LIVE Italy Land trip then 10 days on Pride, Oct 18-29 to Greece, Turkey, Sicily and more Italy with ninjacat123!

[ninjacat123]

6 hours ago, JaneRetired said:

Lovely live post!  Loved your research, posts and wonderful way of sharing with all of us! One of my favorite CC reports! TYVVM

Thx JaneRetired! I can’t believe it’s over but I’m so happy that everything turned out well and we are home. My bed feels awesome 🥰❣️

[pe4all]

Thank you for giving us a fantastic review.  Give your fur babies a hug from my Pixie cat!

Edited October 30, 2023 by pe4all

[ninjacat123]

23 minutes ago, pe4all said:

Thank you for giving us a fantastic review.  Give your fur babies a hug from my Pixie cat!

Thx pe4all!  Your Pixie cat is adorable!!  As soon as my gray kitty with the white belly shows his face (I'm being shunned🤣) he will get a hug. 😸

[Whatsthedillio]

I saw you guys on board!  I was one of the few people with a little baby girl on board so you may have seen me too.  Pretty sure I had number 26 for tender tickets 😛

Bummer about your Amalfi coast excursion!  This is one of the reasons I won't do cruise ship excursions anymore.  We rented a car and drove it on our own, it was lovely!  The driving in Naples though... yikes!

 

It was awesome reading through this post once I got home, glad you had an awesome time!

Edited October 30, 2023 by Whatsthedillio

[ninjacat123]

On 10/27/2023 at 8:34 PM, Sunandslots said:

 

The acoustics in the church were wonderful!  The church attendant told us that he would have the doors shut before the church opens for visitors and he would sing.  I would do that as well!  Like singing in the shower but 100 times better🎵😊

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, Whatsthedillio said:

I saw you guys on board!  I was one of the few people with a little baby girl on board so you may have seen me too.  Pretty sure I had number 26 for tender tickets 😛

Bummer about your Amalfi coast excursion!  This is one of the reasons I won't do cruise ship excursions anymore.  We rented a car and drove it on our own, it was lovely!  The driving in Naples though... yikes!

 

It was awesome reading through this post once I got home, glad you had an awesome time!

Hey Whatsthedillio, glad you could see the Amalfi coast!  Smart move getting a car👍 and I could see Naples being a beast to drive through.  Compared to past cruises, this one hardly had any kids on it.  I hope you and your family had as much fun as we did!!

[ninjacat123]

All the beasts are happy we are home!

[ninjacat123]

And my gray kitty with the white belly has forgiven me❣️

[ninjacat123]

As you can see by my still wearing jammies at 10:40am, I am moving slooooowly!  Here are some thoughts after THE TRIP😉!

[ninjacat123]

Make sure your walking shoes are comfortable.  We walked a ton and the one day I wanted to look "fashionable" and wore my Vionic sandals, I regretted it.  I didn't get blisters throughout this trip because I coated my feet with Body Glide Foot Glide every morning.

Edited October 30, 2023 by ninjacat123

[ninjacat123]

Both Craig and I thought we could have pared down our wardrobes a bit.  Shoes-wise, I felt I did well with sneakers, gold flat sandals and gold heels.  

[ninjacat123]

No one wants to break a 20 euro bill for you unless you are buying something and even then, it can be difficult.  We had taxi drivers that couldn't break a 20 euro bill.  Try to get change before you get into a taxi.

[ninjacat123]

We brought on 2 bottles of wine at every port, no issues.  In two ports we brought on a bottle of rum and then a bottle of vodka.  No problem, although not every port has wine or booze to buy there or we were told it would be cheaper outside of the port. YMMV😀

[ninjacat123]

I liked having the flexibility of cancellation with TripAdvisor and Booking.com.  When we go back to any of these places, I will contact the proprietor directly now that I know I was happy with what I received.  My vote is still undecided with Sandras Cruise Tours.  The only part of this excursion that would make me book again is the "no cable car/ no donkey trail" aspect either way.

[ninjacat123]

A selfie stick makes for some great pics!  My DDs would be soooooo embarrassed if I used one in front of them but too bad!🤣 Selfie sticks are not expensive and once you learn how to use them, they are a game changer!

