BACKGROUND: We are an American couple in our late-40's/early 50's with a 14-year-old son, who have taken 29 cruises, of which 16 were on Princess. Princess is our preferred line, but we have also enjoyed cruises on Cunard, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Costa and Carnival, not to mention several lines that are no longer in business (Home Lines, the Italian Line, Incres, Sitmar...) In fact, we've never been on a bad cruise, which is why we continue to travel this way again and again. We have traveled to Europe several times in the past, and did one previous cruise in the Mediterranean, on the Ocean Islander in 1990. We've wanted to take another cruise in the Mediterranean for a long time. On our last land-based trip through Italy we really missed being on a ship. So we decided to bite the bullet and book this cruise while on board the Sun Princess in April, 2006.

TRAVEL TO THE SHIP AND EMBARKATION: One of the attractions of Princess' "Mediterranean Adventurer" itinerary is that it begins and ends in Southampton, U.K. In this time of airfare increases, a reasonably priced round-trip ticket to Europe without having to change planes or airports can make the difference between taking a Mediterranean cruise or remaining stateside. We are fortunate in that there are easy and reasonably-priced air connections between Philadelphia (or Newark, NJ) and the London airports of Heathrow and Gatwick. When I say "reasonably priced" I mean in comparison to airfare to Barcelona or Venice or even Rome. Of course, airfare is a major expense of a Mediterranean cruise, compared to what we pay to fly to, say, Fort Lauderdale or Seattle. We booked our air tickets over the internet 11 months in advance; as soon as reservations opened up for our arrival and departure dates. We chose a non-stop British Airways flight from Philadelphia International to Heathrow Terminal 4 that departed two days before our cruise, just in case. Although our departure was delayed over an hour, and we arrived late at Heathrow the following morning, it was of no consequence to us. We were in London safe-and-sound, and our luggage was all accounted for. We checked into the Marriott at Heathrow (reasonably priced; and the rooms are large enough for triple occupancy), and spent the rest of the day contentedly sleeping off our jet lag. The following morning, after a large breakfast (included with the room rate)we transferred to the Heathrow Bus Terminal and took the National Express coach to Southampton. The trip took around 1 1/2 hours, making one stop in Winchester. We had prepaid our National Express tickets on their excellent internet site. Upon arrival at the Southampton Coach Station, we found the taxi line and waited, and waited, and waited. There were two other ships besides Sea Princess in Southampton that day, and there were not enough cabs to handle the traffic. Shades of Port Everglades on Saturdays when there are 10 ships in port! Actually, it wasn't THAT bad. We waited 20 minutes or so, then our cab delivered us after a 5-minute ride to the Mayflower Terminal. It was a cinch to check the luggage. We arrived around 2:00 P.M., and there wasn't much of a check-in line. Since we are Elite Captain's Circle members, we went to a special line. However, most people arriving at 2:00 had an easy time of it. Within 15 minutes we were excitedly walking up the gangway in great anticipation of being "back where we belong," as Princess' old slogan goes.

OUR CABIN: We booked an oceanview cat. FF cabin on Plaza Deck. On two previous cruises on Sea Princess' sister ship, Sun Princess, we also stayed in similar cabins on Plaza Deck. On shorter cruises we prefer balcony cabins, but there was a considerable price differential on this two-week cruise. We could have paid even less for an inside cabin, but chose not to. We love looking out the window, plus we're midship and low down, a good location for rough seas. As soon as we boarded the ship, we made a right turn at the Patisserie, exited the atrium into the corridor, walked past one or two cabin doors, and there was our home for the next two weeks. Our cabin steward, Rodolfo, introduced himself within a minute or two. He provided a consistently excellent level of service throughout the entire cruise. Every morning, our cabin was made up while we ate breakfast. We never needed to ask for clean towels, beach towels, or ice. Everything was always provided with a smile. And our cabin was always prepared for the night while we ate dinner. We had the two lower beds made into one bigger bed. At night, the third bed for our son was pulled down from the ceiling. We have never had issues with feeling overcrowded in the cabin, or overly cramped in the bathroom (and my husband is very tall). I guess we're just used to it. To our delight, all of the bar set-ups, the bathrobes, and the enhanced toiletries promised to Elite Captains Circle passengers were already in the cabin. They were ready for us! It took only 1/2 hour for our suitcases to appear. I was able to unpack before we left the cabin for a late lunch in Horizon Court. Read more