First time with Princess

This was our first cruise with Princess.  We have cruised with Carnival on 7 previous cruises (both Alaskan and Caribbean), however Carnival didn't have the cruise agenda we needed this time.  

The ship check on at the Pier was terrible with long lines.  I don't believe Princess had been utilizing this pier long.  After a long day of travel to the ship from mid MO, we left KC at 6 AM central and boarded the ship at 2 PM west coast time.  After finding our cabin we experienced a very fine buffet late lunch then went to the cabin to unpack and rest for a few minutes.  After dinner, visiting with friends and a few drinks we went back to our cabin to find 3 maintenance fellows working in the cabin.  It would seem that the ship's staff would have tried to contact us over the loudspeaker concerning this issue.  The maintenance staff had much of the ceiling and trim taken down.  This was around midnight.  Needless to say we were upset and tired.  After going to the service desk we were placed in a substitute cabin down the same hall.  The room was roughly equivelant to the one we had to leave.  One of the stewards helped move our hanging clothes, however we were responsible to move all of the clothing in the drawers, etc.  We were told we would be compensated for all the trouble.  On Thursday we received a call and told we would be credited $40.  In my opinion this was almost an insult for the trouble we had gone through.

We saw our room steward 2 times during the week.  Our room was always freshened with clean towels and the bed made, however I found it odd that we never saw him.  Unlike all other cruises we had gone on, there was never any towel animals left on the bed.  This may be getting picky, but it's an indication of the level of service received.

The dining room staff were excellent as was the food in both the dining room and buffet area.  The Cruise Director and all his staff were also very good.  Port of Calls were very nice.  

We will more than likely not cruise on Princess again as we don't believe they come up to the level of service and caring we have had from Carnival.  Our next cruise will be on Carnival.