On arriving at the docks we encountered high levels of traffic due to not only the Sea Princess but the Navigator Of The Seas and The Queen Mary Two leaving on the same day. We waited in the queue for approx 45 minutes but other passengers told us they waited up to two hours. Once we reached the Mayflower terminal the embarkation process was very smooth and efficient. We were first time cruisers so we took some time to check out the ship and find our way around. Our cabin was small and comfortable but not as luxurious as we expected. The bathroom was very compact, but had everything we required. The balcony was also small with two not particularly comfortable chairs and a small table. Our steward Ariel was very pleasant, nothing was too much trouble, our beds were turned down very night and we had fresh towels daily.

The food - Mostly we enjoyed it and found it was of a high quality. The food in the main dining room was particularly good with lots of variety and reflected the country where the shipped had stopped off at. The food in the Horizon Court was OK, my husband enjoyed it more than I did. I felt it was catering more for the American than British taste. The Horizon Court did have the feel of a cafeteria about it, not what I would have expected on a cruise ship but as we were first time cruisers we have nothing to compare it too. Also as other passengers have commented, at peak times there was not enough seating and people were walking around with plates of food trying to find somewhere to sit. The set entertainment was probably the worst thing about the cruise. We found the shows amateurish and tame. We particularly disliked a couple of comedians who were so dated they would have been at home in the 1970's!! There were no tribute groups, no live bands other than the resident band. The best evenings were the on deck party which was great and had a fantastic atmosphere and the champagne fountain evening. Considering we were in the Med we could have had more entertainment on deck other than the Movies Under the Stars. We found all the staff to be extremely helpful and polite. The service in the restaurants and bars was on the whole efficient.

Visiting of all the ports went very smoothly. At Vigo there wasn't an awful lot to see. Lisbon we found particularly disappointing. It was smelly and dirty with building work half finished everywhere. Barcelona we took a tour because we have not been there before but realized we could have seen more of the city if we had gone by ourselves. At Cannes we went on a tour to Monaco which we enjoyed very much, it was a beautiful day and Monaco is charming. Rome was our favorite stop, we went to The Vatican City which just blew us away! Next to Naples, we took a drive around the Amalfi Coast and a trip to Pompei which was wonderful. Ajaccio was pretty, we just walked through the town and then on to Gibraltar for a bit of shopping, which we enjoyed. On the whole we enjoyed the cruise but a important comment we would like to make is about the smoking policy on board ship. We HATE smoking but found that several bars and public areas were part or in the case of the Wheelhouse bar given over to smokers. Surely in light of the new UK smoking ban Princess should reconsider their on board smoking policy.