The Princess Holy Land/Egypt Mediterranean cruise this year was exceptional in that we actually docked in Egypt (although in Alexandria instead of Port Said). Luckily we chose an off-ship tour or we would not have seen half the sights we did. The ship tours cut way back on their stops and did not offer an overnight. It was a little surreal watching the news from Cairo a couple weeks later though.

When things calm down again, I highly recommend this cruise. Ephesus in Turkey and 2-days in Israel were great ports not to mention Sorrento Italy. Sadly, rough seas prevented tender service and scuttled our stop on Santorini. Patmos is nice, but doesn't deserve or need a full day (whereas the scheduled time in Santorini should be lengthened)

This was our 7th trip on Princess cruises and it is so obvious that they are applying cost cutting measures. Service and food quality can be sorely lacking on what is classified as an upper scale cruise line. This was our third cruise in a year so for us the cutbacks have been very obvious. One of the most obvious is the lack of diversity in the dinner menu (along with the cutbacks in waitstaff.) For the most part, it seemed like the same menu we had on our Caribbean cruise in November on the Emerald. And why is it such a big deal to ask for a proper red wine glass at dinner??? Read more