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Princess Cruise - ship review
Although regular cruisers this was our first on Princess. As a package booking we flew from London to Miami where we were met and transferred to the Intercontinental hotel, given a ground floor room which had 2 large double comfortable beds with large flat screen TV, usual safe, coffee making and a good size bathroom. Allowed to use the room until 12:00 following day when we were collected and taken to the cruise terminal. Check - in ok with no long queues.
The ship is of a medium size and has on deck 7 the benefit of full access to walk around the deck, 2.8 laps equalling one mile. The ship is easy to navigate around and has a large attractive atrium which covers 4 decks, shops, library and tours office, bars etc etc are located around this area. There are 2 good size pools with Jacuzzis around the edges, plenty of sun beds on 2 decks and it was possible to find one in the shade if required, there is also the quiet area with sun loungers under the cover of a glass dome. There is a reserved area called the Sanctuary which for an additional charge you can use either half or full day, this looked ok but we did not try this.
There are 2 main dining rooms the Bordeaux which offers the anytime dining option and the Provence which is the regular 2 seating time arrangement. In addition there is a large self service restaurant called the Horizon Café and 2 speciality restaurants which have a cover charge. Outside by the pool area is a Pizzeria and burger options with a small ice cream bar (free ice cream fab) Passengers in the majority consist of American and Canadian for which menus reflect this but there was always a good choice of meals, food being of a reasonable standard, we only had one occasion to return a meal in the holiday due to this not being hot enough, after which our dining plates were always way too hot to touch but the food was never cold afterwards.
Ship has 2 theatres both offering a good range of entertainment with the bars around the ship providing music and singing. It was possible on some nights to go to 2 different shows if timed right
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Our cabin steward was very good and one of the best we have had on a cruise, our cabin was kept clean and tidy with towels being changed daily twice a day. The small range of toiletries were not of very good quality and as a note shower gel is not provided but blocks of soap are. Towels, both hand and bath are small and 2 extra pool towels are also provided. The bathroom is the usual tiny space with a very small shower area. (See photos).
We had a balcony cabin on deck 10, this has a good size veranda with 2 semi reclining and 2 normal chairs plus a small table. This overlooks the full verandas on the cabins on deck 9 and in turn is over looked by the smaller veranda’s on deck 11 which do overhang slightly and can provide some shade. Staff overall were friendly but as with any ship you did find examples of poor and indifferent service.
Negative points
Although the ship was very clean in all areas we did on occasions notice signs of its age. It was disappointing on entering our cabin to find the carpet ripped across the front of the veranda window, and the shower and tap unit also broken, but to be fair this did not affect the operation of these.
There is a TV provided but this is set high up on a shelf and faces towards the entrance door, sitting in the seating area provided in the cabin you can not watch the TV and have to sit on the far side of the bed, a bad design fault.
We found the sheets were marked and had gone into holes as the material was so thin, our steward promptly replaced these but went through a further 3 sets of bed lined to find a clean set, even then we later noticed holes in the duvet cover. We found the beds quite hard and pillows has seen better days.
There were a few lectures but unfortunately these clashed with a lot of other things going on and interesting things never seem to be repeated, I would say that the Enrichment Programme ie lectures etc were not of a very high standard. Again there was the usual Diamonds International presentations.
Our first port of call was Aruba which is only a few minutes walk to the town centre, there are a large array of shops selling the usual jewellery/clothes etc, the shop fronts are very colourful. Our next port of call was Cartagena unfortunately we were only in port from 9am to 2.30pm which tended to curtail an in-depth visit. We did our own thing negotiating a taxi ride to the old town with guide for $15 however on a return although the taxi driver on our return only charged $10. I must admit the taxis do not look particularly roadworthy. The old town is pretty place with streets reminiscence of colonial Spain. Our next trip was a full transit through the Panama Canal which was the purpose of our cruise it did not disappoint - it was amazing and worth the getting up very early 6am to see our first glimpse, the whole transit was a joy throughout the day. Next was Puerto Amador passengers were tendered ashore, here we opted to take the ship’s excursion of a partial transit by a ferry named Fantasia del Mar (you had to have a vivid imagination to think of this ferry as a Fantasy of the Sea), it was virtually held together with duct tape a light lunch was provided on board, the toilets where something else and were used as a last resort. However the object of the tour was again to see the Locks at close quarters and again, this did not fail to hit the mark the word amazing was constantly on our lips.
Puntarenas - we were able to walk off the ship and the port front was surrounded by market stalls, however after 10 minutes we decided that we had seen enough as the place is not particularly clean with broken pavements and litter. Huatulco was our next port of call, again we did our own thing - the beaches with bars and areas to eat are very clean the perfect setting for a cold beer although you have to temper this setting with the regular hawkers but they do go away if you say no. I think this was one of the nicest ports we called at. Acapulco was a mix of haves and have nots and we did take an organised tour which was via a 10 seater mini van but oh boy we were shaken bumped and tossed each time we went over a speed bump. The guide did his best but his command of English was not that great - but hey my Mexican is zilch so I cant complain. On this tour we were able to see the famous rock divers, went to the fort museum and were taken to see the hotel which John Wayne once owned and where you can now stay for $10 a night - we stopped here for a cold drink and photos but what a shame at the condition this had been let to get into. Our last port of call was the lovely Cabo San Lucas from the ship we were tendered ashore were we found the usual shops and bars. We had decided not to do another ships tour mainly because we docked at 7am and were to sail at 2pm so given the very short space of time took advantage to walk the harbour and watch the pelicans waiting for the fishing boats to steal their catch.
On the whole I can say this was an enjoyable cruise due to the fantastic weather and the Panama Locks
Quality of Food
We ate mostly in the main dining room the Provence occasionally taking breakfast in the Horizon cafe, our lunches were also eaten in the Horizon were there was a wide variety of salads and hot and fold dishes to suit everyone.
Entertainment
The shows were repeated 2 nights running which enabled the later eaters to see the shows. The first week when the brought on entertainers were performing were excellent along with the regular ships dancers and singers but the second week's entertainment in my opinion did not hit the mark of course being mainly Americian/Canadians on board the comedians were aimed for these passengers and the humour was sometimes hard to follow
Shore Excursions
Only took two, the other times did our own thing but like many cruise ships you need to research as they can be expensive
Staff
Erwin our cabin steward had a smile every day even though he had received news his mother in law had just had a stroke. our cabin was kept spotless.
Children's Facilities
n/a
Onboard Activities
usual quizzes, line dancing table tennis none of which we participated in however we did do a photoshop course and this was first class and well worth the money
Cabins
The cabin was in need of a refurbishment and whilst adequate the beds uncomfortable and showers tiny I would imagine if you were of a larger proportion you could have difficulty.
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