We took this cruise for the itinerary and also because we had previously taken a Princess Cruise although not for more than 15 years. Initially it seemed as though we made a good choice but once the cruise embarked certain things became apparent. For instance the quality of the food was poor at best. The menu selections, particularly at dinner, were few and the choices weak. Furthermore, the food was very poor and essentially tasteless. One thing we learned was that the menu suggested one thing and the food didn't fit the description. (even the ice cream tasted poorly). Although the wait staff were warm, they seemed to hurry us off dinner (we had early seating) and on occasions would remove my food even while I had a piece of meat on my fork! And we had specifically requested a particular table which the cruise line maitre de claimed was an error on the part of our travel agent (we booked directly through Princess). Ultimately we were placed away from the windows and directly in the flow of traffic coming to and from the dining room. Not particularly private nor intimate.

When we disembarked the ship for our shore excursions (private in most instances) it took us more than an hour to get off the ship --particularly in tender ports (2), including Edinburgh. At the first port (Guernesy) the captain had failed to position the ship in an accessible location and as a result tenders could not reboard and we and hundreds of others were left onshore in the sun with no information from the company to explain the delay. The captain later (falsely) claimed that those on shore were notified within an hour of the problem but it was more like 2 1/2 hours before we heard anything although after more than an hour they did offer us water. At the same time and port we watched as another ship boarded its guests one right after the other as we waited in line. Finally, and without bothering to notify the crowd on shore, the captain repositioned the ship so that access could be had by tenders. But not until at least one tender with more than 100 people aboard could not gain access to the ship and numerous people reported to us that their children on the tenders were turning green as the ship was plainly out of position to quickly accomodate those returning from shore. Contrast this with the experience of another cruise liner parked some distance from our ship where people easily got onto their liner.

At the cafeteria there was almost never (literally) an open table and we had to wait until someone finished before we could even find a seat. Again, the food selection was entirely weak and of poor quality. Read more