22-Day Mediterranean, Aegean Sea, and Adriatic Sea Cruise aboard ENCHANTED PRINCESS

What did I like?

The service was superb.

There were plenty of fun activities.

The cabin (accessible) was spacious and comfortable. The bed was comfortable.

The piazza (or atrium) was beautiful.

The food was good.

Two out of the three excursions we chose were wonderful.

What I didn't like?

There was no 'wow' factor that I was expecting from Princess. This being my first cruise with Princess, and having heard other reviews and a first-hand account from a friend, I was expecting more. The beauty of the piazza ended there. I felt there was no more creativity with decor in the rest of the ship.

There was no promenade deck. There wasn't a deck that you could walk completely around. Which meant it was difficult to get all the way forward (for that 'I'm king of the world moment') or all the way aft to sit and watch the beautiful wake. (I understand that the 'wake pool' was aft, however, crowded any time that I was there.

The deck labeled promenade was chock full of lifeboats. I appreciate the lifeboats, but maybe take notes from Disney, who puts them above our heads and has a true promenade deck.

There were no tissues in the cabins. A small issue, but huge for my mother, who uses them constantly. We did ask our room steward for a box, and he accommodated.

One of the makings of a great cruise is not feeling like the ship has too many passengers. It isn't enjoyable to hit crowds everywhere you go 100% of the time. I felt that on this cruise. We couldn't go anywhere without feeling that everyone on the ship had the same idea we had. Even when doing the laundry.

The communication was lacking. Announcements cannot be heard from your room (I'm sure that maybe they used to, but people complained), so we relied on communication via the Princess Patter materials delivered to our room daily.

I was constantly frustrated, wanting to know when each dining room opened and closed, which one was open for breakfast, lunch, etc. I had a difficult time getting a reservation for the Amalfi dining room; however, the Capri usually was pretty fast getting us in as walk-ins.

I don't remember seeing any information on our first port stop, Salerno. No map of the port, etc. We took a Princess excursion, and when we came back, I decided to go out and look for Salerno's city centre. I never found it after walking around for 30 mins.

Embarkation and Disembarkation were run like a well-oiled machine; absolutely no complaints there.

My spa experience was great; however, too much pressure to buy more. Every time we walked by, we were hit up to buy a treatment. It got annoying. We spent a lot of money in there already.

The enclave was a great value. My mother and I had a very relaxing time in there. Her being mobility-challenged would have made it difficult to get in and out of the hot tubs on the lido deck, etc. So the Enclave was perfect.

I feel that some great information could have been in the Patter about what side we would pass the active Volcano, Stromboli. They announced it; however, I must have been in my cabin, and I didn't hear it. I googled it, and Google (stupid Google!) said we'd pass on the port side of the ship (the side that my balcony cabin is on), and so we sat on our balcony and waited. And would have waited forever. My aunt, who was on the other side, said she could see the volcano, and we rushed over to her cabin (after trying to find a place on the topmost deck at the front of the ship - which is occupied by the Sanctuary and we were not allowed). Had my aunt not been on that cruise and on the other side of the ship, we would have missed Stromboli altogether.

For the money we paid for the cruise, I expected a lot more from Princess. Better communication, food, tissues (LOL), and more beautiful spaces. Oh, and a library. One of the things that I love most about a cruise is being able to get away from people. On every cruise that had a library (most of them), the library is usually quiet and nearly empty.

I will not take another Princess Cruise. It's one and done for me. So far, it will be Disney or Norwegian for me.

Just did two weeks on the Enchanted Princess. Overall I think it was a real good ship and a good cruise. First off, embarkation was simple. Don't worry about your time slot. Try to book the specialty restaurants.. especially the Crown Grill. IT blew me away. Michael, the Manager even got us in when we had a reservation at the other restaurant. The entertainment is exactly what you expect on a cruise. If you'r expecting a Broadway show you'll be disappointed, but it's a cruise ship. A lot of the music and entertainment in the Piazza was a little over the top, but people had fun. We were on Deck 15 (Riviera) and our Steward Richard was awesome. Anything we asked for, we got. I booked all the excursions ahead of time with outside companies. I would never book with the cruise line. Just way too many people and it looked like a herd of cattle when they left the ship and boarded the buses. I played in the Pickleball and Ping Pong Tournaments. They really rushed us through the tourneys... not sure why they had such a strict time limit. Waiters, busboys, Restaurant Managers, Bar people... all so kind and accomodating. No potato vodka on the ship which we were promised ahead of time though. Overall, a very good trip. I would book Princess again. Met a bunch of great people from all over the world. I may try another cruise line to compare, but this was very good.

Overall it fell short. I expected more from Princess and sadly it underwhelmed. It seems comparable in quality to a clean but budget Carnival ship, minus the entertainment and upbeat vibe, which is sad.

Pros: The ship was clean, barring some dining areas at times. The soundproofing was excellent, we were just under the Lido deck and heard nothing. There were many food choices on the buffet and most of the food tasted good. The embarkation process was smooth. The fitness center was decent. The ship stayed afloat.

Cons: Nearly everything else. The ship seemed quite understaffed and service was both slow when available and many times just poor. It was difficult to get sodas or ice. The hairdryer and bath products were very low quality. Many things were broken across the ship, dryers, token machines, a couple elevators, a couple toilets, etc. There weren't many quality of life amenities like a notepad and pen, misc toiletries, extra towels, ice bucket, etc. The entertainment was lame and low quality, baring one band. The app is horrible and not easy to navigate. We would have gladly got our own sodas and ice but there were no self-serve areas for them.