We chose this cruise solely for the itinerary. This was our first time sailing with Princess and I have to say they are my favorite so far (above Royal Caribbean and Carnival). My favorite part of traveling with Princess was their exceptional staff and their dining. Every single encounter with staff was positive and helpful! The food was absolutely delicious, even in the Horizon Food Court. The ship is older, but still very nice and fairly well maintained. The only issues we had were in the spa area, where the hot tubs were never hot and the steam rooms and saunas often had glitches as well. Our balcony room didn't have a tub so we were looking forward to relaxing tired muscles in the hot tubs on occasion, which was disappointing. Since Princess put a summer ship in a colder climate, the outdoor areas were often unusable (either too cold or too wet). This wasn't really a problem except during dining time. The outdoor tables are often used when the food court is full as everyone is grabbing breakfast or lunch before heading out on excursions so this created a lack of seating. We finally got up earlier and went to the seated Coral Dining room for breakfast to avoid this issue.

We didn't use any of the ships excursions because we were able to find many good alternatives here on Cruise Critic. We had a wonderful Cruise Critic meet and greet once on board, which was fun and helpful. All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this cruise itinerary and ship.