Embarkation was a breeze. From our walk into the door at Pier 35 until we walked into our cabin on the ship was 20 minutes. A record for us. Upon arrival at our cabin we met our steward Hector. The cabin was clean as we expected. Off to the Horizon Court for our first session of grazing.

Our first impression was a good one. The food was good. It was the best it had been in any of of our previous cruises. Well presented, good variety and well seasoned. The ships crew was excellent throughout our 15 days on board. Very helpful and accommodating. Each staff member we encountered greeted us with a friendly hello. We had traditional dining at 530 pm each evening. Our waiter Jose and assistant waiter Mark were EXCELLENT!!!!! After every course Jose would ask " would you like another one!" Jose was a real professional and has been with Princess for 40 years, yes 40 years!!!!! He was awesome. The food was very good and the selection was fine. Princess does a fantastic job with soup. I had some of the best soup of my life on this cruise. The international cafe had great salads each days and the greek salad is excellent. Overall we were very pleasantly surprised with the food.

The entertainment was very good. Each Princess production show was very good. The comedians were funny and the musicians were easy on the ears. We were on this ship for the same itinerary in March of this year and found the entertainment to be lacking but this cruise showed a marked improvement in the overall quality. We found the sea days to be relaxing and we always were able to get a lounge chair for sun worshiping time. At no time did we ever feel crowded. The elevators seemed to be a bit slow but we used the stairs and found getting around to be fine.