A Grand time on the Royal Princess Grand Mediterranean Cruise – Aug 10 – 22, 2013

[DoulaAnn]

When we were researching what to do in Toulon, we came to the conclusion "why are they even bothering to stop there?" Sounds like we assessed it correctly. I think we are just going to explore a little of Toulon and then return to the ship.

 

When you docked at Toulon, was it actually Toulon and were you docked or tendered?

[sashas_mom]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Can't wait to board her in October.

[homeinboca]

Thanks for the new installment. We will be in Toulon on a Saturday and on a small private tour. Might make a difference. We've never been to Toulon so looking forward to it. Too many times in Monte Carlo.

 

We carry Via too. Italian Roast, both regular and decaf.

 

BTW, we are pretty much your neighbors. In Florida. :)

 

Hi Pia, I think it will make a big difference for you - everything will be open and there is market on Saturday and with a small private tour, you'll be able to go wherever you wish. I really wanted to go to Cassis and see the Calanaques, but Princess did not offer that.

 

Glad to hear we're neighbour's - at least in the winter!

 

Ron

[homeinboca]

When we were researching what to do in Toulon, we came to the conclusion "why are they even bothering to stop there?" Sounds like we assessed it correctly. I think we are just going to explore a little of Toulon and then return to the ship.

 

When you docked at Toulon, was it actually Toulon and were you docked or tendered?

 

We were docked, but it was in an industrial area called La Seyne across the bay with nothing around. There was a water shuttle into the town that there was a $15 PP charge for.

 

Ron

[MessyCat]

Thank you for your most interesting and great review. We are really enjoying it. We loved Royal Princess and hope we can sail on her again.

 

We too were not impressed with our guide in Toulon (trip to Hyeres) and stated this in our Princess post cruise survey. When a member of our group asked for a comfort stop we were told to find a café, which we know you can do. She raced ahead up the steep winding pathways and I don't think we saw her again. This as it turned out, wasn't a problem, as we knew where to meet up but we could have taken more time and not sure if we saw the places listed on the trip itinerary.

 

photos of Hyeres: (not very good with IT/photos/size)!

 

 

 

 

[TorontoTL]

Lovely photos MessyCat, thanks for sharing.:)

[Nautigal]

 

Cruise Day 4 – Civitavecchia – for Rome

 

... I booked the Princess Private train to Rome as it gave you more time in the city. It was a very comfortable and quick ride into Rome and left you off at the train station near St Peter’s. ... So we hopped in a cab and made our way to the Gallery Borghese.

 

We had pre-purchased tickets for the Borghese on-line and glad we did because it was sold out for the next several days. You get a timed ticket and it’s good for two hours, then they kick you out and the next group goes in. They keep the numbers limited so you can enjoy the art as it was meant to be, as a visitor to their home...

 

Enjoying your review with great anticipation for our Oct. Ruby Grand Med...same itinerary. We're thinking of doing the same as you in Rome....Princess private train into Rome and taxi to Gallery Borghese. About what time did the Princess train get you into Rome? Also, for what time did you reserve the Gallery Borghese tickets? I see they have opened up online bookings for October and offer 9AM, 11AM, 1PM and 3PM time slots. We're thinking of reserving the 11AM time. Do you think we'll easily make that...or should we go with a 1PM reservation?

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to write up your detailed review. It's a great help in planning for the ports!

Edited August 27, 2013 by Nautigal

[homeinboca]

Enjoying your review with great anticipation for our Oct. Ruby Grand Med...same itinerary. We're thinking of doing the same as you in Rome....Princess private train into Rome and taxi to Gallery Borghese. About what time did the Princess train get you into Rome? Also, for what time did you reserve the Gallery Borghese tickets? I see they have opened up online bookings for October and offer 9AM, 11AM, 1PM and 3PM time slots. We're thinking of reserving the 11AM time. Do you think we'll easily make that...or should we go with a 1PM reservation?

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to write up your detailed review. It's a great help in planning for the ports!

 

Hi Nautigal, Thanks for your comments, the train was great - got us in before 10:00 AM, there's a short walk from the station to St Peters Square where you can grab a cab, or there were taxi's right at the train station also. We had tickets for 11:00 to the Borghese, and had plenty of time to get there. Enjoy!

