Worst vacation I have ever had- which is saying a lot considering my husband got COVID on our last vacation and we had to come home early. 4 of us (all adults) went on a cruise and collectively had over 12 cruises among us. This was the worst experience any of us have ever had on a cruise by a long shot. I do not recommend booking this cruise AT ALL. You will waste your money.
Saturday: It was raining when we boarded on the first day. The moment we walked into our cabin (Saturday), we noticed water was leaking from the ceiling. We immediately reached out to our cabin attendant to notify him. They came in and basically just wiped everything up, but by that time, it had stopped raining outside so the leaking had stopped. So instead of looking for the issue, they just dried everything and hoped for the best. However, you can see from the photo attached that this is not the first time this has happened. Meaning they rented this room to us knowing it had a leak. Also, we left the port an hour and a half late due to engine trouble.
Sunday: The next morning (Sunday), after it had been raining all night and into the morning, we woke up to water pouring into our room, raining on one of our friends’ head. My laptop had water all over it. We were using towels from the room to attempt to keep our stuff dry. Our clothes and shoes were wet by the time they got there. Water was pouring from the ceiling down the walls, inside the drawers, over electronics, and flooding into the carpet. We immediately notified an attendant. Then we went to guest services and tried to get our room changed. They told us there were no rooms available because the cabins were all fully booked, and they would repair the leak. Finally, after several hours, we were told that the leak was fixed, and they placed fans in our room to dry the floor. However, they removed them that night even though the floors were still wet.
Monday: The next day (Monday) our cabin smelled retched from the wet carpet, and it was intolerable. It was so bad in the room that even the hallway outside of our room smelled like sewer water. From the way the ceiling looked, you can tell this is a repetitive issue, so one can assume the smell is mold/mildew coming from underneath the floor. I was 18 weeks pregnant on this cruise and did not feel comfortable staying in a room with mold. We were repetitively told there were no other rooms available for us and that they would put the fans back in our room. So, we went and tried to find chairs by the pool (impossible) and tried to enjoy our day. There was a note left for us in our room when we got back telling us they were giving us 50 dollars each for the trouble. (False, because only 2 out of 4 guests actually had this credit on their account). We could barely stand getting dressed in our room due to the foul smell. So, we went to guest services again and asked again for the fans to be placed back in the room as the floor was still wet. We couldn’t even walk around in the room without our shoes on. Later that afternoon, after going to guest services for the 3rd time, they said they were told that the room was dry. It most certainly wasn’t. We were also told again they didn’t have any more rooms. We told them 50 dollars is absolutely worthless when we collectively spent over 8k on this vacation. They said they would find us later and let us know what they came up with for a plan of action. When they found us (while we were eating supper) they again said they didn’t have any more rooms available and basically were going to do nothing. At this point, with my clothes and laptop soaked, our room smelling like a sewer, we told them to fly us home and reimburse us for our trip, or to find us somewhere else to stay. He told us again that he would find us later to see what they could do. They finally came back to us at 11:00 pm (nearly midnight) to tell us that a family didn’t show up for their cabin and had missed the ship so they said we could stay in their room (D518) for at least that night as they were unsure if this family was going to fly into the next port in Puerto Rico to join the cruise which was the next day. They had the entire day to make this decision and decided to come find us that late to let us know about this room. They allowed us to keep our stuff in the old smelly room for the night so we wouldn’t have to haul our luggage to another room (no offer from them to assist moving our stuff). It was after midnight, Tuesday morning, by the time we were actually able to get into this room and get ready for bed. (And if you’ve ever been pregnant, getting up early and going to bed late is not what you want.) We took this room even though it sleeps 3 people (2 beds) and we paid for a room that sleeps 4 people (3 beds). We were told to come back to guest services the next morning.
Tuesday: We went back up to guest services the next morning and finally a manager met with us. This was the first time we actually felt heard and felt the concern of someone on this ship. They wanted to offer us 25% off of our next cruise OR 150 dollars of on-board credit. We told them no thank you on both. We have a guest who saved up for 3 years for this “vacation” and 150 dollars is nothing in comparison. Not when you have spent half of your vacation trying to get someone to take your concern seriously. Another vacation is an idiotic idea. At this point we have already decided to not sail with Princess ever again. Not because of the room, we understand things happen that are out of your control, but when it takes you THREE DAYS to finally take our concerns with any kind of seriousness, I question the integrity of your whole business. Also, I am a 3rd year *pregnant* medical student. I will not have any more breaks until I graduate since I am using my vacation time as a leave of absence to have my baby. The manager said, “even if I leave it open for a year?” Ummm, yes, we still don’t want it even if you leave it open for a year. We do not know if we have the time or bandwidth to take a cruise within the next year- especially with a newborn. Also, not everyone can afford a cruise every single year even if you do give them 25% off. What a joke! He told us he would have to call customer service to see what they could do and that they would find us later after we got back from our excursions on the island. He also told us that they had spoken to the family of the room we were staying in (D518), and that they would NOT be joining the cruise. So, we THOUGHT we were set. We would have to sleep 3 adults to one bed, but we would make do with what we had. However later that night we were informed that we would probably be having to change rooms the next day due to a family taking the room we were in. Even though we were told that morning that the family said they were not coming. So, who was taking this room? They said they had extra carpet and that we could stay in the room we were in (D518) one more night and that they would replace the carpet the next morning in our original room and we could move back. We agreed to this since there seemed to be no other way out.
