Med Cruise- Royal Treatment Athens to Barcelona

Sitting in the American Airlines Lounge at JFK at the conclusion of our Europe vacation and can just picture the Piazza abuzz, taste the Chocolate Journeys Chocolate Cake, and feel the warmth of the Med air. We had another awesome Princess cruise, and it's time to start the trip report!

Welcome aboard; I anticipate a long flight but hope to make it as enjoyable as possible for you!

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Background:

DH and I are in our mid-30s, and I live to cruise! 2 years ago, we did the 17 day sailing of the Regal to the Med and had the best cruise ever! That trip caused us to fall in love with Europe, and we got to work saving our miles in the hopes of a return to Europe. We originally planned to do the British Isles this month, but in the midst of the Alaska winter, a cold, wet cruise just didn't sound enticing, so we explored the Royal Princess Med itins and narrowed it down to 3. The next step was to see if mileage tickets were available for any of the 14 days itins. They were! In fact, we could include Amsterdam and extended time in Barcelona!! It was settled; we would do the 6/11-6/25 Royal Princess Athens-Barcelona cruise.

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Alrighty then; lets start the review.

Flights-

To Europe- Alaska and Delta Airlines- Delta was awesome for our 9.5 hour flight to Amsterdam with numerous meals, snacks, and drinks, personal TVs with loads of free movies, TV shows, and games, decent legroom, and the newer interior.

Amsterdam to Athens- Aegean Air- Whoa they cram people in!! That plane had the least legroom and narrowest seats I've ever experienced! They did serve a full meal, though, and it provided a full Greek experience, so that was nice. There was a flight tracker on overhead TVs, so we were able to look outside and spot various parts of Europe on the sunny afternoon flight.

From Europe- American and Alaska Airlines- We snagged Business Class for our flight from Barcelona to JFK, First Class from JFK to Seattle, and Economy from Seattle to Alaska. The new American International Business Class was so fun! We each had our own suite with a bed, TV, Bose headphones, and an iPod Touch. My legs weren't sore at all because it was easy peasy to get up any time I wanted. Several movies, 2 meals, and some nice, deep sleep, and we were back in the US of A!

*We are awaiting our last 2 flights so can't speak to those. We have now been up a whole day and are tired!

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Pre/Post-Cruise Hotels-

Amsterdam- The Hoxton- 4* unique, new hotel, great customer service, which included a "Happy Anniversary" mylar balloon that popped out of a huge gift box, walking distance to all of the major sites

Athens- NJV Athens Plaza Hotel- 5* hotel within walking distance of the Acropolis, received a free upgrade, but in general, not up to 5* standards

Barcelona- Hotel Jazz- 3*, awesome location, wonderful customer service, highly recommended by cruisers, BUT I noticed flaws in the room like an unfinished looking ceiling, paint chipping off the wall, A/C that was well-powered, but the vent must have needed a deep cleaning because it made me cough every time we had it running, maid didn't replace the toilet paper, and a shower with only a half wall, resulting in the water spraying the floor

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Transportation-

Amsterdam- STaxi- clean cars, affordable flat rate taxi service to/from airport, good drivers, and prompt

Athens- Spiros- greeted with a sign outside Baggage Claim, good drivers, comfy Mercedes, used from the airport to the hotel and the next day to the cruise port, WIFI

Barcelona- licensed taxis used multiple times- clean, about half accepted credit cards, sometimes a surcharge was added, readily available

*The line at the Barcelona Cruise Terminal had about 200 people in it, but it moved efficiently, and we were in or taxi within about 20 minutes.

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Home sweet home after being up for 35 hours! Now to do the pre-cruise, and then I'll finally get to the cruise.

Pre-Cruise-

DH really wanted to visit Amsterdam, so it was perfect that we could fly there with miles and spend 1 night. We originally planned on using the hotel's free bikes to get around but are so glad we decided to walk instead. Though locals zoom around with ease, it's hard enough to navigate on foot, let alone on a bike. We landed at 8:00 AM and hit the ground running after jut 1.5 hours of plane sleep.

DH had found a cute, well-rated Dutch pancake house called the Happy Pig, so we fueled our day with scrumptious Dutch pancakes covered in lemon juice, powdered sugar, whipped cream, and homemade vanilla ice cream. We wandered around the Dam Square area. We had planned to tour some museums, but in the end preferred exploring to touring. Our big tour, though, was the Anne Frank House!

I had planned on buying the tickets online, but when I went online at the right time, the online ticket process and timing had completely changed, and our day was already sold out!! I was sooooo disappointed but continued to check daily with the small hope of something opening up. I was elated and shocked when one work day at lunch, I saw 2 tickets available for the afternoon!! I jumped on those so fast, and my dream became a reality! The Anne Frank House was easily walkable from the Canal ring where we were staying, and they ended up letting us in 15 min early, which helped to ease the crowds. Visit if you can; it was so fascinating and touching!

