trinitygirl

Hey everyone, last day of Iso. I can't believe its only 11am, it feels like it has been going on all day already. We floated into Santorini around 6am and for ten glorious minutes I felt so alive - the view was GORGEOUS - the paths up the cliff face were illuminated with lights and the sun was rising, it was gorgeous. We came to a stop right in front of Fira and I thought, wow! a day sitting here looking at that is not going to be at all bad and then.... I noticed all that water pumping out sternwards and sure enough, we started to pivot. I am now staring at a desolate rock. I was distraught. But I guess it makes sense - they obviously prefer to tend from starboard, and there is another ship coming in at 4pm so being faced out in the right direction will make things easier. Anyway... there were blueberry pancakes for breakfast (although they forgot the cream) so that was a treat. And the nurse rang for her daily check up at 9.30am and confirmed that she will be calling around 9am tomorrow morning to set me free. Housekeeping will then send their 'hit squad' to sanitize my stateroom from top to bottom so I have to be absent for a couple of hours which will be no problem at all. Tomorrow is a sea day so after I get my 10,000 steps in up on deck 18, I am going to head to the spa to make appointments for later in the week, have brunch in the dining room, and then head to the Sanctuary for some sunshine in the afternoon. Can't wait. Some photos from yesterday and this morning: i had a cheeseburger (veggie burger) and apple tart for lunch - the veggie burger is a huge improvement over the last I had back in 2018 which was made with quinoa and was dry and actually inedible. The apple tart was too sweet and the apples were not cooked enough - I ignore the pastry at the bottom. I also ignored the mocktail which was way too sweet as well. For dinner, I had asparagus risotto (not as good as last week's version, too thick and too much cheese) and because my sister wanted to see what the new version of the Love Boat Dream looked like, I ordered that to show her. Seriously, I don't think the Princess team mean it to be an ironic statement, but this would look great on a Halloween Menu. All I got to see of Athens: Santorini as we arrived, first going by Oia, and then anchoring other way around, at Fira: and finally, what I am looking at for the rest of the day:

I delayed the flu shot too, until May (remembering that our seasons are back to front with yours) so it would be as fresh as possible for the cruise. Definitely a smart move. In fact, if there is a vax your Dr says to get, you should get it.

Hi there, believe it or not, in the week I spent in Istanbul back in 2002, I never ventured inside the Grand Bazar, if that is what you are referring to? I was travelling on my own and it just didn't feel safe to me back then. I was staying in the heart of the old town, so there were plenty of fascinating shops to look at in the odd moments I was not out with my guide book, absorbing all the monuments. In fact, in the month in Turkey I did very little shopping. The only thing I took away with me is still one of my pride and joys, the carpet in my sitting room. I bought it from a govt-affiliated women's carpet making community near Marmaris, and paid way more than I would have in a carpet shop (people back home thought I was a mug, but they set prices according to how long it took to make the carpet, and the woman who made it signed it for me after showing me around - i love it and still feel really good about that purchase), they shipped it home for me and it was waiting for me months later when I got back. So, sorry, no helpful information to provide on the Bazar, but thanks for helping me while away a few more minutes of this very long tedious last day of iso.

Oh man you are SO right about that. After dinner tomorrow night, I don't want to see another room service tray again for the rest of this cruise. And I want to walk and walk and walk and walk. Lord I can't wait to get out of here...

Interesting experience at lunchtime. When I rang to make my order, the person on the phone did this spiel about my old Plus package meaning a charge would apply; she stopped as soon as I mentioned Isolation, but it suggests that there are going to be issues getting recognition for exemptions to the new regime.

We are the only ship in Santorini tomorrow, until 4pm. I suspect the chances are that just like Mykonos, I won’t see anything at all. I am port side but when you are tendered, that does not seem to matter and if you are confined to cabin you can’t just move to the other side of the ship for a view. Fingers crossed…. re the vax issue: I got the bivalant booster at the end of June, leaving it a couple of months after my Doctor advised me too, because I wanted it to be nice and strong for the cruise. I am crediting that with the fact that my experience was basically a medium case of the flu. There is so much going around the ship that I am not sure how you could avoid it - even in the safety of my cabin, the family to my left and the family above me cough up a storm on their balconies. So vax up before you travel is my motto.

oh man I am SO BUMMED. I just got off the phone with the nurse at the medical centre who broke my heart by saying I had been given the wrong information and I won't be released from isolation until Monday. Turns out that the day symptoms start is day zero, not day one. So no Santorini for Emma. I am so sad about that. I spent five days there with my sister in law about twenty years ago and I was really looking forward to visiting again. Sad.

