Leejnd4

Glad to hear you had a great experience with her! We're booked with her for our stop in Huahini on our November cruise.

This actually just recently happened to us! We live on our sailboat cruising around Mexico, and a couple months ago we happened to be near Puerto Vallarta when dear friends of ours were on a cruise that stopped there. We would have loved to visit them on the ship (they are both mobility challenged while we are not), but their cruise line doesn’t allow visitors at all. So they had to exit the ship and meet us at a restaurant near the pier for lunch. It all would have been so much easier if their cruise line allowed visitors on board.

Aren't those the famous tree-climbing goats in Morocco?

As of today I am officially booked on the Symphony Nov 5 2024 Rome-to-Venice cruise. Long way off, but there’s something to be said for allowing some time for NC to work out any kinks, and become just…Crystal. ☺️ I’m doing this cruise solo (hubby is not coming on this trip), and was happy I was able to get one of the SGRs furthest from the bow. That’s another benefit to booking so early. I know SGRs are booking up.

Traveling around the world puts things into perspective, and having been able to do that with my Mom (who grew up barefoot on a farm in Tennessee and had never left the US until I took her on her first cruise) was life-changing for both of us. Cruising will, for me, always be a reminder of that.

I honestly don't recall any dish from Prego EXCEPT their unbelievably awesome Carpaccio. I've been all over Italy, and never had it better. My understanding is that Osteria D'Ovidio will have the same Carpaccio. That's all I needed to know. 🙂

I want to express my gratitude to everyone who helped me make this decision. I know it's the right one. I confirmed with my TA this morning. I was able to speak to my Mom today on the phone...well, my sister held the phone up to her and I talked. Hard to say how much she understood. She is on morphine now, but my sister said she opened her eyes and reacted to my words. I told her which cruise I booked, and she smiled. I also said everything else I wanted to say. It won't be long now. I feel good that she knows that I will take her to those magical places we visited. And she will be with me on the one ship she loved the most out of all the cruises we did together. My options were still valid so I got the quoted price. Also, I checked the Crystal website and the prices on my itinerary are still the same. I don't know which cruises went up in price, but at this point mine did not, and my price is secured. I asked for a SGR as far away from the bow as possible, so we'll see what they give me. It's a hard time for me right now, but I'm feeling grateful. This cruise next year will be one of the most meaningful trips of my life, even though I'm doing it alone, which is how I want it to be. I know my thread is not the usual happy topic, but this is also part of life, isn't it? It's all a circle. Thanks again. LeeAnne

I made a decision - I'm doing the Rome-Venice itinerary. I do hope they honor the price I got last week.

This reminds me of when I was first married (nearly 40 years ago). I *accidentally* washed my husband's favorite white button-down shirt in with the colors. Of COURSE it came out pink. He looked at it, but didn't say a word. By the next day I noticed he had put a brand new clothes hamper in his closet, and was putting his dirty clothes in there. He's been doing his own laundry ever since. I'll leave it to you to decide whether it really was *accidental*. 😝

Wow. I never would have expected three pages of comments about...laundry! Y'all sure do like to bicker. LOL! My personal perspective: I don't want to do my own laundry when I'm on a cruise. I want to spend what limited time I have on the ship, enjoying the ship. When I'm on a cruise it feels like I'm in a different world - one in which I never have to cook or do dishes, I eat gourmet food at every meal, see wonderful entertainment and/or live music every night, meet new people from around the world, see something amazing every day, and get pampered like royalty by people who greet me by name. Doing laundry makes all that grind to a screeching halt and I suddenly feel like a regular ol' mortal again. 😉I don't WANT to feel like a regular mortal until I disembark! I'm happy to pay for sending my laundry out, although it's nice when I don't have to. I'm NOT staying in the high-end suites. I'm soon going on the PG, and as a former PG cruiser I get my laundry for free, which is not a selling point (I'd do the cruise anyway) but it sure does make me happy. There, now you got one more perspective on laundry. 😁

You can disembark at any time after the PG arrives in Papeete. And yes, you can leave very early in the morning. They offer a transfer to the airport at 4:00 am, probably for that Air France flight. We're taking a flight that leaves at 8:20 am, so we'll be departing very early as well. We'll probably arrange for a cab rather than take their transfer, since we don't need to leave at 4:00 am. From the PG's FAQ: On French Polynesia cruises with Paul Gauguin Cruises, can I disembark in Papeete, Tahiti, when the ship arrives in the evening, rather than waiting until morning? The m/s Paul Gauguin arrives in Papeete at 7:30 pm. Guests may disembark at any time afterward by first checking out at the reception desk to finalize their own board account.

