Princess is a more laid-back ship than our previous cruise, although there is still plenty to do. It's a great ship for families, as long as you don't expect Disney-like excitement for kids. The teens loved it, and the adults did, too.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
The embarkation took a lot of time, but it wasn't stressful. We parked where we like to (at this covered place across the street called Galveston Park & Cruise). It's just across the street from the terminal, and is so quick. Of course, once you get to the line, you wait forever, but I just chat with fellow passengers.
Be aware you're going to wait, and be prepared to do so.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We don't do the specialty restaurants because we aren't foodies, but we ate at the buffets and in the dining room. To be honest, I didn't like it as well as Royal Caribbean, although there's so much variance from ship to ship that this isn't about comparing the lines, just my experience. I wish they indicated healthier choices, and I felt like sometimes the buffet felt tired and same-y. It was a little too much like a school cafeteria - a good one, but still. I thought it was just okay.
Dining Room
4 out of 5
We liked the dining room a lot. The service was good. We were alone at our table, which makes me sad because I like to get to know people. One night other people were there. The service was terrific. I don't know how they do it, but they make you feel like they only care about you and that they genuinely do care about you. The food was good, but I'm not picky! On lobster night, one man ate six lobsters and threw up all over the place, but that's NOT the ship's fault! We sometimes had to wait to be seated for quite awhile.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
So, I'm used to the activities on Royal Caribbean, and I feel like this ship didn't have as many activities on sea days. We ended up doing a lot of repeat stuff (trivia, dancing, etc.). There were no arts/crafts. I did love the towel animal folding class! That was awesome! I folded towel monkeys for days!!!!
We didn't have too much trouble finding places around the deck to sit or even hot tub space.
Probably my favorite thing were dance classes and a 5k on deck to raise money for breast cancer research. I got a cap that says "On Deck for the Cure."
Our three teenage sons loved the stuff for teens, and we only saw them at dinner and on excursions.
We did play mini golf, which is glorious with the view.
My husband participated in this golf contest hitting balls over the pool. It was fun and hilarious.
We took the backstage galley tour, and we enjoyed it. I love learning about how stuff works.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We liked the shows and musicians. It's nice that there is a real blend. Sometimes the shows were very crowded, and it's important to be there early. We especially liked some of the PG comedy (we're religious, so we avoid the cruder stuff).
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
We had teens (three) who loved the stuff for teens. They were there all of the time and really got to know the staff. They have great staff in there. One of our sons was a foreign exchange student from Poland, and he was blown away. We literally never saw the boys except at meals and excursions. They said they hardly needed a cabin because they never slept.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ian was our steward, and he was amazing. He was so nice, so patient, so generous with his time, and so forgiving of my only-second-sailing blunders. Loved him!!!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I didn't have any trouble finding my way around, once I got the hang of it. It was clean, and I didn't notice any maintenance issues.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was what I expected. We're hardly ever there, except to sleep! I had enough space for my clothes, the bathroom was fine, and the bed was comfortable. It wasn't loud (my only pet peeve). If you need a ton of space and are super picky, you either need to be able to afford a suite or stay on land. It's a ship!!!
Ship tip
I'd bring protein bars or something if you are going on any of the excursions, as even if they give you lunch, it may be at an odd time (2pm) or not something you feel comfortable eating. This is true of any ship, but since this ship's itinerary took us two places with possible longer excursions (Cozumel & Belize City), it was particularly true.
Galveston is a fun little island, and it's worth coming in a day early to go to the sea wall, Moody Gardens, the Hurricane Museum, and definitely go up the road to the Houston Space Center if you've never been. If you do that, read the book "Apollo 8," first. Everything will mean much more.
We'd been to Cozumel before and did ruins, and we were doing ruins again at Belize, so in Cozumel we took an excursion through the ship to Xcaret. Our eldest son is a certified scuba diver, and he did a separate excursion to go scuba diving. Cozumel has the second largest coral reef in the world apparently, and he was excited to dive it. Xcaret was terrific. We had to take a boat in (you can see the bright yellow in the picture), and then a bus. We do excursions through the ship when we're worried about time. Otherwise, we do our own, usually with Costco or Shoreexcursions.com. The park is fantastic! We loved, loved, loved it. Our boys went swimming down the underground river, we saw the baby turtles, which was cool, there are amazing animals (some just right there like the lizard in the picture), and the bat cave is cool, too. You get to stand and be a roost for beautiful birds, and the acquarium is great. Their jellies display is very well done. We loved the birds, and in place, my husband was sitting there and a bird just randomly came up to him and jumped on his arm (see picture). There are some cultural things in the park as well, and a beach. We ate lunch in the restaurant (very good), and we could see people swimming with dolphins. We don't do that because our son was taking AP Environmental Science and told us about the cruelty of it, so we can't ever do dolphin swims!!! I'm so sad!!! Overal, worth it and a great excursion I'd highly recommend. It may not be perfect for those with little ones, as the park is not geared to small children, necessarily. It could be done, but they wouldn't necessarily love it.
We took the chair lift over to the beach and hung out there awhile. Then, we rented kayaks from the shop (expensive, of course). They also had other water sport equipment for rent. We kayaked along the river behind the beach, and we saw this man in a bend of the river with a netted area. My eldest son speaks Spanish from being a missionary and he asked him what he was doing. They bonded over his surprise at my son's Spanish, and the guy invited us to jump in and see. What did we see? Giant turtles! We swam with them and touched them, and it was the highlight of my cruise, really. He loves his turtles. He knows them and raises them. We called him "hombre de Tortuga," or "Turtle Man," and he loved that. He didn't charge us, but I tipped him $50 for the best hour of our cruise.
We took an excursion through the ship to Lamanai. We do them through the ship for stops where we're worried about time. Some people on our ship who cruise a lot told us that on the last cruise they were on, the captain's wife was late, and he left without her (apparently he hired a speed boat to bring her out to the ship!). Some excursion companies give back-to-ship guarantees, but what good does that really do you in the moment? Lamanai is a trek! We took a bus and then a river boat out there. You travel a long time. Don't bring little kids on this excursion. We loved the ruins. Apparently you can't climb the pyramid anymore (?), but it was pretty scary, so I'm not sad about that. The view was amazing, but coming back down was somewhat disconcerting. If you haven't seen ruins, they're worth it.
Much better than the embarkation, the disembarkation went well. They gave us a time, and we were off and on our way fairly close to that time. Then the cruise depression sinks in as you drive home!
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