We like the character of these older ships with the caveat they are well maintained. That was not the case with leaking water from ceilings, non functional elevators, broken exercise equipment, and dated amenities. The food was occasionally good but mostly not. Nothing special about the specialty dinning.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
No place to wait to get on ship which delayed boarding to around noon
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Food was great sometimes and poor most of the time. Don’t waste money on their specialty dining … it’s not special.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Hot tubs were mostly only warm water with broken jets, fitness center equipment was old and some not working properly
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Ships production shows were great but we only had two of them. Only one quest entertainer was worth the time to see
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
Princess needs to double down on staff training focusing on the customer experience.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
We really liked all the various bars on older ships like this. However the ship needs a lot of maintenance. Nonfunctional elevators, leaking water from ceilings, hot tubs not hot and jets not working, dated and som no functioning fitness equipment
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Nice cabin and overall clean but dated and could use a makeover.
Ship tip
Look for better ships with better customer service and better food
I do appreciate your detailed cruise info here but sometimes things do go out of wack as they say. I believe a bit of patience does go a long way We all have been on a ship or two that have some problems & we try to make the best out of it. I hope you will give Princess another chance to make it perfect for you once again. Happy Sailing next time around!.
Cruised to New Zealand on the Grand returning on March 8th. Found everything wonderful. The food was great, the specialty restaurants were well worth the cover charge and the staff were fantastic. The entertainment was varied as it should be to try to cater for all tastes. There were some minor maintenance issues that were attended to in a timely manner and the cleaning of common areas was spot on. There was a covid outbreak, and some of the passengers were reluctant to wear masks and that was the only problem I found.
Like JT said the cruise lines are trying to survive. Don’t forget the cruise lines were idle for 2 years and still had a lot of expenses to keep ships and essential personnel going. It’s not like the ships can just be docked and wait for things to pick up again. At one time Princess had 19 ships. Cruise lines are effected by supply chain issues just like everyone else. Patience is in order.
There have been lots of cutbacks since Covid, including staffing, quality of food, and Maintenance. The cruise lines are trying to survive, and pay off all of the debt incurred during Covid.
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