Back from first Princess cruise: thoughts

[DnA2010]

I thought I would come back with some of my thoughts from our first Princess cruise, given everyone on here helped me a lot :)

our cruise was a 4 day west coast cruise from Vancouver to LA on Emerald Princess- we were my husband and I - 36 and 38 and this was our 5th cruise. 

 

embarkment: 

So easy! Granted we were the only ship in port. We had parked in parking at the Vancouver airport and taken the sky train down to the pork. So easy, and the station is right by the port. Walked past bag drop as we were just taking carryon, no lines at screening, customs, right up to an agent, got our room keys and walked onto the ship. So so easy! 

We then had lunch in the main dining room- shared a table with experienced cruisers, one lady had over 100 Princess cruises alone! 

 

We then enjoyed the warm Vancouver sun and did the croquette, golf putting, bocchi ball and shuffle board. We did sail away from the highest deck and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

 

Room: 

we had an interior, aft, aloha (12) deck. We aren’t picky on rooms and have had interiors and balconies.  It was fine, actually better than the other interiors we’ve had. We liked having the separate area in from the of the bathroom for dressing, rather than a couch. Our room steward was- average at best? The previous occupant’s ice bucket was in the fridge when we arrived, some change in the floor, pool towels stayed for 2 days till I handed them to him etc. Our room was never made up until well the afternoon but we didn’t really care. I guess I should have put the “make up room” out more. 

 

Food:

We ate all our dinners in the main dining room- we had signed up for late traditional dining. And were assigned a table of 2. We ended up talking to the two tables of two on either side a lot as they were quite close. our servers were excellent- always had drinks ready for us, kept waters very full and always had proper cutlery etc. Food was fine. Nothing standout ish but not bad either. We at the buffet 3/4 days for breakfast...it was ok- average at best again, but fine. We did not like the coffee on the ship so did get a coffee card and I think used all but 1 coffee. Lunch’s we had pizza, dining room, out in Astoria and afternoon tea. We did the tea twice- liked the service and lots of yummy treats and nice scones. Overall thought the food was ok, not bad, but ok. We never went to the buffet for lunch or diner. 

 

Entertainment- we went to one show in the big theatre - the magic-ish one - it was...odd? The theatre was too small thoug, they neede a third show as both were always packed. Our dining time was 7:45 and the show times were 6:45 and 8:45 so didn’t really work. We did enjoy lots of live music and did go to the “club” Skywalkers twice- it wasn’t busy as there was a big wedding group on the ship who liked to have fun. 

 

Pool deck: we didn’t go in any pools but did watch Black Panther from the “hot” aka warm tubs one afternoon- def not hot. We also watched Incredibles 2- the quality of the movie screen is quite good. Otherwise it was kinda cold to enjoy the pool decks unfortunately. 

 

The ship: 

we found the ship fine for its age. We found the day activities a bit limited, glad there were only 2 sea days, as without the pool deck we found the inside a bit crowded and activities limited. Happy I found the Adagio Lounge on day 2- perfect for reading and not busy. We did find that this ship overall seemed dark and found it hard to traverse at times. Can’t  comment on the elevators as we only take stairs (our cruise theory- take more stairs, eat more dessert!) 

 

Overall we had a nice time but have realized we prefer warmer cruises and ships with more bells and whistles. We were happy to see lots of middle age people on this cruise as friends had been on the 10 day return Vancouver 2 weeks earlier and had said that most passengers were a fair bit older and they found the atmosphere different, but it’s all different right 

 

thanks again to everyone who answered my questions and feel free to ask away! 

[paul929207]

Thanks for the comments

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for the review.  Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[tawlaw1526]

Very nice review.   Thank you for posting.   I hope you cruise with Princess again.    Try one of their Royal Class ships.   They are gorgeous.    

[EastBay Cruisers]

Thank you for your review !  Sorry to hear that the service provided by your room steward was not up to par. Most stewards are very diligent about cleaning and organizing items from the previous occupants in a cabin.

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[Thrak]

Glad you had a good cruise. As for the age of the passengers - we took a 28 day cruise on the same ship last year and, on that cruise, people kept telling me how young I am. I was 64 at the time. Princess isn't known for young folks and on a longer cruise like that we actually were in the younger group! (Actually there was a group of young people who work at the Princess Copper River Lodge in Alaska. Since it was October the lodge was closed and, as Princess employees, they were able to take the 28 day cruise for port fees and taxes. Holy Cow! They were definitely in the minority though...)

 

Princess can be a fine line for younger people if they know what to expect and don't need the party atmosphere or the "bells and whistles" as you said such as water slides, rock climbing walls, bumper cars, ice rinks, etc. Our son sailed with us on our first Princess cruise when he was 37 and enjoyed it immensely. It was a 10 day SF/Alaska round trip. He sailed with us again later when he was 38 and said it was "too long" and he got bored. That was a 14 day SF/Hawaii round trip. On the first trip he found a group of younger folks he really got along with. On the second cruise he found another group of younger folks but it wasn't quite as good and, as he said, it felt "too long" due to the amount of sea days.

