We chose this cruise as friends had booked and we wanted to join them. We had only done 1 cruise before, and it was 5 star, with 210 passengers. People told us not expect the same but we were pleasantly surprised, we loved it! From the time we checked in to embark it was efficiency plus.This is a well oiled machine. We were not cruising to sit on the deck on a lounger in the hot sun and didn't get into our swimsuits even once. We were there for the offshore visits and to return to a lovely cool air-conditioned ship. We were wined, dined, entertained, and in bed about 11pm! The dining was exceptionally good which again was unexpected. the cleanliness of the boat, the service, the staff, 99 percent were fantastic. The shows reminded us of trips to Las Vegas. We had organised and pre paid all our offshore excursions from home, which took several hours and isn't something you want to do on the boat when you would missing out on valuable entertainment time. Also some tours booked out. The tours were very efficiently run, the organisation on this boat was impressive and the room mail deliveries critical for communication of all activities and other ship notices. There might have been 3000 guests on this boat but we didn't ever see most of them! A lot are by the pool..... Read Less

My wife and I are in our 50s and we’ve been on 17 cruises (7 Royal Caribbean, 4 Celebrity, 4 Princess, 1 Holland America, 1 Norwegian). This was our second Mediterranean cruise. This trip was an anniversary trip. Our trip started with a flight on Lufthansa out of Chicago O’Hare with a stop in Munich (We love this airport) and then on to Athens for a couple days pre-cruise. We flew roundtrip on Lufthansa but took a detour from Barcelona post cruise to Paris for three days on Joon Air which is a new “modern discount airline” from Air France. We enjoyed all flights. Hotels: In Athens we stayed at the Herodian Hotel. This was a pleasant surprise. It’s a boutique hotel literally 987 meters from the Acropolis. Our room faced the Acropolis and was large and modern. The room included breakfast which was a traditional Euro/American buffet style. I’ll post pictures with this review. The staff was welcoming and even left us a nice note welcoming us and congratulating us on our 25th wedding anniversary along with some Greek crackers. In Paris we stayed at the Hilton Paris Opera. This was another nice surprise. Its located near the Galleries Lafayette and Printemps Department store. The hotel is located only 15-20 minutes from all the major Paris historical spots. Close enough to get to and far enough from the center that you aren’t paying for location. The staff here were also fantastic. We are Hilton Honors members and chose to stay on the Executive Floor. For our anniversary, the Hilton upgraded us to a corner large spacious room that had a large bathroom with heated floors. I highly recommend staying at both hotels. The Ship: This was our second voyage of Crown. The first was in 2008. We enjoyed Crown back then but felt the public spaces were crowed and entertainment was terrible. Crown post drydock is so much better. The décor is just as we remembered and there is a much better use of space. Entertainment is now top notch and matches our experiences on Regal. We have never been fans of production shows, but I have to say that the new Encore show on Crown was spectacular. Embarkation: We took a cab from the Herodian Hotel (20 euros) to the port of Piraeus. At embarkation we arrived at the Piraeus Cruise Port at around 11:30am. The port was not too crowded, and we were able to check in quite fast…or so we thought. Here was the one negative experience. After the Princess Rep took our passports and all other pertinent information she went to get our room keys….and couldn’t find them. She asked us to wait and she would contact someone to get them. We thought this was odd as it has never happened before. Well, we waited 20 minutes, and no one came to give us our key cards. I finally spoke with an officer who checked and said that there was no request for our keys. After another 20 minutes we were finally given our keys and were headed on the ship. This was the one blip on a spectacular cruise. I mentioned the dry dock earlier. The dry dock included some very nice updates. Stateroom: Our Cabin on Caribe Deck 10 Midship (C419) has been updated. We love this location because all the cabins on this deck have nice deep balconies. All staterooms on Crown have been updated with the Princes Luxury Bed. Let me tell you….it’s luxurious!! We usually sleep well on cruises, but this bed was sooo comfortable. Also, our Room Steward Donna was very attentive and efficient. The pool area updated one bar (MIX) formerly Mermaids and split up the pizza and burger stations. Prego is now Slice and has Stromboli and deep-dish focaccia. Still the best pizza at sea IMHO. The Sundays Ice Cream Bar is now attached to slice and is called Coffee and Cones. The best pool area upgrade is a remake of the Trident Grill. It’s now The Salty Dog Grill (a Salty Dog Gastro Pub has been added inside the Wheelhouse Bar). This is absolutely the best deck food at sea. You can get a burger or chicken sandwich, fries, bacon cheese or chili cheese), all beef hotdogs, and chipotle lime chicken tacos (my personal new go-to deck food!). Other upgrades on Crown include Club Class mini-suites (We didn’t meet anyone who stayed in one) and the shops onboard have upgraded clothing and merchandise. Dining: We always enjoy the Princess main dining room food. The voyage was no different. As part of the anniversary package we purchased, we ate at Sabatini’s (located on deck 16) which is one of our favorite specialty restaurants. We were joined by our main dining table mates who were also celebrating their anniversary. Our server was fantastic!! He was personable and informative. When we told him it was our table mates anniversary, he stopped what he was doing and proceeded to bring out a cake for them! This topped off a wonderful filling meal of traditional Italian food. As an aside, the anniversary package also included champagne and chocolates in our stateroom, a chocolate cake served at the meal of our choice, a sign and balloons on our door and a picture of our choice with a nice frame. Well worth it! Our breakfasts were eaten mostly in the Horizon Court Buffet which seems to have gotten smaller bit the food is still decent. Breakfast as all you expect plus an omelet station (you order and they give you a ticket that you hand to a server who brings a freshly cooked omelet to you. I love that they hand you your napkin and silverware as you enter the food section and a server brings you drinks. Entertainment: Entertainment is throughout the ship and has been upgraded. Our Cruise Director Fernando got on the ship when we did and he never missed a beat. This cruise was during the group stage of the Word Cup and a schedule of all games with viewing locations were in each Princess Patter. Musical entertainment was very diverse and all over the ship. There was plenty to see and do each night. There was of course MUTS which showed movies, concerts and soccer games throughout the voyage. Ports and Shore Excursions: Athens: While this was the embarkation point, we had a day and half to visit the Acropolis, eat some great Greek food and walk around the Plaka. I’d spend one or two more days here next time. Santorini: This is a tender port. We took a ship excursion that included a stop at Santo Winery where we sampled Greek wine, cheese, olives and enjoyed the views of the ship and the island. Then we went to Oia which is the village with all the blue domed roofs. What a place! Spectacular views. After Oia we went to Fira which is the village where you get back to ship by walking down 588 steps to the tender area, riding on a donkey or our personal choice, taking the gondola down. We shopped and ate a traditional Greek lunch with a view of the Aegaeon Sea. The tour ended here, and we were on our own to get back to the ship. Kotor, Montenegro (Tender stop): Very old city which you arrive sailing through a fjord for 3 hours. I was up at 5:30am filming the entry…We were pleasantly surprised by this port and just took the tender and walked the old city on our own. Messina (Sicily): We used Joe Banana Tours for this port. The tour we chose was the Godfather Tour. We shared a van with others from CC and visited Castelmola, a hill town above Taormina with views of Mt. Etna and the sea (it was overcast so no views), Savoca which is a local town made famous by Godfather II, Forza d’Agro a medieval town and then Taormina. I highly recommend using Joe Banana tours while in Sicily. Naples: For this port we used Romeinlimo Tours. Once again, we shared a van with others from CC. Our driver, Alex met us at the port and took us on a ride through the Amalfi Coast to Positano where were enjoyed the views and walked the streets of the wonderful city on a hill. From Positano we went to Sorrento where we had a fantastic lunch, walked along the streets, shopped and sampled limoncello. After Sorrento, Alex took us to Herculaneum. Herculaneum was a resort town not far from Pompeii which is smaller and better preserved due to its closeness to Mt. Vesuvius. RomeinLimo is one of our favorite tour companies and also highly recommend them. We Disembarked in Barcelona. This was the most organized disembarkation we’ve had. We pre-purchased transfers to the airport and were on our way to Paris! This was a phenomenal cruise. We can’t wait to sail on Princess again and look forward to planning our next Med Cruise!! Read Less