 

Ron

[Nautigal]

Thanks, Ron! You've been a great help! :)

[homeinboca]

Thanks again for all your positive comments, I hope you are enjoying my review...

 

 

Cruise Day 5 – Naples – For Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast

 

Last time we visited Naples, we booked a private driver from AP Tours of Sorrento. We were so pleased with their service, we booked them again. I highly recommend them. Since we visited Pompeii last time, we weren’t interested in going back there, so we could extend the drive down the Amalfi coast beyond Positano to Amalfi and Ravello.

 

We shared this tour with 2 other wonderful couples we met on our roll call. When our driver asked us where we were from we said - London, England, Sydney Australia, and Toronto Canada. He said; in his deep Italian accent “Ah three great cities, I want to visit all of them one day!” We had a wonderful day together, but it didn’t start off too well. There was a traffic accident with a fatality on the road to Sorrento, so we were stuck in traffic for a while. It wasn’t as bad as others who were on a later Princess tour – they told us it took them almost 4 hours to get to Sorrento!

 

Our driver was Giovanni, and nice young Italian man who was studying to be an engineer and did this job every day for 6 months each year to pay for his education. He met us on time, and off we went to Sorrento. Sorrento is such a beautiful place, great views of the Gulf of Naples and Mt Vesuvius and home of giant lemons and where they make one of our favorites – Limoncello! We got to spend some time in the city center wandering the alleys and buying up all kinds of things with lemons on them! The chocolate with Limoncello center was a big hit!

 

It was then time to hit the road down the Amalfi coast to Positano. This is one of the more beautiful coastal drives in the world. The steep hills and winding road gives you one amazing view after another. Being on a private tour, you can stop where ever you want for a photo and the small car allows you to drive right into the town of Positano. A big tour bus just can’t do that. This is a place right out of a postcard, it’s so picturesque.

 

As we arrived in Positano, it was time for lunch so we headed up the narrow road to the top of the mountain overlooking the town to a restaurant called La Tagliata. We had eaten there last time we were in Positano and the food and view is to die for! It’s rated #1 restaurant on Trip Advisor for a reason. Go there and I guarantee you will have more than a memorable meal. One of our trip mates said it was the best meal he had the entire trip and I would have to agree.

 

You sit down and there is no menu, the wine and food just arrive served family style, it’s whatever Mamma is cooking that day, all freshly made, and with vegetables right from her garden outside. The antipasto was wonderful and the next course of pastas was even more delicious. One of the pastas was made with a pumpkin sauce as they are in season here, which is well before we are used to in the fall. The deserts then arrive and a glass of Limoncello to top it all off! Bellissimo!

 

As we were eating, one of the staff walked by with a big bowl of plump red tomatoes from the garden. DW said, “I have to have one of those tomatoes!” The waiter said come into the kitchen! Next thing you know she is in the kitchen with Mamma and they offered her whatever she wanted! This was the kind of place this is, a wonderful family run restaurant that leaves you with great memories of a special place.

 

Sadly, it was time to hit the road again; we went down to the town of Positano and had some time to walk around the very steep and hilly streets to work off our meal. There are very nice upscale shops and galleries here. I went all the way down to the beach which was the scene of many movies including Under the Tuscan Sun. We then set off further down the road to the towns of Amalfi and Ravello, with the views at each turn more spectacular than the last. We spent some time wandering around these quaint little villages where it seems like time has stopped.

 

We did make it back to the ship in plenty of time and with memories of a lifetime. That evening we enjoyed a magic show with David Cats, an illusionist in the Princess Theatre. He did also play in the Vista Lounge, a more intimate venue that I think that would be a better place to see him. Tomorrow a sea day – boy could we use some R&R.

 

Cruise day 6 – At Sea

 

Finally, a day at sea, we’ve been on the go, non-stop running for over 10 days now. It was time to just relax, enjoy the ship, and take it easy. We were both looking forward to a relaxing day by the pool. As usual, up pretty early, but took our time and had a nice relaxing breakfast. The Horizon Bistro is really a great improvement over previous designs. There is lots different foods to choose from and plenty of places to sit. As we are early risers, it was very quiet everywhere on the ship. I guess everyone needed some down time.