 

Whether you cruise Princess again or not it's great that you gave the line a try and have an idea what it's like. Granted, you took a very short cruise and likely had a younger crowd due to that circumstance but, when you are older, you may want to come back for a more relaxed and kick-back cruise. A 4 day cruise is a very brief introduction to a cruise line but it seems you gave Princess a very fair and unbiased trial. Thanks for that and thanks for posting  your honest opinion here in a nice way. If you do cruise Princess again we would be happy to meet you and share a table or a drink with you. Whatever you do, keep cruising!

[atdahop]

Nice review.  Which dining room was open when you first embarked?  Do you have any of the patters that you could share?

[AZJerry]

Re the "hot" tubs. This is a problem that seems to have started several years ago. Before that the tubs were always hot and much more enjoyable.

 

On a related note, the thermal beds in the spa have also cooled off in the last couple of years. It's not something we would do often and it definitely depended on the itinerary but we don't bother any more.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks.

[DnA2010]

On 10/26/2018 at 4:58 PM, paul929207 said:

Thanks for the comments

You’re very welcome

On 10/26/2018 at 5:00 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

Thanks for the review.  Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

You’re welcome, cruising is indeed great! 

On 10/26/2018 at 5:14 PM, tawlaw1526 said:

Very nice review.   Thank you for posting.   I hope you cruise with Princess again.    Try one of their Royal Class ships.   They are gorgeous.    

You never know, thanks for the tip, I will keep the Royal class in mind

On 10/26/2018 at 5:20 PM, EastBay Cruisers said:

Thank you for your review !  Sorry to hear that the service provided by your room steward was not up to par. Most stewards are very diligent about cleaning and organizing items from the previous occupants in a cabin.

It wasn’t a big deal as we aren’t fussy people but I did wonder why the chorine-y pool towels stayed a couple of days 

On 10/26/2018 at 6:04 PM, riclop said:

Thanks for the report.

You’re welcome 🙂 

[DnA2010]

22 hours ago, Thrak said:

Glad you had a good cruise. As for the age of the passengers - we took a 28 day cruise on the same ship last year and, on that cruise, people kept telling me how young I am. I was 64 at the time. Princess isn't known for young folks and on a longer cruise like that we actually were in the younger group! (Actually there was a group of young people who work at the Princess Copper River Lodge in Alaska. Since it was October the lodge was closed and, as Princess employees, they were able to take the 28 day cruise for port fees and taxes. Holy Cow! They were definitely in the minority though...)

 

Princess can be a fine line for younger people if they know what to expect and don't need the party atmosphere or the "bells and whistles" as you said such as water slides, rock climbing walls, bumper cars, ice rinks, etc. Our son sailed with us on our first Princess cruise when he was 37 and enjoyed it immensely. It was a 10 day SF/Alaska round trip. He sailed with us again later when he was 38 and said it was "too long" and he got bored. That was a 14 day SF/Hawaii round trip. On the first trip he found a group of younger folks he really got along with. On the second cruise he found another group of younger folks but it wasn't quite as good and, as he said, it felt "too long" due to the amount of sea days.

 

Whether you cruise Princess again or not it's great that you gave the line a try and have an idea what it's like. Granted, you took a very short cruise and likely had a younger crowd due to that circumstance but, when you are older, you may want to come back for a more relaxed and kick-back cruise. A 4 day cruise is a very brief introduction to a cruise line but it seems you gave Princess a very fair and unbiased trial. Thanks for that and thanks for posting  your honest opinion here in a nice way. If you do cruise Princess again we would be happy to meet you and share a table or a drink with you. Whatever you do, keep cruising!

All of the people we met on Princess were wonderful, of all ages 🙂 I think mainly we realized without the pool decks spreading people out we felt the ship felt a bit crowded and there weren’t as many activities going on that appealed to us  

22 hours ago, atdahop said:

Nice review.  Which dining room was open when you first embarked?  Do you have any of the patters that you could share?

Botticelli was open 🙂 

i did keep most of them, I will find them and try to figure out how to add for you 

4 hours ago, AZJerry said:

Re the "hot" tubs. This is a problem that seems to have started several years ago. Before that the tubs were always hot and much more enjoyable.

 

On a related note, the thermal beds in the spa have also cooled off in the last couple of years. It's not something we would do often and it definitely depended on the itinerary but we don't bother any more.

They were def nothing near hot, but warm enough for us to watch a movie from 

3 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thanks.

You’re welcome 🙂 

[caribill]

On 10/26/2018 at 5:35 PM, DnA2010 said:

pool towels stayed for 2 days till I handed them to him

 

Where were the pool towels that he did not take away?

 

I would have just put them on the bathroom floor in which case they would be taken the next time the room was cleaned or freshened up.

[emmak8]

Thanks for posting your review.

[DnA2010]

On 10/27/2018 at 10:46 PM, caribill said:

 

Where were the pool towels that he did not take away?

