Princess Cruises Reviews

I booked a cruise for 4 of us old ladies, wanted 1 room, was told room wasn't big enough so we booked another room as well. We just had no access to booking, nonwaybto pay for it, no way to cancel, just call all the numbers and eventually you will reach someone. No thanks! Customer service is 50% of the cruise, when customer service is lacking the rest of the cruise will be too.

Upcoming cruise to Hawaii booked on the Royal Princess. We are already past the final payment date. Princess has arbitrarily decided to remove previously included food and services under the guise of adding to their plus and premium packages. Instead of making this further in the future, they have made these changes leaving their passengers no recourse to decide they dont want this scaled down experience. Simply bad customer service. This will most likely be our last cruise operated by Carnival Corporation and Princess Cruises.

I was appalled to be told by our waiter that staff don’t receive any tips. $16 per person is added to your bill each night. There were 3,600 people on the Regal Princess for a 12 day cruise which would earn Princess an extra $691,200 just on this cruise. You can request this charge is removed and you can tip directly those hardworking staff which we did. It was noticeable that people didn’t tip their waiter on the last night, probably assuming they had already paid their tips. I emailed Princess’ CEO who has not had the courtesy to reply. Also beware of Sophie the vacuous Cruise Director that likes talking about tea and tells you to ‘drive safely’….????? Throwing paper aeroplanes is also not an activity I would want to take part in as part of the daily activities

We are about to cruise on August 2023 and with no previous notification Princes has changed the dining policy and raise the fees. Very disappointing and totally unacceptable.

I would have liked to experience my cruise to Alaska on Crown Princess July 2023. But due to health reasons I was forced to cancel the whole trip only a week in advance. The cancellation policy for the cruise itself (refund only 20%) I was aware of. However, all pre-booked (and pre-paid !!) excursions and spa treatments should have been refundable 100%. The refund process for these additional services should - according to information from Princess agent - be initiated "automatically" with cancellation of the cruise itself. Now, 6 weeks after cancellation, I'm still waiting for refund of a third of the original amount. I was told, this may currently take up to 4 months !!! Whatever reason Princess Cruises might have to delay the refund - this is NOT ACCEPTABLE. I can only recommend to any passenger, not to pre-book any excursion or spa treatment prior to the trip.

We’ve just returned from a British Isles cruise on the Regal Princess, sailing from and to Southampton, so here are the pros and cons in our experience. Pros: Embarking and disembarking are the best we’ve ever experienced, very slick, we were on the ship and in our cabin in about 25/30 minutes and off the ship and in our car in 15 minutes. Tip, self-disembark if you can, it’s quicker and easier. The staff during all voyage were first class, professional, friendly, helpful and the cabin was kept spotless and in good order by our steward David. The food was excellent, plenty of choice, well cooked and presented. Entertainment was as good as any cruise we’ve been on with guest artistes getting on and off, the entertainment general staff worked hard and were universally cheerful, just right really. On the occasions we had to contact guest services they sorted the problem out immediately. The medallion system and app worked well for us and means you can easily keep abreast of spending, some spurious expensive phone calls appeared on our account which we wouldn’t have known about on an older ship until we’d been charged, with the medallion app we were able to get them deleted while still on board. Princess ships are not as crowded as some others like MSC, the public areas are spacious enough to allow everyone a seat and the dining tables are well spaced, there were always available sunbeds on deck. We cruised once with MSC and it was just the opposite. Cons: The excursions are hideously expensive so we didn’t go on any, it wouldn’t be difficult to double the price of the cruise if you went on a lot. Drink too is prohibitively expensive so we didn’t drink much, $46 plus 18% service for a £8 bottle of wine and $7 plus 18% service for a half pint bottle of grolsch is a bit stiff. Princess also levy $16 per person per day as “staff appreciation” which would have added $384 to our 12 dat cruise if we hadn’t learned that with a quick visit to customer services desk you can get it removed. We like to tip as we go along and for good service, not have it forced on us. Princess do not make it clear that it’s voluntary, we found out from a friend who is a regular customer. Would we sail with them again? Probably yes.

