We are just off the Crown Princess British Isles cruise from 8/4-8/16. This board was a tremendous resource during our planning, so we felt it was only right that we would post a review here so that future planners might have a reference. Some information about us: this was a 10th anniversary trip and our last cruise was about nine years ago so we are by no means veteran cruisers.

EMBARKATION—Painless. We were early, around noon, and were in our cabin by around 12:30. Bags arrived before 2. We did meet some unfortunate folks at the muster drill (at 4:15) whose bags still weren't there yet, but that seemed to be fairly unusual. We used Smiths for Airports (bookings@smithsforairports.com) for all our airport/Southampton/London transfers and they were great. I highly recommend them. It rained on embarkation day and that was just about the only rain we saw all trip. It never failed that in every port the locals commented about the terrific weather.

FOOD ON THE SHIP/"EXTRA" RESTAURANTS—We had anytime dining and typically ate around 7:30. We never waited for a table, even though we asked for a table for two, in either dining room. The food ranged from OK to very good. Read more