Europe - Western Europe Cruise Reviews

While the ship is a beautiful ship, the dinner menus were lacking, and the "Any Time Dining" preference that was forced on us back in April when we booked this cruise is - to be blunt a cruel joke.  While our card read, "Any Time, Any Table," the truth is just the opposite.  "Any Time Dining" is assigned but to only two dinning rooms, and "Any Time Dining" is available only after 7:35 p.m. each night.  Princess takes reservations for these dinning rooms, and the reservations fill up the dining room leaving little dining options left for the "Any Time" diner.  Of course, Prince will give out buzzers (just like you get in restaurants at home) that allow you to wait for a table, except for when all the buzzers have been given out.  My wife became ill with the Norovirus early in the cruise and on the first formal night; so, we missed that formal dining opportunity.  On the second night, we dressed in our formal attire for dinner.  I called much earlier in the day for a reservation only to be told that none were available.  However, I was also told that there were plenty of tables available designated as "Any Time" dining.  We showed up at our designated "Any Time" dining room at 7:30, and we were turned away because they were full and did not expect any tables to become available.  We went to other dining rooms including the specialty dining rooms, and we were told by each on that they were full and closed for the evening.  My wife and I, dressed in our formal attire, ended up eating dinner in the Pizzeria. The entertainment was too heavy on local culture.  The local culture was interesting, but there was too much of it.  We have experienced much better entertainment on other cruises.  On the bright side, we liked the way the Princess staff handled the flow of people in the Horizon Cafe on Deck 16 where people usually go for breakfast.  We did not have a problem finding a table as we have on other cruise ships, and Princess had people waiting on us at the table to serve coffee and juice.  There was no waiting line for omelets as we simply ordered the omelet and went to our table with a ticket that was picked up by the waiters.  The waiters then brought the freshly cooked and still hot omelet to our table.  Ports of call were very good, and we enjoyed our tours that we were able to keep.  We could not attend two tours because of illness, and the cruise bypassed Dublin because of bad weather.  On the one hand, you should know that when a passenger becomes ill and reports the illness to the medical room, the medical staff will stamp your tour tickets.  You then turn them back to the tour desk, and your money for these tours will be refunded.  On the other hand, you should know that if you become ill with the Norovirus, Princess does not look out after your diet in recovery.  We called for chicken soup and rice, and we were told that room service did not have it on their menu and to go to the Horizon Café.  I went there and asked for this food, and was told to call room service. 

Goods experience, would have been better if some funds had been reimbursed as ship did not dock in Dublin.  Ship shouldn't dock  when places are closed due to ba holidays ( e.g. bank holidays) .

The Royal Princess is a beautiful ship.  The line-up of this particular cruise and the ports of call were excellent choices.  One can easily maneuver around on their own to the different ports without feeling the pressure of purchasing shore excursions. Restaurants separate from the buffet were just as nice and were exceptional when it came to your choices on the menu.  We were summoned to a late check-in due to illness on the ship.  But under the circumstances, Princess seemed to have it all together and ran its course rather smoothly thereafter.  We've cruised with Princess before but never in a balcony accommodation.  My husband and I decided for now on we will probably do so after this cruise..  The acknowledgement of our anniversary was an added plus.  Currently, we are "Ruby" members and have revery intention of making "Elite" members.

First, this is our 8th Cruise. We have traveled on Oceania, Renaissance, Carnival, Windstar, Norwegian, Viking, and our 2nd Princess Cruise - to places from China to Istanbul, Denmark to Tahiti, Danube River, etc.

​The Royal Princess is a large beautiful ship, with activities for everyone. And an impressive array of tours in each port. The cabins are very comfortable and well appointed. Since we had a suite, the service and perks were generally very good, especially the Concierge Lounge. The speciality restaurants were excellent - both cuisine and service. We only attended one show (production) and it was quite good. 

What is not said above.....it seemed that Princess "nickles and dimes" everything. Soft drinks, a latte at the coffee bar, speciality restaurants, sea food bar, and on and on. When paying in excess of $17,000. for a cabin, you would think more than 6 sodas , one bar set up and a bottle of sparkling wine would be included!  On other cruise lines there were fountain soda bars where you can get your own...this was especially bothersome to us. Princess does offer soda, wine, drink, speciality coffee packages, etc.....for an extra charge. The quality of food at Horizons Buffet was spotty as well as the service....not always the friendliest. Example - for coffee you have to wait for a steward to serve you a cup and then add cream, if desired.  Many of the staff did not seem to have answers to questions or gave wrong answers, this may be because, I learned, they  rotate jobs. A major problem - the day of the virus being announced we were on a shore boat, a passenger vomited at the back of the boat (EEK), we were totally unable to understand the pilots announcement due to language difficulties, this was serious. And of course there was an uncontrolled rush to get off the shore boat when we sided to the Princess. If a crew member has responsibilities that pertain to passenger safety, their English should be as such that they can effectively communicate the instructions.

