A couple of things to know about myself and spouse. We are very much Princess cruisers. We've enjoyed all the cruises we've taken. I'm not going to review the food, because to me, if I can eat what's served I'm happy. I haven't experienced a cruise (this one included) where I pushed away the food I've ordered. We have also usually cruised the bigger ships, so I was worried about the small ship, but it turned out I had nothing to worry about! We chose this cruise because of the itinerary. We have also never been on a small ship. The small ship experience was terrific. No lines for embarkation. No lines in the buffet. There is also a great space at the back of the ship off the buffet where you could enjoy your selections from the buffet and look out the back of the ship on your surroundings. We got to see people we met on excursions around the ship more often. We do like to gamble while on cruises. One of the great benefits of this ship was that the casino was non smoking. One of the disadvantages was there were only 4 tables, one 3 card poker, 2 black jack tables (started with 3, but they changed one to a texas hold'em table where you play against the dealer). So it may be they don't have your game. Another disadvantage, again because of the size of the ship was the music in the casino bar could be a distraction at times. Bingo was also fun. However, because of the small crowd on this cruise the pots were smaller. Some people would find this as a benefit. There are no art actions on this ship. Some other differences between big ship and small ship. Sterling steakhouse (which we got to enjoy twice) and Sabitini's switch off. This made it a little difficult to get times for the steakhouse. On the smaller ship, there is no international café, there isn't the pizza restaurant, no gelato shop, there is no anytime dining. You only have the selection of early or late seating. This wasn't an issue for my spouse and I. But it may be an issue for other cruisers. In my opinion there weren't as many activities on the ship during port days, and even on sea days. There are the usual trivia times, and as I mentioned bingo [during sea days], a movie is shown daily in the cabaret lounge, and I noticed bean bag toss, there were also discussions on ports, and other items (I didn't attend those so I can't speak to that). So that may be a consideration. Speaking of stuff to do on the ship, the ship's library is fantastic! It's beautiful and there are many books in the library. If you have the chance go check it out. We didn't check out all the entertainment, but we did enjoy the production shows. Some of the entertainment didn't interest us. There was a magician, a couple of vocalists, a pianist, a violinist, a juggling and acrobatic troupe, and a comedian. Over all, I would gladly take this ship again. We enjoyed everything about this cruise! We would gladly do this trip again, and we would gladly sail this ship again. It was very relaxing! If you think you might enjoy a different experience, I encourage you to take this ship wherever it travels. Hope this was helpful. Read Less

We, recently, got home from the Dec 5th Transatlantic on the Pacific Princess. This itinerary started, for us, in Civitavecchia (Rome) and included the ports of Naples, Palermo, Gibraltar, Cadiz, and Santa Cruz De Tenerife before the crossing to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived in Rome the morning of Dec 2nd and had a wonderful three day stay at the Palazzo Naiadi near the Roma Termini. The complete staff at this hotel was very courteous and helpful during our stay. While in Rome we saw the Colosseum and the Vatican on Monday and Tuesday with a considerable amount of walking the entire time. We booked our transfers from the airport to Rome (VIP transfer) and Rome to port (Countryside Tour) with Rome Cabs. I would recommend them as your first choice as they were very, very, easy to work with. Our Driver, Rosselina, was our driver for both transfers. She was on time, very knowledgeable and was a great companion as well as driver. She showed us many sites on the way into Rome. On the way to the port the tour was to Lake Bracciano and the Bracciano Castle where we toured the castle and spent some time in the small town enjoying an espresso and had time to purchase some cheese, meats, and bread for the ship. After this stop we went to the small town of Ceri for a nice lunch in a local cafe. While eating, Rosselina arranged for us to purchase a bottle of local olive oil before the store closed and we were able to pay for it with our meal. During the rest of the drive, Rosselina shared much information on the area and the port. We arrived at the port in the early afternoon and were the only passengers boarding so the process was as easy as any we had experienced. We were on the ship and in our cabin within 15 minutes. Our luggage arrived soon after. We were in cabin 8069, an aft cabin just below the Panorama Buffet. We, rarely, had any excessive noise from the deck above. For the most part, we had a quiet cabin. The cabin was suitable in size and the bed was very comfortable. The bed was lower than we’re used to, and we could not fit our large hard side luggage under the bed as with previous cruises. Although we had issues with where to put our luggage, we had plenty of space to place our clothes and other items. For your reference, my suitcase is 12” thick. Our cabin steward, Ronaldo, was very busy with many cabins, at least 12, and he did his very best to