 

Unlike Caribbean cruises, where chair hogging seems to be a big issue on sea days, I really didn’t see this, although there was one group put out towels at 8:00 AM and didn’t come back till 11:00. We had planned to spend the day by the adult pool, but it was so windy there, we would not sit, and the staff was actually taking chairs away. So we sat up on the Sun deck by the mid-ship pools, and just relaxed. I even had a chance to have a siesta!

 

Today was also formal day. I decided not to bring my tuxedo for this trip, but I can say there were a large percentage of people that did wear formal. We had booked the Crown Grill for dinner, and as usual had a great meal there. DW had a large plate of lobster tails and I had the filet. We always enjoy Crown Grill and I feel it is certainly worth the extra charge.

 

That evening the production show was What the World Needs Now – the music of Burt Bacharach, and all his amazing songs. He is obviously very popular all over the world. We went to the 10:30 show and the theatre was packed, standing room only and people were sitting in the aisles. As with all the production shows, this one was excellent –the lead singers are really very good on the ship.

 

Cruise Day 7 – Mykonos, Greece

 

We were able to tender in Mykonos and I was glad because I was hearing that some of the previous cruises were unable to, because of the winds. It seems to be always windy in Mykonos. We only had a partial day here as the last tender was leaving at 1:00 PM so we could leave early to head to Istanbul.

 

We had nothing planned here, so we arranged to meet up with our friends from Ottawa to head over to a beach for a couple of hours. We thought we could just grab a cab and head over, but we found cabs to be very scarce on the island. As a matter of fact, we found out later there are only a few cabs on the whole island, and most of them just service the airport. We did walk a bit and found a cab to take us to Kalafatis Beach.

 

We rented some chairs and had a nice swim in the sea. It’s a nice spot, but we were a little concerned about getting back to the main town, given the scarcity of cabs. We spent some time here but then started to head back to the waiting area with no cabs in sight. We went into a hotel and asked them if they had a shuttle, and it turns out they were taking a guest to the airport and agreed to take us back to town. This was very nice of them and we gave the driver a nice tip for helping us out.

 

Once we got back into town we wandered around the lovely shops and found a nice restaurant right on the bay, so DW could have her delicious Greek salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, red onions, feta cheese and oregano. It’s too bad we had such a short day here; it’s such a nice spot. Before we knew it, it was time to line up at the port to get back on the shuttle.

 

We had another relaxing afternoon on board and that evening saw the Celtic Tenors in concert in the theatre. Tomorrow was going to a very long day touring Istanbul. I was very excited to visit this amazing and historical city and I have lots to report from here, so I think I’ll keep that for the next chapter…

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks again for taking the time to do this review...loving it!!

 

Carole

[DoulaAnn]

Thanks for another wonderful description. Your writing makes me anticipate our cruise in a month even more. Appreciate your taking the time to do this.

[Mom33]

I want to be in Sorrento again.....anywhere on the Amalfi Coast.....You are making me think it is time to repeat the Med cruise after our Baltic cruise.:D

[TorontoTL]

We did a day tour with AP tours with a tour guide, a young man named Giovanni with a heavy Italian accent as well. I bet it was the same man. We were on the Crown in October in Napoli. Here is a photo of him with my SILs.

[homeinboca]

We did a day tour with AP tours with a tour guide, a young man named Giovanni with a heavy Italian accent as well. I bet it was the same man. We were on the Crown in October in Napoli. Here is a photo of him with my SILs.

 

Yes, that is him, he was very nice.

Edited August 28, 2013 by homeinboca

[TorontoTL]

Yes, that is him, he was very nice.

 

Yes very nice and very informative. He really really played up the Italian accent with us, he gave each of us an Italian name for the day as well. :p

[skyline]

:)Enjoying your review, thanks for posting. We'll be sailing on her in next October and can"t wait. We also have a midship mini but would like to know the room configuration. :confused:What was your cabin number and were the beds on the left or right wall as you walked into the room? Will really appreciate your help. Thanks.

[homeinboca]

Wow, what a great review. Can't wait to read more. Great motivator for my cruise in a short 43 days.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Thanks Bob, I hope you have a great cruise. I know you will enjoy your extended time on the Royal, she is a wonderful ship.