 

I would have just put them on the bathroom floor in which case they would be taken the next time the room was cleaned or freshened up.

At first they were at the end of the closet (which is open not closed in) and then I moved them to the floor of the bathroom. 

 

[quincytoo]

We were on this cruise as well. Mr.QT convinced me to do carry on and must say I will do it again. I think we were one of the first ones on and then off the ship.

 

We ate in the dining room then first day and my salmon was raw  in the middle, not a game changer and I just ate around it and thought the vegs were great.

We really did luck out with the weather didn't we? So nice except for the first sea day but even that wasn't bad.

Mr.QTactually didn't like any of the menus offerings from the MDR so we ended up eating at The Salty Dog (really good , loved the lobster Mac and cheese, Share (this was incredible) and eating Tapas and sushi at Vines.

I do agree that warmer cruises are also my more style.

Had never been on the Emerald before but liked the smaller ship.

[#love2cruise]

On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 6:35 PM, DnA2010 said:

I thought I would come back with some of my thoughts from our first Princess cruise, given everyone on here helped me a lot 🙂

our cruise was a 4 day west coast cruise from Vancouver to LA on Emerald Princess- we were my husband and I - 36 and 38 and this was our 5th cruise. 

 

embarkment: 

So easy! Granted we were the only ship in port. We had parked in parking at the Vancouver airport and taken the sky train down to the pork. So easy, and the station is right by the port. Walked past bag drop as we were just taking carryon, no lines at screening, customs, right up to an agent, got our room keys and walked onto the ship. So so easy! 

We then had lunch in the main dining room- shared a table with experienced cruisers, one lady had over 100 Princess cruises alone! 

 

We then enjoyed the warm Vancouver sun and did the croquette, golf putting, bocchi ball and shuffle board. We did sail away from the highest deck and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

 

Room: 

we had an interior, aft, aloha (12) deck. We aren’t picky on rooms and have had interiors and balconies.  It was fine, actually better than the other interiors we’ve had. We liked having the separate area in from the of the bathroom for dressing, rather than a couch. Our room steward was- average at best? The previous occupant’s ice bucket was in the fridge when we arrived, some change in the floor, pool towels stayed for 2 days till I handed them to him etc. Our room was never made up until well the afternoon but we didn’t really care. I guess I should have put the “make up room” out more. 

 

Food:

We ate all our dinners in the main dining room- we had signed up for late traditional dining. And were assigned a table of 2. We ended up talking to the two tables of two on either side a lot as they were quite close. our servers were excellent- always had drinks ready for us, kept waters very full and always had proper cutlery etc. Food was fine. Nothing standout ish but not bad either. We at the buffet 3/4 days for breakfast...it was ok- average at best again, but fine. We did not like the coffee on the ship so did get a coffee card and I think used all but 1 coffee. Lunch’s we had pizza, dining room, out in Astoria and afternoon tea. We did the tea twice- liked the service and lots of yummy treats and nice scones. Overall thought the food was ok, not bad, but ok. We never went to the buffet for lunch or diner. 

 

Entertainment- we went to one show in the big theatre - the magic-ish one - it was...odd? The theatre was too small thoug, they neede a third show as both were always packed. Our dining time was 7:45 and the show times were 6:45 and 8:45 so didn’t really work. We did enjoy lots of live music and did go to the “club” Skywalkers twice- it wasn’t busy as there was a big wedding group on the ship who liked to have fun. 

 

Pool deck: we didn’t go in any pools but did watch Black Panther from the “hot” aka warm tubs one afternoon- def not hot. We also watched Incredibles 2- the quality of the movie screen is quite good. Otherwise it was kinda cold to enjoy the pool decks unfortunately. 

 

The ship: 

we found the ship fine for its age. We found the day activities a bit limited, glad there were only 2 sea days, as without the pool deck we found the inside a bit crowded and activities limited. Happy I found the Adagio Lounge on day 2- perfect for reading and not busy. We did find that this ship overall seemed dark and found it hard to traverse at times. Can’t  comment on the elevators as we only take stairs (our cruise theory- take more stairs, eat more dessert!) 

 

Overall we had a nice time but have realized we prefer warmer cruises and ships with more bells and whistles. We were happy to see lots of middle age people on this cruise as friends had been on the 10 day return Vancouver 2 weeks earlier and had said that most passengers were a fair bit older and they found the atmosphere different, but it’s all different right 

 

thanks again to everyone who answered my questions and feel free to ask away! 

Glad you chose Princess and would encourage you to give the Royal Class Ships a try.  We've been on 11 cruises, all Princess except one.  We have had excellent stateroom stewards, except on our last cruise.  Sounds like you had a dud on this one as we did on our last cruise.  Found out this was his last cruise, so guess he didn't have any work ethics...enough to just get by.  We are hooked on the Royal Class ship now, but would like to try the Pacific Princess.  You might want to give her try.  Read about her and read some of her reviews.  Happy cruising...