Note: This reveiw is for Tahitian Princess, the sister ship of Pacific Princess.

Tahitian Princess, the newest ship to join the Princess Cruises' fleet, is, in fact, the reincarnated version of Renaissance Cruises R4. What's interesting about Tahitian Princess (not to mention it's largely identical sister ship Pacific Princess which splits the year wearing both the P&O and Princess Cruises flags) is twofold: the strong sense of deja vu it gives former Renaissance cruisers and the utterly unusual experience it offers those who are Princess stalwarts.

In a nutshell: Tahitian Princess is a gorgeous vessel. The ship features elegant cherry-colored wood finishes, lush window treatments, and cozy upholstered furnishings in a design scheme that literally runs from stem to stern. Every room, from the casino bar to the spa's salon to individual cabins, evokes that British country house hotel feeling. Princess has tampered little with the Renaissance formula, so little in fact that, despite a welcome revamp of the former sports bar into a Polynesian-esque night club, this experienced Renaissance cruiser could find little had been changed (when Princess changed the name of the Sports Bar to The Nightclub it simply stripped the new name into existing signs at elevator banks and some of the crew carried key cards with the Renaissance logo).

Some of the elements for which Renaissance had become synonymous -- the sense of staying in a floating hotel and the intimate feel of a midsize ship which creates a passenger and even staff camaraderie unmatched by today's mega ships -- are high points of a Tahitian Princess experience. But if the Princess "style" has made itself unfelt, by and large, in the ship's appointments, it has most definitely communicated its onboard experience elements. From dining traditions to entertainment programs, on a comprehensive basis, cruise line regulars will feel right at home. One note, however, to travelers more accustomed to 2,000-plus traveler mega ships: at 680 passengers, what you give up in breadth and depth of onboard options (tiny casino, one showroom, one pool) you more than get back in a sense of being pampered and, pervasive on this vessel, absolute relaxation.

For passengers, the most unique challenge facing a trip on Tahitian Princess (which has a 677-passenger capacity and sails mostly full every cruise) is getting there. The biggest conundrum: Tahiti, home of the region's major international airport, has limited (and often overbooked) air service -- and yet now it has three cruise lines (Radisson's Paul Gauguin and Windstar's Windstar) sailing there year-round. Los Angeles is the jumping off point for U.S. travelers-- and only three airlines (Air France, Air Tahiti Nui, and Air New Zealand) offer flights from there. These airlines fly only a handful of times each week and missing a connection from a domestic flight to the Tahiti flight can result in a delay of days so plan accordingly.

Another option is to book the cruise line's airline. And Princess, while using Air Tahiti Nui, mostly depends on a charter operator called Omni; comments we heard were that the service was fine but the seats cramped.

Princess has, at least for now, modified its "personal choice" dining program to suit this much-smaller ship. Meals are available 24 hours a day but the choices vary (and it's helpful to pay attention to the "quick reference" card left in your stateroom). The Panorama Buffet, the usual lido scenario, offers a smaller-than-usual selection of hot and cold dishes throughout the day (starting with continental breakfast fare at 4 a.m. and ending with a pizzeria that closes at 11 p.m.). Night owls can get a hot dinner at the "Bistro," housed in one of the alternative restaurants, from 11 p.m. - 4 a.m. A limited room service menu is an around-the-clock operation.

Traditional in nature, "The Club" dining room is open seating for breakfast and lunch. At dinner, there are two seatings: 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. and passengers are assigned tables and tablemates. There are a smattering of tables for two though these seemed in high demand. For casual breakfast and lunch the Panorama buffet features the usual hot and cold options -- though limited in variety (breakfast seemed to get repetitive but the ship's themed lunch buffets were worth catching). There's an omelet station out by the pool (and the cook there will cook eggs in other styles). Another lunch option is the basic barbecue, with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and the like. One underused curiosity was the transformation of The Panorama into a pizzeria for casual dinner-seekers. It's a great idea, but the only item available is pizza (no salads or other possible additions) so it didn't seem to attract too many patrons.

The ship has two alternative restaurants and they're open on, um, alternative nights. The Sterling Steakhouse Grill, unique to this ship, was an early-on a passenger favorite (book in advance; it features carved-at-the-table prime rib and all manner of steaks, from filet mignon to porterhouse. Sabatini's is an extension of an existing Princess concept and features a multi-course, northern Italian-style feast. Cover charge for Sterling was $8 per person and for Sabatini's was $15.

Afternoon tea was held daily in The Club and featured delicious scones and pleasant musical accompaniment.

One don't miss event: one of the few late-night eating events is the Polynesian buffet, held poolside (see also under entertainment).

Probably the most dramatic area of the ship, first impression-wise, is the purser's lounge area on deck four because Tahitian Princess has a Titanic-look-a-like staircase winding its way up to the next deck (and a player piano that more or less constantly plunks out pleasant tunes). The extremely versatile Cabaret Lounge is the main theater and hosts everything from evening production shows to movies to bingo. There are two very small gift shops, one selling the usual cruise essentials and logo-wear, the other an array of pearls, perfumes, and other trinkets. There is a handsome Internet room with six terminals but often-excruciatingly slow connections (this is French Polynesia, after all!). A serious lack of communication between passengers needing assistance and a ship contact drove a lot of potential users away. There is also a nice card room.

