Tourist reveals 'terrible' cruise truth after $10k trip around Australia
One passenger has lifted the lid on cruise ship 'lies' such as the quality of food and cost of excursions.
A Princess Cruises passenger has vowed never to take another cruise after experiencing a disappointing voyage across the east coast of Australia. Travel blogger Samantha Tatro recently her cruise ship truth after a two-week holiday onboard the Grand Princess — listing food, expensive excursions and damaging environmental impact among her top gripes.
"I honestly don't think I will ever step foot on a cruise boat again," Tatro told Yahoo News Australia. "I didn't want to knock it until I tried it, but as someone who loves to plan adventurous trips and truly explore off the beaten path, I found cruising to be the exact opposite of my ideal vacation."
Despite never having a huge desire to go on a cruise, Tatro, who is based in the Czech Republic, explained that her husband's family "love to cruise" so the pair met up last year for the two-week trip which set them back around $10,000 for a cabin with a balcony along with a food and drinks package.
Cruise passenger says reviews highlight 'unrealistic' truth
Tatro points out that many online disagree with her view that cruises are overrated, and says that she's never seen a "realistic" review of cruising.
"Like many people, I've seen so many videos about cruise ships and cruising — and most of them have been overwhelmingly positive," she said. "However, I think most of those videos fail to capture the parts that might not work for some people."
"I wanted to share my thoughts because I felt I never saw a realistic side of cruising — just the videos through rose-tinted glasses."
The global cruise industry is growing, and expects to carry 10 percent more passengers by 2028 than the 31.7 million who took cruise holidays in 2023, when the sector surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
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Food onboard cruiseliner was 'beyond awful'
Tatro said high up her list of dislikes was the food that they were offered, describing it as "high school cafeteria food at best".
"The food on our cruise ship was beyond awful. I can't stress this enough," she said. "If you like flavour or delicious food in any way, shape, or form, I'm not sure cruise food is the food for you."
She explained that similar ingredients are repeated over and over such as Caesar salad and fettuccine alfredo, for example.
"It was especially hard to handle because I felt Australia had some of the best food, and we weren't able to eat any of it — except for our short port stops."
"I know each line is different, and there's a lot of nuance and thought behind their resourcing, but I think many people often forget the fact that feeding thousands of people at sea is never going to result in the best food or the best cooking," she said.
She explained some higher quality meals came at a "hefty" additional payment.
Onboard, the family went on two excursions organised by the cruise - one was a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef which set the couple back over $1,400 and a tour of the Whitsundays which cost around $700.
Australia best visited in 'other ways'
Despite not loving her cruise experience, Tatro was able to spend eight days additional days travelling around Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians National Park as well. She says that "Australia is best visited in other ways" instead of a cruise.
"We joined the cruise primarily to spend time with our family, knowing we might not like the full cruise experience," she said.
And while Tatro is simply being honest about her personal experience, she said the response has been "overwhelmingly negative" — with many saying that she was either on the "wrong" cruise or shouldn't base her opinion on just one experience.
"I think people forget that these are just my experiences and opinions providing a different way to think about cruise ships and cruising," she said. "It's been especially disheartening to hear how little people care about the environment and sustainable travel."
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