Our Honest Princess Cruise Review: Pros and Cons
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- Join us as we explore the highs and lows of our recent adventure aboard the Majestic Princess cruise ship, sailing from Sydney, Australia, to Tasmania! In this Princess Cruise travel vlog, we share our honest cruising experiences sailing on one of the largest ships in the Princess Cruise Line fleet. Are we too young for a Princess Cruise?
We discuss game-changing features that set Princess apart from other cruise lines and share experiences that make us question if we'd sail with Princess again.
Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first voyage, our detailed breakdown will help you know what to expect on a Princess Cruise.
/ @therovingbalys .
In this video, we cover:
- the top highlights of our trip
- the aspects that didn't quite meet our expectations
- our overall verdict and tips for future cruises
Why watch?
- get a balanced view of both the pros and cons
- tips on making the most of your Princess Cruise
- honest feedback based on real life experiences
Watch our Princess Cruise travel vlog series:
Part 1 Embarkation in Sydney: • "Majestic Princess Cru...
Part 2 Tasmanian Ports of Call: • Cruise Adventure: Port...
Part 3 Freycinet Peninsula and Eden: • "Majestic Princess Cru...
Chapters:
00:00 - 00:32 - Introduction
00:33 - 03:20 - The Ship
03:21 - 05:15 - The Itinerary
05:16 - 07:04 - The Medallion
07:05 - 12.39 - The Package Deal
12.40 - 14.02 - Mature Passengers
14.03 - 16.49 - Evening Entertainment
16.50 - 18.32 - The Verdict
If you enjoyed this video or found it helpful, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to come roving with us again.
Disclaimer: This video is not sponsored. All our opinions are our own and based on our personal experience.
Music from UA-cam Audio Library:
Blue Ribbons - TrackTribe
Photo by Will Waters on Unsplash
Hi, we are Lydia & Chris, an empty nest couple who have traveled the world together for 30 years.
We love where we live in Newcastle, Australia and we are avid travelers. We started this vlog to share our travel tales with our UA-cam family and friends, and to also show off our beautiful region.
We met traveling around Europe in 1995 and, since then, have traveled to more than 50 countries. We love discovering new places and cultures, meeting people, and trying local cuisines (including gluten free options).
Over the years we have migrated from backpacking, to family travel, and now back to couple traveling again. With the kids doing their own thing, we have decided to dust off our backpacks (now suitcases) and start planning our next adventures. So grab a cup of coffee and come roving with us.
We run a travel blog over at therovingbalys.com if you want to see more from The Roving Balys.
You are not supposed to leave your balcony door open on any ship as it interferes with the air conditioning system in your cabin and affects 30-50 other cabins in your area. So while your cabin may be cool, all the other cabins may become warmer. This is a mistake that people who are not used to having a balcony cabin make.
Whoops, thanks for the tip. We will keep that in mind for next time.😀
I think it depends on the itinerary. Our first Princess was the Regal to the ABC islands and it was over January 1, so NYE. It was a classic party ship-alive at night with lots of dancing, modern music, and loads of folks ranging in age. Our kids, ranging from 14-21, had the time of their lives. Our second was on the Sky in the Eastern Caribbean. Plenty of adults around mine & my husband’s age, so mid 40’s. Yes there were lots of white hairs & electric scooters, but also many onboard that were younger than us, too. We loved Princess so much that we have two more booked.
Sounds like you had a fabulous experience. Like you said, it must really depend on the itinerary. So glad to hear that you had such a great time. I have not heard of the ABC islands, I will have to look them up. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment. :-)
I been on the Caribbean Princess in the Caribbean early Dec. 2023. I am in my mid 40’s. My mother in her early 80’s. My mom was in heaven!!! Most people were retired, a very elderly crowd. I was a bit bored. However, the lack of kids and teens is an absolute plus. And the people in their senior years were just friendly and warm, and I enjoyed their company a lot more than on a Royal Caribbean that I went on 3 months later where people were not that friendly and kids were running us over. On our cruise we had an amazing American entertainer in the piazza called Nancy, she was incredible!!!!!! I really like Princess, it be great if they tried to attracted a slightly younger crowed, to have half the ship 30’s to 50’s and the other retired people, would be perfect!!! I have gone on Costa a month ago in the Mediterranean. As a North American, to all North Americans, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, ever go on a Costa. It was a nightmare in every sense. Yes, do the Mediterranean, but on an American oriented line. Everything about Costa sucked, Europe does not make priority on Customer Service. The whole ship, management, organization, food access, everything aside from the excursions was a nightmare!!!!!
