We bring our own entertainment that we enjoy doing together. We also love to nap on occasion, play cards, talk with fellow cruisers, read, walk the deck, do the spa, the gym, endless little and big ship activities. Guess we are just easily entertained. We traveled with a friend that developed a ship scavenger hunt. It’s all a matter of creativity.
We have been on many Princess cruises. Love them. We have gone on 1 Carnival cruise and it was just a party boat. Dirty just ok food. We don’t plan on taking Carnival again!
We have cruised with Princess 4 or 5 times. Our experience with Princess is pretty much as yours was. The only exception would be the day time activities. My wife likes to lay out in the sun and I like the casino. We also play cards together in the coffee lounge. I am a shift worker so it’s nice to hang out and not do too much on sea days. The other thing is the Celebrity buffet. It’s the absolute best. Between the different countries represented to the fresh made in front of you meals its hands down the best.
We are actually on a Celebrity cruise right now and the Buffet is excellent. Too early to make any full comparisons but our first impressions are above expectation.
Great review. Thanks. I was just looking at this exact itinerary. Looks fantastic, but I just don’t feel comfortable being away from home for that long. Bummer. If only Princess could shrink Chile to get rid of a lot of the downtime.
You made an assumption that was a mistake thinking the Port talks were a sells pitch. They don't cover excursions but are in depth presentations of the area being visited. For those who are there for the ports they are a must see.
I go to the majority of the Port talks. It sounds a little confusing because I was skimming over multiple entries. I agree with you the Port talks are solid. Especially if you are venturing out on your own and not in a preplanned excursion.
Nice review. You should have wait until this year where the Majestic Princess will do the exact itinerary. We are booked and we can't wait. We love this ship. For activities, they should have dance classes.
I'm booked on a Celebrity cruise in South Asia this year. It will be my first cruise with them since the pandemic. It will be interesting to see how they have changed. You are going to love that itinerary. Have a great time.
@@WhyWeBuyItYou will love Asia. We did Asia both with Royal (for Southeast Asia) and princess (for Japan) and we just booked May 2025 for Japan. A question for you about your South America cruise since we have the react itinerary. Did you book all your excursions with the cruise line?
@@NLMusique No we actually only booked two Excursions through the cruise line. We were lucky enough to have friends of our family in Buenos Aires and Santiago so that was covered. We did a historical tour of Montevideo through the cruise line, and a tour to see wildlife through the cruise line. Otherwise we just explored the remaining ports on our own.
@@NLMusique Oh yeah if you have that much onboard credit book away. The winery tours in Santiago Chile are excellent. Book a nature excursion from Ushuaia. There's a tour to a German settlement that people were raving about. We didn't experience it so I'm just going by what others have said. In Buenos Aires the Senor Tango show is 10 times better than what you will experience on ship. Definitely make your way to the Boca District whether you are a Soccer fan or not. It was my favourite place in Buenos Aires and felt the way I expected Argentina to feel.
We were on a 22-day Transatlantic back to back with Europe, UK & Ireland on Regal Princess in April/May. We TOTALLY agree about the buffet being dismal (with the exception of a Mongolian stir-fry night that was very good. On a Panama Canal cruise in 2019 the buffet food was so good we hardly ever ate in the dining room. On the Majestic last summer in Alaska, the buffet was terrible. We had absolutely fabulous food in the dining room on Majestic & Regal. We too were very ticked off about all the sales pitches. Although I do remember them from our Panama Canal cruise as well. Luckily, we both like to read a lot and play cards, which we don't get to do at home much because we are too busy. We are booked with Celebrity next year and hoping for a somewhat better experience. Thanks for your very honest review!
Hey thanks for yours. We are deciding between a River cruise in Europe or something in the East Indies next. I would like to sail with Celebrity if we can find the right itinerary in the East Indies or with Viking on the river. We are aiming for early fall 2024 so hopefully some of the issues we've both noticed are ironed out by then.
Wow I have been on many Princess cruises from 5 day to 32 day cruises. I never had a problem staying busy during up to 8 sea days. Maybe that is because I prefer the late show times. Obviously you did not take advantage of the guest lectures or free arts and crafts they offer onboard. How is it Princess fault that you chose a cold weather cruise so you could not swim or relax in a lounger outside. How about the gym or other athletic activities they offer. Also on every cruise line the Art auctions and art staff are contractors not Princess owned.
Yeah I know the Shops are independent. I just haven't had issues with them before. We attended a number of the lectures. One particular lecturer was quite good. Unfortunately a few of the lectures were basically repeats of lectures we have heard on previous cruises. I never use the gym on a cruise ship. I prefer to stay active through other means. This cruise felt amateurish and as I had mentioned that could be because of a high number of new staff since the pandemic. We have already booked our next cruise. Obviously not with Princess this time. We are giving Celebrity another go. It will be interesting to see if the onboard experience is similar.
We bring our own entertainment that we enjoy doing together. We also love to nap on occasion, play cards, talk with fellow cruisers, read, walk the deck, do the spa, the gym, endless little and big ship activities.
Guess we are just easily entertained. We traveled with a friend that developed a ship scavenger hunt. It’s all a matter of creativity.
We have been on many Princess cruises. Love them. We have gone on 1 Carnival cruise and it was just a party boat. Dirty just ok food. We don’t plan on taking Carnival again!