Back out we went, and thankfully our hotel room was ready, so we could take showers. The Hoxton offers 4 semi-secret rooms you can request when you book but can't be guaranteed until check-in. They're considered a free upgrade if you get one of them. We got one, and my top pick at that! It was full of character and came with a canal view!

After showering, it was dinner time, but our body clocks were off and not wanting a full dinner, so we went to the #1 "fries in a cone" place! I'm a huge fan of fries so had to have their famous fries in a cone. You can pick one of like 30 different sauces. I went with BBQ, but it was nothing like U.S. BBQ and more like curry. Nonetheless, the fries were delicious!

We then continued our exploring and eventually made our way to the Red Light District. Ladies were in some of the Windows, and boy was it a shock when strolling along to all of a sudden see a lingerie clad lady in the window, but it was pretty quiet. Really it was just like walking by a Victoria's Secret store window. Many windows were closed; it probably gets crazier later. The area was full of tourists from all over the world.

We hit our limit around 8:00 PM and returned to our hotel for much needed sleep. Of course that didn't come until 1:00 AM, which ended up being the theme of the cruise, late nights and early mornings.

The next morning, our driver was ready for us nice and early, and we enjoyed a quiet ride back to the airport. It was so interesting seeing parents taking their kids to school via bikes. The child would ride on a mini seat behind or in front of the parent, carrying his/her backpack. The Amsterdam airport is clean and full of shops and eateries. We were too early for check-in, so we shopped for an hour. By that time, the line was long, since many of us had come at the recommended 3 hours before departure only to be told the counter opens 2 hours before departure. The line moved fast, though, and we were sent what seemed like a mile across several terminals to our gate. Security was so civilized. We enjoyed a Dutch breakfast of something that was yummy, but I can't remember the name, and then it was time to board.

The flight went pretty fast, and we were in our embarkation port of Athens! The drive is pretty long into the city, but at least it's a mini tour. My first impression of Athens was that it's pretty seedy. Our hotel was right in the heart of the tourist area so a great location for walking. We checked in and then set off for an early evening visit to the Acropolis. The good news is that the temp had cooled as we had hoped. The bad news is that the walk took a lot longer than expected, AND to make matters worse, the ticket office agent said the Acropolis was closing 30 min earlier than advertised. She recommended we not waste the 40 or so Euros for 20 min inside. The walk itself up the hill can take that long. That left us with 2 options, either do the short trek up to the cliffs to view the Acropolis better from afar AND savor the sunset, or make the long walk back to the Acropolis in the early morning and race through before getting transport to the ship. I did NOT want to do that walk again so chose option 1. Sure, we didn't explore the Acropolis, but we did get to have the "whoa" moment of seeing it from afar at least for the first time in person. I was satisfied with that. We then got a lemon granita (my fav drink from our Med cruise in 2014) and watched the sun set over Athens with tons of locals and tourists. It was a cool experience!

We then made the journey back down into Athens to head to dinner. We had narrowed it down to 2 restaurants from TripAdvisor, one of which turned out to close early, so the second one it was. Welllllllll, The Greco Project may be rated well on TripAdvisor, but we were not pleased! 1)The Greek salad was one of the worst I've ever had 2)The Pita bread sucked (and I love bread!) 3)They brought us the water and bread without asking but then charged us for it! Now I would have ordered and paid for bottled water anyway, but you have to offer it first, not just assume and charge. That's wrong. After those fails, we really didn't want to order dinner there, so we paid and left. Neither of us was really hungry, so we just went back to the hotel and went to bed.

It was finally Embarkation morning!!!!!! You all know that's the best day in the world! DH offered one more time to take me back to the Acropolis, but I still didn't wanna do the long walk and wanted a leisure morning. We got ready and walked to Meliartos, another highly rated TripAdvisor pick. There, we ordered Greek pastries and cappuccinos. Everything was delicious.