I bet the Caribbean was a lovely place to sail around. I am glad that your mum had a ball! Princess does typically attract an older crowd. It would be nice if they could offer additional activities to suit other age demographics. Yes, I agree having a lack of kids and teenagers made for a more relaxing cruise. Fantastic that you had such a great entertainer. I agree, it would be good if they could cater to those markets a bit more as well. Thanks for the tip, I won't will take that on board in regards to Costa. Sounds like that was a terrible experience for you. Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment. :-)
We been on princess cruise. Our ship was more like a party ship. We were looking forward something more calmer. We had a good cruise. At least with cruising you can do much as possible or not.
Oh wow, a party ship, that was quite the opposite to our cruise. The Tasmanian itinerary certainly offered a more calmer experience.
So very true, it is the beauty of cruising. 😃
Thank you for this review, was looking at whether to catch this next year
Glad I could help!
I’ve been on several Princess cruises to a variety of itineraries and have always found the evening entertainment very enjoyable and a good variety of options. There has always been 4-5 different options of evening entertainment which I could always find something fun to do. I’m glad you enjoyed it overall. I can’t wait to go on another Princess cruise!!
That is so great to hear that you have you have enjoyed your cruising with Princess so much. It’s so good to have the next trip to look forward to. Happy sailing 😃
We were just on Enchanted and was lots of entertainment around. Irish bar and band, sing alongs. Jazz bar and band with danse floor. Danse bar and band/ Comedy club ( Night club venue) . Karoke in Princeess Live, plus piano bar , plus steel drums or violinest in another bar, Plus the piazza entertainers, acrobats, and dansers. And Five Skies show in theatre was top notch. Variety show in the theater was great too. Mostly good original theatre shows. Also was the 80's night time party, and the white night party on the pool deck and of course the sail away parties and other day time bands and entertainment there. Think you would have found the night life better on that Princess cruise and ship. On Diamond last fall in Japan and was very port intensive think 2 sea days ( went to Busan as well) out of 9, so were out all day and not so much partying at night but seem like people on the go all night.
Oh wow, the night life offerings on your cruise sound amazing. I will have to look into the Enchanted. Sounds like each of the Princess cruises offers something different. Thank you for sharing, your comment has been very informative. 😃
After dinner drink: Milky Way in Crooner's. Dessert in a martini glass! 🍫🍸😋
That sounds delicious! I will be adding that one to the list to try. Thanks for the tip. 👏 🍸
This is very useful thank you. My tween son and I are trying to choose a cruise to go on, but we are both autistic and are looking for a quieter one. We're not interested in evening activities or music events, so this actually sounds perfect for us. At 10 and 37 we might not be too young to go on a Princess cruise!
We are so pleased to hear that our review has been helpful, hearing this has made our day.
Wishing you both a wonderful sailing adventure together. 💕
FYI…I’ve cruise on 38 cruises with Princess, plus around 15 with other cruise lines, & I was interested to see & hear your observations. A lot of your dislikes surprised me as they have never bothered me but I’m aware that there will be things that I might like & other people might not.
Can you report your experience, if you had any, with the sit down restaurants.
Where was your stateroom & since there was a number of things that either bothered you or you didn’t like, do you think you’ll ever cruise with Princess again? Remember there are different ships with different layouts.
Thanks for your comment. You are certainly an experienced Princess cruiser, and I am glad that you have found a cruiseline that you really gel with.
There were plenty of things we liked about our Princess Cruise, and if someone asked us to recommend a cruise for rest & relaxation, Princess would be one of our first choices.
We really liked our cabin (room number D128) and the food in the casual dining restaurants (sushi & pizza) was delicious.
Princess itineraries are fantastic, so if the opportunity arose to sail again on an itinerary that appealed to us, we would certainly consider it.
Thank you for watching our video. We really appreciate it.
I am in my 50s , have 2 grown children and I’m all for no kids or very few kids. Went on the Coral Princess last year on a short cruise and you are right about the lack of dancing etc at night. Even though I craved a dance, I still had an absolutely wonderful time and booked again longer this time. How was the temperature of all the pools btw? I absolutely loved the pools on The Coral.
Sounds like we are in a similar demographic. It was a fabulous cruise for relaxing and for the ports that we visited.
As the weather outside was chilly, we actually didn’t go for a swim. There were not many people in the pools but there were a few more in the hot tubs.
We would certainly consider going on another one if we just needed to relax and enjoy the itinerary.
I just got off the Majestic Princess, and the only things I liked were the medallions and the Oceans to Go. Otherwise the food was mediocre to bad, not enough drink stations (I ended up becoming dehydrated because the options are alcohol or coffee) and I would ask for water or tea and the wait staff would forget it. The buffet area closed down too soon each day and the flow was not good. Too many children running wild in the adults only area and up and down halls all night. A few of the staff were down-right rude, though I had a wonderful room steward. I will try a different Princess ship just to see if it was just the Majestic that was horrendous, or if it's a systemic problem throughout the line. Right now, Carnival is the Walmart of cruising and Princess is the Target.
