Med Review Barcelona to Venice

[jody]

Attached is my 2003 Med review for those who are interested in reading if for planning their upcoming trips.

 

Part 0

 

Golden Mediterranean Cruise Review

Golden Princess/Captain Bernard Warner/CD Graham Seymour

May 29 – June 10, 2003

Barcelona, Spain to Venice, Italy

 

Itinerary

May 29, 2003 Thurs Barcelona, Spain

 

May 30, 2003 Fri Barcelona, Spain

- 1:00 p.m.

May 31, 2003 Saturday Cannes, France

7:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

June 1, 2003 Sunday Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

6:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

June 2, 2003 Monday Naples, Italy

8:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.

June 3, 2003 Tuesday At Sea - -

June 4, 2003 Wednesday Piraeus (Athens), Greece

7:00 a.m. 5:45 p.m.

June 5, 2003 Thursday Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

7:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.

June 6, 2003 Friday Istanbul, Turkey

8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

June 7, 2003 Saturday At Sea - -

June 8, 2003 Sunday At Sea - -

June 9, 2003 Monday Venice, Italy

8:00 a.m. -

June 10,2003 Tuesday Venice, Italy

4:00 a.m.

Disembark (5:00 a.m.)

 

Background

Although this review will be long, I hope you will find it valuable in some way. I am a 35 year old single who loves to travel and loves to cruise. I’d been thinking of a Mediterranean cruise for quite a while and decided that the prices in 2003 were too good to pass up. I finally found a friend who was interested in the cruise (and had the time off and the money) and I asked my agent (Kim) for the cheapest trip after May 18 for the summer. I was graduating with my master’s degree on the 18th of May and the trip was my gift to myself. Kim came up with the May 29 sailing on the Golden Princess. I originally booked an inside category ‘K’ cabin for $1,550 in early January. The price went down in February and March and I was able to move into a balcony cabin (at BE guarantee) for $1,399 pp before my final payment was due. I have found that doing airfare on my own has saved me money and allowed me to book more convenient flights. Princess charged $1,200 pp for air from Minneapolis to Barcelona and Venice to Minneapolis and I knew I could do better than that on my own. In January, the cheapest flights I could find were $1,400 on NWA w/ 2 layovers on the way there and one on the way back. I checked Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia on a daily basis to track airfare. It eventually came down to $950, then I discovered I could buy a round trip ticket to London Gatwick for $585 on NWA and buy a separate ticket on British Air (to Barcelona and back to London from Venice) for $230 for a total of $815 plus $20 handling charges for paper tickets on BA. I purchase the BA ticket in February on Expedia (Orbitz doesn’t allow Americans to book tickets that being at a foreign destination) and the NWA ticket at NWA.com. The downside to buying two tickets was that I had to allow myself a large layover to ensure I would not miss a flight as I was transferring airlines. Of course, in March NWA dropped their price to $850, but it still required 2 layovers on one of the flights and I wanted to avoid that. Another downside was that BA limits each flyer to 1 50 lb checked bag and 1 13 lb carryon. I was worried about that but decided not to let it ruin my vacation. I was prepared to pay for overage if necessary.

 

For this trip, I decided to take the splurge and buy a digital camera. I bought a Canon G3 and had 2 weeks to figure it out before I left. I brought two 256 MG compact flash cards with me along with an extra rechargeable battery. I also brought my trust point and shoot Canon SureShot 35 mm camera and a few rolls of film with me just in case.

 

I’m a details oriented person, so I spent many hours January through April reading reviews and postings on Cruise Critic and searching the internet for info. A big ‘thank you’ to each person who provided Europe information out on Cruise Critic. You can be sure I read every post, some more than once. I created an electronic file for each city I was going to visit and cut and paste information as I found it. Before I left, I printed out each file and put the info together in a binder folder in the order I would be arriving in each city. I ended up being more prepared for the cities at the beginning of my trip than at the end, but I did what I could in the time I had as I am busy with work and other events through the week.

 

 

[jody]

Part 1

 

The journey begins……...Monday, May 26 and Tuesday, May 27 , 2003.

 

Because of my graduation with out of town family and guests the week before, I was unable to pack until the day before my trip. I had a busy Memorial Day weekend planned and ended up rushing to finish the packing minutes before my ride came to take me to airport. In my haste, I ended up forgetting my wonderful laminated Barcelona map, my glasses, and a pair of spare contacts. I was already at the airport when I discovered this, so it was too late to correct it and I survived OK without those items. My bag weighed 53 lbs in Minneapolis and my friend’s bag weighed only 30 lbs. We flew out at 6 p.m. Memorial Day evening and were able to get exit row seating as I have long legs. Unfortunately, on a DC-10, the exit door sticks out about 10 inches and does not allow the person in the window seat to stretch out their right leg. Live and learn. Our NWA flight was uneventful with one movie and free in-flight alcoholic beverages. We arrived at London Gatwick on time the next morning and easily breezed through customs and immigration after reclaiming our bags. I transferred several of my heavier items to Kevin’s bag to try to get my bag under the legal limit. We went to the British Air check in window at 9:30 a.m. for our 2:00 p.m. flight and were able to check in immediately, which surprised me. Often the check in windows don’t open up until much closer to the flight time. We chatted with the check in agent (turns out her daughter had spent a year in Minneapolis) and she didn’t say anything about my bag that was still over by about 2 lbs. I was worried about my carryon bag which was well over 13 lbs, but no one gave it a second glance. We had a 5 hour layover, so after we checked in and got rid of our big bags, we looked around at the shops then had a small lunch at a sit down restaurant (Gallagher’s, I believe). It was a little boring but we survived. Finally, we were allowed to go to our gate and our second flight (to Barcelona) was only half full. We all got on board quickly then were told we would have to sit on the tarmac 2 hours waiting for clearance from the Barcelona airport. Apparently there was a fueling strike at the Barcelona airport so planes could not fuel up and leave so there was no room for us to land. At this point, we’d been awake 24 hours and were pretty tired. They served us a beverage while we were waiting and I discovered the family of 3 with a small child in front of me was also heading the Golden Princess. Our delay was extended to 3 hours (sitting in the plane on the tarmac) and finally we were on our way. We arrived in Barcelona shortly after 8 p.m. We collected our baggage and searched around for the blue airport shuttle bus. We stepped outside just as the bus was pulling away, but luckily we only had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. It was nice to enjoy the warm and sunny weather, to see the palm trees and watch the sun start to set in Spain. The bus ended up being just under 4 Euros per person. You buy the ticket from the driver and he can provide you with change. The bus is a normal airport shuttle type bus with luggage racks and a low floor. The driver clearly called out the stops and we were able to follow the map posted on-board to determine when our stop (Placa Catalunya) was coming up. When we got off the bus, it was not evident where we should go to find La Rambla. Someone else had mentioned it was between the Burger King and the McDonalds, but they were almost next to each with no street between other so that didn’t work. I asked a young lady for directions to ‘La Rambla’ in English and she was able to point the way. Head to the Hard Rock Café and walk past it (it will be on your left) and turn left a few steps away at the end of the block and you will be on La Rambla. The Hotel Continental was a very short ½ block down on the left. There is a small sign if you are looking for it and if you look up, you can see their balconies with blue signs hanging from them. We took the tiny elevator up to the hotel and quickly checked in. I had reserved a balcony double room overlooking La Rambla. The room was sufficient and had a French door that opened to the balcony. There was a curtain on the door and there was also a mechanized screen that covered the opening if you preferred to leave the door open. There was quite a bit of street noise, so we turned on the fan and shut the door. By this time it was 9:40 and we had been up for 31 hours and decided it was time to sleep. Our only challenge was trying to determine how to flush to toilet. We found a knob on the wall above the toilet that we decided was for the toilet but nothing happened when we pushed it or wiggled it. After thinking about it for a few minutes, it hit me that we should try to pull the knob. That worked! I have found toilets to be one of the most interesting challenges in Europe, especially for women. You never know what to expect and each toilet seems to have a different type of flushing mechanism.

 

First day in Barcelona….Wednesday, May 28, 2003.. Sunny and 85

 

After a decent night’s sleep, we woke up around 7:30 and showered and had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel which included semi-hard boiled eggs, pastries, toast, cereal and juice. We headed out around 9:00 a.m. and purchased a map from a newspaper stand on La Rambla (since I forgot mine at home) and headed out to catch the Bus Turista in Placa Catalunya. There were a few people in line in front of us and while we were waiting, we discovered we were waiting for the Blue line when we really wanted to Red line. We had decided to take the Tourist Bus to La Sagrada Familia, then to Park Guell, and back to Placa Catalunya. We found the Red Line across the square and waited for that. The cost was 14 Euros per person and I’m not sure we really got our money’s worth. If you plan ahead it will be cheaper and easier to take the metro to these places, although you do lose out on the commentary the guides give along the way. The attendants only filled the bus half up then made us wait for the next one instead of letting us board the first one that came. Our bus was also half full and we were able to see two Gaudi buildings on our way to his famous unfinished church. At La Sagrada Familia, we walked around the outside of the fencing to see the building from all sides. We decided to go in and received a discounted admission using the coupon book given to us on the Bus Turista. The line for the elevator up the tower was short, so after perusing the museum, we paid 2 Euro each for the elevator ride. While up in the spire, I looked out and saw the Golden Princess arriving in Barcelona from the Mediterranean Sea (around 11 a.m.). It was a beautiful sight. We spent about 1 ½ hours wandering around the church and climbing the shorter spires at the other end of the building. It was a hot and sunny day and it was warm at the site. We then went to wait for the Bus Turista. There was quite a line up by the time the bus came, so I was glad we had arrived plenty early. As there was limited capacity on the bus, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and jockeying for position. This is the down side of using this service. The buses get very full as the day goes on and you might have to wait for 2 or 3 buses before you find one with room on it. There is no formal line at the bus stop, so someone who comes at the last minute is able to shove past others waiting and sneak on the bus and it can be frustrating. We got off near Park Guell next. We were several blocks away from the park, so the guide pointed us in the right direction. It was a walk several blocks long straight up a big hill but we ended up right at the front gate. The park is free and more park-like than I had expected. We wandered around a bit and took pictures then headed back the way we came. We were hungry by this time and stopped at a café we had noticed on the way up and had pizza and beverages (Sangria for me and water for my friend) at a sidewalk table. We were in the shade so it was nice and cool even though it was a warm day (80+ degrees and full sun). After our quick lunch, we headed back to the bus stop and were able to find a seat on the next bus that arrived because a fair number of people got off at that stop. We stayed on the bus through the remainder of the Red line loop and got off back at Placa Catalunya. We could have ridden the Blue line to see some different sites (they two lines cross at 3 places apparently) but cover different areas of the city, but we had other plans.

 

We returned to our room for a short afternoon siesta (2:45-4:00 pm) and just relaxed in the cool of our room. We then headed out for a walk down La Rambla on our way to the Columbus monument to meet a bike tour. We easily found the Mike’s Bike Tour representative in his red shirt and met up with about 12 others who wanted to do a 4 hour bike tour of Barcelona. I had used Mike’s Bike Tours in Munich (for a city tour and for a Neuschwanstein castle tour) the previous year and had enjoyed it. Our guide ended up being Jordan from St. Paul, MN. Last year I also had a guide from the Twin Cities in Munich. Small world, I guess. The ride was 24 Euros and included some Spanish history before we given our Schwin bikes to ride. Mike’s Bike Tours generally attracts 20-something backpacker/youth hostel types, but I have found people of all ages on the rides and have found them to be enjoyable. The tours consist of casual bike riding with a number of stops to see sights and to learn some history. I found the Barcelona ride included more actual biking time than the two tours I took in the Munich area. We biked through the Bari Gothic area, saw the courtyard where Columbus supposedly reported his discovery of America to Ferdinand and Isabella and took bike trails over to La Sagrada Familia. We then headed to the beach, which we found out was created and built for the ’92 Olympics and enjoyed Sangrai, beer, and bar food from a beachside ‘shack’. I dipped my toes in the Mediterranean Sea and found it to be bone chillingly cold. Around 8:30 we headed back to the Bari Gothic area to drop off our bikes and end the tour.

 

We decided to walk a few blocks back to the port area to try to locate the Golden, so we would be able to tell our taxi driver where to go the following morning. We wandered up the pier area that we could see that leads to a shopping mall (you’ll see big, blue waves of metal above the bridge), but we couldn’t see the Golden anywhere. We finally went back to the main road that parallels the port area and headed south-west towards Mont Juic. After walking through a very industrial area, we finally could see the Golden Princess but we could see that it would take a lot more walking to get anywhere near the ship. We turned around and headed back to La Rambla as it was now dark. We decided to stop by the Hard Rock Café to buy some merchandise and the couple in line behind me happened to be from Milwaukee and were just finishing up their Golden Princess cruise. They gave us the name of the port, so we would know what to tell the taxi driver (Muella Adosado or Moll Adossat) and they told us that the bargaining in Turkey was great fun. They had purchased a lot of leather goods for what they thought were very low prices. They showed us some photos from their trip on their digital camera then went to return to the ship. We walked back around the corner to return to our hotel and went to bed.

 

 

[jody]

Part 2

 

Embarkation Day……Thursday, May 29, 2003… Sunny and 80’s

 

We slept in today and didn’t get up until 9:00 or so. We enjoyed the free breakfast at our hotel, packed up and checked out around 10:45 a.m. We walked out to the street (La Rambla) to find a taxi and as we walked out of the hotel, we saw a taxi just disembarking passengers. We were able to jump right in. We showed the driver the name of the port slip where we needed to go and he nodded his understanding. Instead of just flipping around at the end of the block to drive down La Rambla toward the pier, he turned in the opposite direction and took a street parallel to La Rambla, but several blocks farther away from where we were going. I’m not sure if this was because it was a larger and easier street to navigate (it was jammed with traffic and slow going though) or if it was his way of making our trip longer and subsequently increasing the cost of the trip. Having been familiar with Barcelona through my research and our previous day’s wanderings, I know we did not take the most direct route to the ship. The ride cost 15 Euro plus tip (although the meter said 9.00 when we arrived at the port then it jumped to 15 when the driver pushed some buttons on the meter – maybe the charge for our 2 bags and one carryon we had in the trunk?). The ride was from the top of La Ramblas to the Golden’s berth at Moll Adossat. The ride took about 20 minutes due to slow traffic. We arrived at the check-in terminal around 11:15 a.m. and there were only a few people in the building and absolutely no lines. We just walked up to the first available counter and were quickly checked in. We went through security x-ray and then tried to figure out what to do next. Because we were there so early, they did not have the cameras set up to do the embarkation photos. We walked out the back door, across the pier and entered the ship at the mid-ship gangplank. I was expecting a jetway type walkway like they have in Fort Lauderdale, but that wasn’t the case. Because we were so early, things weren’t clearly marked and we had to stumble around a bit to figure out we were supposed to go outside and just walk over to the ship. We were on board by 11:30 but due to the cabin turn-around process, no one was allowed to go to their cabins until 1:00 p.m. We were told we could check our carry-ons at the card room on 5th floor and head to the buffet if we like. Since it was my second time on the Golden, I gave Kevin a quick tour of the public areas of the ship (I was able to get some nice photos of the almost deserted ship at this time) then we stopped in the Horizon Court buffet to eat. At 12:20 there was an announcement that all cabins were now ready for passengers. After eating we retrieved our bags from the Card Room and proceeded to our cabin. Our beds were configured incorrectly (queen instead of 2 doubles), so I added that to the list of items to tell our cabin steward. We checked out the balcony (my first and I loved it!) and the view. We are starboard so usually were on the side that the ship docked in most ports. Our cabin steward Arthur Lucero, from Mexico (I believe), stopped by to introduce himself. He was a very sweet man and was very accommodating. I asked for a bathrobe, a footstool for the balcony and for the beds to be changed. He went and got he footstool immediately and came back a second time to drop off a bottle of wine and a photo voucher for 2 photos from my travel agent (thanks Kim!). I was actually surprised to receive the travel agent gifts as I was already receiving a small amount of onboard credit and I hadn’t received anything but credit in the past. The wine and vouchers were a nice little surprise though. Arthur took care of the robe and changing the bed before the end of the day. We decided to sit out by the pool and relax for a while. I worked on some postcards poolside then headed off to a Port Talk on Barcelona and Cannes done by Netta Martin. Netta is well traveled and well written (she had top selling books several years ago) and provided useful information throughout the cruise.

