Chose the cruise as part of our 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Princess staff graciously met us at LAX and settled us in a taxi for the ride to Long Beach for a pre-cruise overnight in the Long Beach Hyatt. Good comfortable accommodations, helpful staff and located convenient to walking around a harbor and downtown. Transport to San Pedro port and Princess embarkation were excellent. We had sailed the Ruby previously and were looking forward to repeating a pleasant voyage.

The cabin was completely ready when we arrived brightened with new carpeting.Lacking was the Lotus Spa hair conditioner previously provided as part of the amenities for Elite Level passengers. Other Elite passengers noticed the absence, as they too didn't bring their own; an example of Princess trying to save a nickel. The only other cabin problem was the lack of hot water for showers on the last 3 days of the cruise, including debarkation morning. Calls to customer service resulted in only temporary fixes.On the positive side a broken spring on the room safe door hinge was fixed withing hours after reporting it.

Were this our first Princess cruise, it likely would be our last because of irregular (one time wretched) food quality, apparent under staffing in dining rooms, and too many staff who don't acknowledge or initiate customer greetings. In anytime dining many dinners were well prepared, if overly salty. Probably the most wretched dinner I have had was a veal dish that had 2 slabs of meat with the consistency of a roofing shingle. In the same meal the dessert was a samosa consisting of tropical fruit and macadamia nuts accompanied by a mint dip. The samosa was like a greasy empanada, and the mint tasteless. The number of serving staff was deficient. Too many meals that started between 6:00-6:30 ended up taking 2+ hours, ruining evening entertainment plans. Lido deck server seemed smile less and conveyed a demeanor that suggested they would rather be elsewhere. Elsewhere, staff met the standards of our prior Princess experiences. Bar servers, especially in the Skywalkers Platinum/Elite lounge were among the best we have experiences. Passenger Services staff were thorough and followed-up on issues. Read more