Review- First (and last?) Princess Cruise: Dec 22 Emerald Princess 15 day Panama Canal

[megaphone84]

 

This was my 8^th cruise though all previous sailings were on NCL. We were looking for a more elevated experience, were interested in trying a new line and were thrilled to be able to spend two weeks with our dear friends @JamieLogical and her husband Clayton.

 

Jamie has done a fantastic LIVE that can be found here with much more detailed information than I intend to provide.

 

 

Overall: I’m glad we tried it out, but it did not meet expectations. It felt like they were implementing cost cutting measures at every turn and they seemed very understaffed. 

 

Pros:

◦            I actually liked the décor. I didn’t expect to and I know people often complain about it but I thought it was regal even if it’s a little tacky.  

◦            Comfortable bed and I like the large closet with so much hanging space. This was especially helpful for such a long itinerary with three formal nights.

◦            Kind staff though my heart breaks for how horribly overworked they are- CCL truly must be the worst line to work for regardless of sub-brand. It felt like they were all expected to make up for Carnivals financial problems by covering more tables, servicing more rooms or being the only bartender at a crowded bar. Our room steward Michael was wonderful, we made friends with many of the bartenders and waiters. Shout outs to Palfrey in Sabatini, Cristina and Francis at Crown Grill, Imran at the main pool bar and Pamela at Explorers Lounge.

◦            Doing laundry worked great for us!

◦            The older demographic is both a pro and a con- we met some very intelligent and well-travelled passengers, but the ship is pretty sleepy by about 10pm.

◦            Fewer children lending to a general sense of peace and quiet on the ship which I really appreciated.

◦            I loved the treatments I received in the spa.

◦            Sanctuary was wonderful as was Movies Under the Stars 

◦            My husband ate his weight in salmon from the breakfast buffet and we think he actually lost weight on this cruise because of the number of high-quality lower carb options he found.

◦            Crown Grill and Sabatini’s were great. We preferred their food to such an extent that a few times we would find a quiet place on the ship and just order for delivery ala carte.

 

 

Cons:

◦            I hated the ship layout. I realize that this is personal preference but even after 2 weeks I never did fully understand how to get from point A to B.

◦            Bathroom was horrible. Smallest shower at sea! 

◦            Sinks in buffet are abusive- I had more than one outfit marred by the auto dryer turning on and slinging soap at me.  

◦            Food quality was way below expectations in the MDR for almost every meal.

◦            Menu design is baffling; lots of added ingredients that are either incongruous or I felt were unnecessary. I love fine dining and innovative food but truly do not understand whoever designed this menu.  Why would you put cocktail sauce on a monte cristo and leave out the egg?? Or grapes on top of pecan pie? Quesadillas made with swiss cheese?!?     

◦            Buffet is small and very repetitive

◦            60% of specialty dining was closed on this sailing (Salty Dog did open for the last few days but never actually served us a full meal) and we would have loved to have tried Planks or Steamers. I supposed with more research I could have calibrated my expectations but I didn't realize three of the places we hoped to try would be closed. Lesson learned there. 

◦            MDR is so short staffed that half the tables go unoccupied, there were long lines to get in and reservations were irrelevant, meals often took literal hours and arrived cold and often over or dangerously under cooked. One time they just didn't bring me breakfast at all because the kitchen was so backed up. 

◦            The motion lights in the room are terrible and wake up companions

◦            45 minutes for Karaoke means about 25% of people who sign up get to participate. I didn't find the quality of any of the entertainment on board to be as good as NCL pre or post startup. 

◦            Wifi was very slow. 

◦            The Princess Medallion app added nothing to my experience and only left me frustrated. Here's a partial list of things it should be able to do or maybe I just couldn’t figure out:

        - book spa appointments or show appointments made

      - view shore excursions booked before cruise

      - show full itinerary without scrolling forever

        - show ship position

        - many items on Princess patter do not show up in journey timeline and I found the journey layout very hard to read. Why is there no PDF of the patter available in the app so I can see everything in one place?

         - drink/ food delivery orders can not be placed from many areas of the ship

         - drink orders often just cancelled with no notification

        - can’t book tender tickets

◦            Public bathrooms are dirty, often smelled like mildew and desperately need to be renovated. What's with the weird black powder like residue in so many of the toilets? 

◦            Shortage of tender boats- we were told there are 6 working tenders for 2600 passengers. In Panama this was exacerbated by also only having 3 shuttle busses into town. Some days even Princess excursions were delayed by hours due to the tender issues.