 

Since we knew we would be having early mornings and busy days, we chose the first seating of traditional dining and ended up in the Canaletto dining room. Dinner was at 6:30 each evening and we ended up at a table of 8 with two retired couples from the UK who were very entertaining and fun to be with (Brian and Olive the art and wine lovers and Ada and Alfred a quiet but sweet couple). Our waiter, Francisco Remigio from Portugal, and our assistant Adriana from Mexico, were responsible for three tables at our seating: our table of 8 (with 2 seats empty), an empty table of 6 and a table for 4 that only had one couple. When I saw the couple sitting alone at the table for 4, I realized it was A.Emgee from Cruise Critic and his wife. They had sent me a photo electronically since we would be sharing tours, so that is how I was able to identify them. I went over and introduced myself. There were 2 couples in our area of the dining room that had requested tables for 2 and were able to each be seated alone at a table for 4 to accommodate their request. Kevin is allergic to mushrooms, so we told our waiter this the first night. Towards the end of dinner, the head waiter Herminio, also from Portugal, came by and gave Kevin the menu for the following night. Herminio said he would come back at the end of the meal to see if Kevin would like to special order any item to have it prepared without mushrooms. Most nights Kevin found a mushroom-free entrée to select, but on two occasions he requested an item that was offered originally with mushrooms be revised so he could have it without the mushrooms. The first time he did this (he asked for pasta to be served with a red sauce instead of the mushroom cream sauce), it took quite a long time for him to receive his entrée. The second time he had a special request, his entrée was served at the same time the rest of our entrees were served. I was surprised that a simple red sauce substitution would take so long that first time, since pasta with red sauce is on the Always Available menu. We did think Herminio was very accommodating as he came each and every night to present the next day’s menu and returned later to ask about any special requests. He always recognized us whenever he saw us on other parts of the ship and that is not always the case with head waiters who generally have less interaction with each of the tables. Our entire table was pleased with the service we received from our wait staff during our cruise. Francisco was the most efficient and helpful waiter I have ever had. While friendly, he was definitely a down to business kind of guy. He was always quick to ask if an entrée should be replaced if he suspected something was not to your liking. He did a great job of anticipating our needs. I do realize that due to the small number of people in his area at our seating (most nights there were only 8 to 10 of us at tables that could hold 16) it was easier for him to serve us, but even when we saw him working a shift in the Horizon Court, he was very effective, efficient, accommodating, and friendly.

 

After dinner we decided to try the Barcelona Folkloric Show at 8:30 p.m. in the Visat Lounge. The Senior Assistant Cruise Director Will was the MC, so I’m guessing Graham had the day off. The show did get a little boring after the first few minutes as it was mostly handclapping and stomping of feet (a Spanish Riverdance?), but the show was fairly short. I probably would have preferred seeing the tango or something like that. After the show, we stopped by the Explorer’s Lounge to see the ‘Welcome Aboard Dance Party’ in order to meet the crew and maybe win a prize. They only had lower level cruise director staff there and the first game was a large musical chair type event so we left as soon as our group lost. I really would like to win a prize at something this trip. We had an early tour booked, so Kevin headed back to the cabin to get some sleep and I walked around the ship outside and enjoyed the night view of Barcelona from the upper decks and took some shots in the dark with my new digital camera. I thought they turned out fairly well considering the conditions (the city was at a distance and it was night time).

 

 

[jody]

Part 3

 

Barcelona Sail Away Day……Friday, May 30, 2003……Sunny and 80’s

 

I had thought of doing Montserrat on our own, but decided it would be easier and not that much more expensive to do a Princess tour. I think that was the best choice as they are working on the funicular/train that can take you there up the mountain and it was closed. We had to get up early today for the tour. We got ready and grabbed a quick bite in the Horizon Court. Although it is usually busy, it is fairly easy to get in and out of there once you become familiar with the layout, if you know what you want to eat. We got on our tour bus at 7:30 a.m. and headed out to the Spanish countryside. I do have to say that I was disappointed by the drive to Montserrat. We went through a very industrial area first and then I found the hills of Spain to be very scruffy looking. It’s nothing like the hills of Tuscany. I’m sure other parts of Spain would be more picturesque (I hope). It was nice up at the monastery though. We were one of the first buses to arrive, so it was fairly quiet at first and the weather was cool and refreshing up there. It was too hazy to see much in the valley but it was still a good view. Apparently there is a hotel there so you can spend the night and enjoy a tourist-free peaceful evening. After our tour to see the grounds, the church and the Black Madonna we were given free time to wander and to check out the gift shop that was large and had very nice stuff (religious icons, sweets made at the monastery, books, postcards, etc.). As we were leaving, it was getting very crowded and much warmer. Many people slept on the bus ride back to the ship which took about an hour. We knew the muster drill was being held at 12:30 so we went directly to the pizza stand for a few slices of pizza for a very quick lunch before the drill was called at 1:00. After eating we grabbed out life jackets from our cabin and actually headed to our muster station before they alarm bells chimed. People were very slow to attend the drill (some people were trying to fill up platters of food in the Horizon Court literally 3 minutes before the drill), so we had to wait quite a while for our lounge (we were assigned the Vista Lounge) to fill up so the drill could commence. A lady in a cabin next to us was insisting that she didn’t have to attend because she has been on numerous ships in the past and has already done the drill. Words of advice: the Muster Drill is required by law and YOU MUST ATTEND. Yes, we know you’ve done it before, so have a large majority of us, but there are those who haven’t and the info given out at that time is important to everyone. Please be courteous to the other 2,600 passengers on the ship and report to your muster station when requested. This drill was the most difficult and longest of my 3 Princess cruises.

 

After the muster drill we returned our lifejackets to our room then headed up on deck to watch the sail away from Barcelona. I ordered my favorite drink – the Oreo Speedwagon (it’s like a chocolate shake with alcohol and Oreos) and stood at the port side railing watching the activity. The ship moves so smoothly, I had to look at the other ships to see if it was them or us moving. It is amazing to see the ship back up and flip around in a relatively small area to head out to sea. We passed several other European cruise ships as we left the port. The sail away actually occurred a few minutes late (scheduled for 1:30 p.m.) and I do remember them calling out some names. I thought that was pretty bad to have people potentially missing the ship the very first day of sailing. I did find out later that at least one couple purposely joined the ship for the first time in Cannes, so maybe it was their names being called. Kevin mentioned he had seen two of our table mates (who coincidentally have a cabin 2 doors down from us) out on deck still carrying their lifejackets. They ate after the muster drill and didn’t have time to return to their cabin before sail away, so they just carried the life jackets along with them. After sail away, I stopped by the internet café to send a few quick emails. The computers all crashed shortly after I logged on. I later found out there was a satellite problem and the purser’s desk did reimburse me for the charge that day ($2 or so) because of the system crash after I told them about it. Platinum members get free internet access but it is $7 per 15 minutes for the rest of us. It’s expensive but I just couldn’t live without staying in touch with a few loved ones back home. I ended up spending a total of $30 on the internet (email and Cruise Critic postings) during the trip. I later went to the library to find a book for the week, hung out on my balcony, then headed to the back of the ship for our 4:00 p.m. Cruise Critic meeting. I had made nametags for everyone along with Cruise Critic doors signs. It seemed pretty easy for everyone to locate the group and everyone from our list but kbuck showed up at our gathering (except for some members of koele’s family who were napping – I do believe that 2 year olds do need their naps!). We met CruisinD (who switched to the Golden from the Royal at the last minute), Doug&Nadine, EmilyUK and crew, Ibrasu, pfibilly, koele’s husband, and A. Emgee (after they woke up from their nap – I guess 20-somethings need their sleep too!). I thought we had a really fun group of Cruise Critics and everyone got along well. I ran into each of them several times during the trip and it was fun to have ready made friends. (Little did I know how close 6 of us would become on our Naples mis-adventure.) We were never able to connect with kbuck or spidermike (who didn’t express interest in our CC meeting) but I do believe Doug&Nadine actually shared a cab with spidermike at one time without realizing it. We spent an hour getting to know each other. I recommend trading cabin numbers in case you want to plan an impromptu meeting at a later date. I forgot to get everyone’s number and had to ask the purser’s office to connect me to people’s room, but this only works if you know last names. If you are interested in having a CC party, it really is very easy to do. I am a planner/organizer by nature, so I just pick a time and date that seems convenient if no one else does. If you tell people generally what you look like and act like you are in charge at the meeting site, it is pretty easy for people to find you.

 

It was formal night so all the early diners rushed off to get ready. I do have to say that having the formal night so soon in the trip made it seemed a little rushed. We ran into pfibilly and his wife at the Captain’s welcome reception, which was held in the atrium area (and the Explorer’s Lounge). CD Graham spoke briefly then Captain Bernard Warner welcomed us and gave us statistics about the makeup of the passenger’s nationality. From what I recall there were 2,600 passengers with around 800 Americans. British were the second largest group followed by Canadians and the list went on from there. It was a very diverse group and I was really surprised to see that the ship was full. Apparently they offered deep discounting in the last few weeks to the British folks. Nearly everyone I met from the UK had booked their trip just a few weeks out. The waiters were circulating with a tray of drinks and a few appetizers but the drinks weren’t very strong. If you don’t drink (or if you do and you want to select the right beverage), the orange drinks with the fruit garnish in the hurricane type glasses are non-alcoholic fruit punch. A family of 3 joined us the second night at dinner but that caused a problem because we only had two seats open at our table. The 3 (Carol, Rocco, and their son Paul all from Australia and very outgoing) were moved to a table near us for a few minutes then were once again moved to a third table after it was determined they had been once again placed in someone else’s spot. They had changed their dining request at a late date (can’t remember if it was PC to traditional or later traditional to early) and the maitre d’ had messed up when giving them the new assignment. We later found out they ended up at a table with others that they enjoyed being with. We just felt so bad that they had been shuttled around the room so many times. We had another nice dinner and enjoyed getting to know our tablemates better. After dinner we attended the Welcome Aboard Show at 8: 45 in the Princess Theater. The popular Graham Seymour was MC tonight and was very funny as an opening act. The show included the Princess singers and dancers along with the musical duo Kamika (a husband and wife team). After the show, I put on my pajamas and a fleece jacket (it was chilly out this evening) and sat out on the balcony. I am so lucky to be sitting here enjoying a balcony, seeing the stars in the night sky, and sailing the Med on the beautiful Golden Princess. I wrote out some postcards (be sure to make up labels at home in advance) and started writing in my journal I hoped to keep of my trip. I’ve found the journal helps when you are later trying to identify photos after your trip.

 

BUDGET FOR BARCELONA (per person unless noted otherwise)

Montserrat on own (Wed) 25 Euro

Wed lunch 20

Mike’s Bike tour (Thurs) 25

Bus Turistic 12

2 night hotel (Hotel Continental) 190 total

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES (per person)

Airport bus to Placa Catalunya 4 Euro

Barcelona Map 5 Euro

Bus Turistic 15 Euro

La Sagrada Familia 6 Euro (w/ Bus Turistic coupon)

La Sagrada Familia Lift 2 Euro

Ice cream bar 1.5 Euro

Lunch by Parc Guell 11 Euro

Mike’s Bike tour (Wed) 25 Euro w/ tip

Wed dinner during bike tour 10 Euro

Postcards 2 Euro

2 night hotel 193 (w/ 3 Euro tip)

Cab to pier 17 Euro total for 2, 3 bags w/ tip

Princess Montserrat Tour 33

Montserrat postcards and guide tip 5

 

 

[jody]

Part 4

 

Cannes, France………..Saturday, May 31, 2003….. Sunny and high 80’s

 

Due to the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo this weekend, the Golden stopped in Cannes for this cruise only. Today was our only tender day. There is no pier for ships, so all must tender here. We saw a WindStar sailing ship anchored next to us. It looked like a fun way to cruise. We arrived in Cannes at 7 a.m. I got up to watch the approach to the city. The tenders began shortly after we arrived. We ate in the Horizon Court then headed downstairs to catch a tender (there was no line of folks waiting to get on and no tickets were needed). Princess did have the tender stop well marked and there was cold water available for you while awaiting tenders back to the ship. The Cannes Film Festival had just completed a few days before our arrival, but there were still some lines to purchase tickets to see some of the movies they were still playing. We had planned to take the train to Monte Carlo today but my travel partner did not take time to locate the Cannes train station in advance (the only research assignment I gave him). We were hoping we could figure it out, but we had no luck. After wandering around for an hour, I just gave up. We walked along the main drag near the fancy shops and decided to try out La Petite train for a 30 minute tour of Cannes. We didn’t see anything of noticeable interest but it was nice to sit down and travel the neighborhoods of Cannes at 20 mph. The driver seemed to know everyone so we always had people waiving at us in our open air ‘train.’ For one or two Euro more, we could have purchased a ticket good for the other train route but we didn’t do that. One interesting thing I noted on our little trip was the Cannes meter maids. They were out in full force and they all seemed to be very attractive women in very nice, crisp white suits with skirts and little white hats. They looked like flight attendants from the 1950’s. I should have taken a picture of one but didn’t think about it in time. They just looked so cute and professional. I guess a man wouldn’t mind getting a ticket from one of them. I did see one male meter ‘maid’ in pants of course, but it just didn’t have the same effect. I guess the moral of the story is to be sure you don’t park illegally or you WILL get a ticket. They were out in full force. After our tour we walked along some of the major shopping streets we had noticed on our little tour. I purchased a bottle of wine and postcards. We walked along the beach area (fairly small and crowded) and noticed some topless bathers although we heard that topless bathing is out of vogue this year, even in France. I bought a tasty mozzarella and tomato baguette and we decided to head back to the ship and have a relaxing afternoon. I was originally very disappointed to not make it to Monte Carlo, but spending time resting today proved to be fortuitous to me two days later. Another CC posted that they did make it to Monte Carlo that day and that they easily found the train station. I don’t know French at all and I couldn’t locate any signs that looked like they might direct one to a train station, so they were smarter than we were. We did see train tracks at one point but couldn’t follow them anywhere as they disappeared into a hill. We tendered back to the ship around 1:00 and were able to jump right on a tender just before it left. I slept a few hours while Kevin hung out at the pool. I hated wasting time in Europe and on a beautiful ship sleeping, but I knew I would get stressed out if I wasn’t well rested. I also sat on my balcony and watched the small boats drive and sail by. There is a sign on the ship telling all traffic to stay back 50 feet, but I saw a little Sunfish sailboat cross behind the Golden so close they could almost touch the ship. Many people in the boats would wave as they went by. Sailaway was at 6:00 and the captain didn’t have to do too much maneuvering since we were tendered. It is fun to chat with everyone who is out on their decks as you see the city you are leaving glide by. Dinner was at 6:30 and had a French Night theme. The evening show we attended was Lights, Camera, Action at 8:45 in the Princess Theater. This seems to be the same show I saw on the Golden in January 2002, but I had missed the beginning last time, so some of it was new to me. Uber Rossi was the hit of the show. He is so talented. I know I can’t do a one armed handstand pushup! Be sure to get a seat early as funny things happen before the show starts. (Shirley, Heeey Shirleeeeey!) After the show I returned to my room and hung out on the balcony for a while then went to bed.

 

BUDGET for Cannes/Monte Carlo

Train to Monte Carlo 10

St. Nicholas Cathedral ??

Lunch 20

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES CANNES (per person)

Le Petite Train 6 Euro

Bottle of wine 9

Postcards 4.5

Baguette w/ mozzarella, tomato & ice tea5

 

 

[jody]

Part 5

 

Livorno, Italy (Pisa and Florence)…..Sunday, June 1, 2003………Sunny and 85°

 

I ate my Horizon Court breakfast outside at the back of the ship and saw the Celebrity Millennium sail by on its way to docking at Livorno. The Millie is a beautiful ship. We are doing a private tour today. I had connected with a fellow Cruise Critic who had booked tours with Daniele’s company for both Florence and Naples. A.Emgee did all booking and coordination. Our original start time was set for 9:00 but I asked for an earlier start so we could get a jump on the crowds. Daniele’s father Remo was going to be our guide for today and we had a group of six CCers (jody-Jody and Kevin, A.Emgee-Doug and Gloria, and pfibilly-Bill and Debbie). Remo was supposed to meet us at 7:00. Disembarkation was allowed at 7:05 and we were one of the first groups off the ship. We saw a huge line of buses for the Princess tours and a large row of taxis and vans waiting for passengers. We looked around but could not find our guide. Finally at 7:20 we knew something was wrong and Doug went to find Daniele’s phone number back on the ship. As he was returning, he spotted Remo on the other side of the buses where we hadn’t looked before. He had arrived very early and was on the side of the buses opposite all the other taxi and vans. We didn’t expect him to be over there so we had inadvertently walked passed him. Remo had a nice large van that had plenty of head room (I’m tall) and could hold 10 people plus the driver, I believe. There were three rows of seats behind the driver and shotgun seats. By 7:30 we were on our merry way. A couple from the Celebrity ship had been with Remo the day prior in Rome and had asked to join him (and us) again today. They were willing to accept our agenda and we had a spacious van with room for 10, so we agreed. It turns out that they were from Bloomington, MN and live less than 10 miles from me. It really is a small world. At my insistence, we headed to Pisa first. Bill’s waiter and Remo both recommended doing Pisa last, but I knew that if we got their early we would have a better chance of being able to climb the tower without reservations. After picking up Tom and Lisa at the Millennium (which was a very long drive around the port via the road even though their ship was just across the channel from us) we drove off to Pisa. We arrived there around 8:40 just as the haze and mist was burning off. Others have said the site is under-whelming but I thought it was much better than I expected. We entered through a gate of an ancient city wall. As you walk up the main street, the right hand side is full of little shops and the left hand side is the cathedral grounds. There is a large baptistery, the church, and the campanile (the bell tower-the Leaning Tower of Pisa). The engineers worked to straighten out the tower somewhat in the last few years and it has been stabilized enough that you can now climb to the top if you are willing to pay 15 Euro to do it. Groups of 20 are sent up for a 30 minute session, so the number of people who get to do it is very limited. There are two places to purchase tickets that I could find. The quickest and easiest is at then end of the main road through the complex. If you follow the road towards the tower, you will see a stone building with a small yellow Information sign. This building is to the right of the tower if you are looking at it in front of the church. I was able to walk right in and buy tickets immediately. The rest of my group wandered to the main Information building which is off to the left of the Tower (if the church is at your back), in a long string of buildings off to the side. There was a huge line here. I was offered tickets to the 9:00 tour but had to decline because I didn’t have enough cash on me for all 8 tickets and they didn’t take Visa. When I went to get more money I found out that the others were in the longer line at the different building. I went back to buy 2 tickets only in the short line at the smaller building and was able to get the 9:30 tour (as the 9:00 tour was sold out right after I left the first time). In the time the other group got through the line once, I was able to get up to the counter twice in my building. The reservation system is computerized, so the first request in will get the tickets and they go fast. You can reserve on-line in advance, but if you take a private tour, you might not know the exact time you will be at Pisa that day.