After several embarkations with Princess, we decided to embark with them once again. Princess never failed to provide us with all of our needs and leave us wanting more after disembarking The service and the people who work there are very professional and kind. Our dining hosts, Vincent, Christian, and Peter were all so compassionate and motivated with their work. Our room was refreshed every day and we were consistently welcomed home by the room server. Not tomention the little chocolates that were provided everyday for us to munch on. Princess provided great service for the Sea Days as well Although there were a few moments when the boat was too shaky, it was entertaining majority of the time. There were consistent events provided for the passengers so they wouldn’t get bored on the ship. There was not a single moment that was uncomfortable during our stay and we would love to return again. Read Less

Cruised with Princess a few years ago and it was brilliant, so was looking forward to a trip round the Med seeing some new sights. Embarkation went ok, cabin ok, food, drinks, service and trips all ok. The only snags i consider worth mentioning are the standard of entertainment, i have been on other cruises and with other cruise lines so i have room for comparison, but the entertainment on this cruise was shockingly poor. There was only one evening of 'Broadway' style production, with dancers performing an awful 70's medley which was high school production at best complete with sexist undertones, unnecessary in this day and age. Other nights were a particularly bad comedienne who was about as funny as a burning orphanage, a singer who had a bit part for 10 minutes in the lion king, admittedly he had a good voice but they had him sing two nights running as there was no alternative act. There was plenty of karaoke nights in other bars if that's your thing, along with knobbly knees and Mr and Mrs. The house band were OK but once you had heard one set the others on subsequent nights seemed the same. It was very very lazy entertainment. It wasn't all bad, there was a Frank Sinatra tribute act who i personally think should have been one of the theatre acts, not resigned to a side bar. Another snag, photographs, i have never understood why they print off hundreds of photos of guests, taken by the on board photographers, and charge a fortune for them ($25 per pic). As most never get sold. What a waste. Why not charge less, say half the price, you would sell twice as many = less waste, save the planet. A general question, why is the casino on board cruise ships so big? The one on Crown Princess is massive and on a good day there would only be a hand full of punters in there, what a strange waste of real estate that could be used for a better purpose. In all, an OK cruise with poor entertainment. My wife and i have decided not to cruise with Princess next time, we will try another line we haven't used before. Read Less

