Wishing on a star

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.

Our last sailing, the App wasn't working that great. Sometimes it didn't even show Crown Grill. When we got onboard, we went to the Crown Grill that afternoon, and there were several people like us, there making reservations. We were lucky and got what we wanted! I had the Sea Bass, which was good, but my husband's inedible steak is a whole 'nother story.

I have sailed in E405, which is a larger balcony, but not angled. It was calm sailing, and I don't remember the wind being any problem. I am thinking that the ones that are angled out will have a lot of wind. I should have said mid-ship forward and forward facing angled balconies. On the Sun Princess, should we go for a mid-ship balcony, that is slightly larger than the sections with small balconies. Or, would you pick the first forward balcony on the mid-ship curve. Help! I feel lost with this! The bumpout space and view, or the more protected, but larger than Royal Class regular balcony.

Ohhhh, not a 'KAREN'! Hahahaha!

It looks like the Signature restricted area is the prime Aft view property where the Sanctuary is. The Wakeview Terrace area behind the Buffet would have to be all access. It is always nice to sit out at the wake view bar area when we cruise! It is not specific in showing any bar, though.

Too many similar tales. Sad. The one person here said they couldn't get a response from their planner, even AFTER they actually booked thru the Planner. But, would still get random PR emails "call me to book special deals today!" UGGGGHHHH.

Right now, they seem to be taking reservations for well into September. But, the reviews, especially this year, since the restart, are not good! I love the idea of a Princess Lodge. But, if they can't provide the service and food... We have had good luck with staying at different SpringHill Suites.

True, if there are popular events on the big MUTS screen! I think I could still do with the poolside food or Medallion service. You wouldn't want to lose your seats in the middle of a big event or game.

I see that the latest deck plans on Princess seem to show what I had guessed about the Sanctuary. Looks like it will also only have side views. Unlike other ships with full forward or aft. The Aft views will be the Signature reserved area. Too bad! But I would be happy, because there is still a large sanctuary with a pool and a hot-tub. We have been lucky to get loungers in the Sanctuary without having to book a Suite, or be Elite.

Even with the "Premium Balcony" pricing, Princess seems to be loosing any focus on these!

A bit off topic! I know somebody who has been wanting to see the Northern Lights. I see that you can book these Princess properties, without doing a land-cruise package. We have cruised Alaska, but not the land tour. Where would you stay for a few nights. And maybe see Denali if it is still open accessible late in the season. A Princess lodge (which one?) , a Hotel (Springhill Suites, Fairbanks), Other?

That is a good question about the Aft cabins! The deck plans on the Princess website do not show a lot of detail. But the only true Aft balconies seem to be Handicap Accessable. There are two regular (now deluxe) balconies, one on each side of the back of the ship with angled balconies that would have some Aft view. It looks like even the Suites, on the upper decks, are only on each side. Looks like an aft view off the side of the balcony, as the balconies face more to the side.