My First Experience with Princess Cruises
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A couple weeks ago, I took an incredible trip to Alaska onboard the brand-new Discovery Princess cruise ship. I did an entire blog post about all of the ports of call and excursions we did at each but wanted to give dedicated space to share my review of the on-board experience. As wild and breathtaking as Alaska is, it did feel a little strange to get back on a cruise ship each night that kind of felt like adult summer camp. It was almost like being on 2 entirely different types of trips at the same time.
For context, this is only my second cruise, the first being a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2018 to several Caribbean islands. I really enjoyed that cruise and was excited to book this one now that the cruise industry is bouncing back post-Covid. Alaska is massive and most of the cities aren’t connected by roads, so a cruise is really the most logical way to see some of the highlights in a short time span. There were several options for Alaska cruises, most leaving from Seattle or Vancouver, and we chose this one because the dates worked best for us and I liked the idea of cruising on a brand-new ship. The Discovery Princess is the newest ship in the Princess fleet, making its maiden voyage in March 2022.
There were 3,466 guests and ~1,300 crew members on our trip and just thinking of the scope of what it takes to organize the logistics of that many people leaves me very impressed. Overall, our impression of the Princess Cruises on board experience was a bit of a mixed bag.
Before the Cruise
Outdated Website and App
The Princess website and app are both outdated and hard to navigate. The website continuously logged me out after only a few minutes, which was incredibly frustrating, especially as I was trying to read descriptions of all the excursions and book the ones I wanted.
The Medallion Class App was used before the cruise to upload documents, agree to various terms, and book dining reservations, and update our preferences. During the cruise we could use it to connect to Wi-Fi, locate shipmates, order food and drinks, and see a ship map, but it was very glitchy and had a bad user interface.
Excursions Cancelled & Changed
A few weeks before our trip, I received an email from Princess informing me that the excursion we’d booked for Victoria, BC was cancelled because it left at 7:30PM and we weren’t supposed to get to the dock until 7. They evidently had a policy of requiring a 1-hour gap between docking and a tour leaving. We went to try to book a different tour but found that every tour in Victoria left at 7:30PM. When we called the help line, they were very un-helpful, so we waited until we boarded the ship and made a bee-line to the excursion desk, where they immediately were able to book us the same excursion again with no concern about the short time gap. This was a very frustrating waste of my time and energy that could have been solved on Princess’s end up-front.
A couple days into our cruise, we came into our room to find a note saying our rock climbing & rappelling excursion in Skagway had been moved up an hour, leaving only a 15-minute gap from when our bike tour was supposed to end. We went to the excursion desk again to check that we’d be able to do both and they told us we could try and if our first tour ran late, they’d refund us the cost of the second excursion. Luckily, the bike trip ended a few minutes early and we were able to enjoy both, but the change left us stressed.
Covid Protocols
Covid policies are ever-evolving so I can only speak to the process as of late July 2022. Before we left, we had to fill out a health declaration on the website, which included uploading our vaccine cards. Anyone who was fully vaccinated was required to take a Covid test within 48 hours of boarding. Unvaccinated people were allowed to board, but were required to take two tests, one of which had to be at the boat terminal when they arrived.
I already had a handful of eMed rapid antigen home tests so we took them before we left with a medical supervisor watching over video, which allowed this home test to be accepted for travel. I was really nervous about testing positive and our trip being ruined, but thankfully Princess has policies in place that would allow you to rebook for a later date if you test positive (and the credit card I booked the trip with has travel insurance built in that covers illness too).
Once on board, almost no one was wearing a mask. Employees wore them when interacting closely with guests and only took them off when they were over 6 feet away. There were several times we found ourselves within 6 feet of other people, including crowded elevators, during the shows, waiting in lines, and at some of the activities.
Boarding
The boarding process took a lot longer than I’d expected it to. We had filled out several forms and uploaded all requested info into the app ahead of time and were told to go to the “Green Lane,” which I wrongly assumed meant we’d get to go through quickly. It still took over an hour of waiting in multiple lines, going through security, and picking up our medallions. We had chosen one of the later boarding groups, but I’d recommend trying to be in the first group to have the best chance at short lines.
When you arrive at the terminal, you have the option to “check your bags” so that they are delivered directly to your stateroom. At the end of the trip, you can even have your checked luggage transferred directly to the airport. Both options come with fees. We only had one carry on each, so we chose to keep our bags with us, and I am glad we didn’t waste our money.
Every time you board you have to put your bag through a scanner and go through security, much like at the airport, but you don’t have to remove your shoes, you can bring liquids, and the process is generally much quicker.
