We booked this cruise in July of 2007 and the airfare in February 2008. I really enjoy the planning and researching of any trip we take but this was definitely the earliest I have ever booked anything. We booked our own airfare and booked the cruise directly through Princess. Princess honors price drops up until final payment so we didn't feel the need to involve a middle-man. I found it easy to deal with Princess customer service.

Background- I am 43 and this was my 5th cruise, and my 1st cruise with Princess. My husband has been on 25+ cruises and this was his 9th on Princess. I am an accountant and he is semi-retired. We are open-minded people that have never had a bad vacation, just some are better than others. On the rating scale this vacation would rank at the top end do to the itinerary and customer service.

Before the cruise- As I mentioned we booked our airfare in February hoping to get the best price and ready to deal with all the airline problems that come with booking early. Read more