Good morning from Athens! Today is the last day of my isolation and I can't wait to get back out there. Last night saw the arrival of a completely perplexing document telling me about 'exciting news' and 'amazing enhancements' for voyages starting today. It turns out that from today, you have to pay $5 for room service delivery, $15 to activate the location-based delivery system on the app, and $15 to eat at Gigi's, O'Malleys, or the Ocean Terrace. I was outraged for this to be literally the first intimation of these changes when I am mid-cruise, and for them to be trying to sell it to me as an enhancement when something that has been included in my cruise fare is now extra, but a few paragraphs down there is a mind-boggling complicated sentence that seems to suggest that if you are already on board before Aug 12, the changes do not apply to the rest of your cruise. I rang guest services to make sure I understood that correctly and he wasn't sure because he hadn't seen the letter himself, but assumed that is what it meant. So, that's something. Attached are some food pics from yesterday - I finally got to try that pecan turtle cheesecake I had seen people discuss, and it was delicious, as was the watermelon salad. The spinach ricotta ravioli was not great, but I asked for some broccoli and they sent a whole bowl so that made up for it somewhat. I also got to see Mykonos for a brief few minutes - the ship did this amazing 120 degree pivot and the city was all lit up in the distance after a day of staring out to sea. They did something similar this morning as we came into Athens at 5am - it was dark so I couldn't see anything, but the ship actually came into the habour backwards and then shuffled alongside the dock - seriously impressive stuff.

Good morning everyone! I work up without a fever today, and the cut-glass at the back of my throat has disappeared, so I think I am on the mend. HURRUH for vaccines doing their thing. It took me all day but yesterday I finally watched the first Avatar movie (it was so violent! but abated by the fact that I kept dozing off so I watched it in segments). I also got to enjoy the sail into Istanbul harbour and then to watch what was going on at the port during the day. I spent a week in Istanbul in 2002, but seeing the city from the water and up high (my cabin is on deck 10, and even though Istanbul is very hilly, looking out from up this high is a really interesting perspective) is really different than being on the ground in the middle of the old city. The biggest change I could see from my viewpoint, was that the Islamic dress revolution is now complete. Back in 2002, the Attaturk prohibition on islamic dress was still being enforced (although it was being challenged by conservative women from the countryside) and the only women I saw in Islamic dress that whole week, were tourists. Yesterday that had been completely reversed - other than women getting off the ship, all the women I saw were in full dress, many in long black cloaks and only showing their eyes. It was also amazing seeing all the mosques all over the hills - you don't see them all in that profusion from the ground. After some complicated manoeuvring (do not believe them when they say that excursions are cancelled automatically when you go into isolation) I was able to get my tickets to a steward who delivered them to the shore excursions team who cancelled them (despite being out of the time limit) so that was great. And I finally got someone to help me upgrade my IT package to multiple devices so I can finally check my phone and my banking apps. I think I will do that each week - it cost me $25 to do it today, and it lasts until Sat midday, when the next cruise kicks over. Last night we got the information about turnover day in Athens on Saturday, with the transit card and account details etc. None of it applies to me since I will still be in isolation but it was easy to understand and if anyone wants to see it let me know and I can photo it for you. I ordered dinner from the main dining room, going for two entrees instead of a main. The spring rolls were delicious and the asparagus salad was also yummy; the real star was the Menage a Trois (yep, that was what it was called) which had a raspberry pannacota, a chocolate mousse, and an apple crumble slice. they were all delicious and i am embarrassed to say I ate the whole lot. They also bought me a mocktail, which had strawberry and mango in it, and was deliciously cold and soothing for my sore throat. Today I am going to order lunch and dinner from the main dining room because the whole day's menu is already showing on the app. I will download the menu and show it below. First up some photos from the sail in to Istanbul: Dinner photos (no menu sorry, I was not 100% yesterday). TODAY'S MENUS: this was from my last dinner in the dining room - it was hazelnut and was delicious.

Thanks Megfla, that's really interesting. I didn't know there was a credit for isolation days. I will have to do some research. As it is, the excursions i have to cancel will cover the cost of another couple of massages once I am sprung. Trying to look on the positive side.

