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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Bev and Peter Barbeito
Email: bbarbeit@lmail.cencol.on.ca
Age: 44 and 52
Occupation: Administrators
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Pacific
SailingDate: May 11, 1999
Itinerary: Istanbul - Rome
FoodDiningRoom: 75
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 65
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 0
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 60
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 70
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService:
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff: 70
EntertainmentLounges: 75
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 75
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 70
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram: 80
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 30 Jun 1999
Time: 16:52:06
Remote Name: fantan.cencol.on.ca
Remote User:
Comments
Comments
My husband and I recently returned from the May 11, 1999 Istanbul to Rome sailing on the
Pacific Princess. This was our
fourth cruise, but our first on Princess Cruise lines. Although the ship is over 25 years
old and at times showed its age, the
service by the majority of Princess' staff was superb and the itinerary was terrific.
Overall, we had a wonderful time and will
definitely sail with Princess again. In fact, the sooner, the better; we're hoping to take
a Panama Canal cruise this fall.
We liked:
1) the length of the cruise and the itinerary 12 days was just about right, particularly
because we had some relatively rough
seas for the last couple of days. The itinerary offered a really good combination of
cosmopolitan cities, ancient ruins and
scenic towns - Istanbul, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Heraklion, Athens, Mykonos, Malta, Barcelona,
St. Tropez, Portofino, and
Rome. Plus we had an unexpected stop in Toulon (because of the rough seas, we couldn't
tender into St. Tropez) which
added to the adventure.
2) the service from our Cabin Steward, Nilo Our cabin steward, Nilo, was very efficient.
The room was always spotlessly
clean and made up when we returned to it. Also, Nilo was often in the hallway readily
available if we had questions or
wanted anything.
3) 2nd sitting dinner A word of warning - this was the most preferred seating, because a
lot of people didn't want to have to
rush in from tours or drag themselves away from the Lido Deck to get ready for early
dinner. So, if you're at all interested in
2nd sitting, have your travel agent request this on your behalf when making your booking -
if you wait until you get on board,
you take your chances.
We had requested 2nd sitting and our pre-cruise documentation confirmed it. But, our
cruise cards, which we got at
embarkation, indicated a table at 1st sitting. We had to approach the maitre-d to get it
changed. At the time, he told us all
he had available were tables for two, which was disappointing because half the fun of a
cruise is meeting other people,
particularly at dinner. We were very pleasantly surprised when we showed up at our newly
assigned table to find it was a
table for eight! (And it turned out to be a great eight-some - we were usually one of the
last tables to finish every night!)
4) the Dining Room Service at Dinner We can't say enough about the exceptional service we
got from our Head Waiter Dilo,
Waiter Joaquim, and Asst. Waiter Victor. They went out of their way to make sure that all
of us at our table (table #9,
second sitting) had an enjoyable dinner every single night of the cruise.
Some examples: a) Victor would offer us our choice of bread from a fairly extensive
selection of rolls, bread sticks and
slices of bread. On the second night, I asked whether there was any chance of getting some
pumpernickel bread or rolls.
Victor checked with Joaquim, who checked with Dilo, who in turn disappeared into the
kitchen to find out. He came out a
few minutes later and apologized profusely that there wasn't any, but that they would try
to have some for me the next
night. Sure enough, when I sat down at the dinner table the following evening, a fresh
loaf of pumpernickel bread was placed
in front of me! Moreover, there was a fresh loaf of pumpernickel bread on the table
waiting for us every night for the rest of
the cruise. I passed it around to everyone at the table, and won some converts from among
those who'd never tried it before.
Word spread among the tables in our section, and we even had people coming from other
tables asking if they could try
some.
b) A young couple at our table, on their honeymoon, had a similar situation. They really
liked vegetables; so they asked
whether they could get more than the usual helping that came with the entree. Like magic,
Victor appeared with a platter of
vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, carrots, green beans, cauliflower) - this too got passed
around the table; there was enough
for all of us and then some. Like the bread, the platter of vegetables arrived every night
of the cruise thereafter, without ever
being requested again.
c) Some nights it would be really difficult to choose between desserts. Our table got into
the habit where we would each
order the dessert we really wanted to try, and then someone would be designated to order
one (or more) of all the rest "for
the table". After the first time this happened, Joaquim always asked which desserts
the table was having when he was
taking our dessert orders.
