This is my second cruise with Princess and third overall. I cruised Princess two years ago (Sapphire) and had some serious issues with wheelchair accessibility. Based on Princess indicating that was not the norm and the rave reviews of those on this forum, I figured that I would try it again, given that they had such a superior itinerary to any other carrier (Glacier Bay, specifically). I couldn't have been more wrong.

I don't want to get in to a long and drawn out explanation here, but I will simply say that if you are in a wheelchair and would like to function with some degree of independence, this ship is going to present some real challenges for you. First, the balcony ramp design is grossly flawed. The first issue is that the ramp going to the balcony was not wheelchair accessible unless I would get someone to help me. There was a metal bar on the ramp that had to be manually pushed down to mitigate the gap between the two ramps and that bar had to be pushed up to be able to close the door. It took until Monday at 3pm until this issue was finally resolved (A ramp was installed that didn't have this metal flap/bar). It is mind boggling to even think about what Princess was thinking when they designed this. There were also some serious issues with the bathroom setup, which I was told was "by design." After two days of back and forth, I finally told them to forget it as they couldn't come up with a solution. It made for an uncomfortable trip. There are also significant thresholds on many entrance ways that you will have to take on with care. You will also need to be strong to wheel through some really tough spots in the carpet where it is extremely thick and hard to wheel. You will also encounter a challenge in getting out to the Promenade deck due to big lips/thresholds on the ramps. It really is a challenge. If you aren't going to have any assistance, I'd advise to avoid the Star Princess. The Princess attitude on this seems to be "Just ask a crew member for help," but I don't want to constantly have to ask for help. I want to be able to do it on my own.

We also requested that our Mom be delivered balloons and a Happy Anniversary (for her 41st) card/sign. This wasn't done. When I called at 3pm the day of the anniversary, we were told it would be taken care of. It wasn't done before dinner (5:30pm) but when she got back to her cabin at 8pm, she had balloons and a "Happy Birthday" sign when it was her anniversary. Unlike the accessibility stuff, this is a really straight forward request that shouldn't have been messed up. Read more