This was our third cruise with Princess, having sailed before on the Coral Princess and Island Princess. We chose this cruise because of its destinations and also that it starts and returns to Dover, which is fairly easy for us to start and end at. Embarkation and disembarkation were lightning fast.

Ship - smaller than what we were used to, we were expecting the cabin to be small, but it turned out to be fine, with adequate storage space and hangars. The shower is a better design than that found on other ships. From previous reviews, we expected the ship to be showing its age, but this was not the case, everything being well-worn but comfortable. We had a few issues with the safe in the cabin, which had an intermittent fault.

Dining - this ship has fixed dining times with a fixed table, a choice of either first or second sitting, we found the early session too early and the late session too late for us. So we only ate there once, the rest of the time using the Panorama Buffet, which was much more flexible, and offered a wide choice of options. The Buffet is nice because one can sit outside on the stern deck if the weather permits. We did eat at one of the Speciality Restaurants on one occasion, but found it to be too formal for our liking. Read more