take care of all the cabins. He was, also, very good at keeping our bucket filled with ice and the cabin in good order despite his hectic schedule. We did grow very fond of him during the cruise. Our experience in the dining room was very good. Our Maître d was Luigi Pascale who was very entertaining and managed the dining room with precision. Our head waiters were Vincenzo Del Santo and Joao Serra Da Costa Santos who took very good care of us. One of our table mates needed a special menu and Vincenzo was there every night to provide him with his special menu for the next evening meal. The menu was more than sufficient, and we had many choices every evening, although there was some repetition of menu items. Overall, the food was very good with only a couple things I would not have ordered again. The Panorama Buffet had good variety of choices for breakfast and lunch. The food was always fresh and there were ample places to sit. A few times we would be joined by random diners who were, for the most, very engaging and enjoyable. We very much appreciated eating in the outside deck area. The only downside is that when we brought our fresh coffee the service staff would tend to assume we didn’t need other things like juice and water. We, frequently, had to get those ourselves. We ate in the Sterling Steakhouse once and found the steaks were only average. This is subjective though as we can get excellent cuts of steak where we live, and our expectations are high when it comes to steak. That said, the services were fine in the restaurant. After a premium wine tasting I was offered attendance at a special “Super Tuscan” wine and food tasting lunch in Sabatini’s. This was put on by the chef Alessandro Carrer and presented by the maître d and head waiters. This was a 5-course tasting menu with wine pairing and was excellent. For me, this was one of the highlights of my cruise. The entertainment, especially the ship’s production staff, was outstanding. The band was very good and played a variety of music genres. The singers were very entertaining and, again, very diverse in what they presented. The six dancers were all top notch and talented. I would have to say they were the best of any ship we have sailed. In addition to their amazing performances, the dancers also worked at the deck activities and other venues such as dance instruction and trivia, to name a few. The other entertainers who were booked during the cruise were good as well. The bars on the ship were good but our favorite was the Casino Bar. This is where we, and some of our new friends, would meet for drinks before and after dinner and after some of the evening shows. The two main people here were David and Mickey, who took excellent care of us during the entire cruise and were always there for us. Their service was probably the best during the cruise. We looked forward to seeing them daily. Naples - We took a ship excursion NAP-310, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Cheese Tasting. The tour was 9 hours and well worth the time. The first stop was to a place that produces Limoncello where we were able to taste and/or purchase the product. After, we stopped at a farm that produces handmade cheeses and we were shown how different cheeses were made. We were then treated to the cheese and wine tasting room where we tasted their fresh cheese and local wine. We, also, spent a couple hours in Sorrento, where many people wandered and shopped. After, we drove to Pompeii for the remaining time and explored the ruins. This was the highlight as Pompeii was number one on my bucket list. Palermo - We took another ship excursion PMO-210, Capuchin Catacombs and Mysteries. This was wonderfully enlightening tour that gave some insight to modern mummification was administered. After we toured the catacombs, we were taken to the historically private Oratories of Santa Cita and San Domenico where we learned of those practices and saw the magnificent artworks in each oratory. Gibraltar - We left the ship and walked to the cable car which took us to the top. Our tickets allowed access to many attractions on the walk back down such as St Michael's Cave, the Siege Tunnels, and Moorish Castle to name a few. After our walk down we stopped at Grand Casemates Square for a late lunch at the Lord Nelson Pub where we enjoyed a couple Guinness beers and a lunch we could not finish. All very reasonably priced. Cadiz - We went on a private tour with fellow roll call members to Seville that was organized by a roll call member through Spain Day Tours. The main attraction was Alcazar of Seville which was, in my opinion, more enlightening than a previous tour to Alhambra in Granada a few years ago. Alcazar was also a setting for some of the filming of Game of Thrones. Fun to see that if you're a Game of Thrones fan. Santa Cruz de Tenerife - We walked to the main downtown area, shopped and returned to the ship. The Ship - The ship is well maintained although she is still showing her age to some degree. Captain Spinardi, and his crew were remarkable and the service was very top notch, for the most part. Many thanks to the crew, in particular our waiters, bartenders/bar servers for their most attentive service. That made the cruise very enjoyable. The entertainment staff was, also, second to none. The six main dancers were exceptional in their talent and visibility during the crossing. Our, primary, reason for this cruise was to test the ship to determine how we wanted to accomplish sailing around the world. The fastest would be on the Pacific Princess but there are other options within the Princess fleet but on different ships. What I found was that, while I loved the ship and crew, it may not be of sufficient size to keep us occupied and physically active enough for a 111 day world cruise. That said, we will probably circumnavigate in segments sailing on bigger Princess ships. It's nice to have those options with Princess because we, very much, love this brand. Read Less

