Overall a great cruise. It's all about the people you go with. Despite some of the staff being grumpy, this was the best cruise I've ever had because of the people I was with. This group would be fun in an empty room!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Nothing special, but it was relatively quick, easy, and painless. Funny bother trying to sneak liquor onboard in a wine bottle. They're pretty good! Don't ask me how I know. All in all, it was a good boarding experience. Be prepared to walk a LOT.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The onboard food was full of variety, multicultural, and pretty good. Nothing really amazing, but it's hard to do "amazing" when you're cooking for 2500 people! Definitely nothing bad, just nothing to write home about. Everything was much better than your average buffet restaurant at home.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
This particular ship is a bit lacking in activities. There are the usual pools and hot tubs. There is an adult only pool area, which is nice to get away from screaming kids. There's also a putting green, a walking/running track, a driving cage, b-ball, pickleball, badminton and shuffleboard. No rock walls, surfing, go carts or anything like that, though.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
There were a lot of great shows onboard. Magicians, comedians, game shows, The Voice, musicals, movies, etc. It was fun watching movies under the stars in a hot tub!
Children's Programs
No kids. There looked to be a great kids program, we just didn't need it so we didn't explore it.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The staff were hit-or-miss on this particular ship. Many were very friendly, courteous and outgoing, but there were also several that were obviously disgruntled and surly. Having an open and honest conversation with a few of the crewmembers revealed that shipboard life was not so great for the staff on this particular ship in the Princess fleet. They said that other ships were much better. That comes down from the top, so I'll avoid this ship in the future. Also, there never seemed to be enough information readily available in advance about the time certain events were happening, and often there were conflicting times so you didn't know which time (if any) was right.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This ship was kept very clean at all times. My 2am strolls with my partner in crime revealed a LOT of behind the scenes cleaning and prep work involved in maintaining this enormous so.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Great cabin! We had 3 people in here. Two twin beds on the floor and a drop down twin bed that came out of the ceiling for our 3rd member. We could easily duck under her bed to get to the balcony, so it wasn't that bad when the bed was down. The worst part was that you had to get a room attendant to drop it down or put it away. The balcony rooms are long and skinny and a tighter fit than the interior rooms where my friends stayed. The balcony is a must-have, in my opinion. I spent much of my time out there.
Ship tip
Pick a different ship if you are concerned about the crew friendliness. Most of them are great, but the unhappy crewmembers definitely impact your experience.
The disembarkation process was quick and easy. The information provided was lacking. The info said 9:30 disembarkation, but we saw people leaving at 8. So we grabbed our bags and left.
I'm not sure why you made a point of stating that *this particular ship* didn't have activities like go carts, rock climbing walls, and surf simulators. No Princess ship is going to have those; that isn't part of Princess's target demographic. If that's the type of cruise ship amenity you want, you'll need to book with Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.
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