We embarked upon our very first cruise in 2017, when we spent 3 days aboard the Disney Dream.
Having well and truly caught the cruising bug, it wasn't long before we were searching for our next adventure. Choosing a ship and itinerary proved more difficult than anticipated, as we were tied to school holiday dates, when many of the more family focused cruise ships were due to sail around the Mediterranean or the Caribbean - with itineraries which didn't appeal to us. Therefore, we were delighted to discover a 7 night cruise with Princess Cruises, sailing from LA to Vancouver with stops at Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria and Nanaimo in between, during our Easter break.
California is one of our favourite destinations, thanks to an amazing road trip we took in 2016. The chance to revisit San Francisco and Santa Barbara, as well as tour some of Canada for the first time, was too good an opportunity to miss.
We were aware the cruise ship didn't have the water slides, climbing walls, surfing pools or other facilities which many others do, but were happy there would be enough to keep the children entertained while onboard - plus, our intention was to spend most of our time ashore, exploring the local areas.
Further research indicated the ship was due to undergo a multi million pound refurbishment just prior to our cruise, which satisfied us that many of the problems some recent reviews had highlighted would be rectified by the time we were due to sail.
Decision made, we booked our cruise through TravelBag. It proved significantly cheaper than booking directly through Princess Cruises or various other specialised cruise holiday company's. Then, on a sunny day in April 2018, we arrived at LA cruise port.
Embarkation
Embarkation was extremely efficient. When we arrived at our allotted time, our cases were whisked away, we entered the terminal, completed the necessary medical forms, made our way straight to the check in desk, through security and were on board within 25 minutes of our arrival.
This was so much quicker and easier than the Disney Cruise embarkation procedure, which involved more waiting around and was significantly busier.
As it was already mid afternoon, we went on the hunt for our stateroom.
Stateroom
Consistent with most cruise ships, there are a number of stateroom categories to choose from. Because we required 4 beds and enough room for 2 adults and 2 older children, we opted for a Mini-Suite.
The Mini Suites comprises: a double bed with separate seating area - which houses a double sofa bed and a single pull down bunk above, plus a chair and coffee table. There's ample storage space in a number of drawers, a desk with chair, fridge, two televisions, plus a separate walk in wardrobe with plenty of hangers, shelving and a safe.
The bathrooms have a sink, toilet and shower over the bath. On the large balcony are reclining sun chairs and a small table.
Although the decor was a little traditional (or old fashioned as the kids put it), we were impressed with the space and layout of the stateroom. It worked well for the 4 of us, and we particularly enjoyed spending time on the large balcony. Watching the sun appear over the horizon one morning, with just the sound of the waves in the background, is a memory we'll treasure.
It's a real shame a lack of cleanliness let the stateroom down, especially in the bathroom - discovering the previous occupants hair still in the bath is not the most pleasant greeting. There were other areas which obviously hadn't been cleaned properly, not helped by the amount of mould around the tiles.
Finding the sofa bed was broken, on our first night, was another disappointment. Luckily, we realised this early enough for it to be mended before it was due to be slept in.
So, overall, not the high standards we were expecting of our stateroom.
Communal Areas
The rest of the ship fared a little better - especially the Atrium/Piazza, which was resplendent after it's recent face-lift. Many of the furnishings had obviously been replaced, and we found the whole open aspect extremely pleasant. A lovely setting to spend some time relaxing in.
The Piazza is a real hub of activity. It boasts a number of bars, including a wine cellar, shops and various seating places. Due to it's popularity, we sometimes struggled to find an available table, but when we did, it was a treat to enjoy a coffee, glass of wine or snack from the International Cafe, take in the sea views, watch the entertainment or try to beat the rest of the family in a game of Uno.
We consistently received excellent service from all the staff here - so it's easy to see why this location was a favourite of many passengers.
Pools
When they weren't closed for maintenance, or because the water had turned a dubious brown colour - which occurred during the last 2 days of our cruise, somewhere else we enjoyed spending time was around the pools. Here, the outdoor sunbeds, tables and flooring had also been updated.
There are two main pool areas, both are heated and within easy reach of bars and the buffet restaurant - Horizon Court. Smaller and quieter pools can also be found in the shape of the Terrace Pool, Oasis Pool and within The Sanctuary - the adult only Spa location.
