PurpleTraveller

Yes that is correct. The ship excursions tender to Athinios port where there is road access for the buses. Everyone else gets tendered to the old port where there is no road access.

I have always had very comfortable mattresses on previous Princess cruises until my last cruise on Crown Princess. It was the most terrible lumpy, saggy and uncomfortable mattress I have ever had the misfortune to try and sleep on. When I complained about the state of the mattress I was told nothing could be done as it already had a mattress topper on it. It needed to have been replaced long ago. It seems that there are some not so good mattresses which is a real shame as no-one expects to pay to go on a cruise and get an uncomfortable bed.

Not a direct answer for you but I am Australian and when cruising elsewhere in the world other than Australia and NZ when I compare the cost of prepaying gratuities it is often (but not always) at a better exchange rate than the current exchange rate. Do your sums to see if it is better to prepay or wait until you are on board. Also if you have OBC the gratuities can be paid or partially paid using your OBC if you wait until on board. Have a great cruise!

Sorry, I should have said arrival times, rather than boarding times but I was too late to edit my post.

After also experiencing embarking in Vancouver in June (and I agree, never again) you will be pleased that Civitavecchia is nothing like Vancouver. Last year I arrived at the terminal, my luggage was taken immediately, I walked up to a representative who had to check my documents and I was on the ship in five minutes.

I embarked at Vancouver in June and arrived at 10.15am as my boarding time was 10.30am. The terminal was very crowded with many passengers coming early despite their boarding times. Now that there are no boarding times I would expect that to be the same. It took almost two hours to get through the lines to drop luggage, collect medallions, security and US immigration. I heard that people who arrived later had an easier time without the crowds and boarded a lot quicker.

I have only been to Malta on a land tour and travelled everywhere by local bus so can not answer your questions about taxi tours or shore excursions but I might be able to help with what is worth seeing. We really enjoyed the Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk and they are in the southern area of the island so you may be able to take a taxi tour to these together. At the Blue Grotto the view from above is lovely but also definitely do the boat tour where you enter the caves. We were there on a really hot day and the boat cruise was a wonderful relief from the heat. Marsaxlokk is cute to walk around looking at the boats but we only spend about an hour there. Mdina is lovely but is in a different direction to the Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk from Valletta. You could do all three with a taxi tour but you could be a bit rushed particularly with the time spent if you do the boat cruise of the Blue Grotto and also want to have some time to see the old city of Valetta. We enjoyed walking around Mdina and spent about an hour there. It is very easy to get a ferry from Valletta across the harbour to Vittoriosa which is easy to walk around and enjoy the narrow streets and views across the harbour. Valletta is also lovely to walk around. The St John's Co-cathedral is magnificent and it is great to walk through the streets and enjoy the views of the harbour. If you have never been to Malta before I would consider the shore excursion or a taxi tour to the Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk and then spend the rest of the day exploring Valletta. Or if you want to DIY you could get a taxi or bus to Mdina and then on your return to Valletta get a ferry to Vittoriosa and explore then return to Valetta to explore. Hope this helps a little and have a great cruise. 🛳️

A couple of suggestions that might be of interest for you 1) Get the Centrale Funicular from Augusteo which is a short walk from the dock, and then when up the top a walk to Castel Sant'Elmo for great views and a castle to explore. Your son would possibly enjoy going on the funicular even if you don't visit the castle and the funicular is very inexpensive. https://naplespompeii.com/castelsantelmo.html https://www.napolike.com/trasporti-pubblici-a-napoli/funicolari-di-napoli 2) He may also like to walk along and look at the Nativity scenes on Via San Gregorio Armeno. https://www.italia.it/en/campania/things-to-do/nativity-sets-in-naples-and-campania#:~:text=San Gregorio Armeno%2C the street of nativity scenes in Naples,-In the heart The walk along the seafront when you turn left after leaving the dock is lovely and Castel dell'Ovo which you walk past on the way to Mappatella Beach may have reopened by the time you are there. And lastly having pizza for lunch in Naples is always good. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!🛳️

On my Alaska cruise in June internet cost USD20 a day (24 hours) if buying one day at a time. With my 50% discount it cost USD10. I don't know how much it costs if you buy for the entire cruise when on board. I can get my 50% discount when purchasing internet before the cruise when using the app.

Really hope that you don't get one of the bad mattresses. All the bad mattresses (and Princess would know where they are) need to be replaced immediately. There really is no excuse for leaving such terrible mattresses in use. Good luck and hope you have a great cruise!

