I'm 56, my wife is 48, and this was our first "cruise" together, though we did a transAtlantic crossing on the QM2 in 2006. We chose the Princess "Mediterranean Adventurer" for the itinerary, which included Gibraltar, Rome, and Naples, all of which were on our "must-see" list.

Embarkation in Southampton was difficult, but well handled by Princess. The problem was that the Sea Princess had experienced a technical problem with propulsion on the previous cruise and did not arrive as scheduled. Instead of arriving at 07:00 and embarking passengers at noon, Sea Princess arrived at 16:30 and embarked passengers at around 19:00. While waiting at the terminal, the passengers were provided with complimentary sandwiches and non-alcoholic drinks. Passengers were understandably agitated and nervous, but the Princess shore personnel were as reassuring as they could possibly be.

Once started, embarkation proceeded quickly and smoothly. Our cabin was made up and spotless when we arrived, and the full meal provided in the anytime dining room was well prepared and served with a great deal of panache. I can't stress enough that this was done by people who had been improvising all day and had missed any breaks they might have had. They had served an unexpected lunch to the delayed inbound passengers and were now serving a late dinner to the newly-arrived and very nervous passengers, and they did it with complete professionalism and good humor. Great kudos to them. Read more