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Princess Cruise Line

MS Ocean Princess

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Diane Gillis
Date of Trip: May 3, 2002
# previous cruises: 1
Itinerary: Repositioning

I would never recommend boarding a cruise in San Francisco. It does not have the facilities and Princess made a major botch of the boarding process for our cruise. One and a half hours, at least, of standing in a very cold, cavernous, cement-floored building was of great concern to a number of we "cattle". The staff did not appear to have a plan or a clue as to how to handle the situation. Watching some of the elderly whither with the wait was rough. My light-hearted question to one staff.."Is your plan to see us all return home sick?" was replied to with a "Yes". This after being at the Vancouver airport at 5 a.m. and then being greeted at San Francisco Airport by some grouchy Princess representatives telling us we would have to wait one and three quarter hours for the bus to take us to the "cattle pen". I had inquired as to how much free time there would be between flight arrival and cruise loading and was told none...reality proved quite otherwise. Princess really let us down by treating us like mere nuisance numbers during lengthy waits.

Good public areas all round though no clearly non-smoking areas so for some, e.g. those with asthma, this was a problem.

Food and service good. Buffet available. Used one dining room which was great.

Good inside cabin. Good closet space and shower. Audible noise from the hall. great cabin service/staff.

Magician and comedians were poor. Missed the dancers. Staff generally good though inconsistent. Some seemed to miss the importance of customer service while others were super.

No ports to visit. Good pools and health spa. Children's program though we are unaware re babysitting as we went as a couple.

Great and varied bunch of folk cruising with us. Lots of friendships made.