Sailed to Alaska with princess cruises . It was my second time cruising with Princess, had been to Norway previously. I booked with an Irish travel agent . We were 2 days in Vancouver prior to sailing and the hotel was directly across the road from cruise terminal . From our arrival in Vancouver airport we met the princess agent who directed us to a prepaid taxi . We were dropped at the hotel which was top class . An agent met us on our morning of cruise departure and brought us across to the terminal with other passengers . The ship, crown princess , was nice but a bit dated . Needed a bit if sprucing up . For the cost of an Alaskan cruise I would have expected an indoor swimming pool as the weather is unpredictable and can rain a lot there . So having 2 or 3 outdoor pools can be of no benefit . Surly if you’re sending a ship to that area it should be equipped with amenities for the area and climate . The food was excellent, and I couldn’t praise the excellent staff enough . We didn’t have any issues with anything on board . With all cruise companies, not just Princess I think they can be very selfish with things like the photos on board . They take so many and to be fair , they are normally very professional. But the cost of buying them is extremely expensive . They charge anything from 99 dollers for 5 8x10 and they could take about 30 of you during the cruise . All the rest are probably disposed of . The amount of waste is ridiculous. They should offer the customers the opportunity of buying the rest as a download for a few dollers or charge a small fee for the pics rather than getting rid of them. Most people don’t buy them as they are so expensive and let’s be honest it doesn’t cost THAT much to print them . Also things like bingo onboard is also ridiculously expensive if they charged less more people would go and partake . The shows on this cruise was a mixed bag . The start of our week wasn’t great but they changed the dancers and singers etc during the week and a new lot came onboard and the last few days were excellent . All in all I like princess for the food , and staff, but that ship needs a bit of an upgrade .

Im really disappointed to be writing this however, situations like this need to be told that tell you what companies are really like and are prepared to do at the drop of a hat. I will caveat this by saying we travelled with Princess last year and was taken aback by the level of service we received and off the back of that decided to book again this year. We paid a deposit last year through a 3rd party TA and paid in full this year for a cruise to Norway which sails 19th August 23. Anyone reading this will likely know the packages and when we booked we were upgraded to Premier. Friday I became aware of certain posts on FB/Twitter etc that PC were changing their packages with new “perks” At first glance it seemed in our favour but once I drilled down its quite obvious we are now receiving less and having to pay more for the same package we originally signed up for. Certain types of casual dining which were all included have now been given a $14.99 per person per visit charge. Last week we could eat in that section free of charge (casual dining ) now we have to pay every time we visit unless we upgrade to the new premier package. We were also sold the award winning “ocean now app” where we could place orders on the app and have it sent to wherever we are… it forms part of their advertising and has always been their selling point. Now we have to both pay a $14.99 one off activation fee to enable this option on the app. This covers the entire cruise however it is an additional charge we now have to pay for that we had already paid for on the original package. Heres the rub…..if we had booked our holiday after the 14th December last year we would get all these added extras (being sold as added extras but actually were already included) with no extra charge. Because we were impressed by the experience we received we booked early last year meaning that was before the 14th December cut off so we now have to pay an additional $200 per person to receive the same things we had already paid for. The situation now is that essentially you could have people who have waited until the last minute to book their holiday and have likely got some cheaper deal V what we paid last year. These people after paying less will benefit from all the new “perks” whilst other people who booked before the cut-off have to pay. This is a particularly mind boggling decision by Princess and is purely a money grabbing exercise to maximise their profits from loyal customers. I have emailed princess twice with no reply, i have used the online chat twice (first girl didn't know anything about it) I'm trying to find out more information but I'm being directed back to my travel agent for more info by Princess. I rang my travel agent yesterday and they weren't even aware and have now started the process of looking in to it. Im totally appalled that a company can do this to a paying customer who has already paid for items and are taking them away only to redress them as perks and making us pay more.

