MAJESTIC PRINCESS Reviews

Overall, we enjoyed many aspects of the cruise, and I want to start by saying that the staff was absolutely lovely. They were friendly, helpful, and seemed to do everything they could to make our experience enjoyable. My concerns are more with some of the planning, organization, maintenance, technology, and logistics of the cruise.

One of the biggest problems was the tender process. On one of our port days, we arrived in port around 7:00 a.m. and had activities planned for the morning. However, because we had to wait for our tender number to be called, we were not able to get off the ship until around noon. The process was extremely slow, and as a result, we completely missed what we had planned for that morning.

Getting back to the ship by tender was just as frustrating. Several times, there were extremely long lines, and we waited an hour to an hour and a half just to get on a tender back to the ship. When the tender ride itself is approximately 25 minutes, this becomes a major part of the day. It is predictable that a large number of passengers are going to return closer to the final boarding time, so I feel there should be significantly more tenders available during those peak periods. If the ship does not have enough tenders to handle that volume, perhaps an outside tender service should be arranged. This was one of the biggest complaints we heard from passengers throughout the cruise.

Another issue was the Premier dining reservations. I went into the app approximately six months before the cruise and still could not get reasonable dinner times. Most of what was available was around 5:00–5:40 p.m. That made it extremely difficult on port days because we would return to the ship and barely have enough time to shower and change before having to rush to dinner. We paid extra for these dining experiences and wanted to be able to enjoy them rather than feel rushed.

Eventually, I had to go down and cancel several of our dining reservations because the early times simply did not work with our schedule. What made this particularly frustrating was that when we were actually in the restaurants, we often saw plenty of empty tables. I do not understand why times around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. were not available when there appeared to be open seating.

The early dinner times also made it difficult to attend many of the shows. It felt as though we were constantly having to choose between dinner and entertainment rather than being able to reasonably enjoy both.

I also think the specialty dining restaurants could benefit from occasionally changing or adding something to the menu. We dined at some of these restaurants several times, and it would have been nice to have at least one different featured entrée, appetizer, or special each evening instead of seeing exactly the same menu every visit.

Sabatini’s was unfortunately not our favorite. We had several dinners scheduled there, but after our first experience, we decided to cancel the remaining reservations because we simply did not feel the food was very good.

We also ate at The Catch, and while there were things we enjoyed, there were a few occasions when the fish did not seem particularly fresh. At a specialty seafood restaurant, especially one that guests are paying extra to experience, I would expect the seafood to taste consistently fresh and be of a noticeably higher quality.

We also had a very frustrating experience at O’Malley’s Pub. We ordered fish and chips and waited approximately 45 minutes, but the food never arrived. We asked several times and were repeatedly told that it was coming, but after waiting that long we finally gave up and left. We still do not know what happened to the fish and chips. At that point, we were simply over it and went somewhere else to get dinner. A delay can happen, but 45 minutes with no food and no clear explanation was excessive.

Another concern involved food allergies. One of the people traveling with us has a dairy allergy. She had indicated this in her information ahead of time, but at almost every dining experience she still had to explain that she could not have dairy. Staff would sometimes bring her milk or assume she was vegan, and she would have to explain again that she was not vegan—she simply had a dairy allergy. For something as important as a food allergy, I feel this information should be extremely visible on the guest’s profile so that the dining staff immediately knows about it without the guest having to repeatedly explain it.

We were also disappointed with the hot tubs. It seemed that there was consistently at least one hot tub that was not working. On this particular itinerary, the weather was not really conducive to spending much time in the regular pools, so the hot tubs were understandably much more popular and important to passengers. Having one out of service made the remaining ones very crowded. On top of that, the hot tubs that were operating were often not even very warm. For a cooler-weather cruise, I think keeping all of the hot tubs functioning and at an appropriate temperature should be a priority.

The app was another major frustration. It felt extremely limited and not very useful for actually managing the cruise. Dining was basically the main function we used, and even then, when I tried to cancel dining reservations through the app, it would not allow me to do so. I ended up having to go in person to make changes that should have been simple to handle from my phone.

