Grand Med - Ports/Shore Excursions Review 6/9 - 6/21

[CruisinKiddo]

Here are port reviews and shore excursion information that we took on our Grand Princess Med Cruise - 6/9 - 6/21.

 

Venice:

We flew in a day early and stayed at the Hotel Monaco. The hotel is very well located - right next to St. Mark's Square! The hotel was nice and room was clean but very small.

 

We did not book any tours of Venice through Princess. We did, however, book the Doge's Palace Secret Itenerary Tour. This is not the regular tour of the Palace, but a behind the scenes tour with only 25 people. It takes you through back rooms of the palace - the jail cell where Casanova stayed, the secret police room, etc. I highly recommend this tour. I booked it ahead of time through the internet.

 

Athens:

We booked the Acroplis/Plaka Sampler shore excursion through Princess. It was very enjoyable and was just about the right amount of time. Showed us the highlights of Athens, important buildings, etc. Then on to the Acropolis. Tour guide was very informative. Included time on our own at the Acropolis for wandering around and pictures.

 

The tour dropped us off at the Plaka for a couple of hours on our own of shopping and eating. Many designers stores in this area. We ate a delicious greek lunch at a local cafe. It started raining so we were happy when it was time to be picked up by our bus.

 

Kusadasi/Ephesus:

We booked the Ephesus, Virgin Mary, St. John's shore excursion through Princess. Also very enjoyable. First stop was Virgin Mary home. Then Ephesus. Ephesus was beautiful but an absolute zoo! It was packed full of people! I wish that we would have stopped there first - maybe we would have been able to avoid some of the crowds.

 

Be prepared for the local vendors. They will bug you to buy stuff constantly.

 

Istanbul:

We booked the All Day tour with the lunch in Ottoman home. Istanbul was one of my favorite stops. It felt very exotic! In the morning, we visited the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia and Underground Cistern. They were all within walking distance of each other. Then lunch in a garden patio of a restaurant. Nice atmosphere - good food.

 

The school children taking tours of the local areas like to practice their English on the American tourists! They were very friendly and asked questions like "What is your name?" and "How are you?". When I answered them, they were so happy and excited!! I felt like I was a rock star or something, when they all were clamoring to say hello and give me high fives!! We joked about my "fan club" for the rest of the trip!

 

After lunch, we went to the Grand Bazaar (what a place that was!!) - with time on our own for shopping - and the Topkapi Palace - also time on our own. It was a long day and we were very tired at the end!

 

Naples:

We booked a private tour with Marcello of seesorrento. It was the highlight of our entire trip! The first thing Marcello asked us when we started was what were our expectations. If we wanted to go shopping, he would take us shopping. If we wanted to go off the beaten path, we would go there. By this time, we were pretty tired of the buses/herds, so we wanted to see Marcello's Italy. He took us through Sorrento, Positano and along the Amalfi Coast. Many photo stops. He showed us beaufiful little villages that the buses don't stop at. He then ventured beyond where the buses can travel and totally beat the crowds. As I said before, by then we were very tired to the crowds, so we really loved this. We stopped at a village called Pontone and had a wonderful lunch in a garden patio with an awesome view. We did not order off a menu. Marcello brought us dishes upon dishes of food that he thought we would enjoy - food that the locals eat. The food includes the yummiest olives I've ever had, caprice salad, goat cheese, cheese cooked in lemon leaves, gnocchi, mussels with linguine, red and white wine carafes...I could go on and on.....then on to the dessert. We had an assortment of 4 different desserts on our plates! He also brought out bottles of liquers - Lemoncello, some sort of fennel liquer and cantalope liquer. We all had shots of these in chilled glasses. So much fun - what an experience he made this lunch for us.

 

After lunch, we went to Pompei. Since we went in the afternoon, it was less crowded, then if we had gone in the morning with all the bus tours. I can't even describe Pompei! It was huge! Street after street after street of ruins - and so well preserved!! We spent 2 hours there which just flew by. We definitely could have spent many more hours there. We were glad that Marcello had taken us to the farthest place first (Amalfi) and worked his way back to the closest place to the ship (Pompei) so we wouldn't worry about being late in arriving back to the port.

 

There were some tours that arrived back at port late, but they were Princess tours so the ship waited for them.

 

Mykonos:

We did this on our own. We just wandered around, walked up to the windmills and ate lunch. This town is definitely doable on your own. It is the cutest, most beautiful place. Many back streets with shops and cafes. I loved this port!! We also got to see the pink pelican!! Took pictures - will post later.

