Coastal - West Coast Cruise Reviews

The ports could have been chosen better. Rather than Santa Barbara and San Pedro would have liked going to San Diego. There was really nothing to see in Santa Barbara or San Pedro.

Food on this trip was OK. Nothing outstanding.

Too many people. 2,600 passengers is about 2,000 too many.

The Princess California cruise has a nice itinerary for those wishing to get a flavor of four west coast cities, while not having to drive, pack, unpack, and face the many inconveniences of trying to tour a very large state.  As California residents it is more of a getaway to familiar places that most of us have visited.  We actually found the cruise to be not what we were hoping for.  While the food was excellent, and the ports interesting, we found life aboard ship to be a series of "made up" excitement and a lot of noise, which is not our taste on a cruise.  As serial cruisers around the world, we have always preferred educational experiences to a constant barrage of games, made up events, and opportunities to be pitched by people aboard selling all manner of stuff.  In addition our particular cruise was composed of mostly older folks [we are too] and a large majority of very heavy folks, who seemed to be there for the food, which was excellent and plentiful.  The Princess crew does a terrific job and the cruise directors are informative, hilarious, and everywhere.  In the end we still prefer a quieter, more educational experience with fewer sales pitches, and more expenses covered in our basic cruise fee.  By the way, we had a mini suite, which was a good value.

 The staff and cleanliness were excellent. The food in the Lido dining room was much better than the food in the main dining-room. On 3 different days we were given bath towels with holes in them. They shrunk the state room in this ship leaving us with only one comfortable chair to sit on. This cruise was not up to Princess standards tha I experience in the past 

Did not know what to expect even though I heard positive things from other people.  I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise, the food was excellent in abundance...never hungry, the staff was very friendly and most helpful when lost.  Everything ran like a dream very well executed from the excursions to meals to entertainment.  Even though I did not do most of the excursions there was enough to on the ship for entertainment.  The complaint I do have was that the pillows on our bed were too soft, would have preferred something more firm, and also no top sheets were used.  The maps or directions of faucalities could have been more clearer, some were quite confusing.   Other than that I would gladly go on another cruise

We enjoyed the cruise because it was easy in all aspects.  The stops were great because you didn't really need to buy shore excursions except possibly in LA.  The staff on the ship was very accommodating and the shows were excellent.  The food was good and the boat was very steady.  The weather was fantastic as well.  Ensenada is much clean than before.  Great value especially if you live in the Bay Area since you can get the boat without airfare which is a real plus.  It's a great alternative to the Mexican Riviera if you want a different experience.

All ports were excellent - especially for the first time cruiser.  Naturally, it was more hectic in Santa Barbara because of having to use the tenders.  The April weather was ideal (mid 60's) at all stops for a spring cruise.  Unfortunately, the pool water was much too cold for adults, but the kids completely dominated it anyway.  A cruise at Easter vacation is not for adults who can't tolerate kids. The food was excellent and so was the entertainment and accommodations.

Ports of call were great - how could they NOT be!  San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Ensenada.  Very friendly people and terrific service. I am a Royal Caribbean loyalist so going on a Princess ship was new for me.  I did not have the best of expectations, but then again, this cruise was pretty cheap, so I had little to loose.  The food was outstanding... much better than my recent experience on the Quantum of the Seas with Royal Caribbean.  The ship is magnificent (and I haven't sailed on a ship under 6400 or 4400 passengers lately, so I thought at first that this 3100 passenger ship was "tiny" :) )  We had HUGE 20' swells outside of San Francisco that looked very scary and a lot of us were looking outside completely shocked that the ship wasn't even tilting at all... completely stable.  That was quite remarkable.  This cruise is the perfect model of a fantastic cruise experience!

I've cruised over 40 times, but this was my first cruise with Princess.  When I walked into my cabin, I was pleasantly shocked...it was almost as large as our bedroom at home!  It was a handicapped room, and everything was accessible and beautifully decorated.  There was room for BOTH my scooter and my husband's scooter (without having to compromise any aisles or moving-around spaces.

The food/service in the main dining room was EXCELLENT every night.  We enjoyed our staff, our table-mates, the menu selections, and the atmosphere.  Unfortunately, we were never impressed with any of the food on the buffet lines, so we used Room Service for most of our lunches.  My husband enjoyed the hamburgers at the outside grill by the pool area, and I likes most of the freshly baked pizza selections (it had thin crust, and was not too greasy like on some ships).

