Very disappointed in this ship. Being an American ship I expected better,onboard credit cards were poor quality, with some having to be replaced more than once(false economy) Entertainment was of poor standard. Food very good in restaurant, buffet ok for breakfast and lunch, give it a miss for evening meal. Majority of staff quite friendly and helpful. Difficult to find somewhere to sit and have a drink after been in theatre watching(poor)shows. A 7 day cruise would have been too long aboard this ship and I would not consider cruising with Princess again

My husband and I have been cruising for the last 5 years (celebrating both 25th and 30th wedding anniversaries) - always with P&O or Princess Cruises once on Golden Princess. Decided to go on Sea Princess to experience the US cruise as we had such a lovely time on Golden Princess around the med from Barcelona to Venice. This time we went with friends who we have also turned into cruisers. Ship was on the whole clean - but very tired. We had cruised on Oceana (sister ship built in 1998) in April to celebrate son's 21st birthday and were delighted to experience it's complete refurbishment - new everything from carpets to sun loungers with new cushions and fluffy towels. Therefore very disappointed to get to Sea Princess and see how tired it was and in need of refurbishment. Spotted rusty decks, grouting in swimming pool in poor condition, sun loungers with tatty cushions and threadbare towels. Could not fault restaurant in the evening with superb waiters! Food in Horizon average with repetitive choice - have had better on the British P&O ships - but Horizon now turning into a cattle market with everyone pushing (class of customers dropping big time with people still visiting a dining room in swimwear - need more rules on this!). Disappointing not to see any deck b-b-q's & themed food during lunch time - these were superb on Golden Princess. Biggest disappointment - 4th July came and went without a few fluttering flags in one small bar area - come on - US ship???? Live shows not bad - did get better as the performers found their feet after the first two performances - but they had many days off - again, there were far more ritzy shows on Golden Princess. No big stars anymore - another cut by Princess to save money? Biggest complaint though was the horrific screen that was meant to be for films under the stars in the evenings. On the day of the Wimbledon ladies final (showed a little of it in between the US sports programme breaks) they were more intent in showing us how a US sports woman was suing for sexual harrassment damages - think they repeated this about 4 times - lovely (I don't think). I thought the idea was to have headphones for those who wanted to watch it. Terrible noise - no relaxing low key music anymore on decks - just noise! Would I cruise again? YES On Sea princess? NO. Oh yes, and one final point, we did not see the captain walk the decks once to meet his cruisers!

It was so amazing we came home and booked another this year (although with P&O - hope they can match this standard!)with two other families that we met on this cruise.

Never before have we had a holiday that catered for all ages between 9 and 45. Everyone had a fabulous time.

Food in the restaurant was amazing, smallish portions, but 5 courses available - so they'd need to be small or you would explode.

Rooms and service so good you really felt (as a wife and mother) fully on holiday. No bed making, tidying - superb laundry service and a wonderful steward.

Staff - generally very pleasant, some could be happier - but you just ignore those.

Teenagers thought they'd died and gone to heaven! - they made loads of friends, ate for England. Only hazzard with kids was persuading them to leave the ship for trips, they wanted to stay on. Oh and can be tricky finding them when you want to go to sleep.

Overall - the best holiday we've EVER had - hope this year will live up to it!

Arrived Saturday 31st May 2008 at Southampton docks in car at 11-40am.Met,and unloaded car,porter said anything with a label he would take.On board by 12-30pm.Next saw our luggage in cabin about 4-30pm.Had cabin with balcony which was cleaned morning and evening throughout the 14night trip.At all restaurants met with Anti-bacterial cleansing soap for hands.The ship was being cleaned all the time,rails,decks,tables and chairs.The ships staff were always friendly and helpful.The food was 5*and plentyful.Service 1st Class.The on-board entertainment was good,but I didn't go every night.
All in all I would go again.We went to Vigo.Lisbon.Barcelona.Cannes.Rome.Naples.Ajaccio and Gibralter.Great trip.