5) the variety in the Wine selection, and the reasonable pricing for wine There was a
large selection of wine available from
the wine list with the price of an average bottle around $20.00 in addition to specials
offered every day. The dinner menus
suggested particular wines to complement the meals. We had wine at every dinner, sharing a
bottle of white and red with
the table. Compare this to our last cruise when the average price was closer to $30.00 and
we had wine only once.
6) the variety of food and service at the Buffet on the Lido Deck We usually found this to
be a very acceptable alternative to
the dining room, particularly for breakfasts. We don't often eat big breakfasts - cereals,
muffins, bagels, toast, eggs
sometimes - that'll do us fine. And all that was available, along with several kinds of
whole and sliced fruit. There weren't a
lot of other passengers who ate breakfast on the Lido Deck, so it was quite peaceful.
Lunch was often busier and there would be some lineups. But we found that they moved
quickly. Lunchtime selection
obviously wouldn't be as extensive as that offered in the dining room, but what we had was
quite good. A couple special
lunches were held on the Lido Deck; the International Buffet, featuring foods from the
homelands of the waiters, was great.
The biggest problem we had with the Lido Deck at lunch was to find a table out of the
heat/direct sunlight.
The Lido Deck was also inviting in the late afternoon. Fruit, cakes and cookies were
available if you needed something to
tide you over to dinner; juices were available to cool you off after doing the daily
"Walk A Mile" on the deck above.
7) Special Luncheon Buffets on days-at-sea The day at sea between Malta and Barcelona was
the occasion for a special
lunch buffet. The food was displayed like classic midnight buffets you may have
experienced. Everything looked great and
all were invited in to take pictures just prior to the lunch. I snuck a few samples of the
dessert but that was the extent of our
participation. The reason was because the lineup was very long. Before 1:00 p.m., there
was about a ten minute wait for
some clean plates. We ended up going to the dining room for lunch. Service was
understandably poor there, as all but a
few of the waiters were at the buffet.
8) "Cruisercise" events With all the opportunities there were to eat ourselves
silly, we were determined to wear off some of
the calories. Every day, there would be at least a couple of cruisercise events; on days
at sea, there would be many.
Events included "Walk-A-Mile", Aerobics, "Stretch & Tone", Golf
Putting, Golf Chipping, Line Dancing, Ballroom Dancing
and so on. Some of these were definitely challenging on the days we had rough seas.
There's nothing like doing a line
dance and you go to put your foot down, but the floor is a foot lower than you expect
because the ship has rolled. But we
still had fun. For taking part in cruisercise events, participants would earn coupons
redeemable for special merchandise at
the end of the cruise.
Things We Didn't Like as much:
1) Arrival and Transfer from Istanbul Airport to the ship Contrary to what I've read here
at cruiseopinion.com about Princess'
smooth handling in this area, we found it somewhat confusing and drawn out. After an 8
hour flight from Toronto to Zurich, a
very short stop in Zurich (because our flight was late), a 2 ½ hour flight on to
Istanbul, and the usual customs line-ups when
we arrived, we were somewhat less than "bright eyed and bushy-tailed". After
clearing customs which took over half an
hour, we were directed to the baggage pick-up area. Some baggage from our flight was on
the carousel but after several
minutes, we still hadn't seen ours. After several more minutes, we finally tracked down a
Princess representative who
suggested that bags with Princess tags had already likely been taken off by Princess staff
and placed on the Princess bus
going to the ship. We were directed out to the bus and sure enough, our luggage was there.
Although it was nice to have
our luggage taken care of like this, it would have been nicer to have known in advance
this would happen so we wouldn't
worry that the luggage had been lost etc. The bus was obviously waiting for Princess
passengers arriving on several flights
because we waited for at least half an hour before the bus left the airport for the ship,
an eternity after long, long, long
distance travel. The check-in at dockside took just a couple of minutes.