[homeinboca]

:)Enjoying your review, thanks for posting. We'll be sailing on her in next October and can"t wait. We also have a midship mini but would like to know the room configuration. :confused:What was your cabin number and were the beds on the left or right wall as you walked into the room? Will really appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

Hi skyline, we were in A331 on the Starboard side, our beds were on the left as you walked in.

[homeinboca]

Cruise Day 8 – Istanbul, Turkey!

 

Today I am knocking one major one off the bucket list. I would have never thought I would have been able to travel to exotic Istanbul, also known as Constantinople, and founded as Byzantium in 660 BC. It is practically the cradle of civilization as we know it today, having served as the capital city of four great empires – The Roman, Byzantine, Latin and finally the Ottoman Empire. I’ve read about Istanbul since I was a kid, enjoyed the books and the movie, Topkapi and all the 007 movies shot here. Was I excited, you bet!

 

It is now the world’s 5th most visited city after London, Paris, Bangkok and Singapore and has some great and unique sites to visit. I arranged a private tour with KSG Tours; Kosagan Tours and booked with them almost a year in advance, so I could get one of the owners – Lale Kosagan as our guide. Great reviews for her and the company and I would have to agree, she is a great and knowledgeable guide and passionate about her country and home city. One thing though, she is short and walks very fast! You have to keep up with her in the crowds, but we never got lost! Well almost and I’ll cover that later in the story.

 

I got up early and went up to the sun deck to watch as we sailed the Bosphorus and made port in Istanbul. It was nice to sail into the city. Our guide, Lale (pronounced law-lay) met us at the port and off we went to start our long day. We had a 9 hour tour scheduled with her, packed with all the sights, sounds and smells of this wonderful place. I had put together a group of 8 of us for the private tour, including our friends from Sydney who were with us in Amalfi and a family of 4 from the Toronto area. We had a great day with everyone and I really enjoy putting together groups from the roll call – it’s really the way to go!

 

As we made our way across the Galata bridge that spans the Golden Horn, Lale gave us a sense of the size and scope of the city. There’s been a bridge in this spot since the 6th century and it was packed with fisherman as we made our way to the old city of Constantinople. As we drove along the coast, you could see the ancient walls which provided for protection of the great palace.

 

Our first stop was the ancient Hippodrome. When Emperor Constantine moved the seat of government of the Roman Empire here, this was the center of his great city and the stands could hold 100,000 people. Standing in the center of this place and imagining the history here gave me chills. There are still several monuments in place that were brought here from all over the empire. The Serpent Column was brought here from the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and must have been very impressive – a three headed snake adorned with a golden bowl. The bowl was destroyed or taken during the 4th Crusade and all that remains is the base of the column now known as the Serpentine Column.

 

Another great monument here is the Obelisk of Thutmose III which was brought here in 390 AD from the Temple of Karnak in Luxor. It’s very impressive, in pink granite, is over 3500 years old and is in amazingly good condition. The hieroglyphics look like they were carved recently. The Walled Obelisk is another more recent column that is still standing in place. The famous Four Horses of St Marks were originally here as well, taken in 1204 and brought to Venice, where you can see them today in the Museum upstairs inside the Basilica.

 

Immediately adjacent to the Hippodrome is the Sultanamhet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque. We went over and sat in the courtyard and looked up this impressive site, built in the 1600’s. It was prayer time, so we couldn’t go in, but our guide told us the history of this place, how it was built with 6 minarets and with thousands of handmade blue ceramic tiles. Each tile took over 70 days to make by one person. From here, we headed across the open park to the Hagia Sofia, the design of which was the inspiration for the Blue Mosque.

 

 

This is one of the great sites of the world, you stand in the middle of the park and on one side are the Blue Mosque and the other the Hagia Sofia, very impressive! With Lale, we were able to bypass the lines and get right in. (Another benefit of a private guide). The Hagia Sofia is beautiful inside, unlike anyplace I’ve ever seen before. It was first built in 537 and was an Orthodox church for a thousand years, except for a brief period when it was a Catholic church, and then it became a mosque, and finally a museum in 1935. It is amazing how this building lasted through earthquakes, fires, and sackings over the years, but with the restorations, it is truly a magnificent building, both inside and out. It was very crowded inside, but we staked out a corner and our guide explained the amazing history of this place.

