This was a nine country cruise through the Baltics. Overall the cruise was great. Our weather was fantastic with sunny skies and highs in the 70's. We had a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck (nine). Our cabin steward was the most efficient we have ever had. This was our fourth cruise with Princess. We have taken three with Royal Caribbean. The seas were very calm throughout.

The negatives: We got an email from Princess three days before the cruise indicating a norovirus outbreak that they were taking extra sanitation efforts to contain. On our cruise we had no issues, so maybe the efforts worked. This however led to a delay in our embarkation which was a nightmare. Princess took us to a hotel and fed us only pastries. We were at this hotel for four hours waiting to go to the pier. Unfortunately the plan to board by deck number fell apart as everyone arrived at the pier at the same time despite Princess indicating they would board by deck. The line at the pier was outside and took two hours. Princess totally dropped the ball on this. Not the way you want to start your cruise. Worst embarkation ever. We also noticed while waiting in line that the crew unloading luggage from a Crawley bus was flinging it intentionally and having lots of laughs watching luggage flying into walls etc. No excuse for this. If I had seen my luggage handled like that I would have gone ballistic. They should all be fired.

The dining experience with Princess is never as good as with Royal Caribbean. The servers are indifferent. Read more