An unbelievable cruise, Grand Mediterranean, Princess Cruises

I was always fascinated by cruise ships but in the same time I always had the feeling that they are for old people. I was researching an itinerary for our summer vacation in 2011, after our Hawaii trip and I came across a page with cruises. Of course, because of my fascination with cruise ships I immediately started looking more into this. After a bit of reading I convinced my husband that we should give it a try and see how it really is, and if we don't like it then we will never do it again.

I am so grateful for having tried it. It was a great experience and it absolutely changed my perception that it is for old people. There are definitely some ships out there and some itineraries where you will not find many people below 50-60 years old but definitely this was not one of them.

We boarded Ruby Princess in Venice, spending the first night there in the port. The ship was as impressive as I imagined that it would be. We had a balcony cabin on 14th floor, mid ship, close to the stairs and elevator. What else could we wish for? Great location and a very spacious cabin, with amazing views in every single port.

There was not even one single moment that we felt bored on the ship. We sailed from Venice to Athens for 2 days without stopping and we did not even realize when we reached there. We had a welcome on board formal party which simply loved, great dinners, great shows and lots of entertainment both during the day and at night. There was something to do for everybody on the ship, starting from kids. We enjoyed the pools, the spa, the health club, health related classes, movies under the stars, dancing classes, zumba classes, games...

We were on board for 12 nights, visited 8 different ports and enjoyed every single moment of it. The ship was generally in a port from 6-7am till 6-7pm so there was plenty of time to do a bus tour, or enjoy a wine and cheese escape in Tuscany. The only city that it was a struggle to visit was Rome, as the port is quite far from the city and there is too much to see for few hours.

The food was unbelievable and there was sooooo much of it everywhere and anytime. There was a buffet restaurant with different selection every single day, the pizza and burger stations by the pool, the ice cream and sweets stations, the two main restaurants, that served a la carte with a different menu every night, the coffee shop and bars and the two signature restaurants: a steakhouse and an Italian restaurants. Food was free of charge everywhere except for the 2 signature restaurants that had a 20$ cover charge, but when you left that place you felt like you have eaten for 200$. Alcohol was not included, as well as soft drinks but they had some great packages to choose from for every single budget.

I have put forward my deposit for the next cruise and I am so looking forward to try some of the new ships that were launched in 2013-2014, Regal Princess and Royal Princess. My next itineraries are Caribbean, Alaska and North Pole.

A highly recommended experience but before deciding on it, you need to make sure you are on the right ship and on the right itinerary.