We really enjoyed the Pacific Princess, it is definitely our favorite Princess ship. The ship size is perfect. It's small and intimate and there was never a wait for anything. Embarking was easy, disembarking was easy, tendering was easy. It never takes long to get anywhere. The ship has recently been refurbished and it feels new. Service onboard was fantastic, as well as the food. The only down side to a small ship is less onboard activities. However, that does not matter to us since we tend to choose port-intensive itineraries and spend all of our time on the ship just relaxing. For those not familiar with Princess, be aware that it is a slow and calm atmosphere. We were the youngest people on the ship at 32 and 45 years of age. We have no problem with this and made plenty of new friends with different generations. I almost did not want to write this review because I'd love to keep the ship all to myself and not let everyone else know what they're missing. We can't wait for our next Pacific Princess cruise. Read Less

We just completed our third voyage on the Pacific Princess. Almost three months total sailing on this vessel. But this one was different, in that we booked our first full suite after over 600 days of sailing and had Club Class Dining. By far our greatest cruise ever from a cabin and dining standpoint. Other aspects of the cruise were good to very good but the cabin and dining made this an excellent cruise experience overall. As before, we really liked the ship and the crew, from the Captain on down. The main dining room (MDR) folks are exceptional. The high point for us on our two previous cruises on the Pacific Princess is that the main dining room service and cuisine had restored our faith in the MDRs. However, this time the Club Class dining at dinner and lunch as well as the suite breakfasts every morning we received in the Sabatini's restaurant on deck 10, elevated this experience to an entirely new high for us. Between receiving this quality meal service and having an "Owners Suite" the voyage resembled a fantasy of high seas travel in the days of yore, which many can only dream of nowadays. Going up to the quiet Sabatini's restaurant in the morning and sitting at a table for two next to floor to ceiling windows providing a panoramic view of the sea was something we didn't expect. The cabin was much larger than I had imagined it would be as well as the huge balcony in the stern, which overlooked the ship's wake. Not only that, a portion of the balcony was on the port corner so one could see forward on the port side as well as everything off the stern on the starboard side. We had booked this cabin due to my wife's sister being with us on the first segment, we wanted her to have her own toilet. This is the only Princess ship which has a half bathroom as well as a full sized one in the suites; we discovered too, that very few other cruise line's ships offer this option. Pictures on the walls in the suite even had individual lighting over the frames. Room service personnel and our steward, Teddy, were the best we have had throughout our cruising days. We certainly appreciate the loyalty perk(s) for free internet and laundry. The internet speed for me is satisfactory and reliable and wife loves the care, reliability and quality of the laundry and cleaning service. The two main hot tubes on the pool deck were great and I used them a lot, sometimes twice a day. Due to our suite status the huge forward hot tub as well as the steam room and sauna in the Lotus Spa area were also available to us for no extra charge. The pool deck on this ship doesn't have chair hogs and I never ran into a time when there wasn't ample fresh towels awaiting at numerous locations. The vessel is very well maintained and the crew is constantly scraping, painting and keeping the ship in tip-top condition. Often I'm not certain what the pre and post cruise hotels cost as we like to use the cruise line transfers and hotel package(s) which are lumped together price wise. Normally I believe the entire package is reasonable----this time it was no different. Having cruise line folk meeting us has really come in handy in the past when things got confused the day before embarkation due lost airline luggage or other problems. Nothing more comforting than to have an agent at a strange airport with a sign and your name. The ship's library is the best and largest there is. Truly a library designed for exploration cruises. The buffet is very good, food wise, service wise and table wise. They even change things around in a portion of it late in the afternoon, making for a more formal section with table cloths, flowers and wine glasses. This buffet has ample seating which gets constrained only when inclement weather forces everybody off the outdoor seating areas, which has even a larger number of tables than inside. There has been some discussion over the quality of Princess Pizzas recently. Not true, on the Pacific Princess anyway. However, due to our suite status we didn't