I also do not understand why the app does not put everything in one place. Excursions, onboard activities, dining, entertainment, reservations, schedules, and cancellations should all be easy to find and manage within one app. Guests should be able to open the app and clearly see what is happening that day, what they have booked, what excursions are available, what activities are scheduled, and make changes without having to go to different places or stand in line for help. For a cruise line of this size, the technology should make the vacation easier, not more frustrating.

The Wi-Fi was also disappointing, especially because we paid extra for it. Getting connected in the first place was so difficult that we had to go down and ask for help just to get it set up correctly. Even after it was connected, it would constantly drop off and we would have to reconnect over and over again. If guests are paying for Wi-Fi, it should be simple to connect to and reasonably reliable throughout the cruise. Instead, it became another thing we had to repeatedly troubleshoot.

Finally, I think some consideration should be given to the amount of time passengers actually have in certain ports. When many of the major attractions are approximately three hours away from the port, that means passengers may spend close to six hours of their day simply traveling back and forth. Those might be better ports for an overnight stay or a longer port day rather than a quick one-day stop. By the time you travel to the destination, enjoy the attraction, and travel back, there is very little time left and the day feels extremely rushed.

Again, the staff was wonderful, and these comments are not meant as criticism of the crew. My concerns are mainly with the logistics, maintenance, technology, dining experience, and overall planning. Improving the tender system, dining reservation availability, food quality and service, allergy communication, hot tub maintenance, the app, Wi-Fi reliability, entertainment scheduling, and the amount of time allowed at certain ports would make the overall cruise experience considerably better.

Our family of 8 just finished a 12-day British Isles cruise on the Majestic Princess, and unfortunately we came away disappointed compared to the service we have received from other cruise lines.

The room set the tone early. Chairs scraping across the ceiling until midnight, creaking that sounded like woodpeckers all night, a shower head that needed replacing, and a tub that would not drain unless we removed the plunger ourselves. Not exactly the restful start to a vacation you are hoping for.

From the moment we boarded, we felt like we were living in an infomercial. We bought the premium package thinking it would cover us, but the upselling never stopped. Ice cream costs extra. Staff walk around pushing Sabatinis reservations and rolly polly glasses after dinner. Balcony dinners, menu surcharges, even upcharges inside the specialty restaurants. Room service claims to be included with the package, but half the items carry charges and service fees for the same food you can get for free in the buffet. It is exhausting.

Dining was mostly a letdown. Crown Grill had us getting our own water, served me a steak that was burnt all the way through, and charged me an extra $20 for lobster that was like rubber. They remade it, but by then everyone else at our table had finished eating. Salty Dog lost my order entirely. The creme brulee in the Concerto restaurant was more of a soup. The one shining light was Sabatinis, where the food was consistently great and the service was amazing every time we went, thanks to Neonell and both Antonios.

The excursion experience was where Princess really showed its true colors. We booked an excursion through the ship and then had to pay out of pocket to get from the pier to the meeting point. The tender ticket system was a mess. In Edinburgh, I was in line an hour before they started distributing tickets and we still lost three hours waiting. When I went to guest services, they had another guest yelling about a missed tee time and bumped her to an earlier tender. We were missing a private excursion we had booked and they would not do the same for us. The lines themselves were a safety hazard.

What frustrated us the most was how Princess pretends to listen. We raised concerns through guest services and were told someone would get back to us. They never did. The food and beverage team approached us at breakfast one morning, took notes, took our room number, and said they would follow up. Nothing. At a certain point you realize the feedback process exists to make you feel heard in the moment, not to actually fix anything. I am sure this review will not change that, but hopefully it helps future guests prepare properly, understand the challenges, and set their expectations accordingly.

It was not all bad. Frank at the pool bar on Deck 16 gave us consistently good service. Robin in the art gallery was fun to chat with. Hilton at Alfredos impressed us with how he handled a difficult group while keeping his composure and humor. And the Medallions and Princess App worked well for room access, check-in and out, and locating family members around the ship.

But for a family of 8 spending this kind of money on a 12-day trip, you expect the basics to work and you do not expect to feel like a walking revenue opportunity every time you turn a corner. We will not be booking with Princess again.