Hi all, just back from the medical centre. They decided that Paxlovid was probably more risk than benefit since my symptoms are mild, and now that I know things are generally ok, I feel much better, I was feeling super anxious. I am in isolation until Sunday - you are set free 6 days after symptoms start, which for me was yesterday. I just rang room service and they confirmed that i could order dinner from the main dining room menu so i have done that - yay, i really wasn't looking forward to having to eat from the room service menu for the next five days. Yes Megfla, I brought my own Covid tests, and my Covid-action plan from my GP, and the doctor looked at it and talked to me before making a decision. They said that they were happy to base their decision off my own test so I didn't have to pay for another one. I am not sure exactly how much the consultation cost - they said it could be from $150 - 300 plus medication etc. To me, given how anxious I was, that's money well spent. I haven't had Covid before - or anything at all since January 2020, so being sick again sucks! but hopefully it will be mild. I need to cancel all my excursions through Sunday, but the Patter says the desk is only manned from 5-6pm - can that really be right? I had a look at the app but I can't see anywhere to cancel (or even my existing bookings) - only where to book new excursions. Hopefully that won't be a drama. so I guess the next four days will involve lots of reading, and crossing movies off my Watch List... I am doubly glad for this really lovely mini suite giving me room to stretch out. anyway, thanks for your well wishes, it helps in some stupid way, to know I am not completely alone! I am sorry for the temporary interruption to my Live Review and look forward to resuming transmission next week.... Emma

Good morning everyone - or not so good for me. After 3 years and 7 months of not catching any kind of bug at all, last night I developed a fever and a dry cough. So far its not too bad and I hope it continues that way. So no Ephesus for me today (although I have been there before) and no Istanbul tomorrow (although again, I had a week there back in 2002) - hopefully that's all the time it will take for me to recover. Keep your fingers crossed for me. In the meantime, i am super glad that I wore my face-mask on the bus yesterday in Crete, because although no one else seems to care (seriously, the number of coughing, sneezing and sniffling people who don't even bother to cover their mouths anymore, is astonishing) I would hate to be the one who passes it on if I could have prevented it. Anyway, Sanctuary prices are still $20 for an afternoon or a morning - no changes there. Yesterday I went on the tour to Singalong Island - a former Venetian fort turned leper colony. It was kind of interesting but it was SUPER crowded (wave after wave of boats unloaded passengers) and incredibly hot (35 degrees) so I didn't really enjoy the experience. After the island we headed to a floating restaurant in Eloundas where we had a super yummy lunch. Back in 2002 I spent three weeks visiting the greek islands with my sister-in-law and I survived on greek salad, french fries and Tzatsiki because there were no vegetarian options. Yesterday we started with a veggie feast - lot of little bowls with a bulgar wheat salad, a potato salad, a coleslaw, a black-eyed pea salad, spanakopita, tzatsiki. Later they bought bowls of different kinds of meats. It was a feast and really delicious. We then had free time in Eloundas, which is a cute little waterfront town, and from there we drove to Agios Nikolaos and had an hour of free time to wander around there. We had a historian guide named Andreas and he did a great job of answering questions and providing context. : )

Good Morning everyone - it's a sea day, my favourite kind of day. Unfortunately we lost an hour this morning so although I woke up at my normal hour, it feels like I am already behind for the day. I forced myself to get up and go for a walk up on deck 18 - it's the first time since I left home a fortnight ago, and its such a relief to no longer feel like the heat will overwhelm me at any moment. After my walk I decided to brave the buffet and that will be the first and only time this cruise - as predicted I found myself with a plate of eggs and hashbrowns - I just can't say no when they are right in front of me. The buffet is no place for me. The excursion to Sorrento and the vineyard was so-so - any big group tour is always a compromise, and being chivvied around like a primary school student is not fun (but given the fact that 90% of my fellow tourists seem constitutionally incapable of listening or processing information, totally necessary). We had a couple of hours in Sorrento and that was enough time to walk around the old town and have a lemon slushie at a cafe. From there we went to a limoncello tasting at a factory where they mass produce the stuff: this was the 6th time I have tasted it in the past two weeks and I can now tell that while the basic recipe is the same, the results can be vastly different - this stuff was pretty blah in my opinion. From there we drove to a vineyard which had a lovely restaurant/tasting room but seem to have started landscaping and then just stopped part way through - in Australia you would never get OHS permission to open to the public in such a condition but it doesn't seem to stop them here; I couldn't make up my mind whether I was impressed to be treated like an adult (at your own risk please) or shocked. We tasted 4 wines, one of which I really enjoyed, and had three different hors d'oeuvres which were really tasty. We got back to the ship at 4pm (where there was the most ridiculous arrival process: the bus had to wait for nearly ten minutes down one end of the terminal building, drive to the other end and let us off. we then went inside the terminal building, up stairs, all the way to the other end of the building, down the stairs and ... out to the EXACT spot where the bus had just spent ten minutes waiting. Apparently they wanted us to walk through all the shops upstairs before we could get back on the ship. What an outrageous waste of our time). Anyway, we were greeted with a cold flannel and cold water when we eventually made it to the ship, which was most welcome. I went for a swim at the Retreat pool (where I spent my time judging the yahoos who were standing IN the pool with their big glass-glasses of beer and margaritas - all I could see was potential disaster but obviously its not a big deal because quite a few people where doing it). Dinner was Italian night, and I had a lovely meal with eggplant parmigiania to start, a pasta dish (to which i added a bowl of steamed veggies, because for some reason, the vegetarian dishes do not seem to come with vegetables) and the lemon meringue cheese cake I saw someone else post about last month and which was every bit as delicious as they said it was. Then after dinner I headed to the Princess Theatre to watch Soul Bar at the 8pm show, and I quite enjoyed it. Most of the songs were kind of familiar - half way through I would suddenly realise oh! that's such and such - its amazing how different a song can sound when sung by someone else. Then after that I walked through to Princess Live and watched Yes/No, which was hilarious fun. All in all a lovely day, but I am so glad I don't really have to do anything today - I am looking forward to relaxing!