visit the buffet as much as usual this voyage. Cabin T.V.s work great and programming good. Certainly appreciate my favorite news channel MSNBC being available with a good signal all the time. I recall the days when we had no other choice for news but-----LOL. Sure did like the large flat screen TV in a cabinet in the main living room of the suite. No complaints over embarkations and disembarkations. All handled well and luggage arrived in the cabins timely. We took a lot of shore excursions this time. We had 16 ports to do that in. Typically we never go the independent route on shore excursions but use those provided by the cruise line. All were very good. The only exception was on the disembarkation excursion at Port Everglades where the weather was beautiful and warm. Our flight for Alaska didn't leave until 6:30 PM so once again we took an inland coastal waterway and city tour to kill time. Guide on the coach was real knowledgeable about the area but too poor a speaker, or the PA system was not good, for most of us to hear him. Folks were really complaining about this, which he acknowledged and would talk louder for about 30 seconds then go back to endless mumbling. Guide on the boat though, showing us the haunts of the rich and famous in the area, was really good. We certainly appreciate the loyalty perk(s) for free internet and laundry. The internet speed for me is satisfactory and reliable and wife loves the care, reliability and quality of the laundry and cleaning service. I do like the enrichment lecturers that Princess provides, like naturalists, biologists, area historians and geography experts. One of my favorite features of a cruise. On our last cruise though, L.A. to Sydney, in January, this aspect was bad, i.e. to Hawaii--none, after which I thought they would bring someone on board at Honolulu but didn't. However, at Pago Pago they did bring on two New Zealanders who were pretty good, too bad for us though, as this occurred two thirds of the way through that cruise. However, on this cruise they had two excellent lecturers. I really enjoyed their presentations. One was David Sisler who began after Rome and prior to that, from Venice to Rome, was a fellow who did mostly upcoming port history lecturers but unfortunately I can't remember his name, however he was good. Platinum & Elite Lounge----Princess has changed their format here from what they used to provide. Now they offer a selection of eight different alcohol drinks which they apparently came up with as substitutes for the more traditional drinks they used to offer for $5.00 per. They now charge $6.50 for these new concoctions. On our last cruise in January we gave them a chance. Went three times and tried three different drinks each, most of the time we didn't finish the drinks due to not liking them. Their hors d'oeuvre offerings were still pretty good but the only way we would want to take time to attend is by purchasing their old traditional drinks for the full price. I wanted to try this out again, this cruise, to see if there was any improvement, but from the looks of their menu selections I wasn't optimistic, to be fair though, due to the free canapes we received in the suite every evening before dinner, we simply didn't make it to the lounge. The gym is in an excellent location. I use it every sea day. I previously thought it was too small for the number of guests wanting to use it. But this time that wasn't the case, plenty of ellipticals and treadmills to go around. The gym doors open at 7:00 PM. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the ports and the fact that it docked at the destination port for two days, allowing us to spend some time there prior to heading to the airport. We did go into Rome three days earlier than the cruise so we could tour sites there. This particular ship was small, which allowed us to get to know others quite well that were on our same cruise. The Dining was experience was so good, because of the small size of the ship, but also because they paired us with two other couples at our table and they couldn't have picked more perfect combinations for us to dine with. The entertainment was top notch. The singers and dancers were well trained and practiced. The others that came in on certain ports to entertain us were well chosen. Comedian was great and the local talent orchestra and musicians were well done to give us a taste of the local entertainers. I would take this same cruise over and over again. The ports were amazing and the timing of at sea days with the excursion days was perfect. The bar staff took the time to get to know you, so they prepared the perfect drinks both alocoholic and non for you during the entire cruise. The cruise directors that did the trivia were fun and the late night music and piano bar were very enjoyable. Read Less

Ports advertised. Dining staff was wonderful as was our cabin steward. Port excursion in Kotor, Montenegro was well below Princess standards. It was advertised as a dining experience with an experience chef in a private home. It was supposed to be a three hour tour. The food was poor and was not a meal. The food was also not presented well and would be considered a snack at the very least. The tour lasted less than two hours as well. All of this for $99.00. The port in Ravenna, Italy was 30 minutes from the town of Ravenna and if you wanted to leave the ship there was a $26.00 fee for a bus to take you to Ravenna. It appeared to be a relevently new port and offered little to do. There was very little information regarding transportation options when you left the ship at ports if you were not on a ship excursion. The staff on the Pacific Princess was very friendly and accommodating on the cruise making the time on the boat enjoyable. Read Less

