My wife and I have taken 35 plus cruises, the majority of which have been in the Caribbean region, but several in Europe too. We are Seniors who usually choose to travel alone. This was only our second cruise with Princess. The majority of our cruises have been with Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and HAL. We took two back to back cruises, starting on 2/18/2023 for the Western and Eastern Caribbean. Our cabin was a mini suite on deck 10. It was quite roomy and the cabin had a huge amount of storage. The bathroom was large and quite usable. The balcony was smaller than most we are used too, but useable. Our cabin steward, Carlyle, was excellent. The public areas on this ship are beautiful, with the Plaza serving as a focal point for meeting and entertaining. The entertainment was mostly good, with the guitarist performing in the Plaza most every nite. The two comedians that we saw in the main theatre were very entertaining.

The main pool deck is your average pool with the usual bands and games, but my wife and I prefer something quieter, which is where some negatives come in to play. The Retreat is this line's adult only pool. On Celebrity, they have their Solarium, which is indoors, air conditioned, and has a large amount of seating. On this ship, The Retreat is outdoors and has a very limited amount of seating. Being outdoors, it is subject to wind and rain. They start taking in the chairs at 5 PM, which to us, is the nicest time of day. Score one for Celebrity's Solarium.

Dining: This ship has the best buffet that I have seen in a long time. The variety and quality of the food is excellent and the waiter service is great, with waiters offering to retrieve items from the buffet on your behalf. It is well organized and you never have to wait in long lines for service. There is a pastry and specialty coffee area, which, for my wife, was great because she loves her specialty coffees. Specialty coffees are also available on deck 5 in the Plaza as well as a bar on deck 7, so the wife was a very happy camper. Alfredo's Pizza on deck 7 is a step above any other pizza we have ever had on a cruise ship. They will make a personal pizza with ingredients to your specifications, as well as salads, soups, appetizers, etc. We loved it so much we wound up eating dinner there twice, which brings me to the negative aspect of dining on the Sky Princess, the Main Dining Rooms. Unfortunately, we found the food in the MDR to be quite lacking. There were usually five or six main course choices with exotic sounding descriptions, but the truth be told that the quality of the food being served here is poor. They use a lot salt and spices to to cover that up, but the taste and consistency are wanting. My wife does not eat meat or fowl, preferring fish and veggies. On most cruises she can usually count on the fish being reasonably fresh and tasty, but found the fish on this cruise to be extremely fishy, even for the milder tasting varieties. It tasted like it had been frozen, thawed, and then reprocessed. I do eat meat and fowl and also found those dishes to be below par. As for the service in the MDR, it was spotty, depending on which waiter you had. Some waiters deliver the high level of service that we had come to expect at sea, but some seemed overwhelmed and unable to handle their assignments properly. On one occasion, we waited for 20 minutes after being seated before we were handed menus and received bread on the table. Drink orders were always an adventure, and one waiter seemed incapable of getting the order right. Although my wife had listed her dietary needs on her profile prior to boarding, it was not until the next to last nite that one of the managers approached us to discuss this. This was not the case on Celebrity, where the dining room staff had been very attentive. As a result, although we usually enjoy the service and ambience in the MDR, we wound up eating several dinners in the buffet, as well as the previously mentioned Alfredo's Pizza. Read more