Final Thoughts - Sky Princess

As I look back on this fabulous trip I wanted to share some thoughts on what we loved, what we liked, what we could have passed on and what just didn't work for us!

We booked out flights through Princess EZAir and paid roughly $275 a piece to fly to Barcelona.  Amazing deal...BUT, when they can't get you there, it doesn't matter how much you paid.  I was nicely compensated by United Airlines, but, it really doesn't make up for missing the entire first day of my vacation!

Hotel Lleo in Barcelona is fabulous. Kudos to their team for making sure my sweet mamma was taken care of.  The room was clean, spacious and well appointed.  The staff and location, excellent.  The breakfast buffet is more than adequate.  The location in proximity to the port is wonderful.  It's for sure our go to when staying in Barcelona.

The Barcelona Hop on Hop Off Bus is great if you aren't in a hurry and just want to watch everything at a leisurely pace.  But like most HoHo buses, there's traffic and it takes 75% longer to get where you want to be.  In our case, it worked out fine.  I was exhausted after my all night flight and had zero energy.  I just wish we'd had a tad bit more time to take in the market that day. I bummed that we missed out.

If you find yourself in Barcelona the day of a marathon and have to get to the port, wait until it's over.  That was insane.  What should have taken 7 minutes took 45.  And a lot more Euros! But we had great company for the ride which made everything better!

Embarking the ship with Ocean Medallion is AMAZING!! Never in my life have I had such an easy peasy embarkation.  One swipe of the medallion and we were headed on the ship! Super duper great!  Nice job Princess!

Sky Princess, the good:  Well, our verdict is in.  The Sky Princess (IMHO) is fabulous.  I felt that the things from the Royal and Regal that needed improvement (Princess Live, Vista, Aft Pool) were all improved.  The new Princess Live is outstanding and I loved the layout of Vista with the new bar.  The decor is fabulous, more modern tones of blues and grays.  And we loved the Ocean Medallion.  Loved being able to contact our cruise friends through chat, order cocktails or find each other.  It's a great little gadget! It still has a ways to go, but the functionality will be spectacular!


Sky Princess, the eh, it's okay not great: Location of the new French Restaurant Le Mer is right out in the open. I can't imagine sitting there eating dinner when the show lets out and 800 people walk by.  Prior to the cruise we had made reservations to try it out. After seeing the location, we took a pass.  The retreat pool is another, eh, it's okay, not great.  I don't  understand why they did what they did. It's almost like the pool was an afterthought.  Surrounded by cabins, it just doesn't have that open "I'm on a ship in middle of the ocean" feel to it anymore.

Sky Princess, the yuk, I just don't like it: The seating in the Vista Lounge is some of the MOST uncomfortable that I've ever sat in.  It's made for people who are over 8 feet tall.  EVERYTHING is so DEEP and the cushions were SO hard.  NOT what I consider a good time.

Sky Princess, the SERVICE:  OUTSTANDING Simply some of the best we've ever had.  It seemed like everyone was friendly, welcoming and bending over backwards to make sure we had what we needed.  Kudos to Princess, your staff is amazing!

There just isn't enough time or enough expletives to describe what a great vacation this was.  And the best part?  I got to do it all with my sweet mamma.  I'm very lucky and thankful that I get to take trips like this, but getting to do it with my mom is just icing on the cake.  Everyone should be this fortunate!

Thanks for following along!