This was our 10th cruise with Princess and our third trip on the Crown. We boarded the ship in Athens Greece and we had 14 days of perfect weather, calm seas and the ports we visited were fantastic..Our cabin was clean and bright, but the ship is starting to show it's age. The water in our shower would suddenly turn cold then stop altogether and leave us covered in soap suds. After frantic tries to get the flow going again it would slowly come back (ice cold) then warm to normal. The first time it happened I figured it was an anomaly but when it later happened to my wife we started calling for help. A plumber showed up several hours later and said he 'fixed' it but the next day it did the same thing and after more trips from maintenance people they finally said they would have to move us to another cabin, which required that we pack everything up and move. Also, there was an entire bank of elevators that didn't work the whole cruise and with the ship being at full capacity it made for long waits. The food was better than we remembered and the waiters were pleasant but the service was very slow. If you ordered a drink before dinner it would sometimes takes 15 or 20 minutes to get there. Read Less

The two week cruise commencing from Athens and terminating in Rome was a wonderful experience. The service, entertainment and food was excellent. The Princess excursions were well conducted for the most part except for Genoa which was rushed and the guide was not well versed with the history and had to read from her notes. The tour to Mt Etna was eventful as someone had their IPad stolen in a store that offers a taste of limoncello so be aware of your surroundings. The evening entertainment is first class but the afternoon lacks a liveliness. Could use a few more organised events for the youth on sea days. We had an interior cabin which was well appointed with a TV with select American channels. The maid service was excellent and our room was refreshed frequently. Dining room service was also excellent and the quality of food was good. All in all we had a great vacation and would recommend this cruise for those who want to get a flavor for ports in the eastern Mediterranean. Read Less

Was a nice cruise. Not spectacular.. but it was fine. Embarkation and disenbarkation were fine. Food was generally good. It probably ranged from ok to very good depending on what you had, with most of it being very good in the MDR. Tried the Pizza, Burgers and Fries twice - they were not so good. There was some good options in the International Cafe which is open 24 hours a day. Room was ok. Bed comfortable. Entertainment was tame.. but as you would expect on a ship with mostly retirees on board. Service from all staff is excellent as always.Itinerary was great. Booked all our own tours as Princess gauge their customers on tour-pricing. They're certainly always on the look-out to lift a few more dollars from you. An example was the US$32 they charged us for the short shuttle from the Ship to one port.. with the notice coming round the ship night before to book it.. making it look like the only option. Felt a bit ripped off when we passed the sign shortly down the road offering it for free. I guess at the end of the day, you've just got to remember they're a big corporate trying to hoover up our dollars and be aware of them. It was a good holiday, mostly great food and always great service.. so I should be greatful (which I am), but it did'nt leave us going "wow, we need to book another cruise". The full-on Itinerary meant we were away off ship for 9+ hours most days (only 4 sea days on a 14 day cruise) and being fair.. the cruise was more about the destinations and less about the cruise. Smoking in the Casino was a negative - hello America, it's 2018! Much of the rest of the world have figured out smokers don't actually mind smoking outside once it's compulsory.. and it then makes your bars, casinos etc a much better place for ALL. Ship is in good condition and has nice public areas. Particularly enjoyed the International Cafe which is open 24 hours and sells good coffee with the food complimentary. Read Less

We spent time in Athens, Delphi, and Meteora before the cruise. Taking a taxi to the port was much better than trying to save money using public transportation. We were thrilled with our little balcony, our first after 13 cruises. I think we are now converts! It was especially lovely in the evenings to sit and read. The food on the ship was very good. I especially liked the Afternoon Tea. We chose set dining, but four of the seats at our table for 7 were never filled, and the other two also didn't always come. We will opt for anytime dining in the future. Our waiter, Joseph was exceptional. The entertainment was top notch. The best were the magicians. The theater isn't big enough though. It's necessary to get there 20-25 minutes before the show to get a seat. Three separate shows would be better. I enjoyed that there was a "book club" but only two other passengers came to the meeting. We loved our first port, Katakolon, where we booked our excursion Olympia Site and Museum Experience with Niki (?). While labeled semi-private, it was a large tour bus. But we divided into a group of 14 with a good guide. We'd highly recommend it. Kotor, Montenegro was next. It is a medieval city that used to be part of Yugoslavia. We took a ship's shore excursion since we had shipboard credits. A small boat took us to a quaint chapel and a village. I would NOT pay for that excursion. Wander around inside the walled city on your own. We hope that soon the ship can return to Turkey or maybe go to Corfu or Malta instead of here three times if taking the 21 day cruise. Mykonos was too windy for us to dock. Read Less

We had a great time on this ship. I appreciate the size of it. For the first time since I began cruising, I didn't need to take any motion sick meds. Embarkation was smooth- we waited until around 2pm (it started at noon). We were met at the taxi by baggage handlers who took our luggage and waited less than 5 mintues to board. Our room was an upgraded balcony, partially obstructed. You could see a lifeboat next to us, but who cares? The extra space was great. We spent a lot of time on the balcony. We ate in main dining every night at the 8:15pm seating. It gave us time to explore on shore and then nap and clean up for dinner. Shows were cruise ship standard, though others at our table absolutely loved them. (We are probably pretty cynical as regular concert/ theater goers). We loved the adult pool, the sanctuary. Our cabin Stuart and wait staff were great. We ate at Sabatini's. Food was really good. I've heard Crown Grill is even better. Pro's: Lots of space to wander. The main dining was great. We didn't have a bad meal the entire time. The coffee card was a great deal. We used it for Gelato too. Con's: The room service breakfast could be better. The coffee wasn't very good (so glad we bought the coffee card). Read Less

