We enjoyed this cruise although 25 days was just a little too long. The last 7 days was crossing the Atlantic and I wish There were more activities on the ship.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation went very quickly and smoothly
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Overall my dining experience was truly wonderful. My only issue was that the first 10 days of the cruise from Rome to Barcelona the ship had a shortage of wine available in all of the dining venues and also at Vines. The selection that was available was disappointing at best. At Barcelona they were able to provide a much better selection of wines, but still some of my favorites were still not available in the dining rooms. Vines had a better selection and I was able to order several bottles from Vines while in the dining room. The only specialty restaurant we tried was Sabatini's and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal there. We also tried for the first time their Super Tuscan Wine dinner that was offered after Barcelona, when the selection of wines was better. Overall the food in the main dining rooms was wonderful. The horizon court was where we had most of our breakfasts and some lunches. We enjoyed everything we had. The guys that made our omelette's every morning work very hard and did a great job. We went to Alfredo's numerous times for lunch, always delicious. The international cafe was great for early morning breakfasts when we had an early excursion off the ship. It was also nice for lunch or a snack during the day.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We used the fitness room frequently and enjoyed it. We also liked the movies under the stars as well as the dance lessons.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The ships entertainment was excellent. We did not go to any of the production shows as we have seen all of them several times already on previous Cruise's. We enjoyed the comedians, the tribute acts, the vocalists, the instrumentalists, the house band was really great. We also liked the dance bands and also the string quartet.
Children's Programs
Did not travel with any children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward was excellent, very friendly and kept our cabin immaculate. The dining room servers were for the most part very efficient but since we had anytime dining we seldom had the same servers. Most were really great and some others just were too slow. That's really my only issue with the servers. All ships personnel we came into contact with were all very friendly.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This was our 4th cruise on the Royal Princess. I've always felt the ships layout and design was very functional and easy to navigate all about the ship. The ship seemed to always be very clean and well maintained. My only issue with the design is the Vista lounge, the second largest entertainment venue is just too small. It was frequently difficult to get a seat for a show unless you get there an hour before the show begins.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin seemed a little claustrophobic at times especially on a 25 day cruise but it's functional and cozy. The balcony is definitely too small. The bathroom was, wait for it, small but we managed.
Ship tip
When you embark on the ship skip the horizon court buffet for lunch as it's usually very crowded during embarkation. We usually go to Alfredo's for their yummy pizza and sangria for lunch during embarkation.
Beautiful and very busy city. We walked around on our own and went to the National Archeological Museum to see the artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum.
This was our first visit to Croatia. We did the ships excursion to the old city walls. This was very enjoyable but was a strenuous walk. After our tour was over we walked around the old town on our own and had a snack at one of their restaurants.
We walked around the old town on our own and also walked up to the fort on top of a small mountain. The view reminded me of a fiord in Norway. It was truly beautiful.
We visited the house Achilleion palace and was a bit disappointed in it. We were also walked through part of the old town then we were on our own. We visited the St. Spyridon cathedral which was very nice then walked around on our own before returning to the ship. The old town is very nice.
This excursion was very disappointing. We first visited the dramatic landscape of Calanches for their beautiful red granite formations. We had a quick stop and most of the people including myself waited to use the restroom. There was only one available. We were not allowed to walk around and enjoy the views as some other buses on the same tour were able to do. From there we went to a small Greek village of Cargese and again had a very little amount of time to walk around. Finally we saw the village of Piana, again for a short amount of time. We spent most of the time on the bus. This was not a pleasant excursion.
we had a walking tour of a quaint little town before moving on to the winery in the Bandol region for a tasting. We were given a brief tour of the olive groves as the grapes had already been harvested. Then it was on to the tasting room. I enjoyed their wines although the rose we tasted which is what Bandol is apparently famous for was not my favorite. I preferred their red wine the best. They also served some yummy olive bread. Overall a nice time.
Having visited Barcelona several times already we wandered around on our own. Barcelona has a great metro system so getting around the city is quite easy. We visited several tapas bars we liked and also a nice sweet shop. Overall a great visit to One of our favorite cities in Europe.
We visited Cartagena on our own. We saw the Roman theatre then walked around the pedestrian zone for a few hours. We came upon a very nice tapas bar called La UVA Jumillana which we absolutely loved.
We took the ships excursion to the cable car to the top of the Rock. About half way up we went into a huge gray cloud which completely covered the top of the Rock so there was no amazing view. We did however see some of the monkeys that live there. Next we tried to find a taxi to go to the Siege tunnels but we could not find a taxi to save our lives. We tried walking but kept getting lost so finally we gave up and returned to the ship. A disappointing experience.
We did do an excursion to Jerez de la Frontera for a brief walking tour followed by a tour and tasting in a Sherry bodega. The tour of the bodega was nice but we only tasted 2 sherrys and they do produce more. We actually had a better time when we returned to the ship. We walked around the old town of Cadiz and did a little shopping and ended up at the Cathedral which was incredible.
We visited the resort area of Puerto de La Cruz with a black sandy beach. I wish we could have stayed there longer because it truly was beautiful. From there we visited the Sitio Litre Orchard Gardens. It was very nice but kind of smaller than we expected.
We visited the Jamel's Del Agua which was incredible. It was a volcanic tunnel that is a total of 4 miles long. From there we went to Mirador Del Rio the most famous high up view point of the island. This was a unique experience.
After disembarking from the ship we actually spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale before flying home the next day. We hung out on the beach most of the day.
After a port intensive cruise such as Med I don't mind doing a TA and having some days to relax,read, and wander around the ship. Agree with OP that balcony cabin and shower kind of cramped after 20+ days but I feel fortunate to be able to cruise for that long. Recommend you give it a try.
Good to know. I have been considering a 7 night med cruise backed to a transatlantic and wondered if it would become boring or if there was ample entertainment on so many sea days.
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