I chose this cruise primarily because of the itinerary (British Isles cruise), and because I had cruised Princess twice before- 20 and 13 years ago. I didn't realize it had deteriorated so much, but have been told things are terrible since Carnival purchased Princess. the food is poor- particularly the "buffet", terrible. The service is not good, with few employees speaking or understanding adequate English. They don't seem to care about any complaints. The overcrowding is unbelievable! Nowhere to sit and chat, the buffet eating area taken over by people just sitting who probably have inside rooms, and so nowhere else to sit . I walked around for 15 minutes at 12:30 to find a table, my food getting ice cold. The entertainment was amateurish and silly. the tours were overcrowded, and the busses were torture chambers- some trips were 3 hours each way! No A/C on the buses. They have added two more "specialty" restaurants- meaning you pay more- leaving even less room to sit and eat at the buffet. Portions small and quality of meat was poor. Rarely had beef on the menu. Ridiculous that they chose a ship without a covered pool to cruise the North Sea. Just meant even fewer places for people to congregate. They showed movies "under the stars" with a freezing north wind blowing. More hard sell, more shops and auctions, more bars- 11 bars, I think-, no real educational information or programs. Just a cover for selling something! Never sail Princess again. This was my third and last time!