Great Cruise for the Older Crowd

Royal Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

davidu64

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 9

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

10 Night Western Mediterranean (Rome To Barcelona)

Sail date: May 17, 2017

Ship: Royal Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: A720

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The Princess cruise was fine. The food was descent and the ports were good, though it would of been nice to have three days at sea instead of two. My only real issue was the lack of nightly entertainment on board. There were no big shows to see after dinner. There were some crew-run activities, but no shows like on Royal Caribbean, for example. There were a few nights of dancing, but it ended at 8pm. That being said, it was a great cruise for my elderly parents.

I was surprised at the lack of real entertainment on this cruise. The entertainment, schedule, food choices, dining, etc is the same as it has been for 30 years. It has been 7 years since I have cruised before this last cruise, and I was expecting new and creative onboard experiences, but Princess (at least on this particular cruise) has not worked very hard to update their entertainment for the younger crowd.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Dining is old fashioned. Princess is still working the formal nights (which many did not attend) and for which there was no reason to dress up. There was no special activity during dinner (captain's dinner, ice sculptures, etc) to dress up for. It would have been nice to have more interesting and fun dishes.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Princess is still working the old standards that have worked for 30 years. It would be nice if they had updated their activities like cooking classes, photography classes, travel classes, or learning a new game, for example.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Very little in entertainment. No big shows or productions. Dancing ended at 8pm.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Cabin was great. Comfortable bed and clean room.

Ship tip

The Royal Princess is a nice ship, but has a confusing layout, especially if you are in the Allegra Dining Room. I had to look at the ship map daily to find my way around the ship. The Mediterranean cruise was fine for my senior parents who enjoyed spending their free time relaxing in the room.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Naples, Italy

2 out of 5

Messina, Sicily

2 out of 5

Dubrovnik, Croatia

3 out of 5

Kotor, Montenegro

3 out of 5

Corfu, Greece

3 out of 5

Ajaccio, Corsica

2 out of 5

Toulon, France

2 out of 5

6 Comments

picalo 7 years ago

I meant Hawaii

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kathyron 7 years ago

We going take 11 days from Spain to Rome ð¤ð

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picalo 7 years ago

I got a hardy laugh out of people complaining that it took four days to get to Alaska

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tamkcomsncom 7 years ago

I'm sorry that you didn't pay enough attention to the itinerary before you booked the cruise. We love sea days, and book the cruise that meets our needs. I will never forget the people complaining that it took 4 days to get to Hawaii. Please read the itinerary before you book, so we don't have to hear about it!

Thumbs Up 3

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willwork4cruz 7 years ago

Are you sure they did not hold any shows in the evening? Do you mean you ate late and the show was already over when you were available? I've had that happen on Princess but never a cruise with no shows. Others on that same ship/itenerary raved about the nightly entertainment.

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picalo 7 years ago

where did this cruise go? btw, I too love days at sea

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Other reviews of this sailing

Great Service combined with Interesting Ports

Royal Princess: nice ship, great service, but mediocre food and entertainment

Love the ports and scenery!