Princess Cruises has built the most dysfunctional and perhaps the poorest-designed ship I have ever sailed on- a complete disappointment. I was lost the entire two weeks we cruised the Med. First of all, there is very limited outdoor space- and what space there is always had blaring music or movies 24/7. Most of the views from these decks also have glass partitions so there is no way to clearly see the shore or any vista. The best deck for sun, quiet space and views is the smokers' deck on 17- which, by the way, is located next to the children's play area. There's no circulation around the decks-- remember when ships had promenade decks?; a lack of stairways, or stairs that lead nowhere, and most importantly no center stairway. Most of my travel time was waiting for an elevator. The spa is on deck 5- tucked into the bowels of the ship, while the gym is on 17--- none of it makes sense. This ship feels like something built by a committee of men who've never cruised before.

Adding to the design flaws was Princess' indifference to returning guests. I sailed with a Ruby member and there was no recognition- reception or otherwise- to acknowledge the line's loyal customers. Top that off with a surly hotel staff (my partner's key was de-magnetized 7 times) who wanted to lecture a guest before offering assistance, and you've really created "Faulty Towers" at sea.

Our itin. was changed two weeks from the sailing date- no Turkish ports this year- but the replacements were mixed. Loved Kotur and was happy to return 2x, but the late addition of Messina, Sicily was a disaster: dirty, dangerous and nothing that compared to Greece or Montenegro. We arrived at 1 pm- just when Southern Italy takes a siesta- and had nothing to do until everything re-opened at 4 pm. We wandered the hard-scrabble streets of this port city scratching our heads and asking "why"? I guess we could have taken the $200 cab ride to Taurima. Whatever. Read more