[ninjacat123]

Katakolo is a great port for buying souvenirs, cost-wise.  And the Athens street vendors in Monastiraki have lots of pretty items for not a lot👍 

Edited October 30, 2023 by ninjacat123

[ninjacat123]

The carpet we purchased in Turkey for our foyer! Kitty approved 😻

[Essiesmom]

 

32 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Make sure your walking shoes are comfortable.  We walked a ton and the one day I wanted to look "fashionable" and wore my Vionic sandals, I regretted it.  I didn't get blisters throughout this trip because I coated my feet with Body Glide Foot Glide every morning.

These are crocs sandals (Patricia wedge) that I have had for probably 12 years.  Not much tread left, but they walked all over Venice and the American southwest in 2012, and Venice again in 2013.  Most comfortable shoes I have ever owned but when I first put them on in the spring I have to grease up until the calluses reform.  I have a tube that never leaves my travel backpack.

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Essiesmom

[ninjacat123]

More often then not, restaurants are not expecting a gratuity.  I would usually put a couple euro in the tray.  Only twice we were asked if we wanted to include a tip which we would, but not as much as we would tip in the US.  According to what I have read and heard, European wait staff make a "living wage" and don't look for tips.

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

 

These are crocs sandals (Patricia wedge) that I have had for probably 12 years.  Not much tread left, but they walked all over Venice and the American southwest in 2012, and Venice again in 2013.  Most comfortable shoes I have ever owned but when I first put them on in the spring I have to grease up until the calluses reform.  I have a tube that never leaves my travel backpack.

 

Those sandals look very comfy and stylish!  Foot Glide users unite!!😉

[Hogladyrider]

@ninjacat123...LOVE ALL your fur kids!

 

This was one of the BEST live reviews I have followed in a LONG time!

 

You and hubby have a LOT of energy and covered a lot of ground each and every day.  You certainly made the most of you time there!

 

You have earned a few days of lounging around your home in your jammies for sure.  ENJOY!

 

Looking forward to your next adventure!

[ninjacat123]

We purchased duffle bags in Athens while we were with our driver who made sure we got a good deal at 15 euro per bag.  We packed extra stuff that we had purchased (the rug, souvenirs, clothes) into bags that we would carry on so no chance of losing them and then checked our other bags.  I'm thinking because of our status with American we didn't have to pay extra to check bags and since we were going home, we knew the bags would hopefully end up at our house.  Just didn't want to chance it with what we brought on board. 

[Jeafl]

16 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Thx Senators Fan! Knowing you all are enjoying this Live makes me want to do more!! And I do have 5 cruises coming up🛳️😸

Please do!  I'm still working on my bucket list of trips.

[ninjacat123]

This is the email I am sending Sandras Cruise Tours regarding the Santorini excursion:

Hi,

 

My husband and I booked the Santorini excursion that included Fira and Santo Winery.  A few points that I think would help for this excursion:

 

Have a representative at the Old Port before passengers show up.  We were instructed to get the earliest tender possible, which we did along with many others taking part on this excursion.  If there would have been a representative with a company logo sign to draw attention to her location, we would have known where to go and that we were being taken care of.  As time went on with no guidance, the crowd grew desperate and concerned which was making many very angry.  This tainted the whole excursion for many and could have been avoided if a representative was present.

 

At the Old Port, the crowd should have been led to a quieter area, in front of the little white church to the left of the NCL drop off area. Instead, we were told to bunch up in a restaurant area where we were yelled at to move.  This was the most crowded area in the port.

 

The representative at the dock was checking people in by name but the list was by booking number and this required the representative to dig through all the names, taking more time than necessary.

 

The guide on the bus (on our bus it was Electra) should walk the people up to the church instead of giving verbal instructions and leaving us on our own.  My husband and I were lost and only managed to find the main church for a photo because of a local's guidance.

 

The same guide was seven minutes late coming back to our bus and all of the passengers were waiting on her. We heard she was "handling" another group, not ours and that is why she was late.

 

On a positive note, we appreciated being taken back directly to our ship via boat, instead of dropped off at the Old Port to wait for another tender to take us to our ship.

 

I hope you find these recommendations helpful and that they are applied to the excursion process so that people taking part in this excursion leave with a positive feeling.

 

[mamiamjo]

Welcome Home! Thanks for posting your Live Review. I really enjoyed reading about your trip!🙂