Live From Island Princess, 7/9-7/21, Aft Facing Balcony

[JAF1]

They will not be in any cabins and will not be near the passengers while onboard.

 

We were in B202 which is just under the bridge and has a door adjacent leading to crew area and stairs for our muster station and once they had them on board the door was taped off with big do not enter signs. Not sure what they would have done if there had been a further emergency and we had needed to get to our muster station.

[chamima]

I wonder what happened to flourpot - the OP??? :confused:

[CruiseKing]

So what is the actual situation on an International Café. Is there one on the Island now?

Was on the same cruise. Sadly there is not.

[Colo Cruiser]

Was on the same cruise. Sadly there is not.

 

And they had the perfect opportunity to install it during the dry dock. :(

[partybarbie]

I wonder what happened to flourpot - the OP??? :confused:

 

I'm wondering the same thing. Is the internet down? Did you fall off the ship? Did you change your mind about doing a "live from"?:rolleyes:

[jasbo49]

Can anyone who's been on the Island lately tell us whether they're doing the occasional Sabatini's pizza lunch these days? I've heard that Island and Coral do this sometimes, but I'm not clear how often. Sort of a temporary Alfredo's, I guess?

 

Jim

[CruiseKing]

Can anyone who's been on the Island lately tell us whether they're doing the occasional Sabatini's pizza lunch these days? I've heard that Island and Coral do this sometimes, but I'm not clear how often. Sort of a temporary Alfredo's, I guess?

 

Jim

Yes. Just off the 7/9-7/21 and they are doing a modified Alfredos. Pizza only. It was not open everyday. I would say 6-8 days out of the 12.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes. Just off the 7/9-7/21 and they are doing a modified Alfredos. Pizza only. It was not open everyday. I would say 6-8 days out of the 12.

 

 

Thanks for confirming that. :)

[jasbo49]

Yes. Just off the 7/9-7/21 and they are doing a modified Alfredos. Pizza only. It was not open everyday. I would say 6-8 days out of the 12.

 

Good news. Thank you, Bruce.

 

Jim

[Tyskie]

Yes. Just off the 7/9-7/21 and they are doing a modified Alfredos. Pizza only. It was not open everyday. I would say 6-8 days out of the 12.

 

Any other "tidbits" of information on the Island you wish to share with us? We're all waiting to see a review from your cruise. I guess after the initial voyage we're all starved for information. :)

 

Please and Thank You! :D

[roblc1]

I am also just off the July 9th cruise and posted a review. Not sure when it will be up. I am happy to try to answer any questions.

[tomatospice]

I am also just off the July 9th cruise and posted a review. Not sure when it will be up. I am happy to try to answer any questions.

 

I have a couple of questions regarding docking and shuttles out of ports...I realize the docking/tendering could be different depending on how many ships were in port that day, but collecting information all the same.

 

1. Did you dock in Mykonos at the dock outside of town or did you tender into the dock right in town?

 

2. How much was the Princess shuttle out of the port in Livorno? Was this purchased as a round trip ticket or just one way each time you got on the shuttle...and finally, where did this shuttle drop you off (downtown or did it actually take you all the way to the train station)?

 

Thanks!

Stephanie

[Tyskie]

I am also just off the July 9th cruise and posted a review. Not sure when it will be up. I am happy to try to answer any questions.

 

Will be looking forward to reading your review. Had no specific questions - just overall feeling of the ship. There were so many negative vibes going on I guess we're just starved for information of any kind. :)

[CruiseKing]

I have a couple of questions regarding docking and shuttles out of ports...I realize the docking/tendering could be different depending on how many ships were in port that day, but collecting information all the same.

 

1. Did you dock in Mykonos at the dock outside of town or did you tender into the dock right in town?

 

2. How much was the Princess shuttle out of the port in Livorno? Was this purchased as a round trip ticket or just one way each time you got on the shuttle...and finally, where did this shuttle drop you off (downtown or did it actually take you all the way to the train station)?

 

Thanks!

Stephanie

On our 7/9 sailing we were anchored in Mykonos. There was tender service provided by the operators in Greece. There was no charge for the tender service which dropped us right in the center of town.

As for Livorno we were on a tour so I cannot speak to the shuttle bus service.

[Colo Cruiser]

On our 7/9 sailing we were anchored in Mykonos. There was tender service provided by the operators in Greece. There was no charge for the tender service which dropped us right in the center of town.

As for Livorno we were on a tour so I cannot speak to the shuttle bus service.

 

 

 

There are 3 possibilities in Mykonos......

 

Dock at the pier a mile or so from town. (there is a shuttle)

 

Anchor near that same pier a mile or so to town. (there is a shuttle, however on our Regal visit we walked)

 

The other is what you mentioned. Anchor off the downtown area and be dropped off right in town.

[tomatospice]

On our 7/9 sailing we were anchored in Mykonos. There was tender service provided by the operators in Greece. There was no charge for the tender service which dropped us right in the center of town.

