Europe Cruise

Three couples will be taking a cruise on Golden Princess in October.
The itinerary is Rome, Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Naples,Capri Italy,
Santorini, Greece, Kusadas (Ephesus), Turkey....Mykonos,
Greece.....Athens,(Piraeus) Greece........Katakolon (Olympia)
Greece...Corfu, Greece and Venice Italy.

Any information or advice that anyone could provide about these ports
would be greatly appreciated. Things to do, not do, excursions, self
guided trips etc. Please help. Very inexperienced cruiser, especially
Europe. Tom

Hi, Tom,

Great itinerary, love the Princess product, October is lovely in those
parts!

There are all kinds of scattered info & tips I could offer, but it would
help to know if this is your first or repeat visit to any of the ports.

General advice in the "my two cents" category:

I assume you will fly into Rome early and enjoy. If your time does not allow
for that, please fly in at the very least the day before your cruise
departs. This has been discussed many times here and on every cruise board,
but bottom line, too much can happen with international connections. Out of
3 Euro cruises, I've seen an amazing number of North Americans miss the
start! Also, your body will love you for any pre-cruise days you can give it
to recover from jet lag.

Monte Carlo--easy on your own, IMO.

Florence/Pisa--if this is your first time, highly recommend a private tour
operator to maximize your day. Too much to see, too little time!

Naples--ditto, as you will probably want to consider a combo of Pompeii &
Amalfi Coast.

Capri--not usually a port stop separated from Naples for the megaships, but
if it is, then you got lucky with 2 days in a gorgeous part of the world,
you could do Capri on your own.

Santorini & Mykonos--on your own.

Athens--recommend a private tour operator to maximize your day, although
easy to do on your own, as well.

Never been to Turkey or the other Greek stops--I am green and can't wait to
hear your report!

Venice--easy to do on your own, hope you will have a day or two post-cruise
to decompress.

Please note: The stated port times on your itinerary, e.g., 7-7 Livorno
(Florence/Pisa), should conservatively be translated as 8a-6p, as 7a means
the time the ship docks, there will be a lag time (ave. 30 min., but we had
several 1 hour waits) until it is cleared by local officials and pax are
allowed to disembark. At the end of the day, all pax are usually required to
be back on board one hour before the stated time, which again, is the time
the ship pulls out.

Many Euro ports are commercial complexes several miles from the city proper.
Cruise lines will offer shuttle buses from the dock to a central location.
Sometimes, cruise lines do this for free, other times, they charge you for
the shuttle. Pay attention to reports from this summer's Golden season to
find out how it will work for you.

If you've cruised once in the past 5 years on a mass market line, then you
generally know what the cruise experience will be like. It is not much
different in Europe, except that a port intensive itinerary with long port
days and few "at sea" breaks makes most people somewhat less interested in
the late night entertainment! Flexibility in evening dining, which Princess
does well with its "Personal Choice" program is desirable.

IMO, the best resource for up-to-the minute info/tips is
http://www.cruisecritic.com -- go to the Princess boards and Europe forum.
Sign up for the roll call of your sailing to see what your fellow pax are
planning.

Have fun researching! You're in for a great trip.

Diana Ball
near Houston, TX

My recommendations (excluding Rome and Venice, as they are your beginning &
ending ports, and you don't say if you'll have extra time there... if you
do, just walking around Venice is wonderful!):
Monaco: easy to visit on your own, but a very steep climb up to the palace
area. NOT my favorite port!
Florence/Pisa: As the ship stops in Livorno, I don't feel there's enough
time available for Florence (a week might do!), but a tour to Pisa is a good
option.
Naples: I strongly recommend a tour to Pompeii (wear sturdy, grippy
shoes!), if you are interested in that sort of thing.
Kusadasi: (assuming you are interested in archeological sites) A visit to
Ephesus is memorable. When we were there, instead of taking a ship's tour,
we took a taxi, got there well before the ship's tours. Then the taxi
driver took us to the far end for our admission, and we walked (downhill!)
through the site to theexit at the main entrance. By doing that, we avoided
the big crowds for most of the time, but we had to read the guide book we
bought fform back to front. Then we just walked out to the road and took a
local bus back to Kusadasi.
Athens is HUGE, but fairly easy to explore on your own. If weather is bad,
the national archeological museum is a good bet. And be sure to allow lots
of time to stroll through the Plaka district.
Corfu is very easy to explore on your own, charming little island
Haven't been to Mykonos or Santorini, but they, too, should be easy to
explore on your own (lots of steep climbing, though)
Haven't been to Katakolon.
Good luck. And be VERY careful of pickpokets and Gypsy "swarming." Beware
of quick grabs to steal your camera, too.

"tommydun" wrote in message
oups.com...
Three couples will be taking a cruise on Golden Princess in October.
The itinerary is Rome, Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Naples,Capri Italy,
Santorini, Greece, Kusadas (Ephesus), Turkey....Mykonos,
Greece.....Athens,(Piraeus) Greece........Katakolon (Olympia)
Greece...Corfu, Greece and Venice Italy.

Any information or advice that anyone could provide about these ports
would be greatly appreciated. Things to do, not do, excursions, self
guided trips etc. Please help. Very inexperienced cruiser, especially
Europe. Tom

Many ship's tours start at the top and go down hill at Ephesus, Some tours
do the houses that are under excavation on the hillside, it is worth it
(and under cover!) Be aware that ship';s tours tend to end at rug places
near the ship and the hard sell is well, hard, but you can just walk away
there is no requirement to stay and usually the ship is visible from the
area.

Haven't been to Mykonos or Santorini, but they, too, should be easy to
explore on your own (lots of steep climbing, though)
no need to climb in Santorini, funicular to the top is best, donkey if you
don't mind smelling like onethe rest of the day. If you do the donkey take
it up not down. Mykonos is pretty flat lots of cats (well Greece is an old
Greek word for "lots of cats" LOL) huge pelicans that actually believe that
they own the town and charming windmills, nice jewelry shops.

Haven't been to Katakolon.
Good luck. And be VERY careful of pickpokets and Gypsy "swarming."








--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

Hi Tommy & Company! My DH Richard and I are on the same cruise as you
folks are. Sounds like we are in for the trip of a lifetime. Will be
our third trip to Europe - last one we did all independent shore
excursions. I am happy ot share all my links/favorites/tips with you
if they can be helpful. Please feel free to email us at the above
address and we look forward to speaking with you soon! Also, there is
a roll call stared for our trip on www.cruisecritic.com which you will
find a wealth of information from fellow cruisers. Talk to you soon!

Regards,
Rich & Cathy

Thanks folks. Any and all tips would be appreciated. This is our
first Europe trip.