Unfortunately, on our cruise there was a virus outbreak 4 days out from the final port - see above. The Princess crew handled it very well on board,  but it made one nervous to venture into some of the public areas, especially Horizons.

Finally, we will not travel on this large a ship again, or Princess, it is not for us. There were many on the ship who were on their 10+ Princess cruise and loved it...it's a matter of taste.

Princess cruises are not nearly as attractive as they once were.  Overall, trip seemed more like the old Carnival cruises.  I felt that Princess had gone the way of todays airlines, marginal value and constantly paying extra charges.  I no longer consider Princess a premium cruise line and will not sail with them in the future.

We enjoyed this cruise but had several experiences that we felt shouldn't have happened.  The embarkation process was deplorable.  I have never seen such chaos and it took over 2 1/2 hours to get on the ship because there were not enough british immigration people to handle the 3000 guests.  Due to weather our trip to edinburg was delayed which we all understood but we were left out in the bay with very little activity and poor communication from the captain as to what the situation was.  Our last day at sea was also cut very short because the captain said there was stormy wether around amsterdam and he had to get the ship in through the locks.  Everything was shut down about 12;30 in the afternoon and we lost our last day of our cruise  When this happened the crew proceeded to start preparations for the next group of passengers and we all felt we were being pushed out the door with no where to go!  Transport to the airport was good but the luggage was in a pick up at one end of the airport and our flight was all the way at the other end of a very large airport that was quite confusing.  All in all, we had a good vacation and got to be at st andrews for the british open but felt disappointed with celebrity for what is claimed to be a luxury cruise

Disappointed in entertainment on cruise. Most of the staff weren't friendly. Food wasn't as good as the cruise I went on in Alaska. Shore excursions were great. 

This was an unbelievable cruise. The ports we visted were fantastic and the food was great. We booked our next one before we left the ship. It is not a good option for kids though.

The ship was spotless and the staff extremely hospitable and helpful. Traveling with a food allergic child is always a scary proposition, but the Princess staff took excellent care to keep him extra safe and happy. Special thanks to our dining room staff--Aurel Cristea, Thanakorn Khamngern and Maurice Ponce!!!!

My husband and I enjoyed the Costa Fortuna 14 day cruise to Iceland very much.  We just wanted to give a big thank you to the many staff members who graciously helped us out and were kind to us at all times.  We were the only Americans on board yet we had a marvelous time.  Thanks to our room captain Ari from room 1162.  Thanks to our Pizza captain who we enjoyed chatting with on stormy nights.  Thanks to Alma Lopez for always being so gracious. Thank you to our American-Greek speaking representative.  Thank you to the 9:00p.m. waiters who were always very professional.  Best wishes for many more exciting cruises!  Vicky and Tim Reidy

This was a great itinerary. We did something different at every stop! Ship was great, food was all adequate, Windjammer was a bit disappointing but it is a buffet... This cruise originates in the UK so for other USA travelers be aware that there are some differences! Not the same bacon and sausage we are used too, lol! Bingo is a true learning curve, very fun and much less expensive than our version! Seemed that prices all around were a bit lower and not nearly as many people chasing you down trying to get you to spend more money. Loved that aspect of the trip. Met some fascinating people and can't wait to do another trip from the UK!  

The staff on this ship with the exception of a few people were at the least unfriendly with some being completely rude! They acted like we were bothering them when we needed something. A few times we were completely ignored.

People were sick on our cruise everywhere and Celebrity  didn't  have a medical staff that gave a dam!  it was impossible to get aspirin from the doctor without registering for an appt. and there was no one to let you know what was going around.  Celebrity still let people serve themselves at the buffet while Holland America would have served people to prevent more infestation.  The air system must have been old or not kept up to have spread this flu and respiratory infection so fast through the ship the crew was sick as well! Staff didn't have loading or unloading boat organized due to tides and  made everyone wait to disembarke physical disabled when they could have assisted them on another unloading point. Staff other than medical was wonderful  no real organized activities things were always delayed.

