Princess Cruises
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This will be our last cruise on Princess
We were so ready and looking forward to our first cruise since the dreaded covid pandemic. We were attracted by the Daily Mail advertisement by ROL for the 12 day all inclusive cruise to the canaries. We duly booked and paid about 4 weeks before departure. Travelled to Southampton and parked our car. Mini bus took us to the pier and this was when the tone of the forthcoming cruise was determined. We were informed that some cruisers had that morning received an email from princess informing them to delay their arrival by a few hours as boarding was delayed due to covid on board, the ship had done a transatlantic passage and were later told that a number of the crew had boarded at Fort Lauderdale with covid which spread rapidly. During our 2 hour standing outside the terminal, with no seating or toilets, we were told absolutely nothing, so in excess of 2000 travellers waited patiently with growing frustration with the lack of information. We eventually boarded at 15.30 and were given our non operational medallions, a relatively new feature on Princess, which proved a disaster. After a much needed drink we went to our cabin, so called, superior balcony, to find a bijou, very small, facility with the smallest bathroom I have seen on a ship and room that you could hardly swing a cat. We decided to make the best of it and our cabin steward was marvellous. We had, a few days before boarding, selected our dining options and paid, in advance, for our speciality dining to find that they had all disappeared from the Medallion app and told by guest services that we would have to book daily for each service and venue or dial 138 daily. Visiting the transport cafe, sorry Market Place buffet, the food, drinks service and ambiance was appalling and certainly not up to a 5 star rating🤣. That evening we made our way to the dining room, one of three to choose from and asked that we were happy to share met our first of many table companions where once again the very poor standard of food was apparent. During the rest of the cruise we were shown to different tables every evening as preselection was impossible so the ability to make relationships with fellow cruisers at meal time did not happen. We had booked a couple of speciality restaurants the first being a so called French style facility. We found it apart from a couple of tables, empty no atmosphere and once again the food well below the standard expected. We had booked a second evening at the Italian option, Sabatini’s, and I will compliment them for what was the only really enjoyable meal during the cruise, although once again very poorly utilised. Entertainment generally was ok but once again not up to standards we have experienced with the likes of Celebrity. Now let’s examine the non existent Wi-Fi on board, which we had prepaid at $240 for the cruise period. I had reported to guest services the poor service via the medallion app to be told that this was due to severe problems with the digital system, Wi-Fi, and that this was an ongoing situation from when the ship left the US. The only time we and all the cruisers could use our devices was in port via 4g and at sea the system was inoperable and totally unreliable. I reported this to the digital team on many occasions to be given many very poor excuses. Eventually I spoke to them about a refund and after discussion accepted a 50% refund, which I would add I am still waiting to receive dispute numerous promises from senior officers that this would be credited to my Amex card. If I have to fight Princess on this issue then I will insist on a 100% refund as I was sold a service that I did not receive We will never use or recommend Princess to anybody on the contrary if asked I will advise strongly against anybody booking a cruise with them. I guess it’s back to our trusted Celebrity and I am regretful that this time we did not choose them!