Princess Cruises -- Rip Off Pro

It's bad enough to have to pay the ridiculously high prices that cruise lines demand in their shops, bars, etc., but Princess has let greed take them one step closer to becoming a pirate line rather than a cruise line.

First off, cruising is an expensive proposition, and I understand that completely. But when you start cutting back on the quality food in your restaurants to put them into the pay restaurants, then it's time to say wait a minute.

Princess, and other cruise lines, too, have added specialty restaurants to their pay as you go menu, so to speak. On my last cruise to Europe, Princess had several specialty restaurants that were from $20 to $25 per person added to your food bill. Remember, folks, this is in addition to the price for food you already paid in the trip package.

Princess also went further by taking the much higher quality food out of the standard restaurant, where most people eat, and put it in their specialty restaurants. In the past, the food in the restaurant was the best -- better than any restaurant you could find ashore. Now, however, the food is no better than at your average restaurant back in the good old U. S. of A.

I would say the food quality was one small step above Denny's, The Olive Garden, or one of the restaurant chains that feature average fare and lower prices. Where was the better food? At the specialty restaurants. I can understand taking some of the specialties away, but Princess took them all away. The biggest difference between Princess' Cruise Line's restaurant and Denny's or the local steak house or spaghetti shop? You can get out of there in an hour. It took the waiters at Princess two hours to serve us.