 

Civetevechia:

We did not do a shore excursion into Rome, since we had visited Rome two years ago and it's a 1 1/2 hour drive into Rome. We thought we would just wander around Civetevechia and do some shopping, maybe eating. There wasn't much around this port at all. Minimal shops and restaurants - most closed since it was Sunday. We walked around and then just got back on the ship and relaxed. If you want to walk around, you will have to take the Princess shuttle as it is not possible to walk from the ship into town.

 

Livorno:

We booked the Medevil Lucca shore excursion since we had been to Florence a couple of years ago. The Lucca tour was a half day tour. We didn't really enjoy the town much. We had thought it would be a more charming town, like Siena or San Gigmanio, but it was more of a working class town. We were disappointed in this tour but maybe it was just our expectation of something different.

 

Marseilles:

We booked the Arles/Le Baux all day exursion through Princess. We enjoyed this tour much. The drive to Arles was approx. 45 minutes. Guide was very informative. Van Gogh had spent time in this town. Walking tour of important sights, then time on our own for shopping. Lunch was at the Atrium Hotel in Arles included in the excursion. The buffet salad bar set up was very. I didn't enjoy the chicken lunch much, however. The lunch also included red and rose wine and also dessert.

 

We then went to Le Baux in the afternoon. Beautiful medevil town up on a hill. Very hilly area with many cute shops and cafes.

 

I hope you enjoyed this information regarding the tours and excursions we went on. If you have any questions, please let me know!

[Anubi]

Here are port reviews and shore excursion information that we took on our Grand Princess Med Cruise - 6/9 - 6/21.

 

Venice:

We flew in a day early and stayed at the Hotel Monaco. The hotel is very well located - right next to St. Mark's Square! The hotel was nice and room was clean but very small.

 

We did not book any tours of Venice through Princess. We did, however, book the Doge's Palace Secret Itenerary Tour. This is not the regular tour of the Palace, but a behind the scenes tour with only 25 people. It takes you through back rooms of the palace - the jail cell where Casanova stayed, the secret police room, etc. I highly recommend this tour. I booked it ahead of time through the internet.

 

Athens:

We booked the Acroplis/Plaka Sampler shore excursion through Princess. It was very enjoyable and was just about the right amount of time. Showed us the highlights of Athens, important buildings, etc. Then on to the Acropolis. Tour guide was very informative. Included time on our own at the Acropolis for wandering around and pictures.

 

The tour dropped us off at the Plaka for a couple of hours on our own of shopping and eating. Many designers stores in this area. We ate a delicious greek lunch at a local cafe. It started raining so we were happy when it was time to be picked up by our bus.

 

Kusadasi/Ephesus:

We booked the Ephesus, Virgin Mary, St. John's shore excursion through Princess. Also very enjoyable. First stop was Virgin Mary home. Then Ephesus. Ephesus was beautiful but an absolute zoo! It was packed full of people! I wish that we would have stopped there first - maybe we would have been able to avoid some of the crowds.

 

Be prepared for the local vendors. They will bug you to buy stuff constantly.

 

Istanbul:

We booked the All Day tour with the lunch in Ottoman home. Istanbul was one of my favorite stops. It felt very exotic! In the morning, we visited the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia and Underground Cistern. They were all within walking distance of each other. Then lunch in a garden patio of a restaurant. Nice atmosphere - good food.

 

The school children taking tours of the local areas like to practice their English on the American tourists! They were very friendly and asked questions like "What is your name?" and "How are you?". When I answered them, they were so happy and excited!! I felt like I was a rock star or something, when they all were clamoring to say hello and give me high fives!! We joked about my "fan club" for the rest of the trip!

 

After lunch, we went to the Grand Bazaar (what a place that was!!) - with time on our own for shopping - and the Topkapi Palace - also time on our own. It was a long day and we were very tired at the end!

 

Naples:

We booked a private tour with Marcello of seesorrento. It was the highlight of our entire trip! The first thing Marcello asked us when we started was what were our expectations. If we wanted to go shopping, he would take us shopping. If we wanted to go off the beaten path, we would go there. By this time, we were pretty tired of the buses/herds, so we wanted to see Marcello's Italy. He took us through Sorrento, Positano and along the Amalfi Coast. Many photo stops. He showed us beaufiful little villages that the buses don't stop at. He then ventured beyond where the buses can travel and totally beat the crowds. As I said before, by then we were very tired to the crowds, so we really loved this. We stopped at a village called Pontone and had a wonderful lunch in a garden patio with an awesome view. We did not order off a menu. Marcello brought us dishes upon dishes of food that he thought we would enjoy - food that the locals eat. The food includes the yummiest olives I've ever had, caprice salad, goat cheese, cheese cooked in lemon leaves, gnocchi, mussels with linguine, red and white wine carafes...I could go on and on.....then on to the dessert. We had an assortment of 4 different desserts on our plates! He also brought out bottles of liquers - Lemoncello, some sort of fennel liquer and cantalope liquer. We all had shots of these in chilled glasses. So much fun - what an experience he made this lunch for us.