 

We looked around the site from 9:00 to 9:20 then lined up for our tour. Promptly at 9:30, they led us into the tower. It’s a little weird as you are spiraling around the building on your way up and you can really feel the lean at times. There is a landing about ¾ of the way up where you exit out and can walk around the outside of the tower. You’ll hear people hollering down to their friends and family on the ground. After a few minutes they round you up and take you to the very top of the tower. I mistakenly assumed we were already there, but we weren’t. We were given some time to take photos and look at the view, then we all headed back down so the next group could head up. Even though it was expensive, I thought it was a worthwhile once in a lifetime event. I only glanced around the inside of the church and didn’t look in at the baptistery. I felt I could have spent more time in Pisa and at the LeaningTower if more time would have been available. After climbing the tower, we headed back to the van and sped off for Florence. Traffic was flowing well and because we had a van (and not a tour bus) we were able to be get into the middle of Florence by the Duomo. On the way there, Remo pointed out the Ponte Vecchio to us as we crossed the ArnoRiver. He dropped us off right across the street from the plaza outside the Duomo (right behind the baptistery) and gave us time to sightsee. We looked at the bronze doors on the baptistery done by Ghiberti in 1403-1452 and lined up to see the inside of the Duomo. For those who don’t know, duomo is the Italian word for church and it is the title given to the largest church in a city. Florence’s Duomo is famous and its given name is the Church Santa Maria del Fiore. It is a beautiful building built from red, white and green marble, truly amazing. Because it was Sunday, the inside of the building was closed until 1:00 for church services. We were there around 11:30. You were able to peek in the main door on one side and look into the back of the church but that was it. On other days of the week you can go inside and pay to climb to the top of the Duomo, but on Sundays you are only allowed to climb Giotto’s Campanile (the Duomo’s bell tower). We decided to do that as I knew it would give us a good view of the city. There was a line but it went rather quickly. It was quite warm standing outside in line in the sun. Looking around you could see people jockeying for position in the shade, especially if there was a shady spot where you could sit down or lean against a building to relax. It cost 6 Euro each to climb the bell tower and be forewarned, there are a lot of stairs (I think we heard 414). You climb up a very small and winding stone staircase. It is very tight if you meet people coming down while you are going up. It is a little dark but there are a few lights and a few small open windows on the way up. The first landing is about ½ way up the tower. There are large viewing windows covered in large mesh. If you continue on up, you will come to a second landing or floor where you can look out again (or stop to catch your breath). If you are brave you can continue on to the third landing where I believe we saw a bell. If you haven’t had a heart attack yet, you can climb the last bit and end up on the roof of the building. The best view is from the top and you are just below the level of the Duomo lookout. You can see the Santa Croce church from here. The climb down was easier and we picked up members of our group as we descended as not everyone chose to climb all the way to the top. We returned to the van and discovered that Remo had added a driver, Luigi. Remo prefers to do the talking while having a separate driver. Luigi was free for the afternoon from another tour so he stayed with us the rest of the day. We then drove a short distance to Sante Croce church, which is home to the famous LeatherSchool. Michelangelo, Galileo and other famous Italians are buried in this church. Because it was Sunday, this church was closed until 1:30 p.m. (and I believe the LeatherSchool and store were closed too). On my previous trip to Florence, I found the LeatherSchool to be interesting and they had good prices on quality leather goods. I bought a leather business card holder in 1998 and had my initials imprinted on it with gold. After 5 years it still is in beautiful condition and looks almost as good as the day I bought it. If you are looking for jewelry, I have found the Gold Corner store, at the end of the square outside the church to be a good place for quality stuff. The guide I had on my 1998 tour (a land based community band tour) bought all her private jewelry there. I went back and purchased a globe charm there that I hadn’t bought in 1998 and that I still wanted and I think it was cheaper in 2003 than it was in 1998. Because we couldn’t go inside the church as it was only 12:30, we decided to look at a leather store down the street while our guide found a table in a restaurant we had driven by and thought looked good. Remo seems to know everyone so he was able to get us a table in the cool interior of the restaurant. We were quickly served some fabulous pizza, beer, and (expensive) soda. A Coke was 3.50 Euro but it came on ice and in quite a large glass (which are both unusual for Italy), so I was happy. We all had better attitudes after filling our stomachs and quenching our thirsts. After lunch we headed over to the Accademia Gallery to see David. I’d already seen it during my last trip to Italy, so I waited outside while the others went in. There was a tourist kiosk and a small shop across the street to peruse while I waited. There was no line when we arrived, so the group was able to go right in and see the statue and the other items in the gallery. After that, were dropped off near the leather market where there are countless booths and stall of ‘stuff’ to buy including leather goods, paper good, and touristy items. Four of us stopped for the requisite gelato (delicious Italian ice cream – very rich and yummy) before we walked through the market. On a side street I noticed some ‘street artists’ who would spell out the name of your choice on paper in watercolor using flowers and animals for each letter. I spent 3 Euro and had one made for my niece. It turned out very cute and it will make a fun gift after I have it framed. It’s about 3 feet long and 1 foot wide. I also bought a package of Florentine stationery and a few postcards from one of the stands. (I usually send out around 40 postcards on my vacations to my family and friends, so I try to buy postcards in every city we visit.) After shopping we drove up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for a wonderful view of Florence from above and the surrounding hillside. We took the requisite photos of us with the Duomo in the background and looked at the bronze replica of the David statue. Then we all gathered back at the van and took off for the return to the ships. Remo entertained us with jokes during our drive back to the ship. He is a very friendly guy and seems to know people everywhere he went. As our ship left first, Remo dropped the six of us off first and then dropped the other two at the Celebrity Millenium. Looking back on our day, I must say I was a little disappointed in what we were able to see in Florence. Because I had been there before, I knew how much there is to do and see there. Although Remo was a good guide, I thought we would have had a more productive day if we had kept the churches for last, so we could have actually gone inside them instead of just glancing at them from the outside. We didn’t have time to walk around the Ponte Vecchio bridge or really explore much of the city. I think the others in my group enjoyed themselves, because they weren’t aware of all we could have seen that day. There is obviously too much to see in one day, but if you take a private tour, be sure to tell your guide the highlights you really want to see and hopefully he’ll be able to suggest an itinerary to ensure you see them all. I must say that seeing Pisa was a fair trade for missing some of Florence for me. I enjoyed our time at Pisa, even though I had heard it would be a waste of time, and I’m very glad we went. How many people can say they’ve actually climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

 

After returning to the ship, we had just enough time to shower, get ready for dinner and watch the sail away which was at 6:00 p.m. tonight. We backed out, sailed past the Millennium and headed down the coast of Italy to Naples. I can’t recall the theme for dinner, but I believe Italian night will be tomorrow after Naples. Dinner was the six of us again and was wonderful as always. We start at 6:30 and are usually done around 8:20 to 8:30 each night without rushing. If your section is full at the early seating, the waiter may have to rush you at times to ensure the second seating begins on time. Since our section had several empty seats, our waiters had plenty of time to serve us in a relaxed fashion. I also noted that the dining room was not as cold as it had been on my 2002 Golden cruise in the Caribbean. It might have been our location in the dining room (near the doors the Galley) as I heard other women mentioning the coolness of the room. Our tablemates were not Internet savvy, so each night we would give them a piece of advice we had learned from the Cruise Critics. One important item was the fact that you can order cappuccino, espresso, and hot chocolate for free in the dining rooms during meals. Out tablemates appreciated this and ordered cappuccino instead of coffee every evening. I prefer the hot chocolate and have always found it to be very tasty. After dinner, we attended the Joni Butler show in the Princess theater. She is a two time Grammy nominee and a very good singer. My travel partner doesn’t enjoy that type of show (singing to an orchestra), so he snuck out after two songs. I thought she was a great singer and after a few songs she pulled up two men on stage to help her perform and it was quite funny. After the show, I headed back to the room for some sleep since I knew we had another busy day ahead of us tomorrow.

 

BUDGET for Florence/Pisa

Private tour Florence/Pisa or Princess Florence bus 100/69

Lunch/Gelato 30

AccedemiaMuseum entrance 10

Uffuzzi Gallery ??

 

ACTUAL FLORENCE/PISA (per person)

Tour guide + tip $89

Leaning Tower Climb 15 Euro

Duomo Campanile Climb 6 Euro

Lunch in Florence café 11 Euro

Gelato 3 Euro

Sidewalk art (‘Taylor’ sign) 3 Euro

Souvenirs 12 Euro

 

 

[jody]

Part 6

 

Naples, Italy (Pompeii and Sorrento)…..Monday, June 2, 2003………Sunny and 90°

After breakfast in the Horizon Court, our same group of six Cruise Critics met again on the 5th floor near the Patisserie for the Naples tour booked through Daniele. Remo had needed a day off as he had been doing back to back tours, so we were assigned Carlo. He was waiting for us with a sign as soon as we stepped off the boat. Today was already starting out better than yesterday morning. We loaded up the van, this one was a little smaller since we only have 6 today, but it is a brand new Mercedes and has nice leather seats and air conditioning that worked well. Kevin rode shotgun, three of us were in the middle seat and two were in the back. We drove a short way on the freeway then turned around at a toll booth. Carlo noted that he had missed the turn he wanted even though he had taken this road hundreds of time before. The government has been busy upgrading the signs for Pompeii and I guess he just had a senior moment (I can relate and I’m only 35!). This caused us to lose about 15 minutes. Only later on in the day would we realize how significant this error might have been. Because we were off the ship early, we were on our way to Pompeii in plenty of time to beat the tour bus rush. During the drive, Carlo convinced us of the value of hiring a private guide in Pompeii. We had originally decided to rent audio guides, but the more we talked about it, the more a guide made sense. This turned out to be a great decision. The town of Pompeii is very crowded tourists and traffic. We parked and met up with the guide Carlo had called for us on the drive from Naples. Gaetano was great. We breezed right past the huge entrance line and he helped me buy tickets for our group at the tour guide window. He gave us a two hour tour and helped up sneak past several slow moving tour bus crowds along the way. I really felt that we got every penny’s worth by using Gaetano as our own private guide for the six of us. He would find a small piece of shade everywhere we went and tell us the history of the place. At the end of our tour, we got a private tour of the Baths. Apparently, you only get to see this part if you have a private guide and the guide must book a specific entrance time for this area. It is very warm at Pompeii (although I relish the heat and sun coming from the snowbound great white north on Minnesota) and there are only a few shady spots. Be sure to wear your sunscreen, bring water, and be prepared to walk on uneven roads and rock paths. It is a very interesting place and I believe you could easily spend a day there if you didn’t get too tired or too warm. Some things to notice on your trip: cat’s eyes, the ‘sign’ pointing the way to the brothel, and the grooves that signify a building was a shop not a residence. In the sidewalks, you will see tiny white rocks or pieces of tile. These ‘cat’s eyes’ would catch the sun and reflect (like a cat’s eye in the dark) and guide the sailors to the city and to the streets. If you look closely on the main street into Pompeii, you will see a penis carved into the road at an angle. This sign was used to point the sailors in the direction of the brothel. To determine whether a building was a shop or a residence, look to see if there is a thin groove along the base of the front wall. If the groove is here, it means this was a shop and the groove was for the door which could be slid open or shut depending upon whether the store was open or not. Our guide ended up being the brother of the guy who ran the souvenir stand/snack shop at the parking lot across from the entrance to Pompeii and we were able to get a 20% discount on our purchases there. I bought a small overlay book that shows the ruins before and after. This really helps you get an idea of what the city might have been like. I truly think that a private guide is the best way to see Pompeii if you have limited time. We did see a number of people with the audio guides, but I just can’t imagine they were able to get the same experience that we did.

 

Shortly after noon, we paid Gaetano (Carlo had waited with the van while we were gone) and loaded up to head out to Sorrento. Traffic was definitely busier at this time of day. We drove past a beach area where they are converting an old mill into a new beach hotel and saw cars and motorcycles parked everywhere. Driving in Italy is like driving no where else in the world. Street sign, stop signs and stoplights are all suggestions to the Italians, especially those on motorcycles and scooters. We saw a lady driving a motorcycle with two kids perched on it, one in front of her and one behind her. A multitude of beach toys and equipment was dangling off the bike and the kids. In the US you would be arrested for attempting something like that, but in Italy, she was just one of the many heading to the beach for a day in the sun. At one point, traffic was just crawling, so Carlo suggested we stop for lunch at a restaurant he knew. Mustafa’s is down a winding road a few kilometers before Sorrento. The restaurant had patio seating over looking the water across the street from the restaurant. The food is prepared inside then carried across the road to the covered patio area. It was nice and cool out there and we had a great view of boats and the water. We ordered and received the beverages we had requested and some bruschetta we had not. We were hungry so we dipped into the bread covered with olive oil and fresh tomato chunks. Later we found out that there was a charge for the bread that we had not ordered. This is a common occurrence in Germany and Austria, where I have been charged up to a 5 Euro ‘cover charge’ for very stale bread. The bruschetta we had was great, so I didn’t argue about paying the extra for it. Just be aware that you must refuse the bread if you don’t want to end up paying for it. We ended up waiting 25 minutes or so for the food we had ordered. It seemed like the others (mostly Italian families) received their food quicker than us, but maybe it was my imagination. Little did we know that this 25 minute delay was the second event that could have changed our fate at the end of the day. I had a great light salad (insalata mista) and a bowl of risotto that I truly enjoyed. Others had seafood which they said was good. The food was fresh and tasty and fairly reasonable considering we were eating ‘on the water.’

 

