. Get travel insurance in case something happens before you leave or while you’re cruising. Make the most of the time spent with your loved ones.

Grand Princess: Vancouver to Whittier, 7 days.
First time cruising and I have to say, even though I was skeptical about cruise liners in general, I had a wonderful experience on board the Grand Princess: excellent service, food, and entertainment.
I booked the cruise through Costco and of course Costco provides excellent service. After booking the cruise, I was appalled to read all thebad reviews and there was nothing I could do other than take the cruise as it was too late to cancel.
I have to say, the bad reviews when read between the lines, are from people who aren’t Timely, doesn’t know how to read instructions/​directions, does not know what «formal attire» means, and does not know proper social etiquette.
If you want to walk around like a bum and get everything free on a ship then maybe the Grand Princess is not the ideal cruiseliner for you.

We booked a 10 day Princess Cruise to Alaska with a Princess Vacation Planner by the name of William Ethridge in Seattle, WA. Our advice to you is avoid his services like the plague. The reason being he booked our cruise and we were not allowed to board the Coral Princess, because he assumed that our passport cards were sufficient to allow our flight into Vancouver where we were supposed to board our ship. A passport book is required to fly into a foreign country. We arrived late, because of his pre– arranged flight. Neither Princess nor Mr. Ethridge will accept responsibility for his act of incompetence and refuse to refund any of our money.

We did a relocation cruise from Vancouver BC to LA. The Crown Princess was packed to capacity and it showed at times. Lines were occasionally long, which resulted in changing plans, but that’s life.
We particularly enjoyed Vines, the wine bar. Tapas & wine were generally all we required for dinner and the staff was top notch. Prices were high as expected, but we knew they would be and didn’t mind it too much. Surprisingly, the beer prices were reasonable. $ 5.50 for an Alaskan Brewing Co offer was respectable.
Buffets and dining were good to almost very good. More variation on a daily basis would help. The steak house, an extra $ 25pp was a great dining experience with high end beef, seafood, and chop offerings. Really good!
My favorite, unabashedly, was the burger bar. I took blue cheese, prosciutto, and bell peppers from the buffet and the chef grilled it up as a double cheese on a brioche bun.
Rooms were much more roomy than expected and the balcony was perfect for coffee in the AM and wine in the evening.
Enjoyed it enough to book passage to Alaska in the Spring.

I was denied dinner because I was not dressed formally. I had a medical need to simply eat and return to my room. I was refused at the «anytime dinning» restaurant even though I paid extra to have that service. It wasn’t until after my wife complained that we were told to to a different deck to get something to eat. We were at the mercy of the crew. The on board shore excursion desk changed the time for one of my excursions and the delivered the change to my stateroom. By the time I found out the excursion desk was closed. I talked to them the next day and they said it was my fault, if I didn’t like the change I should have come down before they closed. I guess I was supposed to wait in my room for them to notify me of any changes. The new time for the shore excursion was 30 minutes before the shipped docked. We made the excursion but they could have eased my anxiety by telling me that the tour would wait on us but instead chose to yell at me for not contacting them before they closed. They were rude and this was $ 798 excursion. The ship was filthy. The windows haven’t been washed in years. Everywhere you turn they are trying to sell something. It was a 7 day sales pitch. I agree with the Mendel L. Post person. Avoid princess, their poor attitudes didn’t make the trip enjoyable. The only saving grace was the outstanding shore excursions put on by outside vendors.

