This was our 7th cruise and 2nd with Princess. We are married and Mid 50's. Very important: prior to cruising enroll in your ship's/cruise Roll Call on this site, its a great way to get and share ideas and make friends prior to your cruise!!!! We did the Venice to Barcelona route departing Venice Friday at 1 PM and beginning with Istanbul....however we never made Istanbul because on Saturday night we rec'd a distress call from 118 Syrian refugees on a small boat and it took us out of our Route from 9PM until disembarking the refugees in Greece Sunday at 2:00 PM, so they took us to Santorini instead of Istanbul which was VERY, VERY Disappointing to many of us...Santorini was nice but NOT Istanbul!

The ports were all nice, the weather was hot, seas calm, food very good, the entire staff/crew were all VERY nice and accommodating, the ship clean and well maintained, good entertainment and overall a typical great cruising experience on Princess. Our cabin was A333 (Aloha Deck/deck 12 starboard side). Very nice cabin, our steward Imran was great however 2 minor points to mention: Our cabin was along the inside "curve" of the ships cabins so we could see out well, but not able to see fwd to the bow or rear to the stern, also the floor of outside deck 14 directly above us did provide shade on our balcony but also restricted your view upward (not a big deal) however cabins at the front, mid ship and stern sections were on the outside of the curve and had a more complete view. By "curve" I refer to walking down the hall from front to back, after about 15 cabins the hall turns inward and then straight again until mid ship when it curves out again and repeats to the stern. Also, having the floor of deck 14, where its outside near the pool, directly above us, we did hear the occasional pounding of feet when someone ran along above us. Barely noticed that but wanted to mention it. Cabin A333 was about the 5-7th cabin down from bow to stern, on this inside curve. Thats really our only very minor complaint.

We chose the anytime dining and that enabled us to sit at different tables and meet many people and staff members. We only had to wait once for a table, about an hour for a table on the first Saturday night when everyone showed up to eat around 8PM. In the MED it was light outside until about 10PM so everyone enjoys eating later. Aside from the first night, we had no trouble getting a table immediately. For the formal nights, some dressed up with Tuxes, suits etc, we chose not to and just wore khakis and either a long sleeve dress shirt or a collared golf type short sleeve and that was fine. No shorts in the dining rooms for dinner. We were scheduled to eat in the Bordeaux dining room on deck 5 which was fine. We were not impressed with either the Italian (extra fee of $25/person) or the Bayou Steak house menus so why pay extra for menus that we didn't care for. The Crown Steakhouse was NOT on the Island princess and that in the past was very enjoyable. Those who did pay extra and ate at either place said all was fine, however we are not into cajun etc. For 3 nights the ship offered a "Crab Shack" on the port side of the Buffet area, it was roped off for some privacy, cost $20/person and we found that well worth it as it was all you can eat, great choice if you enjoy seafood. Read more