Looks like we got three over packers here...I'm TERRIBLE at packing light! My husband subscribes to the "pack for one week no matter how long you are going for" theory, which assumes that you will always be able to get laundry done at least once a week. But I find that way too limiting. I need OPTIONS! Plus, I'm a runner - I run a few miles most mornings - so I need to basically bring two wardrobes, one for running and one for wearing. It's a struggle! I remember those wonderful L'Occitane products that were on the PG, and I'm bummed they aren't still using them. But I cut my hair short and let the grey grow out a few years ago, so my hair is pretty forgiving to products. I'm going to leave mine home and hope the Algotherm stuff doesn't make my hair fall out!

Oh, good to know! This will be the first time I'm traveling with ashes. I'll dig into that!

Yes, Rome is a magical city to me! I've been there seven times. I will definitely spend a little time in Rome itself, but then I will go directly up to that castle in Tuscia, about 60 miles north of Rome and spend several days there pre-cruise.

I think hair product quality is kinda in the eye of the beholder. It depends on what your particular hair needs. According to skjoen the brand is Algotherm, and if you look at the prices of Algotherm products on Amazon, they are not cheap! But that doesn't mean they will be right for your hair. I don't see the problem with bringing your own...there's certainly no restriction on the PG to bring your own hair products. If your hair is particularly sensitive to products that aren't right for it, then you definitely should bring your own. I assume you'll be checking luggage, so you won't have to worry about carrying on liquids.

Good to know! I'll put this in my notes as well.

Yes, both cruises have overnights. The Barcelona-Rome one overnights in Livorno, and the Rome-Venice one overnights in Naples. Neither of those cities are places I feel like I need to see again (I've been to Florence several times, and Naples just holds no appeal to me.) But from Naples I could get an excursion to the Amalfi Coast, which is what I would do with one of the days there. And the other I would just remain on the ship for a "sea day". 🙂 Hmmm...good thoughts! I'm making notes from all of these comments - I'll put that on there. I know many people love Venice, but the last time I went there I just didn't enjoy myself. It felt like the city has lost its true soul, and ONLY exists now as a tourist trap. The food is not good, everything is absurdly expensive, it felt like an Italian Disneyland for grown-ups. It made me feel like a "tourist" as opposed to a "traveler". Yeah, Capri is probably off the table. But I know you can get day trips to the Amalfi Coast, which is what I would prefer anyway. Capri was fun once, but not nearly as lovely as the Amalfi Coast.

Wow, so much great feedback! It definitely seems the consensus among most is Rome to Venice. Although there are several things that make the Barcelona to Rome cruise attractive as well - in particular, Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in all of Europe. And the stop in Livorno would give me the opportunity to visit the Cinque Terre again. (MY will and testament specifies that MY ashes are to be scattered over the Via del'Amore in the Cinque Terre!) But this trip is not about me. @avalon244 you make an excellent point about Naples - I've been to Naples and I have no interest in going back. But it would allow me to visit Capri and the Amalfi Coast, two places I haven't seen in many years. So there's that. I'm also not thrilled about disembarking in Venice - I've read that it's really awkward. However...Mom and I went to Venice on our very first trip to Europe, and we had a MARVELOUS time. We had a hilarious little excursion to Murano in which we met a man who was the personification of the "ugly American". We have recalled and laughed about that many times. So I would love to scatter some of her ashes in Venice. I've been back to Venice a couple of times and it is not one of my favorite Italian cities - way too many tourists for my taste - but again, this is not about me, it's about Mom. She adored Venice. I will happily pass up Barcelona in order to meander through the narrow streets and paths of Venice the way Mom and I did on my first visit there. The more I read about the other ports in the Rome-Venice itinerary, the more attractive they sound. Another positive about this itinerary is the embarkation in Rome - that would mean I'd visit the castle pre-cruise, which would give me a few days to recover from jet lag before I board the ship. So there are pros and cons to both itineraries, and as you can see I've gone back-and-forth, but I think I've settled on Rome-Venice. This has been a great exercise, thanks everyone! Oh, and if anyone is interested in that amazing castle, here's the link. Mom and I took a cooking course there many years ago, and I still have the cookbook. https://www.castellodiproceno.it/en/

I wish I could do both! But the problem with that is that it wouldn't give me enough time in Rome to go spend a couple days up at that castle. Plus I think my husband wold balk at me being gone that long. 😉

THANK YOU! This is all great information and exactly what I was looking for. Some excellent points here on both cruises, which I need to carefully consider. I still need to research these new ports to learn more about them, but hearing your thoughts is a HUGE help. I have some homework to do! And I’d love any further responses too. The more feedback I get, the more I have to percolate until the right choice bubbles up to the top.

