The itinerary was fabulous - Land of the Midnight Sun. Unfortunately we were significantly late into 3 ports which impacted on what we could do in port and curtailed our independent excursions. We believe this was due to engine issues.
The staff were very helpful and friendly and the food good and varied. Unless you got to the theatre half an hour in advance you were unable to get a seat and the timings made it difficult around dinner to manage this.
We got moved to a mini suite having had our cabin used for COVID isolation however we would not choose an adjoining cabin - lots of noise through the door and both passengers had COVID which put us at risk of infection as the air coming through the gap around the door was significant.
Disembarkation was delayed by 6 hours as there was a round the Island Race on and the Captain said he only heard about this the night before....
The ship is big - probably the theatre is not big enough for the number of passengers and to access the dining room you had to go down a deck, along and up again. Much of the front of the ship was closed off to passengers other than the suites.
Ship too large
Limited sitting in evening venues.
Excursions and shops overpriced
Evening show In theatre amazing. 5skies
Need more evening venues
Food excellent.
Servers excellent
Buffet amazing choice
Balconies too small.
Need 2 chairs only 1
Medallion good for opening the door
But otherwise difficult to understand.
This was our third Princess cruise, and the most disappointing. We felt that the whole experience had been downgraded from that we had experienced before.
Embarcation was a nightmare despite the much vaunted Medallion app. From parking the car to getting on board was almost 3hrs!!!
Accommodation was good, but the public areas did not have enough seating to accommodate the 3500+ passengers. Trying to get a drink at any bar was a scrum despite the Medallion app. When drinks were ordered on this, it took over 45 minutes for them to arrive. The dining rooms were good and the food was very nice, however it was impossible to book any of the speciality restaurants as they were all booked from the first day of the cruise. Entertainment was OK but not on a standsrd of some other Amrrican cruise lines. To cap it all, despite the best efforts of Princess to ensure a Covid free holiday we still managed to catch Covid on the ship and two days after arriving home I ended up in hospital for three days with severe Covid infection.
Although having done over 25 cruises on a variety of size ships, I do not think we will be venturing on one of these mega ships in the future. We will stick to smaller ( but more expensive) ships.
Our first ever cruise,certainly wont be our last ! What an amazing ship,crew,food,service and destination,the Norwegian fjords.now looking for our next !! Well done Sky Princess
Balcony tiny - so narrow could not sit facing out to sea but had to sit sidewards.
App bar service appealing. Took for ever for a drink to arrive if you could actually get order processed. Ended up going to limited open bars & queuing as it was much quicker. App kept charging for package 'included drinks'. Reception would always sort out quickly without issue bit I should not have to do this.
Food & restaurant service brilliant as ever on Princess but menu was more restricted than usual.
Embankment was a shambles, not enough seating for disabled passengers, not enough wheelchairs, toilets were along way away, not enough staff, waiting for over 4 hours, 2 people needed medical attention after having to queue for so long.
Cleared my on board account before I got of the ship & then got £200 taken out of my account for items I didn’t buy and am still in dispute now over it. Won’t be using this cruise line gain because of this.
Dining was ok, same food in all the different restaurants though.
Great service, staff were helpful all round.
Nice rooms, although made to look a lot bigger in pictures.
Shore excursion was a let down, went to see whales & dolphins but it rained & the boat turned round after an hour and went back to shore.
Was fairly crowded. There were four of us and we had problems getting seats on deck. Also, the Medallion Class etc caused some confusion for people of a certain age. Needs explaining better and not assume everyone is computer literate.
Shoe excursions were expensive.
Overall, though, an excellent ship, excellent cruise and good value for money - £2,139 for a mini-suite and premium drinks package. Will certainly use Princess Cruises again
Pros: Attractive public areas, a good production show, (Rock Opera), the Medallion system when it worked properly, (great being able to order drinks/food to be brought wherever you happen to be), lovely comfortable beds, mostly helpful and friendly staff, good choice of in cabin entertainment, some very good food in the main dining rooms, always able to get a table for two
Cons: small en-suites, food on first night (only) presented like a takeaway meal, main courses quite small sometimes, although you can always ask for more :), not enough staff in deck bars, guests not asked to wash/anti-bac their hands before entering restaurants, expensive excursions, no real walking track on deck (except around the funnel), unable to book dining times on app (works better on Apple phones than android), previous Princess customers said they had noticed cutbacks on certain things compared to pre-covid
A delightful cruise to Norway blessed by remarkable weather. Great crew, except an appaling entertainment manager, who were so friendly and helpful.
We thought the overall food quality has declined, having been with Princess before and destination information very poor with no maps or information sheets available.
The ship was very clean and well run, with the medallion tag generally excellent and a great new introduction to help embarkation, disembarkation, room entry and beverage ordering etc.
Overall, a good cruise but the food quality needs a substantial review.
Had a great time on ship.
Lovely & clean, staff were great
Embankment was chaos & waiting around for over 3 hours. Not enough staff. 2 people fainted in the queue as waiting so long.
The organisation was diabolical.
Not a good experience especially for Disabled passengers, not enough wheelchairs, seats or staff to deal with it.
Shore excursion to go whale watching was not so good as the weather was rubbish so we had to turn back after an hour. I know we can’t plan the weather but we could of still sailed about for a bit as it cost £80 & we weren’t on the boat very long.
Not enough seating in public areas, so everything was a scramble to get seats. Too few staff in the bars, long queues at most all the time. Even though everyone did a pre-cruise Covid test, there were cases discovered on board ( one of which was a lady at our table the first night we were on board) . Unfortunately both my wife and I contacted Covid through this I believe and even though we had had 3 vaccine doses, I ended up in hospital for 3 days.
I would equate this ship to Benidorm on Sea.
Although we still have £400 FCC with Princess, I do not think we will ever use it.
Norway and the fjords were wonderful.