My wife and I cruised the Baltic on Sky Princess in June 2024.
Overall I found it OK but a bit of a ‘curate’s egg’.
I will start with the parts that I found good….
The food.
This generally knocked spots off P&O.
The quality in the Soleil MDR was good, served hot when appropriate and well cooked.
I felt that there was a good choice of options and the portion sizes were fine for me.
The Soleil MDR.
We like an early evening meal (6pm ish) and prebooked.
We never came across a crowd and were seated within moments.
It seemed that ‘walk ins’ at that time were having no problems in being seated.
The general background noise here was much lower than many ships (as against the ‘chicken coup’ noise levels we have experienced on Celebrity).
The service was good and timely, without the waiting staff seeming to be rushing.
One exception was the last night when there was a bit of a delay, but this only showed how good the rest of the service had been.
The buffet.
Again, I felt that the food quality was good and there was a good choice.
While it sometimes got busy with the need to share a table, it was much better than P&O.
The Catch speciality restaurant.
We had two magnificent meals there.
We found it so good that we slowly savoured the flavours and regularly stopped (to the point that a worried waiter asked us if everything was OK).
Excellent.
The price we paid for the drinks etc package.
There was a deal when we booked so it was £25pppn.
No worries with the drinks as it covered about 90% of the ‘by glass’ menu, tea, coffee, water etc.
Is the full price package worth it at £50pppn? For me, in full accountant mode, probably not and it would be difficult to justify the top tier of package, at £15pppn more.
Some ( I repeat some) of the entertainment.
I enjoyed listening to Joe the guitarist/singer.
We liked the Rock Opera theatre show so much we saw it twice.
The Suite/Platinum/Elite lounge.
Basically this made the back bar area exclusive from 5-6pm with very nice canapes and special price cocktails (not that relevant as they were on our package anyway).
It just had a nice peaceful feeling to the bar (or just showed how crowded the rest was – see more below).
The staff.
Generally, but specific compliments to our cabin steward Marc Puda Isiderio for doing a grand job while being a lovely cheerful chap.
Tea and Coffee facility in the cabin.
Now the ‘not so good’.
The systems.
I found the pre boarding information to be inconsistent, examples include the app saying that I had not completed the booking in process (only to find out that it was because I did not physically have my ankle tag, sorry I mean my medallion, which I could only pick up at the port anyway).
On the issue of the port, I could find nowhere that stated which quay the ship was leaving from.
I phoned Princess who assured me that it was the Ocean Terminal.
Just as well that I found out before that it was the QE2.
Lack of attention to detail.
Petty examples I know but – describing Joe (the guitarist as mentioned above) as acoustic when it was amplified and with backing) and advertising offers on the daily Patter programme sheet which had expired weeks previously.
On a similar line is the 18% tax, sorry I mean crew appreciation charge, added to everything and its friend.
OK not an issue for things included in the package but for the Spa and Speciality dining charges it can add a lot.
I see this as ‘smoke and mirrors’ and not in keeping with a British market.
The ships layout.
No promenade deck to walk around, most of the bars seeming like a walk through area, the bar area used for the Jazz music lacks intimacy, the Theatre is much too small for the number of guests (allow 45mins plus if you want to choose a seat or 30mins at least if you want anywhere).
The entertainment.
Now this is really subjective but art auctions, quizzes, and comedians aren’t my thing.
Lack of seating generally in the evening.
If you wanted to see a particular show etc the lack of seating meant getting there early and staying put.
Limited options of moving from one venue to the next.
This was probably made worse by the weather not being suitable to spend evenings outside – questioning whether this is the right ship for this cruise.
Lack of accuracy/functionality with the tag.
Twice we ordered drinks which were shown as being delivered but did not arrive (a major issue if we had not been on a package).
I was also billed for a gelato which was included with the package, meaning a visit to reception to resolve.
The general noise levels (outside the MDR).
Many things seemed over amplified.
As an example the sound of music from the deck could easily be heard from well away from the Quay area.
Also, it was not easy to have a conversation in the bars with the over amplification.
The price of excursions and shuttles.
Ridiculous.
We chose to do our own thing and walk into towns.
This, in itself would not be easy for many passengers as the ship was regularly docked a significant distance out.
On Board prices generally.
The Catch cost us $92 per evening (without drinks), ‘duty free’ alcohol costs were about the same as a UK supermarket promotion (after you allow for the ‘smoke and mirrors’ discounts on offer).
About $11 for a small wine and $4 for a coffee (plus, of course, the 18% service tax).
In conclusion, in some ways it was much better than other cruises we have been on.
In some ways it was not.
If I were to consider booking another Princess cruise I would factor in the likely high costs of excursions etc and add that to the overall decision making process.
I would also consider the ship layout relative to the likely weather.
The initial cost of a Princess cruise is generally higher than P&O.
Is it worth the extra? For me, if there was an Arvia or Iona cruise going to the same places at the same time I would look long and hard into both P&O and Princess to decide which is better value for me.
Value, of course, is purely subjective.