Paid for drinks package only to have it shut 😒 nearly everyday my husband had to go and have it opened. Dam embarrassing and annoying as we paid a lot of money for this.

Be careful- they told me there are two types of credit. One for spending on the ship which is use it or loose it. The second is use it out we will send you a check. I have never received those unspent dollars and when I call them they deny the policy.

On 8 July this year my wife and I travelled on the Sky Princess from Southampton UK for a two week Baltic Heritage cruise. We are experienced travellers, especially on cruises, and can say that Princess was the worst by far. We soon found that all the form filling demanded by Princess Cruises was nonsense,as was the streaming of passengers into Green, Blue and Yellow Lines (Yellow meant you would be medically examined and made to feel totally uncomfortable!). We were in Green anyway. Southampton Port and Border Control cut through all that cr*p and eased everyone through the shortest lines so we were through and on the ship in no time at all. However, once on the ship,booming calls over the ship's speakers to watch a safety video sabotaged our TV so it failed (first of many times) and we had to watch the muster stations film on my smartphone. When we went to the muster station to prove we knew where it was, a highly obnoxious little squirt told my wife that she had to watch on 'her appliance' so the ship's management would know she had used her phone for that purpose. She doesn't have a smart phone so we had a lively debate about what he could do with his unhelpful attitude as he accused her of being likely to lie about seeing the video if it could not be verified and was highly sarcastic when she told him she had seen enough muster drills so she knew what to do anyway. I was furious and went straight to the Customer Service Desk to complain. A huge crowd was milling about there. A woman told me she had already been queuing for an hour (and was still at the back of the queue by the way). I was even more furious and went to the nearest desk with staff available and demanded the dim girl there use her phone to get me an officer NOW for a serious complaint. She just couldn't understand why I wasn't interested in a shore excursion and seemed unprogrammed to pick up a phone on her own initiative. Fortunately an officer was nearby anyway and I grabbed him and made my views very clear indeed. Why do people put up with this awful attitude by the ship! I was determined to tell him that we hadn't paid over 5 grand for an attitude like this. Seemed to shake him a bit and he made sure to mark us as having registered for muster drill and to send someone to fix the TV (they did but the chap was a cabin steward with no specialised TV knowledge). I hope they fired the abominable squirt but I expect that was quietly forgotten. In brief after that: The worst cruise ship we have been on. Endless piped music at full volume everywhere ( and I mean everywhere) throughout the ship (by 'music', it was hip hop, rap, and unknown moaners with one line lyrics). Theatre shows were noisy and over-hyped. The show's own production numbers have always been the highlight of entertainment on our previous cruises but this was pretty dire. Three comedians: one quite good, one looked like he had crawled out of a drain and the third made fun of the British (he was English) and sucked up to the Americans present. The Filipino waiting/ room service/ cleaning staff worked really hard, were ever friendly and courteous and probably the worst paid and most exploited. We used Hop On, Hop Off buses, not the Ship's trips and saved money. Three of the docks used were full of coal, must have been the cheapest berths the company could find. Never again with Princess, so glad to be home.

While on a Mediterranean cruise on Enchanted Princess in May 2023, we decided to book our next cruise to the Panama Canal next year. We visited the future cruise dept and paid a $200 deposit. On June 27th 2023 I decided to pay the balance and check the shore excursions and noticed they require the Yellow Fever vaccine for Panama. Our doctor doesn’t recommend that vaccine because we are over 60 and side effects can be fatal. I called Princess customer service that same day and canceled the cruise and requested a refund. I was told by a rep in the Philippines that I was going to receive the $200 refund within 15 business days. I called them back on July 26th 2023 because I haven’t received the deposit and was told, they were not going to refund the $200 dollar deposit because it will be used for future cruises. I told them I wanted the refund and if I travel next year I will pay the entire amount. Princess cruises ever mentioned, we needed the Yellow Fever vaccine at the time of booking and they took the $$ 200 dollars from my account right away, not in the future cruise. They only care about their money up front not their passengers’ health.