◦            3 hours to never get our full meal at Salty Dog Gastropub- we ended up just leaving after speaking to one of the food and beverage managers who literally told us theres nothing she can do but "stand there and be pretty" because she knows the system is broken.  

◦            Air conditioning either not working or freezing depending on what part of the ship you were in. 

◦            Awful bath products- I'm convinced that was dish soap and laundry detergent not shampoo and body wash. 

[Lady Arwen]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.  You are not alone in your opinion of Princess.  Many recent reviews reflect the same thoughts as you and it’s getting quite disheartening, to say the least.  It appears that cutbacks and cost cutting have diminished the Princess product, as we knew it.

 

My husband and I have one more cruise booked with Princess for September 2023 and I believe it’ll be our last, unless things change by then.  In the meantime, we will be sailing with Celebrity on Apex and HAL on Rotterdam.  We have sailed both and had zero complaints.

 

I understand how frustrating and disappointing it is when your vacation does not meet your expectations.  I hope your next cruise, on whichever line, is much more enjoyable.

[PurpleTraveller]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. As a long time Princess cruiser it is quite disturbing to read of what cruisers are experiencing on Princess ships. I haven't cruised with Princess since the restart but have an Alaskan cruise booked for June 2023 to use up FCC's. I hope that my cruise is better than yours and that some of the crew shortages being experienced across many ships have been addressed.

 

I went on a Celebrity cruise last June and it was wonderful with excellent service. I have just booked two Celebrity cruises for June 2024 and I hope they are as good as my last cruise with them. 

 

Good luck with your future cruises whoever they may be with. 🛳️

 

[megaphone84]

@Lady Arwen Thank you! We very much look forward to giving Celebrity a try when the cruise fever hits us next! 

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, megaphone84 said:

@Lady Arwen Thank you! We very much look forward to giving Celebrity a try when the cruise fever hits us next! 

Please try one of the Edge class ships, you will not be disappointed.

[lhsail]

3 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Please try one of the Edge class ships, you will not be disappointed.

However, if you like a smaller ship the Summit is wonderful. We also really like the Equinox. 

[memoak]

I will post this query one more time. Why are there a plethora of threads from people taking a Princess cruise that end in saying don’t cruise Princess cruise Celebrity ?

[lhsail]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

I will post this query one more time. Why are there a plethora of threads from people taking a Princess cruise that end in saying don’t cruise Princess cruise Celebrity ?

I’ll answer from our perspective. We have cruised both lines extensively. After Covid it just worked out that we were able to book Celebrity for several cruises and loved it. We also had significant credit with Princess to use due to a long cruise scheduled with Princess in March 2020. 

 

We just completed a 16 day cruise on the Ruby Princess.  We were underwhelmed by the food and the entertainment. There were a few good entertainers. The buffet was a huge disappointment. The MDR was hit and miss.  Crown Grill was excellent. The highlight was the crew. They were gracious and fun to visit with.
 

We have a cruise on the Enchanted Princess in February to use up our remaining FCC. We’re keeping a open mind. But, overall we’ve come to prefer the food, entertainment and vibe of Celebrity. 

  

[tawlaw1526]

I have to agree with everyone that the cutbacks and quality of Princess has been so awful that it is causing me to think about switching to Celebrity and/or Holland America as well.    I have been on many cruises on several different cruise lines.   In 2015 DH and I decided it was time to try Princess and we went to Hawaii.    It immediately felt like home.  Something about the Princess experience met all of our expectations and felt like we finally found the perfect cruise line.   We have since been on 29 Princess cruises and felt we couldn’t get enough.    Then the restart……we’ve been on 4 cruises since the restart and they are progressively getting worst.    Our last cruise was 20 days in December on Enchanted Princess.    The staff was terrific but so over worked that some of them showed signs of just being physically exhausted.   I asked one worker if he was okay and he wanted to just melt into my arms and tell me all but all he said was I am very tired and we have no time to rest.  I bet all the executives have a day off and get plenty of rest.  
The entertainment on Enchanted was HORRIBLE!    First night was a comedian that was so bad I couldn’t even try to fake laugh.    People were walking out.   Several nights, the main entertainment was just one of the singers in the ship cast getting out there and singing for 45 minutes.   That saves Princess from hiring outside entertainment.    That happened 4 or 5 nights on that cruise.   I’ve never seen that before.   I was shocked and so were many other passengers.   We just stopped going to the theater as it was just a waste of time.  

