I just came back from a cruise on the Ocean Princess, and I would not recommend Princess cruise lines. I was not satisfied with them at all. I thought cruising would be a nice experience but it was terrible!
Some other people on the ship that I talked to who had taken a cruise before did not have much or any good things to say about Princess Cruises. But Carnival Cruises keep coming up alot with them and trips to the Carribean, and Mexican Riviara.
But it still seems that there is nothing really special about any of the ships. It seems the fun portions are being on land, and shopping. On board, its the weather is nice, the swimming pools / hot tubs, and the food. But the food on the Ocean Princess was way below my expectations, from the way people talk about the great food and buffets on cruise ships.
Princess did have any info that they would send me before the trip, except buying their videos. (Which I wound up with after the cruise, cause they said it was about the different ports that we visited and a special added segment on the glaciers). But it was the video they try and sell you prior to the cruise and its just a covered sales pitch about Princess Cruise Lines.
The cruise lines and travel agents are all working to get more money, more money. But no one wants to tell the truth! When I tried to find out what the weather would be like, no one tells the truth. It was raining almost everyday. I don't mind the rain, but it would have been nice to know that it does rain more days than it is dry. That way you can be prepared. And the things that you find yourself needing after you have got on a ship a very very expensive or they don't carry. Like the rain gear. Little paper plastic ponchos that aren't full length they want to charge an arm and a leg for it.
My camera equipment was stolen out of my room. The staff was no help. The photo shop did not carry any batteries, chargers, and did not have any to rent or buy. Things in the photo shop were at minumum, twice the price that you would pay if you bought it in a store on land. And no one was any help about shops or places at the port stops. After we had got back on board from our first port stop, I found out from another passenger that there were some shuttle bus that took here into the regular town shopping area. I could have gotten replacement camcorder, photo supplies, stockings, and rain gear there. I think that would be helpful if the staff let people know or could answer your questions when you asked; and some of the staff told me they have made this cruise quite a few times, but they did not seem to know much.
Princess seemed to have a monopoly on the land trips and activities. Cause the transportation busses for an activity may be with the same company, but there they were seperated as to whether you bought a ticket on board or at the dock. And the crew did not seem to know where their particular land excursion and shuttle buses were located. I almost missed a couple of trips because of the crew giving me the wrong information. And then they don't want to give you a refund. They plan activities poorly, they don't give you enough / important information. If you don't cancel your activity before 10:00 am the day before the activity, your loss, they don't refund, even if the weather is inclimate. But they don't tell you that before hand. I booked activities according to the schedule time that we would be in port that they sent me before the cruise. But we were not in port at those times. One stop we got in very early, another stop we got in later than the schedule, and another port stop they changed the times and we were only in port for a couple of hours. And if you don't asked a couple of people the same question and compare the answers and check the little small hidden signs that were sometimes posted, you are going to miss the boat or something.
I don't know if the other cruise lines do a better job or not, but there should be a special brouchure or tape or persons to help prepare, infor and answer questions truthfull (not the car salesman, real estate broker sweet talk sales pitch).
I am really unhappy with Ocean Princess Cruise Lines, they sugar coated their ship, crew, the travel experience and it was not the "Love Boat" they claim to be. And for the price you pay to take a cruise, why aren't the little small things already included. I can see paying extra for alcoholic drinks but $1.50 for soda pop and sometimes the staff would pour out of a 12 ounce can and take the rest. So you only got about 4 ounce cause they would fill the cup with lots of ice. And they charged for water, $2.75 it was more than soda pop and almost half the cost of some of the alcoholic drinks. But they don't tell you this either before you take a cruise. They said no tipping, it was automatically added to your bill. But they tipped the room cleaning staff $3.50 a day per person per room, and the wait staff $6.50 per day per person. (I wound up eating in the buffet cafe, cause they had an excuse every time I went to eat in the big dining rooms. So the cost of buying "personal choice" dinning it not worth it. Cause you can't dine when you want to in those dinning rooms even though they said I did not need to make a reservation.
Well I have a lot more to say, but this just bums me out. Princess Cruise Lines S-U-C-K-S !!!! And if you are looking to work on aboard one. Don't. They seem to work the crew 16 to 20 hours a day. Quite a few of the crew complained to me about Princess Cruises work schedule.
Well you can e-mail at
merryland50@hotmail.com if you have any questions. I wish I had known about cruise addicts.com before I went. But I have not seen anything posted about Ocean Princess either.
LOL