Nice cruise but did not meet expectations

Item: Sea Princess
Rating: 3.7
Author: JenRei

Sea Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific

JenRei

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

10 Night New Caledonia & Vanuatu (Brisbane Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 10, 2019

Ship: Sea Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: C322

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Nice cruise but not up to the Princess standard. Very slow drink waiter service in Horizon Court, pool deck and Crooners. Service at The Wheelhouse was much better. Ship felt old and had some issues on with plumbing and smells. Also felt like the ship was understaffed . Lovely bedding but tiny balcony and cabins in general.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Embarkation at Portside Brisbane was efficient and easy, no queues!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

5 stars for Sterling Steakhouse, 3 stars for MDR Anytime Dining in Traviata. Horizon Court was generally ok. Drink services let everything down.

Horizon Court

4 out of 5

Food was good but hard to find tables and impossible to get drink waiter service!

La Patisserie

3 out of 5

It’s a coffee shop, it’s a bar, but a patisserie it is NOT! They have a small tray of pastries in the morning. Closes at 11pm, and that’s if the coffee machine isn’t broken down (happened several times over 10 day cruise)

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Casino

3 out of 5

Casino closed at 12.15am? What’s with that!

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Feature performers were average. “Magician” was just Card tricks, not enough to make a whole show. Production show - British Invasion was great. Unfortunately, we had already seen the other production shows on a larger ship with a larger stage and cast. We had also seen Jo Little on same previous cruise so nothing new there.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Room steward was great. Drink waiters in dining room not so good, messing up orders and very slow service. In Horizon Court and on the pool deck, not a waiter to be seen. Very poor in comparison to other Princess Cruises done..

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Room was TINY. Balcony was a joke! Bathroom, minuscule. Bed very comfy.

Ship tip

Lifts are very slow and I got caught in one which malfunctioned. If you have been on any of the newer or larger Princess ships, you will likely be disappointed with the Sea Princess. She is very obviously smaller, and older, and unfortunately the service levels on this cruise did not live up to expectations.

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