Wishing on a star

I decided no way would I do the cruise itinerary that is so great, because it is only available in Feb and Mar. If your desire is to sail on a brand new ship, with that 'new car smell', with seeing Europe as only being secondary. Then go for that. If you want to see Europe, as I want to do, as I have never cruised Europe before, then I would sail later. Look at weather averages, and look at videos from these places at that time of year. You might not get that hoped for but unusual warm sunny day. Then make the decision that is right for you. The low for Rome right now, showing on the weather, is 39'. I will be sunny tomorrow, but followed by many chances of very rainy days. It is too bad that the good itinerary I want is only available pre-season, probably because of Port availability then. But, we are looking at a second choice itinerary in May. NOTE: even those are getting heavily sold, with the good cabins I might want are almost all gone.

Don't ever wait too long for a call back. Way too many useless AWOL ' princess planners' out there. Plenty of worse stories online here. Our next cruise will be booked thru a TA that actually does their job and responds to my needs. PVP's are just trying to meet 'new booking' quotas' and many times will not even respond to any other requests.

Checking the two tours mentioned here, it seems that Marinakis and Santorini Tours are two parts of a large travel and tour company in the area. So it seems comprehensive and reputable. At the end of front page of their website: ALSO VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITE www.santorinidailytours.com www.marinakistours.com santorini-catamaran.com santorinibookinghotels.com One can also check sites like guidesbylocals, getyourguide, tripadvisor, etc. But, remember, it can be best, if you can identify a specific tour provider that you see and are interested, look to go directly to their contact or web-site and bypass the middle-man. I have had luck with that while doing some early pre-planning.

cruisemapper.com click 'Ports' put in Santorini, and then other ports you will be at. Click schedule

How was your experience with Welcome Pickups? We are considering them, or Golden Ibex, for tours. And, either Welcome Pickups or the iMove app for Mykonos.

Thank You! That sounds wonderful. You have just validated my thoughts about planning a trip to Santorini. I beleive some ships also offer return from Althinios. But, that might be ONLY if you complete the excursion and return to the ship with your group. A bonus, though, is that we will be there early in the season, and might be the only ship there!

That sounds wonderful! And, sometimes the rates are better if you can find the operator's website and book directly. I have no experience. But, I am thinking that The Roman Guy should also have some good tours like this.

I am also planning for this type of tour of the Amalfi Coast. The bigger companies, that are well known, can be pretty pricey, especially for a Private tour. I am hoping for more insight on AT (Amalfi Tours) which is also Sorrento Limo. They don't have as much feedback out there. But the reviews are all positive.

I am also faced with this decision, as there are so many options at Naples, from Ruins, to Views, to Napolitan food and food tours, to being on the water along the coast! It is hard to choose the company for a private or small semi-private tour that might be best! I am one who, after seeing ruins and museums etc at Rome, Athens, etc. Amalfi Coast will be the focus while at Naples. And, we are thinking of taking a small yacht sailing tour from another port. I have seen videos that show the huge bus 'standoffs' on that tiny hairpin road! Ohhh my. Just seeing that really lets you know what these tours are dealing with to get all they way up the Amalfi Coast and back! I think I have heard of drivers who know how to reverse the usual route on less traveled roads, to make the best of this excursion. I do not know which tour provider for private or small semi-private tours might be best. But the advantages of getting an early start, with an experienced private tour provider in a small vehicle seem to be very real. Choosing the right tour and the right company might take a lot of reading of reviews!

I just looked at Smeraldo, but I see they are at the Pantheon. Would love to book Harry's! But they are a lot more expensive per night. I was liking the thought of being in the Trevi / Spanish steps neighborhood.

