This was a short cruise and very busy. It didn't leave a particularly positive experience of Princess due to slow and poor service throughout the ship. The staff appeared mostly harassed and stressed and so it is hard to blame them. It seemed more a management issue with poor planning of staff levels for the number of passangers onboard.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Embarkation was chaotic. Lack of organisation in the terminal as we waited to board meant it turned in to a bit of a free for all with chosen arrival times going out the window.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food overall was OK, could be long wait for food once seated however.
As well as long waits for drinks we found staff constantly getting drink orders wrong, either intentionally or accidently. This included being given prosecco when ordering the included champagne (we had the Premier drink package thanks to a promotion) and staff trying to pass it off as such. This happened at a number of different venues and it was unclear if it was intentional or not but the lack of transparency from staff about what was being served until questioned was annoying.
Alfredo's Pizzeria
2 out of 5
Had heard a lot of positive things about Alfredo, have to say we found the pizza decidedly average. Service was poor too. They were busy and so we were pushed to order our pizza as soon as we sat down with menus taken away and no chance to look at starters or anything else. The tables around us were seasoned Princess cruisers and assured us it was usually better than this. They had managed to order starters as they knew what they wanted. We felt rushed to leave as soon as we'd finished as well.
Sabatini's Italian Trattoria
5 out of 5
Food was excellent and service generally too.
Crown Grill & Bar
5 out of 5
Service was excellent in the Crown Grill and food equally good.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The ship seemed well maintained, however I wasn't a fan of the layout and the fact a lot of the indoor venues and activities were centred around the atrium and were inward facing. When indoors the ship seemed to lack a connection to the sea, maybe more noticeable due to the lack of forward observation lounge or solarium type space.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Perfectly fine as an inside cabin. Quiet, don't remeber hearing any external noise.
The Rotterdam Marathon was on which closed roads and made it a little harder to get around. Some excursions were cancelled because of this. Rotterdam rdam itself was lovely, but Princess need to do a better job planning and knowing what local events are going on.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