After lunch (around 2:45 or so), we found the roads to be almost traffic free in our direction. We drove past several sights that would have been good photo stops, but we didn’t ask Carlo to stop. I figured the scenery would only get better and we would have more photo opportunities later in the day. We made it to Sorrento around 3:10 and we noticed a Princess tuor bus loading up and getting ready to leave. Carlo dropped us off at an inlaid wood store that he recommended. We looked around in the shop (nice stuff but very expensive), saw a very short demonstration on how the inlaid wood table tops are made, tried a taste of Limoncello (strong stuff-it’s like electric lemonade), then headed out to stroll down the main shopping street in Sorrento. We had planned to meet the van at the main city square at 4:00, but 4 of us finished early and were at the designated sight at 3:40. Little did we know that if all 6 of us had arrived back at the van early, the final outcome of the day might have been different. This was our third event of the day that delayed us more than 15 minutes. While waiting for the other couple, we saw a newly married bride and groom taking photos in the middle of the square. We also saw orange trees with ripe oranges hanging from them in front of the stores in the square. You don’t see that in Minnesota. The other couple arrived shortly after 4:00 and we started on our way to Positano. Traffic wasn’t bad at all, but after a few minutes, Carlo mentioned that he was worried that if we went all the way to Positano we might have trouble making it back to the ship on time. I can admit that I was thinking to myself that I really would like to go all the way to Positano and that we would be fine with time even if we did go. Luckily, my friend Kevin quickly told Carlo that he agreed we should turn around immediately and head back to the ship. Carlo turned around and Bill mentioned it would be nice to stop along the way at one of the nice photo opportunity spots we had seen on our drive up the coast. To accommodate the request, Carlo ended up turning around again to backtrack to find the spots. The others hadn’t been paying as close attention to where we were going (it’s difficult with those winding roads) and what Carlo was saying under his breath, so I was the only one who realized we were backtracking. We stopped once for a photo, but it wasn’t quite the right place we had been thinking of. After 20 minutes of backtracking, I told Carlo we should just give up and return straight to the ship. This was our fourth and final event that took time that we later realized we didn’t have to spare. Soon after we got on the right track back to the ship, the traffic started building. (The roads had been fairly clear in the afternoon to this point.) We got stuck in a jam on one windy road in Sorrento and somehow Carlo was able to back the van up into a driveway and turn around. Somehow we squeezed through places our van never should have fit, between cars coming in the opposite direction and parked cars on our side of the small two lane road. We ended up back on the main drag in Sorrento, but it was backed up just as much as the windy side road. We sat in traffic and watched as people walking past us kept pulling ahead of us time and time again. After an hour we had only gone about 2-3 miles and we knew we might be in trouble. It was 5:00 and we were supposed to be back onboard at 6:30 for a 7:00 p.m. sail away. We started joking around thinking of the best way to get to the ship: motorcycle (could we find six scooters each willing to take one of us?), helicopter (how much would that cost?!?! and where would it be able to land on this hilly countryside?), bicycles (I can ride 10 miles an hour which would get me back to the ship by 8:00 but still might be faster than driving), a boat? I actually asked Carlo at this point if he could just take us to the pier in Sorrento so we could pay someone to take us to the ship via the water. He said we were already past the turn and that we wouldn’t be able to find a boat to take us there. I still believe this would have been our best option as there were side roads it looks like we could have taken to get us down near the water. For 100 Euro, someone would have taken us in their boat to Naples. The clock kept ticking and traffic was near a standstill. Half our group started getting upset and three of us kept our cool because we knew it was out of our hands at this point and all we could do is pray and keep our hopes up. SIDENOTE: I usually live a very busy (and over scheduled) life. Because of this, I tend to end up stressed and high strung. During this trip, I’d done my best to relax, get plenty of rest, and enjoy myself. As a result, I was calm, cool and collected during our entire unfortunate adventure. My friends back home find this very hard to believe, but hopefully my Cruise Critic friends can vouch for me. At this point, we knew a least one Princess bus was only an hour or so ahead of us. We knew we wouldn’t make it back by 6:30 p.m. or even 7:00, but we were hoping that the delay of the Princess buses would buy us enough time to make it to the ship on time. By 6 p.m. we started making calls to Daniele and Remo to see if they could contact Princess for us. Unfortunately, none of us had brought the Princess Patter with us, so we did not have the Princess port transfer agent name and number with us to call. That would have been our best hope for salvation. We told Remo he could look for Princess info on the Internet and try to get word to the ship of our whereabouts. Remo said he did make contact with the Naples tour bus company that provides the Princess tour buses. They told him that some Princess buses were still out, so we still had time. I truly believed that if we could make it back to the pier by 9:00 p.m. we would be OK. Part of the reason I was able to stay calm and happy was that I truly believed it would work out OK for us. As the evening wore on, traffic only got worse. At one point, we decided our only hope was to use the white flag out the window to signify and emergency. We definitely were in a bit of a bind. Kevin waved a white sock out the window (that’s the only white item we had available) and we did our best to weave through wall-to-wall traffic that was already crazy with motorcycles weaving in and out. At one point, we even folded in the side mirrors so we could squeeze through smaller spaces. This tactic bought us a little time, but because traffic was so awful, there wasn’t much ground to gain. Carlo is doing his best to drive and we are fielding calls to Daniele and Remo, hoping they are able to contact Princess. Up through the last call, they have told us the ship is still at the pier waiting for delayed Princess tours. We know we aren’t the only ones in this traffic jams of all traffic jam. Bill is from LA and he mentioned that even California traffic wasn’t this bad. We finally made it to the tollbooth that leads to the A-3 (I believe) freeway and traffic somehow seemed to get worse. Eight or so toll booth lanes all funneled into two or three freeway lanes but it appeared that no one on the freeway ahead of us was moving at all. We later found out that a tour bus had been in an accident with some type of vehicle and had killed three people, just after the entry onto the freeway. This caused a clog up of the two roads out of the countryside that fed into the freeway. Others on our cruise also mentioned that two Princess tour buses traveling together were delayed when the first tour bus hit a motorcycle and knocked a woman off the back. The cycle driver apparently broke the bus driver’s window and starting beating up the bus driver. The second Princess bus had to stop to give a statement to the police as to what had happened. Carlo decided our best bet was to avoid the freeway, so we somehow were able to exit off and hit the city side streets instead. Carlo was hoping to run parallel to the freeway for a while then get on it at a point further up the road. Eventually we were back in Naples to where we had started many long hours ago this morning. We raced through the streets to the port in the dark. We flew up the street into the pier area and could not see the Golden Princess anywhere. By this time it was about 8:47 p.m. and fairly dark. We thought we were at the wrong pier slip, but Bill recognized a terminal building he had used that morning to make a phone call. He said what we didn’t want to hear: “The ship is gone. It left without us.” We just couldn’t believe it because we had hoped if we would be back by 9:00 p.m. we would be good due to all the delays with the Princess tours. At that point, we saw a car drive up and a blonde lady wave at us. I was hoping she knew how to get us on the ship. Her name was Andrena and she was the Port Transfer Agent for Princess. She said we just missed the ship by 15 minutes. (The log of the cruise actually shows the ship left around 8:20, so it was actually more like 27 minutes instead of 15.) We asked if we could find a fast boat to catch up with the ship and she said the Golden had left at full throttle because of it’s late departure and there was no way we could catch up with it at this point. She said that the ship could not wait for us because they didn’t know if the six of us were together or separate and how far away we were. Remo had told us he was in contact with the Captain of our ship and he knew where we were, but obviously both stories cannot be true. I later found out that other cruisers had been told by the Princess staff that no one had been left behind in Naples, which we can verify was not true. Apparently, over 85 people were late for the ship and everyone but the six of us made it on board. The last ones on were a small group who had booked a private driver through Princess. They do truly wait for every one of their tours, whether large or small. No one could have predicted that the 30 minute drive from Sorrento to Naples would take nearly 5 hours (and would have been longer had we not used the white hanky out the window trick). I still will use private tours in the future, as they are usually are large cost savings and provide you with a better experience.

 

Even though we were momentarily devastated, we were glad to have Andrena. She took us to check in with the Port Police and to help us get a game plan. None of us had passports but the other four did have a copy of their passport front page. I only had a driver’s license (my bad – I know!) and Kevin had absolutely nothing but his cruise card. It was Kevin’s first foreign trip and with me being responsible for all the planning and coordination for our trip, I let this one thing slip past me this one time. The police weren’t happy the two of us didn’t have proper documents but after several minutes of discussion in Italian, Andrena got them to agree to write a letter for us all explaining the loss of our documents so we could travel on. The whole situation was like a scene from a movie. We were taken into a large darkened building, up some stairs to a large darkened room. Andrena’s husband, dressed in a suite, is sitting back relaxing in a chair, smoking a cigarette and observing. Andrena, a tall attractive blonde woman is chatting rapid fire back and forth with the short, dark haired police officers in uniform who are also smoking. The six of us are standing their like children waiting to be scolded and awaiting our punishment. It would have been a great photo opportunity, just to record the absurdness of it all, but we knew we’d best just stay quiet. During this exchange, Carlo calls home and finds out that his apartment has been robbed during the day and his girlfriend is very upset and needs him to come home to Rome. We don’t want to let our ride to Rome go, but Andrena convinces us that it is best if we stay in Naples tonight where she can help us. Carlo heads off to Rome (2 ½ hours away) and Andrena’s husband shuttles us off, in two groups, to the Jolly Hotel just a few blocks away from the pier. It takes over an hour to get us all to the hotel and checked in. The hotel clerk isn’t happy because Kevin and I have no passport papers. Andrena has our security picture and info from the ship and tells the clerk she will have the passport pages faxed to the hotel from the ship in the morning. We finally get checked into our 3 hotel rooms by 10:30. We are starving since we haven’t eaten a thing since 2:30, but I decide sleep is more important at this point. Besides, I have built up a reservoir of fat from my first few days on the ship, so I’m in no danger of starving to death at this point! Although spendy ($177 per night at a 50% discount off rack rate), our hotel room is huge (by European standards) and nice with a deep bathtub and a separate glassed door shower. Kevin heads for bed while I decide to make use of the tub since I’m paying for it anyway. I fill the bath with bubbles (bubble bath provided) and step in to soak away the cares of the day. It felt great! Because we basically only had the clothes on our back, we have no toiletries. Luckily the hotel was able to provide us each with a toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste. I combed my hair with my fingers for two days. The bad thing was that most of us had been better prepared the day before. I had had my comb with me in Florence and Doug and Gloria actually had their passports with them that day. We had heard horror stories about the traffic in Florence, but never in Naples. Live and learn. I brushed my teeth and headed to bed in my shorts and tank top. Before going to sleep, I took inventory of my meager possessions and discovered nothing of much value: ½ bottle of water, small painting and book purchased at Pompeii, a pen and a few Kleenex. Next time I leave the ship, I will ensure my backpack is better equipped.

 

 

Naples

Private guide Pompeii/Amalfi Coast $100

OR

Train to Pompeii $4

(1 mile walk pier to train station/30 minute ride)

Cab to train station $15 total

Pompeii Entrance $10

Pompeii Audio guide rental $ 5

Lunch $25

 

ACTUAL EXPENSE in Naples

Private guide + tip 83

Pompeii Entrance fee

Pompeii Private Guide Gaetano 19 (110 total w/ tip for 6)

Pompeii ruins painting 15 Euro

Pompeii overlay book 12

Lunch at Mustafa’s (near Sorrento) 20

Limoncello in Sorrento (75 cl bottle) 7

Postcards 3 Euro

Jolly Hotel 140 Euro for 2

 

 

[jody]

Part 7

 

Naples to Athens Deviation (at Sea day missed)….June 3, 2003…Sunny and 80’s

Andrena told us she would meet us in the hotel lobby at 9:00 a.m. The six of us met at 8:00 for our free hotel breakfast. We loaded up with fruit and portable crackers as we didn’t know when we would get our next meal. We checked out and sat in the lobby waiting for Andrena. At 9:15 she called to say she was running late but that the travel agency was working on finding us plane tickets to Athens. Last night Andrena told us we could give up the last week of our cruise and just meet the ship in Venice next Monday, but we decided that was not an option. Besides flying to Athens, we also considered taking a ferry from Italy’s east coast to Athens. The ferry took 18 hours so we decided to avoid that route. We split into 2 groups this morning, three of them going to buy the airline tickets and get the letter from the police allowing us to travel without documents and three of us staying at the hotel to field phone calls. Andrena was able to contact the ship via satellite and have our passports copied (after retrieving them from our safes) and faxed to Naples. During the morning Remo found us (Carlo had left last night before knowing where we were going to spend the night) by calling all around Naples. He and Daniele were going to work hard to help us get back on track. He wanted us to come to his house for a big meal before our flight to Athens, but we didn’t have the time to do that and we did not want to miss our flight. It took five hours to buy the plane tickets, get a driver (booked by Daniele) to take us to Rome and to get the letter from the police. Nothing goes quickly in Italy. In the US we could have accomplished the same in less than an hour. It’s good to realize that in many places in Europe (Germany excluded) and the Caribbean, the people are on their own time schedule and there is nothing you can to do hurry them up. By 1:00 p.m. we had arrangements made. We grabbed a quick lunch on the go (I must admit I stopped for a takeout burger at McDonald’s because it was the closest place) and jumped into the van to drive to Rome driven by Umberto (courtesy of Daniele) at 1:30. On our drive to Rome, it started raining and cars started pulling off the road. We started to worry, as we didn’t have a lot of extra time for delay. Luckily, the rain came in spurts and we were able to continue without stopping. We made it to the Rome airport (Fumincello) by 4:00 p.m. I should note that we were on the phone the entire day with Daniele and Remo, ensuring that we were being taken care of. Thank goodness everyone in Europe has cell phones and that they are compatible from country to country. Daniele was also able to find a driver and a hotel for us in Athens, so we wouldn’t be left to our own devices. At the Rome airport, we waited in line until the Olympic Air window opened up. When the agent saw our rumpled group, he asked if we were ‘The Six.’ We were. He then asked if we had any luggage to check and we thought that was pretty funny. Between the six of us we had two backpacks (mine mostly empty) and one plastic bag full of our worldly possessions. We had to stick together at this point, since the police wrote one letter for the entire group. We checked in quickly then had a decent dinner at nice airport self serve restaurant. Our 7:15 pm flight was uneventful except for the dinner they served us. It consisted of a pile of potatoes that looked like deviled eggs, some pink stuff that might have been some sort of fluff with beets, a piece of salmon looking fish and some interesting soft cheese chunks. I did try everything on my plate but no one on the plane seemed to have eaten much when the flight attendants collected the trays. We were on the ground in Greece (yay!) by 10:00 p.m. I was worried about customs in Greece as the gate agent in Rome wasn’t happy about our lack of passports and our letter from the police, forgetting that Greece is part of the EU. Because our flight originated in the EU, we didn’t have to worry about passport control upon arrival. Dennis (son of George the Famous Taxi Driver) was waiting for us with a sign. We were so happy to see him! Daniele had given us a question to ask Dennis to ensure he was the right guy. Apparently, all the taxi drivers in Athens are called George! It almost felt like a secret mission with a secret code word. Dennis gave the correct answer so we were on our way to our hotel that Dennis, George, and Daniele recommended. The Hotel Fenix was a Best Western hotel (these are all independently owned) located between the aiport and the pier along the coast. It was not as nice as the Jolly Hotel but was less expensive and more than adequate for our situation. We checked in quickly and headed off to get a few hours sleep. Dennis was to return at 6:30 to pick us up and take us to the ship in the morning. We had hoped to be waiting on the dock as the Golden sailed into the port of Pireaus. That would have been a great photo opportunity. Safe on Greek soil and minutes away from the ship’s dock, we slept much better tonight.

 

BUDGET for Naples to Athens - N/A

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES Naples to Athens

Burger and soda at McDonalds 2.5 Euro

Pizza, tea, small bottle wine at Rome airport 13 Euro

Gelato at Rome airport 2.7

Rome to Athens airfare on Olympia Air 222 Euro

Hotel Fenix in Athens 110 Euro for 2

 

 

 

[jody]

Part 8

 

Athens, Greece…..Wednesday, June 4, 2003………Sunny and 90°

We had breakfast at the hotel after waking and dressing. We decided to wait until we got on the ship to shower as we would then have clean clothes to change into. Dennis arrived around 6:40 and took us straight to the port in his vintage Mercedes limo (last night was my first limo ride ever!). We were so happy when we saw the Golden sitting there waiting for us. We rushed through security in the terminal building and ran onto the ship around 7:15 a.m. Rhys Knight from the Pursers Office met us as we embarked and took us to his office to retrieve our passports before we headed for our rooms to shower. The group of six all got ready and met up at 8:30 to venture out for a day on our own together in Athens.

 

 

 

SIDENOTE: One fact I forgot to mention during my discussion above regarding our trip deviation ‘adventure,’ was the skills that my traveling partners brought with them. It turns out that Gloria is a pharmacist and Doug recently graduated from medical school and will be starting his residency soon. The rest of us knew we were in good hands if any medical conditions arose. Luckily none of us were taking medication that could not be skipped for a day, but Gloria did ask if there was anything she could help with. We actually did stop at the pharmacy in Naples for some allergy medication and deodorant. I discovered that while European pharmacies (farmacia in Italian) have weight loss products, beauty products, toothpaste and anti-fungal foot cream, they do not sell combs or hairbrushes. I was surprised at how well it works to brush your hair with your fingers, when it comes right down to it. (Of course, I have fine, limp hair that doesn’t do much, so maybe that helped me in my comb-less situation.) Actually, this is a lesson I would have rather not learned. Moral of the story: if you’re going to miss the ship, make sure your travel mates have useful skills and always bring a comb/brush/pick on your day trips just in case!

 

Shows missed while on our detour:

Monday

* Magician Gaetano-saw him on the Golden in January 2002 and met his sister. I thought he was pretty good. He was also on the Sea Princess in March 2001. A fellow cruiser who is a son of a professional magician said he thought Gaetano was good. That’s a qualified opinion as any. I would have gone to this show had I been on board.

* Shake, Rattle, Role – Princess production (likely similar to the one presented in 2002)

 

Tuesday

* Duo Miro – Dancer doing flamenco to tango (I like ballroom dancing and would have enjoyed this show)

* Pub Night Comedy Show (expected this to be presented later in the cruise and was sorry to miss seeing what Graham would do with it)

 

Athens, Greece continued…..Wednesday, June 4, 2003………Sunny and 90

 

I had read there were Princess shuttles buses that could take you to the Athens train station for a few dollars. When we asked about this, we were told we would have to take a taxi or walk. We decided walking was the best choice and headed out of the terminal and to the left. It is easy to walk to the train station; it is just not easy to determine that you are on the right track. Follow the road from the terminal around the port for about 15-20 minutes. When you see all the large ferries (versus cruise ships), you will be getting close. The train station is in an unmarked yellow building. We noticed a white Internet Café sign posted on the street corner outside of the building. Enter into a set of doors halfway down the building to your right and you should see ticket machines and a ticket window. If you have change, you can buy your ticket from the machine. Be sure to validate your ticket in the machine as you walk out of the vestibule/ticket area and towards the train platform. We were not going to transfer, so the .60 Euro tickets were all we needed to buy. If you are going to transfer to more than 1 metro line, it looks like you should purchase the .70 Euro ticket. This was the The train ride was actually fairly long (15 or 20Jcheapest ride of our trip! minutes) and the car became very crowded. This is a good place to make sure you are aware of your belongings, especially if you carry a purse or backpack. None of our group of six had any troubles but the crowded train was the perfect setup for pickpockets. We disembarked at the Monastiraki Station and looked for signs pointing us in the direction of the Acropolis. I think you can also transfer trains and get off at the Acropolis station on the Red line (Piraeaus is at the end of the Green line). This might get you closer to the Acropolis main entry but we decided it wasn’t worth the hassle to figure out the transfers. Gloria spied the sign for the bazaar/flea market. So we made a mental note of that for later. There is not a cloud in the sky and it is hot in Athens. After a few blocks of trudging uphill trying to stay in the shade where possible, we ran out of signs and were unsure of where to go. An English speaking couple was hauling their luggage down the hill and we stopped to ask them for guidance and they pointed us in the right direction. Later, as we were returning from the Acropolis, we stopped to help point a lost family in the right direction. One good turn deserves another and it just seemed appropriate that we could ‘pass it forward’ and spare people from some endless wandering in the heat as we were spared. Did I mention it was warm in Athens that day? I don’t think I could reconstruct our path up to the Acropolis, but we wandered through the neighborhoods in a generally uphill manner. Eventually we came to a street that consisted of stairs going straight up. We took the stairs and noted a shop selling cold beverages along with postcards and paintings of the famous sights of Athens along the way. At the top of the stairs, there was a sign pointing to the Plaka. If you walk in the opposite direction (to the right if you are facing the hill of the Acropolis), you will end up at the area where you can buy your tickets. Tickets were 12 Euro each (there was a discount if you have an official ICIS student ID for those of you who are college students of any type) and included tickets to several other museums, which we did visit.

