Sailed with Princess to Canada and Northeastern US, 10/4 from Quebec City. As a Platinum member, despite a delay in boarding due to disinfecting the ship, I would say that the checking of luggage, checking-in, boarding ship, receiving luggage was the most efficient I have ever seen. However, once on board, the situation went downhill rapidly! I found the staff at Guest Services to be rude and very poor in resolving issues efficiently on at least 4 different episodes. I did not go on a vacation to get upset and get my blood pressure elevated. As far as a relaxing, recharging vacation, Princess failed miserably!
Upon boarding the ship, there were no staff members or uniformed officers to greet passengers, steer them toward their staterooms, make us feel like valued consumers. This was the first time in years of sailing that I have felt so neglected.
As a physician for over 35 years, I reviewed the Vessel Sanitation Program from the CDC, and I found Princess staff was inconsistent in the implementation of this program to the point of putting both passengers and staff at risk for Norovirus. Washing hands was a big deal, but servers wearing gloves in the buffets was hit/miss.
Cabin was clean, but dated. It was quiet. Bathroom was small with not enough room in shower to turn around, and I am not a large person.
We went to QC a day early, got our own maps, and did our own thing, hitting all of the highlights of the ship tours plus more.
We went to Quebec City a day early, got our own maps, and did our own walking tour over 2 days. Great experience without large groups from the ship.
Extensive walking tour on our own at our own pace. Easy city for walking.
We finished the City Tour and immediately got on the next bus for the narrated Cadillac Mountain tour which was beautiful, comfortable, and very informative. Highly recommend Ollys Trolleys!!
We got off of the ship and immediately walked over to Ollys Trolleys where we booked a narrated City Tour which was fantastic! It was 30 minutes, but showed us the highlights with lots of recommendations for our return later in the day.
After narrated City and Cadillac Mountain tours with Ollys Trolleys, we set out on foot to enjoy the sites and tastes of Bar Harbor. Beautiful city. Great day ashore.
We met family in Boston, traveling to the JFK Library which I had not visited since it opened. Beautiful facility bringing back good and not so good memories of teenage years. Traveled to crazy crowded/bust North End for Italian dinner and then to Modern Bakery to stand in line for yummy pasteries.