Star Princess, Grand Mediterranean

We are considering booking the 12 night Grand Mediterranean on the Star
Princess for June 9, or July 3rd. This cruise does not stop at Istanbul,
but does at Kusadasi, Turkey. Is that part of the Med safe now?. Any
coments on the Star Princess or cruising the Med would be welcome.

Thanks,

Fred M.

Turkey is considered a friend of the US but any nation in that part of the
world could be a safety concern. Kusadasi is an excellent port and most
people take the ship's tour to Ephesus & I wouldn't be too concerned about
having any problems. john
"Carolyn Matthews" wrote in message
nk.net...
We are considering booking the 12 night Grand Mediterranean on the Star
Princess for June 9, or July 3rd. This cruise does not stop at Istanbul,
but does at Kusadasi, Turkey. Is that part of the Med safe now?. Any
coments on the Star Princess or cruising the Med would be welcome.

Thanks,

Fred M.

Last month we made 12 day Mediterranean Cruise cruise with Star
Princess and had a wonderful time.

We couldn't find anything to complain about the cruise. The price was
right, the accommodations (ship and hotels) were great and the crew
were very pleasant. We have no regrets (other than we aren't doing it
again this year!!!).

1. Kusadasi (Ephesus) - We used Byzance Limo. The website is
http://more.at/Byzance
The site lists all of the tours and prices. I found them very
courteous, professional, and very quick to respond to my emails. There
are many wonderful reviews about this company. They were first class
and the guides were helpful, informative and very flexible. It was
something we enjoyed so much (a feast for the eyes, ears and senses).
Could not have been more pleased from the services. They took us to
many spots and treated us like treasured friends. We highly recommend
them to everyone (really reasonable). $125 for 6 people for a tour to
Ephesus. Ephesus was so interesting! See as much as you can.

2. Naples - We used Marcello Maresca from See Sorrento. Our trip will
included a visit to Pompeii, then the drive along the Amalfi coast
with a stop at his family's restaurant for lunch. Marcello owns the
business and has another driver to assist him when he his personally
booked up. His website is www .seesorrento. com Marcello's email
address is

3. Athens - we used Spiros from www .athenstaxi. net He is very
reasonable...around 200 euro for up to 4 people for a full day tour.

Our favorite port was Santorini! We took the half day tour and still
had time to shop and make it back to the ship for a late lunch.
Everyone takes either the gondola or the donkies back down to the
tenders! Fun!
Make sure to be out on deck when you sail into Malta! Nothing like it!
We took a taxi into town and went to St. John's Co-cathedral. An
amazing, pleasant surprise and right in the middle of town right above
where the ship docks. Still had time to shop a bit and get back to the
ship in time for lunch.(This always helps in the finance department!)
Mykonos, we didn't take a tour because the ship has a shuttle bus to
town. We enjoyed the photo opportunities here as well as shopping for
music. We heard some complaints from people who paid for tours here...
but then there are always some unhappy campers everywhere!

Hope this info helps...


"JJ" wrote in message v.net...
Turkey is considered a friend of the US but any nation in that part of the
world could be a safety concern. Kusadasi is an excellent port and most
people take the ship's tour to Ephesus & I wouldn't be too concerned about
having any problems. john
"Carolyn Matthews" wrote in message
nk.net...
We are considering booking the 12 night Grand Mediterranean on the Star
Princess for June 9, or July 3rd. This cruise does not stop at Istanbul,
but does at Kusadasi, Turkey. Is that part of the Med safe now?. Any
coments on the Star Princess or cruising the Med would be welcome.

Thanks,

Fred M.