 

The six of us had decided we did not need a guide here but there were several Greeks offering their services as a guide calling out to us as we walked up to the main entrance of the Acropolis. On the way up, we also ran into fellow Cruise Critics Doug & Nadine. They were glad to see that we had finally made it back to the ship. They said they had heard our list of names being called over the intercom on the ship several times before the Golden set sail out of Naples. It was good to know someone missed us! Doug & Nadine (CCers Doug&Nadine) must have been the most active of our group of Cruise Critics as they are the ones everyone mentioned they had run into several times during our cruise. They were also cheerful and smiling whenever I saw them, so if you ever see them on a cruise, be sure to say hi to them. The Acropolis was hot and crowded but interesting. I do have to admit that I expected the site to be larger than it was. It looks so huge in the photos, but when you get up there, everything is in a fairly small space. I had heard how awful the pollution was in Athens, but I didn’t notice anything at first. At the Acropolis you have a nice view of the city below and I noticed the city seemed to sparkle. The buildings are generally white and there is a lot of reflective material that shines in the sunlight. When I looked the other way (towards the hills and the ocean where the ship is docked), I realized that there is a haze that hangs over the city. The water just seemed to melt into the skyline and due to the pollution, you couldn’t see the ships in the port (including the Golden) or the hills outside of the city. Others have complained about the difficulty of breathing but no one I interacted with had any problems. Considering how old and crowded the city of Athens is, I did not think it was a particularly dirty or nasty place as I had read from other reviews. (I am half Greek so I may be biased.) We walked through the ruins at the Acropolis and went into the museum after Doug and Gloria pointed it out to us. It is a building that is half underground and is behind the Acropolis to the right (as you come up from the main entrance). I thought it was a building for the worker’s so had ignored it until it was pointed out to me later as the museum. It was a good spot to get out of the sun for a while. I was able to get a fair number of photos of myself and the ruins without too many other people walking in front of the camera. I heard some people who thought the scaffolding that was up inside the Parthenon ruined the experience for them, but I didn’t feel that way. Europe is old and it’s full of old stuff that is in need of repair, so scaffolding is to be expected. My first trip to Italy was before the jubilee so it seemed everything was under scaffolding. Maybe I’m just used to it now. I still thought it was a great experience being in this place you see in photos and have read about. I think of the people who built these structures and how long ago that was and am just amazed that I am seeing and standing on the same rocks. An hour or so was enough time for us to see the sights, so we headed out and to the Plaka area. We were thirsty, so we grabbed some beverages from a souvenir stand and kept moving. While wandering the streets, we decided to see if we could make it to Syntagma Square to see the changing of the guards. We walked there and arrived just as they were starting. It was interesting to see. If you think you are hot in Athens in your shorts and t-shirt, just think of what it must be like to be one of the guards. We could see them in heavy tights and thigh length shorts underneath their heavy long jacket/skirt (kilt?) and they wore big rubber boots with giant pom poms on them. It’s quite an interesting outfit and I’m sure there is some story behind it. The Swiss guards at the Vatican and Rome wear outfits designed by Michelangelo, so you just never know what the history of a ‘silly’ outfit might be. If you go, don’t stand too close to the guards who are at attention. We saw a teenager go stand right next to one of the guards for a photo and he stamped his rifle on the ground to alert the commanding officer located in a nearby guard building. The commanding officer motioned for the girl to move away a bit and give the guard some room. I thought it was very disrespectful, especially after more of the family later huddled around the guy for more pictures. The guards have enough to worry about, standing stock still in the heat of the day for up to an hour at a time.

 

After the changing of the guards, we headed back to the Plaka area to eat lunch. We found a block that had a number of outdoor, shaded restaurant seats. Although it looks like you are a different restaurants, the waiters seem to serve half the block and they all get the food from the exact place restaurant down the road a bit. The menu was pretty limited, so we all opted for the inexpensive sausage pita. We all had a beverage and a sausage and tomato type pita sandwich (or two) and a plate of fries. The whole bill for six of us (w/ 2 beers, a soda, and 3 mineral waters) was only 16 Euro. The food was good and we really enjoyed our refreshing break. On our way back to the Metro station, we walked passed the building where they actually prepare all the food for the outdoor cafés on the block. It was like a food assembly line with each pita or gyro passed down the line to receive the ingredients it needed. It was quite a site. At the end of the block there was a restaurant that had a window serving gyros made to order. We watched the chef carve off slices of meet from the upright rotating spit and make the sandwiches. It smelled so good that two of the guys partook in a gyro. I wanted one but I was just too full from the sandwich and fries I had just eaten. We wandered around the shops a little more in the bazaar/flea market area then decided it was time to call it a day. I was disappointed that I didn’t buy some inexpensive paintings I saw first thing this morning on the way to the Acropolis. I figured I would see them everywhere and didn’t want to carry one with me all day. It turns out, I couldn’t find the same thing again at all and I was too tired to return to the original place. I must remember to always buy the inexpensive things that I want when I see them or risk not getting it at all. We all met up at the Monastiraki Station again, purchased our .60 Euro tickets, stamped them and headed back on the next train that was very warm and crowded. Be prepared to stand the entire trip. After arriving at the Pireaus station, Kevin and I decided to try to locate the Internet Café we had seen advertised on the sign outside the station as I figured it would be much cheaper than the ship. We hiked a few blocks in two directions but couldn’t locate it. I finally gave up we headed back. On the way, I stopped at McDonald’s for a chocolate shake as it was hot and I just couldn’t wait for the 3:00 free ice cream on the ship. I also stopped and purchased a t-shirt and some Greek worry beads for my dad and myself at a small shop that had a very friendly proprietor. I figured my dad might have some worries after hearing about my trip adventures so the beads would be a good gift for him.

 

We were back on board by 3:30 (well before the 5:15 p.m. final boarding time I might add) and I took some photos of the port and the view of the city from the ship before we sailed away at 5:45. At dinner tonight (6:30) we were welcomed back by our tablemates who had missed us the last two nights and we found out that another couple had joined us. Phil and Mary were also a retired couple from the UK. They had dined alone most nights and had moved to the two empty seats at our table the night we missed the ship in Naples. They were a nice addition to the table and Kevin and I entertained everyone by telling them the story of our misadventure in Naples. After dinner I picked up the cartouche I ordered (I thought a fairly inexpensive piece of jewelry would be a fun and useful souvenir) on the way to the nightly entertainment. The evening show is listed as ‘Party Night’ being led by the cruise staff. I have absolutely no memory of what that might have been, so I’m guessing it wasn’t that great. I think we should have gone to see the movie “About Schmidt” instead. As we still weren’t rested up from our trip deviation, we went to bed early.

 

BUDGET in Athens

Metro train to Athens & back $2

(15 min walk from pier to train station)

Entrance to Parthenon combo tix $12

Plaka (eat/souvenir shop) $40

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES in Athens

Metro Piraeus to Acropolis and return 1.2 Euro (cheapest travel of the trip)

Acropolis entry (+ misc. museum tickets) 12 Euro

Sit down, al fresco lunch at the Plaka 4 Euro (best meal deal of the trip)

Souvenirs 15 Euro

McDonald’s shake 1.60 Euro

 

 

[jody]

Part 9

 

Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus)…..Thursday, June 5, 2003………Sunny and 90

Breakfast was a quick bite in the Horizon Court. I’m used to being on a tight schedule at home, so poor Kevin has resorted to eating by himself earlier in the morning so he can have a leisurely breakfast instead of the 5 minute cereal, juice, and a donut slam dunk I do. The intrepid family of CCer EmilyUK has decided to keep their date with the now infamous Group of Six on a private tour of Ephesus, the House of Mary, and St. John’sChurch. A.Emgee graciously booked this trip for the 10 of us and got a great price of $40 pp for the day. Sezgin Demirci from Sardunya Travel is our guide for the day and he had assigned his partner to take Koele’s family out on tour too. Our group appears the first to leave the ship at 7:00 a.m. We see some Princess tour personnel disembark after us. Our guide is waiting for us with a sign and we are ready to go. I must say that the Kusadasi port area is very clean, nice and welcoming. You can tell they are happy to see the cruise ships returning finally. Our group of 10 is in a large air conditioned van that can probably hold 12 or more plus Sezgin and his driver. I though Sezgin did a great job of giving us information about Turkey and he is very knowledgeable. Sezgin points out several coastal resorts and two water parks along the way to our sites. He said that the Kusadasi area has approximately 35,000 people in the winter and that grows to 350,000 people in the summer with all the tourists (both Turkish and European). It is very hot there in the summer but the water activities draw the vacationers who want to cool down. We are the first to arrive at the House of Mary and it made for a fantastic experience. It was almost chilly up there in the shade of the trees and hillside in the early morning. I am still not convinced that the tiny church with a small side room we saw is really where the Virgin Mary spent her last years, but the Bible does place Mary in the area of Ephesus, so you may believe what you may. It is still an interesting reconstructed old church and being there alone in the early morning was definitely a spiritual experience that I enjoyed. It was interesting to find out that the Koran supposedly mentions the Virgin Mary more times than does the Bible; interesting trivia. The Princess tours started arriving so we headed on to Ephesus. We were dropped off at the top end and the van picked us up at the bottom at the other end. The ancient city of Ephesus is very interesting and there are a lot of ruins to see. The Greco Roman influence is very evident. The ‘Library’ (really just a stone façade) is the highlight. I asked how they knew it was a library after all these years and our guide said that the writing on the stones in the walls and pillars said it was so, interesting. By this time some Princess tours had caught up to us so the place was getting a little crowded. It was bright and sunny here too, so we were plenty warm. You will be able to purchase the softcover Ephesus book anywhere you go for various prices. I bought it in the ruins at a small stand and paid $3 with no haggling, the cheapest I could find the book. Don’t pay $5 for the book from the first guy who offers it to you. Our last stop of the morning was the church or Basilica of St. John. It is a bunch of ruins with crosses and words carved into many of the pillars. Supposedly St. John the Baptist is buried there, but again, I personally think it is more symbolic. If you travel around Europe, you find out that every significant church has the remains or relics (body parts) of a famous saint and there are enough relics for each saint to have 3 arms and 12 fingers. Again, Ephesus was a significant place in the Bible and important things did happen in this area 2000 years ago. It would be interesting to take a Biblical tour of this area to see all there is to know about the area. Our guide returned us to the pier by 11:30. He noted that he does not provide shopping stops on his tour as that is not his focus, but he hoped we would peruse the shops at the bazaar if we wished as that is how the locals made their money by selling their goods. The salesmen and women were very aggressive in calling you into their shops but they did not pursue you if you said no and kept on moving. I bought a few items and wandered back to the ship on my own after looking at my watch and realizing it was 12:00 and the gangway was going to close in half an hour. I still don’t feel like taking any chances. I must say that I felt very safe in Kusadasi, even walking around on my own.

 

Kevin and I decided to try the dining room for lunch for the first time during our trip. We were quickly seated at 12:15 and ended up at a table with the people whose balcony was below us and one over. Kevin had met the wife in the laundry room earlier and had told her our adventure story while doing laundry. She and her husband were originally from Minnesota but had retired in North Carolina. They would always say ‘Hey Minnesota’ when they saw us. An apparently single guy from the UK possibly traveling alone also ate with us and provided the table with lively conversation. Lunch in the dining room is nice but can be time consuming. Sail away was at 1:00 and we didn’t finish up eating lunch until 1:30. At 2:00 we decided to try our hand at trivia. Doug and Gloria joined us (I guess we’ve bonded through our adventures this week) and we answered a very poor 11 of 20. The winning teams had 19 or 20 correct. No Jeopardy future for us! Luckily it was ‘pen day’ so we didn’t miss out on any great prize. I should note that Doug and Gloria did go on to win metal travel coffee mugs later in the week by placing well in the jigsaw puzzle contest. I spent the rest of the afternoon napping in my cabin while Kevin went to the pool to work on his sunburn. Dinner was at 6:30 as always and we had our full complement of dining partners again this evening. I haven’t mentioned much about the food as I didn’t take time to take notes on the menu or the theme for each evening. This being my third Princess cruise, I seem to recall seeing the same menu items on each of my trips: turkey dinner, lobster tail, Beef Wellington, etc. I enjoy the food on Princess and I can always find something I enjoy. I think they do an especially good job in the area of soups, whether you prefer hot or cold, there is always an interesting soup choice or two each evening. Kevin had the shrimp cocktail appetizer and the cheesecake dessert almost every night. You can always find something to like on the menu, in my experience. After dinner, we decided to see Homer Noodleman, a comedian, in the Vista Lounge. He was fairly funny so we stayed. After the show, we were nearing the Darnel (sp) Straits so I went out on deck to see the Turkish WWI Memorial that is lit up so it can been seen in the dark. The British Memorial is nearby too, but cannot be seen in the dark. It’s very cool outside and very windy. I positioned myself on the upper deck overlooking the children’s area, in the area where the web cam points, just in case any of my family or friends might be checking out the camera on the Internet at that very moment. I had sent the link out to several people. When I returned they all said that it was a pretty boring site. I guess it helps to know when the action is happening (like watching the ship sail out of Venice). I thought about soaking in the hot tub (it is day 8 of my cruise and I haven’t yet stepped into a hot tub or pool on the ship!), but decided I was too tired, so I headed back to my room and went to bed around 11:30.

 

NOTE: In Turkey, they seem to believe that $1 = 1 Euro = 1 British pound. Because of this, you are best of paying for things in US Dollars. Your change will be in Turkish Lira (which is something like $1 = 1.4 million TL), so be sure you have plenty of small bills ($1s, $5s and $10s) to spend. The best inexpensive gift I found were Turkish bookmarks that looked like little Turkish carpets. They were cheap, light and pack well. The going rate for the bookmarks was 2 for $1 in Kusadasi. I found the shops there more willing to bargain than in Istanbul, so that is where I would plan to shop if I returned.

 

 

BUDGET for Ephesus

Ship tour (Ephesus, St. Mary’s) $56

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

Private guide $45 w/ tip (included entrance fees)

Souvenirs $15

 

 

[jody]

Part 10

 

Istanbul, Turkey ….…..Friday, June 6, 2003………Sunny and 90

 

I ate breakfast in the Horizon Court while we were sailing into Istanbul. The port side was the better side for seeing the interesting things and as we sailed to the pier, we could see the Topaki Palace and the Blue Mosque as we went by. Istanbul is unique, as it is a city that straddles two continents: Europe and Asia. The city has also gone by several names throughout history: Byzantium, then Constantinople, and now Istanbul. Turkish Landing Cards, which are required to be carried with us today in Istanbul and dropped in a box upon our final return to the ship, were delivered to our cabin this morning.

 

I had decided to book a Princess tour (Imperial Istanbul) in Turkey, just for the ease of it and the fact that the cruise tour was only a few dollars more than a private guide would be ($67 Princess versus $55 private guide with tip). I had heard it was easy to get around Istanbul, but I didn’t do a lot of advance research on Turkey and I knew the Princess guide would give us a lot of history and background facts that I would not know if I did the day on my own. The ship finished its docking procedures and we were released to go ashore. Our tour was scheduled for 8:35 and we headed out to meet the Princess buses right after they readied the ship for disembarkation, around 8:00 a.m.. I wanted to be on the first bus, so we could try to stay at the forefront the massive Princess tour crowds, but we ended up on the second bus of our tour. Our guide was a late 20 or early 30 something Turkish man named Borak. He was easy to understand and provided us with a lot of insight into the places we were touring. Our bus dropped us off at our first stop and picked us up at the end of our tour. Our first stop was the ‘Hippodrome.’ I was very disappointed to find out that there really is no Hippodrome to see. All they show you is an Egyptian obelisk and a metal sculpture of 3 twisted snakes that are on a grassy and cement plaza/park area. They tell you that at one time, the track of the Hippodrome ran around these two items, but there is no hint of the immense building that they are talking about. I think it is a little silly for them to advertise the Hippodrome and make is sound like it is a destination to see, when there is no such building. It would be like taking someone to see your childhood home even though it was replaced long ago by a used car lot. Luckily, the rest of the tour included stops where the building they advertised actually existed.