Wow! Tons of good insight! I see here a (Pasta) restaurant not far from the Pantheon that I have also seen recommended. Pasta e Vino Osteria - I wonder if any of you experts here could look at their listing here, or on other food websites, and give your initial thoughts. I thought the photos looked pretty good! I should be ashamed to say that I am an unexperienced 'American'! We are big planners, and could probably get reservations at Armando al Pantheon. But, I was thinking that we like to be more casual and less 'scheduled'. We are thinking of staying near Trevi and the Spanish steps I am interested in Colline Emiliane! Maybe try dishes other than the gnocchi. They seem to have great ravioli and pasta and heartier meat and gravy/sauce dishes with potatoes.

Thank You! Great information! So, princess has not been providing any shuttle service. (Heard some lines do?) This shuttle into town is a Mykonos public shuttle bus? Did you ever use a taxi or transport on Mykonos? If we do not take a sailing Yacht, we would need a taxi (Welcome Pickups) or uber type service (iMove) to get around. We will be there there the very first week of May. Not sure what to do, as many, if not most, of the beach restaurants/clubs will not be open yet. Definitely no swimming! But would still be nice to see a Mykonos beach and soak up the sunshine.

First, what is your time-frame? Kusadasi (Ephesus) would be on my bucket list. That is the one thing missing on the Italy and Greece cruise that we are planning. Would plan on just staying onboard if visiting Istanbul. Port times are important! if you want to visit Santorini, look at cruisemapper to see how many ships are in port. That is a big factor there. Too many travelers and cruise ship passengers on that tiny island can be a problem. At Mykonos, I see that one itinerary arrives early, and another at 11:00. if the young ladies want to do one of the beach clubs, then, yes, a late arrival might make it hard to do both Delos and a beach club. I have no experience, but have seen beach clubs at Mykonos online where you can only pre-book loungers until noon. At noon, empty loungers could be rented out to others. I would definitely consider other cruise lines if they had better itineraries.

I looked at a cruise on the new Sun Princess. Yes, there is a transfers to and from Santorini, that can return from Althinios. It is confusing, though. It says guests can either go down the cable car, or return from Althiios. I am not sure if there is some specific time that the tender from Althinios to the ship is available. Or if it is pretty much running on some time schedule thru the day? And, I don't know if I could depend on anybody at Princess to know the details. Because of the limits on the cable cars, and now no limit on the number of cruise ship passengers. It is simple logistics that other options have to be made available.

Thanks so much! Looks like we should be the second of two large cruise ships (a third smaller ship late in the day). So I think that means we will most likely be at the dock. We will either take a pre-arranged sailing yacht tour, from the docks, or go to a beach. Princess offers transfers to Elias and Paradise. Other than that, transportation seems to be the big issue, as we are not big on taking the buses.

Thanks! If the cruisemapper website is right, Princess should be the second of two ships. With a third small ship arriving late in the day. If they can easily handle two large cruise ships, we should be able to pull up the dock.

I am not sure how many ships can dock at Mykonos. And I am not sure if the Sun Princess will, for sure be at the dock. Can you tell that, for sure, by looking at your booking? I have heard of tenders going to either the new port, or to the old port. I have also heard of cruises having a shuttle into town. It is walkable, but I have heard of complimentary shuttle. It can be confusing! Can anyone here give any insight?

We will be on Princess. Can anyone tell me how we know if we will at the dock, or where we will be tendered to? I am not sure if Princess runs a shuttle into town, for access to the bus station, or not?

I am also like, done, with how Princess is doing business. Have been there, done that. And am now hearing far too many stories. Too many problems where good customers are being screwed every which way. We have been looking at sailing Europe on the new ship. recently got a PR email, they want us to sail again, offering a lower deposit and maybe a laughable OBC. $100.00 or less. Okay, our TA mistakenly thought we were inquiring about the longer cruise, and not just the first segment. She had automatically put a hold on a cabin, as many TAs do. Well, because a HOLD, yes, just a HOLD, was placed, then that offer from Princess is now NOT VALID. Seriously? A hold is a booking and cancels an offer that was sent personally to you. Really! TA said she went 'round and round', 'back and forth' with Princess. And they blew her off and refused to make good on that offer, of an insultingly small OBC for a Platinum loyal customer. Note: NO, this isn't about being platinum... it is all about how absolutely horrible Princess customer service and business practices are, and how they will do stuff like this over any small nickle and dime amount.