During the Cruise
Medallion
Princess uses their proprietary Medallions to allow all on-board processes to flow smoothly. The medallion itself is about the size of a coin, had my name on it, and by default comes on a lanyard. Before the cruise (and once on-board) we had the option to customize our medallions or buy bracelets, necklaces, etc. to hold our medallion, but we didn’t want to waste our money. Looking back, this was absolutely the right move. The lanyard was easy to stuff into a pocket or under our shirts when we didn’t want it visible, but almost everyone on the ship is wearing on so it doesn’t feel dorky.
The Medallion is used for everything on board, from opening your room to paying for drinks to helping locate where your friends and family are, as it tracks you at all times. This was super helpful when Thomas and I got separated as the phone service was often non-existent. You are also required to scan your medallion to enter and exit the ship.
Our Room
Once we boarded, we headed to our room to drop our bags and check out our cabin. We had listed our preference for a queen bed in the app ahead of time, and everything was just as we expected. The room was nice and you could tell we were on a new ship. The bathroom was stocked with 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner, body soap, lotion, a hairdryer, and plenty of towels and I was really glad to find easy access to hot water and good water pressure in the shower. The closet was large with plenty of hangers to hang some of our clothes. There were also plenty of shelves and drawers for us to unpack and keep our clothes somewhat organized throughout the entire week, and even a safe and mini fridge we didn’t use.
We booked an interior cabin and didn’t regret it at all. Not only was it cheaper, but it was always dark when we were trying to sleep, which is important since there’s so much daylight during summer in Alaska. When we did want views, we just headed to the upper decks. We spent most of the time outside our cabin, so we didn’t care about the cabin’s small size or lack of windows.
Our room was serviced at least twice a day – once mid-morning and then turndown service while we were at dinner. Each night they left the schedule of the next day’s on-board activities, which I always took a picture of for quick reference. This paper also let us know what days the time-changes would take place as we went from Pacific Daylight Time to Alaska Daylight Time. On my Royal Caribbean cruise, each time our room had been serviced there was a towel animal on the bed, but Princess didn’t do that (the closest they came was a towel folding demonstration as an activity one of the days).
Muster Drill
When we got to our room us and told us we had about a half hour to watch the safety video and check in at our muster station (note: if we’d boarded earlier, we would have had more time to do this). The video was loaded onto our TV and we were able to watch in our stateroom. It’s a surprisingly long video that goes over everything you need to know in case of emergency, kind of like they do on an airplane but more drawn-out.
After watching the video, we had to head to our muster station, which are marked with letters throughout the ship. Thankfully, ours was easy to find and all we had to do was tap our medallions to verify we’d completed the safety procedure. I really liked the way they handled the safety briefing on Princess – on my RC cruise, we had to go to one of the lounges and do the whole briefing in-person which took almost an hour.
Cruise Packages
Princess offers 2 on-board cruise packages for an additional fee: Plus and Premier. We opted for the Plus, which included unlimited drinks valued at up to $12 each, Wi-Fi for 1 device per person, and crew appreciation. I liked the idea of paying for everything up-front and not being surprised with a large bill at the end or having to remember to tip all the crew we interacted with.
I was initially worried that all the alcoholic drinks would cost more than $12 each, but they were fairly priced and we got every drink we wanted without a problem (but we didn’t drink top shelf liquor or expensive wine). I also drink a lot of water, so it was nice to be able to get as many bottles as I needed. Coffees and smoothies were also included with this package. Note: not all of the bars offer the same menu, so you may have to go across the ship to get the drink you want.
The Wi-Fi was a pretty big letdown and if you were thinking you could do some work while on a cruise like this, think again. The captain explained that above the 45th Parallel, they have to use longer latency satellites for Wi-Fi, which is an issue outside their control but that he sympathized with. It was very hit-or-miss which websites would load, and even the ones that did were extremely slow. I usually just had to wait until we were at a port-of-call to get internet access. The Medallion Class App did however work on board even without Wi-Fi, so we were still able to order drinks and room service and find one another.
Rocking the Boat
I don’t get seasick, but on our 2nd day, I definitely noticed the boat rocking a lot as we were on the open waters of the Pacific. After we entered the Inside Passage with more protected waters, you could barely tell the boat was moving most of the time. Some passengers had anti-nausea patches on and I’d recommend bringing anti-nausea medication if you’re prone to sea-sickness just in case (although one of the shops on board did sell Dramamine if you forget).
On Board Activities
Each day, there were dozens of activities all around the ship to entertain guests, from ballroom dance lessons (we enjoyed learning the Merengue) to karaoke and trivia contests (including Friends trivia which we won!). These activities were led by the Entertainment Director and his staff, and I liked that we kept seeing the same few employees at these activities all week. Each night, there was a show in the main theatre. There was a comedian, a magician, a musician, and two Broadway-style shows, which were my favorite and definitely the most popular (on these nights, the theatre filled well before show-time). Each night after the show, there was a game show hosted in one of the smaller lounges, which were always entertaining and ranked among my favorite activities.