 

After leaving, we then made our way to the Basilica Cistern. Wow, we have seen so much and it’s still morning! Making our way down the steep steps into the cistern, you are transported to a unique place that has a forest of columns and eerie lighting. They now use carp to keep the water clean naturally, but of course, it is no longer used as a water source. We enjoyed the cool air in this place and it gave us a break from the heat. From Russia with Love was filmed here, but it’s nowhere near the Russian Embassy as claimed in the movie.

 

It was now time to head to the Grand Bazaar – finally some shopping time for DW! Lale took us in this massive place with 4000 stores and gave us some tips on how to navigate the alleys and how to deal with the aggressive shop keepers. She told us that as Westerners, even though we are used to saying no thank you, we don’t need to reply to everyone who shouts out at us to come into their shop. She took us to a few of her “preferred” stores where we bought some silk scarves, jewelry, and other trinkets. We were going to save our spice shopping for the Spice Market later in the day. We were then left on our own and given a time and place to meet, and wandered around. It’s very easy to get lost in this place, it’s massive and all the laneways look the same. The shop keepers are aggressive, but mostly friendly and it was an interesting experience. The lantern shops were beautiful and very colorful and got some great photos. We did find our way back to the meeting place and then it was on to a nice Turkish doner kebab place for lunch.

 

We stopped at nice little spot for some lunch and had a doner kebab from what was the largest spit of cooked meat I ever saw. It must have been 5 feet tall! Lunch was very good and we all had a great time talking about all the amazing sites we saw this morning. After lunch we were going to head to Topkapi Palace where we will be spending much of the afternoon.

 

This great palace complex was the residence for the Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years and included the residences, the mint, the imperial treasury and the Sultan’s Harem. After the end of the Ottoman Empire it was turned into a grand museum. We walked through the Imperial Gate into the courtyard and you could see the scale of this complex. We went into the Imperial Council room and made our way to the Harem section. The blue tiles here everywhere were beautiful and we explored the many rooms of the Harem.

 

Our guide then gave us some time to explore on our own so we headed straight over to the Imperial Treasury so DW could see the beautiful treasures in there like the 84 Carat diamond and emerald encrusted Topkapi dagger. These were breathtaking in their beauty, and there were lots of beautiful treasures all over. Very impressive!

 

From here, we headed back to the Blue Mosque, so we go could inside, since we were unable to do so in the morning due to prayer times. It was very crowded inside and we were starting to get tired from our marathon day. From here, we went to the Spice Market, before heading back to the ship. It was so crowded in the market, it was not enjoyable as you couldn’t even move in there. We told Lale, we wanted to leave, but she took us to a quieter spot and a nice store where enjoyed some Turkish Tea, and bought some amazingly delicious Turkish Delights, nuts and spices.

 

Leaving the market, we ran smack into a big protest against the Egyptian military action that was taking place in Cairo. There was a lot of commotion everywhere, loudspeakers, and flags, and needless to say it was a little uncomfortable. We wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, but as I said earlier our guide was short and walked quickly and we couldn’t see her right away. Well, one of the people on our tour was 6’6” and wore a white fedora – you could always spot him in a crowd! Well I spied the white fedora and followed him out of there. How our driver got us out of that mess, I don’t know; he was driving backwards down the road to get away. What excitement to end our day in a most magical place!

 

Istanbul was everything I expected and more – it is quite the magical place and I hope to visit again one day and spend more time there. That evening we were so exhausted we went to sleep early!

[Pia1913]

Great review, Ron. You really covered quite a lot of ground in one day. It took us three to do all you did and we stayed at a hotel close by. If you ever come in again by ship, you can walk to the spice market; very easy across the bridge. We have been in and out of Turkey many times; even one hiking adventure some years back. And of course we will be there again in October.

 

Awaiting the next report.

[Arya3]

Wow, Ron what a great write-up! I have enjoyed your daily reviews thus far, but this last one was on a personal level as my family was lucky enough to be part of your organized tour. You remembered so much detail and brought back so many great memories for me to include in my journal:)

We are still savouring the delicious turkish delights and stuffed nuts from the Spice Market. Certainly a day we won't forget, and hope we can return one day!

Linda

[BLS]

Am enjoying your review . We board the Royal on Oct 9 for the transatlantic sailing. Have also booked the private train to Rome. do you recall what time you arrived in Rome at the St Peters Station? (we plan to book tickets for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, but am not sure what time we will be there)

Really appreciate your help.