 

After lunch, we went to Pompei. Since we went in the afternoon, it was less crowded, then if we had gone in the morning with all the bus tours. I can't even describe Pompei! It was huge! Street after street after street of ruins - and so well preserved!! We spent 2 hours there which just flew by. We definitely could have spent many more hours there. We were glad that Marcello had taken us to the farthest place first (Amalfi) and worked his way back to the closest place to the ship (Pompei) so we wouldn't worry about being late in arriving back to the port.

 

There were some tours that arrived back at port late, but they were Princess tours so the ship waited for them.

 

Mykonos:

We did this on our own. We just wandered around, walked up to the windmills and ate lunch. This town is definitely doable on your own. It is the cutest, most beautiful place. Many back streets with shops and cafes. I loved this port!! We also got to see the pink pelican!! Took pictures - will post later.

 

Civetevechia:

We did not do a shore excursion into Rome, since we had visited Rome two years ago and it's a 1 1/2 hour drive into Rome. We thought we would just wander around Civetevechia and do some shopping, maybe eating. There wasn't much around this port at all. Minimal shops and restaurants - most closed since it was Sunday. We walked around and then just got back on the ship and relaxed. If you want to walk around, you will have to take the Princess shuttle as it is not possible to walk from the ship into town.

 

Livorno:

We booked the Medevil Lucca shore excursion since we had been to Florence a couple of years ago. The Lucca tour was a half day tour. We didn't really enjoy the town much. We had thought it would be a more charming town, like Siena or San Gigmanio, but it was more of a working class town. We were disappointed in this tour but maybe it was just our expectation of something different.

 

Marseilles:

We booked the Arles/Le Baux all day exursion through Princess. We enjoyed this tour much. The drive to Arles was approx. 45 minutes. Guide was very informative. Van Gogh had spent time in this town. Walking tour of important sights, then time on our own for shopping. Lunch was at the Atrium Hotel in Arles included in the excursion. The buffet salad bar set up was very. I didn't enjoy the chicken lunch much, however. The lunch also included red and rose wine and also dessert.

 

We then went to Le Baux in the afternoon. Beautiful medevil town up on a hill. Very hilly area with many cute shops and cafes.

 

I hope you enjoyed this information regarding the tours and excursions we went on. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Thanks so much for your reviews. My husband and I are doing the Med for the first time next year and we are just now looking at the available shore excursions...with the exception of the one in Egypt which is such a done deal for us...and we were wondering if excursions were the way to go in all ports.

[TinaLee]

Thanks so much for the excellent review of your excursions! We've got this trip planned in 2008, and I'm downloading all of your great info!!

 

Glad you had such a great time. We'll definitely look into getting with Marcello, but how big a group can he handle??

[Ashlea13vb]

Thanks for this, and for your review of the Grand on a separate thread. I'm doing this same cruise, but the opposite direction, in August - so this is incredibly helpful!

 

I see that you did a ship excursion in Marseille. I'm still torn between doing a ship tour and trying to get to Arles and Aix on our own via train. Do you know if Princess offered a shuttle from the port to the train station in town?

 

I'm sure I'll think of more questions - but for now, another big thanks for your info!

[CruisinKiddo]

TinaLee - Marcello's van can handle 6 people max. However, he had two vans (or more?) so if your group is larger than 6, perhaps you can book him and his driver. We met his driver, Marco, and had lunch with his other group.

 

Ashlea - Princess has a shuttle that can take you into downtown Marseille, but not to train station. The Princess Patter said that train station is about 20 minutes from the port and a taxi can take you there. I think that Arles is probably doable by train (not sure, though), but I don't think Le Baux would be. Le Baux is at the top of a mountain - kind of in the middle of nowhere.

[pmc7704]

Thanks for all the info you've given so far, it's much appreciated. I was wondering about getting from the airport to the hotel. We plan on taking a water taxi, as our hotel is on a small canal, but I heard that they discontinued the free shuttle from the airport to the dock, that now you have to walk about a half mile to get to the taxi. Can you explain the procedure to me ? Thanks

[CruisinKiddo]

I don't know about a free water taxi shuttle in Venice. Our transportation from the airport to our hotel was pre-arranged by our TA. It was a private transfer - we were picked up at the airport and driven by car to the canal area. We then took a private water taxi to our hotel. Our hotel is on the main canal and has it's own dock which made it easy. Since your hotel is on a side canal, a private water taxi would be best since the vaporetto's do not go down the side canal. I hope that helps.