Ruby Princess Venice to Barcelona in Autumn

[Waihekean]

This must be the best Mediterean itenary around. Anybody have done this cruise? Any tips appreciated. Especially if can manage a balcony what would be best port or starboard or does it not matter much?

[Shoalwater]

This must be the best Mediterean itenary around. Anybody have done this cruise? Any tips appreciated. Especially if can manage a balcony what would be best port or starboard or does it not matter much?

 

Did this a few summers ago, and we absolutely enjoyed it completely. Spend at least 3 days pre-cruise in Venice, and 2 in Barcelona! These are both excellent cities to wander and enjoy. Port/Star'brd doesn't matter. Its also a por intensive itinerary, so get an oceanview and save the $$ for touring. Be sure to find a private tour in Kusadasi for Ephesus that gets you into the Roman apartment ruins (an extra entrance inside the Ephesus digs). Email me at gebetti@yahoo.com and I can recommend the one we used.

[RASHOPPER2]

We were on this cruise this past fall and loved it. The itinerary is great, the ship wonderful and the weather lovely. We enjoyed our balcony a great deal - especially in the mornings when we pulled into the ports. We were on the port side and were very happy. My one bit of advise is not to overprogram your ports. It is truly an esxhausting cruise and by Athens most poeple were literally walking on thier knees. So try to alternate full and half day tours if you can.

 

Enjoy. I envy you doing this one.

[mickym]

Could you give me some idea how much walking is required in the tour of Rome? Some friends of ours with mobility issues will be on this cruise in Aug. They want to take this tour but are concerned with weather he will be able to handle the walking. How spread out are the main sites? Any help would be very much appreciated.

[pppatpc2]

We did this cruise last fall and had the trip of a lifetime. However, we chose the Barcelona to Venice route. Everyone is right it is exhausting, so we stayed on the ship in Rome and added some nights in Rome on the end after the cruise. We took a train from Venice to Rome and stayed extra nights in order to do justice to the city. There is just too much to see for a half day tour.

[Woobstr112G]

DW has some mobility issues so we've passed this port intensive great itinerary. We've done the wester med - T/A twice with a third one coming up in 129 short days:) If you could wait till October, you could always b2b this cruise with the T/A. Then you would have 6 days to relax at the end.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Infi]

I think this is the best itinerary Princess has. The variety of ports is great, and you're able to visit the main highlights of the Med. There's so much to see in each port that you could do this cruise several times and still not see it all. I'm planning to repeat this itinerary next year or the year after, it was that wonderful. The pace is tiring, no doubt, so don't over-plan too much, and you might find yourself skipping some nights onboard just to get to bed early. The days in Mykonos or Monaco are also good "rest" days where you can easily wander and explore without a tour.

 

My biggest tip - take private tours! We met so many people onboard who just booked the Princess excursions and were disappointed with mediocre guides or constantly following huge tour groups. For usually the same price or better, you can share a private tour where the guide/driver will be at your disposal for the entire day. The ability to go wherever and whenever we wanted to the various sites was priceless. Read, read, and read some more on the European port boards here and reviews on TripAdvisor to find reputable tour companies. Don't worry about being left behind in the ports - the tour companies recommended here are very professional and know that CC is their bread and butter and wouldn't chance being late back to the ship. We booked tours with AthensbyTaxi, Rome in Limo for the three Italian ports, and Ekol in Turkey and were pleased with all of them.

 

This cruise requires a lot of research, but in the end it's worth it for a fantastic experience. Good luck with your planning! You picked a great cruise.

[Waihekean]

Thanks everyone for your great replies and tips. We are aware it is a very intensive trip and that it will take a lot of research, but that has been such a pleasure so far. Have already done quite al lot of reading on CC and Ekol and Rome in Limo keep popping up as the best tour companies around. So here is hoping that is still so in a couple of years. AthensbyTaxi was a new one for me and have notated it.

 

Also taking in consideration to do Barcelona to Venice instead. Sounds like a great idea to go to Rome seperately and stay that port day on ship.

The original idea was to stay three days on either end, but due to the high cost of the accommodation has been reduced to two days on either end. So there is room for an alternative schedule, but stands to reason that Rome will be as expensive, plus it also means extra travel to pay.

Phew! so many decisions to make!:o

[Happy ks]

Could you give me some idea how much walking is required in the tour of Rome? Some friends of ours with mobility issues will be on this cruise in Aug. They want to take this tour but are concerned with weather he will be able to handle the walking. How spread out are the main sites? Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

We spent 3 days in Rome prior to our cruise and we did notice there wasn't really any accomodations for people with disabilities. I would suggest a private tour. The sites in Rome can be miles apart, we took cabs some of the time. They do have public bus transportation, but it was difficult for us to navigate, with jet lag and not knowing the streets. We walked several miles each day plus cabs, on the third day we took a private tour, our cousin had flown in only the night before the cruise.

 

The private tour was wonderful for all of us. The above mentioned cousin walks with a cane and she could not have kept up with us in Rome.