Background Info: This was my 7th Cruise and first official cruise with Princess but we are Captains Circle members due to a previous cruise with Sitmar in 1984, and they were taken over by Princess. Our other cruises were on NCL, RCI and Carnival, so I will make comparisons where I see fit.

Travel: We used the Cruise Air and from Winnipeg so the air travel is the day prior with a forced overnight hotel. We got our flights around 6 weeks prior with Northwest, with one stop in MSP en-route. The flight times were excellent and not going east protected us from the major snow storms that caused many to miss the departure.

Hotel: The Marriot North is a little off the beaten path but after a long day of travel it has everything you need to rest up before the cruise. There are many restaurants just a few short blocks from the hotel and I understand that the hotel will even provide a complimentary shuttle. Read more