Royal Medierranean Sailing
Royal Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
12 Night Grand Mediterranean (Barcelona To Venice)
Sail date: August 10, 2013
Ship: Royal Princess
Cabin type: Suite
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
Overall it was a very good experience with interesting ports. This was our first Princess cruise (we usually take Royal Caribbean) and the Royal Princess is a beautiful ship. It is very well appointed and elegant. There were some hiccups on our sailing, though, with small things like spotty internet (although I can't say as I've ever experienced good internet at sea), hassles like a hour plus delay getting off ship in Athens, and concerning things like a loss of power for a half hour or so (on a brand new ship?). After a long day in port, we sometimes found ourselves avoiding the dining room at dinner because the service was slow (we had anytime dining) and the food was good but not great. Our cabin steward was passable - sometimes didn't get fresh towels even when we left them on the floor. The front desk staff was nice enough, but we kept getting conflicting information from them about how to pick up an item held by security. Getting on an off the ship on port days was not as smooth as we've experienced on other lines. Princess sometimes had just one line to check people off and on the ship, although it was a nice touch to offer wet towels to wipe off before getting on board. We didn't think there was a variety of entertainment. It seemed that at night your choice was the casino or music/dance options at various bars. The itinerary kept us at sea almost everyday, so when we had a day at sea we didn't want/need much entertainment. The pool area was overrun with young children, but that was probably because all European families go on vacation in mid-August. We found ourselves staying in the room to watch a movie - the Royal Princess has a great selection of recent releases as well as some classics available anytime in the cabin (side note that sometimes it didn't work).Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
International Café in the Piazza was a great option for a quick breakfast and had great sandwiches - we ate here much more than the Buffet.
Ports of call
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy