Two memorable cruises on Princess Ships

During the last 15 months my wife and I took two cruises both on Princess ships. The first cruise of 12 days in February 2019 was taken on the Diamond Princess travelling from Singapore via Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan with several stops in Japan ending in Yokohama for Tokyo. A memorable cruise on a great ship, an excellent crew, good food and Princess hospitality and excellent excursions. Similarly in November 2019 we joined the Sapphire Princess in Civitivecchia Rome for a 27day cruise ending in Singapore with stops at Naples, Santorini, Rhodes, Suez Canal Transit, Aqaba (for Petra), Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman, Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur. This is a great itinerary to recommend and a great ship, excellent crew, good food, facilities and cabins.
An interesting fact which many readers may not be aware of is that the Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess are sister ships built at the same time in Japan. Names were swapped during construction after a major fire swept through the original Diamond Princess so the original Sapphire Princess assumed the name of the Diamond Princess which kept the delivery on time and the rest is history! As both ships are identical there is no problem locating facilities such as restaurants, bars, the theatre. Traditional dining suited our needs for fixed meal times although many passengers opt for Anytime dining. The Italian pizza restaurant in the Atrium is highly recommended and also the international cafe - coffee shop although both can get very busy particularly following excursion presentations. Both cruise itineraries are highly recommended with a lot of interesting locations to visit. My wife and I are now looking forward to our next cruise with Princess in September 2021 in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean on the Enchanted Princess which will coincide with our 50th wedding anniversary.