First of all our travel director made all of the arrangements for this cruise, there was a group of 42 of us. Sandy did everything, all we had to do was show up at appointed times and we were whisked away from our comfortable cabins and into the British countryside. Our on board experiences were what we expected, food was mostly first rate, shopping with shipboard credit was fun, attending the art auctions is always a hoot, the service was always impeccable, and the entertainment (shows) were not so bad, either. Sandy had personally arranged all of our port excursions independent of the ship so we were well taken care of and never missed a departure time. The only thing is that independent vendors can't pick up or deliver close to the ship as those who contract with Princess, however the many dollars saved more than makes up for the few extra steps. Our cabin had a surprisingly large balcony, otherwise it was typical of Princess.