The itinerary and ports were spectacular, the ship, no. Our room, C212 was 2 floors above the Princess Theater, yet we heard every show three time-once in person and twice again in our cabin. Food was awful. Worst we have had on any cruise, and the very first time we were not happy with the food.Regional favorites prepared badly in the buffet-overcooked, oversauced and greasy. Food prep staff openly fighting in front of guests. Ship needs a new buffet manager.Breakfast in the dining room had greasy potatoes and bacon and lunchtime service in the dining room was extremely slow and food was served cold.Activities were run of the mill-all the oldies and nothing new. The piazza was pressed into service too often and was crowded with no place to sit. Embarkation took almost 2 hours. Don't know why it moved so slowly.

Now for the good. Our stateroom was very comfortable and well laid out-the best interior we have ever traveled in. Our cabin steward, Edgar, was exceptional. Evening entertainment was great, especially Donna Cousins, Mike Doyle and the Russian folkloric show. Donna and Mike were quite funny and the Russian singers and dancers were excellent-no need for evening shore entertainment. Port and shore excursions were mostly booked with SPB tours (thank you, Cruise Critic!)but the Princess booked tours of Brugge and Ghent and then Oslo were fun, informative and activity-packed. Copenhagen and Gdansk not so much.A note of caution-this is a physically demanding cruise. Six port days in a row, lots of foot travel over cobble-stoned streets. However, the cities were magnificent and we quickly ran out of superlatives. St. Petersburg was an unforgettable experience!The ships staff was not terribly helpful,with some exceptions. Excursion staffer Biljanna and cruise director Lisa Ball(a lovely woman) went out of their way to help us get info for our London visit after the cruise. Several departments could not even produce a London street map!

Disembarkation went smoothly. No use of children's clubs.