We stayed 2 nights in New York on a pre-cruise package and sailed from the Brooklyn cruise terminal which is 30mins and $45 in a cab from a downtown hotel. Personally I would have a hard time filling more that 2-3 days in New York however the shopping in cheap and in some cases half price in England using an exchange rate of 1.5.

We have sailed numerous Princess cruises, one RCI and one P&O. The Cunard line has a very British feel to it and has more of a colonial feeling to the ship which manifests itself in the use of wooden panels to decorate the hallways. This gives a traditional yet modern feel to the ship. The balcony cabin we had was a sheltered one, you hear so much about, which was fine. The difference is that if you go out onto your balcony you have a roof and a metal balustrade and rail instead of wood and glass however there is ample space for a table and 4 chairs.

The weather from New York to the Caribbean was average however in my experience coming out of Florida the weather is always mixed even in summer and it's not until you get the first Caribbean island that you feel the sun.

 I thought the on-board spa was the best i had experienced and is operated by Canyon Ranch however there are no thermal chairs which are available on Princess.

The dining I thought was very good, we didn't try the speciality restaurants but have on previous cruises. The dining wasn’t vastly superior to RCI or Princess but the service was noticeably better.

The pub restaurant was very English with proper fish and chips at lunch (not fish goujons as on RCI) however the mushy peas are not quite there! There was Cottage Pie and Steak pie also available. The same bar has Karaoke at night and the quiz.

I found alcohol very expensive and wine was around £5 per glass. Every year the prices go up on Princess and RCI however on the cheaper boats they can have trouble in the bars so you do lose the riff-raff and idiots. Also I found the overall cruise price about 10% more that I would usually pay but in my opinion it was worth it.

The library is the largest I’ve seen on a cruise ship and the units are very beautiful in wood.

Overall I found it around half to one star rating above Princess and RCI.