Fabulous destinations that lived up to Princesses reputation, but the ship disappointed us on this occasion and marred our cruise. I know others will have a different experience but this was ours, on this occasion. We have written to Princess Cruises, no reply yet but am taking into account the holiday season.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Overall the process of getting on the ship with Orincess at Sydney is handled very well. We arrived at 12:39 and was in the ship by 1:15
The only annoyance was one of our bags did not turn up to the room until after we sailed which was a little stressful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We did not use any of the MDR’s preferring on this trip to stay casual. The Horizon Buffet food was good as usual with good variety and quality.
The only and it is a major concern for us, handwashing was not controlled at the entry at all or if there was a crew member it was very casual. This by comparison to the Golden Princess a couple of months earlier who were very attentive to passenger hygiene. The entry and exit also wasn’t really managed so often people busted through, no hand wash in in the exit.
We really felt the attention to hygiene was less than we gave previously experienced.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
See previous comments re hygiene
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We only went to the main show which was fantastic and lived up to the big musicals that many cruise lines pride themselves of offering.
The show was ruined to a degree by overcrowding in the Princess Theatre! There were no staff other than a couple of bar staff getting drinks so the theatre continued to film to the point where people were sitting in the Wilde or standing as they did in front of us. They also blocked the exits. I commented to my wife J hope there’s no incident because getting out of the Theatre would have been very difficult. This was a big oversight by the ships management and should never be allowed to happen!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Always happy and obliging on Princess ships. They were let down by their managers in the Buffet and Theatre and preparation/Maintenance of the room we were in - see previous comments
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
As I have already stated regarding the Buffet.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
There were so many basic things that went wrong in our cabin it became an effort to stay positive but in the end we focused on the destinations, although I (everyday) contacted passenger services and the room steward to have issues fixed.
The issues were...
No Hot Water in Shower
Television would not work without crashing and requiring constant reset
Aircon not cooling the room
Horrendous smell on the balcony making use of the balcony out on occasions depending on ship speed or wind direction
Door Lock failed requiring replacement so the room had no security during one excursion ashore
Hot Water was fixed on Day 4/8
TV day 6/8
Aircon twice looked at and changes made but never fixed, the cooler temperatures as we sailed south made it Jess of an issue
Smell never went away
The smell was sewerage from a vent near/below Door 7 Starboard Side and we were told the crew were working on it, my advise on any of the Diamonds sister ships etc book the Port Side!
Ship tip
Book Port Side for balconies to avoid smell if you are midships fed or fed
Took the “Behibd the scenes walking tour” which was ok but slow and we missed a lot of what there is to see at this amazing place.
Would go our own way in future if we were to visit by cruise ship again. Bought a beautiful painting from a very nice local artist - Highlight of the trip!
We to a ships excursion to a wildlife park and Richmond Town. This was a good excursion with a lot to see from the bus. The wildlife rescue park, while the passion for what they do is undisputed I thought it was a bit dull really. Richmond, which is an early 1800’s Georgian town is fabulous and worthy of the praise it gets
Used the ships shuttle service to get to the international airport and this was well organised as always. This is also the most economical option from Sydney Cruise Terminal to Airport @ $AUD24 each v Taxi @ $AUD69
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