In inclement weather, we headed to the Calypso Reef Pool, which is housed in a covered setting. There's also more fun to be had in this location, with a table tennis table (a favourite of the kids), basket ball game, board games, and jigsaws to keep everyone amused.
Neptunes Reef Pool is open air, has 2 jacuzzi's attached and a large screen above, which plays various movies throughout the day. Grab a drink and a bite to eat, then settle down on the sun lounger - something we all enjoyed on one of the sea days.
A great evening activity which takes place here is the Movies under the Stars. Blankets and popcorn are freely provided, enabling you to snuggle down on one of the sun loungers and enjoy the evening movie.
We were amazed how quiet the pool areas were. The Piazza seemed to be consistently bustling, but we never had any problem finding a free sunbed any time we chose to spend some time around the pools, making it a wonderfully relaxing experience.
Kids Clubs and Activities
As well as the activities around pools for the children, there are a number of deck games such as shuffleboard and an oversized chess set. The children often disappeared to spend time on the basketball court, and there's even a small putting green located behind the main pool area.
If you have younger children who require more supervision, there are also Kids Clubs available. The Treehouse (for ages 3-7), The Lodge (age 8-12) and The Beach House for teens.
As expected, the demographic of the ships guests was significantly older than on the Disney Cruise, and probably many other cruise ships aimed more towards children, so there were only a small number of youngsters on the ship. Due to this, the age limits on the kids clubs appeared more relaxed, which is why we located our 11 year old in The Beach House on a number of occasions.
He reported there were a selection of fun activities here, including; air hockey, ski ball, foosball, XBox games consoles, plus a huge TV - which kept him and the other kids sufficiently entertained.
Entertainment
There's entertainment in abundance on the Princess Cruise ships: our Cruise Director (Fernando) and his staff should be commended for the hard work they consistently displayed to help ensure the passengers were enjoying themselves. Even if you didn't want to partake in any of the games or activities, you still couldn't help but notice their ever present ready smile and fabulous senses of humour.
Although we only made it to 2 evening theatre shows, due to having fun elsewhere, those we did watch were great, especially The Voice of the Ocean.
Communication Onboard
Keeping in contact with the children, and each other, whilst onboard was extremely easy, thanks to the Princess@Sea Messenger service - which enabled us to send and receive text messages to each other for free. The Princess@Sea service is also a handy tool for viewing the days activities and other general ship information, including dinner menus, as well as stateroom account details.
This service is free to use and can be used while your phone is in airplane mode. Internet access is available through the Internet Cafe and wireless network for a charge.
Dining
One major aspect to dining aboard the Star Princess, which we loved, was the flexible dining. Traditional dining is still offered, but we preferred the flexibility of turning up whenever we were ready (and hungry), to wait for the next available table.
With Flexible Dining you can choose which restaurant you wish to eat at - but they all serve exactly the same food and look almost identical, so this is a moot point. The only downside is not having the same servers every night, meaning there's less opportunity to build a relationship with them, as we did on the Disney Cruise. However, it was fun meeting new crew members - some were extremely efficient and friendly, others simply served you without much effort to interact. We particularly enjoyed the evening we were attended to by Ariel, who would have been perfect for a Disney Cruise ship (even without that name). He was so personable, attentive to the children, performed magic tricks and was our favourite of the whole week - so we were lucky to have met him.
As for the food itself, safe, is the best word we could find to describe it - perfectly acceptable but nothing special.
In the main dining room, if you're a vegetarian and/or non-fish eater, choices were extremely limited. Alongside the Princess Favourites: Shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, fettuccine alfredo, grilled salmon and country chicken - which are always available on the menu, there were usually 6 or 7 alternative starters and mains to choose from. We always managed to find something to eat, sometimes by asking for a larger portion of a starter as a main, but overall we deemed the food rather bland and boring.
The only exception to this was the chocolate desserts, which were always amazing. A work of art and extremely tasty.
If you're looking forward to admiring the spectacular fruit, ice or chocolate sculptures you often hear about on cruise ships, you'll be disappointed. We didn't see any evidence of these, except a small token gesture on the buffet - which was the worst aspect of the whole dining experience. Reminding us more of a school canteen than a cruise ship buffet, the same old selection of uninspiring food was constantly served in a very cramped area, where you were then hard pushed to find an available table. Staff worked tirelessly to clean tables, serve drinks whenever possible (self serve is available), and generally keep the place clean but the poor food really lets it down.