Back at the hotel, our driver arrived promptly. We waited 10 minutes for a far too small elevator to reach our floor only to find it already full. The hotel foolishly only has 2 tiny elevators for the whole hotel. I squeezed in with the 2 small suitcases thanks to very kind fellow tourists, and DH trudged down the stairs with the 2 big suitcases! Many thanks to the hubbies who sacrifice for their wives!! The drive to the Port of Piraeus was way shorter than I expected. Before we knew it, the Royal Princess was in front of us in all her glory! The only problem was that we couldn't turn into her parking lot! Why? The strike closed down that cruise terminal, so we had to share a cruise terminal with Celebrity at their berth. We dropped off our luggage to the poor Princess reps who were so kind and apologetic as they stood in the crazy heat. We were directed into the check-in tent, and at about 11:30, there was not 1 person in the Priority Check-In Line!! We checked in and were directed across the path outside to go into Celebrity's terminal to clear security. That was also quick, and then we were ushered through another building and back outside to board a bus. This is where we waited for about 15 minutes for the bus to fill. We would have gladly walked to the ship in less time, but everyone had to be bussed over. We finally made it to the ship and boarded with no line! Kudos to Princess for providing a seamless check-in process for its pax despite the crazy stress they had to endure due to the strike! I heard the officers even pushed luggage carts from the check-in tent all the way to the ship (maybe 1/4 mile walk) in the blazing heat!! We saw cart after cart full of luggage pushed over. With all they went though, we had our luggage at the typical afternoon time. Seriously, Princess rocks!!

Time for the cruise!!

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Stateroom-

We normally prefer the aft facing balconies, but with the soot issues and lack of privacy on the Royal/Regal, we went for a whole new experience, a forward facing deluxe obstructed balcony. I had read all about these on CC so went in with reasonable expectations. They were met and exceeded! We barely heard the Sanctuary chairs scraping across the deck a few times before/after opening, and a bell rang a few times randomly one day (Still don't know what that was; do any of you know? Several others came out on their balconies to see what was going on, too. DH wondered if they were signaling a boat, but we seemed to be alone in that part of the sea.), but other than those few minor disruptions, it was a perfectly quiet stateroom. So quiet in fact that you could verrrrrrrry easily hear your neighbors while out on the balcony. The wind did blow my dress straight up to my shoulders as we sailed away, and there was a time or 2, we thought it wouldn't be prudent to go out after cracking the door open for a second to have the whole room seem to go awry, but the wind really wasn't too impactful considering we were facing forward. I did appreciate having the little loveseat for added storage, but we really didn't find the room to have much more space than a regular balcony. The balcony, though, was a fantastic size, about the size of a Grand class Caribe balcony. The steel hull prevented the sea view while sitting or laying down, but it wasn't a huge deal. It was quite a delight to lean on the railing and stare out to sea knowing we had the same view as the captain! The big drawback to this room was the 12 deck trek from the gangway, 11 deck trek to the Spa, and 10 deck trek to the dining room. I actually hurt the tendons in my left foot from overdoing the stairs the first few days. We are "take the stairs, so we can eat whatever we want" people, but actually took the elevator a lot this trip after I hurt my foot. The pro was being on the same deck as Horizon Court, The Grill, Swirls, and Prego. Even though we were at the opposite end of the ship, the walk to the buffet each morning was so quick and easy. Our stateroom steward was the best we've ever had! He was stealthy, always cleaning as soon as we left, so we could return anytime to a clean room. He graciously honored every request and went above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of. We thoroughly enjoyed our stateroom and would book it again but still prefer the afts.

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Dining-

The big one! Cruising means yummo food and indulgence for us. We had been salivating over the Tacqueria for months and have missed it on the last few Grand class cruises. It was fantastic, though they left the beans out too long in the afternoon, making them a solid black mass. Horizon Court was just simply the best! We always prefer having breakfast there, and this time was no different. Eggs were always being replenished. The bacon was perfect the first and last parts of the 14 days but horribly different the middle part, as in raw! I really think the bacon chef got sick for the middle part of the cruise. Lemon Danishes (my fav breakfast treat) were available every other day!! They had cinnamon rolls the second to last morning of each cruise, and you must have one! They were amazing!! Fresh pasta, huge salad variety, and grilled meats were plentiful. We skipped the dining room a few nights because the food options were actually better in Horizon Court! I could have a Caprese salad every night at the buffet, but if I wanted it in the dining room I'd need to specially request it the night before. The Pastry Shop had better desserts than the Dining Room by far. The new Chocolate Journeys chocolate buttercream frosting was out of this world! Cakes were rotated, but all that had that frosting were must-haves! The Grill was scrumptious as always for burgers and fries. Alfredo's and Prego both made awesome pizza. The Intl. Cafe had some yummy classics like the Greek salad as well as some new delights like mini pies. The lattes were soooo good! Crown Grill was kinda meh. The experience was still nice but not as good as our other experiences. Now for the dining room. Our waiter was awesome!! We had a fantastic table for 2. Our waiter and asst. waiter knew we didn't want 2 hour dinners and kept the courses flowing, so we could make our nightly events. The service was reminiscent of yesteryear (I know I'm young, but I have been cruising for 26 years). The first week was fun for dinners. The menus were actually tweaked a little, so we got to try some new items. We were told this was to help offer variety to the B2Bers with the ongoing 7,14,21,28 day segment options this summer. We were thrilled...until the second week hit, and there were no changes except for 1 different dessert! Seriously messed up! We love Princess cuisine, but it would be nice to be able to have some of the different items that are offered on the longer cruises when the 7 day cruises are marketed as B2Bs, like Chateaubriand, carbonara, shrimp Fra diavolo, cookies n cream semifredo, etc. The food quality was good, though some of the seafood was undercooked. I was very happy with the quality of steaks, especially since my only bad steaks were on the Med cruise 2 years ago.