Mahalo,

Bev

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the great comments, I hope you are enjoying reading our review and re-living this great trip of a lifetime with us!

 

 

Cruise Day 2 – Toulon France – For Marseille and Aix-en-Provence

 

We are early risers and love to get up each day as the sun rises over a new port. We order hot water, fruit, and juice to arrive at 6:00 AM each day from room service. We order hot water rather than coffee because we make our own coffee from Starbucks VIA Instant coffee packets that we bring with us, it’s much better than the regular coffee on the ship, for us at least.

 

We had a great sleep on the new beds. You won’t need a foam egg crate any longer; these new beds were very comfortable. After sailing the 203 nautical miles from Barcelona to Toulon France were ready get off and explore the south of France. Last time we sailed to this region, we stopped in Monte Carlo, and after spending the day here, I can honestly say – Please Princess go back to stopping in Monte Carlo – PLEASE!

 

In addition, it was Sunday and pretty well everything was closed. This was the only port of call where we used a Princess Tour – Marseille & Aix en Provence. After my experience with this tour, I know why I either DIY or go with private tours. I tried to get a private tour going for this stop, but didn’t have interest from our roll call for some reason.

 

We boarded the bus and our guide didn’t stop talking for the entire bus ride to Marseille. I think she told us about every building in the city. I did want to visit the port city of Marseille and the Basilica of Notre Dame de-la-Garde - it’s a very impressive building on the highest peak in the city and the views are spectacular. The building still bears the scars from the battle to liberate Marseille during WW II. Afterwards we spent some time down in the harbor, and had some time to buy some Savon du Marseille from the small local market they had going on there.

 

From Marseille, we headed to Aix-en-Provence and when we arrived, DW needed a personal break. The guide just told us to find a café somewhere. You would think after 3 hours on a bus, she could make some accommodation for everyone. When we got back the tour group and guide were nowhere to be found. At least we knew the pick-up place and time to get back to the ship, but with everything closed in the city because it was a Sunday, it left us with very little options. So we ended up not even getting our guided tour of Aix.

 

Needless to say, I was very disappointed and told the tour guide so when she returned. I also complained to Princess and ended up getting a partial credit for our inconvenience. From now on, I am really going to try to limit my use of Princess Tours. We didn’t enjoy our time in Aix and many others we spoke to, said the same. I’m not sure if we missed out on the really important sites, but spent most of our time on the main strip, and with the stores all closed we couldn’t even find decent places to shop. DW is not happy when she can’t shop.

 

We were glad to finally get back on board and went up to the Sanctuary pool for a dip. That evening we quiet dinner in the dining room and went to the Name that Tune Trivia in Princess Live! That was a lot of fun. We also spent some time in the casino, which is very nice, has a lot of table games and slot machines to take your money. We didn’t find smoking an issue at all here or anywhere on board for that matter, and the question of having smoke waft up from the casino in the circular staircase didn’t seem to materialize.

 

Cruise Day 3 – Livorno, Italy – for Pisa and Florence

 

Another early day up with the sun and off to Pisa and Florence today. Last time we stopped here we went straight to Florence for the day. And since it was Monday and the museums were closed, we decided to go to Pisa on the way to Florence to look at the tower and take pictures of us trying to push it back up straight like everyone else! Yes, it’s just a tower and its leaning, but hey, it’s something you should see once in your lifetime.

 

We booked the Princess DIY transfer and had a very nice guide today. We were so glad to be back in Italy, and excited to go back to Florence. We planned just to wander around the city, do some leather shopping and just enjoy. I did have my request from my DD that she wanted a leather purse from Florence so we headed to the leather market and found a nice one for her. I hope she likes it!

 

We went inside Santa Croce to look at the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante and then headed over to Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo. We found a nice spot near the Duomo and just sat and had lunch and a glass of Chianti, with a view that just wouldn’t quit! You pay a 3 EU PP cover fee to sit, but where else are you going to sit and get a view like that!

 

I had my Rick Steve’s pocket guide of Florence with me, so when I went over to Gilberti’s Gates of Paradise on the Baptistery, I knew what each of the 10 scenes on the bronze doors represented. I ended up answering questions for many people around me!