We loved the smaller ship experience which only had 670 people on board. We made many friends because you see them often at dining areas, entertainment areas and on excursions. The staff is very attentive because there are less people to take care of. We sailed to Greece and Southern Italy and the ports were marvelous. We only took one cruise excursion because we find taking private tours with other people we meet on cruise critic is far less expensive and much more fun. If you only have two or three other couples on your excursion you don't waste as much time waiting for the excursion to start or waiting for people to reboard the bus after a scenic stop or restroom break. The ship is smaller and so it is able to get into smaller ports without the need for a tender. We had a cabin on floor 7 which meant we were only two floors from the main dining area and two floors from the buffet. We were able to avoid the elevators for almost all of the trip. Even the couple times we used them, they were never busy. The food was very good and the staff were excellent. We loved our balcony and used it every morning for breakfast and for a glass of wine before dinner. Here are the only issues I saw with the ship. There were a few areas on the ship that I smelled a sewer smell. I am quite picky and have a keen sense of smell so this probably will not bother some people. There were some issues with the public restrooms that my husband did not like. He stated they were sometimes not clean. The ship did not have as many activities for families but our cruise had very few children on it and catered to an older crowd. We actually liked this. The ship could not go to Sibenik becasue of the weather and this was a great disappointment to us. We would definately go on another cruise on the Pacific Princess. Read Less

We chose this cruise because itinerary included Malta and a few ports we had not seen. Also we are Princess Platinum and that includes a few perks such as 250 minutes of internet time. We also liked the idea of a smaller ship with fewer than 700 passengers. However, we were disappointed in the overall condition of the ship. Cabin was too small and worn out. It is not up to date by current standards. Bathroom was not adequate and even hair dryer was old, had only one speed. Water in shower ran hot and then cold without changing temperature. Ship should be taken out of service or completely overhauled. Ship only has fixed dining which is not a good option unless you are traveling with friends and or family. We would never take this ship again or advise anyone else to do so. Small is nice, but it's not everything. Entertainment was good considering size of ship, but there is no real theater, only a big lounge and it's difficult to see unless you're in the front row. Shore excursions are far too expensive. Arrange your own if possible. Also, Pacific Princess was in terrible location at Malta. Big ships were on correct side of port. We had to take a terrible ferry to get to Valletta side. In Monte Carlo we had to tender and other ships did not. They said it was because we couldn't dock there which is a lie because we docked there before on a big ship. Princess seems to always get worst location. I guess they don't want to pay for better spot. We would not have done this cruise if we had known what we know now. Read Less

The Itinerary was nice and the length of cruise was wonderful. The assigned seating for dining is crazy. 5:45 or 7:45 are the only options. Since this is such a small ship there are not any options for dining other than the buffet. The entertainment was limited, again due to the size of the ship. So, after touring all day you had to wait, with late seating, until 9:30 to finish and try and get to sleep and ready to tour again the next day at 8:00 am. As a person in my 60’s this was difficult. So either it was eat in the dining room with the same table mates every night at 7:45 with very poor options and over cooked food OR try and have a bite to eat at an “American” dining time around 7pm in the buffet and be ready for the next port. I tend to enjoy traveling more for the locations I get to visit than playing dress up at night and staying up late. Just old I guess. The refrigerator in the room was great as I could keep food from the locations we visited. Read Less

The ship is the smallest and oldest in the Princess fleet. After many cruises this one was somewhat disappointing. The main issue was the dining. The food and service was sub-par and not up to the standards of most other cruises we have been on. The cabin was what I expected and did have a lot of storage. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom was especially challenging to use with water leaking out every time we used the shower. We were especially disappointed that we entirely skipped one port due to weather. No substitution just a port missed. We had an unlimited drink special and were made to feel like criminals every time we asked for a drink. I think a sticker or special cup or something would be better than the stewards having to take your card to go check every time you want a drink would be much better. I specifically will not chose a trip with this ship again. Read Less