Good, but not great overall. Specialty restaurants food quality and menu selections terrible, no better than buffet and sometimes worse. Desserts at every venue terrible. Very good service and staff everywhere on ship. Excellent ship cleanliness and very good room comfort. Ship design poor. Ports of call average.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Disability lane very helpful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Sabitini’s very disappointing with food quality and ingredients no better than buffet dining and only 30-40% of restaurant booked due to bad word of mouth. Crown Grille specialty restaurant missing key dishes found in any steak restaurant like wedge salad, Hollandaise sauce, Bernaise sauce, & porterhouse steak thin and tough. Desserts at all venues looked appealing, but tasted terrible and cheap with inferior ingredients, even the for pay gelato was sickeningly sweet and not made of real cream.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Cycle class cost $35 plus tip, for only a scheduled 30 minute class that once everyone was in their seats lasted only 25 minutes including cooldown with an instructor who didn’t even know how to properly seat himself on his win bike with his seat way too high and his toes pointed straight down to the floor in the pedals. Really disappointing and I saw several people sign up early for classes, only to cancel later classes. This is the first Princess ship I have been on that does not have a promenade deck to walk around the ship. Promenade is cut off at the bow and stern sections so cannot be used for exercise…very disappointing design.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Company stage shows with band and dancers very good, guest singers of Hannah Stearn and Peter Howarth were excellent. Illusionist show lame. Comedians ok. Vanilla Duo and Static band very good.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service and staff very good, friendly and accommodating. Edward, chef in Horizon buffet was excellent and very accommodating to gluten free dietary needs of our family.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Cleanliness very good. Ship design was least liked of the 12+ cruise ships I have sailed on across several cruise lines. Their was no walkable promenade deck, fewer than normal lounges with no dance venue, very small library/game room/puzzle room which was very overcrowded and guests jockeying for place to play cards, and mahjong and way too noisy to read. Smoking section aft on 16 allowed smoke and smell to permeate the fitness center above on 17. A great deal of entertainment was held in the center piazza with overcrowded marble dance floor. No bow lounge available to relax and enjoy a view of where the ship is headed.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Benito Gonzales, the Steward was very good. Comfort and cleanliness of room good.
Ship tip
Arrive early for shows held in Princess theater as seats fill up. Horizon buffet is often better than the dining room. Skip specialty restaurants, very disappointing food quality.
Ports of call average? They are amazing…we loved them all. Desserts terrible?? Can’t ever say we felt that way. Norman Love desserts are some of the best we’ve ever had! They are delicious.
Well everyone has an opinion. It seems most people do like Princess food. We don’t know what you are comparing it to though. It’s not gourmet food but you’re not paying for that either. FYI, gelato, unlike ice cream is made from milk with only a tiny bit of cream.
I've cruised on Regal Princess 4 times and never had the issues you whined about. The buffet does have some great selections along with the MDR and uocharge restaurants. I have had only one "bad" experience at the Crown Grill and it was a larger than normal fat ring on my porterhouse, but otherwise was amazing. I am by no means a food snob or a novice when it comes to cruise food, since I have cruised on 6 different lines, but I find the food on Princess ships to be way above average.
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