I went with my parents having only cruised once before with Carnival. It was on an older ship on a shorter Western Caribbean itinerary and the food and service were just ok so I was looking forward to trying a different cruise line. My parents had used Princess a couple years ago for their Alaskan cruise and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Embarkation: We live outside NYC so we drove and parked at the Brooklyn terminal. We got their a little bit before noon and had no trouble getting right on the ship. We were on the Baja deck in a 3-person balcony cabin towards the middle of the ship. I was a little concerned about the room being too tight but it was fine; my bed came down from the ceiling. I loved having a balcony as I didn't have one on my last cruise.

Dining: We had Anytime Dining and it worked for us. I don't think my mom liked the fact that we could only make reservations after 8 pm but I knew going in that Anytime Dining is like when you go to a regular restaurant. The peak times are the busiest and sometimes you have to wait. We always ended up eating close to 8 pm though so we never had to wait for a table. I also heard through others that passengers that went before 6:30 really didn't wait either. The only time it was an issue was the first night where both dining rooms had about 45 minute waits. Hopefully they can fix that in the future because even the wait staff told us that the first night is always the worst. I can totally understand why some prefer Traditional Dining but I just prefer to go to dinner when ever I want instead of at a set time and at the same table. Overall, I thought the food was great in the dining room and I don't think my parents or I were disappointed in any of our meals. My dad has diabetes and there was always a dessert he could have and my mom has to be on a gluten free diet and they bent over backwards to accommodate her. We also went to both alternative restaurants and were very pleased. We usually went to breakfast at the buffet and there was always a good selection. I do agree with others that if you go during a peak time, it sometimes takes a bit to find a table. We went to dinner once at the buffet and we thought the food was just ok so we stuck to the dining rooms. Whenever we went to the Horizon Court/Cafe Caribe for a snack, we were always able to get sugar free or gluten free snacks, even if we had to ask. I also thought the service, from our steward to the wait staff to everyone that we encountered, was excellent. They were always helpful to us. Read more