Review of our Med Cruise;Italy,Split, Kotor, Corfu,Monaco,Malta

[lindaann]

We were on the July 7th cruise on the Royal Princess with the itinerary listed below and had a great time. Here is a blow by blow of what we did in the ports.

 

Ravenna- Free ship shuttle to town and we just walked to the cathedral to see the mosaics and around town. We should have got a guide

 

Split- Had a great three hour walking tour of Split with a lovely guide (Maja.benzon@gmail.com) She was very knowledgeable and informative. She was recommended by Rick Steeves. We throughly enjoyed our visit.

 

Kotor- What a fantastic surprise! Georgeous countryside and a beautiful sail in. Not to be missed. We grabbed a cab and had the driver take us to Budva, a medieval town and then back to tour around Kotor. Not as good as a guide but not bad. The scenery in Montenegro is breathtaking. Who knew?

 

Corfu- Been there before. Grabbed a cab into town. Wandered around, shopped, had lunch and then grabbed another cab to take us to the Paleokstritsas Monastery-- stunning!

 

Valletta- Had arranged an all day tour with Chris at touringmalta.com (Rosa was our most knowledgeable guide) Toured Valletta, Mdina, the rest of the island and went to the Hypogeum - You have to book it ahead of time as they only allow a certain number of people in-It is a historical marvel and a UNESCO World Heritage Site- Had never heard of it before.

 

Messina- Had arranged an all day tour with Sicilylife.com Our driver/guide was a pleasant young man but not overly knowledgeable. We went to the scenic hill towns where the Godfather was filmed and Taoromina.

 

Sorrento- There was a free shuttle to the town. Been before- lovely starting off place for Amalfi coast, Pompeii, Capri etc.

 

Ajaccio- Walked around to see all things Napolean. Took the Petit Train- Not overly impressed.

 

Monaco- Had a fantastic day with the best guide we've ever had: Michel from Revelation Tours (revelationtours@aol.com) We travelled throughout the hill towns of Gourdons, Eze, Tourette sur Loupes, St. Paul, de Vence, then Nice and Monaco. He was outstanding! The countryside surrounding the Cotes d'Azur is magnificient.

 

Portofino- The sea was too rough so we couldn't tender.

 

I know I have used a lot of superlatives but where I did so they were deserved. It was a great trip all together and I didn't talk about our pretrip in Venice or post trip in Rome...no organized tours, just wonderful memories.

 

If you have any questions, please ask.

 

Linda

[larie]

Can you tell me about Corfu. We are interested in old town and Paleokastritsa for scenery/lunch. Probably too cool for a beach day for us in early October. Is this where you went to the Monestary? How much was the cab and did it wait for you or you get another one to return? Don't know if we should get a cab or rent a car. Thanks.

[lindaann]

Hi,

 

There were four of us. When we got off the ship we negotiated for a cab into Corfu town.There were lots offering island tours etc. We did not get prices from them. We spent about five hours wandering, shopping and having lunch; Greek salad, calamari and a Mythos. It was extremely hot so we thought an air conditioned car seemed like a good idea. In the main square there were many cabs and we negotiated with a driver for a two hour tour of the island with a drive to the monastery at Paleokastritsa and then back to the ship. I believe the cost was about 80 euros and the tour ended up taking about three hours. Not cheap but as I said we were splitting it up between two couples and it was really hot.

 

The monastery is in a little resort town and there appears to be many tavernas. I do not know if they would be open in October, for that you would have to check. It is very beautiful and well worth seeing.

 

I think Corfu would be very drivable and renting a car does not seem to be a bad idea at all.

 

Linda