Never again with Princess.

Grand Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

StevenG3

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 4

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 19, 2011

Ship: Grand Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

To get to my problem with Princess, they embarrassed me several times, due to their own inability to execute basic procedures. Twice, within 4 hours, I found my cruise card cut off. They had sent me a form to fill out seeking personal financial information, including date of birth, banking information, etc. Exactly the things you DO NOT give out. They claimed AMEX required this for fraud prevention. I called AMEX to confirm, this did not sound right. And AMEX said they never asked for this. In fact Princess had not even tried to charge anything yet, there were no declines. I told AMEX of the coming charge from Princess, and returned the form stating this was not required by AMEX. I then found my card cut off when I ordered drinks in the theatre. I went to the pursers office, and they said it was because I had not supplied the information. I explained my call to AMEX, and they released it. 4 hours later, it was cut off again. Back to the Pursers office, and I was told by an indignant staff member that my card had been declined. I told her I flat didnt believe her. AMEX has always called me before declining the card, or if they suspect fraud, and I had no such call. I suggested we call AMEX together, right then. She then sheepishly asked for my card, and said maybe she should try it manually before we called. And it went right through. She then said it was a system charge that didnt go through, it wasnt actually declined. That some times they had these problems. I suggested that maybe instead of cutting people off, they send a message to see the pursers office, or perhaps do what she did and try the charge manually. She said she had suggested that, but was told that was not how they do things. So, they chose to embarrass and inconvenience passengers, to make things easier for them. The other issues are minor, but all add up to Princess does not put passengers first. And I will not now put them first when choosing a cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Third cruise this year, and food was no better or worse then RC or Celebrity. We got a preview of the Dining room menu by going through the buffet, the menu was the same. Nothing was made fresh. Eggs Benedict was so old in the dining room, the Hollandaise sauce had crusted and browned under the lamp.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Dance lessons were great, musical reviews standard stuff, comedians OK, not great.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Stateroom steward was great, as was the dining room staff. Buffet staff was indifferent at best.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very compartmentalized ship. 4 pools leads to small areas, a ship with many separate compartments, and it took a while to learn the ship. In some instances, you had to choose your stairs/elevators carefully, because several decks did not allow you to get from one end to the other.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Minisuite was beautiful. Single width, double depth room, gave feeling of spaciousness. Reasonably appointed although the sofa/pull out bed was old, with deformed cushions. The single mattress over the double boxsprings would have been nice, but there was a "mountain" in the middle with two valleys on either side. Clearly worn.