Ruby Princess Jun 11-23 Grand Mediterranean review/tips with pictures

[melody hounddog]

Thanks for sharing!

[Denali2003]

We are going a Westbound TA in Oct 2014 from Venice. Any suggestions for hotels near the cruise port? Any suggestions on how to get from your hotel (hopefully by the cruise port) to the ship? I saw one hotel in Mestre that was charging $165 USD. That's a bit steep.

Thank you for your help. :)

[caber]

Try and get a hotel around the Piazzali Roma. That is where the bus and train comes in from the airport. From there you can get the people mover for 1 euro to the gates of the port. We did it the other way last year.

We stayed at the Hotel Santa Chiara, on the square but overlooking the Grand Canal. It is in a good position but there was a lot of building work going on in it last year. Make sure you don`t book a room in the annex which is no where near the hotel, up a dark alleyway.

[AttilaTheFun]

Thank you for your great review - would love to hear about Rome and Barcelona though ;)

We are doing basically this route back to front this year so loving the hints and tips.

 

For Barcelona, check out my review in my signature from Epic as on the Princess cruise, we just flew out of Barcelona.

 

There is also info on Rome in that other review, but on this cruise, we took the train into Rome and visited the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and St Peter's Basilica. My tip is that the ticket you buy at the Roman Forum is good for the Colosseum and the line is normally MUCH shorter at the Forum. We also took a train back that was packed to the gills, had no air-conditioning, and felt like a 3rd world country. I was honestly worried we would pass out at one point, it was THAT bad. If I ever stop in Civitavecchia again, I might consider paying for a bus or shuttle to take us into Rome to avoid that awful train, even though the other trains we took were air-conditioned and fine. You just never know what kind of train you'll get.

[shamda]

Attila, I see in your signature that you were on the NCL Epic twice. I was on it last December and I am going on the Crown this year 11/30. How would you compare the 2 ships? Which did you like better? Which had the better food?

[AttilaTheFun]

Attila, I see in your signature that you were on the NCL Epic twice. I was on it last December and I am going on the Crown this year 11/30. How would you compare the 2 ships? Which did you like better? Which had the better food?

 

Princess and Norwegian have completely different vibes and demographics, for the most part. Norwegian is all about having fun and letting loose and is more family-focused and skews younger, while Princess is a bit more refined (maybe stuffy sometimes), is not as focused on children, and skews older. To be honest, I like both cruise lines - they're just different from one another.

 

In terms of entertainment, you can't beat Epic because of the 3 water slides, shows, nighttime performances, ice bar, etc. Princess was more relaxing though, with quieter (and more) pools and better food. I prefer Princess' food for a few reasons - afternoon tea (Norwegian doesn't have), pub lunch (ditto), and better quality food in the main dining rooms. I also LOVE the International Cafe on Princess - a 24/7 venue where you pick what you want from the display and enjoy. On Norwegian, they have a 24/7 venue, but it's sit down and you have to wait for your food, etc. Princess easily wins on food, in my opinion.

 

Let us know what you think after your cruise!