In regard to 1) I was unfortunate to have one of the terrible saggy mattresses in E631 on Crown in June. When we spoke to our steward about how terribly uncomfortable the mattress was he told us that as there was already a mattress topper on it there was nothing else that could be done. I hope your mattress is better than ours, which was the most uncomfortable mattress we have ever had the misfortune to try to sleep on. Re 6) Afternoon Tea was held on each Sea Day in the Da Vinci Dining Room at 3.00pm. We lined up at about 2.45pm and we were about 30th in the line. A long line formed behind us and when we left there was still a long line of people waiting to get in. We found that Crown was in good condition. We had excellent service everywhere and particularly in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The food was good in the MDR at dinner and in the buffet for breakfast. We had a wonderful cruise. Hope you have a wonderful cruise! 🛳️

In Naples the ship docks and you simply walk off the ship. There would be no need to book a ship excursion to get priority to disembark. Cable car tickets are included in most of the ship excursions in Santorini and are given to you either at the end of the tour or when you leave the tour.

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful trip. I have enjoyed every moment! I will let you know about my extended Turkey trip next June and show you my photos of Pamukkale. Thanks for inspiring me! Allison

So very glad that you were able to get a new mattress. I was on Crown in June in a cabin on Emerald deck and had an atrocious mattress. You could see the sag just by looking at the bed and it was the most uncomfortable mattress I have ever tried to sleep on. We asked for something to be done but were told that a mattress topper was already on the mattress (making it a soft, lumpy, saggy, uncomfortable mattress) and nothing else could be done. I wrote at length about the terrible state of my mattress in my post cruise survey and also sent an email to Customer Feedback but have had no response. The mattresses on Crown need to be changed immediately.

On a recent thread of a review of an Infinity cruise the poster reported that he took the option of taking the Celebrity excursion bus back to the Athinios port rather than staying in Fira and taking the cable car or walking down the stairs. The relevant posts are on page 6 from post #128 to #134.

Thanks for this. We have walked from the Pantheon area to Termini but never with luggage. I'm hoping to do carry on only but may just wait until we are there to decide whether to walk or taxi.

Hi. When you went from your hotel to Termini to get the train did you walk or take a taxi? If you got a taxi was it easy to get one, how long did it take and how much did it cost? If you walked how long did it take? I am trying to plan for next June when we will be getting the train from Termini to Civitavecchia for our cruise. Thanks. Allison

It depends on where you are flying to. If you are flying out of Europe it is recommended to be there three hours before your flight. The queue for security can also be very long so plan to have plenty of time to get through.

I just wanted to let you know that I was so inspired by your time in Istanbul and Cappadocia that I have extended our trip to Istanbul before our Infinity cruise next June. We are now including Cappadocia as well as Gallipoli, Troy, Pergamon and Pamukkale. Thank you! Allison

When you get onto a tender may be of more concern than the length of the tender ride. What time is your ship arriving? Depending on your arrival time it will be important to plan to get your tender tickets as early as possible to get on one of the earliest tenders possible unless you have some sort of priority. After arrival it may take a short while for the tender services to start and you may have to wait to get on a tender. The tender ride is usually about 10 to 20 minutes long depending on how far the ship is moored from the dock.

Wow, just wow! What an amazing sight! Your photos are wonderful and I'm loving your trip report. Thank you.

John Bull has given some excellent advice as per usual. I am on the exact same itinerary but for June 25 next year. I always recommend looking at the ship shore excursions to get an idea of what is available to see and do in each port. Websites such as whatsinport can also be valuable sources of information. Also books either bought or borrowed can be helpful. You can also read previous reviews here and also search for specific ports. Once you have an idea of what you might like to do in each port you can then decide if you want to do ship shore excursions, private tours or DIY. Many if not all of the ports can be done independently. Some ports such as Livorno and Messina don't have a lot to see or do so most go further afield such as Florence, Pisa or the Cinque Terre from Livorno and Taormina or Mr Etna from Messina. Take into account the distances to travel to what it is that you would like to see and do. Decide what interests you most to narrow down what you would like to see and do. Don't feel obliged to do a big ticket item such as Pompeii for an example, if you have no interest whatsoever in Roman ruins. A trip to Capri or the Amalfi Coast may be more to your liking. Then you can ask more specific questions about a particular port or activity.

At least it was on the same side of the Pacific Ocean. For my December cruise to New Zealand from Sydney we all got an itinerary change email that we would be late arriving in Vancouver! 😂 Fortunately the next itinerary change email that was received the following day was changing an actual port in New Zealand and apologising for the previous days email.

Oh, thank you so much for showing us your boat cruise. I had vaguely considered a cruise but after seeing how reasonable the cost was and seeing your wonderful photos, a cruise is definitely on the must do list for our Istanbul trip next year. Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Gorgeous photo of you! Thanks for giving us such great detail of your trip. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading of your travels.