There is salvation in what became our favourite place to eat lunch and snacks, the International Cafe. Located in the Piazza, this somewhat hidden gem is open 24 hours with it's menu rotating between various breakfast selections, then delicious salads, soups and sandwiches over lunchtimes and into the evenings, plus a fabulous choice of sweet offerings. We ate here a number of times and were always impressed with the food.
Another pleasant experience was Afternoon Tea, which is served from 3.30-4.15 pm in the Portofino Dining Room. We were given a table overlooking the window, so could enjoy the sea view, the staff were all extremely attentive and the treats on offer were delicious. Another thumbs up from us.
Extras
As you would expect, there are plenty of extras available to purchase during your cruise - excursions, Spa pampering, dining experiences, drinks packages, celebration packages and photographs, to name a few.
We didn't envisage getting our moneys worth out of the adult drinks package - priced at $60 (£47) per person, per day, so decided against this. However, we would recommend buying the Unlimited Soda & More package for children. For just over $8 (£6) per day, they could order as many fresh fruit juices, fountain sodas, hot chocolates and, their personal favourite - mocktails, as they wished. Complimentary soft drinks are available in the buffet dining area, and near the main pools, but payment is required when ordering from the bars or restaurants.
Note: Water is provided, and constantly topped up when you're dining in the main restaurants, so be prepared to refuse the bottled water which will be offered to you on the first night. As soon as we sat down, we were bombarded by crew members offering us various types of bottled water - which we would obviously have to pay for. The alternative water provided is perfectly drinkable, and free.
Prior to our cruise, we did, however, pay for a water package - 12 x 500ml bottles of water for our stateroom, which was extremely handy while we were spending time here, and to be able to take small bottles with us during our time ashore.
Through the Book Onboard Gifts and Services section of the Princess Cruises website, we also ordered the 'Guacamole dip with tortilla chips and salsa', plus some Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, as a treat for the children on our embarkation day, so they could enjoy these while we toasted the start of our cruise with a complimentary glass of champagne, delivered by our cabin steward shortly after we arrived.
The strawberries looked lovely and were delicious. Although the dips were tasty, the portion of nachos was rather measly, considering it was meant for 6 people.
Simon had also been gifted a couple of bottles of wine as a surprise for his birthday. Although I was expecting these to be in the room when we arrived, we realised, after discovering the vouchers in the large pile of paperwork which had been left outside our stateroom door, that you're given the option to redeem and enjoy the wine in the bars or restaurants, if you wish. A nice idea, but making the vouchers more visible, or presenting them in a card, would make it a bit more special. Just adding them to the generic paperwork trying to entice you into booking a Spa session or buy a painting from the art gallery means they could easily be missed - and indeed were for a while.
As for the extra experiences available, we didn't deem it necessary to book any excursions - the beauty of our itinerary was the ease with which we were able to explore the local areas directly from the ship. However, we were persuaded to join in a wine tasting session taking place during one of the sea days. This proved to be an extremely popular activity and involved tasting a selection of 6 wines, all accompanied by various nibbles. If you've done this kind of thing before, it's pretty standard but a great way to meet and chat with fellow passengers while enjoying a few drinks.
Would be book another Princess Cruise?
Overall, we deemed our whole Princess Cruise experience was just ok. The ship portrays the traditional elements of cruising in it's decor and activities, including formal nights, complete with champagne pyramid, but comes up short in what you would expect from this - failing to deliver on many of the small things that can make a big difference to the enjoyment of guests. Most noticeably, the substandard food, tired and unclean areas of the ship, plus the inconsistent level of service from the staff. Some were excellent but too many lacked the care and interest you would expect from a premium level cruise ship.
On the plus side, many of the communal areas we used were relatively quiet during the day and in the evening, so we found the sea days very relaxing, despite the ship being full. Although a change in itinerary, due to stormy weather, meant we missed a day in Astoria and were required to add an extra sea day instead, the saving grace of the whole week was the fabulous ports we visited, enabling us to explore some wonderful places.
Would we choose a Princess Cruise again? Not if there was another cruise line offering the same itinerary we wished to undertake. If the itinerary was one we were particularly keen on, and Princess Cruises was the only ship travelling that way, we would consider booking again, but with lower expectations.