We did like the security check-in, which you encountered just before walking onto the
ship. They took an electronic photo
of each passenger and it was matched to your cruise card. At each port, you placed your
card in a reader to leave the ship,
and again to board the ship. When you did so, a screen showed your photo to the security
officer. It was not an
inconvenience, and it has the added benefit of letting them know exactly who is on board
and who is still ashore.
We should add, in fairness, that the transfer from the ship to Rome's Da Vinci airport was
very smooth and well organized.
2) the Location of Our Cabin When booking the cruise, our travel agent suggested we take a
"guarantee" rather than specify
a cabin at that time. This worked both for us (Princess upgraded us from an inside to an
outside cabin and moved us up
one deck; we were assigned to cabin F433 on Fiesta Deck) and against us (F433 was the
third last cabin from the stern of
the ship). The engine noise was deafening. When the engines were running, which was from
early evening to early morning,
we could hear and feel every vibration like the engine was right inside our cabin. My
husband was able to get to sleep. But I
found it impossible and was forced to visit the ship's doctor to get some sleeping pills.
I should add that the visit to the
doctor cost $45 and I have never had to take sleeping pills before, so that may give you
some idea of how much they were
needed. We'll try to select something mid-ship next time! Again, in fairness, when the
engines weren't running, the cabin
was quiet - we didn't hear noises from the hall or adjoining cabins.
3) Dated Facilities Our cabin was a standard outside cabin. The room itself was
comfortable and clean. The decor would
have been current in the 1970's when the ship was first commissioned, but is outdated for
the 1990's; it was predominantly
beige arborite. However, the cabin was functional and comfortable.
We had two twin beds which were comfortable; however, one was recessed in the wall, the
other was a daybed that folded
out; they did not make up into one large queen/king bed as seems to be available on the
newer ships. There also was a
bedside table with four drawers, a dresser with eight drawers, 3 closets with lots of
hangars, a sitting chair, and the
standard bathroom with shower.
Every cabin has a safe and a TV. The room TV kept us mostly out of touch with the real
world. A print-only version of CNN
was available but the news was old. ESPN was never picked up by the satellite dish. For
ardent hockey fans during Round
2 of the playoffs, this was brutal. Even the newsletters, which were somewhat regularly
distributed, only offered news which
was 48 hours old. In this day and age of fax and Internet, this is deplorable.
Being an older ship, it sometimes showed its age. On the third last night of the cruise,
and the last scheduled formal night,
there was a problem with the plumbing around the time to get ready for dinner. There was
no hot water! None! There were a
lot of really quick showers that night!
Also because it is an older ship, it is not able to offer many of the amenities, such as
self-laundry facilities and alternative
dining options, to be found on newer ships.
4) the Shore Excursion Office Staff - Narelle and Vini We've already commented on the
great service we received from many
other Pacific Princess cruise staff. Sad to say, that comment does not extend to the Tour
Office Manager Narelle and her
assistant, Vini. The attitude of these two can, at best, be described as aloof, arrogant
and patronizing. Our impression, and
our dinner table companions agreed, that these two would not waste their time answering
your questions if you were not
taking their tours. Even if you were taking one of their tours, they would only answer
questions about what you'd see and do
on the tour, not other questions about the city or other sights.
Moreover, they recommended their tours above all else. The night before our arrival in
Athens, the tour Office had been
forced to cancel most of the tours offered for Athens because of a strike by the National
Guard at the Acropolis. The only
tours still to be offered were those going outside of Athens where only a drive by the
Acropolis was scheduled. We
happened to be at the Tour Office when another lady approached Narelle for advice about
what to do. The lady was
obviously distressed, one of the reasons she was on the cruise was to visit Athens and in
particular, the Parthenon at the
Acropolis. Narelle recommended in the strongest possible terms that the absolute best
option for this lady would be to take
the tour still being offered, and she would at least get to drive by the Acropolis.
