Island Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,228 reviews

Grand Mediterranean; Island Princess, Barcelona to Venice

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Island Princess
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BucketList57
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

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Additional details

Sail Date: Aug 2015
Cabin: Balcony

My wife and I have been on four cruises prior to this one (three with Royal Caribbean and one with Princess). We chose this cruise on the Island Princess for the itinerary (Barcelona, Toulon, Florence, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi, Athens, and Venice). We wanted to get a feel for various parts of southern Europe. I have traveled extensively through Europe but my wife had never been. So, we took big/long excursions in each port except for Mykonos. The excursions were great. Everything was scripted and timed. We did not wait in any lines and we really did not experience any traffic delays. (Some folks said that was because we were traveling in August and all of the 'working' locals in each city were on their August 'holiday'). Anyway, each of the excursions were very good, especially with the use of the radio receivers so that you are not required to be right next to the guide.

Since we knew we were taking long excursions, and that we would be tired in the evenings, we really did not care about the amenities and shows on the ships - though everything seemed to be nice. The food was excellent and plentiful, so we were happy.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BD

Nice - standard - balcony cabin. No issues.

Port Reviews

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Awesome. Not a quiet as it should be.

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Not crowded. Nice day to be outside.

Mykonos

Take the bus provided for a small fee by the cruise line to the center of the town and enjoy all of the shops, restaurants/bars, and relax - you deserve it after all the previous excursions.

Naples

Full of high fashion stores - mainly.

Naples

Glad I was not there in 79AD.

Naples

Wonderful area to do some shopping.

Istanbul

You must see this. Amazing that it was built in the 6th century AD.

Istanbul

See the 60+ carat diamond.

Kusadasi

The Ephesus ruins are more amazing than Pompeii.

Kusadasi

An amazing religious site.

Athens (Piraeus)

Must climb many steps.

Athens (Piraeus)

Used in the Olympics.

Venice

Fun - as expected.

Venice

Saw the glass blowing in action.

Barcelona

Fabulous city. Very clean. All of the crowds are around Las Ramblas. Other areas of the city are not crowded. The port and embarkation on the ship is nice and is run very efficiently.

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