Good morning everyone! I just had the sleep of the blessed: I don't remember anything from the moment I put my tired self to bed at 8pm, until I woke up at 5.30am. The joys of the Princess Bed, a nice cool and dark room, and the gentle rocking of a ship... Oh I am looking forward to the next three weeks. My bag was delivered just as I headed off to the spa at 2.50pm. I had a 100 minute Swedish massage ($236 USD with gratuities, less the 10% loyalty discount) at 3pm and today I feel like I have been hauling bricks - wow, painful but totally worth it. I had dinner at 6pm in the Santorini Dining Room with two lovely servers who immediately made me want to change my plans to try out all three of the dining rooms to see which I like best. The Dining Room was well patronised but there was no queue and my courses came promptly and in the usual Princess style I remember from my last, pre-pandemic, cruise. I had the classic caesar salad (with crunchy chickpeas) as an entree, followed by the absolutely delicious asparagus risotto as main course, and was so busy talking to my neighbours (a lovely couple from Perth) that I forgot to take photos. I had a class of the Pinot Grigio with it - can't tell you any more than that because the Plus side of the menu gives NO DETAILS, whereas the premium side tells you all about it. Way to make passengers feel like second class citizens Princess. For pudding I couldn't decide and asked Javier for his advice: he brought me both as a suprise. I had a spoonful of the hazelnut souffle and was glad I hadn't ordered it, so I concentrated on the Lychee Raspberry Mousse - the mousse itself was delicious but it was sitting on a bright yellow, puck hard, 'coconut crisp' - I'll have to take their word for it because that thing was not breaking with the mere assistance of a spoon or a fork, so it stayed on the plate. After dinner I unpacked, had a lovely shower (I am in a mini suite mid-port side Caribe) and then spent a few minutes trying how to turn off the light in the wardrobe alcove before discovering that this is the mystery sensor light everyone has been talking about. I stood still long enough, in perplexed anxiety, that the damn thing went off on its own. And then to bed, and from there I remember nothing more. Right, time to get dressed for breakfast and to pack my bag for today's adventure in Sorrento. ETA: my breakfast delivered right on time but unfortunately it turns out that for the 4th cruise in a row, the only cereal available is cornflakes or frosted flakes. So I am going to take myself off to the main dining room to see what they have there - I am of the opinion that a grown woman can not set off on an adventure on a breakfast of cornflakes. obviously all of the supply-chain issues have not yet been resolved.

I am not positive, but there is a warning down the bottom about the dangers of undercooked meat and seafood so I think the asterisk applies to that.

