Princess is very nice, but there were some serious issues on both of the Cruises we took.
The Caribbean Princess was still under refit, had large sections closed, new carpet each night in parts of the ship, and we ended stuck in Zebrugge with nothing really to do since we could not walk about the port area, and the decision was made to stay there when issues with LeHarve surfaced while we were headed to Zebrugge. The food was good.
The Royal had serious issues with venue control. In order to see the shows, it was necessary to show up an hour or so early as by usually half an hour before, the venue was full. This frequently happened to both seatings (8 and 10). This also happened at the Vista Lounge (the other entertainment venue) and some waits for dinner seating (we were anytime) were over an hour as one of the three dining rooms did not open to us until 7:30. In the same vein, we were informed that we would be required to clear immigration at Portland, Me, and the ship sent out a proposed schedule, which was neither followed (by most) or enforced. The result was thousands of passengers winding from the back of the ship (Vista Lounge) to the lobby at the front of the ship and back. For us, that was an hour, for some more than 2 hours. US immigration was pleasant, check the passport and welcomed us home (10 seconds) then to obtain the "sticker" for our boarding cards, it took another 20 minutes. Although it did not impact us, since we had given up going to the shows, on the last night, there was apparently a problem (never explained) that closed the Princess Theater in the front, and everything had to be rearranged to back/smaller Vista Lounge. For the first 4 days, the T.V. and on ship channels did not work. Princess gave every cabin a $50 credit for that one. Announcements, except emergencies, were not audible in the room. There was no (when it was working) on screen activity list on the T.V.
The food was good, but no local dishes, and limited options unless you knew your could order what you wanted, even if not on the menu. The Horizon food lines were confusing, and required a lot of effort to determine what was being served the length of the food area. No standing or posted menus there, at all, just the marker above the items in the service areas. No direction to finding specialty items, i.e. omelettes, waffles, etc., although I understand they were available.
Upcharges for coffees are a pain.
And Princess did not make good on its Captain's Circle stuff like recognition pins, special gatherings, etc. Not likely to be our next cruise line 1st choice.
