Princess Cruises
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My first and last Princess Cruise
I have just returned home from my first Princess Cruise. I am a seasoned cruiser and was appalled at the standard of food available, The Horizon Court offers buffet style at regular times throughout the day. At first sight there appears a lot of choice, but quantity does not equal quality. The pasta was tasteless, salad choice predicable and lifeless, the meat was tough as old boots, the bread rolls were rock hard. Dishes that should contain either herbs or spices just tasted of pepper. The main dining room was no better. It was over crowded and uncomfortably warm. Although, I had booked my choice of time to eat each day well in advance via medallion class app, I still had to queue outside the restaurant! Cocktails served were also way below standard, and appeared watered down and lacking flavour. Unless you purchased a speciality coffee you would get a weak 'instant coffee', again lacking taste. Shore Excursions were poorly organised. When dealing with a large number of passengers waiting to depart ship for their choice of paid excursion, the practice was to have everyone regardless of excursion, gather in one dining room and issue group numbers at the entrance. If this had been staggered, it would have avoided the stressful and chaotic scenes created by a high volume of people being merged into one. Any information from the Captain on the bridge could not be heard in your cabin. The only time dialogue was clear was the day of the emergency crew drill. From day one of my cruise you could hear an annoying tapping from 830 am in the morning which went on for most of the day. When a number of guests complained to guest desk services, they seem unaware of the issue and were not able to say whether it was essential maintenance being carried out. Despite reporting to guest services numerous times the tapping persisted. At the end of the cruise, Princess offered by way of a goodwill gesture $150 which was credited to your account, which could only be used when booking a future Princess cruise! The food is an important part of any holiday. Rarely would you lose weight on a cruise holiday but the Island Princess is certainly an exception. I paid a lot of money for this holiday and would certainly not recommend travel on the Island Princess with the current standard of cuisine and level of service offered by their Guest Services Desk. Extremely disappointed that I have had to write this review but unless a truthful feedback is given, Princess Cruises are unaware of the areas in which they need to improve.