Not a bad cruise, but not the Princess we've been used to. Seems they are cutting costs of food and less service. Spent half my time in the buffet getting my own drinks or moving dirty dishes off the tables.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Due to we have many previous cruises on Princess, we were quickly processed and taken to a room where it was roomy and given drinks and munchies til we were boarded. When boarding started, we were among the first on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Not as it was in the past. The buffet had barely warm food. Service in the main dining room was lacking. The food again was barely warm. In the past, in the main dining room, there were mainstays that you could go to if you didn't like what was on that days menu. A steak and a couple of other things. Now it's chicken and a hamburger. At the beginning of the cruise, during the day you could get a burger, hot dog or brat at the Grill. Halfway thru, the Grill was closed for "Technical Maintenance," and then you had to go to the buffet to get a warm hamburger. We did not eat in the Special Dining.
Wheelhouse Bar
4 out of 5
Daily had "Happy Hour." Was a very nice bar and quaint.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Wife liked the shows and they had different entertainers.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Room steward was Michael and he was 5 star. On the job and through. Everyone else seemed just unhappy and unhelpful. Buffet staff spent more time jacking their jaws to each other.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The ship is older and shows some sigh of her age. But we like the smaller ships.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Smallest we've ever had but was adequate. Heck all you do is sleep and change clothes. AC worked fine and Michael did a fine job keeping it cleaned and ready for us. It was on the bottom of the ship and we hardly could tell much movement.
Ship tip
Be ready to walk back and forth from one end to the other. Shows are at each end. Movies Under the Stars is pretty nice. Especially after they worked on the screen. It had several LED's out.
We used a guide, Marelvy, that we found on Trip Advisor. She was Excellent. Very informative and was very protective of our group. We will most likely return and stay for a week. Too much to see in the short time we were there.
We liked the Pacific side much better. We picked a vendor off the ship. If you get taken to "Big Jim," RUN!!!!! DO NOT GET IN HIS VAN!! We were told he'd only have 6 total in the van. We had 10 in a small Toyota van. As you drive by a school, he'll point and say "School." When you go by the Government building, he'll say "Pay taxes there." We went up into a private neighborhood and stopped to overlook the town. After a couple of minutes the people that lived there came out and told us to leave. When we went to the Banana Plantation, we pulled in a gate that said "No Trespassing," and we were there long enough to see banana's and leave. A mistake by us this day.
Got off the ship and got one of the vendors to take us on a tour of the area. There were four of us and it was a good time. Went to Hell and returned. There is a bar by where the tenders stop. KILLER drinks there. They are a little expensive, but worth it. Plus it's a nice view.
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