 

Next up was the Blue Mosque. The guide told us interesting stories about the number of minarets the building has and the construction process. To go inside, you must remove your shoes (they have plastic bags there for you to use to carry your shoes through with you and have your knees and shoulders covered (men and women). They had strips of bright blue cloth for those who needed to cover some body parts. I think the zip off pants and a good idea for men in these situations. Once you are done with the churches, you can zip off the legs, turning the pants into shorts. For women, I found Capri pants and skirts good to keep me cool and comfortable. Since it was warm in our ports, I wore tank tops or sleeveless shirts then carried a lightweight sweater with me to put on before entering churches. The Blue Mosque (so named for its many blue tile decorations inside) was very beautiful and artistic in the tiles and the glass windows. The mosque is still in use (although our guide told us that only about 25% or less of the mostly Muslim population in Turkey actually practice their religion on a regular basis) and is closed to tours on Friday midday for prayers. After exiting the Blue Mosque, we put our shoes back on and headed for the Hagia Sophia across the way. There is a man sitting at the exit of the mosque who accepts donations for the upkeep of the building. If you feel inclined to give something, be sure the man gives you a receipt. Our guide said that is how they track that the money given is actually used for the mosque and not pocketed. Of course, you are under no obligation to give anything. It was a short walk across a plaza and the street to the Hagia Sophia. There is a nice spot on the plaza for taking photos of each of the buildings and there are some small kiosks for shopping. The Hagia Sophia was built originally as a church and was used as such for 916 years. The next 481 years it was used as a mosque and in 1935 it was turned into a museum. You can see both the Christian and Muslim influence in the interior. According to our guide, the Muslims are not all allowed to have images of human faces in their worship buildings. Luckily, they only covered up the beautiful Christian are that was on the church’s walls and it was restored after the building became a museum. The building has four large circles containing Muslim prayers hanging inside in each corner of the building. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of East and West in one previously holy place. The other interesting things to see in the building were two ancient giant (4 feet tall) stone wine urns that reside at the back of the church, one on each side.

 

Our next stop was the Topaki Palace. It was about a 2 block walk and we passed a street with several tourist shops and kiosks but we really did not have time to stop and purchase anything as the group was on a tight schedule. At the Palace, our guide gave us time to use the restrooms. If I recall correctly, there were toilet seats but no toilet paper (so make sure you have Kleenex in your pockets ladies). In Europe the bathrooms are always a challenge. You may find a toilet seat or you may find a trough type toilet that you are supposed to squat over. If you are lucky you will find toilet paper, but often as not, you must provide your own. I always carry a small pouch of Kleenex with me for this purpose. Once you complete your business, it’s can be a challenge figuring out how to flush the toilet. You may have to push, pull or wiggle any type of handle you can find within arm’s (or leg’s ) reach. At the Topaki Palace, we saw a large number of school children who were on end of the school year field trips. They all said ‘hallo!’ and the older ones would ask where we were from. They all seemed to want to practice their English. Our guide took us through the three courtyards of the Palace then described the sites we could see on our own. We were given about an hour to wander and had a designated meeting point. We decided to see the famous Topaki jewels (including the diamond) then I wandered through the kitchen area, which was just a large room with glass display cases of very large bowls. Kevin looked at the armory. Afterwards we walked out on a terrace that overlooked the Bosphorus . At this point, we ran into pfibilly and his wife (Bill and Debbie) who were on a private tour that was arranged through Serzgin the day before. Their guide ended up being a very knowledgeable guy who actually now trains other tour guides. It sounded as if they really enjoyed the guide and the cost for the guide for just the two of them was still less per person than what Kevin and I paid each on our Princess tour. The four of us decided to meet up later at the Grand Bazaar and take a cab together back to the ship as their guide had written down the name of the port for them. I was tired so I went back to the meeting place early to relax and people watch. While waiting, a number of teenage school children came up to me and others in our group and asked if we could talk with them so they could practice their English. Apparently, their school assignment was to talk to tourists, find out about them and practice their English. They were very polite and one group of dark haired girls asked if they could take a picture with (blonde haired) me. I had one of them take a picture on my camera too. They asked for our addresses, so several of us did write them down. We shall see if they do write someday. Our tour guide rounded us up around 12:30 p.m. and we boarded our bus to return to the ship. Many of the roads are small, hilly and windy. On one corner, our bus driver had to inch forward and back to try to make a right hand turn that turned out to be quite a squeeze with traffic. After several minutes of being guided by our guide and the drivers of other cars, we made it though.

 

A handful of us wanted to get off at the Grand Bazaar, so the guide had the bus driver stop a block away near a Princess recommended ship (Lapis) shortly before 1:00 p.m.. Our guide said we could ask for help in that store if we needed a cab to be called or had a problem. We walked a block to the bazaar’s main gate. It was actually quite impressive and after a short walk, we ended up inside the main ‘street’ of the bazaar where all the jewelry shops are located. We walked through to the back end of the bazaar trying to locate the tower that pfibilly’s guide said would be a good place to meet. We wandered around a bit near the shops on the outdoor street behind the bazaar, but decided it was futile. I got a little worried because the likelihood of us finding Bill and Debbie in the maze of 3,500 plus shops in the bazaar was slim to none and we did not have the name of the pier where the ship was docked to tell a cabbie. We wandered back inside and ran into A.Emgee and his wife (Doug and Gloria) on their private tour with a local guide. Their guide gave them a brief run through the bazaar then they headed to the spice market where they picked up some good buys. They said they enjoyed that. Kevin and I kept wandering down the main jewelry ‘street’ and actually did find Bill and Debbie near the main entrance. I really hadn’t expected to find them in the maze of shops but was very happy we did. I stopped to buy a few bookmarks (the shops outside on the back street weren’t interested in jockeying for price-they wanted 75 US cents for bookmarks that were 50 cents in Kusadasi) and Bill and Debbie wandered up the lane for a minute and somehow we lost them. At least we knew they were somewhere in the area. Eventually we found them just around the corner in a little shop. We stuck together closely after that. While wandering, we ran into EmilyUK and her family and stopped to say hello. Her brother Tom told us (jokingly) that he heard there were several flights from Istanbul to Venice, so we were OK if we missed the ship today. I told him that wasn’t an option and beside, who ever heard on anyone missing the ship TWICE in one trip?!?! (Believe me, I didn’t want to be the first.) Debbie found some great pottery to bring back for gifts and Bill moved in to barter with the guy. He kept switching from Euros to dollars and ended up getting a great deal. It was fun to watch him in action.

 

We were tired and hungry, so decided to find a taxi and head back at 3:00 p.m.. Our Princess tour guide said the main street a block up from the Grand Bazaar entrance (near Lapis, the Princess recommended shop) would be a good place to find a cab. We walked there and saw several full cabs drive by and a few empty ones that wouldn’t stop. After several minutes, a local walked up and said he would help us flag down a cab. He waved at a cab disembarking passengers across the street and acted as if they driver was going around the block to come get us. Some of our group thought the guy worked with the cabdrivers to get passengers, but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t true. The cab that went around the block never returned. By this time, I realized the guy was expecting us to tip him for finding us a cab, so we all just pooled the Euro change we had in our pockets to give to him (under 1 Euro total). Eventually some people disembarked right in front of us and we jumped in. We gave the guy on the street our change (even though he really didn’t get this cab for us) and he became irate and demanded dollars from us. He said that change was useless to them and wasn’t accepted anywhere. We insisted that was all and our driver drove off. It was apparent that the driver did not know the guy and didn’t care if he got a tip or not from us. Be careful of locals wanting to ‘help’ you. They may not give you much help and they will expect to be paid well for their ‘services.’ We did have to wait 15 or so minutes in the hot sun for our cab, so we would have gladly paid if someone really had a cab they could have called for us, but this guy expected payment for doing what we were already doing: standing on a street corner trying to wave a cab down. The driver looked at the name of the pier we had written on the paper and determined that he hadn’t been there before. He said the big ships dock at different piers on different days, so he was a little confused about ours. When we said we were looking for the ‘BIG’ ship, he smiled and knew what we were looking for. We saw a lot of fisherman on the bridge over the Bosphorus and he noted ‘no fish.’ Apparently, fishing off the bridge is a lost cause (just in case that was in your plans for the day). Even though he didn’t speak a lot of English, he did his best and he was very entertaining on our short ride. None of us were sure exactly where our pier was, so we headed to the dock area and followed the curve of the pier until we saw buildings that looked familiar. Eventually we saw the terminal building and our driver drove us right up to the front door, even though other cabs were dropping people off at a distance. The guide had told us to not pay more than $5 for a ride and that is what our driver accepted. We tipped him well then headed through the metal detector before boarding the ship. The day before when we first caught up with the Golden in Athens, Kevin had trouble with the metal detector machine. He had to go through three times and nearly undress (neck pouch, belt, sunglasses, change, etc.) before he made it through without setting off the alarm. We had no trouble today with the metal detector.

 

Back on the ship and hungry, we decided to have pizza at Prego, the outdoor pizza counter, for a late lunch today as it was quick, easy and tasty. We dropped off my backpack on the way and I grabbed a glass of ice tea from the Horizon Court. Bill and Debbie had the same idea so we all ate together outside in the shade of the canopy near Prego and looked out at the great view of Istanbul. After my pizza, I went back to the Horizon Court for the free ice cream that was served from 3:00-4:00 daily at a table in the main hallway of the Horizon Court. They have vanilla and chocolate ice cream, chocolate and strawberry syrup, and sprinkles if you choose. Princess employees scoop up the ice cream into a little cup for you and pour on the syrup of your choice. You are allowed to put your own sprinkles on. Although it can be a slow process, I’m sure it reduces the amount of germs that are spread around, especially since there are always quite a few children in the line. The only problem is that the ice cream cups they use are too tiny and it makes for a messy situation that several people commented on. No one necessarily felt the need for more ice cream, it is just that a larger cup would just ensure that the ice cream, syrup and sprinkles stayed in the cup instead of dripping down your hands and arms. I did partake of the free ice cream on several occasions, so I did not let the messy situation deter me from obtaining my daily ice cream quota! After eating, I took a nap for about 1 ½ hours. I’m a night owl and the only way to keep functioning with our semi-early mornings, was to try to sneak naps in during the afternoon when possible.

 

As always, dinner was a nice affair with good service and good food with plenty of choices. After dinner, I headed to the Library to access the Internet for a short while. I sent a few emails and posted on the Cruise Critic site. After nearly an hour, I snuck up to the Princess Theater to see the last half of Kamika’s show. This one was totally different than the one they presented earlier in the week. I thought they were entertaining and I ended up buying their CD which they both signed for me. I was wondering around the ship wearing my new cartouche when the Deputy Assistant Cruise Director Frankie stopped me to admire my necklace. We chatted a bit and I asked him who would be replacing Graham as CD. (He told me, but I promptly forgot the unfamiliar name- something that started with an ‘L’?) The topic of Cruise Critic came up and he noted he wasn’t really Internet savvy, but he would be more than glad to attend any CC parties if people informed him when they got on the ship. You can either leave him a note at the purser’s desk or ask them to have him pages. He said he would attend if his schedule allowed and he’d be willing to answer any questions the group had. I thought that was good to know. Frankie is a very outgoing and friendly guy (as are all the CD staff I’m sure).

 

I had been on the ship for nine days now and had yet to try out a pool or hot tub, so I got my suit on and headed to the hot tubs next to the covered pool. I joined a couple and chatted with them briefly. They’d been in the water for an hour, so they left soon after I arrived. (Could it have been something I said? No, they did look like prunes.) I just relaxed in the warm and bubbling water. I must say that the water was a little cool for a hot tub. Apparently the water in the other hot tub across the way was really hot. It was pretty full so I decided to stay where I was. After a while Cruise Critic couple Ibrasu (Ibrahim and Susan) walked by and asked about my ‘missing the ship’ adventure. I entertained them with some of the details before they went on their way. At 11:30, I headed back up to my room and decided it was the perfect time to throw in a load of laundry. I was able to get my load of wash in, but had to wait for a dryer. I started folding clothes that had been left in a dryer and two guys from the large suite at the back of the ship (several doors down from me) came in and asked me if those were my clothes. I said no but said I was folding them so I could use the dryer. They said they were their clothes but I could keep folding. I laughed then let them do the rest. I retrieved my clothes from the dryer once they were done and went to bed.

 

 

 

 

BUDGET for Istanbul

Ship Tour $67

 

ACTUAL EXPENSE for Istanbul

Princess Tour $67

Taxi from Grand Bazaar to ship (1/2 of cost for 4) $ 3

Souvenirs $ 6

 

 

[jody]

Part 11

 

At Sea………….Saturday, June 7, 2003………..Sunny and 80’s

This ended up being our first full day at sea, due to our missing the ship deviation in Naples earlier in the week and I was ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the Golden Princess. I decided to try the breakfast in the dining room today for the first time this cruise. Kevin enjoyed the variety and quickness of the Horizon Court, so I went alone and was seated with a very friendly British couple. I told them a little about our missing the ship adventure and I noticed the people at the table next to us looking over and eavesdropping several times. I guess our little group of castaways is now infamous on board. After eating, I caught up with Kevin and we headed to the Future Cruise Sales desk to have Velma book our next cruises for us. I knew it would be much busier the next day, so we went today to avoid. This was Kevin’s first cruise and he decided that booking a second was a no risk situation, especially since we found out you now have FOUR years to cancel and get a refund on your deposit if you wish. We each did our own open booking. I did debate booking a second one for myself but decided I could live with one. After that, I stopped by the Captain’s Circle desk to check on getting my invitation to the Captain’s Circle party. Jennifer gave me two pins and two invitations and noted that a large number of members had reported not receiving their invitation. She assumed Kevin was also a member, so he was able to join me that night even though this was his first cruise. Others have stated that the first time cruisers in you cabin get invites too if you are a member, but I’m not sure that is the case, especially if you are not a married couple or family. When I had traveled previously on my first Carnival cruise, my boyfriend at the time received an invitation to the repeaters party and I did not. He was able to sneak me in anyway, but if you end up in this situation, just ask at the Captain’s Circle desk and I think they’ll gladly give you an invite. This morning they were also holding a huge sale on T-shirts and souvenirs in the Donatello dining room for two hours, I believe. There were great deals on t-shirts (3 for $10) with Europe and Caribbean ports of call on them. It became a little bit of madhouse though with people pawing through the shirts and tossing the wrong sizes aside like spoiled children throwing a tantrum even though the staff was working really hard to lay the shirts out in piles by sizes and design. We ended up buying over $35 dollars worth of ‘stuff’ somehow.

 

After all that, we were hungry and it was time for lunch. Oh what a rough life we live on a ship! We dropped off our purchases and ate in the Horizon Court. After lunch I headed down to the Vista Lounge to a Meet the Captain show hosted by Graham at 1:00 p.m. while Kevin headed out on deck to work on his sunburn. Graham interviewed Captain Warner and allowed us to ask questions after. The Captain noted the question most asked of him was who drove the ship when he was busy with events such as ours. He told us his standards reply: I don’t know. We all chuckled at that. The Captain seemed like a cordial guy and we found out his children had been with us during the first few days of our trip. Afterwards, there was time to take photos with the captain using your own camera. Graham served as the cameraman and I took advantage of the opportunity.

 

Later in the afternoon, we sailed by some of the Greek islands and our group of six former ‘Castaways’ met in Doug & Gloria’s room so we could see what a mini suite looked like. The balconies on the Dolphin deck are fully exposed and they get sun on their balcony for most of the day. Having a full bathtub is also a nice feature of the mini suites. There room was towards the front so they could easily see the bridge from their balcony. After that I spent some time on my balcony reading the book I had checked out of the library in the first days of the cruise. I like to read and ended up finishing two books during the trip.

 

Tonight was the second formal night and the Captain’s Circle Cocktail parties so we got ready for that. The cocktail party was before our early dinner seating and we ended up sitting next to Doug and Gloria. It was the usual setup with waiters circulating with drinks and appetizers and the announcements of new ships and the people with the largest amount of cruises under their belts which is always something like 300+ days of sailing. Don’t those people have to work ever? I went up afterwards and had a professional photo taken with the Captain and we headed to dinner. At this point I should mention that our head waiter had been doing some ‘table side’ food preparation all through the cruise. Sometimes he would make a special pasta and sometimes it would be dessert. I enjoy that and it was always a tasty selection. It was a busy night after dinner today. First I headed to the Words & Music show featuring the Princess singers and dancers. I believe this was the show that had selections from a number of different Broadway shows. I must have been too young as I hadn’t even heard of many of the shows or the songs. I do enjoy the theater and I do play Broadway selections in my community band, so I was a little surprised that more weren’t familiar. My tablemates who are all retired thought most of the songs were familiar to them, so maybe I just haven’t had as much exposure to culture as I thought I had. After the show Kevin joined me for the Newlyweds and Not So Newlyweds Game in the Explorer’s Lounge. Three couples were selected (the longest married couple selected was sitting at the table next to us) and Graham made sure the show was totally hilarious. This show is always good for a laugh and I highly recommend it. Afterwards, I continued heading to the back of the ship and went to see the first half of the Virtuoso Flautist (or Flutist if you prefer) show starring Gary Arbuthnot. As I mentioned, I do play in a community band that has done international performances. I was very impressed by this flautist. I’ve never head anyone so good and talented on the flute. He played a number of popular songs (The Pink Panther) and some classics (Danny Boy) to entertain people of all ages. I ran into Brian and Olive from my table at the show and we sat in the back near the door so we could sneak out to catch the Champagne Waterfall. We arrived shortly before it was to begin and found it difficult to find a good viewing spot. I headed to the floor of the atrium and used the flip out screen on my camera to take some good shots over the crowd. On this trip, they did not hand out streamers as they had in my previous Princess cruises. There were some balloons floating around and that was it. Those who were interested could line up to have their photo taken while pouring champagne into the waterfall while waiters circulated with trays of champagne. I must say that the waiters didn’t seem quite into the event as they had in my past cruises. I saw one waiter trying to hand off his tray of drinks to another who shrugged him off and sauntered away. The cruise director staff tried to lead some dancing on the floor of the atrium but the wait staff didn’t get into it like they have in the past although many of the passengers were having what appeared to be a very good time.