 

Sadly it was soon time to leave Florence. You can never have enough time here; it’s such a magical place, the birthplace of the Renaissance. Next time, I’ll just have to make sure we don’t come on Monday so we can visit the museums. We saw the original David in the Academia last time and were looking forward to going to the Ufizzi. I’ll just have to plan better next time. Getting back on board the ship was the first time we recognized that we had over 4000 people on board. There was a lot of traffic at the pier and we had to wait on the bus for quite some time.

 

I also saw that there are now shuttles that run from the pier to the train station in Livorno, for 5 EU each way so for those of you that plan you own transportation, this seems to make it easier to do so. That evening on board we enjoyed more trivia in Princess Live and listened to music and danced in the Piazza. As I mentioned previously, the musical talent on board was outstanding – the Orphea Band, String Quartet, the Party Band, Jazz Trio and of course David Pitchfork and the Royal Princess Orchestra – they were all very talented. There were many of us were dancing in the middle of the Piazza, lots of room to do so. It was a perfect ending to a great day. Tomorrow Roma!

 

Cruise Day 4 – Civitavecchia – for Rome

 

Our last Mediterranean cruise left out of Rome, so we had spent 4 days before our cruise exploring the eternal city. Of course, you can spend a month in Rome and not see everything, but this time we had no plans other than tickets to the Borghese Gallery. I booked the Princess Private train to Rome as it gave you more time in the city. It was a very comfortable and quick ride into Rome and left you off at the train station near St Peter’s. The Square was packed with people and the lineup went all the way around. I’m glad I visited the Vatican Museum and St Peter’s last time. I would like have liked to go in again, but the lines were just too long. So we hopped in a cab and made our way to the Gallery Borghese. The taxi driver said the lines were long for St Peter’s because it was going to be closed tomorrow for a private visit with the Pope for the Argentinean soccer team.

 

We had pre-purchased tickets for the Borghese on-line and glad we did because it was sold out for the next several days. You get a timed ticket and it’s good for two hours, then they kick you out and the next group goes in. They keep the numbers limited so you can enjoy the art as it was meant to be, as a visitor to their home. The Borghese Gallery is a beautiful villa set in a park near the Spanish Steps. Here you can see art commissioned by the very wealthy Borghese family and has some outstanding marble works from Bernini, including his version of David, Apollo & Daphne, and the Rape of Prospertine. These works of art were done in the 1620’s when he was just 25 years old and they are breathtaking. There is also a statue of Napolean’s sister Pauline, who is lying on a marble mattress that looks so soft and pliable, you feel like you can put your hand on it and press it down.

 

From here, we made our way to the Spanish Steps, and walked over to Trevi Fountain. Hello again – the coins worked, we are back!! We tossed a few more in to ensure it works again and just sat and said to ourselves how happy we are to be back in Rome. Our favorite gelato shop is right at the fountain and of course we had to have some. From there we walked back to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona and had a nice lunch and cold beer. It was very warm and crowded that day in Rome. There were 7 ships in port. It was soon time to head back to the train station to catch the train back to Civitavecchia. We love Rome and hope to spend lots more time as there is still lots we haven’t seen.

 

That day on the train we met a couple that we became very close with for the duration of the cruise – very nice people celebrating their 40th anniversary on board. Just to show you what a small world it is – one of them went to the same high school as us! (DW and I are high school sweethearts!) That evening we enjoyed the comedy of Troy Thirdgill. He was part of the opening show and we really enjoyed his comedy. Tomorrow, Naples and a trip down the Amalfi coast. This trip just keeps getting better….

[IECalCruiser]

Did you need Turkish Lira on you tour or did USD or EUR work?

[homeinboca]

Wow, Ron what a great write-up! I have enjoyed your daily reviews thus far, but this last one was on a personal level as my family was lucky enough to be part of your organized tour. You remembered so much detail and brought back so many great memories for me to include in my journal:)

We are still savouring the delicious turkish delights and stuffed nuts from the Spice Market. Certainly a day we won't forget, and hope we can return one day!

Linda

 

Thanks Linda, it was great to spend the day with you and Peter and your sons. Thanks for joining us! It certainly was a great day and when I think about it, certainly one of the highlights of this amazing trip.

 

Ron