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Spa-

We didn't plan on using the Spa with our busy itinerary, but upon touring The Enclave and hearing that it was only $299 for a couple for 7 days, we sprung for it as an anniversary treat. We often do the Thermal Suite on the Grand Class ships. Both are nice, but oh my goodness do I love the thalassotherapy pool in The Enclave!!! It was sooooooo therapeutic on my injured foot and sore muscles after walking all day. We both highly recommend it for the Med cruises. The Spa girls were nice, and The Enclave is open until 11:00 PM each day. A few times we had the whole place to ourselves, but by the end of the week, the place was pretty packed. One suggestion I have for the spa, though, is to clean the pool more frequently. It was gross to see the slick of sunscreen oil after days of heavy use.

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Entertainment-

I had been so looking forward to having Ron Goodman as our cruise director again. He is as gracious and polished a host as ever. The cruise staff was good, but other than Matt33, no one really wowed us. Matt33 was a bundle of energy and really tried to entertain pax to his fullest at all times. The game shows and Voice of the Ocean were awesome! Ron did vary the Marriage Match questions from week to week, so that was cool. Beatlemaniacs and the productions shows were quality. The comedy really suffered, though, and that's one of my fav forms of cruise entertainment. There were no regular comedians, only a ventriloquist and a musical comedian. The musical comedian we did go to, and thankfully most of it wasn't musical, but she would alternate between being funny and being meh or awkward. The casino was super tight. Bingo was a ton of fun as always, and the casino staff there was great. I was so excited to have DJ Pedro again, but what happened?? Gone was the poolside EDM and in was "relaxing poolside tunes". Come on! Some of us are young and want modern music! Even at Club 6, he played a lot of older music, many of the same songs as he did in 2014, except not as much EDM. I never once felt compelled to dance. Rhapsody was a talented band, but again, mostly played older music. I don't know what happened for the drastic change from 2014 Med to now, but the music was a flop for younger people, and DH and I were not the only young pax. There were a lot of college age pax. Chair hogs apparently love the Med cruises this year! Whole families would basically block off a section for the day and come and go as they pleased. It was a miracle when we would find 2 available loungers. Stargazing at Sea was a cool experience. There were definitely a lot of entertainment options at all times, so compliments to Ron for making sure pax had lots from which to choose.

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Now on to the ports...

Santorini-

This was one of our fav ports from before, so we were excited to return. We went all over the board with ideas for our day, but in the end, we kept it simple. It's very easy to catch the boat to Oia right where the tender drops you off. The only issue is when they tell you it's about to leave, don't believe them! They're supposed to run continually, but really they wait for the boat to fill, which makes it about every 40 minutes. Once on your way, the trip is fun and scenic. Sit on top in the very back for great views and refreshing air. Once in Oia, we walked to the right this time, since we had only gone to the left last time. After wandering all the way to the right, we went back to all the same areas we explored last time. We were done at just the right time to catch the 12:00 PM bus back to Fira, which is included with your boat fare. We had made a reservation at Salt and Pepper because our food there 2 years ago was out of this world. We were served by the owner, and she treated us like family, since this was a return visit. She gave us bonus apps and dessert gratis. After our culinary delight, we wandered all over Fira. We did decide to go to the winery, but by the time we did, we didn't have enough time to go. We had quick service gyros for dinner for less than the cost of McDonalds, and they were fantastic! At 7:30 PM, we were the last group of the day to ride the donkeys down the cliffs. Last time we rode them up, so for added adventure, we dared to ride them down this time. It wasn't as scary as I expected but definitely still scary! The view was gorgeous, though, with the sun setting and the ship in the distance. Our tender ride was the best ever with a perfect view of the Santorini sunset.

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Keep it coming, I am thoroughly enjoying reading your review.

Marilee

Great reporting thank you for taking the time to share!

So glad you got to try the fries, though they go better with mayo. The

Dutch mayo is so different and good with fries. Can't wait to hear about

the rest of your journey.