After all that, it decided it was time to get to bed and get some rest.

 

 

[jody]

Part 12

 

At Sea………….Sunday, June 8, 2003…………Sunny and 80’s

I decided to try breakfast on my balcony this morning at the last minute. Since we were so close to the Horizon Court, I headed up there and grabbed a plate of food and brought it back with me to the cabin. It was nice sitting outside and enjoying the views of the Med. I attend church regularly at home and appreciate the fact that Princess offers a non-denominational service on Sunday. This one was conducted by Captain Warner and he was assisted by Barrington ‘Barty’ Brown, the piano bar entertainer. It was a simple, short and nice service held in the Vista Lounge and we saw our tablemates Ada and Alfred their too. A culinary demonstration was held in the lounge after church at 10:30 followed by a galley tour. I’d seen the galley before so I snuck out at 11:00 to attend a Bob Arno show while Kevin took the tour. Bob Arno presented the ‘Serious Side of Stealing’ and told us how to prevent becoming victims of pickpockets. Bob has been on 20/20 and other major TV shows and is a very knowledgeable and interesting guy. Bob’s shows ended up being the most useful and most funny shows during the whole trip in my opinion and I definitely recommend you see him if you have the opportunity. After the shows it was time for lunch again. Am I the only one who seems to be eating non-stop when I go on a cruise?!?!

 

Yesterday, we decided it would be fun to round up the Cruise Critic folks one last time so we could compare notes, trade home addresses and say our goodbyes on our last sea day. I had forgotten to get everyone’s room number at our first meeting, so I had to call the purser’s desk to try to locate some of our group. The purser’s desk doesn’t give you a person’s room number, but they do transfer your call to that room so you can leave a message. To do this, you must have everyone’s last name, so be sure to gather that info at the first meeting. On a long cruise, it’s probably a good idea to set up a second or third meeting time near the end of the trip to allow everyone to meet one last time. Do this at your first meeting. We met at the back of the ship again at the Tradewinds Bar at 3:00 and talked about our trip experiences and the upcoming cruises we had booked. I’m really going to miss everyone from our group. I think you are able to bond a little more on a longer cruise so the friendships can grow a little stronger.

 

I spent an hour or so in the late afternoon writing up notes to leave for rnjoel and Rebntn, Cruise Critic folks who would be embarking the day I left the Golden. I had promised them I would leave some notes and tips I had picked up during my trip. Hopefully they found the information useful. To deliver the notes, I made up and envelope for each of them with their names and cabin numbers and took them to the purser’s desk the last night on board. The guy at the desk didn’t seem too thrilled to accept the envelopes but I found out later that rnjoel had received what I sent to them, so it did work out.

 

Dinner was a little sad because we knew it was our second to last night on the ship. The show after dinner in the Princess Theater featured Bob Arno, The World’s Only Legal Pickpocket’ followed by our Cruise Director Graham Seymour performing vocal selections. Bob’s part of the show was absolutely hilarious. In front of our eyes, he was able to remove a man’s tie from his neck without him knowing it (after also taking the guy’s watch and belt). He is amazing. Graham was up after Bob. I hate to say it but I thought Graham was a very mediocre singer. Unfortunately, I had purchased his CD in the gift shop the previous night (for $16!). Had I heard him sing first, I would not have spent the money. Apparently others did not think much of his performance as a large number of people got up and walked out during his performance. I wanted to leave too, but I felt so bad for him, thinking of how awful he must feel to see the crowd shrink by more than half during his part of the show, that I stayed until the end. I think Graham’s talent lies in his comedy and I hope he doesn’t quit his day job to pursue a singing career, as much as it pains me to say that. I must say that I was a huge Graham Seymour fan prior to this cruise. He was the CD on my very first cruise on Carnival and I thought he, and the cruise, were fabulous. I assumed he would only be better being on Princess but I was wrong. I can only assume that he was not up to par during our cruise. Maybe he was tired or maybe he had short-timers disease as he only had one more cruise after ours before he took a 3+ month long break from Princess. I tried to watch Graham’s raved about morning show, but could not find it most mornings. Apparently the show only ran 10 minutes or so some days and it would be run once an hour in the mornings instead of being repeated continuously. The days I could find his show on the TV, it was very boring. He’d read the Patter, sip the drink of the day and make a face and say how awful the drink was and that was it. I only heard him give out a trivia question on 2 of our 12 mornings on the ship. (Of course, we did also miss 2 mornings due to our deviation in Naples.) One morning’s show consisted of a tour of the ship that was obviously filmed in the Caribbean as they were talking about the Caribbean ports. The last time I was on the Golden, Frankie and Janet had a goofy and entertaining morning show every day that lasted 20 minutes or so. But I digress. After the show, Graham did stay to sign copies of his CDs for those who bought it. My copy was in my cabin and I didn’t feel like running to go get it, so I skipped it. After the show I headed to bed to get some sleep as I knew we’d have an early morning sailing into Venice.

 

 

[jody]

Part 13

 

Venice, Italy…….Monday, June 9, 2003……..Sunny and 86 degrees.

Even though I am not a morning person, I was committed to getting up at whatever time necessary to see our entrance into Venice. Although it was advertised at 4:00 a.m. on the website, the Patter gave our arrival time at a much more respectable 6:00 a.m. I set my alarm and woke up at 5:30 to ensure I didn’t miss a thing. There was a light fog or haze this morning, so it gave everything a surreal look. Since Venice would be on our starboard side, I decided to watch our approach from my balcony. It was fun to look out and see all the heads popping up from their own balconies up and down the ship. Beginning at 6:30 Netta Martin (the onboard port expert) provided us a running commentary of the buildings we were passing upon our approach to our pier. We passed by the Lido (on the Port side) then headed towards the Grand Canal. After Netta’s commentary was over, classical music was played over the intercom system. I must say that the announcements are never broadcasted in the cabins, only in the halls and on the public decks. They are also available on the TV, if you would like to hear them in your room. One thing I noticed on the sail into Venice was that fact that there were several campaniles along that looked like replicas of the one in San Marco plaza. We passed by San Marco plaza briefly, then took the channel off to the left, while the Grand Canal was the smaller channel off to the right. While we were docking, I could see a number of foreign-based ships and one ferry following us up the channel and then docking near us. During this time, I also ran upstairs and grabbed a plate of breakfast food from the Horizon Court for one last leisurely breakfast on my balcony. Of my three cruises, I have only used room service one time although I know others on my ship used it extensively for breakfasts. One thing I would remind people is that your daily automatic tip charge does not cover the folks delivering room service, so it is common courtesy to tip these people when they bring your meal. I’m not sure that fact is widely known and I’m afraid some of the room service folks have been stiffed by people who think the daily tip charge covers this service. A few dollars is a small price to pay for the convenience of having breakfast ‘in bed’ or nearly close to it (especially when you are avoiding the hustle and bustle of the Horizon Court early in the morning).

 

We were cleared for disembarkation at around 8:00 a.m., and we got off the ship shortly after that and lined up on the pier for the Princess water shuttle to San Marco Plaza. We decided the $10 fee for this service was worth it for the convenience factor. The first shuttle filled up and took off and we ended up second in line for the next one which came after about 10 minutes. We boarded the shuttle saw the remainder of our Group of Castaways (from our Naples mis-adventure) in line behind us. They do pack the shuttles fairly full and those at the back of the line may end up standing, but it is only a short 15 minute or so ride. We quickly arrived just outside of San Marco plaza and we were ready to start our day exploring. The shuttle stop area was very non-descript, so I took a digital photo of it in case we somehow forgot where we needed to return. (Sillier things have happened.) It turns out the stop was just around the corner from the main entrance to San Marco Plaza and was easy to find on the return. We had an advantage because I’d been to Venice before, so we headed to the Doge’s Palace first to see if we could get tickets for the ‘Secret Itineraries’ tour in English. We got in line and were told we had to go to a different line for a reservation before we could return to the first line to pay for our tickets. Gee, I feel like I’m at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles or something with all the red tape. We headed to the reservation desk only to find out that the tours for today were all sold out. We happened to run into Doug & Gloria here and they were able to book the first tour the following morning. Since we were flying out at 7 a.m., that wasn’t an option for us. We returned to the first line to buy self guided tour tickets but Kevin decided that it might be better to skip it since it was a little pricey for the tour with audioguide. I was fine with that since I’d done the full tour before. I definitely recommend booking the Secret Itineraries tour IN ADVANCE if you want to truly experience the Doge’s Palace. I thought it was a very good tour and would recommend it.

 

Half the fun of Venice is wandering around and getting lost, so we decided to follow the signs to the Rialto Bridge. We actually found it quite easily and took photos of it ).Jbefore it became thick with tourists (those darn tourists are everywhere! The vendors were just beginning to open up their stores and set up their kiosks. We headed back to San Marco Plaza and decided to check out the church. Even though there was already a line, we decided to join it anyway. At this time of day (it was around 9:30 a.m.), there was plenty of shade so waiting in line wasn’t so bad. I personally like the sun and the heat (I sit outside at lunch in July when it’s 105 degrees when I’m in Phoenix on business), but many find the summer weather and sun in Venice to be taxing. While waiting to enter the church, we saw our tablemates Brian and Olive walk by, so we chatted with them. Looking around, I was amused to see scaffolding over the clock tower that is just to the left of St. Mark’s church. The scaffolding was there during my 1998 visit and I heard others say the scaffolding was there 10 years ago. The Italians truly have their own sense of time. The line moved quickly and we were inside after 20 minutes or so. The entrance to the church is free but there is a charge to see the altar in the front of the church and a separate charge (2 euro each) for the balcony or loggia to see the Bronze horses that were originally stolen from the Hippodrome in Istanbul. I didn’t remember the floor of the church being sunken in spots during my 1998 visit to Venice. Now there is a set path that visitors must stay on while walking through the church. We decided to pay the money to visit the Loggia and the horses, mainly for the view of the plaza. We also decided to plunk down one Euro in a tourist machine to hear the history of the horses. The recording diplomatically said that the horses were ‘transferred’ to Venice from Istanbul. It’s funny to note that the Turkish people used much stronger words to describe the change of ownership of the statues. The four horses you see outside the church are replicas and the originals are stored inside the church on the loggia so they can be protected from the environment and the tourists. After about a half hour, we’d seen enough of the church and determined that the Campanile should be our next stop. I had heard that it was free if you take the stairs, but when we arrived the signs noted that only the elevator service was being offered. The line wasn’t too long but as you must line up in the sun, I think some are deterred from waiting. It cost 6 Euro each for the elevator, but it was a state of the art elevator that was air-conditioned. Once at the top, you could stay as long as you liked. There was a much shorter line for the ride back down. The Campanile provided great views of the city and we could even see our beautiful ship in the distance. It was pretty hazy during our day in Venice, so visibility was limited to a certain extent. We ran into Doug & Gloria again at the top of the Campanile. They were enjoying the cool breeze up there and didn’t want to go back down into the heat. Being from Vancouver, British Columbia, they are used to much more moderate temperatures.

 

After our tour of the church and its campanile (the church’s bell tower), we decided to just wander back towards the Rialto Bridge to find the tasty sandwiches we had seen earlier in the day and to locate an ATM machine for me. I needed just a few more Euros to ensure I could make it through our last day and the subsequent trip home. We bought proscuitto sandwiches (my favorite) and ate them while wandering down the tiny inner streets of Venice, which remind me of the streets of Salzburg, Austria. One downside of Venice is that there are very few places to sit down during the day. You pay more for your food if you sit at a table and eat it. After eating, we headed to the shops near the Rialto Bridge so I could find some souvenirs. I ended up buying a lithograph of San Marco Plaza that I will go nicely with an antique photo of the square I already have hanging in my home. I also bought a gondolier hat to hang on my wall. I had a blue one already and thought a red one would be nice. I mistakenly thought they were one size fits all, but I when I tried the hat on at the airport the next day, I realized I had purchased a 10 gallon hat for my 6 gallon head – the hat is a little big! I now see there is a tag that says 60, which must be a sizing number. My blue hat was a 58 and that fit perfectly. Who would have guessed 2 centimeters (?) would make such a difference. Tip: If you want a fun and easy Halloween costume, buy a gondolier’s hat and a striped Venice t-shirt. Pair them with white or black pants and find a paddle or big stick and you are a Gondolier! It worked for me after my first trip to Italy. You could also enhance it with a gondola pin, necklace or earrings too (or maybe carry around a picture of you by a gondola). I like my souvenirs to be practical AND fun. After I made my purchases, I decided to indulge in one last gelato. (I won’t even try to count the number of times I had ice cream on this trip. Sometimes I had it twice in one day!) After that we decided to head back to the ship as we were tired and did need to think about working on our packing. I had already purchased my lithograph of Venice but did see some beautiful pastel paintings being sold by a female street vendor that I would have purchased had I not already bought something. I saw the same vendor’s stand later that evening being manned by a man near the Bridge of Sighs. I’m not really sure who really paints those pictures, but be aware that they move the stands around the city during the day and night and the person selling the pictures might not be the artist. (I could tell due to the unique writing on a sign.) We were able to jump right on a shuttle and it took off shortly after we boarded.

 

We stopped for our last slice of pizza on the ship to tide us over until dinner, then Kevin spent the afternoon packing his bag so he could set it out before dinner. Not wanting to waste any of the Italian sun, I headed to the pool instead. I easily found a chair over looking the main pool as most everyone is busy exploring Venice and settled myself in with the last of my postcards I had to write and my journal that was woefully behind by this time. After a short while, EmilyUK and her family walked by and joined me. I was getting warm in the hot sun, so I ran down and slid into the pool for a few minutes to cool off. I really am going to miss this easy life once I return to reality tomorrow afternoon! Eventually, Emily, Tom, Susan, and John went back to their rooms so they could get ready for an evening trip into Venice for a Gondola ride and I decided it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

This evening’s dinner was a very sad affair. I felt like I had really connected with the others at our dinner table, more so than I had on my shorter 7 day cruises. We all knew this would be our last few hours together. We took pictures and exchanged addresses and said our goodbyes after drinking the last cappuccinos of the trip. After dinner I decided that I wasn’t ready for my Venetian adventure to be over, so I chose to go back into town to experience Venice at night. Brian and Olive, our most entertaining tablemates, invited me to join them as Kevin planned to stay on the ship in order to finish packing his carryon and get to bed early. The three of us walked to the boat launch and watched as a shuttle pulled away from the dock just as we were arriving. We were first in line for the next one though and after a few minutes another boat came. The three of us just wandered around a bit, taking in the sites as the sun started setting. I did take note of a number of African young men who were aggressively selling Louis Vitton handbags that I can only assume were imitations. They seemed to accost us at every corner we walked around. We kept telling them no and they finally left us alone.

 

Even at night, Venice was hot and muggy. I (one who is almost always chilled) walked around wearing a wispy skirt and a spaghetti strap tank and was plenty warm just from the effort of our casual stroll. We ended up in San Marco plaza listening to the small orchestras play in front of three different restaurants that had outdoor seating. It was interesting to see the standing crowd move in a large swell from one café to the next as each orchestra finished a set and the next started up. We walked over to see the Bridge of Sighs in the dark (it is nicely lit up at night) and decided that we should stop for refreshments at one of the cafes in San Marco plaza. We knew it would be an expensive endeavor but decided ‘how often are we in Venice?’ and that it was worth it for the experience of it. We chose to sit at the famous Café Florian. The menu noted that there was a 4.5 Euro per person coverage charge for the orchestra. They really did play beautifully and our feet were tired, so we were fine with the expense. Brian and Olive had cappuccinos for around 8 Euro each and I had a very petite bottle of water that cost 4 Euro. I would have tried the hot chocolate (also around 8 Euro), but it just did not sound appealing in the extremely warm weather. We sipped our beverages and listened to the music float by us in the summer night air and I concentrated on taking a mental picture that I could take with me. Even now, when I stop and take a moment, I can recall the feeling of the warm evening air surrounding me, the feel of the cool mineral water with lemon refreshing me as it slides down my throat, and the sound of beautiful music dancing out from the violins and brass instruments of the tuxedo clad men of the café’s orchestra. Ah, what a life and what a privilege to be able to experience such an exquisite evening in such a timeless place!

