Our first cruise with Princess.
Friends said they were a cut above P&O – not sure about that.
The ship is fairly old, but we’ve done a few on P&O’s Azura which is very similar so didn’t expect – or get – any surprises.
Evertwhere was clean, our balcony cabin was fine.
Comfy bed, good shower, lots of wardrobe space.
Where Princess are well above P&O is the tech.
The Medallion app is superb, and works very well whether it is automatically unlocking your cabin door or showing you the drinks menu which, when you have made your choices can be delivered to you wherever you are on board.
We wouldn’t normally pick a drinks package, but the price Bolsover quoted included Princess Premier so tips, all drinks, Wi-Fi, 2 speciality meals, coffees etc were included.
Considering the prices of drinks, we were glad we had it.
Apart from the 2 fantastic speciality meals (Sabatini’s , Crown Grill) the food in the main dining area was disappointing and definitely not as good as P&O (or Marella).
Some nights, the choices seemed very much geared to the Americans on board, and many didn’t float our boat.
Service was generally very good, can’t fault the waiters, or our cabin attendant.
Pity about the Reception staff though…
We didn’t think the entertainment was as good as on board P&O/Marella.
A few very good singers, a couple of very good production shows, but a lot of others were very average.
Many of the 10pm shows in the theatre were very poorly attended – the Yanks didn’t seem bothered, preferring to spend time in the casino instead.
This was one of the worst aspects of the cruise.
We were shocked to see how packed the casino was every night, and far worse was the fact that punters were allowed to smoke while playing the tables or slots.
Access to the theatre meant going through the casino, so it was a deep breath, hold it, and get through as quick as possible.
Considering this was a sailing from Southampton, we were surprised at how many different nationalities were on board.
Yanks outnumbered Brits 4 to 1, and there were significant numbers of Canadians, Aussies, and Japanese/Koreans.
We aren’t snobbish, but we have come to expect from other cruises that there are certain dress staandards on board, particularly in the dining rooms, but Princess seem to let anything go.
It was common to see (and hear) Yanks at mealtimes in shorts, sandals, t-shirts and the obligatory baseball caps which they wear all the time, even when eating.
We picked the cruise for the itinerary, it was very good, some great stops and just one disappointment when we were told Le Havre was off due to strike action at the port.
The replacement was Portland with shuttle buses to Weymouth – not the best of places but hey-ho.
One gripe with Princess was our visit to Gothenburg.
The ship berth is across the river from the city in an industrial port area.
Shuttle buses were provided to take passengers into the city, but Princess had the cheek to charge 20 dollars each passenger.
Overall though, we enjoyed the cruise very much.
Subject to price/itinerary we would go with Princess again, but in our opinion it isn’t the improvement on P&O we were led to believe.
