We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teens and we are Elite cruisers on Princess. We booked this 15 day cruise to be away for both Christmas and New Years. It was wonderful. Our last two cruises were Hong Kong to Shanghai and Yokohama to Vancouver in the spring (2014) on Celebrity Millenium. They were truly horrible cruises in all ways so we have dropped Celebrity from our cruising list and have returned to Princess. Everything with Princess was superior. Embarcation was quick. I've noted other comments on this cruise about the ship leaving late - but so what??? We were on the ship, getting comfortable in our 2 oceanview cabins, eating a great lunch and an even better dinner and watching a show. Whether we were in port or on the sea is totally irrelevant as far as we are concerned - we were on shipboard! Our cabins were clean, spacious and comfortable - loads of closet and drawer/shelf space. Our steward was unexceptional but competent. Almost all the staff were friendly and accommodating. There was very seldom a line-up at Guest Services compared to Celebrity were most of the entertainment seemed to be meeting hoards of people in the Guest Services lines because there was so much to complain about on Celebrity. The on-board entertainment was the usual, and included a couple of fabulous magicians and the theater is lovely. All the decor was attractive, bright and cheery.

The food in the dining room was fantastic almost without exception. And hot. We thought the whole menu Celebrity was cold food only since none of our meals arrived warm on the Millenium. On Princess the fish was to die for. The beef was so/so, but we cruise for something different than we eat at home. We can eat good steak at home but fabulously prepared fish and lobster tails (served twice) are a real treat. The desserts were good too. Room Service was fine. Biggest complaint is the coffee which is crappy. But we remedied that by buying a few coffee cards which get you premium teas, hot chocolate and espresso drinks (lattes and cappucinos).

Our girls enjoyed the teen club, although would have preferred less freedom and a few more structured activities. Read more