Food was by far the cheapest quality I’ve ever seen on ANY cruise I’ve ever been on in 40 years.   The buffet was awful and we typically eat in the buffet most days.   Half way through the cruise I just couldn’t do it anymore.    They had a full buffet.   They had so many dishes for you to choose from but the problem was what they were serving.    You had, spaghetti with marinara, spaghetti with butter/garlic, pasta Alfredo, lasagna, Mac n Cheese and you had Chinese noodles.   Then you had white rice, brown rice, basmati rice, fried rice, rice and beans, rice with veggies.    So if you count up all of these CHEAP foods, it fills up a buffet but all quality was gone.   The meat selection was limited and cheap quality meat.   
Honestly, I felt so sad to see such a beautiful cruise line go so far down hill and so far from where they were pre-pandemic.    
They don’t put the chocolate on your pillow anymore.   Not a big deal but it was a nice touch.   No more blue tote bag….not a big deal but a nice touch.

The Medallion App……I am not sure what to even say other than they really need to step it up.  
Final comment:   It’s funny now but it wasn’t at the time, I ordered a Vanilla Bean Latte to be delivered to my room one morning.   I waited 1 hour and 15 minutes and when it arrived it was in a to go cup and I could tell it was only half full.   I took a big sip and almost choked.    It was just warm milk with vanilla syrup.    THEY FORGOT TO ADD THE COFFEE!!!!   How do you forget to add the coffee to a latte?    
Next, I ordered an ice coffee to be delivered to me in the casino.    It never arrived.  5 hours later I went back to cabin and it was delivered as a HOT coffee to my cabin, well it was cold by then..haha.    Just a cluster all around!  
I am incredibly sad to see all of this and hear how so many want to switch cruise lines but I totally agree it’s time.  I know the grass is not always greener on the other side but people just aren’t feeling this way about Celebrity and Holland.   

 

[Lady Arwen]

12 hours ago, memoak said:

I will post this query one more time. Why are there a plethora of threads from people taking a Princess cruise that end in saying don’t cruise Princess cruise Celebrity ?

Because people are frustrated, disappointed, and in some cases,  downright angry.  They have reason to be all of the above.  Princess is not offering what they promise.  Princess used to offer a consistent product that we all enjoyed for many years.  Now, not so much.  More and more people are going to branch out to other cruiselines looking to get good value for their money and a vacation that meets their expectations.  Right now, for a lot of people, Celebrity offers them what they’re looking for and at a fair price.  Is Celebrity more expensive?  Yes, it is.  But you really do get what you pay for.

[dog]

Thanks to OP, for sharing. I agree with many of the pros. I have 1 HAL, 2 Princess cruises booked and will never sail NCL again. Bad experiences & extremely rude staff in the Pub restaurant.

I see some of the cons you mentioned on Princess, however I did enjoy the last 2 newest ships. Discovery & Enchanted.

we had 1/2 capacity for both of those cruises and everything went well. I do see the cut backs over the last 40 years of cruising. 
I also cruise Celebrity but have not since 2019- so can’t comment.

Thanks for sharing. It is important to hear the good, bad & the ugly.

[catgirl411]

Just got off the same cruise. We are experienced cruises with over 25 so far.  In the last ten years or so we’ve narrowed it down to Princess, Celebrity and Oceania. Every cruise has its pluses and minuses. Our three post Covid cruises have been 1 on Oceania and 2 on Princess. I have to say that I agree with most of megaphone84’s observations about EmeraldPrincess.  The staff were wonderful, the food in the buffet and the MDR are mediocre at best (terrible at worst) and the specialty dining was great. We actually loved the musical entertainment (didn’t do the comedians)…Rock Opera is one of best production shows we’ve ever seen at sea, Jared Freiburg and the Vagabonds were awesome, really enjoyed the CompanyMen.  It was disappointing to have some dining options unavailable. I totally agree about the public area washrooms…almost everyone I was in had at least one stall out of order and what is that grey stuff in the toilets?  I was worried that a Holiday cruise would be full of kids and families but it was a nice mix and fellow passengers were really quite nice (unlike the flight on the way home!) All in all the overall experience for us was quite good and despite the food issues we will still include Princess on our list of cruise options.  Next up for us an October TA on Celebrity.

[TexasBrit]

9 hours ago, tawlaw1526 said:

I am incredibly sad to see all of this and hear how so many want to switch cruise lines but I totally agree it’s time.  I know the grass is not always greener on the other side but people just aren’t feeling this way about Celebrity and Holland.   

