We were a group of eight cruise age people, meaning seniors, ranging from 72 to 75, one in wheelchair and one mobility challenged using a walker. The draw of this cruise was the itinerary, which turned out to be more challenging than anticipated, and the Turkish ports of Istanbul and Kusadasi, as well as Naples, Italy.

Starting with the negatives, it all started when we checked in and found that Princess had "upgraded" one of the reserved accessible cabins to a non-accessible mini-suite. The perks of a mini-suite would have been nice, but for a person in a wheelchair, a door and bathroom that are not accessible is not a viable option. Despite repeated claims from the onboard staff that "we must have authorized the change," (a false claim by the way), the problem was eventually fixed to the total satisfaction of the couple involved. As the contact for the couple, I have checked my emails and have received confirmation from my TA that there had been NO notification of the proposed "upgrade" and none had been authorized. For me, just another in a string of misinformation from Princess headquarters.

Leading me to the second disappointment. Princess at the last minute cancelled the call on Istanbul, citing safety concerns. For months it had been known that the day of the call was to be an election day, and Princess headquarters had assured my TA that there were no plans to skip Istanbul. Then at the last minute it happened. Subsequent events required further itinerary changes, suggesting that Istanbul could have been switched to another day and not be cancelled. A clear case of convenience for Princess rather than consideration of the clients who might have booked this cruise specifically to visit Istanbul, as was the case for half of my party. (As a "substitute" Island Princess wasted a day sitting off Santorini!) Read more