Boasting the youngest fleet of any major cruise line sailing the seas, with the highest proportion of balcony staterooms, you can expect an extra-special cruising experience with Princess Cruises. Sea Princess offers the dining, entertainment and recreational options found at a top land-based resort property. A larger ship with small-ship intimacy, she lets passengers do what they want, when they want. Sea Princess - along with sister ships Sun and Dawn - carries fewer guests than vessels of comparable size for a feeling of spacious luxury.

In August 2006 a number of travel agents were invited on an educational trip on board Sea Princess. Sales Consultant Hayley, of Bolsover Cruise Club joined them in Southampton ready to embark her five-night cruise to Barcelona. The educational was designed to show travel agents what facilities are like on board and what type of cruise passenger Sea Princess is most suitable for.

Hayley has already travelled on P&O's Oceana and Aurora, and Fred Olsen's Braemar, so when she approached the dock she immediately recognised Sea Princess as she's the identical sister-ship to Oceana. Once on board the vessel it was easy for Hayley to find her way around as the layout was similar to Oceana. The obvious differences were the names of public areas, and above the pool area there was 'Movies Under The Stars' - a huge plasma TV screen showing Hollywood blockbusters under the moon and stars!
'I was expecting the ' Movies Under The Stars' screen to be heard throughout the day, but when the films were being shown we were given earphones to listen to them. At night you could lay back and enjoy the film alfresco.' Says Hayley.

Hayley thought the ship was in pristine condition throughout and everything was kept to a very high standard, including the service. The age of passengers ranged greatly from toddlers to seniors, with many families on board as it was the beginning of the summer holidays.
'The children had three separate play areas on the ship, each room based on certain age groups. They were very well supervised and had many things to do, including Playstations for teens and face painting for the younger ones. On sea days, pool activities were organised with minimal disruption to other passengers.' says Hayley.

Hayley accommodated an EE grade ocean-view cabin on Dolphin deck, which was located at the forward end of the ship. The cabin was spacious with large sloping windows, offering excellent views. It made the cabin bright and airy, and there was more than enough wardrobe space. They sailed from Southampton to Vigo (Spain), followed by Lisbon (Portugal) and finally Barcelona where they flew back to the UK. There were many optional shore excursions to choose from in each port of call, varying in price and duration, or you could simply disembark and do your own thing for the day.

'I was extremely impressed with all aspects of the dining onboard,' says Hayley, 'with Princess' American-style relaxed atmosphere on board, the flexible dining options on offer meant you were free to enjoy the sumptuous cuisine at your leisure. If the camaraderie of eating at the same table at the same time every evening is an alluring part of your holiday, then you could choose 'Traditional' dining, or for those who preferred to eat spontaneously, then the 'Anytime' dining was more suitable.'

Hayley pictured left (top) with travelling companions.

'In addition the main dining rooms, there was a 24-hour buffet-style food court, a pizzeria, an outdoor burger grill and an ice-cream bar. I was especially impressed with the 'Sterling Steakhouse', which cooked steaks to perfection. For this there was a cover charge of $15 each but it was well worth the extra.'

'On board there were plenty of activities to choose from day and night if you wanted to part-take. From bingo and quizzes, to West-end style shows and dancing, there was even a Sudoko challenge! For anyone interested in computers there was an excellent Computers@Seas course for all levels, and the library was very well stocked.'
On an evening Hayley noticed that the ships' nightclub was strictly kept for over 18's only, making this a child-free zone.

Hayley highly recommends Sea Princess for passengers of all ages, with a good variety of entertainment for everyone. The general opinion of her travelling companions is that Sea Princess is a lovely ship with excellent service.

About Sea Princess

Below are some of the features Sea Princess has to offer:

• 1,950 passengers
• 70% of outside staterooms include balconies -- 411 total
• Wrap-around promenade deck
• 24-hour buffet/bistro with 270-degree view over bow
• 4-story atrium lobby with ocean views
• Two showrooms
• Spa with ocean-view gym
• Sports court
• Four swimming pools
• Bay view listening library
• Premium steakhouse
• Wine and caviar bar, patisserie
• Hamburger grill, ice cream bar, pizzeria, wine and caviar bar and patisserie
• Lavish casino, gallery of shops, business centre

 To enquire about any of Princess' cruises, please feel free to speak to our Reservations team on
01246 819819.

Click on the ship name to read more staff cruise reviews:
P&O Cruises' Arcadia
P&O Cruises' Oriana
P&O Cruises' Oceana
Ocean Village
Fred Olsen's Braemar
RCI's Voyager of the Seas
Hebridean Spirit
Family Cruising aboard Oceana

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