Sorry to read this report. We are booked on Ruby for Panama Canal in April, so now are concerned and thinking about cancelling.

I don't know about Celebrity these days, (they were very good a few years ago) but take a look at the HAL boards. Quite a few unhappy cruisers there. Long-timers complaining as you did about the drop in standards post COVID and new people disappointed after hearing so many good things and then deciding to try HAL for themselves. We are in the latter category, and our experience was similar to yours in many respects.

 

Of course Carnival Cruise Corp, which owns HAL and Princess, is in a dire financial situation so cutbacks are inevitable. Perhaps the glory days with reasonable costs and good value that we all got used to are over for the near future, and it is time to find alternative types of vacation travel.

[JerryinBWB]

Just a few thoughts from someone who has many Princess cruises and several Holland America cruises.  Switching to Holland America will likely not solve the problem.  We have been on three HA cruises since the restart and they are getting progressively worse.  We disembarked on 28 December and can report that the food was so-so, the entertainment was poor, and the crew was great (though overworked).  We will try the new HA Rotterdam in May and hope for a better experience, otherwise we will not rebook HA.  We have a couple of Princess Transatlantics booked and hope to hear some more encouraging reviews before the first one.

[wrongwaywatson]

Interesting.  I'm not here to defend Princess or say that your comparisons are wrong, because I've only sailed on Princess.  I can't say that I've had a bad cruise, even our two post pandemic cruises.   I've enjoyed the food in the buffets and the MDR.  The only meal that I didn't enjoy was in Sabatini's, where I didn't like the food and I thought that the servers were standoffish.   Sure, I've had one or two things on several cruises that I thought could be improved.  On our Thanksgiving cruise on the Enchanted, I had a little trouble with room service.  One night I ordered hot tea around 10pm and I went to sleep at 11:30 and it still hadn't arrived.  The next night I mentioned that and it came in just a few minutes.

Maybe I'm lucky/fortunate?  Maybe I'm easily pleased?  Maybe I don't do many other vacations and I have lower expectations?  Not sure, but I'm glad! LOL

 

It is interesting, though, to read the comparisons.  Like I said, I'm not invalidating anyone's experience.  It is just interesting.

Edited January 3, 2023 by wrongwaywatson

[lhsail]

32 minutes ago, JerryinBWB said:

Just a few thoughts from someone who has many Princess cruises and several Holland America cruises.  Switching to Holland America will likely not solve the problem.  We have been on three HA cruises since the restart and they are getting progressively worse.  We disembarked on 28 December and can report that the food was so-so, the entertainment was poor, and the crew was great (though overworked).  We will try the new HA Rotterdam in May and hope for a better experience, otherwise we will not rebook HA.  We have a couple of Princess Transatlantics booked and hope to hear some more encouraging reviews before the first one.

We’ve talked to a few folks who have sailed on HAL lately and were very happy with the experience. Go figure. Pretty sure we’re going to book the Rotterdam TA in October. The ship looks beautiful and the music venues look impressive. I believe the extensive music venues are only on their new ships. We’re open to giving it a shot. 

[tawlaw1526]

33 minutes ago, JerryinBWB said:

Just a few thoughts from someone who has many Princess cruises and several Holland America cruises.  Switching to Holland America will likely not solve the problem.  We have been on three HA cruises since the restart and they are getting progressively worse.  We disembarked on 28 December and can report that the food was so-so, the entertainment was poor, and the crew was great (though overworked).  We will try the new HA Rotterdam in May and hope for a better experience, otherwise we will not rebook HA.  We have a couple of Princess Transatlantics booked and hope to hear some more encouraging reviews before the first one.

Thank you for letting us know your experience with HA as well.   I will not book HA.   I will try Celebrity.   It’s so sad to see cruising change so dramatically for the worse.   

[latebloomer56]

We were not pleased with the food on the Sapphire in Oct. but never went hungry. I love when a meal comes to me that looks as good as it tastes, just disappointed even in specialty dining venues. The crew worked very hard to make our vacation memorable and they did an excellent job at this. Sapphire had some issues as far as the ship itself went but they responded to all three items. Their communication with us went a long way.

That said I will still sail on Princess if they have a trip I want to do. We already booked Enchanted for Aug. I do hope the menu issues have been worked out, some of the food listed by the OP sounds awful. But with so many choices we will manage just will miss the MDR experience we remember pre-pandemic.

Thank you for posting this review.

