written by on 10/10/2010
ship very old in areas,forget the disco me and the wife went twice at 12ish we were the only ones there except for a few staff members,the gripe i have with this company was that i left a card with 5 media cards in the safe, i found this out when i returned home a few hours later, so i rang princess and got the leave a message thingy well i left 4 messages and also wrote a letter and sent a dozen emails all for nothing did not get one reply, so no more princess for me and i lost all my photos about 500 i will stick with royal!!!
written by on 09/06/2010
We recently sailed on the 'Not So' Grand Princess to Scandinavia and the ship was looking extremely tired. Also, we were not expecting a family cruise ship, with so many children on board. Although we could get away from the noise in the sanctuary, there was a hefty daily fee. Why should we pay for peace and quiet at sea? We found other 'hidden extras' on this cruise too and over 50% of the entertainment was of a holiday camp level, using mediochre talent.
However, the ports of call were interesting and the food excellent.
written by on 30/05/2010
Grand Princess -- Mutton dressed as lamb, or the Emperor's New Clothes? Take your pick....
We were anytime dining and did not wish to 'partake' in the two formal evenings. Ate all meals in the Horizon where the system is chaotic, two ways in, two ways out, so for every item you put on your plate you then give way to someone coming from the other direction. You find curry at one end, need to find if there's rice, go to the very far end and find rice, then back to get your curry. Food is tasty, but rather dry. Sometimes tempted to put a ladle of soup on the plate for lubrication? Puddings are tempting, but also dry - no cream or sauce available. Just hot custard or maybe chocolate blancmange - goes well on delicate fruit tarts? The plastic plates start off warm, are lukewarm while you chase round finding food, then the plate and food are tepid by the time you find a table. Stone cold before you are halfway through. Absolute scrum at peak times in Horizon - comical seeing folks in their bow ties and sparkly evening dresses struggling to find somewhere to sit - and ending up outside on plastic tables by the pool in the fresh air.
Drink prices are ridiculous - over $11 for two cans of Boddingtons. There are no pricelists in any of the bars that we could see.
In the bathrooms they have fixed shower heads - but no shower caps, so take your own. They DO supply shower gel/shampoo, conditioner, and a body cream, but the bottles are so hard that you can't squeeze them even when you take the top off.
Aloha deck midship cabins are VERY noisy under the pool areas, from 6am to midnight. No daytime peace or afternoon naps!
In the cabins (sorry, staterooms) there are NO TEA-MAKING FACILITIES. We've been with Ocean Village, Thomson and NCL and they all did. You had to PAY for coffee around the ship!! Maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't find hot drinks 'on tap' anywhere outside Horizon. Take a flask with you?
Which other cruise lines have two formal nights, but offer bingo and karaoke? Who else encourages people to dress up but doesn't have enough seating for them in the restaurant? Possibly good food but you never ever get to eat it hot.
In SEVEN days we only visited THREE ports, Zeebrugge for Bruges (they caught us for 6 Euros each for shuttle bus just to get out of the port, but it was only 7.5 euros each by shared taxi to get right into Bruges!). Copenhagen (where I'd been before) and Helsingborg (over the water from Copenhagen, so close you could see it in the distance). Oslo visit was aborted due to possible port strike action.
And as for the norovirus........
(Zero stars for value for money, not the 1* shown on chart)
Princess again? Not me.
written by totterdell on 29/05/2010
we booked this cruise for our sons 18 th birthday ,very dissapointing our 7 and 8 year olds could not wait to go home as very boring for children.
we have re named the ship " always a problem"blocked toilets, both kids pools closed for a day no obvious reason,cattle market canteen, fighting in the casino ,aborted stop at oslo,. dining rooms good food and service, entertainment very poor, lots of old folk (ah bless) generally a bit on the rough side for us, .we have cruised celebrity equinox (amazing) and royal carribean ab fantastic for families.
written by on 31/08/2009
This was our eigth cruise and our first on a ship of this size.The Grand Princess was full to the brim at 2900 passangers, normally 2600 although 300 children were added. This is not traditional five star luxury with sparely populated ammenities, this was the type of cruise imagined by those who have not tried cruising and for this reason. Crusing is becomming more main stream with room prices competative with hotels in Benidorm, reveniew streams focused on bar sales with all the ambience that binge drinking brings. With such numbers of paasengers you must like waiting, to get on, to get off, to eat and room service can take 20 mins to answer and forty to deliver. The ship became segregated, tattoo and tee shirt no go areas for the more discerning but ultimately the two sensibilities meet.
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