We were on the Royal Princess September 15th for 12 days from Venice to Barcelona.We flew into Venice, arriving at 6:30 pm. Princess was there for our transfer from the airport with no problems at all.The embarkation was a breeze. We went to dinner and really felt happy to be aboard this lovely new ship. It was truly a beautiful, massive ship with such splendor. We have been aboard the other Princess ships which we enjoyed too, but this one really was so lovely. The expanded atrium, the new additions such as Alfredos, the Gelateria with crepes and waffles (yum), and the Horizon Cafe and new Pastry Cafe, All came a notch above others. The style and grandeur of the Royal made us feel like we were really somewhere special.

We loved the usual Movies Under the Stars, the delicious international cuisine with Asian, Mexican, German, Italian, American, British, French and more. There are far more choices on this ship than we've seen before. We loved the entertainment, mostly the singers and dancers and also the shows in the Atrium. The casino was always abuzz and lots of fun machines to try as well as Black Jack sizzling tables. We visited the ports of Athens, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Istanbul, Mykonos and Naples. Our first port of Athens, unfortunately had strikers in the streets which caused our tour bus to detour en route to the Acropolis. Be sure to wear comfortable rubber soled shoes so as not to slip on the marble and stone ground in climbing. It surely was a sight to behold but very strenuous and exhausting for people who are not accustomed to physical activity. Kusadasi was a marvel with Ephesus as the star attraction. What a sight to behold! This Celsus Library is a must-see for first-timers. We returned after 17 years and still got a thrill. The Visit to "Mary's House," where Christians believed Mary spent her last days on earth, was a place for contemplation and reverence. The market for visitors, especially the Turkish carpet vendors, gave one so many ideas to redecorate with a beauty of one's own. Then on to Istanbul to visit the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofya and Basilica Cistern, all the main sights of this interesting city of 15 million. We also loved the actual cruising, relaxing out on our balcony with a glass of wine. Very beautiful and relaxing. The Royal's clubs and music venues were all alive with laughter and cruisers delighting in the evening's gay atmosphere. We arrived in Mykonos, tendered in with ease by the Royal's crew. What a beautiful island! The shops and the vistas are worth the visit. We didn't take time to eat, just for a drink of the famous ouzo at a local cafe overlooking the teal sea.

Then it happened that the ship could not retrieve the anchor which weighs something near 30,000 tons. It took them about 5 hours to pull it up from the sea and set sail for Naples. Finally the ship set sail and all went well until the afternoon when the ship lost power. The captain kept us apprised every hour or so. It seemed that too much power was drawn from one area of use and it caused an outage. They had a backup generator so all was well within 5 hours time. The crew and the captain handled every detail with professionalism, especially the crisis points such as elevators and the kitchens. We didn't feel frightened but rather more curious about the situation. The excellent communication skills of the captain in total were astonishing. Services continued as well as they could with ease and smiles. After much deliberation, the Princess administrative network coupled with the maritime professionals decided to cut our cruise short by disembarking in Naples. Care coordinators were there every step of the way. Princess made sure everyone got to their final destinations safely. They made arrangements for some 3500 people to fly to their respective countries in a safe, timely manner. Unfortunately, many people had tours and longer stays in Barcelona post cruise where they needed to get to Barcelona to proceed onward. The problem for the others was that Barcelona had some 70,000 extra visitors from a pharmaceutical convention using the hotels whereby causing our people a loss of potential lodgings. Personally, we had been to Rome,Florence, Provence and Barcelona before, so we were not at odds about this matter. Many others didn't take their early disembarkation well. They flew in from places like Australia, NZ, China, Canada, South Africa, Russia, South America and more, and they wanted to visit these last 3 ports. Some people did pay their own way and others used the arrangements by the Princess. Many people disembarked on the Tuesday, depending on one's airflight situation. We spent Tuesday sightseeing all over Naples, since we took the Hop On Hop Off bus. The churches, museums and piazzas were all worth seeing. We went on the red and the green lines. The beach drive was more than we expected...just gorgeous! It was a beautifully sunny day, about 75 F. On Wed. we disembarked about noon time, and were almost hand-carried to hotel. Princess workers guaranteed our safety and comfort thankfully. Read more