Arrived one day early in LA before the cruise. Stayed at the LAX Marriott. My wife chose this against based on the fact that Princess was offering a transfer from the hotel to the ship. Nice enough property but the location is poor if you want to sight see without renting a car. Cab fare to Hollywood was approx. $55. We took a the #3 bus to Santa Monica. The cost was $2 and took about 35 minutes. Went to the farmers market, walked along the beach and the pier. Wished we would have stayed here. Ship left at 4. We got to the pier a 1:45. No lines and check in was a breeze. Made a suggestion to Princess to offer another hotel option pre cruise.

There were pros and cons to the ship. Let me say this. This was our 10th cruise and 5th with Princess but first on this ship. We are middle class and would classify us as low maintenance. It seemed to us the service on the ship was a little below normal in the buffet. Quite often you would see the wait staff standing around talking to each other when there were drinks to refill and tables to clean. I thought the food was very good and offered variety. Never ate in the dining room so I cant comment on it. The new specialty pizza station is a nice addition.

Our room steward was very good. We never wanted for a thing. The bed was terrible. We actually saw people bringing foam bedding back on the ship. The entertainment was fair. The first couple of shows by the singers and dancers were ok. Their last show Born to be Wild was really good. There was no sail-away show, no crew talent show. I thought the cruise director was dry but the other members of the staff were quite funny and engaging. Read more