This was my third cruise on Celebrity, and a very disappointing one.  It definitely wasn't worth the money.  The shore excursions--especially the ones involved using tenders--seemed incredibly disorganized.  Even if it was nowhere near the time of the shore excursion, we were urged over and over again to leave the ship via tender because there was "no waiting."  Once we'd get to the dock of the port we were visiting, the tour buses were not waiting for us because we were usually 1-1/2 hours early.  There was nowhere to sit and it was terribly cold and windy.  This seems like a rookie mistake that shouldn't have happened.  I would have much rather waited comfortably in my cabin.  The last straw was departure day from Amsterdam on June 21.  We had to wait on the bus to the airport for about 45 minutes because the luggage hadn't been loaded on the trucks.  Once we left the departure area, we still beat the trucks to the airport.  There was ONE person from Celebrity to try and help over 3,000 unhappy customers.  It was raining and the luggage was just dumped in front of the airport.  People were furious.  I upgraded to Concierge class on this trip.  I don't feel that the extra money was worth it because I still had to wait in lines, albeit not as much as I would have with regular passage.  I heard some other passengers complaining about Concierge class and how they'd gone to guest services to air their grievances.  They were told that management "knew" something was wrong with Concierge class, yet no one seemed to be willing to do anything about it.  Also, at the last minute, we were told that we couldn't go into Wales.  Since I booked this trip many, many months ago I feel that this shouldn't have happened.  The itinerary had been set far enough in advance to avoid something like this.  I definitely feel that I paid too much for this cruise and got relatively little in return.  I don't know if I will ever book a trip on Celebrity again and I doubt that Celebrity will get a lot of repeat business from this trip.

We had a great time on the Nautica.  Everything was wonderful.  The crew, the food , the excursions, the entertainment were all top notch.  Even the weather was cooperative!  Not a single drop of rain fell while we were in port.

A very, very pretty part of the world. The scenery could not have been more beautiful The weather was terrific, although a little chilly. The cruise ship, The Royal Princess, was a good experience despite its size

Overall it was a good trip. Princess didn't do a superb job though. Food was of good quality; yet it lacked imagination, innovation or excitement. It was mostly standard fare and repetitive. The on board activities were mostly boring and the ships show performers really weren't that good. They were extremely disorganized on shore excursions that began on the pier. It was blamed on short staffing which if true is not speaking well for Princess when we paid top dollar for the trip.

We very much enjoyed the ports themselves and the excursions. Aside form the above complaints we had a relaxing time in the British Isles.

I had heard that cruises were all about eating, which I was ok with since I am pregnant, but I was extremely disappointed in the quality of food on this cruise. It was all very low quality and the buffets just looked like the food had been sitting there all day. Breakfast was no good and the desserts left us searching the ship for something else. Of course, when ever you wanted something else, it was available for an extra fee....good ice cream, better food, wifi, excursions, the add on just left us never wanting to do another cruise because it just wasn't worth the cost. On the other hand, the rooms were nice, we had a balcony room, and I was worried about sea sickness and didn't have any problems.

We had an excellent time on our Royal Princess 12 night British Isles cruise.  While there were 3500 passengers onboard, the ship is huge and so never felt overwhelmingly crowded.  Service from the crew was outstanding. Our stateroom steward Geraldo treated us extremely well in meeting or even exceeding our needs.  In addition, the dining service we received from our waiter Luisito and assistant waiter, John Paul was top notch!  They treated us "royally" every night. The ports of call were awe inspiring; from Ireland's and Scotland's castles and beautiful scenery, to nature's wonders of "The Giant's Causeway" in Northern Ireland and "Stonehenge" in England.  In addition, we enjoyed a scenic cruise on Loch Ness, and a fabulous luncheon cruise along the Seine River in Paris. While in Paris, we viewed iconic sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and a brief, but productive souvenir shopping trip along the Champs Elysees.  While we had an awesome time, we would have preferred to have 2 days each in England and France and only 2 ports in Scotland instead of 4 ports, as there was more of England and France we would have liked to have visited.  But that's just our opinion.  All in all we give this trip 5 stars! One final note is that our flights were with British Airways and we highly recommend using them for your flight plans, as we had a very positive experience with them too.

This cruise covered many stops; one in England, three in Ireland and Scotland plus a day in France.  Beautiful countryside and Orkney Islands was unique all on its own; much like Iceland.   We saw so many sites, and the two days at sea were welcomed  rest from the excursions.  The excursions covered a lot of territory and if you went on an all day excursion, the lunches were all fabulous!!  This cruise was more taxing than the Alaska cruise which is only 7 days long, but we would highly recommend this cruise partly because so much is covered in 12 days.