We chose this cruise to relax after doing a Trafalgar bus tour through Europe. Embarkation was easy. As we had a mini-suite, we had priority boarding and were lead through to a separate area to wait for our turn to board. We didn't have to wait very long and the check-in process was easy as we had completed most of the information online before we left home. We had a Club Class Mini-suite (Aloha deck room 422). Although this cabin has the Skywalk above it, it is impossible to see into the cabin and you can only see the balcony from the Skywalk if you bend down to the handrail level. We didn't find that there were that many people who walked along the Skywalk anyway and we at no time felt that our privacy was invaded. The cabin itself was spacious with plenty of storage and hanging space. The balcony could have been a bit bigger but we found it adequate for our needs. It was also nice to have a separate sitting area apart from the bed. There was a shower over a bath in the bathroom and we found the bathroom a reasonable size for a cruise ship. We were given a half bottle of red wine and half bottle of white wine upon disembarkation and with the full bottle of wine each that we could bring on board on the first day, we found this to be plenty when we supplemented it with a few drinks from the bars. We could have ordered evening canapes to our room but they weren't to our liking, so we just got some cheese and biscuits from the Horizon Buffet and took them back to our cabin to enjoy with our wine. We had anytime dining and had no problems getting a table each time we went to the Concerto dining room. They have priority dining available for Club Class passengers. The food was always great. We didn't do many of the shows or activities on board as we were using the cruise to relax after the go, go, go of the tour bus! Service in the dining room was good and our room steward, Ben, was friendly and always greeted us with a smile. We did 3 shore excursions through the ship and found them all to be very good. We did a walking tour of Taormina which also gave us spare time to do some shopping, a tour of Santorini which took us to Oia and Fira (the local guide was very good), and a tour to the village of Herculaneum. We chose to do Herculaneum as we had already been to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri on our bus tour. I actually found Herculaneum a lot more interesting than Pompeii!! It was so well preserved compared to Pompeii. We did our own thing in Kotor but the old town is close to the Port and we didn't see the need to do a tour. I wouldn't hesitate to go on another Royal Princess cruise as I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Read Less

This was my 6th cruise so I am starting to make my second cruise on a few lines. Previous to this cruise my best overall experience had been on Princess (Ruby Princess) so I decided to use Princess again to see if there was consistency. I can say Yes! Plus, the itinerary and embarkation port were very attractive to my wife and I. The same reasons why I liked Princess previously - great crew treatment, fantastic ship, great food - all applied here. The only slight negative I can say with both Princess cruises is that the entertainment is good, but not as good as I have seen on other lines. Since the entertainment is not all that important to me it does not detract. We flew to Athens 36 hours in advance on Emirates direct from Newark (great airline) so we could acclimate. We used the Princess transport from the airport to the Hilton and we were glad we did - it was seamless - there was a Princess rep waiting for us along with a driver that whisked us to the Hilton in less than 30 minutes. The Hilton had an in-house Princess rep that gave us a lot of great info (and tried to sell us excursions). She was very nice and also very informative. The Hilton was excellent. We were taken to the port via bus - I recommend it. Check in at the port in Piraeus was fairly quick and easy, but getting through security took about 20 minutes. Not bad really. Once on board we got settled in our room (more on our room below) and then sought out the buffet for lunch. We sailed on time. Our first port of call was Katakolon. A rather sleepy port with a small village filled with various shops. We took a private tour to Olympia and it was a very nice time with a 1 hour guide. Back in port we shopped briefly before getting back on board. The next port of call was my favorite - Kotor, Montenegro. The 2 hour sail in through the fjord was very scenic. The port offered an old walled village with many interesting shops and little cafes. We opted for the steep climb up the mountain to view the fort. It is a hard climb, but the view was well worth it. We had to be tendered at this port since the dock is small. The sail out was just as enjoyable; in the evening as the sun was setting and it was idyllic. Did you know this ship can play the Love Boat theme on its boat whistles? Tuesday was a sea day. Nice change and time to rest. We lolled around the pools and adults only area. Nice and quiet. Lunch was each day was very good and there was an excellent variety each day. For 3500 passengers the lines and crowds were not bad at all. If you decide to eat in the Horizon at night you can expect a different theme each night - like Greek Night, Bavarian Night, etc. Wednesday we stopped at Khios. We did not hold high hopes for this stop - there was not much there. We rented bikes at City Point and rode up and down the coast - about 20 miles total - and swam. Then we shopped a bit before being tendered back to the ship. Thursday was Rhodes - an excellent stop. The dock is a very short walk to the walled old city where there were interesting buildings and shopping. We loved walking around and getting lost. After this excursion we walked about 2 miles to a quiet section of the pebbly beach and swam and just relaxed. The water is very clean but colder than I expected. There are sandy beaches on Rhodes. In fact, we discovered that there was one close to the bow of the ship after we were getting ready to leave. Friday's port stop was Mykonos. The main dock is a ways from the village if you walk - a very narrow and busy road. For 2 Euro we took the water taxi into the village where we boarded a ferry to the nearby island of Delos to view more ruins. Well worth the trip - don't take a guided tour - they are so huge how can you hear anything. Upon returning to the village we walked along the very clean and white painted sidewalks until we stopped at a very nice cafe near the "Little Venice" area for refreshments. By this time we were pooped so we took the water taxi back to the ship for some pool side relaxation. Saturday we landed back in Piraeus nice and early. We did the self walk off and it could not have been easier and faster. We took a cab ride (30 Euro) to our hotel (Royal Olympic). We left the cruise feeling very satisfied and very pleased with how we were treated. Unlike most cruise lines I do not feel like Princess was always trying to sell me something or in my face for pictures. We did on-board wine tasting and enjoyed it. Any Time Dining each night in the Symphony was excellent. There was never much of a wait and the food was very good-to-excellent - as was the service. The entertainment was varied - I give them credit for that. I just did not find all of it polished. The exception was the last night performance by all the musicians - this show was excellent. The ship's band was also very good. I did enjoy the string quartet too. The ship is in excellent condition and was kept spotless during the entire cruise. I liked the lay out and ambiance of Princess ships - elegant without being gawdy. Our captain kept us well informed, but I never saw him once. That is OK. The entire crew was very friendly and out to please us. They succeeded. We toured Athens before and after this cruise and just loved the city. It is easy to navigate on foot. We used the Metro to return the airport. This system is very clean, safe, and cheap. Just make sure you get on the right train that is going all the way to the airport. We dead ended 3 stops away from the airport and had to use the surface train to finish the trip. Same ticket though. 9 Euros. If you plan to visit the Acropolis do so early as it gets very crowed and very warm later on. Try to eat in the Monistaraki area - the food is really good. Read Less