So glad you got to try the fries, though they go better with mayo. The

 

Dutch mayo is so different and good with fries. Can't wait to hear about

 

the rest of your journey.

I'm not a big mayo fan, but if we go back, I'll try the Dutch mayo.

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Kusadasi-

We weren't interested in doing much here because we had done Ephesus before. We did wander around the Bazaar area, though. Way too pushy for us, so we went back to the ship. DH wanted to do some exploring, but he didn't want to deal with the aggressive salesmen, so we took note of what the crew do, and off DH went with headphones in! It worked, so if you don't want to be harassed, just pop in some headphones! I wanted to lounge in the sun, so I grabbed a burger, fries, and strawberry Daquiri, and sunned on our balcony. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon.

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So glad you got to try the fries, though they go better with mayo. The

Dutch mayo is so different and good with fries. Can't wait to hear about

the rest of your journey.

I'm not a big mayo fan, but if we go back, I'll try the Dutch mayo.

 

Most European mayo is really nice with fries. It's not as sweet as American mayo. Sometimes it comes mixed with Dijon mustard and that is divine.

Itinerary Change-

Mykonos was a fav port of ours, and we were disappointed our itin didn't have it. Well, a few months before departure, Naples and Messina were dropped, and Mykonos and Palermo replaced them. DH was super duper disappointed because we had the Godfather tour booked for Messina. I was disappointed about Naples because I ❤️ the Amalfi Coast and Capri. The upside was that we would now get Mykonos!

Mykonos-

We planned to explore Mykonos Town by foot in the morning and have a beach afternoon. DH had read about the beach "close by" and to the left of where the ship docks and thought that might be a good option, since we could reach it by foot. We already knew about the beach to the right because we walked through it into town last time. Well, when we woke up, we were facing the beach to the left and noticed that there's construction, and you have to take a long, convoluted path to the beach, at least 30 min each way. I had the injured foot by then and definitely didn't want to do that after walking around all morning, so we decided against it.

We pre-purchased our Princess shuttle tickets for $8 pp Roundtrip U.S. Yes, there's a $2 Seabus that takes you closer to town for less money, BUT we also know 4 pax almost missed the ship last time we were here due to taking said Seabus and it running on island time. The Princess shuttle had long lines but flowed efficiently.

Once in Mykonos Town, we strolled the streets until our lunch reservation at Katerina's. This is where we ate incredible Greek food with an unbelievable view last time, so we wanted to repeat the experience. We are so glad we did! We requested a corner balcony table, and it was honored. The view is breathtaking of the aqua sea, windmills, and yachts. After a scrumptious lunch, we explored a section we hadn't been to and bought teeny ice cream cones for 1 Euro each, adorable! By then, my foot was really hurting, so I sent DH off, and I sat at a restaurant by the sea to rest my foot and have some refreshing sparkling mineral water and Free WIFI. DH eventually joined me, and we had a relaxing break. After that, we did some shopping and began our leisure walk back to the shuttle area. Enroute, we dipped our feet in the sea. It was refreshing, but we didn't feel like going back to the ship to get our bathing suits on. Then we had Greek pastries at a fun boulangerie by the beach. Shuttle back to the ship, and another wonderful day in Mykonos was complete. I highly recommend strolling the streets of Mykonos Town; they're picturesque at every turn.

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Stateroom-

We normally prefer the aft facing balconies, but with the soot issues and lack of privacy on the Royal/Regal, we went for a whole new experience, a forward facing deluxe obstructed balcony. I had read all about these on CC so went in with reasonable expectations. They were met and exceeded! We barely heard the Sanctuary chairs scraping across the deck a few times before/after opening, and a bell rang a few times randomly one day (Still don't know what that was; do any of you know? Several others came out on their balconies to see what was going on, too. DH wondered if they were signaling a boat, but we seemed to be alone in that part of the sea.), but other than those few minor disruptions, it was a perfectly quiet stateroom. So quiet in fact that you could verrrrrrrry easily hear your neighbors while out on the balcony. The wind did blow my dress straight up to my shoulders as we sailed away, and there was a time or 2, we thought it wouldn't be prudent to go out after cracking the door open for a second to have the whole room seem to go awry, but the wind really wasn't too impactful considering we were facing forward. I did appreciate having the little loveseat for added storage, but we really didn't find the room to have much more space than a regular balcony. The balcony, though, was a fantastic size, about the size of a Grand class Caribe balcony. The steel hull prevented the sea view while sitting or laying down, but it wasn't a huge deal. It was quite a delight to lean on the railing and stare out to sea knowing we had the same view as the captain! The big drawback to this room was the 12 deck trek from the gangway, 11 deck trek to the Spa, and 10 deck trek to the dining room. I actually hurt the tendons in my left foot from overdoing the stairs the first few days. We are "take the stairs, so we can eat whatever we want" people, but actually took the elevator a lot this trip after I hurt my foot. The pro was being on the same deck as Horizon Court, The Grill, Swirls, and Prego. Even though we were at the opposite end of the ship, the walk to the buffet each morning was so quick and easy. Our stateroom steward was the best we've ever had! He was stealthy, always cleaning as soon as we left, so we could return anytime to a clean room. He graciously honored every request and went above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of. We thoroughly enjoyed our stateroom and would book it again but still prefer the afts.

