Getting on the ship was fast and easy. Right away I noticed the staff was friendly, helpful, courteous and remained such the entire cruise. The ship was very clean inside and out. Our balcony cabin was about the right size with lots of storage space for the suitcases. Small shower but adequate. The cabin stewardess was the best we ever had. Our cabin D310 was located on Deck 9 on the end of the regular balconies and the beginning of the Mini-suit balcony row. This was the first time we did open seating dining. The waiters were good but we noticed we did not get the personal attention we are used to. On future cruises, regardless of line, we will go back to the main seating whenever possible. It is sad to say but the quality of the food is down on this price class of ships, RCCL, Princess, Costa, etc. The food was good, presentation excellent, but not what you used to get on these price class lines but that's todays cruising world. Now if you want a great eating experience go to Sabatini's specialty restaurant. For $20 you'll get a real treat. Bayou is also great. Buffet was good, we had one dinner meal there, breaded pork chops was the main entree, very good. We used room service a lot, probably more than all our other cruises combined. Excellent service, the longest we waited was ten minutes after calling. If you ordered breakfast for 7-7:30am it was there at 7:00 sharp. I am not a show fan, my wife is but I went to most of the shows and they were very good and the better shows were repeated the next night. It is hard to get into the 8:00 first show. There was a lot of live music throughout the ship in various lounges. A string quintet played every night during the dinner hours. The show band was excellent. The average age of passengers on this cruise was early 60's, very few young children or teens. The main pool filled slowly on the four sea days but by 10:00am it was pretty full and you could always fine two lounge chairs together vacant (surprising to me). On three decks of the stern there was a area called the Sanctuary where it was quiet, with a small fresh water pool, oversize thick padded deck lounges and chairs and cabana's. This area can be rented by passengers for $10 1/2 day or $20 all day. Very relaxing and two days we used it is was less the half full. There were plenty of activities on board during the day and a number of lounges open day and night. As for the proverbial smoking debate this ship had a couple lounges with small smoking areas tucked away into a corner. Outside they allowed smoking on one side of the decks and it was allowed in rooms and balconies. The only place I noticed it was in some hallways outside of cabins where people probably were smoking. I did not notice any smoke smell in the lounges or inside or out or on my balcony of the ship other than I described. There was a cigar lounge, Churchill's, which was not manned (waiters from the Martini bar across the way came in from time to time) but open twenty-four hours. I went in a couple times in the evening for a cigar and noticed it was more of a 5 minute cigarette stop than a cigar bar. I guess it served the purpose of giving smokers an inside place to go day and night. The trip in the Panama Canal was great and a must for every cruiser to see at least once. Educational and interesting. Getting off the ship in Port Lauderdale was faster than getting on. All in all we enjoyed the cruise and the ship and the weather (All ten days sunny) which Princess doesn't control. Of our ten previous cruises I would rate this as better than average and would go on Princess again although we are currently playing the field.