Overall this was an excellent cruise. The royal princess is a beautiful ship with highlights being the atrium, sea walk, the crooners bar and Movies under the stars. We found the main dining room had an edge above all other cruise companies with a superior quality of food, service and spaciousness between tables. We have cruised a lot with celebrity and royal Caribbean and the royal seemed beyond and would say was excellent. Crown grill is one of the best steak restaurants I have been to while Sabatinis was just ok. I loved the salts to have with the steaks. Loved MUTS - it was a fantastic experience and the popcorn and snacks brought round was a great touch. Best cruise so far. Cabins were smaller than competitions but I like the way they split the cabin with the dressing room part. Please take away the shower curtain.. Entertainment was fun - and loved entertainers in the atrium. One thing I feel could be improved would be the buffet breakfast - celebrity so this so well with egg stations. Overall our favourite cruise so far. Thank you princess. Read Less

I arrived back yesterday after a Greek-islands cruise aboard the Royal Princess. I'll begin by saying that I'm 25, I work for a travel company, I traveled with family, and I've cruised with Celebrity, Carnival, P&O and now Princess. Embarkation was in Athens, in a not-so-classy white tent right by the ship's side. Thankfully the process was quick (we arrived a bit early) and we got on-board fine. The size of the ship is certainly impressive from the outset right until the end. We had numerous taxi drivers, guides etc comment on how big the ship was, and from below you can almost believe it's the biggest ship in the world. It's not, but the Cruise Director might have you think it is... Arrival My first opinion was that the ship is traditional in style. It's low on thrills, catering to an older, more demure clientele. We saw some younger people around my age but generally there were few families and many 60+ adults. This was not necessarily a bad thing, as it meant the boat was quite peaceful. Its certainly not a party boat, but it's also not a whisper-quiet cruise liner either. Facilities and layout The main plaza area indoors (aka the atrium) is a 3-floor wonder, with elegant spiral stairs and lots of restaurants, and it proved to be the hub of the ship thanks to some fab impromptu and planned musical events. Cue lots of dancing octogenarians and a few kids running around. The theatre was another excellent space - with no obstructed seats and lots of space. The casino was good albeit smokey, and the shops were nice - typical cruise fare with a few brands etc. Personally, I think the top decks could do with some modernization however. For a ship of this modernity, I'd expect to see a few more cutting-edge touches. The two pools were good but a third would have been handy as I saw 30+ people in the pools on sea day. The running track was good, and the sports court a nice addition but the putting green pathetic and there was nothing much else to keep people occupied during the day expect for a big TV screen and food. Carnival's Vista has some fab additions including their sky ride rollercoaster, high ropes course and 18 hole mini golf - all of which could have easily been added with minimal redesign. I did like the SkyWalk though, although it wasn't overly useful for views, but was a fun novelty nonetheless. For me, the Retreat Pool was the best place on the ship - with an adults-only vibe and a more peaceful position. The Sanctuary is also here - an exclusive pay-per-use area of the ship with plush loungers and nice water, essentially. We booked here for the sea day and it was a welcome retreat, albeit without any breeze. $20 for half a day per person wasn't too bad. Food Now onto food. There aren't too many options for those not wanting to pay cover charges. Lunch was manly restricted to the Horizon Court Buffet, the main restaurant and the pizza/burger joints by the pool. All were good, although the buffets especially stood out - the variety of choice and quality rivaled Celebrity. We didn't encounter queues too often either, and the staff were happy to get you drinks (including water and ice tea which s complimentary). In the evening, the main dining room was the place to be. These not-so-grand rooms lack the elegance of many other ship's rooms, with low ceilings and dark colors. However the food was generally very good, with a nice changing variety. It would have been nice to see location-themed cuisine though, and the waiters occasionally wore costumes themed to a destination which had no relation to our cruise... for example in Montenegro (Kotor) we had an Italian night... Service was good and on anytime dining, we had to wait not longer than 5-10 mins at worst. Another gripe for me was the lack of food after 10pm or so. The main buffet would completely close except for hot drinks and there were no other free offerings I knew of. Entertainment This one was a tricky topic for me. I thought the main piazza entertainment was great. The atrium space was perfect for people watching, and live music would regularly bring huge crowds to watch people of all ages dance on the central floor. One must-see is the orchestra night, where the ship's Music Director brings most all of the ships musicians together. It was so special even a few galley and spa staff attended during our show! The theatre, for me, was a wasted opportunity. We were onboard a week, yet we had a comedian repeated twice and just two shows from the cast of 17 singers/ dancers that perform the 'Broadway-style' shows. We had an incredible Freddie Mercury performer called Mercury Rising that was the definite highlight, but it just makes you realise how disappointing the stage shows were when one man can outperform all 17 of them. Don't get me wrong, the stage shows weren't bad, but there just wasn't any creativity. The singers were generally good, but they had to perform bizarre themed scenes that had no story. Their 'Spectacular' show was simply about ten or fifteen different scenes, each relating to the next in no clear manner. Lose a few dancers and add a few singers, bring in a story or something different (think Celebrity's Cirque du Soleil-style shows or Carnival's dramatic theatrical performances) and you will have my vote. For now, I feel the theatre could have benefited from better direction. Elsewhere entertainment was low key, with the 'Live' tv studio proving good for a few minutes to kill time (karaoke, chat shows etc) and a few lounges with piano men. Balcony Cabin The cabin was good. Not great, but not bad. It felt a bit dated despite the refurb. One plug socket for the whole cabin was really a pretty poor show. The balcony was decent size, the tv huge, and the bathroom average. It was overall reasonable but not impressive. We were at the rear of the ship and felt quite a bit of movement - one night when docking it actually felt similar to an earthquake. Staff The standard staff were generally amazing. They were very friendly, smiley and helpful. We found that Carnival's staff last year seemed a bit downcast and overworked - these were the opposite. I know they no doubt work just as hard but they always had a smile, were polite and lovely to speak to. The entertainment staff didn't impress me much. Ron Goodman, the cruise director, was pretty awful. Last year we had Matt Mitcham on the Carnival Vista - a charismatic guy that had everyone wanting to be friends with him. He'd show up to every event, create impromptu dance routines, tell jokes before a show and just create a fun environment. For me, Ron was the opposite, He's been in the game for decades and his style hasn't changed at all. He began each appearance with a speech telling us how fantastic Princess was, how spectacular that evening's entertainments would be and how we're all a big family. It was the same every time. And his deputy (yes, he had a deputy CD) was just as weak - a nice guy but not cut out to be the figurehead for entertainment onboard a 3500-passenger ship. What made me more curious was the fact that Ron and cohort would rarely be seen except for the evening show. I don't know what they were doing - where I should have known - he should have been in the public eye throughout the day, making sure everyone was having a good time. Overall The cruise had a few duff ports (Khios was a waste of time, Katakolon was pretty low-key) but we loved Mykonos, Kotor and Rhodes town (all repeat visits but well worth another visit). As a family, we had a good time in all, and we actually think Princess may well rival Celebrity. They had the little touches - cold towels when waiting for the tender etc - and had a lovely, classy ship. Food was up to standards in general, and facilities were all good. I think for someone of my age, a showy ship like a Royal Caribbean or Carnival vessel may be preferred, as there wasn't much to do onboard for me, but it was certainly an impressive ship nonetheless, and the older passengers certainly seemed happy. Entertainment wasn't very strong in all honesty, perhaps weaker than P&O even, but it didn't dampen the cruise. I'd happily cruise Princess again. 76% Read Less

