Princess Cruises
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Just returned today (21 May) from a…
Just returned today (21 May) from a round British Isles cruise. I am a seasoned traveller and I can say without a doubt that this is the BEST CRUISE I have had in a long time. By 'cruise' I mean the actual cruise itself. Here are some warnings: 1. Pre-booking: total chaos. Expect to be on hold for hours. I was sometimes transferred to USA from UK and when they picked it up the other end no-one knew why I had been transferred. 2. We were send to the wrong dock to embark 3. We were told to have a lateral flow test pre-departure, take a photo and bring it with us. No-one was interested so more money wasted. Now to the cruise itself. I'm a simple person. I go for the gym, the buffet and the ports. 1. Buffet. Fantastic food and very wide choice. BUT you have to be cunning. If you don't see what you want then ASK FOR IT. I asked for freshly made toast - and got it. I asked for a plate of salad and not a bowl. And got it. (You get more) I always asked for more beef - and got it. ALL THE MEAT EXCEPT PORK IS HALAL - which is fine for me but may not be to everyone's wishes... this is not advertised. THE GYM Plenty of equipment. At least two machines were missing safety parts and were dangerous. Yes there are warnings signs saying no gym attendant, own risk etc - but that's no good. I am a PT for the elderly and I saw elderly people struggling with a weights machine which did not have the necessary adjustments. Dangerous. I reported this but nothing was done. THERE SHOULD ALWAYS BE A GYM ATTENDANT THERE. There was a weighing machine/bodyfat analyser etc etc available. $99 a go!!!!!! Total rip off. The first day though it was free (good) but no paper for print out. We were told we could have the first session free anyway and the gym guy would ring. He never did. We complained and then got a full report done. We asked the PT to explain the report and his answer was 'I am afraid I am not fully trained to answer all your questions' and thus parts of the report went unexplained. He promised to get back to us...and never did. Very poor - gym fine for me but I have some experience.... The ports Again I read the itinerary carefully and saw the con being played out. In BIG LETTERS are places to visit but these are NOT the ports. You have to get a train/bus/taxi to visit for example London, Edinburgh, Inverness - or go on a ship's tour which considerably bumps up the price. Look at the advert. The ship goes to Southampton but in big letters LONDON. Sure - if you catch a train. It goes to Le Havre and in big letters PARIS. Sure if you want a 3 hour journey... ACCOMMODATION The safe broke. The shower broke. The non-English speaking steward didn't show us how to use the app. and also said the (too hot) shower was TOO COLD. The bed and room otherwise were fine. EXTRAS We found out by accident that were being charged £14.50 EACH for 'staff gratuities' PER DAY. Luckily we discovered this and stopped all payments. So, yes, if you go with this company be aware, be very aware; ask for a lot of things; be careful about shore excursions. The pre-booking is an absolute nightmare and the Medallion app hardly worked. Would we go again? YES because we'd ask for soft toast, red apples, grapes (all hidden in the buffet); we'd ask why the door kept unlocking to our room; we'd ask why the leaving times from the shore did not match the timetable; we'd ask why deck 18 was hardly advertised. And we'd have a great time!