We are looking at at cruise from Rome, early before the busy Summer season gets going. If it is correct, cruisemapper shows the Sun to be the only ship at Santorini when we would be there. I just wanted to mention that, unless I am mistaken, the price on the sailing went down a little today! I am am not one who just has to have a true aft wakeview balcony. I am not one who has to have the full buffet steps away from the pool. I would be excited to see the dome and the open public area that actually faces forward. And the aft deck as well. More money usually does get more. I don't know if I call the exclusive areas a class system. (don't need to be the jealous or entitled type) Like Lady said, travel is an adventure. It is not a postcard picture. It is an experience, and new experiences can be great!

If you are cruising soon, then check the cruise ship excursions very carefully to make sure they return to Althinios. Many of them might say something like "Tour ends at Fira, and guest will take the cable car on their own" These kinds of excursions should include the ticket for the return cable car. Look at cruisemapper to look at the ships in port the day you will be there. Santorini was trying to limit cruise ship tourists, with fewer ships booked per day, but now I am seeing some days with a LOT of cruise ships. On a small Island like Santorini, that would be shoulder to shoulder crazy! The problem for cruise ship guests is especially apparent when thousands of people want to cable-car back down to their ships at the end of the day. And the cable-cars only handle so many hundred people per hour. Santorini is faced with having to address this problem. Maybe by allowing more ships to tender to and from Althinios Port. It used to be unheard of to return to your ship from there. But I am hearing comments, like the one above, that show that this is possible. From my own research: From what I have been reading. If you don't take a cruise ship excursion, then you might really have no other option for returning to your ship except for the cable-cars. When arriving, there is a boat that you can board at the dock there, over to Ammoudi. If there are a lot of people wanting to do that, then it is an option. But if the boat is half full, it could sit there for quite a while waiting to fill up.

That, I think, is hard to tell. The more booked up the ship, the slimmer the chances. I don't think we can second guess the Princess algorithm. I think that it does say that the highest bidder is not necessarily the one who gets the upgrade. Maybe it looks at how much was alreaqdy paid for the booking. As, that can vary. Some people end up with cheaper fares than others. Who knows! But, at the same time, bidding a bit more couldn't hurt. Look at how much your total fare would be, in comparison to what it would cost you to book an obstructed or standard balcony right now. If it is a lot cheaper and you would be happy with that price. That is how much I might consider bidding.

If they do change, the biggest thing that seems to be noticed, besides the limited availability of the Alfredo, are that the weakest menu looks to be the first night. And prime rib might be the last night. Food is subjective, of course! And you have probably been reading a lot of the comments, so you probably know that: The cuts of Prime Rib seem to be very very thin, order a thicker cut, or order two. And, on some ships, the Alfredo is reported to be good, the same as always, and on some ships, not so good. A lot depends on the ship, what food supplies they have, and the Executive Chef.

To me, ANY balcony, even obstructed, is miles better than an interior. If you are very very lucky, you could happen to get one of the mid-ship angled balconies, like mentioned just above. If they accept your bid for the obstructed balcony, when you first find out, (check your booking, your room number could change there before you get a notice) I believe that you could then simply request a move to another obstructed balcony of the exact same category that is still available. You might see the upgrades being assigned pretty soon. Keep watching, and looking for posts on your roll call. From what we are seeing posted here on CC, if you see one showing denied and not pending, the other pending bid might likely be accepted. Good luck on the upgrade!

Thanks! I do think that there will be a bit more wind. No setup with a tablecloth! But, I think we are going for the mid-ship, first most forward angle on the round bumpout section. A search shows that Phabric, here on CC, stayed in L301, and she posted a lot about that forward and forward facing larger angled balcony. But, I didn't notice any mention of wind, even up there.