This was our first cruise with Princess. We've been on eight previous cruises with Holland America and Royal Caribbean. Embarkation went very well. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. There was a short wait, but only about 20 minutes. Initially, they had some water and juice available, but it went quickly and wasn't replenished. That was the only drawback to embarkation, but a minor point. What was really nice is that when we got on the ship we could go directly to our stateroom, so that was nice to be able to get rid of our carry-on luggage. This is the first ship where we've ever been able to do that. Usually, you go to the cafeteria and wait until 1:00 p.m. or so to get into your stateroom.

We did go to the cafeteria as our next stop and got some lunch. The food was okay, but nothing to rave about. As a matter of fact, it was that way in the cafeteria throughout the whole cruise. You could get something to eat, but how good it was could be debated. Some of the things offered there were just strange to our tastes - like a fish sandwich with cranberries in it. Things like that. In all our previous cruises with the different cruise lines and having traveled all over Europe independently we have never encountered the strange food combinations we experienced on this ship. We ended up eating several lunches (no charge) in the small cafe in the piazza area of the ship because the food there was more what we believe Americans are used to such as chicken salad, tuna sandwiches, ham and cheese, etc. I mean we're into trying new things, but they have to be somewhat appealing!

Another spot we found for a good lunch on sea days was in the Wheelhouse Bar. They do a really nice pub lunch with your choice of fish and chips, cottage pie, bangers and mash, or a Ploughman's. The cottage pie was really good. Too bad it was only available on sea days. . In the mornings, they had standard breakfast fare in the cafeteria consisting of cereals, breads, cheeses, cooked to order eggs, pastries, bacon, sausages. They also had very thick deep fried French toast. My wife and I tried it once, and that was all. It tasted deep fried - crusty and greasy. The waffles and pancakes were made in the traditional way and were fine. It's a shame, because we normally like French toast. Also, the coffee was so bad in the cafeteria that we ended up buying our morning coffee in the specialty cafe and taking it to the cafeteria. We've never had to do that before. We wonder if Princess has tried to contain costs a little too much with food quality suffering. They did always have a nice fruit selection though. Our luggage came to our stateroom within two hours of getting on the ship which we thought was pretty quick. It's always nice to get the unpacking over with and then just enjoy the rest of the day. The inside stateroom we had was comfortable. It had the biggest closet area we've experienced on a cruise ship. The bed was comfortable and our cabin steward was very friendly and gave excellent service. The room was nicely furnished and decorated. Read more