I upgraded my booking to include a Premier Package but it is not reflected in my Medallion App. The "Package" section of the App still reflects my old Package. Online chatting with a customer service rep. has not resolved the issue.

This is a follow up review. Some financial issues still not resolved months after cruise. Accounting disasters started with Princess double charging us our fare! Out thousands extra and nearly drained our account. Hours of holding on the phone and all they could do was cancel and rebook--losing our original discount rate. But to make up they did offer complimentary Premiere package (in writing). But twice canceled our complimentary Premiere for "non-payment" and finally 3 days before sailing we were told by a rep he was going to cancel our entire cruise, resulting in a 4.5 hour phone call and having to become very insistent. "Oh, he made a mistake. Oh well." All this despite our bill clearly marked "Paid in full." They would not allow us to email it to them. Thankfully a senior supervisor did actually have access to this document, but then tried to just give us a $500 on board credit instead of our $2300 Premier package. We told him we had it in writing and it was a contract and were they going to honor this written agreement? He finally relented. Then agreed we were right, but again, tried to cheat us and only offer a pitiful on board credit if we paid for was was in writing as "complimentary" and "On Princess." Scam! While the actual cruise last March-April was fine and the food and service were very good here we are in July 2023 and still nothing from Princess on our promised (in writing) refund for an excursion they canceled of their own accord in Martinique. Ditto our 2 COVID credit days despite calls and chat messages to them. They just wait on you to give up. First time with Princess and we won't ever be sailing Princess again as it's just too risky financially.

We are very experienced cruisers having sailed on NCL, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Renaissance. Princess was by FAR the worst experience we have ever had on a cruise. Our poor experience was related to unauthorized charges, failure to refund properly cancelled airfare for 4 months and terrible customer service when attempting to get the charges removed. We had the complete Princess Plus package so its not as if we tried to go cheap. BEWARE! In our opinion, we recommend seeking another cruise line due to their questionable billing practices and poor customer service.

I tried to book a Princess cruise. During booking the web page said to sign up for an account. I did, but when I went to finish checkout the price had increased by $50PP. I opened a chat with an agent who said they saw the original price and would book it for me. An hour later they said there was nothing they could do. Bait and switch. I've been trying to get Princess to delete my account for 10 days now. Do not give Princess any money or personal information. If they refuse a simple request to delete an account then how would you ever get a big problem resolved? Just say no to Princess, there are a lot of cruise lines out there.

The cruise was definitely not worth the money. The room had countless issues. Ac not working. Lighting not working. Issues with sink. Room service was beyond slow and quality and temperature were awful. Would never recommend

HUGE SCAM BY PRINCESS!!!! BEWARE! As an Elite member, I get 10% off shore excursions. If they are booking in advance, the 10% discount is not applied until you get onboard. It becomes a credit on your shipboard account. If you end up with a credit balance at the end of the cruise due to this, they say they will send you a check for that balance. They never do! I followed up at least 6 times. Each time I got the runaround. Here I am 6+ months later and no resolution. Just another way they scam money out of their passengers.......

I went on the Alaska cruise ship by princess, saphire boat. The room had a humid smell. Also, it felt like they wanted to charge and sell you so many things non stop. The worst part of my trip is when I got burned with hot water I went to the medical center and they literally put on a cold bandage and gave me Tylenol they charged me 130 dlls. That is the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life.

Back from a U.K. cruise our third with Princess on the Regal Princess. The only issue we had was the princess plus package wasn’t registered on my app. A tad frustrating as we had to question why drinks were added when they shouldn’t have been a number of times. However that was sorted eventually. Only one staff member we met in the Plazza cafe failed the normal Princess cruise staff experience which we’ve always found to be very good to excellent. Cabin immaculate, food as normal excellent. Looking at some reviews people had to wait for drinks at a bar. Only twice did I have to wait but no longer than I would have at my local and the bar tenders noted when people arrived so I wasn’t served behind anyone who arrived after me. Generally we were served virtually immediately. Great value and have a cruise booked in January on the Enchanted and another future cruise booked.