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. Read more