Narelle, of course, did not highlight the cost
of the tour. Nor did Narelle offer other options, although it had been printed in Princess
Patter the daily news bulletin on
board, that Princess was running a shuttle bus from the ship to the train station in
Piraeus (the port for Athens) at a cost of
$4 each way, the train (a subway, really) from Piraeus would take 20-30 minutes and cost
only 60 drachmas (20 cents),
and you could get off at a station right at the foot of the Acropolis. Another option
would be for two couples to hire a taxi
which was equally as cost efficient.
We were warned to be careful on the train as pickpockets are common and in fact there were
two incidents involving
passengers.
A warning: arrive early at the departure lounge for the tours, or if you happen to be a
little late, don't stand in line waiting to
get your tour ID. The meeting times listed in Princess Patter mean nothing. Passengers are
processed on a 'first come,
first processed' basis, no matter what tour they're scheduled for. We had a run in with
Vini the day we were in Barcelona.
We were scheduled to go on the Gothic Quarter walking tour; passengers on this tour were
supposed to meet at 8:30 AM.
We arrived late and found a long line up leading into the lounge. Naturally, we joined the
end of the line and waited our turn
to check in and collect our ID label. When it was our turn, we were surprised to find out
that all the people in front of us
were taking the Barcelona Highlights tour (which wasn't supposed to be gathering in the
lounge until 8:45 AM). Vini told us
curtly that we obviously had been very late and that he'd been out in the hallway many
times checking to make sure that
there were no other passengers for the tour we were supposed to be on. We were in line in
that hallway for 10 minutes and I
can assure you, Vini did NOT check the line even once during that time. He then checked
via walkie-talkie with Narelle on
the pier and verified that our bus had already left. He shrugged as if to say 'what can
you expect?' and somewhat reluctantly
offered to switch us to the Barcelona Highlights tour. It wasn't what we'd planned, but it
was better than nothing, so we
agreed. The guide was knowledgeable and it turned out to be a good tour. But Vini's
attitude did not sit well with us. And to
top it all off, the Barcelona Highlights tour was $2 more expensive per person; they
charged us the difference on our room
account!
If you are planning to go anywhere on your own, we suggest getting a good map from
whatever resources you have before
you leave for your cruise. Maps provided by the tour office are not designed to be
adequate for your own walking tours as
only main streets are included. In Athens, we used the map provided and wasted 45 minutes
(and walked ourselves out of
the area covered by the map) because we missed a main street and the smaller ones weren't
noted.
One important point which we found out from our travel agent is that Princess contracts
out the shore excursions to another
company. Princess is not directly involved but they are interested in the input from
passengers.
One final note: All the tours offered during our sailing involved visiting
ruins/palaces/churches with or without an
accompanying drive in the countryside. Princess could afford to review its offerings and
be more innovative. For example,
we would have been interested in a winery tour in Spain or France.
5) the Shore Excursions We've read a number of reviews at cruiseopinion.com which suggest
that travellers can do just as
well, or better, making their own arrangements in port once they arrive as they can by
taking the excursions offered through
the Tour Office on board the ship. In most cases, we would agree; the exceptions might be
places like Ephesus, Turkey
and the Palace of Knossos in Crete, or the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, in these
cases we found the commentary
of the tour guide was very insightful and added a great deal to our appreciation of the
site we were visiting.
Escorted tours, while convenient, are not needed for Istanbul and Athens, because the
major sights are within short walking
distances of each other. In Malta, a good taxi driver can offer as good or better value
and a more personalized tour. Do your
homework before you cruise - know what you want to see and find out some information. Then
whether you do your own
walking tours, or find a couple and hire a taxi, you'll see and do more of what you want,
and save a bundle doing it.
Another benefit of doing the tours yourself is flexibility. The tours offered by Princess
were either ½ day or full day
excursions that began first thing in the morning. Doing it on your own gives you the
freedom to start when you want to, and
to have the tour last as long as you want it to. It also allows you to customize the tour
to match your interests - this way,
you're not trooping around some site you have no interest in and wishing you could spend
more time at something you find
fascinating.
