Sky Princess 2nd – 16 Sept 2023

This is without the worst cruise we have ever been on with few exceptions and I will elaborate on those later.
On arriving at Southampton we were impressed how quickly we were onboard and our luggage was at our stateroom. Once inside we could see that the room had not been cleaned thoroughly, dressing gowns, shower caps and other items were missing. These were reported and supplied. A few days into the cruise there was a problem with the shower but was fixed within the day.
Bearing in mind a resurgence of Covid we specifically made an enquiry as to the protocol onboard and assured it met requirements to keep passengers safe. Well it wasn’t sufficient and our cruise companions both caught Covid and had to isolate for 50% of the cruise and had to be escorted off the ship on the return to Southampton. Hand sanitizer stations were plentiful but there was no management to ensure they were used. There was also misinformation about the extent of Covid onboard. Customer Services said there was a lot and those with were isolating and monitored using the medallion. A big flaw here in that an infected person could leave a medallion in their cabin and be roaming free. On speaking to other staff the amount of Covid varied from zero through not many to quite a few. It was quite obvious that some passengers had not reported being infected so exposing others and those that did were chastised for doing so by the medical team. In order to keep ourselves as safe as we could this meant avoiding crowded areas like the theatre, bars and coffee shops. Princess Cruises attitude was that they couldn’t care less. Clearly revenue was far more important to them than passengers welfare!! What a disgusting attitude to have.
We are gluten free and the ship knew this but there was very little attempt to accommodate this until we pushed very hard and then a little more effort was made with main meals but it really was a token effort. Desserts were the same everyday in the coffee shop and restaurant on Deck 16. This is another example of Princess Cruises paying lip service to this intolerance. Stating with food some elements were good but overall the quality and quantity compared with other cruises with Princess was well below par.
Of the shows we saw Rock Opera, Josh Daniel’s and Max Himmelreich were great. Beyond that we felt the quality of the evening entertainment in the theatre to be poor. Other entertainment around the ship was good.
The positives totally revolved around members of staff and would like to highlight the following:
Tony – Estrella
Vijay – Estrella
Baris – sommelier Estrella
Malvern – Deck 16 dining
Sharon – Deck 16 dining
Rey – Deck 16 dining
Joy – Bellini
Their service levels were superb.

The bottom line “Will we sail with Princess again” it is a clear. NO. It is a shame that following Covid the attitude of Princess has changed in a bad way. In the past we have found them to be as good as comparable cruise lines. This cruise left a sour taste in our mouths.
One final thing. My wife was due to celebrate a birthday during the cruise with plans for a specialty dining experience preceded by champagne in our stateroom. Because our friends caught Covid this didn’t happen her birthday was ruined. All Princess Customer Service would say was, sorry. No attempt to foster goodwill just pass off the reason for it as though Covid had no consequence. Shame on Princess Cruises and we were pleased to disembark.