As for Livorno we were on a tour so I cannot speak to the shuttle bus service.

 

Last time I was in Mykonos we docked at the port about a mile or so outside of town and we just walked in. However, that was on the Crown, so wasn't sure what the Island would do.

 

In regards to Livorno, I had seen someone post about a 5 euro shuttle that Princess had, but didn't know if this was round trip or one way (I'm guessing one way) and exactly where it dropped you off. Still hoping to hear on that one.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies.

[trinitytrees]

The shuttle for Livorno was 5euro return, it dropped you in centre of Livorno near to tourist information, much nearer than we have been dropped off before by other shuttles, however it was Sunday when we docked so lot of places shut, including the local market.

 

That was Sunday 19th July. Hope that helps

[tomatospice]

The shuttle for Livorno was 5euro return, it dropped you in centre of Livorno near to tourist information, much nearer than we have been dropped off before by other shuttles, however it was Sunday when we docked so lot of places shut, including the local market.

 

That was Sunday 19th July. Hope that helps

 

Thanks so much! Getting excited to be there :)

 

Stephanie

[trinitytrees]

Forgot to say local tour operators offering discounted tour to Pisa from where shuttle drops you for 15 euro and gty to get you back on time.

 

On our cruise ship late leaving port we saw several who had hired cars frantic ly trying to get back going really fast to board ship, finally two people arrived in taxi escorted by someone on motorbike!

[tomatospice]

Forgot to say local tour operators offering discounted tour to Pisa from where shuttle drops you for 15 euro and gty to get you back on time.

 

On our cruise ship late leaving port we saw several who had hired cars frantic ly trying to get back going really fast to board ship, finally two people arrived in taxi escorted by someone on motorbike!

 

We are actually renting a car so that we can be in charge of what time we get back :) We are there on a Sunday also, so I appreciate the info in your earlier post about a lot of the shops being closed.

 

Stephanie

[tbat205]

Good morning!

 

I'm currently sitting on one of the 4 brand new aft facing balconies on the Island sailing between Venice and Istanbul on the Grand Mediterranean itinerary. Before I left, I said I would report on the room and ship since it's drydock.

 

So far, so good. I know that there was a problem with one of the engines or something on the previous cruise (I'm typing this offline, so I can't check the specifics), but I'm happy to report that everything is fixed and we are traveling at full speed on this first of 2 sea days.

 

As far as the new balcony room, we are in B741 and are one of only 4 rear facing balconies on the whole ship (with the exception of a couple of suites). The balcony room is a tiny bit smaller (the only thing I noticed is that there is a *tiny* bit less room at the end of the bed, but it's really not very noticeable. When you first walk into the room, you need to use your cruise card to make the lights and a/c work (I put my JoAnn Fabrics teacher discount card in the slot...any flat, plastic card will work...so I could have the a/c going while out of the room cause it's hot here). When you put the card in the slot, all the lights turn on and they are VERY bright LEDs. One change is that the 2 switches by the door don't control closet area for one and the bedroom area for the other. The closest switch to the door turns on 2 small canister lights over the bed and the switch further from the door controls extremely bright lights in the closet area as well as the bedroom area. The problem I found with this was that if you want to take a shower the morning and then get dressed in the closet area, you will wake up the other person in the bedroom area if you turn on the closet area lights. Otherwise, you just have to get dressed in the dark. The closet area itself is exactly the same as other ships, along with the cabinet with the safe. There's a coat hook on the wall behind the front door, which is different.

 

The bathroom is where I saw most of the changes. There is no longer an overhead light. Instead, there are 2 lights built into the mirror. They work fine and I think they're actually better than the overhead. The shelving near the sink is more spacious (I can actually stand my electric toothbrush up in it!). The sink is awesome! It's a large rectangle. There's so much more space. I was able to wash a few clothing items in the sink without the worry of splashing water everywhere. There's also a free standing soap dish. The shower is HUGE! I haven't smacked my elbows into the side of the walls once! Instead of a square, it is a rectangle with a shelf on one end (you could put your foot up on it) and the shower at the other (it's a pull down shower head where you can adjust the height of it). There is also a soap dish shelf near the shower head like in other ships. The only thing I don't like is where the toilet paper is located. It's kind of behind the toilet, under the sink, so you have to twist around to get to it. Other than that, the bathroom is pure awesomeness.