Since its getting close to Alaska cruisng season, I’d thought I save a soul and tell you to skip some tours at certain ports if you can.
Back in July 2013, I went on an Alaskan cruise on Saphire Princess with Stephen, his mom and his niece. We splurged and got a cabin with a balcony. Worth every penny! That would have been 5 stars right there.
I’ve been cruising for over 20 years, so if you’re a veteran cruiser, don’t expect the best service here. Our cabin guy was below average. Our wait staff in the dining room was just ok as well. First night he was actually awful, and 2^nd night they gave our dining table away by mistake.
If you are a first time cruiser, you’ll think its the Love Boat.
Regardless if its your 1^st or 30^th time, You go because Princess has the best cruise route for Alaska. The glaciers make up for the crap service and the crap tours.
So why 3 stars? We picked some awful tours and I hope to help you avoid my mistake.
Be careful how you pick your tours. The whale watchng tour in Juneau, for example, was amazing. We got to see some orcas breach, and were close to tons of whales.
Do not pick the tour that comes with the salmon bake meal. The extra cost was not only a rip, but it was a joke. Or, do the salmon bake but skip the whale watching tour. Don’t do both. My friend did just the salmon bake and said she had the best meal. We did the combo, and I felt we had cafeteria food. The salmon at Vons Market was better than what we were served.
Another awful tour was in Skagway, that includes a stop at the Historic Skagway Inn. Save your money and eat at the ship. No lie!
Ok, so our Skagway tour started at like 7:00 am or some insane time. Before the bus took off, the owner came on board our bus all cheerful, chatted up his «gourmet» restaurant, handed us a menu and personally took our order. I opted for the chowder soup, his version of a chicken «pot pie», and cobbler dessert.
The bus took us do some gold panning, which was a waste of time and was stupid. Its something I could have done this at Knotts Berry Farm. If it wasn’t for the gorgeous scenery, I would have sued Princess Cruise for this awful joke of a tour. I got up at 6:00 am to pan for «gold» which I got 2 grains of gold sand. Truly a joke!
The bus drives us around and we ooh and ahh nature’s beauty. Still not worth the price we paid for the tour. Then, we stop to eat.
The tour placed us in the room that was normally the breakfast room for the hotel guests. The dining room we were in was overcrowded with tables and chairs. They tried to fit 60 people in a room which should have held 40. There was at least one more dining room in the inn, which may have been less packed they could have used.
The meal started with a small bowl of chowder, which wasn’t bad but the bowl was small, about 3 or 4 ounces. It was definitely small.
Then came the main entrée. I had the «Skagway» pot pie which as a chafing dish filled with a goopy mess, and a PIllsbury type biscuit cut in a shape of a moose or bear, plopped on top of my gravy mix. That wasn’t a crust! There were hardly any meat, but plenty of al dente/​raw root vegetables. Quite overpriced for what we paid. Some call it gourmet, I think it was undercooked veggies he pulled from his garden outside.
Stephen had a plate of farfalle, vegetables, and smoked salmon. This dish could have had potential, but this dish no accompanying sauce, except perhaps the water the pasta and vegetables were cooked in. There were some herbs tossed in, but it was still bland. And the smoked salmon was a bit skimpy, and dry. If lucky, it was maybe 2 ounces of hard salmon, and it looked like it came from the gift store, not freshly smoked locally.
The dessert was a small piece of rhubarb cobbler that was just okay. By the time dessert came, we were ready to leave. I don’t think we even bothered eating the dessert.
The awkward part was when the owner came smiling, asking us if we liked the food. NO ONE in the room said yes, but we all said it was «Just OK». I think we were still in shock that the food was god awful. I blame myself for not having the guts to say it was overpriced, and now I have to run to the ship to grab a slice of pizza.
To sum it up, Research the tours before you pick. I hope I helped you salvage your vacation.

I did a 7 day cruise on the Princess Sapphire with a 5 day land tour of Denali.
Simply put, if you look under 40. DO NOT GO ON PRINCESS. You will get attitude from the majority of all employees.

Please stay far away from this cruise line!!!
We are a young professional couple that wanted to get away before our first baby is born. We booked our flights and our cruise with princess and were eager to enjoy a vacation. Princess, charged my credit card twice (6 weeks apart) for flights– a total of over $ 4000 and have been the most appalling company to deal with in getting THEIR mistake fixed. I have spoken to countless representatives on their end and never heard one apology. The credit card company is now charging interest on the charge because Princess still can’t get their act together. They are the most unprofessional, unapologetic company I have ever dealt with. As I ended (yet another) unsuccessful conversation with Pam from customer service, I said, «I will never be booking with Princess cruises again. This was a terrible experience.» She answered «Okay, BYE!» I have had wonderful experiences with other cruise lines… please please please do yourself a favour and find another cruise line.

On the Coral Princess twice. First time=1 star, Second time=5 stars, so avg=3.
First Time
Small room (couldn’t even close the shower curtain around an average body). Horrid food. Mediocre entertainment. Great service.
Second Time
Huge room (get a suite!). Horrid food – in the buffet, so ALWAYS choose fine dining. Still mediocre entertainment. Still excellent service.
Pretty geriatric crowd who seemed to love Princess. Eh, good price for the voyage. First time we took the iconic Love Boat to Alaska. This time, we did the Pacific Coastal. God showed off (the vistas!) both times. Princess did well, on average.