 

 

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Thanks for this description of your cabin. We are in L101 on the Regal for a Spring Break cruise next year.

OP;

I enjoyed your reading your review. I especially enjoyed your post about Mykonos.....:):):)

Bob

The day my hubby's cruise was just about ruined...

We are sitting in the dining room on our first sea day peacefully decorating Venezian masks with Matt33 from the cruise staff and other pax when "ding ding ding" happens. "Ladies and gentleman, this is the captain speaking..."

Me: "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no"

I just knew what was coming and the effect it would have on my DH.

The captain proceeded to say that regretfully Malta would have to be skipped due to hurricane force winds that are very unusual for June.

To say that DH was displeased was an understatement. Malta was his #1 port of the entire cruise. That news clouded the whole day and really left a sour note in DH's mouth about cruising the Med. As an experienced cruiser, he knows this can happen; we have just been fortunate to never have had it happen until now. He just kept saying that if he was traveling by land, he could just fly there a different day if the weather was bad, and this is likely the last Med cruise we are doing because European ports are too important to have to risk skipping. He didn't fault Princess or the captain because he knows they were just being safe; he just doesn't want to risk missing his top picks of ports again.

At that evening's Platinum/Elite Cocktail Party, the captain asked what everyone's favorite port was, and I must say, most people shouted Malta.

Here's my Public Service Statement:

Don't book a cruise for a particular port if you're not OK with the chance of missing it. I'm willing to risk it because I love cruises more than anything, but not everyone is like that.

Spoiler Alert:

Gibraltar redeemed the cruise for DH, but he still says next time we will be going by land. Darn!

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Now on to the ports...

 

Santorini-

This was one of our fav ports from before, so we were excited to return. We went all over the board with ideas for our day, but in the end, we kept it simple. It's very easy to catch the boat to Oia right where the tender drops you off. The only issue is when they tell you it's about to leave, don't believe them! They're supposed to run continually, but really they wait for the boat to fill, which makes it about every 40 minutes. Once on your way, the trip is fun and scenic. Sit on top in the very back for great views and refreshing air. Once in Oia, we walked to the right this time, since we had only gone to the left last time. After wandering all the way to the right, we went back to all the same areas we explored last time. We were done at just the right time to catch the 12:00 PM bus back to Fira, which is included with your boat fare. We had made a reservation at Salt and Pepper because our food there 2 years ago was out of this world. We were served by the owner, and she treated us like family, since this was a return visit. She gave us bonus apps and dessert gratis. After our culinary delight, we wandered all over Fira. We did decide to go to the winery, but by the time we did, we didn't have enough time to go. We had quick service gyros for dinner for less than the cost of McDonalds, and they were fantastic! At 7:30 PM, we were the last group of the day to ride the donkeys down the cliffs. Last time we rode them up, so for added adventure, we dared to ride them down this time. It wasn't as scary as I expected but definitely still scary! The view was gorgeous, though, with the sun setting and the ship in the distance. Our tender ride was the best ever with a perfect view of the Santorini sunset.

 

 

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you can't beat the view on this island

Itinerary Change-

 

Mykonos was a fav port of ours, and we were disappointed our itin didn't have it. Well, a few months before departure, Naples and Messina were dropped, and Mykonos and Palermo replaced them. DH was super duper disappointed because we had the Godfather tour booked for Messina. I was disappointed about Naples because I ❤️ the Amalfi Coast and Capri. The upside was that we would now get Mykonos!

 

Mykonos-

We planned to explore Mykonos Town by foot in the morning and have a beach afternoon. DH had read about the beach "close by" and to the left of where the ship docks and thought that might be a good option, since we could reach it by foot. We already knew about the beach to the right because we walked through it into town last time. Well, when we woke up, we were facing the beach to the left and noticed that there's construction, and you have to take a long, convoluted path to the beach, at least 30 min each way. I had the injured foot by then and definitely didn't want to do that after walking around all morning, so we decided against it.

 

We pre-purchased our Princess shuttle tickets for $8 pp Roundtrip U.S. Yes, there's a $2 Seabus that takes you closer to town for less money, BUT we also know 4 pax almost missed the ship last time we were here due to taking said Seabus and it running on island time. The Princess shuttle had long lines but flowed efficiently.