[JohnP]

We are currently on the Diamond Princess out of San Diego.  It is their 4th cruise only.  We have found the food in the Main Dining to be quite good.  I agree that the buffet is repetitive; but we do manage to find something to eat.  The medallion seems to be working ok.  I am typing this in Manzanillo and internet is ok.  We found the lights that go on automatically right away and our cabin steward put some tape over it.  I have a toothbrush I plugged in the bathroom which is our night light.  There are lights by the bed that go on too; which I just put a pillow in front of.  The layout is a bit confusing; but we find our way around the ship just fine.  We have booked the Sapphire to South America in February and then the Crown to Alaska in September.  We have booked a celebrity in 2025.  Princess is trying to save money.  They used to give you port maps in your room; but they are still available at the desk.  Cruising is different after Covid; but we have met some very nice people on the ship and there are alot of families on the ship due to the holiday.  

[Lady Arwen]

53 minutes ago, lhsail said:

We’ve talked to a few folks who have sailed on HAL lately and were very happy with the experience. Go figure. Pretty sure we’re going to book the Rotterdam TA in October. The ship looks beautiful and the music venues look impressive. I believe the extensive music venues are only on their new ships. We’re open to giving it a shot. 

We sailed on Rotterdam for her maiden voyage TA, Amsterdam to Fll.  It was wonderful!  You will not be disappointed, I’m sure.  The food was very good and the service exemplary.  I loved the Music Walk!

[jennybenny]

3 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

Just got off the same cruise. We are experienced cruises with over 25 so far.  In the last ten years or so we’ve narrowed it down to Princess, Celebrity and Oceania. Every cruise has its pluses and minuses. Our three post Covid cruises have been 1 on Oceania and 2 on Princess. I have to say that I agree with most of megaphone84’s observations about EmeraldPrincess.  The staff were wonderful, the food in the buffet and the MDR are mediocre at best (terrible at worst) and the specialty dining was great. We actually loved the musical entertainment (didn’t do the comedians)…Rock Opera is one of best production shows we’ve ever seen at sea, Jared Freiburg and the Vagabonds were awesome, really enjoyed the CompanyMen.  It was disappointing to have some dining options unavailable. I totally agree about the public area washrooms…almost everyone I was in had at least one stall out of order and what is that grey stuff in the toilets?  I was worried that a Holiday cruise would be full of kids and families but it was a nice mix and fellow passengers were really quite nice (unlike the flight on the way home!) All in all the overall experience for us was quite good and despite the food issues we will still include Princess on our list of cruise options.  Next up for us an October TA on Celebrity.

We have one Princess cruise booked, post Covid. It will be our first cruise back and all the commentary on cruise critic has me concerned. However, I am seriously considering Oceania, which we've never sailed. So, I appreciate your top 3. Thanks for sharing!

[Cruise frenzy]

To whoever was on this cruise .. can you give a breakdown of who was #1, #2, #3 most traveled and how many days.  Thanks.

[Ken the cruiser]

40 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

We have one Princess cruise booked, post Covid. It will be our first cruise back and all the commentary on cruise critic has me concerned. However, I am seriously considering Oceania, which we've never sailed. So, I appreciate your top 3. Thanks for sharing!

Just to speak from the "other" side of this discussion. We were on an 18-day Panama Canal cruise back in May on the Caribbean Princess and had a great time! In addition, we were on a 21-day B3B family cruise in the Med on the Regal Princess (i.e., all 3 weeks of the initial Real Love Boat cruise) and also had a great time. I will also note that we usually ate in the Club Class dining area when it was open and never had any issues with service or food quality. We also have 9 more cruises booked with Princess and have no intention of cancelling any of them.

 

My Live From threads on both of those are in my below Signature area. 

 

OK, that's my two cents from the other side. 🙂

Edited January 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[lhsail]

2 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We sailed on Rotterdam for her maiden voyage TA, Amsterdam to Fll.  It was wonderful!  You will not be disappointed, I’m sure.  The food was very good and the service exemplary.  I loved the Music Walk!

That is the route and we will hit several new ports for us. Glad to hear the positive feedback. 

[Ken the cruiser]

23 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

However, I am seriously considering Oceania, which we've never sailed. So, I appreciate your top 3. Thanks for sharing!

Our top 3 are Celebrity, Princess and NCL, but not necessarily in that order. It all depends on the itinerary, usually between the 3-5 week range. For example, we just got off a super awesome NCL Jade cruise from Athens to Dubai and then onto Cape Town. That Live From thread is also listed below.