This was a 50 day cruise and the most wonderful experience of my whole life. The crew was wonderful, kind and attentive. The ship is beautiful and very well appointed. The food was wonderful..My husband preferred the buffet (World Cafe) but I loved The Restaurant and both of the specialty restaurants. The menus were delicious and varied and included duck and celery root puree. Both my husband and I enjoyed the entertainment, especially the guest lecturers. The stage shows were fun and interesting. The guest entertainers charming and skilled. The Star also had a movie theatre that showed Metropolitan operas. My husband saw La Boheme 4 times and can now sing it in the shower (perhaps not so lucky for me but he loved it.) The cabin stewards were very helpful and attentive. I never had a need that wasn't met quickly and correectly, with kindness and courtesy. My husband and I travelled alone and sometimes needed help with heavy things and they were always helpful. We cannot speak highly enough of them and the rest on the crew. One day I did not feel well and was sitting in the ships living room. The barman, without prompting brought me a pot of tea. "You probably need this I think." I really did and his unsolicited kindness was very warming. During the trip, we went to over 30 ports and had wonderful excursions, especially a wine-tasting in Dubrovnik. The canal cruise in Berlin and our gondola in Venice will always stary with us. This is really not a cruise for children. They would be bored with lectures and excursions that don't have climbing walls or ziplines. No casino. Just interesting talks and shows and a n absolutely marvelous spa. I would do this 50-day cruise again today! As it is I am going around the world next year on the Viking Sun and am so looking forward to it! Read Less

Not impressed with the ship one bit, not worth all the "hype" it was given prior to going in service. First time I NEVER bought a drink on a cruise due to the VAT. Carnival should be ashamed of their selves for not disclosing this fact prior to sailing or prior to the cancellation date. Food was so bad in the buffet, deli and the new BBQ, I wouldn't give it to my dogs. "Dive In" movie was ended 20 mins. prior to the end, so "What happened at the end?" Paying for in room movies was a joke, never had to do that before. Atriums were underwhelming and the carpet was already being replaced in many areas. First time we experienced a power failure on a ship, glad we were in port. Main dining room was just so-so, menu choices were lacking but their "Sea Day" brunch was nice. The specialty restaurants, Fahrenheit 555 and Ji Ji's were the best dinner options. Lido deck Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana were great for lunch and breakfast. We had 3 room stewards for this cruise and that was a first, they did a great job and met all our needs always with a smile. We will be looking elsewhere for cruise before we choose Carnival again. Read Less

