Princess Cruises, Sky Princess, UK and Ireland Review

Sky Princess, UK and Ireland

Went on a 3 night Seacation 3rd to 6th September. Thought we'd give Princess a try after hearing many recommendations. Not sailed with them before but this was our 12th cruise. The Medallionclass app seemed easy enough but had trouble completing all the pr-boarding steps. Had to uninstall and reinstall to get it working. Also had issues with it whilst on board. Princess need to get this app reliable if they are going to rely on it as the future.
Boarding process was smooth and fairly quick despite the Covid protocols which have had to be imposed. We were on board within abut an hour of arrival which isn't too bad.
The ship is beutiful and the public spaces are really impressive. Plenty of bars and lounges (although the ship was only two thirds capacity).
The cabin was nice with a comfortable bed and huge wardobe area. I didn't like the pillows which were like huge inflated balloons and your head seemd to bounce off them The duvet was far too thick for an air conditioned space and had a peculiar sheet-type sleeve wrapped round it which snagged your feet. There was very little space my side of the bed. The bathroom was probably the smallest I have come across on a cruise. The loo was in the way of the shower tray and whoever decided to put the loo roll at the far end underneath the sink and the tissues next to your elbow needs their head examining. The balcony was a good size with two comfy chairs and a table.
TV service was limited but there were some helpful features.
Quality of food was very varied, mainly from adequate to awful. As soon as we had boarded we headed to the World Marketplace (buffet) to eat. There were very limted food options and most of it looked like it had been there for a week. Very disappointed and it didn't get much better throughout the cruise. Dinner in the Estrella restaurant (main dining room) that evening was a disaster. The food was not particularly tasty neither was it particularly hot. The standard of service was abysmal. We were waiting ages for things like bread rolls, then the butter to go with it. We went in at 7.00pm and came out at 10.30. Drinks were few and far between depending if you could ambush any of the waiting staff to get them.
The only really nice meal I had during the three days was Saturday lunch in the Estrella. I asked for Red Snapper to be told they didn't have any but they had Barramundi. OK, I thought, never had that before so I'll give it a go, as I love seafood. It was delicious. That was the standard I would have expected the whole trip.
The drinks selection was quite good with some nice beers and cocktails, except the Pina Colada which tasted neither oif rum nor coconut. In fact the two we tried were completely tasteless. Theynare clearly mixed to a fixed recipe but surely they can get that right?
I have seen a couple of rave reviews about this trip but everone we spoke to was disappointed with either the food, the service, the Medallionclass app or something else. Some of these people had sailed with Princess many times but all seemed to be of the same mind.
If anyone were to ask us if we would recommend a Princess cruise, I would be very hesitant. Maybe after an 18 month layoff due to the pandemic they are out of practice but they should have been trained up before they set sail.
They have got to get their act together, and fast, to retain the reputation they had before.
The other downside to this trip was the weather. We set sail from Southampton on Friday afternoon in lovely sunny weather and then spent the next 2 days blanketed in thick fog. We sailed across to the Channel Islands, round the Brittany peninsular and into the Bay of Biscay and back to Southampton. The foghorn was sounding every few minutes for two days solid, day and night. We heard that the south coast around Brighton and Kent was enjoying lovely weather, so why hadn't we sailed that way?
If anyone at Princess reads this, I hope they act on our experience.