We have been on about a dozen cruises, yet this was our first with Princess. The cruise began well enough. We embarked in Dublin and were literally in our cabin five minutes after arriving at the port. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. The room was an unobstructed Oceanview in a quiet area of the ship. The shower consistently flooded, the faucet water rarely produced anything but piping hot water, and exhaust while in port was potent throughout most cabins.

The food in the main dining room was really mediocre when compared with every cruise line we've taken, and our waiter was...also for the first time...less than friendly. We ate at the buffet a few times...the food was kept lukewarm, they were always out of several dishes, and the spread is so small we couldn't believe it. Pizza also wasn't anywhere near as good as its been on any other cruise line. I had a milkshake at the ice cream vendor...it was so bad...depressing.

The ports were the highlight of the cruise. There are many...only a few sea days on this cruise. Unfortunately, the ship remains in port very late, which means the shops and casino are closed often. In addition, there aren't many activities going on except on sea days. The result was more time spent without entertainment in the evenings or those days we didn't go ashore. Read more