Hi everyone, greetings from the Enchanted Princess. After all the planning, I am finally here. I flew into Rome just over a fortnight ago, using EZ Air to book a great business fare on Emirates. That whole flight was seamless; the Emirates Chauffeur picked me up on time, the lounges in Melbourne and Dubai were great, the service on both flights was awesome, and 24 hours later, the Chauffeur dropped me off at my hotel in Trastevere, where there was a heatwave fully under way. It was 48 degrees, with 86% humidity. I thought I was dying and came pretty close to fainting a couple of times. I quickly gave up most of my plans for the weekend in favour of staying inside with the air con, and on Monday I escaped to the Amalfi Coast, where it was just as hot but there was the option to go swimming. I finally came back to Rome yesterday and late yesterday afternoon the weather finally broke, the rain poured down and temperatures dropped at least 20 degrees. Seriously, such a relief. The group of cruise critic people I shared a transfer with this morning met up for dinner last night and it was actually very pleasant weather-wise. This morming we met up at 9am for our transfer, and were at the port by 10.35am. We were through check out and on the ship in about ten minutes, and by 11am I was up at the Sanctuary, picking from the (very few) available loungers for the five sea days over my 3 week cruise. After that, I watched the safety video and checked in at my Muster Station, and by 11.30 was ensconced at Gigis, having the (kind of) caprese salad and the Princess pizza minus the ham, and a perfectly respectable glass of pinot grigio. After lunch I headed to the Spa where I booked at massage for 3pm (10% platinum discount layered on top of the port day special of an extra 25 minutes per 75 minute massage). They are also offering the 10/20/30% discount but that discount does not layer with the 25 minute bonus so I will book later for the other services. Then I went to guest services to check on the gratuities question for Australian passengers. She was clear that gratuities are not included in the Plus package for us, so while it is completely up to me to cancel the prepaid crew appreciation fee I paid at home, and then use that as spending money, if I did so the crew would miss out. So I left that as it was. Then I went up to my Cabin and couldn't get in, so I had to go back down and wait for half an hour in an unholy queue, for them to change the battery on my medallion. And now here I am, with an hour to kill before my massage. I was hoping my bag would arrive so I could unpack but so far, nada. I checked out the lunch menu at the main dining room, and the dinner menu on the app, and I am going to try and attach them to this post. Excursion tickets for the first week were in the cabin when I arrived, along with the information about the loyalty lounge schedule and the buffet themes for the first week. Tomorrow we call in Naples and I am visiting Sorrento and having lunch at a vineyard on the side of Mt Vesuvius. 7FA2C9E6-A15D-4F6D-A50F-ABA078514F39.heic17634944-A659-440B-987B-EF46A9156EDB.heic IMG_2415.HEIC IMG_2416.heic IMG_2417.heic

That would be my answer too - go speak to the manager a couple of days before your reservation and ask if what you want is possible. If it is not, then you have time to cancel your reservation without penalty, and if it is possible, yay.

The Enchanted is showing dance exercise classes in the Piazza at 9am most days in August. I was thinking I might head along and see what its like. They also have ballroom dancing lessons. Its a port intensive itinerary so I won’t be on board for a lot of them, but cool to see the sessions in the planner.

Thanks for your report! So glad to hear it was a great experience! I am doing the Rome to Rome version in August and can’t wait. Also going on Ephesus shuttles tours in Ephesus and Istanbul. And I love your tip about dining, I am going to give this a try too. Which dining room did you choose, and why?

Hi everyone, thank you. This sounds really different than Princess, where the cruise document has all the things you have prepaid, the things included in the fare you paid, excursions booked and so on. I always take that along just in case anything goes wrong. It sounds like Celebrity does this differently. I will be checking in online and will ask the Porters to tag my bags, so I guess that's all I need. thanks again.

Hi everyone, I have two cruises (Nov 25 and Dec 3) booked and fully paid for. I am heading off on my big trip next week, and was hoping to print out my cruise documents before I leave home. Online when I look at the bookings, there is no link under the Your Documents section. I am guessing (from old CC posts) that usually the documents are available 90 days out which would be at the end of August. Is there anyway to get them before then? If not, I won't be able to print them out so my question is whether I can download them while I am on the road, and just keep them on my device instead? I ask because on Princess it's not possible to download the documents - there is a button for Print but no way to save them (I have been able to print out both of my Princess cruise documents so the 90 day rule does not apply to Princess - each line does things differently, so much to learn/remember). Any advice? many thanks Emma

that's really good to know, thanks!

No. Alas. Very supermarket-typical. The cheese plate in the MDR always seems to be a piece of hard underripe brie, a piece of tasteless gouda and generic fruit paste. Not worth the calories.

yes, that totally makes sense - good luck! Getting to see the Last Supper is a bucket list item for me, so I am really excited about this trip. I hope it goes well for you too.

In the end I decided to go to the Last Supper on my own while I am staying in Genoa. I booked train tickets to Milan and back, and booked a ticket (which includes a 'tour' - a 30 minute talk about the painting) through the official website. All up, this cost less than half the price of a cruise tour or a Viator tour including the Last Supper in Milan itself. It also means I can spend the afternoon doing my own thing in Milan. Now that I know how it all fits together and how to book these things online, I would have done this for the day the cruise stops in Genoa but instead we are now going to the Cinque Terra instead.