My favorite cruise line is Celebrity.
Such a shame that you had such a mediocre experience.
I loved your analogy, about Walmart and Target 😂
We will definitely have to book a celebrity cruise, thank you for sharing your tip. 😊
@@therovingbalys@therovingbalys Celebrity sadly isn't the cruise line it once was. Virgin Cruise was fantastic! I am excited to see her cruise from Miami Everything is one price. I will be sailing Majestic in the Southern Caribbean. From what I have read this is not common. It will be 8 islands in 14 days. :)
Was that the Alaskan cruise out of Seattle? Majestic ship was nice but crew and food was a huge disappointment!
Hi guys, on most European cruises for a 7 night cruise, you would visit 5 or 6 ports. On a 9 or 10 night cruise you would visit 9 ports. There would be only 1 or 2 sea days per cruise.
Oh that sounds great, the more ports the better! Especially in Europe 🛳️
April 2024, I spent 32 days on the Sapphire Princess. The Sapphire Princess is an older ship and is really showing her age. It was my first cruise on a Princess ship and the best part was the destinations to the French Polynesian Islands. We had a balcony cabin, which was very nice, the bed not so nice. The average age was 80's and 90's, and the activities were geared for that age group. If the destination is amazing, I might go on Princess again but it won't be top of my list.
That is a long time to be on a ship, especially if it is showing its age. Would you recommend the itinerary and length of cruise?
French Polynesia sounds amazing😍
I am glad that you like the balcony room, shame that the bed was not comfortable, that would have been a challenge.
Princess does appear to be geared for that age group.
It won’t to long until we are cruising again next so it will be interesting to compare. :-)
@@therovingbalys The itinerary was amazing, to visit 8 islands in one trip was a bucket list trip. As for the length of the cruise, maybe with a different cruise line.
@@nancylaird-burris6942 the itinerary is now on my bucket list. I would love to visit French Polynesia, I bet it was beautiful!
Thank you for the review! My partner and I are new to cruising in general, we're both in our mid 30's but we found a steal deal on a Princess cruise later in the year. I love the itinerary (Canada/USA) and the price is really hard to beat, but will we be really out of place as a younger gay couple? We're both pretty quiet and not huge partiers, and usually get along well with older people, but a little concerned that we'll stick out.
We are so glad that you enjoyed the review. 😃Princess have some awesome deals and itineraries! The majority of the people are silver foxes 😉but there is still a good mixture of all demographics so we feel that you will be fine. We found that there wasn’t much choice in regard to late night entertainment but we were ok with that as we were after a relaxing holiday. We hope that you have an amazing time 🚢
certain wines are included with the packages so you shouldn't have been charged had you ordered from your specific package
In our package it covered drinks up to the value of $22.00 AUD, so anything over that you would need to top up. We didn’t need to though as there was plenty to choose from. 😃
It depends on what ship you are on for entertainment. I just watched a UA-cam video of the Princess Grand in Alaska. They had karaoke and a number of other entertainment in the different bars.
@@elainemi9633 That is great to know, thank you. I will keep that in mind. :-)
Least favourite of all my 9 cruises this year. Older demographic ( and I am "older") but Princess vibe was like I felt I had arrived in a senior living facility. Not a fan. Don't know how to treat solos---treat solos as though you arrived from another planet . eg. even in specialty dining wanted to seat you in worst table in the room . All the oldsters wanted to chat up the staff like they were their grandchildren and some of us just wanted a drink or our meal but the poor staff were left answering the same old questions . Elite status people think they own the ship when in reality they are entitled to half price wi-fi and free laundry. At the elevators you could be waiting for 5 minutes but the entitled seniors in walkers or scooter arrived and butted right into line. Not the vibe I enjoy on a cruise.
We would love to hear what your favourite cruise experience has been.
Thats a shame that you did not have a good experience, I imagine that would have been very disappointing for you.
E 0:58 njoyed celebrity on a southern Caribbean and virgin voyages for Greek isles. Loved specialty dining concept on virgin and the customer service. Upbeat vibe. Both great itineraries but the princess California coast was a great itinerary too just not my favourite experience
@@jlgcannuck Thanks for the tips, we have yet to sail on Celebrity and Virgin Voyages, but we have now put them on our bucket list. :-)
Why do you block out 2/3 of your screen?
We have used some of the footage off our mobile phone and silly old me filmed it vertically when it should have been filmed horizontally. Thanks for watching!
What other cruise lines have you tried?
We have been on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Captain Cook and P&O. What has been your favourite?
That’s amusing thinking you were too young for a Princess cruise.😮
We still had a good time, we just missed our waterslides ha ha.