Princess Cruises Emerald Princess

Too expensive – We took a cruise on the Emerald Princess in August - September 2017 and felt ripped off because of the automatic tipping and high cost of beverages deducted from our credit card which raised the price of our holiday way above our budget. Moreover items that I would have thought would have been part of the price we paid for the holiday entailed a… Read more

high price such as internet access and coffee. My husband took the beverage package because of the high price of individual drinks. This cost us an additional $52 US per day. If you wanted to go to some of the dining options they charged an exorbitant additional cost. They were continually trying to upsell and when we thought that the beverage package would have covered an item found that it did not. The shops were also expensive onboard. The tours were not covered in the holiday and those provided by the cruise were costly despite their claim that they would be at the best price available.

It is not our fault that Princess Cruises does not pay their workers enough (if this is indeed the case). It is one thing to give a tip at the end of the cruise of your own volition and discretion if you can afford it and want to and it is quite another thing to be forced (or shamed if you change the arrangement) into an exorbitant automatic deduction and then encouraged to also give additional tipping to individuals. For me being screwed left a bitter taste and I would not opt to travel with them in the future.

Apart from that the food and entertainment was great.

Once you book - they don't want to know! – We needed and asked to defer our trip (unforseen circumstances) - but were told they don't offer that stating we had to cancel. This left us out of pocket $3000 (half the fare) for nothing! We booked and cancelled 5 days apart and a month before departure date - they onsold the cabin 3 days after we cancelled (3 weeks before depature). Throughout… Read more

this process, we were dismissed with ' you should have had insurance... ' (we did but this issue is with the cruiseline and its policies not a third party).

Half the total is an exorbitant amount particularly when they on-sold the cabin and they only gave us the option to cancel....

Buyer Beware!!

Couldn't wait to get off!! – My first cruise and last ,my girlfriend and I saved for this trip with excitement that we were going to celebrate my birthday.We entered our room which was a suitethinking it was going to be rather elite however extremely dissapointing,beige tired old rooms,no mattress protection rusty balcony ,the staff were pleasant the bar staff are on… Read more

commission for the amount of alcohol they served always asking if you were needing another drink.My girlfriend is currently ill with a chest infection and I bought back bed bugs ,never princess cruises.

Way below normal expectations – Our family of four took the 9 day cruise from Sydney around Hobart and Melbourne in a balcony stateroom. Staff were all excellent and courteous except one bulky Maitre D "Char***" who was rude and didn't care a damn about our diet requirements. We had all pre booked online and our dietary requirements were accepted through email. Now the sad… Read more

part, being vegetarians, we had to settle with raw veggies, fruits and tasteless options all throughout our cruise. It is a pity that they cater to international cuisine and brag about their dining options, but knowingly sidetrack the minority of veggie travellers.

Ice creams are limited to vanilla and strawberry. Water needs to be purchased on board and dispensers have a big board "Do not refill water here".

Tea/ Coffee, colder than room temperature. It looked like a low cost airline.

Ship to Port Arthur got delayed by 2 hours, due to which we (and a couple of other passengers) missed the Tasman Island cruise booked beforehand.

In a nutshell, if you are a vegetarian, then prepare to go hungry.

Acute bronchitis; Emerald Princess – My wife and I completed our first (and last) ocean cruise (to and from New Zealand) on 2nd January 2017 on board the Emerald Princess. I found the trip quite enjoyable although it being our only cruise we don't have other cruises for comparative purposes. The ship's crew were always courteous and helpful. Towards the end of the cruise, we were… Read more

not feeling very well. On arriving in Sydney we felt ill with chest problems and visited our doctor who diagnosed me as having acute bronchitis verging on pneumonia and he put me on a course of antibiotic (Erythromycin) which was required to be followed up by a second course of it followed by a course of Prednisolone. I was coughing all day and night for two weeks followed by a week of coughing all night. My doctor said I had Legionnaires disease-like symptoms. It's now 25 days since we arrived back in Sydney and I'm only now beginning to feel a little better (i.e., nearly the whole of January lost to illness).

We have subsequently heard of another family struck down with pneumonia on the same cruise. We met another couple who were struck down with it on the ship and one of whom had to spend two days in the ship's hospital at a cost of over $4000. (Ship's hospitals must make a fortune when there's and epidemic on board.)

In conclusion, I'd like to urge cruise ships to take greater care in the sterilisation of their air conditioning systems.

First time with Princess...Probably the last – First time with Princess...probably the last. Sail Date: December 2016 Destination: Australia & New Zealand Embarkation: Sydney (Australia) Our best friends were offered a great deal and asked if we would join them. We did, as too did another of our friends...we all booked on Aloha Deck, mid ship Starboard side. We have all cruised… Read more

before, My wife and I, seven cruises with APT, P&O AUS, P&O Europe, CTC and Norwegian plus self drive and coach tours of USA, NZ, Tasmania, Fiji UK Europe.

Booking was very easy, done through a friend at Flight Centre...no complaints here.

Accommodation is covered below.

Meals / dining, sadly left a bit to be desired. Many of our meals were JUST warm. Coffee outlets around the ship were few and far between compared to others we have cruised..eg, Norwegian Star and Brittania.