Haha. Well. This was quite the experience…
My boyfriend & I planned to spend two weeks in Alaska proper (Denali, Anchorage, & the Kenai Peninsula), then wanted to do a boat drip down the Inner Passage to see Juneau & a few other places. By the time we looked into what was available, the giant, 3,000 passenger Princess cruise from Whitter to Vancouver was all we could get (though we got a pretty good deal through Alaska Airlines — less than $ 1800 for both of us, including tax). What the hell, we figured; why not give it a shot?
First, the good:
* Top-​notch cabin & dining service. I mean really. I think they cleaned our room & did origami on the end of our toilet paper every time we left the room, & the dining room servers were fantastic. Our cabin steward met us once on the first evening & recognized us by sight every day thereafter.
* The dining room dinner food. Not five-​star amazing, but pretty darn tasty, & waaaay better than I was expecting for something that’s pre-​paid & mass produced.
* The wine. Again, not the best ever, but they actually had some pretty tasty bottles on offering for a very reasonable markup, plus a delicious Château St. Michele Riesling by the glass that I knew I could always fall back on.
* The views. Specifically, Glacier Bay on the 3^rd day out of Whittier. Wow! We had fabulous weather & spent the whole day out on the deck in our swimsuits watching the multitude of glaciers calving into the bay. (I think Margerie was the enormous one that we parked by for like an hour that calved several spectacular times.)
The meh:
* The buffet food. It reminded me a lot of dorm food. Sure, you could have it just about 24/​7, and most of it was fine in that it filled you up, but wasn’t terribly inspiring in terms of flavor.
* The $ 10 daily per guest gratuity added on to your portfolio automatically «for your convenience.» I have no problem with gratuity; it even kind of makes it easier because you don’t have to deal with it every time you order a drink. Still, the fact that you’re allowed to raise or lower it (or get rid of it altogether) at your discretion only appears in the fine print, which I find a little disingenuous.
* The liquor selection. When Patron 1800 & Johnny black are among the best you’ve got on board, it’s time to re-​evaluate.
The bad:
* I have never, ever, EVER in my life witnessed a company working harder to separate you from your money in every conceivable way. There were WATCH EXPOS. ON BOARD. And jewelry expos. And art auctions. And makeovers. And exercise classes. And overzealous photographers running around the boat snapping pictures of anyone who would stand still long enough in order to try to sell the results to you later. Not to mention the overpriced, overvalued shore excursions. You can bet we walked right past all that shit.
* The bands (mostly). Ugh. Alright; I love oldies as much as the next person, but there is a limit. And you also have to play them well. And have a dude singing the soul tunes that actually has some soul. And sound like you care. Otherwise, after a while, things can get very, VERY painful.
And finally, the ugly:
* The fellow passengers. Clearly, Princess’s target audience are those members of the species who would have traditionally been targeted by predators: the old, the sick/​infirm, the large & slow, the ignorant, & the young & impetuous. (Oh, and the disaffected teens dragged along by their old/​sick/​large/​ignorant parents.) Dear lord. On this trip, I saw «all you can eat» taken to a whole new, terrifying place. Also, why really old & really fat men feel the need to squeeze themselves into speedos & send young children fleeing from the pool, I will never understand.
* The cocktails. The lack of acceptable liquor might have been alright except for the skills (or lack thereof) of nearly every bartender on the ship. Details are beyond the scope of this review, but suffice it to say that I learned very early-​on to stick to wine. I’m sure they’re fantastic at the pre-​mixed glass-​o-​sugar concoctions advertised at the bar, but that’s about it.
So…yeah. I’m glad we did it once; probably won’t try it again. It was nice to see Skagway, Juneau, & Ketchikan, but it was too bad that we only had a few hours at each stop. At least I can say I’ve done it. :)

Tour of the glaciers on the diamond princess from vancouver to anchorage is an unforgettable journey. Amazing scenery and first-​class accommodation. The ship and its crew are exceptional; they exceeded my expectations in every way Highly recommended. During this June 2010 voyage we observed 8 humpbacks, 3 bear, and dozens of eagles, otters, dolphin, and seals. Pretty cool… And the glaciers are awe-​inspiring!

Took my first cruise ever to Alaska, departing from Vancouver. My good, look at all the people here this evening. Boarding was a trainwreck. The ports weren’t as bad getting on and off. If you are going to do it, I’d highly recommend one week as opposed to two. The second week turns out to be exactly the same cruise but in reverse order, doh! Never been so happy to touch ground when we returned to Vancouver. Ironically, Palin announced her resignation as Governor when we got off the boat. Perhaps, my meeting with her encouraged her to stop the fake act about being a civil servant, or perhaps not considering she is trying for some other stupid job now. What a boob!