First a little introduction - We are just hitting our mid fifties - This was our 12th cruise with the last 4 on HAL. Seven of our first 8 cruises were on Princess.

Let's get all the perceived negatives out of the way first. Yes the ship is going into dry dock in 10 months for a refurbishment. If you look for it you can see signs of wear and tear. It was not something that spoiled our vacation - not even close.

We were unfortunate enough to miss two ports on the first seven day segment (high winds made it too dangerous to dock) but HAL has no control over the weather. We don't like rough seas but we rode it out. The worst part lasted for about four hours which we spent hunkered down in our stateroom. Other than that one 4 hour stretch we participated in activities as normal. Read more