The thing I appreciated most about all the activities is that they all started and ended on time, so I didn’t feel like my time was being wasted waiting for anything to start.
The demographics of the guests on board varied widely, from retired folks to families with kids. We fell into neither of the main categories being childless twenty-somethings, but we never felt out of place and always felt that there were fun activities for us to attend. Do your research on the target market for the cruise you’re looking to take – for example, Holland America cruise ships cater more heavily to the older crowd.
Food
The food on board was definitely the biggest downside of this Princess Cruise. I still remember how amazing the food was on the Royal Caribbean cruise, so I had mistakenly assumed that the food would be great on this one as well. We were continuously disappointed with most things we ordered. The ship had many included dining locations, varying from buffets to seated dining to room service, and all were just-ok at best. There were a couple exceptions, including the pizza place and a couple of the seated dinners in the formal dining room which had rotating selections each night. Nothing really wowed, however.
To eat in the formal dining room, it’s recommended that you make a reservation. This can be done weeks in advance on the Medallion Class App. We did this and never had to wait for our table. Regardless of if you’re eating in the dining room or at the buffet, someone will come and ask you if you want coffee, water, juice, etc. every couple of minutes. This was way too often and was annoying after about the 2nd day.
After I got back, I spoke to someone who has taken many Princess Cruises and she told me the restaurants that cost extra are where the really good food is. However, we didn’t want to pay extra when there was food included, so we didn’t bother (the one exception being the gelato place because we didn’t realize it was not included). If you get the Premier package, 2 specialty dining meals per guest are included.
Formal Nights
Depending on the length of the cruise, it’s pretty standard to have at least one formal night on board. We had 2, which were conveniently scheduled for the days at sea, so we weren’t exhausted and gross from excursions. You can have your picture taken in front of a backdrop (an extra fee unless you have the Premier package) and the Broadway-style shows are scheduled for these nights, which I appreciated because it was like getting dressed up to go to the theatre. Formal nights are not mandatory to participate in, but they may not let you eat in the formal dining room is you’re not dressed up (but there are always other places to eat).
Gym
Like many people who go on vacation, I had the best intentions to work out several times on the cruise, but only made it to the gym once. On our 2nd way, I used jet lag to my advantage and got to the gym at 6AM. It was fairly empty, so I had my choice of equipment and I was impressed with the selection they had. By the time I left an hour later, it was much more crowded and there was only one open treadmill (which is crazy because there had to have been at least 20 treadmills). I prefer to work out in the mornings, but we had to wake up so early for our excursions most days I didn’t have a chance to fit any more workouts in. Luckily, it’s easy to get lots of steps in on a cruise ship. The elevators are a bit slow and usually full, so we opted to take the stairs when we were going up or down 5 floors or less. Also, the ship is massive so just walking from aft to forward (boat talk for back to front) will put a solid dent in your step goal.
Lotus Spa
There is a full-service spa on board the ship, where you can get everything from a massage to a manicure to a haircut (all for an additional fee). I chose to get a 50-minute Swedish massage on our 2nd to last day and while I’m definitely not a massage expert (this was only my 2nd massage), I really enjoyed the experience and it left me very relaxed. I had been suffering from some pain in my shoulder blade and my massage therapist was able to give that area extra attention – I felt bruised there the next day but the pain is gone!
Miscellaneous Amenities
While it was too cold most days to really enjoy the pool, I really appreciated that there were many hot tubs, so we could easily get one to ourselves when we wanted. Pool towels were available for free.
Each floor also had a laundry room. The detergent and machines were both free. We took advantage and did a load of laundry a couple days into our trip. There were only 3 washers and 3 dryers per floor, so finding an open one required a little patience.
After the Cruise
Disembarking
If you want your bags taken off the ship for you, you have to put the provided luggage tags on them and leave them outside your stateroom the night before. Doing so meant you had to wait in one of the lounges at your designated time before getting off the ship. We went to guest services and got “walk-off” passes to bring our bags with us and walk right off the ship without waiting. Thankfully, going through the boat terminal on the way out was much quicker than when we’d arrived. We just had to quickly show our passport to one of the agents. Once outside, we had to board a shuttle that took us to the parking lot where we could pick up a Lyft to take us to the airport.
Catching Covid
We managed to make it 2.5 years through the pandemic without catching Covid, but we finally caught it on the cruise. Given that very few people were wearing masks on board (and we were often in close spaces with one another) and no one wore them at the ports-of-call (including our tour guides), I am not really surprised, but it was a very unfortunate souvenir to bring home.
Booking the Next Cruise
We’d only been home a couple of days when I received the first email encouraging me to book my next cruise. On board, they even had a “Cruise Planner” who would help you plan your next Princess cruise while you were still on this one! Repeat guests often receive discounts and other perks, so I can understand the appeal. Personally, cruising is not my ideal form of travel and I like to reserve such trips for where it makes sense geographically.
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