The Ocean is a small intimate ship (670 or so passengers) whose size I love. It gives you a chance to get to know some people. With passengers decks on 6-7-8 and restaurants on 5 with the buffet on 9, you can always walk the stairs if you don’t want to wait for an elevator (there’s never a long wait). Unfortunately this ship is rather worn out and has been sold to Oceania. I’m sure they will bring her back to her original glory. I do love these smaller ships.

Having said that – the one area Princess should fix is their vegetarian options in the dining room – they are pretty awful. One night there was not one vegetarian option other than the everyday offering of fettucini alfredo which was good but you can’t eat it every night. One night the option was ‘lentil cakes with fried eggs’ – please!!! This is supposed to be a luxury cruise.

This is advice I give for every cruise review: bring your own laundry soap (a few of those tablet kinds) and softener sheets for the dryer – you’ll save a lot of money. Second, do your research ahead of time about the cruise tours – they are outrageously expensive, rushed, and often conducted by people who know very little about what you’re seeing. Whenever possible, use local tours. Third, avoid the on-ship internet (.79 a minute and it is slow as molasses) – another outrageous expense – you can find local places with free wi-fi. Overall I really enjoyed this cruise and would recommend it to anyone but perhaps not on Princess - see my comments about each port stop below. Read more