 

There truly is no place like Venice. Yes, it is an expensive city, but so are New York, London and Paris. With Venice, one must remember that nearly everything in the city must be shipped in and out by boat. During the day, we saw men unloading large plastic crates of glass bottles of water via a human chain. One guy stood on a small boat and tossed a crate to a guy standing on the dock who caught it (they tossed them like footballs flying through the air!) and tossed it to the guy on the sidewalk who caught each crate and stacked it on a dolly for transport. I just waited to see a crate crash to the ground, but it never happened. Throughout the day I saw workers manually pushing or pulling carts of wares and building materials through the small streets of Venice. All the trash generated from the countless tourists who arrive each day must also be taken out of the city by boat. Do the musicians from the cafés in San Marco plaza have to haul their instruments with them on the water bus and lug them through the streets each day to get to work? Ah, Venice.

 

After we finished our beverages, we decided that we should head back to the ship to grab a few hours of sleep before our adventure ended. Brian and Olive refused to let me pay for my beverage and kindly covered the bill for all three of us. I thought I should have covered the bill since they were so kind as to let me join them this evening, but they wouldn’t hear of it. A Princess shuttle was waiting at the pier, so we jumped on and it left shortly thereafter. I noticed Carol and Rocco from Australia across the way from us. They were the couple whose family was briefly seated with us during our second night’s dinner before they were displaced twice. Carol was very outgoing and I’m sure a large number of people on the cruise chatted with her sometime during our 12 days on the Golden. As we were walking the short distance back to the ship from the boat launch, we saw the porters working on removing the luggage from the ship. We saw bags come off the conveyor belt and drop 3 feet to the ground with a loud thump. One lady behind us exclaimed that she had Venetian glass in suitcase and she thought it might be broken due to the rough handling. I personally wouldn’t have packed glass in my suitcase anyway, and after seeing the rough treatment the bags received on their way out of the ship, I wouldn’t recommend anything remotely breakable be put inside your luggage. Earlier in the evening, I saw the luggage handlers sitting on some suitcases on my floor (in the crew stairwell area) while taking a break. You just don’t know the type of abuse our suitcases take when they are out of our sight. After boarding the ship, I set the alarm for 4 a.m. (yikes!) and went directly to bed for my last night on the Golden Princess. Sigh.

 

BUDGET for Venice

Entrance to Doge’s Palace & St. Mark’s Duomo 12 Euro

Climb campanile, walk around Free

 

ACTUAL EXPENSES in Venice

Princess transfer for the day $10

Entrance to loggia (balcony) at St. Mark’s 2 Euro (church is free)

Coins for machine describing 4 Horses at

St. Marks 1 Euro

Campanile elevator (no stairs option) 6 Euro

Takeout sandwich and ice tea 5 Euro

Calendar, lithograph, gondolier hat 38 Euro

Cover charge + small water at Café Florian 8.5 Euro (4.5 + 4) tablemates’ treat

at San Marco Square

 

 

[jody]

Part 14

 

Debarkation in Venice…..Tuesday, June 10, 2003……7:35 a.m. flight

The alarm went off at 4:00, after a mere 4 hours of sleep. I showered, got dressed, and packed up the remainder of my stuff in my carryon bag. The Horizon Court served a full breakfast beginning at 4:00 today, so Kevin ran upstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Due to the early hour, they did not announce debarkation colors over the intercom, so we just headed downstairs at 5:00, the time for our Red 2 tags. (Red 1 had a 4:30 a.m. debarkation time.) We exited the ship (sniff!) and walked right onto a bus waiting just steps away. Once the bus was full, we drove off to the airport, a drive that only took about 15 minutes at this time of day. Our bags were waiting for us in a large group out on the sidewalk outside the terminal under a canopy. We quickly found our bags and headed inside. We were on British Air and could find no signs directing us to a check in line. I noticed that in several of the European airports, the check-in counters for each flight are listed separately an hour or so before flight time. Until then, you must just wait for the counter to be identified then opened. I am not a morning person and must admit I was very tired, cranky, and non-social at this point. Luckily Kevin decided it was in our best interest for him to figure out where we should go and by asking several people, he was able to determine which counters we needed to be at. We lingered in the area a few minutes, then lined up as soon as we saw BA personnel man the counters. We ended up being third in line after another couple cut in front of us as we were lining up. At 6:40, the young man at the counter started to assist the first passengers (a young couple from Texas with an extremely rambunctious 2 year old son). Apparently their documents were not in order as they were still there after 20 minutes. It was so frustrating that our line wasn’t moving, especially since the other line seemed to be cruising right along (Murphy’s Law). CruisinD (Denise) and her husband Tim were in line behind us and I suggested they consider switching lines as ours was not moving. Finally our lined moved, then the other line stopped. It seemed as if there were a lot of passenger problems that day. Our flight was at 7:35 and we were checked in by 6:20. I knew my bag would be well over the weight limit so I had Kevin put his 30 lb bag on first. I figured maybe they wouldn’t say anything if they saw that the combined total of our bags was under the limit. I was ready to pay if asked, but it turns out that no one mentioned the overage of my bag and no one asked to weigh my carryon, which felt like a 30 lb lead weight. We quickly headed through security (being sure to scoot around the young couple and their son so as not to get stuck behind them again) and went to wait it out at the gate. I looked around to do some last minute shopping but decided I was too tired. I napped in my chair while Kevin chatted away with Denise and Tim who were on the same flight to London. We only had a 3 hour layover in London and had to change carriers, so I was hoping we wouldn’t have any large unexpected delays like we did on the way to our cruise. We did board a little late but we did make up some time in the air. We were served breakfast on the flight and it went quickly.

 

Back at Gatwick, we deplaned, found out luggage then headed to the South Terminal to check in at the Northwest Counter. There is only one non-stop flight daily between Minneapolis and Gatwick, so we returned to the exact same gate we had been at two weeks earlier. When we finally boarded, it looked like the same exact plane also, from the defective ceiling panel we had noticed on our first flight. After checking in, we had plenty of time before our Minneapolis flight on Northwest. I had brought a few British Pounds with me on the trip, so I looked around at the shops to locate something to buy. I quickly spent my money then we headed to the gate area to wait until we could board. The plane was nearly full, as was the flight to London. We had exit row seats, so we were able to board earlier than the masses, ensuring there was room in the overhead bin for our luggage since we had no seat in front of us to place any items under. Our NWA flight was fine although the aircraft was very cold. Some of it was due to our location near the exit door. The down side to the rear exit row seats, is that the exit door encroaches on the leg room of the person in the window seat and you are unable to stretch out your right leg at all. Because I have long legs, my right knee was wedged against the door on the trip over to London. I gave Kevin the honor of the window seat this time and was able to stretch out nicely in my aisle seat. Although we only had one movie on the way over, they played 2 on the return trip so that kept me entertained. We were fed as well as one can expect on a plane these days and they did offer free alcohol in the main cabin. Our flight left London promptly at 12:15 p.m. and we were scheduled to arrive early in Minneapolis, but due to supposed bad weather at MSP they were down to one runway and landings were being delayed. It was an overcast day, but we saw no storms or rain anywhere, so there seemed to be no real cause for our delay. We ended up having to circle to wait our turn to land and ended up on the ground near our original arrival time of 3:00 p.m. At this point, I was ready for my journey to be drawing to a close and I was looking forward to returning to my cozy townhouse and my own bed, but I knew that the arrival process could be challenging. My arrival from an international flight this time last summer ended up being a nightmare. Our then Governor Jessie Ventura had arrived from China an hour before me and had caused a horrible backup in the immigration and customs processing. In 2002, it took me well over an hour to walk through immigration, reclaim my luggage, and make it through customs. Luckily, no ‘dignitaries’ were traveling on June 10, so we were able to quickly exit the plane, breeze through immigration, grab our luggage, and saunter through customs with nary a hassle, all in less than 15 minutes. Our ride was waiting for us outside the international flight arrival area and we headed for home, my great European cruise adventure drawing to an end.

 

ACTUAL EXPENSE Debarkation & Misc. Onboard Charges

Princess transfer ship to airport $37

Postcard stamps (40) $36

Cartouche (Egyptian charm) and chain $137

Internet access $20

Drinks $22

Photos $15

Souvenirs (t-shirts, key chains, 2 CDs) $72

 

ACTUAL EXPENSE Flights Home

Souvenirs at Gatwick $15

Snacks at Gatwick $2

1 hour parking at MSP $2

 

[jody]

Part 15MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS

 

Clothing & Shoes

There is a lot of talk about appropriate dress and safety in Europe. This was my third trip to Europe and I have encountered no problems acting and dressing the way I normally do while accommodating the etiquette rules of the country I am in. This means I wear my white tennis shoes to ensure my feet don’t hurt after long days of walking, I wear shorts when it is hot out, and I wear a long skirt and bring a sweater when I am visiting churches that require this (such as in Italy). I often brought along a backpack, to carry a bottle of water and any purchases I made throughout the day. My camera is usually around my neck. Yes, I look like an American tourist (that is what I am), but it has never caused me trouble. No one has looked at me in disgust for my white sneakers and to tell you the truth, I don’t think anyone really cares what I’m wearing as long as I am dressed appropriately for the situation. As a six-foot tall blonde, I look like a tourist in many places such as Italy and Greece, no matter what I’m wearing. I did think it was interesting that last year in Munich I was wearing white sneakers, shorts, a fanny pack and a backpack and I was mistaken for a local twice. Once in the metro where I was asked for directions in German and once on a city tour where the guide asked me if I wanted the German or English tour. My recommendation is to be who you are, wear what you like (within reason), and wear comfortable shoes! You’ll have a great time. I packed enough clothes for about 7 days and did 2 loads of laundry about half way through. My travel partner packed very sparsely (his hanging bag only weighed 30 lbs) and ended up regretting it immensely. He had to do several loads of laundry over a number of days and ended up wearing long sleeves and long pants in some hot ports because that is all he had clean to wear. It is tough to be a backpack type traveler while on a cruise where you have to dress cool and casual for the day, have swim and athletic gear for on deck and dressy outfits for dinner each night. I decided it wasn’t worth the stress to worry about minimalist packing and ending up without an important garment, so I resigned myself to possibly paying for an overage on my one 50 lb bag allowance. (We had a flight originate in Europe and were limited to the more restrictive European standard of one checked bag per person.) In the end, I was not charged for my overages and I was happy to have all stuff I did bring with me.

 

I survived with 4 pair of shoes and thought that was pretty good. I brought: comfortable white tennis shoes, nice tan leather slip on sandals, black dress pumps, and a pair of comfortable black slip on shoes. I wore the sandals a lot around the ship and wore the tennis shoes with acrylic socks (purchased from a sporting goods/outdoor store) most days while touring and never got blisters.

 

Safety

If I am wearing a shirt with a collar, I usually bring a small purse with a long strap with me (worn diagonally, bandolier style) for the day to carry my pocket money, lip balm, Kleenex (for the toilet if needed), and other miscellaneous stuff. If I have on a t-shirt or tank top, I usually wear a fanny pack. During this trip I did safety pin the zipper on both my purse and fanny pack closed so that no one could easily sneak into my bag. I’ve never had any problems with pickpockets and no one traveling in my group has ever had problems. I do my best to not make myself a target and I am careful when making withdrawals from ATMs.

 

Weight gain

One tends to eat well on a cruise ship, so my rule is to always take the stairs. Going from the 5th floor to the 14th to eat lunch after returning from a tour can be a challenge when you are tired, but I have found this to be the best thing for me. During my 12 days on the Golden, the only elevator ride I took was when I embarked and they took us up a floor to check our bags. I gained two pounds while on this trip but I’ve gained twice as much going on a 5 day business trip to Iowa, so I thought that wasn’t too bad.

 

Bathrooms

In Europe the bathrooms are always a challenge. You may find a toilet seat or you may find a trough type toilet that you are supposed to squat over. If you are lucky you will find toilet paper, but often as not, you must provide your own. I always carry a small pouch of Kleenex with me for this purpose. Once you complete your business, it can be a challenge figuring out how to flush the toilet. You may have to push, pull or wiggle any type of handle you can find within arm’s (or leg’s) reach.

 

Digital Camera

I decided the trip was a good reason to invest in a digital camera. After months of looking, I decided upon a Canon G3. It came with a 32MG Compact Flash media card and I purchased 2 more 256MG cards to bring with me. I was worried about the battery life, so I spent $55 for an additional rechargeable battery. I also brought along my trusty 35mm point and shoot Canon Sure Shot to have just in case. I had 2 weeks to try out the camera before leaving on my trip. I am now a digital camera convert. I didn’t use the 35 mm after the second day of my trip. I also found out the extra battery was not necessary. Even on our 2 ½ day missing the ship adventure, my batteries did not run low. I do not use the LCD screen as much as others do, so that is a factor to take into consideration. It is great being able to see your photos instantly and to show others the sites you saw that day. I took 634 photos on the two memory cards and still had room for more photos. I did buy a $15 card reader to use with my computer at home (it looks like an external driver to your computer) and I have found that very helpful.

 

Other

I did bring a CD player with small portable speakers for use in the room. I did turn it on a few times, but in hindsight I could have skipped it and been fine. I was kept busy on the plane watching movies and sleeping and the time spent in my room was usually for sleep or I was out on the balcony where I didn’t want to subject my neighbors to my music. I forgot my small extension cord and regretted not having it as I had to plug in my camera daily to recharge it and could not do that while using both the blow dryer and my curling iron in the morning, as there is only one outlet by the desk/vanity in the cabin.

 

Final Thoughts

There are so many sites I didn’t see in most of the ports. I feel like I could do this trip again and still get my money’s worth and wouldn’t end up repeating anything.

 

TIPS:

-Bring an inflatable neck pillow for long flights for napping.

-Wear layers on the flight over to account for variations in the cabin climate.

-Bring a highlighter to mark the activities in the Patter (helps for writing your review later too).

-Bring clear duct tape and post it notes. They will come in handy.

- If you have a Cruise Critic meeting, be sure to trade cabin numbers so you can hook up later if you want to.

-Bring laundry soap (I prefer the individually wrapped tablets) if you plan on doing laundry.

-Bring a plastic water bottle and refill it daily and carry it with you on tours. It is very sunny and warm in the Med and you will need plenty of water. You will probably end up still buying something cold to drink, but I found that even tepid water was better than nothing when I was thirsty and on the run.

 

Bon voyage and happy sailing to you!

jody

[jody]

P.S. If I didn't cover it earlier, I wanted to tell you that insurance did cover the full cost of our 'deviation expenses' when we missed the ship. There was a $500 pp limit and we ended up spending about $450 each. We send in copies of the relevant information and were paid quickly with no question.

[kerry-c]

Jody,

 

That was a fantastic trip report, and I want to thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and helpful description of all your adventures. And so calm! I was just reading along, enjoying all the scenes with you, and then we got to Pompeiii and I started to feel the foreshadowing ... by the time we reached the traffic jam, my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating.

 

We all worry about the possibility of being left behind, and we will now approach our Naples plans with caution and prudence ... but it's a relief to know that it all ended well, and you were able to keep your equilibrium and sense of humour.

 

Thanks for a great read.

 

Kerry

[jody]

Thanks Kerry. The good thing is now that the worst has happened (missing the ship) and I survived, I now nothing to worry about. :-) I'm sure you'll have a fantastic trip. I can't wait to go back again.

[1bigtitus]

Hi Jody~

I read in your blog about your trip you had purchased a small overlay book of Ephesus. My husband and I just took a mediterranean cruise and we visited Ephesus this fall. It was fantastic. I love to buy books of places I visit and for Ephesus I saw the overlay book but they wanted soo much for it, so I bought this other book. Now I am kicking myself and would do anything to get the "before and after" overlay book of the ruins.

Could you please tell me more information on the book so I can maybe research and hopefully find one to buy on-line?? I would really appreciate it! I am not even sure you will see this but my e-mail address is:

sarroyo4him@comcast.net

:D God bless and happy travels to you!!

Thanks,

Suzanne

[jody]

Suzanne,

I just saw your post. I'll send you the book info in an email.

[marci22]

Jody, your Naples story was the most exciting thing I have ever read on CC.

 

O......M.....G!!!!!!!!!

[jody]

Marci, Thanks for the compliment. My review did win me a Cruise Critic t-shirt when I first posted it! :-) I'm a little long winded, but I personally like to know every last details about other people's trips, so I do the same.

Happy Sailing!

 

PS For anyone reading this who missed it, Part 6 above is the story about missing the ship on my Med trip in 2003.

[browneyes7]

Jody,

 

Thanks for a great review. I have learned a lot just reading it. My DH and I did a Mediterranean cruise last year, and have another one booked for this April. We are planning to visit new places on this cruise. There are so many wonderful things to see in Europe.

 

browneyes7:)

[waiting2retire]

Jody, I can't thank you enough for your wonderful trip report!! I am taking my first Med cruise this Fall, and doing many of the same ports you did, just in reverse order. Your attention to detail is particularly appreciated, and will really help with my research in each port.

 

And thanks to Suzanne for bringing this great thread out of hibernation; I would never have seen it otherwise...

 

Bonnie