 

Once in Mykonos Town, we strolled the streets until our lunch reservation at Katerina's. This is where we ate incredible Greek food with an unbelievable view last time, so we wanted to repeat the experience. We are so glad we did! We requested a corner balcony table, and it was honored. The view is breathtaking of the aqua sea, windmills, and yachts. After a scrumptious lunch, we explored a section we hadn't been to and bought teeny ice cream cones for 1 Euro each, adorable! By then, my foot was really hurting, so I sent DH off, and I sat at a restaurant by the sea to rest my foot and have some refreshing sparkling mineral water and Free WIFI. DH eventually joined me, and we had a relaxing break. After that, we did some shopping and began our leisure walk back to the shuttle area. Enroute, we dipped our feet in the sea. It was refreshing, but we didn't feel like going back to the ship to get our bathing suits on. Then we had Greek pastries at a fun boulangerie by the beach. Shuttle back to the ship, and another wonderful day in Mykonos was complete. I highly recommend strolling the streets of Mykonos Town; they're picturesque at every turn.

 

 

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I agree; this is a great little town

Naples- the planned, then taken away, then brought back port:

Awwww the Amalfi Coast, Mt. Vesuvius at sunrise, Capri...I LOVE this region! Originally, Naples was on our itinerary, but it was very sadly canceled a few months ago due to "operational reasons", whatever that means.

Once Malta was canceled, the captain made the day for me by announcing that he was bringing Naples back! I was so excited, and though DH was greatly perturbed about the loss of Malta, he is extremely selfless and was therefore thrilled for me to get to Capri! This was announced at about 11 AM, and we were told that shore excursions would be available at 1 PM. We knew we wanted to do Capri by itself, since we had done the comprehensive, whirlwind tour of Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri before and fell in love with Capri. Plus, I HAD to get my fav in the world limoncello hard candies!

*I searched high and low for these candies online to no avail! I even zoomed in on our GoPro video to the storefront to try to identify the brand name. These suckers were nowhere to be found. As soon as I knew we were going to Capri, I was on a mission to buy the biggest bag of these candies I could get!

At 1 PM, the line was all the way to the Piazza (on the Royal/Regal, the Shore Excursion desk is not in the Piazza). DH stood in line and I wandered over to check into the new iPad booking option I had heard briefly about. Sure enough, the Shore Excursion desk offers 2 iPads for self-serve booking. The line for that was less than half as long as the main line, so we joined that one instead. Then, a crew member told us we could just fill out the normal form and drop it in the drop box to be processed. Normally I'd feel fine about that, but with the masses all going for excursions at the same time, I was concerned that the drop box bookings would be processed last. The crew member assured me that he and a few others were starting on them immediately, but to be safe we stayed in our fast-moving line. Soon it was our turn, and the process was quick and painless. We got our desired Capri excursion, and the tickets were dropped off in our stateroom that evening.

Sail-in to Naples is one of the most picturesque IMO because of the sun rising with the majestic view of Mt. Vesuvius. It was no less magical this time.

Our group was escorted off the ship together, walked across the parking area, and over to the ferry port. The walk wasn't bad for us, and if it would be a difficult walk, I wouldn't recommend the Capri excursion in general because it's hilly land with lots of walking. We waited in the shade while the guide bought our ferry tickets. I thought Princess chartered the hydrofoils, but at least today, that was not the case. Maybe because our port call was last minute? In any case, we took one of the main companies that I had considered back when we thought about going independently. While waiting, we realized we had forgotten SUNSCREEN!!!! That would have been very, very bad, so DH raced over to a gift shop hoping they'd have some, and sure enough they did. Crisis averted! It came in a cute little resealable pouch; the only negative was that it took forever to rub in.

Upon boarding the ferry, we had a good choice of seats and chose window seats midship. Celebrity used this ferry, too, for their excursion. Many Italians were onboard as well, some for business and many for pleasure. The ferry ride was fairly smooth but not at all like being on a floating hotel. Tip: Use the bathroom before the ferry departs! It was decently clean. While in motion, I can not fathom being able to use it!! DH said there was liquid all over the floor of the men's bathroom! The ride took just under an hour.

When we arrived, the guide decided to reverse the order of the tour because it was miraculously quiet that morning. That was a very wise decision; by the time we were leaving Capri Town, the place was packed with tourists. We took the funicular up with almost no wait and then stopped to learn about the history of Capri and enjoy sweeping views.

We were then led down the quaint streets to a lookout outside Capri Town that has gorgeous views of the sea and the rock formations. At that point, we were given free time to explore Capri Town.

