I chose this cruise (my first) based on itinerary to a partial passage of the Panama Canal and chose Princess on its reputation for good food and levels of service. The itinerary to visit Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica was good but visits to Grand Turk and Jamaica (Ocho Rios) were a waste of time and more time at the other ports would have been better. Before I talk about Princess I must add two caviates. First that this is my first cruise and my expectations were set by Princes advertising and other reviews. Second caviate is that the previous cruise had several nori virus outbreaks and there was several measures in place to combat another outbreak. I mention this second one as the ship felt understaffed and the workload of the staff seemed to affect the attitude of the majority of serving staff. An example was that even in the buffet you could not serve yourself and the staff served you. If I was less generous I would say it was a cost cutting exercise to reduce the portions. I only mention this as there was a general air that there was cost savings being made in the quality of food and service. Along with the constant added costs or trying to find ways to charge more was disappointing but this may be all cruise lines. (Role on Virgin Voyages style charging). Overall I was disappointed with the quality of service at evening dining, who seemed rushed/under staffed. Another disappointment was the afternoon tea which started with tea being served followed by a line of people trying to get food on to you plate all at once and get you out. I chose anytime dining which was what I would choose again as it gave me the opportunity to meet a new group of people each evening. However the quickest time from starting to queue to sitting was 25 mins and the longest was 55 minutes. What was more annoying was to then see empty tables not being used. This was for a single looking to share on a large table. The evening entertainment shows were generally good and different music in each bar was good enabling you to choose what you wanted. I stayed in a mini suite and this was a very good size with a great balcony. It has very nice flat screens but no use has been made of the space where the old style TVs used to be giving a slight feel that something is missing. Overall a disappointing first cruise and may be a while before I take another one. If I do I am pretty sure I will go with another cruise line as I think Princess are making cost cuts where they can. This was also the view of other passengers who had taken many Princess cruises and said this was the worst Princess Cruise they had been on.