Overall, it was a great cruise. We would cruise again, and probably even on Princess. Learning from this cruise we would find better options for food and pay more attention to where the ports of call are.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Much easier than expected. No wait time. We made the mistake of packing our bottles of wine in our checked luggage. We should have carried it through security. We had enough time to go back outside, get the wine, and go through the check-in line again.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We're both foodies and were underwhelmed by the quality of the food. From what we understand, Princess is known to be one of the better cruise lines for food. However, it was mostly underseasoned and obviosuly didn't use the freshest ingredients.
Allegro Dining Room
5 out of 5
The best dining option we tried. Actually good pizza, and we're from the NY area.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Nice pool areas. We spent all of our time by the adult pool. Smaller but much quieter than the fountain pool. I wish the pool area had more padded louge chairs. We rented the cabana for $50 for half-day. Good deal for the comfortable chairs.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The comedian was amazing, game shows in Princess Live were great. Magician was ok.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Some of the best staff of any hotel or other hospitality industry venue I've been to. Kadek (steward), Manuel and Natasha (wait staff) were awesome.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
It was obviosuly a very new ship. No complaints here.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Good size for two people. They used the space well. The only issue was during booking we specifically wanted a room with a balcony so that we could enjoy a glass of wine at night outside overlooking the sea. Unfortunately, during our first night at sea we attempted to turn the balcony light on only to find out it was not working. We followed up the next morning with passenger services who promised to send someone to fix it. We left our stateroom and returned eight hours later only to find it was still not working. We called again and someone showed up about 30 minutes later. The engineer who showed up informed us that the light was disabled because of the stateroom's proximity to the bridge and that the light would interfere with navigation. I work as an airline pilot and completely understand that need so I am not contesting it. However, I do feel that this should have been listed as an obstructed view or similar on the website during booking. The balcony was completely unusable at night. The room was not as advertised.
We originally thought we had to pack it as our "checked" luggage but realized once we went through security that people were bringing bottles through. In fact, no one was counting how much you were bringing on. So, we could've easily brought on more than the allowed two bottles. If you can get a corkscrew onboard, we recommend it. It was difficult to find one onboard. We went through security, realized we could've walked our wine through and then realized since we checked the luggage there was a chance of the wine bottles breaking in transit to our room. So, we decided to go back out through security, get the wine out fo our bag and come through again with it. Regarding the food, I said it was "good". The food they provide on the beach is "good", not great. As I said we were generally underwhelmed with the food quality but the food they prepared on the beach was marginally better than the food onboard in the dining rooms and other places, with the exception of Allegro dining room's pizza. Princess Cay is a tender port. But, the beach is steps from where the tender lets you off.
Hi, I enjoyed your review, as we will be first time cruisers in a couple of weeks. 7 days on Royal Princess, Eastern Caribbean. Your review touched on a couple of issues I've been wondering about, namely 1) could you elaborate on why you shouldn't have packed your wine in your checked baggage? And 2) when you were on Princess Cay, is the beach right there or do you have to travel to it? You mention great food....on the beach? for purchase? Thanks!
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