Thoughts on our Ports of Call
- Istanbul - The Blue Mosque, Santa Sophia, and Topkapi Palace are well worth seeing. Our
tour did not go to the Grand
Bazaar - a number of fellow passengers told us we missed an enjoyable shopping experience.
(I guess we'll just have to
cruise there again!)
- Kusadasi - The ruins of the ancient city Ephesus are incredible - you have to experience
it to really appreciate it. Amazing
to be reminded that a B.C. civilization was so advanced in architecture, engineering,
sanitation etc. Well worth the visit.
A word of warning: Our tour guide pulled a fast one (as far as we're concerned). On the
way back to the ship, she asked
whether any of us would be interested in seeing a carpet weaving demonstration. Several of
us were, and so she led us to
an upstairs shop, where we were invited to sit down, enjoy some apple tea and view a young
girl weaving. About this time,
our tour guide left. The demonstration lasted about 5 minutes and then, the HARD sell to
buy some Turkish carpets began
in earnest. There were more than enough salesmen so that one could attach himself to each
couple. We had no intention of
buying a carpet but had a really hard time convincing our salesman and getting out of
there. It took us at least half an hour.
If you're not interested in buying carpet, beware!
- Mykonos - Mykonos is very picturesque with all its white buildings. It's small enough to
walk around and explore on your
own, and then enjoy a cold Greek beer at a seaside cafe. You might even see the mascot,
the Mykonos pelican!
- Heraklion - The ruins of the Palace of Knossos are spectacular. Authorities expect that
when all excavation is complete, it
will reveal a total of 1500 rooms. What they've excavated all ready is awesome, including
the throne room and Cleopatra's
suite, complete with bathroom.
We took an all day excursion "The Best of Crete". After the visit to Knossos,
there really wasn't too much else to see. The
bus drove around the north side of Crete (apparently the south side is rugged and not
picturesque). We stopped in a small
village, Elounda, at the Vacchus Tavern for lunch. Avoid it like the plague unless you
enjoy being herded like cattle. At least
5 busloads of Princess passengers arrived for lunch within minutes of each other. It was
difficult finding seats together. It
was a very warm day (85 F +) and we were in a "carport" type of area - this
restricted air flow and made it seem even
warmer - very uncomfortable. Being outside, there were flies buzzing around the food. The
noise level was high and we were
packed in like sardines. Because there were only two or three waiters and so many of us
arrived at once, service was slow.
Each table got a pre-set menu: some food looked good, some didn't. Unfortunately, there
was no way of knowing what
some of it was and the waiters didn't have the time to stop and tell us. The facilities
were deplorable - only two single
washrooms for women, and one became plugged after a short while.
- Athens - We took the shuttle bus/train from Piraeus to Athens. When we got into Athens,
we discovered that the
Acropolis was open after all (we had been told that the National Guard were on strike). We
climbed up and spent about two
hours exploring - it was great! Then we walked around looking for the Plaka, a street
shopping area. Using the map printed
in Princess Patter, which we now know is useless, we got lost. So we walked a lot more in
Athens than we expected. But
people were friendly and helpful and eventually, we did get to the Plaka.
- Malta - We really weren't expecting too much of Malta, and were surprised by how much we
liked it. Sailing in to the pier
at Valletta is breathtaking - the old fortress walls (still in perfect condition) rise out
of the sea for hundreds of feet! We opted
to share a taxi with a couple from our dinner table, rather than take one of the ship
excursions. A three-hour tour of the
island ended up costing $20 per person. We spent time at the Presidential Palace where the
gardens are open to the public
year round, and the fortress city of Mdina. The island was settled by the Knights of St.
John in the 1500's. To become a
Knight, one had to be from a wealthy family; on joining, you had to forsake your wealth to
the order. The Knights in each
area of the island used the wealth of their members to build churches and each group tried
to outdo the others. As a result,
there are many beautiful churches to see while on Malta; we saw just a few, but they were
spectacular.
