This was our 3rd cruise, and first with Princess. Primarily picked this particular cruise because it fitted in with my leave, and all the ports were places that we had never been to before, and so could get a 'sighter' for longer visits.

Embarkation: Very easy. Booked our parking with CPS, so drove straight to the terminal, unloaded, and walked into the departure area. We were on Baja deck (11), so were fortunate to be in the first tranche on those going on board. By about 12:30, we were on the ship, and as our luggage hadn't arrived yet, we took the opportunity to explore -and make Spa reservations (having learnt from previous experience that you need to get in early! We only found out the dates of the Formal nights once on board, as the Helpline said they hadn't got this information ).

It was an overcast, blustery day, so we made our first visit to the Horizon Restaurant (deck 15 - and the Buffet option) before returning to our cabin to find all the luggage had safely arrived. Read more