We have only made one trip on the Sea Princess and that was a return trip from Montego Bay, Jamaica, sailing around the Caribbean in 2008. We stayed in Cabin C305. Pictures of this cabin and the ship facilities can be viewed in the Sea Princess's photo gallery.

The Sea Princess is classed as a medium sized family friendly ship of 77,000 tons. It is a sister ship of P & O's Oceana on which we have also sailed. The layout of both ships are identical the only difference being the Oceana is based in Southampton and the currency used on board is Sterling whereas the Sea Princess is based in the Caribbean and the currency used on board is the US dollar. Cabin C305 was suitable for a full time wheelchair user and we found the twin bed layout excellent. Storage was ample with all draws and cabin fridge accessible. The dresser had easy access and the mirror was the right height. The wardrobe had a low rail but the cabin safe was not really accessible from the seated position of a wheelchair. The en-suite bathroom provided plenty of hand rails, a wheel in hand shower or a fold down seat if you required it and good access to the wash basin. However, the toilet seat was low and a wheelchair transfer was not easy. The cabin steward provided a number of solutions which indicated to us that Princess had a good selection of aids on board but unfortunately not a Monkey pole (over the bed trapeze), Wendy settled for a 4 inch seat riser and help when required.

We found a number of areas not accessible to a wheelchair, these were the adults only pool and spas at the stern of the Riviera deck (deck12), all of the sun deck (deck 15) with its splash pool and Topsails bar, and deck 14 in front of the Horizon Court at the bow. This was a considerably greater area than we have encountered on other cruise ships we have been on. However the Sea Princess did have pool hoists for use in the main pool and one of the spa pools. Wendy used both of these excellent devices but a drawback was you had to request these to be positioned by the crew and passengers were not allowed to operate them. Once you had finished with them, they were removed until required the next time. Public wheelchair accessible toilets were available in several convenient areas.

Sea Princess has 19 wheelchair accessible cabins and as with other ships these are very much in demand and they are very often fully booked as much as 12 months in advance. If you require one of these it is advisable to book very early.

The food and service were good and all dietary needs can be met if they are given notice of requirements before sailing.

Cruises taken on the Oceana:

Caribbean 2008