- Barcelona - Worth seeing is (1) la Sagrada Familia (Church of the Holy Family) because
of the unorthodox architecture
designed by Gaudi, and (2) Las Ramblas, a wide tree-lined boulevard with shops of all
kinds on the street side, and artists,
cafes and human "statues" on the boulevard itself. The "statues" are
amazing - they are made up to look like a famous
character e.g. the Grim Reaper or John Wayne, and they stand for hours in the same
position and only make a move to
acknowledge someone who puts a coin in their cup. We missed out on a tour of the Gothic
Quarter and want to go back
some day to see it.
- St. Tropez/Toulon - Because of rough seas, we could not tender into St. Tropez and had
to sail back to Toulon. We spent
a nice afternoon walking around there. We found a small shop selling terrific ice cream
and sat on the edge of the town
fountain enjoying it in the warm sunshine, just watching the world go by. Heavenly! On our
way back to the ship, we came
across some market vendors selling various kinds of goods. One was selling cosmetics, and
much to my surprise, they
were selling for $6 a pot of Bronzing Powder equivalent to that being promoted by the
beauty salon on board for the lofty
price of $48. I was proud of this find.
It was a big plus that the captain and Princess could offer us an alternative when we were
unable to get to St. Tropez. We
had a four hour trip backtracking to Toulon. This would have cost Princess more on fuel
and port charges. Some other
cruise lines would have simply proceeded to the next port. Thank you Princess.
- Portofino - A very picturesque town on the Italian Riviera, just waiting for your
tourist dollars. Beware! We were talking with
some others from the ship who had a rude awakening at one of the harbour cafes. Whereas in
most other ports where we'd
been, you could get a snack and beer or wine at reasonable prices, Portofino was
different. They had gone to one of the
cafes and did not look at the posted menu. They ordered pizza, a bottle of wine and a
couple of beers, and were shocked
when the bill came to the equivalent of $150 for the five of them in their group!
We just walked around, but others from the ship took tours to other villages combined with
small boat cruises. We heard
that they enjoyed these tours.
In summary, we feel that the shore excursions we took were a fair value for the money.
6) the Quality of Food served on board Overall, the quality was good but it was not five
star. As many at our table put it 'A
lot was good, but not good enough'. Aside from this, the food was enjoyable and plentiful.
It would be hard to find something
you would not like. The variety was excellent - each dinner offered five or six different
entrees, usually a couple of different
fish dishes, along with others like beef, chicken, turkey, Cornish hens, lobster, shrimp,
scallops, buffalo, lamb, pork etc.
There were some choices that were consistently good: - Caesar salad - soups - the soups
were always excellent; be sure
to try the hot Broccoli or Sweet Potato, and cold Vichyssoise soups! - Daily Pasta
specials - again these were excellent -
Appetizers - usually very good - the only comment against the appetizers I heard was on
the night our table companion
ordered prawns. When they were placed in front of him, he felt that they were small
shrimp, not prawns at all
However, there was a lack of consistency in the quality of entrees.
- I'm not a fish eater, but those at our table who were, were generally disappointed in
the fish dishes. The fish was not fresh
and tasted frozen. One perrson was served fish with freezer burn. Others were served fish
which had not been filleted
properly, and there were many more bones than there needed to be.
- Some servers were more efficient than others; those that weren't efficient allowed food
to sit around before being served. I
remember one lunch in particular where a table companion was served an appetizing-looking
pesto lasagna; she said it was
very tasty. Mine was delayed because I had salad first. I could see my serving sitting at
the waiter's station and when it
was finally served to me, it was cold and rubbery. I ended up eating half of my husband's
chicken sandwich and fries -
which were delicious.
Desserts - These were hit and miss. The Princess Love Boat special, chocolate mousse on a
chocolate wafer, was
absolutely wonderful and worth every calorie. So were the chocolate Brownies. There was
always a selection of ice cream
flavours and some at our table really enjoyed the ice cream sundaes. Other desserts,
mostly cakes, were iffy.
7) Variety and Timing of Daytime Events This is another area where Princess could afford
to become somewhat more
innovative. We did enjoy the various Cruisercise events but the number and nature of them
could be expanded. Also, the
timing of both events and meals seemed to be more for the convenience of Princess than its
fare paying passengers - why
schedule events or first sitting lunch half an hour before excursions return to the ship?
