This was my first cruise on the Prinsendam. I have always wanted to sail on her, although I was a bit apprehensive of sailing on an older and smaller ship, especially after reading some of the reviews. Thankfully, there was no need for that apprehension as the Prinsendam was in excellent condition and the ship's size was perfect.

Embarkation: We flew into Rome the day before the cruise set sail. Since we have been to Rome a couple of times, we decided to just spend the night in Civitavecchia to recover from the jet lag and to have an easy transfer to the ship the next morning. We stayed at the Hotel San Giorgio which was right on the sea. It was a very nice hotel and perfect for the overnight stay. It included a complementary breakfast which was the perfect way to start the day.

We took the hotel shuttle to the Prinsendam and arrived at the port at approximately 11:30. We were checked in and onboard the ship within 20 minutes. It helped to have priority boarding as a suite guest. We were able to access our stateroom immediately. We were in SS 028 which is in the forward part of Deck 10. This proved to be an ideal location because we were one or two floors away from most everything on the ship and could therefore avoid the small elevators. The stateroom was lovely and had an extra wide balcony. Read more