Having sailed on this ship before we did wonder if it would be as good, no worries there, it was fantastic. Ship cleanliness was very good especially one very rough night the crew were out in force washing down handrails etc, very impressed. The food was also very good with plenty of choice we chose fixed late dining which lived up to our expectations the staff were very attentive and the food varied and scrumtious it helps to have the same waiters each evening. My only complaint was that lobster was only offered once in a two week cruise sign of a cut back me thinks. The Horizon Court where we ate at lunchtimes was also the usual standard for Princess again varied but a little repetative also very lacking in the dessert department, nonetheless still very edible. The staff were always pleasant and courteous, our waiters and cabin staff looked after us extremely well. The evening entertainment was sadly lacking and at times embarrasing, the ships entertainers were okay but most of the time we did not bother to attend. The ports of call were all excellent, apart from St Thomas, US immigration is a farce, we had to be up at 6am just for the pleasure of having your passport stamped.
On the whole it was a fantastic holiday from start to finish even the Thomas Cook flight the staff were very cheerful the food reasonable edible. I think the complimentary drinks on the flight from Princess was probably to sooth those unfortunate passengers who were so cramped in their seats, we were fortunate to have exit seats so no probs for us. There have been quite a few negative reviews regarding the Sea Princess either peoples expectations are too high or they have just been unlucky. With regard to tipping you can always ask
for it not to be added to your statement, we chose to allow the tip for the first week and tip those closest to us on the second it is entirely up to you with regards to tipping. We had an inside cabin which was perfectly functional, enough room for two people and very comfortable, but we only use the room to change and sleep in so if you want to spend more time in your stateroom I would opt for a balcony or suite. We had such a great time we are already booking our third with Princess I would not cruise with anyone else.

after talking two good friends & their 15 yr old son into boarding ...as I thought! one of the best ships in the world,,,,,,,,,,,
i was so apolgetic to them from the off..
A big ship with NO heart

and oh boy were they right,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

i still feel sick that i have wasted all that money & time on board this DISASTER............
as I understand they are selling it to OCEAN VILLAGE
which mighnt do better with it ........
in short ...No movies under the STARS .....They show them in the day time & it's usually foot ball
the bar where they show the movies shuts @ 10'30 .......guess why? they have to get the cheap staff downstairs to do a 'pub quiz'...................
and then the staff are so tired (because they have their own bar downstairs)Till 4 am A FACT I LEARNED FROM A GOOD FRIEND
it sickens me to have to waste my time doing this..
but i cant begin to tell you how BAD this ship is

After our only experience on a Thomson Cruise, we expected a lot from the Sea Princess. Well the ship was clean, the rooms very small but adequate. The balcony was very small but we enjoyed having it, sat with a glass of wine and sometimes taking snacks from the buffett. The staff were ok but not many took the time to talk and get to know you. The entertainment was not very good, but the New Year party was really good, even tho the singers on deck were not very good we had a great time.
I have said i would not sail on this ship again, the reason being i do not think i got any more from this cruise than i did on a Thomson. Infact with Thomson i felt we got more in a lot of ways. Do not get me wrong the Sea Princess is a nice ship but everything you do is geared to getting the most money out of you. from the moment you get on the plane you are told you cannot take any drinks on board or they will be taken off you and returned to you at the end of the cruise. You cannot fill a small bottle up with water to take off the ship with you. 15% is added to every drink you get including water. then you have the $10.50 per person per day gratuity charge. Yes i knew all this before we went and i was prepared for it, based on the fact that it would be easier to have the one charge for all the good service we were going to get. However, our cabin person would come in a morning, and clean our room new towels etc, he would then come at 6pm to turn the beds down, if i didnt want him to do it at that time he never returned again that evening. The bar staff i felt were a little slow and i would have thought that they would have been falling over them selves to please. The good purchase was the soda card which i got on the first day. The anytime dining was ok but i must admit we prefered the buffet, you got the same food, and the bar staff were very obliging. The sterling steakhouse was nice, the steaks were very good, however it is just in a section of the buffet area, and on selected nights you could dine under the stars. This didnt feel special at all and again considering you pay a cover charge, again the service wasnt any different to any of the other eating areas. I also thought they would have had more eating places considering it was a medium size ship. The flight with thomas cook was diabolical, it was the tattiest plane i have ever been on. It was dirty and the fixtures were falling to bits. The cruise had been booked well over a year and i wanted a manchester flight. I was told at the time of booking that we would have to fly from Gatwick because there were no seats left, and they could not tell us which carrier would be taking us to Jamaica. This was a joke and i am convinced that they try to fill the thomas cook flight up first because they know no-one wants to go with them. The whole plane was going on the cruise. Thomsons was used for all the manchester flights, and lots had got seats well after we had booked, and were very pleased with their flights. I know we payed a premium because we went for new year which you expect, but i do not feel the price we payed reflected what we received. We did enjoy the Caribbean but i would be more choosy next time.I would not fly with Thomas Cook long haul and i would not go on the Sea princess again.