I've seen it three times! But never on a cruise ship. My husband and I live on our sailboat, currently sailing around Pacific Mexico, and we often do multi-day passages. The only times I've seen the fabled Green Flash is when we have been far out to sea (at least 50 miles offshore), so no land in sight...and the weather was perfectly clear, with no clouds on the horizon. I've carefully watched so many sunsets at sea (trying not to stare into the sun, of course!) more times than I can count, looking for that flash, and the vast majority of the time I'm disappointed. But three times I got lucky! One time I managed to capture it on video. It's pretty magical! I've seen many sunrises at sea too, but never a Green Flash on one.

Hello Crystal cruisers (or former Crystal cruisers)! I'm getting very close to booking a cruise for late 2024. I have two Symphony itineraries I'm torn between: Barcelona to Rome - Oct. 28-Nov 5 Rome to Venice - Nov 5-Nov. 14 Both itineraries include ports I've been to, and ports I've not been to. I know many of you have been to all or at least some of these ports, and I would love your input on which itinerary you'd choose and why. Here are the full itineraries (with the ports I haven't been to in bold): Barcelona Palma de Mallorca Port Vendres Calvi, Corsica Monte Carlo Livorno Rome Rome Naples Giardini Naxos, Sicily Corfu Kotor Dubrovnik Split Venice I'm going to book a SGR. I have quotes from my TA already. (Forgive me for getting a bit personal here, and I know it's not pertinent to my question, but please indulge me: the purpose of this cruise, and the reason I'm going alone, is to scatter a small amount of my mother's ashes in some of the magical places I visited with her back when we used to do cruises together. All of the ports that I've been to on these itineraries, I visited at some point with her. And it needs to start or end in Rome because there is a very special castle about 60 miles north of Rome where we spent a week once. She told me recently that was her favorite place we ever went together. She is still hanging in there, but not for much longer...the end will be coming soon, possibly any day now. We've talked at length about her wishes for her ashes, and I want to be able to tell her before she goes that I've got my travel lined up.) Either itinerary will meet my objectives, as I have amazing memories of Mom in all of these ports (the ones I've been to, obviously). So the question really comes down to, which cruise has ports that I HAVEN'T been to, that I would enjoy the most? Since I'm going to be visiting new places, might as well pick the cruise with the most interesting new places. Do you think I should pick the earlier cruise because of the weather/ temperatures? Do you have a preference for one region over the other? Any thoughts about a woman traveling alone in these ports? (I'm not particularly concerned about that - I'll be on a cruise!) Anything I haven't thought of? Any thoughts or feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

My husband isn't going on this cruise - he's staying on our boat with Bubba. I'm going with a dear friend of mine. She is mobility-challenged and REALLY wanted to do this cruise again, but she can't do it alone and her husband isn't in good enough health to be able to travel that far. And my hubby doesn't really want to go. So we're doing it as a girls trip! 🙂 For me, it's also filling in a gap: we had originally planned on sailing there in our own boat. We moved aboard our sailboat late in 2019 and sailed down to Mexico, intending to spend only a year or two there and then cross the Pacific to FP. But then Covid hit, and FP closed to pleasure craft, so we got stuck in Mexico. They've now opened it back up again, and MANY of our cruising friends have already sailed over there. But we missed our window, as we need to head back north to CA by this time next year. That doesn't leave enough time to sail all the way to the South Pacific and make it back to CA within that time frame. Sailing our own boat to FP was my dream. But that's not going to happen. So...the PG it is! 😁

THANK YOU! It worked fine for me. I'm so excited about my upcoming cruise, I'm dying to read ANYTHING about it. 🙂 Are you going to post a full review in the reviews section? (Not to rush you or anything...) 😉 By the way, I'm a YouTuber as well, although my channel is all about chronicling our life living full-time aboard a sailboat and cruising around Mexico. And I don't have a ton of subscribers. But I do plan on putting together an episode about my PG cruise. I'll post it in the forum when it's published.

I let the other people in our roll call know about this, and one of them already got the additional savings/OBC! This is a nice promotion, and I'm happy we got to take advantage of it. 🙂