My DH and I (in our early 40's and celebrating our 25th anniversary) took our first-ever transatlantic cruise from Galveston to Rome and enjoyed every minute of our 16-day cruise! This was our first Princess cruise and we found that we love Princess! We've sailed on Carnival and NCL previously; this was our 6th cruise. Since we only live 20 miles from the cruise terminal, our son dropped us off a little before noon. We were in our room by 12:30 and eating lunch at the Horizon Court shortly thereafter. All of our luggage was delivered to our room by 2:00 and after unpacking we headed out to explore our new home. I was worried that the Grand Princess would be showing her age but I was very pleased to find her not only in great shape but very beautiful as well! The pool areas were especially beautiful. We enjoyed hanging out in Skywalker's during the day for the great views of the ship's wake. The weather was sunny and mild every day (with one overcast exception) and the seas were as smooth as we have ever seen. Our longest cruise to date was 7 nights. I was slightly worried that 16 nights might be too long and that we would be bored, but found that other than missing our kids, we could have easily stayed another week or two! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect crossing!

ROOM: We booked a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck and were very pleased with its layout and size. We loved our balcony even though it was uncovered and spent many hours on it reading, enjoying the beautiful water, the sunshine and gazing at stars. At first glance our bed looked very lumpy and uncomfortable. The first night it was really hard even though I prefer a hard mattress. The next day we asked for an egg crate and that really helped. I never noticed any discomfort after that - slept like a baby every night. I was really surprised at the amount of storage in our room. We definitely over packed but were able to store all of our belongings with no trouble and our luggage fit neatly under the bed. We brought a collapsible laundry hamper (a tip I gleaned by lurking on CC boards) which helped keep our dirty clothes out of sight until time to do laundry. The do-it-yourself laundry area was very useful. Having a real bathtub was WONDERFUL! I don't know if I can go back to a regular room again. Our room steward, Jirasek (Jay) was really great. He left two towel animals for us and kept our room immaculate. He was very friendly and always had a big smile whenever we would see him. He brought fresh fruit, the robes that we requested and the extra blanket that I asked for with no hesitation. We aren't high maintenance people, but felt he went out of his way to make us comfortable, especially on such a long trip.

FOOD: We had Anytime Dining and really enjoyed it. The ship was only half full so they only operated two dining rooms for most of the cruise. We dined in the DaVinci dining room and ate at various times depending on our schedule (that's why you choose Anytime Dining after all) and never had to wait. The first several nights we chose to sit with a group and met some really nice people. For the remainder of the cruise we decided we'd like to dine at a table for two and had no problem being seated. Once we found Josef and Juan, we made a reservation (table for two) to sit in their section each night and we really enjoyed their service. The food was delicious! We are not picky eaters and always found something that appealed to us. The seafood on Princess is really great. I enjoyed lobster tails on 3 different nights, scallops 3 different nights and crab legs one night. My DH enjoyed the steak as well. Our waiter, Josef, made very good selections and by the end of the cruise we relied on his suggestions more than our own choices ~ and we were never disappointed! I particularly enjoyed the hot and cold soups and had no trouble ordering more than one soup nearly every night. The strawberry soup is not to be missed! Several nights my DH had a hard time choosing between two different entrees so our waiter encouraged him to order both, no problems at all. The desserts were also very good. The soufflEs were outstanding and also the crème brulee. We ate breakfast and lunch in the Horizon Court. I was prepared for a maze from reading about it on CC and that was what I found. It was navigable, but just barely. You do seem to get the hang of it after a while though, a lot of "excuse me" and "pardon me" heard in this area. The food was fine (buffet quality) and we really enjoyed the free ice cream from 3:30-4:30 p.m. They also served scones with cream and jam during this time period which was a nice touch. My favorite lunchtime (or late night snack) treat was the pizza! It was thin crusted and delicious! I had pizza for lunch nearly every day! Read more