My husband and I chose this cruise to enjoy the intensive port itinerary. We purchased this cruise at a bargain discounter that included transfers from the airport to a fantastic hotel in Athens and another transfer from the hotel to the ship. We both thought that the upper decks were fantastically designed so that there were many types of activities to enjoy. Kudos to the designers!!! On my 65th birthday I challenged myself to do the ropes course. What a blast! Another day we did the cycle ride above the decks. Again, it was a blast. We were assigned to a table for 12 at the first seating. I never would have chosen such a large table and it was not to my liking. The dining room is extremely loud without soft surfaces to absorb the sounds. I truly disliked the lack of table cloths. I tried to keep my silverware on the bread plate, but when the servers removed that plate, they place my silverware on the bare table, The servers were excellent, but because of the number of tables and people ordering multiple main dishes, and the Maitre Ds singing, we were very late leaving the dining room. It seemed like the dining schedule and the entertainment schedule were in conflict. Twice I had a problem with gluten even though I ordered in advance. I made a complaint at guest relations. I must say that the problem was addressed and that they apologized and made a change in the kitchen. It turns out another passenger with Celiac had made a complaint the same day I did. The ports were excellent, but the cruise line should have provided transportation to the gates of the port. Because of the size of the ship and the distance to the gate, we were sometimes not allowed to walk. If the ship is that far away, shuttles should run frequently. At the port of Livorno, they sold tickets to the shuttle, and the shuttle service was inadequate for the number of passengers. Also, I would have loved to have had lectures about the ports we were visiting. After reading many reviews in Cruise Critic about slow, erratic and expensive internet on cruise ships, I was happy to find the internet service on the Vista to be fast, reliable and relatively inexpensive (especially in comparison to the Celebrity Equinox, on the transatlantic leg of our voyage home). The ship is absolutely beautiful. Read Less

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Had fun, very disappointed about Kusadasi being canceled. This was the main reason we took this cruise. Once cancelled this kicked in the 24% VAT which was not good. I think crew was looking ahead to New York . Cruise director was very good just had New York on her mind. Best thing about the food was Guy's Burgers. Very very good. The male singers in the band of shipseas group were not real good.(Bad) DJ not my style, messed up a lot of good songs playing around. I think ship will be much better once it reaches home in Miami and gets into a routine. Entertainment will have to improve for sure. The sky cycles were fun, the ship was smooth, the ship was clean. The cabin was kept up very well. Laundry service was fast and good. Our cabin was under buffet on 9th floor. Lots of noise at 4 am from carts wheels rolling around. Need pneumatic tires on carts. Final word, Yes I would go again. Things will get better on this beautiful ship. Read Less

This review is relevant to the 3 week Back2Back2Back2 Barcelona 3rd Sept to Rome 24th Sept. We chose this cruise mainly due to the port of Malta being included. We have cruised the Med before with Princess and this cruise included many ports that we had not visited before. We were bitterly disappointed when the Port of Malta was taken off and two other ports added twice. Istanbul and Ephesus were taken off because of the unrest in that area which we understood and always expected to happen. The final itinerary was posted ONLY 10 days from the Barcelona departure and 2 day before we left home on our journey. We feel that Princess always knew that the ports in Turkey were off the itinerary and they would have had alternative ports already confirmed well before they released them to their paying passengers. We would have cancelled the last 7 days of this cruise from Athens to Rome but with no time before we left to join the cruise Princess made this impossible. Princess needs to be more transparent and up front with their communication. This cruise was very expensive and took years of saving to get to go to all the ports that were advertised, only to have changes at the last minute i.e. Malta being removed and Corfu and Kotor being added twice. Most other cruise lines were very quick to cancel Turkey and put in place other alternatives, Princess we feel needs to follow their example. On a lesser note, we purchased the Reflections DVD package of the 21 day cruise advertised at $69.99. However as we were Platinum members we were entitled to a 10% discount, this was refused as we were told that this was a special price, however a special price was never advertised nor was a full retail price listed. So where is the loyalty to returning guests and honouring their obligation to stand by an advertised discount which is due to our Platinum status. Unbelievable for $7.00!! Come on Princess! Sorry Princess you have dropped the ball here. We will taking our next vacation with another cruise line as you have shown that communication and loyalty are not important to you. We have never sailed with anyone else, and before this cruise had no intention of sailing with another cruise line, but now it will be anyone but Princess, The attitude of the officer when confronted with these changes used the excuse that it was a Head Office decision and nothing to do with them, this maybe true but some apology or even understanding of the situation would be expected, we were told...so what just enjoy it! To end, the positives was the dining, food was excellent, as was the service, could not fault that, staff were always polite and obliging as they always have been on all our other Princess cruises Read Less

Chose because it is. Newest Carnival Cruise liner Did experience minor engine trouble but Carnival staff and Captains communication excellent with passengers 2 Staff very willing and service orientated Language misunderstanding was occasionally experienced 3 Embarkation process good but the first 90 minutes should be looked at because of volumes By warning passengers that a 60 minute delay must be expected and encouraging them to stagger their embarkation times to reduce initial pressure 4 Cabin still new, condition as new. cabin(1300) Air conditioning excellent, hot water very good Shower Curtain took getting used to TV fridge and safe good Suggest dedicated channel on TV for announcements to obviate opening cabin door to hear announcements missed a few 5 Main dining room service was above average Menu was limited but plating and portions were very good All the other dining areas excellent Garrys Burger Den is a delight for kids of all ages Lido Pastry Chef best yet, Menu Limited on occasion. .Definately targets American passengers 24 hr beverage and ice cream and Pizzas a boon for the hungry Read Less