8) Princess Cruises as a money maker We're not sure if all the major cruise lines are as
determined to make money off
their passengers (over and above the cabin fares) but Princess sure seemed to be.
- First of all, Currency Rates: the Purser's Office built a 10% charge into the conversion
rates they used on board. This is
fine if all you want is some pocket change. But,in most ports, currency conversions booths
are nearby, sometimes even in
the dock terminal, offering more favourable rates. - The Beauty Salon staff hosted a
number of demonstrations of products
for sale. The products were all expensive and over-priced e.g. California Bronze powder
@$48 jar; I found the equivalent item
in Toulon for $6. - Tour office - we've already commented on the tours - you can save a
lot if you do them yourself! -
Gratuities - We didn't notice until the end of the cruise, when we were matching
individual receipts to our overall statement,
that 'for our convenience' (according to the sales slips) a 15% gratuity was added to the
price of wine we'd ordered at
dinner.
This cruise was rated 3 out of 5 in a cruise guide book. We would give it 3 1/2, mainly
due to the fabulous dining service we
received at dinner. We would definitely recommend this cruise, but stay away from choosing
a cabin at the rear of the boat
on the lower decks. Do your homework and decide what you want to see in the various ports.
Don't be afraid to go out on
your own or with another couple. This cruise is being offered again in the fall of 1999;
good discounts are available because
of the Kosovo problems.
Cruise Tips - Suggestions of what to bring with you:
- mugs (good for coffee throughout day and/or mixing drinks in cabin) - liquor/wine?/soft
drinks for use in cabin. Be sure to
disguise them (especially the liquor) so they won't be confiscated - bottled water/soft
drinks (or just bottles you can refill) to
take on shore excursions - insulated beverage containers (for use around pool) - favourite
snacks - regular over-the-counter
medicines e.g. vitamins, Tylenol, Gravol, Immodium - a travel iron - a travel (battery or
wind up) alarm clock - extension cord
- hair blower - baggies and twist ties - Over-the-shoulder bag (for excursions) - umbrella
- a corkscrew (our travel agent sent
a bottle of wine to our cabin but we had nothing to open it and didn't feel like paying
the corkage fee for the wine steward to
do it)
Happy cruising!
Name: David and Kathleen Guilinger
Email: dbg@pc-solutions.com
Age: still in the 30s
Occupation: Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 20
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Pacific
SailingDate: 11/29
Itinerary: Holyland
Cabin: A123
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 80
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 60
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 10
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 70
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge:
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities:
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness:
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization:
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 18 Dec 1999
Time: 18:23:55
Remote Name: 60.pittsburgh-08-09rs.pa.dial-access.att.net
Remote User:
Comments
My wife and I, who are both young veteran cruisers, enjoyed our time with the majestic
Pacific Princess. We
truly hope that the powers to be at Pricess retain this ship. The intimacy with the
passengers and staff on
such a ship is ideal. Anyways, onto our likes and dislikes.
Likes
Itinerary...this cruise and other cruises on this ship offer fantastic opportunities to
explore both the world
and their ports of call.
Food...seafood on this cruise was definitely in prime. Also, the daytime based gala
buffet's was a plus.
Dislikes
Princess sponsored shore excursions...my wife and I took two overnight excursions into
Israel and Egypt.
While we seemed to have lucked out in Israel and ended up with a small tour, that broke
the normal rules.
Egypt was a fiasco. We spent the majority of our tour on a bus (thank god it had a
bathroom, and thank
god we didn't sit near it!!!). The tour into Cairo was poorly orchestrated and managed.
The guide on our
bus made the mistake of telling us that he was an independent subcontractor and based on
his knowledge,
english and personna, I'd say he was fairly green.
Our suggestion for you travelling folk is to avoid Princess Tours like the plaque and
arrange your own on
show adventures. Princess sponsored tours appear to be both overpriced and undermanaged.
In the
words of a fellow couple we met on this cruise, 'I like the ship, but not what they do to
you when you get off'.
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