MIXED EXPERIENCE ON OUR FIRST PRINCESS CRUISE

Our first trip on a Princess cruise. They push you to use the Medallion App to pre-load documents etc but the whole pre-cruise experience was so stressful as the App kept crashing and rejecting documents at random. A HUGE time-waster as we had to queue to check in manually in the end as it was incomplete. Even then it kept crashing for the agents using it – took nearly an hour to get through check in! We therefore missed out on pre-booking dining options and excursions.
The positives of the cruise were the ship was really lovely, clean cabins and well designed – the buffet very light and airy and very well stocked and laid out – plenty of space and good service. The food was very good overall in the restaurants.
The negatives – very poor service with inexperienced staff. Often took up to 20/30 minutes for a drink – chaotic in the bars at peak times – too few staff who couldn’t keep up with App orders and queues at the bar. Many had not been on a cruise before and took time doing cocktails. Smoking in the casino was not pleasant as you had to walk through it to get to the theatre. Staff generally had no knowledge about the excursions. It took nearly an hour one morning to get breakfast in the restaurant – this was a regular issue, although evening staff seemed slightly more efficient. Compared to other cruise lines – we were not overly impressed.