Our first cruise with Princess, having only cruised with Thomsons before. Flew to Barbados, 2 weeks around the carib, then flew home. We found the whole experience very pleasing, with just a few minor problems - until the flight home which was awful.
The minor problems onboard were 1. children in the adult only areas with no one supervising. 2. Movies under the stars playing at the same time and same place as a live band. 3. very cold indoor public areas of an evening due to the airconditioning. 4. the insistence of US immigration to get you out of bed at 6 am to enter US waters. 5. lack of late night buffet despite advertising a 24 hour service. On the plus side we found the food and service in the anytime dining room to be excellent, and the complimentary 24 hour room service wonderful. Our cabin steward was friendly, and smiling all the time, as were 90 percent of the crew. We enjoyed the entertainment, both in the theatres, and out on deck....apart from the clash of timings and temperature problem mentioned above.
The cruising and places visited all fitted into a great 2 weeks. (Yes even Caracas in Argentina, despite so many people on board complaining, we found the place very interesting).
Then we flew home to Gatwick on Thomas Cook TCX47L. A night flight lasting about 8 hours. Sheer hell. No room at all. No one could recline their seats, we all sat upright all night. The crew were unable to carry out their duties (we didnt get the second lot of food, rubbish was not cleared) because of problems eg the entertainment system, the complaints, lack of space to move. One member of the crew was reduced to tears. How Thomas Cook, or P & O dare to put human beings thru such hell I do not know.
I suggest anyone considering booking this cruise, or any other with P & O first establish what airline would be used. If its Thomas Cook then look elsewhere.
The cruise - good. The flight - terrible. The worst bit about it is the captain spoke to me after the flight and told me the plane had been flying for 13 months with constant complaints from passengers and crew, but the company would do nothing about it. He told me P & O were "in the loop" and did nothing either. In April 08 Thomas Cook plan to take 30 seats out of the plane... but not for passenger comfort... to enable them to carry more fuel to fly further distances.....the last 30 seats are generally sold at discounts, so they wont loose put financially..thats what the captain told me. What a shame these companies ruin ordinary peoples perfectly good holidays for the sake of a few pounds.

If you are considering the Sea Princess for a cruise then DON'T. Have just returned from the worst cruise on board. This was my first Princess cruise but I have sailed on 18 other cruises, and it would seem that Princess have cut everything down to the bare minimum.

Tiny cabins with no 'luxury ' left in the towels although shabby it was clean. Went anytime dining but the menu choice was very dissapointing and we spent the last two nights eating at the buffet. The choice here was also dissapointing and everything has to be eaten on the one large plastic plate you are given on entry.
Very limited range of drinks available from the tea / coffee stations of which there were only 3 in operation for over 2000 passengers. And all you had to stir with was a small wooden stick !!

We met 3 barstaff who were customer friendly, the rest could be said to be doing their job. No smiles.

If you smoke then forget this ship as they only had room for about 60 people to sit and enjoy a drink and a smoke. Most of the lounges and bars will be off limits to you and be prepared to stand in the bars you can smoke in.

Also had a major problem with children on our cruise, they had all travelled free but had more access to the ship than smoking adults. Groups of youths roaming the ship at 1.30 am and screaming babies in the bars do not make for a relaxing time.

If Princess insist on enforcing their company policy on smoking then they should also enforce their company policy on adult areas and not let the kids into the casino or the back deck adults only area.

We also had a bout of the norwalk vires on board which didn't effect my father or myself but did curtail some of the facilities supposed to be on offer.

All in all, if you love cruises, go with someone else.

Can't understand the last review. The ship was spotlessly clean and in excellent condition. (Certainly no shabby towels!!)The cabins were not tiny - weren't huge but totally adequate. Plenty of storage space etc. Similar size to cabins on other cruise lines.

Cabin steward excellent. Never found staff to be unsmiling or rude. All staff offered service with a smile.

We opted for 'anytime dining'. Food here was very good, and the service too. The food in Horizon buffet was fine, although a little repetitive.

Only complaint was the diabolical entertainment. I know Sea Princess is aimed at British market, but if that is what Princess Cruises thinks British people want to watch they are mistaken. The cruise director was extremely poor.

On other cruises we have enjoyed the entertainment provided in the piano bar, but this pianist had no charisma at all, no banter with audience (if there were any) and was very boring.

The other entertainment consisted of aged 'has beens'; a magician who was good in parts, but when he 'made the lady disappear' you could see her hair hanging down!! The Princess cruise singing and dancing shows were OK though.

We only had one 'deck party' in a two week cruise,which was good, but never repeated. Thought at least one deck party per week should have been done, especially as we were in Caribbean.

Also we travelled with the Princess chartered Thomas Cook Flight, which was dreadfully cramped for a nine hour flight. This would be another reason not to fly to Caribbean for a Princess cruise if they continue to use this airline. I know they also use other airlines, but we have the misfortune to be on Thomas Cook. However the orgainisation (by Princess) to and from Barbados airport was excellent.

All in all we enjoyed the cruise, would travel on Princess again (we have been on Golden Princess before) but not on this ship with the poor entertainment.