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Embarkation was a nightmare at Venice. Apparently, we later found out, there had been some problems with computers. This meant that we were held in a hot hall with insufficient seating for about 2 hours - not good on top of a 4.00 a.m. start in the morning!! We were provided with no information about the reason for the hold up, which we would have found useful. Problem or not, we should have been provided with food and drinks after a long journey. However, that's the only real beef we have.
Our cabin was c701 - the cabins on Caribe deck have a much larger balcony than those on other decks - probably about double the size. It means that you usually have both shade and sun on the balcony as well as comfortable seating for six people. The cabin was adequate in size and it was nice to have a fridge which was actually cold. There was plenty of storage space for our twelve night cruise. The bathroom was very compact but everything was there. The cabin was very close to the lifts so provided good access.
We took the Princess tours. The ones which included lunch and a tour guide were pretty pricey we thought. $249 for Rome but we felt it was the only way to ensure that we got into the sites. How right we were! Queues at the Vatican etc were hours long and we just wouldn't have got in without a pre-paid ticket. However, Princess also offered 'on your own' tours - these got you to the site, let you have several hours to explore and then got you back to the ship. Much more reasonable and allowed us to go at a faster pace than if we'd been on an organised tour. The tours were well organised and to interesting destinations.
Entertainment - we were rather put off by the first night production in the theatre which included a comedian who still thought that humour comes from smutty jokes and stereotyping. Having said that, there was plenty of variety during the day and evening.
The food was excellent in all restaurants. The Boticelli restaurant offered silver service and a good variety of menus. We tended to eat more in the self-service Caribe and Horizon restaurants. These were more relaxed and offered a wide range of extremely well prepared and presented food. The service was good too.
We spent most of our time aboard ship on the balcony or at one of the bars - we're not great swimmers. We never felt crowded or overwhelmed by numbers of people. However, space did seem to be at rather a premium around the main pools but then it was the hight of the school holidays so there were a lot of children around.
The fitness centre was well equipped although there were a large number of treadmills out of action most of the time.
All in all, we were well satisfied with Princess and would use them again.
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