Every show that was presented by the production staff (4 singers and 13 dancers) was AMAZING.  They were the highest quality of any shipboard musical productions that I had ever seen.  They were better than many of the Vegas shows I've seen.  Great sets...great costumes...talented professionals!!! 

I wasn't crazy about the selection of shipboard activities.  I know that it wasn't advertised as "The Fun Ship", but I would have liked more games, demonstrations, and classes.  We had a lot of "down time" for relaxing, but I like to stay a bit busier.  We didn't even get "towel animals" on our bed at night!

The photography department was sub-par.  The photos were overpriced (Why do I need 2 copies printed of the same pose on each $20 sheet?), with poor workmanship (With digital cameras, they SHOULD be able to see if the subject took a good, clear photo before the move on.), and not displayed in a timely manner.  We usually buy 10-20 photos on a one week cruise...this time we only found 4 that we liked enough to purchase!

The "disembarking" process was FANTASTIC!  It was efficient, organized, and stress-free.  It was a better experience than we have ever had before.  All of the other cruise lines need to take notes on how Princess can pull this off.  It was a good way to end our cruise on a positive note.

All things considered, we really enjoyed the week.  It was very relaxing, and we made many new friends.  Thank you Princess for a wonderful cruise and for a new set of precious cruise memories!!!!   

I've been on many cruise lines but this was my first on Princess. I'm from SoCal so the locations wasn't set to be the highlight of my trip. My wife and I wanted a quick get away and thought we would take advantage of a local cruise and see what Princess had to offer.

The cabin was good and the steward did a great job. No towel animals so a little disappointing but not a big deal. The shows were OK but I was surprised to see a comedy act as the main show a couple times during the week and especially on formal night. Bar service was horrible for both poolside and lounges. I'm not a big drinker but I rarely saw a pool waiter and had to walk to the bar for all my drinks. It was not crowded but I do think the ultimate drink package they sell may be driving them to stay away from service. I bought the package for $50 a day but to get my moneys worth I had to seek out the bars. 

Food and restaurants was my biggest let down. The dining rooms were horrible and the buffets were worse! We did not get the typical individualized waiter service in the traditional dining that we experienced in other cruises. By day 3 they know what you like, greet you by name, etc... None of that! We thought it was just our waiter but other passengers said the same. We tried the anytime dining to see if it was better....Nope.

I've been on multiple cruises with Royal Caribbean, Disney, Celebrity, Carnival, Norwegian and now Princess. I've always thought of Princess as kind of the elite cruise line until now. They are at or near the bottom.     

Our first time ever....very impressed with all the restaurants, Princess Theater, beautiful pools and hot tubs.

Just a pity that the Captain of the Ship only has "dinner" with the Elite Passengers.  Never saw him once!!

Otherwise the customer service was excellent and very friendly!!!!! Highly recommended by us

We had an excellent experience and have completed both questionnaires from CruiseOnly and Princess, Thank you!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

It would be unfair to rate the ports as a) I live in San Diego and b) it was raining in Santa Barbara (although I tried...)

Because of where we live a Coastal Cruise or an Alaska Cruise is always a good choice. And, as I said in my title, despite the weather this one was one of the best.

Great cruise using the medallion was a little rocky at first but after the first day and a trip to the ocean ready desk it work great

The cruise was nice, enjoyable and relaxing. Weather was great. Nice little short getaway.

they need more staff for food areas. We have a cruise booked on same ship for October 1, 2022 but we will be canceling if they do not improve their staffing of buffet and specialty dining

Well in my opinion j.p. the president of Princess who's turning this brand into a below Carnival standard. This was my 17th Cruise and it is the cruise that made me think I should switch from princess

This was a last minute booking (7 days prior to sailing.) The offer was too good to pass up. Rumor had it we sailed with 2,700 passengers, but it sure seemed like less. But it that’s true, it was the most post-COVID. Staff and crew are all nearing the end of contract in another 6 weeks or so. Will be interesting to see how Princess manages the first mass crew changes since COVID.

This trip had only 490 passengers and a crew of almost 900 from 44 countries. That’s only about 20% capacity. Reposition cruise to start the Alaska 2022.

Solo trip for this teacher getting out of town during Spring Break / on Easter Sunday! I loved this one-way sailing from Los Angeles to Vancouver and will book it again in the next year or two. 5 nights was a great length, too -- short enough that it didn't take up all of Spring Break but longer and more relaxing than a weekend booze cruise!