Disgusting!!!!! We booked through Vantage Deluxe World Travel for an Aegean Cruise on the Harmony V and it was the worst vacation we have ever had. This ship needs to be taken out of commission or totally refurbished. The staterooms are old and run down as are the ship's common areas. Our stateroom "suite" was a sight to behold. The bathroom was covered in black mold and the entire stateroom reeked of mold. The shower door was covered in streaked soap scum for our entire stay - not cleaned. We were told not to flush used toilet paper down the toilet but to put it in the trash can - gross - and the bathroom sink water was not potable. When showering the stall filled ankle deep in water that didn't drain. We used towels to force the water down the drain and sop it up. Never felt clean after showering in a bathroom like this. After two days of complaining about the bathroom to the "hotel manager" a maintenance man was sent to rechaulk the bathroom. When we disembarked the black mold was leeching through again - disgusting and unhealthy. The bed linens were old, rough, tattered and yellowed and the bed and pillows were no better than sleeping on a cot. The carpet was old and stained and need to be replaced. After touring for the day we dreaded going back to this dump of a ship. We have been on many cruises, some better than others, but always a good experience. This $14,000 vacation was a disappointing, disgusting rip off and I have no idea how Vantage and Variety continue to get away with marketing it as a high end trip. STAY AWAY! Read Less

Embarkation was very smooth and we didn't have any waiting. The ship is huge but the crew managed to provide a very intimate service and it felt very personal. The bar staff remembered our favourite cocktails etc. Our cabin had everything we needed and was kept exceptionally clean. The balcony area was great and plenty big enough. The dining opportunities were numerous and the food and service were excellent. It felt we were going to a fine dining restaurant every night. Alfredo's did great pizzas and the International Café did a wonderful range of salads, panninis etc. The entertainment had something to please everyone, it was difficult to make a choice. The theatre shows were of a very high quality and we really enjoyed Marc Paul and The Beatle Maniacs. I think the shore excursions are on the pricey side but as I had my 80 year old mother with me I wanted it to be a relaxed experience and it certainly was. We did our own trip from the harbour in Santorini which was only £20 euros and excellent value but we did shore excursions in Kotor - Montenegro, Pompeii and Sorrento, Taormina - Sicily. Whilst I expected this trip to be my mum's once in a lifetime experience it seems she has other ideas and is keen to book for next year. The only negative comment is that Princess organised the flights that were split - Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle and CdG to Athens on the return we did Barcelona to Munich and Munich to Heathrow . We had 4 1/2 hours stopover in Munich which meant it took over 8 hours to do a 2 hour trip - CRAZY!! Never again, I'm wiser now and realise that I can actually chose the flights I want. Read Less

Arrived in Athens 2days before departure and boarded the cruise ship with ease. Everything went very smooth and they had all the shore excursions well organized. Vey impressed. Only thing wrong was the transfers when we got to Venice (not good) but this was not done by Viking should have booked Viking transfers. All in all in was fantastic and will definitely go on another one. This was our second with Viking ,first ocean and the river cruise was aslo as great. We went from Budapest to Amsterdam and all the shore excursions were also great. Meals were fantastic and the alacart restaurants were nice to go to. The staff couldn't do enough for you always asking if everything is okay. Our cabin was very spacious and we enjoyed our terrace. It is also nice that you may bring the local wine on board to try or the local beers. Excellent holiday and will do it again. Read Less

As a mature couple we found that this ship felt like it was crowded. We have only been on 1 other cruise and that was on the Carnival Legend and found that the Royal Princess was lacking in almost every detail compared to the Legend except for the decor. On the Royal you are constantly waiting for elevators and you had to queue for almost anything onboard. We had a mini suite and this was only marginally bigger than our balcony stateroom on the Legend but the balcony on the Princess is tiny and useless. Food was about the same on both ships although the pizzas on the Legend are miles better. Worst of all was the Customer service. I had to queue for 45 minutes to report a lost card as they would not answer the phone and when making enquiries about port shuttles of transfers if you were not booked on there excursions they just didn't care and were quite rude about it.Probably what bugs me the most is that I paid $600AUD in gratuities and though I don't mind this going to our cabin staff I don't like that even the rude staff will be getting some of this money even though they don't deserve it. I know that I wasn't alone in this as most people on this cruise were unhappy with Princess especially because there was changes in the itinerary without proper explanation. Read Less

If you like terrible service, being treated like cattle, bad food, long lines and people who could hardly speak english serving you at "dinner," then this cruise is for you. It appears Princess under its new owner, Carnival, is going down down down to cater to slobs and offering mediocracy at best. The boat itself is very fast and as far as its ability to handle seas and dock I would give it an A. As far as luxury goes, cleansiness, good service, wifi that works, televisions that work, a spa with luxury items, and having excellent food, the grade would be between a "D" and an "F." Same goes for the tours which were horrible - tour guides that were tired and could hardly speak English and buses that had no air conditioning in 90 plus degree weather! Save your money and go elsewhere. The help on this boat seemed like they just got out of prison and are illegal aliens....... For the overwhelming majority of my trip it was like being on the "USS Torture." If you could not care about the quality of food and service and like being fed like it was in 5th grade cafeteria, then this boat is for you! Read Less