Wednesday: They found us Wednesday morning to let us know that the carpet was replaced and that they were giving us an extra room. Still unsure why they did this unless they thought that giving us 2 rooms for 2 nights would make everything okay again after ruining 3/4 of our vacation. So, we moved our stuff for a 3rd time back to our old room and to this new room that magically appeared somehow after they told us they didn’t have any rooms available because they were “fully booked.” The toilet in the new room messed up several times and we were unable to flush. Then the pure toilet seat fell off. Plus the bathtubs filled with water while you showered (in both rooms) so you were standing in ankle deep water by the end. Wednesday night we went to go to sleep and my mom was sleeping on the couch bed. She had no pillows. I ordered some on the app they are so proud of and no one ever brought any. So, my husband called to ask them to bring some pillows and no one ever came. We ended up using pillows from the other room they gave us that our friend was staying in since she had 4, thankfully. They never brought us any pillows.
Thursday: The next morning (Thursday) we were approached by the cleaning staff who asked where the pillows were. We told them we needed them for our other room because no one would bring us any. They said that was fine but to bring them back to the other room on the last day. Which is unreal that we would even be asked to do that after they were the ones who wouldn’t bring us any in the first place. We were also informed on this day that we would not be stopping in the Dominican Republic due to “strong winds.” All the passengers on the ship agreed that this was a cover up for yet another of their mistakes. We were late leaving every port due to their engine being broken. We left an hour and a half late when we first left. Then everywhere after that we would leave an hour-hour and half late every time we stopped due to the engine trouble. I truly believe the reason they didn’t stop at the Dominican Republic was to keep us “on schedule” to get us back to port in time. Even though they told us on Saturday night that they would make up this time by us getting back to the home port later- which prompted us to change our flight back to a later time. All for nothing since we didn’t make our last stop and got home in plenty of time.
Friday: Friday afternoon we had been on the ship for 48 hours at this point with not much to do since they didn’t offer many activities and what was offered was extremely boring or was a ploy to make you buy something. Some kind of “diamond show” or “massage taster” to make you spend more money. All the passengers were going stir crazy by this point. Finally that afternoon, after feeling the tension and aggravation of their passengers, they informed us they were giving us all a “non-refundable” 100 dollar credit to spend on board. Meaning, if you didn’t spend it then it wouldn’t be going back onto your account after so it would just be money lost. Not many shops on board in the first place and not many shops where $100 will get you very much. And they told us this at the latest possible moment since all their shops close at 11pm and you only had about 3 hours to shop and weave through 5,000 passengers trying to do the same. We talked to many, many passengers who all felt that this was a complete joke. As if 100 dollars to spend on their cruise ship is enough to make up for missing the one place we were all looking forward to.
Saturday: They finally let the hostages off of the ship.
I know I sound like we had a miserable time, but really, we didn't. We laughed through all of it and enjoyed each other. I had a wonderful time because of who I was with. At a certain point when things start happening, what else can you do but laugh and shake your head? However, I believe we were treated very unfairly and I want to prevent others from spending money on a vacation, being promised one thing, and then going through what we all went through.
Some other nuances that need to be addressed before anyone should EVER even consider going on one of their cruise ships:
1. Nothing to do on sea days.
2. Chairs would all be taken by 8:00 am so there was no where to lay out. And by "taken" I mean that they would have a towel laying in them- not physically taken by a human body. You may find one or two somewhere but usually in the extremely hot places with no shade or umbrella. Basically, if you didn't want to sit in the scorching sun and sweat to death, you had to go sit inside somewhere.
3. Their "private island" was a complete joke and there was absolutely NOTHING to do. The whole thing is just one big way to make you rent more stuff from them. Plus, it wasn't a normal port where you could just walk off- you had to take another boat over there. So only a couple of hundred people could get to the island at a time- which took FOREVER. Took forever getting over there AND took forever to get back to the ship at the end of the day. Spent most of the day waiting in line to get over there and then to get back. Should have skipped this one and went on to the next so we actually could have went to the Dominican Republic.
4. Entertainment was a snooze fest. Thankfully, I thought about grabbing Uno cards before I left and this kept us entertained. We saw so many families who were playing card and board games that they brought- and we saw this often. Says so much about how much entertainment was offered.
5. We got the premium drink package, but it was for the sodas and virgin drinks since none of us really drink any alcohol (once again, I am pregnant, so it was only for fruity drinks and sodas). But any time you asked for a soda, even in the dining room, it took anywhere from 15-30 minutes for them to actually bring you your drink. And if you ordered it on the app to have it delivered, you could forget it because many times they weren’t delivered at all even though it would say delivered on the app. This was unlike any cruise I had ever been on. Usually they give you a cup and you can find drink machines all over the ship to get a drink whenever you wanted. You had to ask every single time you wanted one.
6. I realize how petty this one is- but I'm pregnant and it was a big deal for a foodie who loves sweets! The Ice cream place closed at 9:00. I understand they need breaks and to rest. That is completely understandable. However, you could find alcohol on the ship almost everywhere you went and any time of the day. It just really sucked for the people who don’t drink and love all the deserts. There was no ice cream machine at the buffet or anything. Only one place that served it besides the dining room.
7. Speaking of the drinks, there was an extremely limited selection. Only small number of coke products- coke, diet coke, sprite, and ginger ale. That needs to be said up front when you pay for a package because not everyone drinks those particular sodas. My mom bought this package and ended up bringing Diet Dr. Peppers on board with her so she could actually enjoy a drink with her meals.
