I knew of the reputation of Princess cruises was pretty legendary in the cruise world. They are the Love Boat after all. But I didn't know if they could stand up to the stellar track record I had previously sailing with 2 of the leaders in the industry, Disney and Celebrity. Let me cut to the chase... they do not. They're not even in the same stratosphere.
I chose Emerald Princess because it was an older ship, which I love and the Itinerary was epic! I watched every Emerald Princess ship walkthrough video, read all the reviews and I was sold that Emerald Princess was a great ship to try. I ca't begin to tell you how disappointed I was.
The food overall was awful, even putrid, but the food at the buffet was just horrific. The crew overall were great but everyone really lacked basic training and that rolls over to a bad guest experience. There is also a major communication problem between the crew and the guests. The language barrier is really frustrating to overcome.
Buffet. They were serving powdered eggs for breakfast at the buffet. You had to wait 20 minutes at the omelet station just to place your order, then another 15 minutes to get your omelet. And the Omelet was mediocre at best, not worth the wait. By day 2, I resorted to cereal and fruit for breakfast because everything else was just so awful. Same for lunch and dinner at the buffet. Items on the line looked gray and unappetizing. I ended up eating pizza and burgers outside at the Salty Grill and Slice for lunch because oddly, their pizza was phenomenal and that's coming from a NYC pizza snob.
The operation on how they managed that burger line at the salty grill was a joke. The idea of hot dogs and burgers are so you can get a bite quickly. It was literally keystone cops behind that line, trying to get food out to guests waiting 20 minutes for one burger with only 3 guests waiting. I would show up exactly when they opened at 11am, first person in line and still wait 20 minutes for a cheese burger because they were cooking everything to order. Not because they weren't trying, because they had no training and no backup. Management was oblivious. It was a joke. Ridiculous. No idea on how to deal with volume on a grill line.
Main dining room's food was Tasteless. Presentations were great but the food was just not good. Service was decent and crew were great. I only ate in the main dining room 3 times on a 14 night cruise because I was continually disappointed in the quality of food. I did an up-charge steak one night and it was terrible. You could taste the char on the steak and the vegetable, plus the texture of the steak was like mealy. The kicker??? The mashed potatoes were obviously instant. No butter, no salt. What kind of company does this?
Specialty restaurants were better, but bot great. Casual specialty restaurants also were better, but again. Nothing memorable. Thank God I had the Premium package because I could eat at the casual restaurant were were somewhat better but again, they had allot of issues with the quality of the food
Does Princess even have a corporate culinary program that ensures consistence across their entire fleet? If they do, they are failing. One ship's mistakes affect how their entire brand is perceived.
Entertainment sucked. Steel pan player was trying to play to backing tracks and all you could hear was steel drum with so much treble it was like sticking an ice pick in your ears. This guy was all over the ship too. I was running away from him because it was just not enjoyable. Could not find one band on the ship that played good ole rock and roll. This party band who just joined the ship with us did an 80's night on the pool deck and they were playing air guitar and lyp syncing because they did not know the material. It was pathetic. Even the guys who were mixing the band were embarrassed.
The constant upselling. The cruise director is so in love with himself that they have thing they do on the big screen called the wake show. Like a Good Morning America where they are constantly trying to get you to go to the art auctions, the jewelry sales, etc.. It's so in your face and obvious and ruins the chill pool deck vibe Between running from pool deck to pool deck to avoid the steel pan player and having to endure this Wake Show on the other pool deck. It was really annoying.
Mechanics. Everything is broken on that ship. Elevators were not working. Auto doors would close on you while you are half way through. Light sensors in the room going off for no reason in the middle of the night. etc. etc. etc.
Pool decks. There are 3 of them, each very narrow. It's challenging moving through those areas because all the loungers take up the space needed to walk from one end to another. Why do you need 3 small pool decks? They pack it in so tight, you cant navigate.
The ports were the best part of this cruise. Everything went off without a hitch. The excursions were so great. If it weren't for the ports and excursions, this cruise would be an EPIC fail. It's the only thing that kept me from rating it a 1.
In short, I would never sail Princess again. I took a chance and it really disappointed me. This cruise was not cheap either. Traveling as a single, I was paying double occupancy on a 14 night cruise in a balcony cabin. Do the math.
Princess does not know who they want to be either. They have this Duffy the bear character that walks around the ship waving to guests. What is that?? You're not Disney and you don't have Mickey Mouse. Plus there are hardly any kids on the ship, by design BTW. What are you doing with this character? Do you really think thats what people are looking for?
Also I spent allot of time getting to know some of their Elite guests with 15 or more Princess cruises under their belt. They seem forgiving of the inconsistencies on Princess because of all the rewards they are earning. That's a dangerous place to be for a brand. Princess feels their guests are happy, but they are really just complacent. Most I talked to are so brand loyal they they would never consider sailing with anyone else. Why should Princess try if their legacy guests don't care? I think Princess knows of the complacency and allows the ball to drop. It's so obvious for me where they are failing.
But what they are really doing is alienating the new generation of cruisers. Your legacy guests are gonna be gone someday soon and you will be left at the mercy of pulling in new blood, but i think it will already be too late by that time.
I'll be back on Celebrity and Disney if you need me... cheers!
I did find a manager but they didn’t seem to sense the urgency. They put an additional crew behind the line with the 2 that were already there, but now you have 3 people walking in circles. It all comes down to process and training which they both failed in. Good luck to you!