The ship has one laundromat and aside from the usual "rush hour" periods, there was plenty of room. In addition to the four washers and dryers, there are two ironing boards. Passengers can buy tokens at the purser's desk ($1 per wash, $1 per dry); the soap is funneled into the machine automatically and at no charge.

The ship's highlight has to be its library, which is easily one of the most gorgeous at sea. Featuring a faux fireplace and ceilings-with-painted murals (not to mention overstuffed couches and chairs, and walls lined with cherry-finished bookshelves), this is the most pleasant room onboard for moments of utter peace and quiet. The unlocked bookshelves featured a selection that must have been current when Renaissance operated the ship (could do with a little updating) but was still interesting and eclectic.

While there were plenty of activities, both during the day (particularly on at-sea days) and in the evening, they were geared to the more traditional members of the ship's mostly over-60 crowd. During daytime, there were organized golf putting, shuffleboard, and ping pong contests. There were craft workshops, a chef-maitre'd cooking demo that was as hilarious as it was informational, and occasional afternoon movies in the Cabaret Lounge. Art auctions and bingo were daily mainstays.

In the evenings, most of the ship's bars -- particularly the Casino and the Club bar, featured a pre-dinner guitarist or pianist. Post-dinner, the ship swings into full gear. The Cabaret Lounge features a range of options from production shows, that are definitely scaled down to fit the smaller venue, to a magician, and a comedian. The Nightclub is the spot for pre- and post-dinner dancing and transforms itself into a disco for the late night revelers (of which we spotted few).

The poolside entertainment consisted of a rather lackluster duo who performed during lunch hour and at sailaway time but didn't seem to inspire passengers.

Tahitian Princess' ultimate entertainment highlight -- and this is definitely a don't miss event -- is a dance and musical performance, while the ship is docked in Raiatea, of locals, from toddlers to adults; it gives passengers a real sense of the art and culture of this part of the world. Afterward they hold quite an entertaining "workshop" on pareo tying that involves men and women. A second, and different musical show, featuring an adult troupe, takes place that same evening on the pool deck, during the Polynesian buffet event.

Stateroom categories range from inside cabins (158 square feet) to owners' suites (962 square ft.). What is distinctive about this ship is its high percentage of standard outsides with a verandah (73 percent of the ship's outside cabins have balconies). Staterooms are cozy and colorful with a gold and blue color scheme on soft furnishings, set against the ship's signature cherry finish. Bathrooms in mini-suite categories and above have tubs; all others have showers. A (terrible) hairdryer is included. Mini-suites and above have mini-fridges and receive an initial supply of mini liquor bottles.

In-cabin television options are quite varied and almost too intriguing! Channels featured relatively new flicks (some not yet out on video), CNN, and the Discovery Channel.

The nice thing about Tahitian Princess' balconies is that they're simply wrought iron (no fancy glass coming between you and the view). On the down side, however, all of the verandahs are outfitted with the same pair of $5 plastic straight-back chairs (might be time for Tahitian Princess to upgrade the verandah furniture). Also: these verandahs aren't as private as some of those found on more recent ships -- there are huge gaps on each side of the white painted doors.

The pool area features one smallish pool that's flanked by two whirlpools (in this hot climate they weren't necessarily all that crowded). We didn't see too many blatant signs of chair-saving though lounges around the pool area seemed limited on sea days at noon-time. The pool deck also has a well-used ping pong table. A small walking-running promenade deck rings the pool area and was usually quite busy early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Two decks above there's also an extra sunbathing area.

The spa is simply gorgeous and offers the usual Steiner services, both traditional (full body massage) and nouvelle (they were pushing the Chakra hot stone treatment). There are four treatment rooms (we never had trouble getting appointments) and men's and women's locker rooms (which included, ironically, steam rooms; this destination is so naturally humid and, well, steamy that they seemed redundant). Outside is a private thalassotherapy pool and sundeck that requires a $15 per day charge; we never saw anyone using it. The salon, also elegant and peaceful, offers the usual hair and nail treatments.

The fitness facility was small but entirely adequate and pleasantly fronted a wall of windows which made it feel larger than it really was. There are numerous classes, from aerobics (no charge) to Pilates and yoga ($10 per class); the spa is experimenting with packages for the for-charge workouts (for instance, unlimited yoga and Pilates for $75), though options change with each cruise.

There are no dedicated childrens' facilities (and this is not really a cruise for young kids, between the distance from the U.S. to Tahiti and the ports themselves which don't have a lot of kid-oriented attractions). At the same time, the activities staff works really hard to entertain the children it does get; They plan games and diversions for junior passengers that use numerous rooms all over the ship. If the ship does have more than 20 kids registered to sail Princess assigns a dedicated children's counselor.

The crowd on this ship skews differently from other new (and otherwise larger) Princess vessels, attracting a large percentage of couples in both the over-60 and on-a-honeymoon range.

The ship automatically tacks on a $10 per person, per day charge, which covers dining room and stateroom service though passengers can opt to pay tips personally.

There are two formal nights on ten-day cruises (though passengers left tuxedos and spangled gowns at home); think "resort casual formal" with lots of flowing pants ensembles. The rest of the cruise was resort casual.

• Cruise line - Princess
• Ship name - Pacific Princess
• Total cabins - 344
• Private balcony cabins - 232
• Decks - 11
• Total crew - 373
• Passenger capacity - 688
• Ship size - Midsize
• Year entered service - 1971
• Registry - Great Britain
• Tonnage - 30,227