Our trip began with a transfer from Rome Airport. We had flown in the day before and stayed at an airport hotel so we avoided the risk of missing the ship if our flight was cancelled/delayed. We took the hotel shuttle bus to the airport, met the Princess rep at baggage claim, and took the buses to the port, a very very expensive taxi ride of over $160 if done independently.
Boarding proceeded without incident and it was nice to be able to go to the buffet and eat once on board. The staff was utterly cavalier about the fact that our luggage was not delivered to our cabin. We had to go to dinner in travel clothes that first night. At 11 PM, after the night manager at the purser's desk told us he had searched the corridors for our bags, I went and searched and found them, parked outside the cabin of another couple with the first name. It took another hour and 2 phone calls to get them delivered to our room. This robbed us of some sleep we needed to be ready to depart the ship at 7:30 the next am for our shore excursion.
This was only our first encounter with a pursers' staff that was ill informed, disorganized and gave misinformation. Passengers were often to be seen screaming at the staff complaining that after 6 requests, they didn't have hot water in their cabins or their safe was missing or some other problem. Despite telling passengers that mail posted on board would be dispatched from each port, it was sent out the first day, at the midpoint from the Azores, and on the last day. They missed five chances to send our postcards to loved ones at home.