We were pleasantly pleased by this cruise and the Star Princess. My wife and I traveled with two children aged 6 and 8. One with a casted up broken arm. The kids had a blast, wanting to stay on board during the port days to be part of the kids program. This program was excellent, affording opportunities for kids our age (from 3- 12) to have guided activities from 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10 every sea day ( of which there were many on this cruise and from 8-5 and 7-10 on port days. The food was VERY MUCH improved from our last trip on this very same ship. The quality of meats appeared to be improved and overall, food and how they did things seemed much better. I often saw the leading chefs walking about in the buffet and dining area to see how things were food wise. I observed how they changed out the buffet food very frequently so that any entree was fresh when you got it.

This cruise suited our needs perfectly. But, I can understand why some might not have enjoyed it. There are a good number of activities you can do but the ship had a very calm relaxed feel and the overall passenger makeup was definitely retirement age plus. If one was looking for lively action, this was not the place. And I dont fault the staff on this. Skywalker night club and other places were open at night but they were VERY empty.

I never felt crowded on the ship. The only downside from the overall makeup for us was that the early shows were always 100% packed. So if you didnt get to them 30+ minutes before starting, good luck finding 4 seats together. Because we had to get our kids by 10, we could never go to the 9:45 shows, so I dont know how crowded they were. Read more