 

OK, moving out to the bedroom area. The beds are brand new. We always ask for egg crates, but didn't need them for these beds...so much better than usual (I do realize that we are only the 3rd people to sleep in them, so that's probably why). The TV is mounted on the wall directly opposite the beds and is quite big. They have installed Samsung smart TVs and I'm sure they're for when the ship gets upgraded to the Princess@Sea and OnDemand, which hasn't happened yet. Anyway, having the TV out of the corner gives you and extra flat storage space above the mini bar fridge which is wider than before. You still have the small table next to the mini bar and the desk with chair on the opposite side if the room, along with another chair. Oh! You won't find the hair dryer on the wall near the desk. I was very confused and thought they had need eliminated. They have new hairdryers (much higher quality) in the top, left hand drawer of the desk. It is already plugged in, so just pick it up and hold down the button to use it. There are 2 US outlets and 1 European outlet on the desk and 1 US outlet and 1 European outlet in the bathroom. Our stateroom steward said that the bathroom ones were fine for charging or using with 2 pronged US cords, but 3 pronged cords needed to be used at the desk.

 

The balcony is really nice. If you look at pictures of the rear if the ship, our room is right smack in the middle of the big white wall. We are the farthest square to the right. It's actually pretty great because there are actual walls on all sides instead of the partitions between balconies. The glass fence area is higher than on the sides of the ship. There are 2 chairs and a table and the balcony itself is deeper than I expected. Not as deep as a Caribe balcony, but I can sit in the chair with it all the way back to the door and not quite touch my toes to the glass.

 

Oh, we're elite, so we get a free mini bar setup. We always switch out the alcohol for pop. The choices this time were ginger ale, Aranciata (which is like Orangina), Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, and Sprite Zero. We also get free canapes and the chocolate covered strawberries have disappeared off of the list. *sniff* So sad. Those are my favorite. They've also added ChapStick with SPF to the elite bathroom pack, along with a gel eye mask that I hadn't seen before. We're storing it in the fridge.

 

Since we're in the new cabins on the back of the ship, they created a new area for our muster station drill. We went down the crew stairs at the back if the ship to the gym on deck 6.

 

There have been questions about the vibrations in the aft balconies. During our 2 days in Venice there was little to no vibrations in our room. After sailaway, the cabin did start to vibrate some, but it's not horrible at all. Currently, we're in motion and I don't hear any glasses shaking and nothing in the bathroom is falling over. While lying in bed, you can feel the vibrations, but it really just feels like a light massage. I had no problems sleeping at all. It's really not that different than any other room on a cruise ship that I've been on before.

 

If you're on this Grand Mediterranean itinerary later, you might like to know that Princess offers shuttles into town for Venice-boat to St. Mark's Square ($29), Istanbul-bus to Grand Bazaar ($10), Mykonos-bus to town ($8), Livorno-bus Piazza Grande (€5), and Toulon-boat to downtown ($20). The port talks are also happening well before the cancelation times for the tours, so we've ended up dropping some of our tours since we sort of know where we want to go and we have plenty of time to get it done with the shuttles.

 

The cruise director is Richard Joseph. The deputy is Duke. The maitre d'hotel is Giuseppe Gelmini. Captain is Andrea Poggi.

 

I think that's all for now. If you have any questions, you can ask, although I can't guarantee that I can answer them (I don't have access to other cabins, so I can't answer those questions) because of internet access and such.

 

Bonnie

soon we will be doing the ta in the cabin next to you 740, so are really greatful for insites. Wife and i love to be swept into sleep with the vibrations. sounds like huge improvements as showers are always a tad small. The balcony will be protected from weather...and to watch the world go by will be great for us. hope you are having a great trip and stay in touch

[hmstins]

Sorry to post so late -- just found this thread and hope you are still monitoring.

 

Please don't EVER ride the donkeys in Santorini. The owners have been investigated for animal cruelty allegations multiple times, improve their treatment, then go back to the cruelty as soon as the investigators leave. The animals are found to have no water, work long hours, sometimes have open sores under the saddles, and are treated horribly.

 

If you are an animal lover like I am, please heed this advice. I have been there and seen the donkeys. Please pass the word if you can!

[roblc1]

I am sorry that I haven't checked in. Other people have answered, but yes I will confirm that we tendered in Mykonos and walked into the center of town. It was very easy. And I will not be of help in Livorno, as I took the ship's transportation into Florence. It was 5 euros round trip though. (the shuttle to Livorno, not the ship's transportation to Florence ;) )

 

 

I did use public transportation easily in Athens, and rented a car in Le Seyne sur Mer. :)

Edited August 1, 2015 by roblc1

[tomatospice]

I am sorry that I haven't checked in. Other people have answered, but yes I will confirm that we tendered in Mykonos and walked into the center of town. It was very easy. And I will not be of help in Livorno, as I took the ship's transportation into Florence. It was 5 euros round trip though. (the shuttle to Livorno, not the ship's transportation to Florence ;) )

 

 

I did use public transportation easily in Athens, and rented a car in Le Seyne sur Mer. :)

 

Thanks so much for all your help :)

 

Stephanie

[grits01]

Hi Bonnie. We are booked in Cabin B740 in March. Do you have any photos you would be willing to post of your cabin and balcony? This is our first cruise with Princess and we are really looking forward to sailing the Panama Canal

 

Ann