DH and I went to Carthusia, an historical perfume factory on Capri. We bought some lemon products and made our way back to Capri Town. Then, it was mission time! I walked into the store where I bought the lemon candy before, expressed my love of their candy to the non-English speaking owner (brought a big smile to her face), and grabbed the biggest bag they sold! Mission accomplished and happy as a clam! We then wandered around until our meeting time.

We met at lunch time and walked to the other end of Capri Town for lunch. The restaurant was down a little hill and had a view of the sea. This was one of those restaurants that caters to tour groups, but it was one of the better ones we've had for sure. We sat with a group of well-traveled, fun people from England, Australia, and the U.S. and enjoyed swapping cruise stories over a delicious lunch. Lunch included amazing cannelloni, a green salad, sourdough bread, chicken with mozzarella cheese and tomato on top, and potatoes. White and red wines were served as well as water and cappuccinos. Dessert was almond cake, if I remember correctly.

After lunch, 2 small buses picked up our group to drive us to Ana Capri. I say small because no transport is big on Capri; the roads are far too narrow to allow large buses. We drove along the cliffs with beautiful views of Capri and the sea. Sit on the right side for those views. The drive was around 20 minutes, and we were dropped off at a bus parking lot in Ana Capri.

The guide gave us an overview of Ana Capri and then told us to take an hour to explore on our own. At that point, we could either continue to explore on our own or meet back up for a guided tour of the Villa San Michelle. Our top priority was to take the chair lift to the tip top of Capri, so we set off to do that first. There was absolutely no line at all, and it was under 15 Euros pp Roundtrip, welllllll worth it! You sit in your own chair with a bar across your lap and take a scenic, peaceful 15 minute jaunt to the top. I was mildly nervous on the way up, especially because I was wearing flip flops, but I gripped them with my toes and was perfectly fine. DH knew no fear as always and GoPro'd the whole way, turning around to film me and the island. At the top, you are met with 365 degree breathtaking views. Do the chairlift!!! There's a cafe and free WiFi at the top, so we had gelato and went online from the top of Capri! The wind was really whipping, but it was warm and sunny. We left at the perfect time to meet our group for the tour of the villa. The ride down was surprisingly less scary, and I reassured some massively freaked out tourists heading up as we went by. The ride down had even better views, as you could see much of the island. At the bottom, we met up with our group, and off we went to the villa. The guide paid our group's admission, and then DH and I set off to tour at our own pace, so we'd have more shopping time at the end. It was a fun place to tour, but I wouldn't have paid the entrance fee had it not been included in our excursion price.

After, we headed to a store that gave out free samples of a variety of lemon products including lemoncello, cookies, candy, olive oil, and some other items. It was great because we could try everything before deciding whether to buy. We bought the cookies and some candy for friends and family. We then shopped our way back to the town center. DH tried to buy me an Italian leather handbag, but I was on the fence, so decided against it to be safe. Many places will custom make sandals for you while you shop or wait, and DH also offered those to me, but the soles are wooden and therefore very uncomfortable to me to walk on. Others did this, though, and were very pleased. Do be aware, though, that places operate on island time, and it's not cool to make the whole group wait while your shoes are being made. DH and I bought lemon granitas and downed them quickly; they are surely the most refreshing drink in the world! Oh to have one now! *sigh* We walked back to the bus parking lot and waited for the rest of the group; many were on time or early. We then boarded the 2 buses for the return trip to Capri Town. This time, our bus dropped us off all the way down at the harbor. We had 20 minutes before we needed to board the ferry, so we had some extra shopping time, and DH finally bought a hat.

We strolled along the waterfront and then entered the chaos of the port. Crowds coming and going, groups trying to stick together, porters transporting luggage, ferries arriving and departing. It was difficult to stick with the guide, but we made it to our ferry. We first tried to sit outside on top but discovered that the seats were all wet, a clear indicator of the rough seas we were about to encounter. We went back inside and procured window seats again. Then Mr. Toad's Wild Ride commenced! Our ferry rocked from side to side so severely I really felt like we were going to tip right over. I was so tense; DH was fine and calmed me. The storm was in full swing the whole ride, and the TV systems even lost communication. Shockingly, some people actually attempted to use the bathroom during the ride; I can only imagine how that went! The ride took a little longer due to the rough seas, but we made it, and I was soooooo relieved to disembark! Rough seas on a giant cruise ship are fun to me, but not on a small ferry!

We walked back as a group to the cruise terminal, tipped our guide, dropped off our headsets, and were sent off to security to reboard.

Capri was as enchanting as I remembered and then some, and I'm so thankful we ended up being able to go!

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