I have a partial disability after a broken neck, other spinal problems, balance, knee and shoulder problems and at times use a walking stick. Everything was great until the WALK from Sydney domestic to International to meet the shuttle. asking for some assistance I was ignored. Arriving at the dock, Yippee I was 'Forced' into a wheel chair where a lovely attended got us straight to our cabin. From here things deteriorated. I would estimate about half the passengers were Asian and I was pushed in and out of elevators, being tripped and falling, knocked over on stairs, shoved aside at the buffet, people going the wrong way, children pulling food out with their hands and replacing it if they did not like it, running around everywhere even in the dining areas, climbing over and on tables and chairs Throwing half eaten food and plates in The Davinchy ding room. There was an influx of flies at sea and staff closed doors to the outer decks from the dining areas...did this worry them? 'no' they pulled the barricades away and then left the doors open...I am sure they could not read English directions. Coughing and sneezing was rife...I and my friend are now suffering from an exceptionally bad chest, throat and ear infection, as well as a couple of others we have been in contact with.

The cabin (except for the Tiny shower), cabin staff and crew were really great.....we did feel the cruise was excessively expensive in many ways. We would still rate the Norwegian Star as the best we have cruised.

Cabin review: BD641 Balcony Starboard, mid ship.

As above...very good except for the shower. I am not overly big but do have some mobility problems and found it awkward. Our cabin attendant, [name removed] a young fellow who was most charming and pleasant, who gave his all....from the very first moment of meeting he remembered our names and was there when and if needed. In all our travels we have opted for a balcony cabin and never been disappointed. As noted in the beginning the only criticism was the size of the shower recess.

Port and Shore Excursions....We can not complain about these as we "Self Toured" for we have travelled and lived in these areas prior to this cruise.

Inadequate in every way – Arriving on board, no one wanted to give directions. Three staff members trying very hard to avoid eye contact with customers. We had to ask for directions. Stateroom, the size of a 20 foot container with no ventilation, or very poor at best. The bed & shower were the only good things about it. Food was tasteless to say the least. No matter what… Read more

condiments you applied, it was still tasteless.

Seating at the buffet was totally inadequate.. one family, parents & 3 children were looking for a table with their food in hand & were told to keep moving & not block the walkway by the staff member. There was nowhere to go. The place was packed, and only one half was open at any given time. No way to get return business.

The seating in public areas again was totally inadequate. My wife had to ask for a chair for an elderly gentleman so he could at least sit to eat his snack in the plaza area. Hey guys, the majority of customers are elderly. Provide more open area seating for everyone.

Entertainment may as well not have bothered. The theatre is way to small, the performers did not want to be there. No opportunity for audience participation.

Parents should also be responsible for their children on cruises. The young people on this cruise were allowed to run amok. Again, not a good look.

My wife had to have her cruise card replaced, it failed to work. The customer service person gave her someone elses identity. Lucky we found out before going ashore. What a nightmare to get that could have been.

My first cruise was with P&O. It was excellent. If Pricess had been my first experience, I would never have gone on another cruise. It was that bad.

Pick your act up Princess. The undertone from others I spoke with on this cruise was the same as mine. Totalky inadequate. Never again Princess.

Dissapointed – The food was so awful the salt content was so bad it was at a dangerous level could not eat Pizza only good place was coffee shop never again ,

Very good cruise – Just completed 48 days UK to Sydney on Emerald Princess . Would rate it a 4 out of 5. Food overall very good particularly in Botticelli main dining room, lots of shellfish, lobster,scallops,prawns cooked in many different ways, good Prime Rib of Beef as well a Steaks whenever you liked even Pheasant and lots of Duck? Dessert Sous chefs excelled… Read more

with the Chocolate specialist Desserts,the Creme de Brûlée was the best I have had. Good wine list including a 2010 Katnook Shiraz atUS$34.00 very reasonable for such a good wine. Good staff for cabin and in dining rooms, main problem Customer Service Staff at Front Service Desk a number of them very rude to passengers , for seemingly no legitimate reason, their command of the English language, left a lot to be desired particularly when they were used to make Public announcements when arriving in ports,they were not understandable and caused great concern among passengers. Any complaint made to the desk, of which a lot were made, were treated with total disdain and passengers ignored. A great shame !!!

Lost deposit – We were booked to go on a cruise in January 2017 and needed to pay the whole fare by 7 November. Due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to do this. We contacted Princess and asked for a 2 week extension, we were told this couldn't happen. We then asked for the deposit to be held in credit for another cruise. We were told no that… Read more

wasn't possible either. We are very disappointed as you can imagine. We have cruised with Princess before but we won't be cruising with them in the future. We will book another cruise next year but will look at another cruise line. Doesn't seem like good business/customer relation to me.

Princess customer service is non existant – Having travelled on the Emerald Princess in March 20 night Carribean cruise I had various complaints which I wrote to Princess Customer service about.which was two weeks ago with no reply They being having to move cabins 3 times renewed our vows with no champers and having to ask for our certificates and pictures. Having cruised before with… Read more

princess I find the focus is on trying to squeeze customers for every penny but when you have a complaint they dont want to know and just fall short on calling you a liar. I would not reccomend them to anyone most of the staff were great just customer service was appauling Plenty of Islands visited 3 room changes resulting in a lost land day very bad customer service

Good – This was my 18th cruise and proved to be about the 3rd best. The Emerald Princess was fabulous but maybe I'm getting old and the ships are getting too big! This cruise was 12 nights in the Meditteranean - probably too many stops and a bit hectic - very different from the tone of a Caribbean cruise. The food was excellent, service should be on… Read more

tips though. I am a big fan of paying tips on the last night. We opted for this option and cancelled the automatic tip payment. Shows were superb and we loved the Movies under the Stars outdoor cinema. Would definitley go Princess again. Fabulous ship, excellent food. Could the Emerald Princess be too big?