I've heard a lot of people say similar things about Carnival. I don't plan on ever finding out what's most likely the harsh truth.
We have cruised with Princess 4 or 5 times. Our experience with Princess is pretty much as yours was. The only exception would be the day time activities. My wife likes to lay out in the sun and I like the casino. We also play cards together in the coffee lounge. I am a shift worker so it’s nice to hang out and not do too much on sea days. The other thing is the Celebrity buffet. It’s the absolute best. Between the different countries represented to the fresh made in front of you meals its hands down the best.
We are actually on a Celebrity cruise right now and the Buffet is excellent. Too early to make any full comparisons but our first impressions are above expectation.
Great review. Thanks. I was just looking at this exact itinerary. Looks fantastic, but I just don’t feel comfortable being away from home for that long. Bummer. If only Princess could shrink Chile to get rid of a lot of the downtime.
The itinerary was excellent, but you're right about the stretches of downtime. Definitely worth it if you can find the time though.
Yea far more active ignoring each other in crowds. Sad as i like socializing in bars instead of sitting around preening.
The community feel on a cruise ship is definitely one of the attractions. There are plenty of alternatives to cruising if you prefer privacy.
@@WhyWeBuyIt i said i prefer socializing.
@@snidelywhiplash6889 yeah I agree with you.
You made an assumption that was a mistake thinking the Port talks were a sells pitch. They don't cover excursions but are in depth presentations of the area being visited. For those who are there for the ports they are a must see.
I go to the majority of the Port talks. It sounds a little confusing because I was skimming over multiple entries. I agree with you the Port talks are solid. Especially if you are venturing out on your own and not in a preplanned excursion.
Nice review. You should have wait until this year where the Majestic Princess will do the exact itinerary. We are booked and we can't wait. We love this ship. For activities, they should have dance classes.
I'm booked on a Celebrity cruise in South Asia this year. It will be my first cruise with them since the pandemic. It will be interesting to see how they have changed. You are going to love that itinerary. Have a great time.
@@WhyWeBuyItYou will love Asia. We did Asia both with Royal (for Southeast Asia) and princess (for Japan) and we just booked May 2025 for Japan. A question for you about your South America cruise since we have the react itinerary. Did you book all your excursions with the cruise line?
@@NLMusique No we actually only booked two Excursions through the cruise line. We were lucky enough to have friends of our family in Buenos Aires and Santiago so that was covered. We did a historical tour of Montevideo through the cruise line, and a tour to see wildlife through the cruise line. Otherwise we just explored the remaining ports on our own.
@@WhyWeBuyIt thank you. When we booked this cruise, we have about $1900 onboard credit which we likely use to book our excursions.
@@NLMusique Oh yeah if you have that much onboard credit book away. The winery tours in Santiago Chile are excellent. Book a nature excursion from Ushuaia. There's a tour to a German settlement that people were raving about. We didn't experience it so I'm just going by what others have said. In Buenos Aires the Senor Tango show is 10 times better than what you will experience on ship. Definitely make your way to the Boca District whether you are a Soccer fan or not. It was my favourite place in Buenos Aires and felt the way I expected Argentina to feel.
You are way too young for a Princess Cruise. The majority are Old Codgers.
Oil of Olay sponsored the video.
We were on a 22-day Transatlantic back to back with Europe, UK & Ireland on Regal Princess in April/May. We TOTALLY agree about the buffet being dismal (with the exception of a Mongolian stir-fry night that was very good. On a Panama Canal cruise in 2019 the buffet food was so good we hardly ever ate in the dining room. On the Majestic last summer in Alaska, the buffet was terrible. We had absolutely fabulous food in the dining room on Majestic & Regal. We too were very ticked off about all the sales pitches. Although I do remember them from our Panama Canal cruise as well. Luckily, we both like to read a lot and play cards, which we don't get to do at home much because we are too busy. We are booked with Celebrity next year and hoping for a somewhat better experience. Thanks for your very honest review!
Hey thanks for yours. We are deciding between a River cruise in Europe or something in the East Indies next. I would like to sail with Celebrity if we can find the right itinerary in the East Indies or with Viking on the river. We are aiming for early fall 2024 so hopefully some of the issues we've both noticed are ironed out by then.
Hey Peg we are sailing on the Celebrity Solstice out of Hong Kong on February 20th. I'll let you know how it went and review it also.
Wow I have been on many Princess cruises from 5 day to 32 day cruises. I never had a problem staying busy during up to 8 sea days. Maybe that is because I prefer the late show times. Obviously you did not take advantage of the guest lectures or free arts and crafts they offer onboard. How is it Princess fault that you chose a cold weather cruise so you could not swim or relax in a lounger outside. How about the gym or other athletic activities they offer. Also on every cruise line the Art auctions and art staff are contractors not Princess owned.
Yeah I know the Shops are independent. I just haven't had issues with them before. We attended a number of the lectures. One particular lecturer was quite good. Unfortunately a few of the lectures were basically repeats of lectures we have heard on previous cruises. I never use the gym on a cruise ship. I prefer to stay active through other means. This cruise felt amateurish and as I had mentioned that could be because of a high number of new staff since the pandemic. We have already booked our next cruise. Obviously not with Princess this time. We are giving Celebrity another go. It will be interesting to see if the onboard experience is similar.
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