LIVE Italy Land trip then 10 days on Pride, Oct 18-29 to Greece, Turkey, Sicily and more Italy with ninjacat123!

[ninjacat123]

Hi there, people of CC!!  I am so excited about this land/cruise trip and can’t believe we will be taking off this Friday on a red-eye!  First, a little background…I am Bethany also known as ninjacat123 and my DH, Craig have been cruising since 2006.  Our first two cruises were on RC and then we checked out Carnival. The staff made our cruises great and since we were usually cruising with our two DDs (now 21 & 23) the staff’s care and personalities made it easy to return to Carnival over 21 times for myself.  

 

This cruise is just me and Craig and we are looking forward to Italy!!  I have booked hotels, dinner reservations, things to do and I have it all down in an itinerary.  We shall see how that goes 😉. This trip was supposed to happen September 2020, but we all know how that went.  Hey, it gave me more time to research, read CC reviews and join travel groups on the site that shall not be named, so it wasn’t a total loss.

 

We live near Charlotte, NC which means, yes we are flying out of Charlotte.  Flights out of Charlotte are more expensive than many other hubs so I decided to use Fly2Fun through Carnival.  The flight cost was packaged with our cruise and ended up about $1,000 per person.  We selected our seats, days and times we wanted to travel.  My PVP is such a gem and handles any questions or concerns with professionalism and charm. We wanted to arrive on Saturday, October 14 in the morning so we could hit the ground running.  Craig and I will be packing COO (carry on only) with a backpack each as our personal item.  We did this as a family of four July 2022 when we flew to Amsterdam and took the train to Paris and it worked out well for a land-only trip.  Adding a cruise in the mix will be interesting!

 

By the way, I usually write reviews after the fact so this LIVE review thing is new to me.  Here is a link to my last review:

 

 

 

I will do my best to answer questions but if I miss something, just ask me again.  Okay, big breath, here we go!

[ninjacat123]

So I am trying to do this review utilizing just my phone instead of typing it up on a laptop like I usually do. Today was spent going over my packing list and what fits into my COO of course I had helpers.

[ninjacat123]

Craig took care of the dog who has needed a shave down for sometime and we wanted to get it done before our trip. He’s a golden doodle and has the brain of a flea here are before and after shots.

[ninjacat123]

Regarding my packing list, I keep thinking oh, I should add one more outfit one more dress, one more pair of shoes so I can look like those women on the travel groups that are on the site that shouldn’t be named. I swear most of them probably have a hair stylist, and make up artist in their luggage as well. 😂 we have never done a cruise in Europe, so this definitely will be a different experience than our usual drive to the port for a Caribbean cruise.

[ober134]

We just spent 8 days in Italy land trip, Milan, Tuscany and Florence. it was exhausting but great. Carryon only is the way to go! All those Cobble stone streets! We also had a Mediterranean cruise scheduled in 2020  😥. Beware of pickpockets! Its a real thing as one in our travel group was a victim. Enjoy! We cruise in 3 weeks which is our vacation from that vacation.

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, ober134 said:

We just spent 8 days in Italy land trip, Milan, Tuscany and Florence. it was exhausting but great. Carryon only is the way to go! All those Cobble stone streets! We also had a Mediterranean cruise scheduled in 2020  😥. Beware of pickpockets! Its a real thing as one in our travel group was a victim. Enjoy! We cruise in 3 weeks which is our vacation from that vacation.

Your trip sounds amazing! And as tight as COO is, I think it’s the only way to go when you have to drag your luggage around with you especially over cobblestone streets. I got Craig a neck wallet so it’ll stay hidden in his shirt which will hold all our important items, like passports. From what I understand, the police can stop you and ask for your passport anytime in Italy, or else you get a big fine. 🤑

[ninjacat123]

My first big concern is making our connection from Charlotte to JFK, then JFK to FCO (Rome).  We have a 2 hour layover which I hope is enough time.  When our family traveled to Amsterdam in 2022, we had to run for the gate in Philadelphia.  We made it, just barely.  Another reason why we are traveling COO.  I will have AirTags in our luggage just in case they make us check our COO (NOOOOOO!) and we are packing a change of clothes in our backpacks, just in case.

Craig was upsold to Priority Economy for our JFK-FCO leg which will give us more room to hopefully get in a little snooze.  Good job Craigie!!👍

[ninjacat123]

Next concern are the train strikes in Italy.  You heard right, my train schedule has enough strikes listed to make a professional bowler happy🎳. Fortunately I have lovely people on the CC Italy Port of Call board who have been translating the Italian for me and so far (knock on wood) none of the strikes affect our train travel.

As soon as we go through Customs at FCO, we will take the next train to Venice.  I have already purchased train tickets for the rest of our travel but we will need to buy tickets for this one ride.  If they don't decide to strike.🤞

[ninjacat123]

I used travel sites like TripAdvisor to get an idea of what is available in Venice, Florence and Rome.  Very handy with giving you an overview of a place you have never been to before and the reviews help me decide if the restaurant, excursion, or the neighborhood in that particular city is worth my money and time.  We are trying to see and experience what we can this trip and you never know, we could plan another trip to Italy to hit the places we miss.  One place I want to check out is the Cinqueterre which @IntrepidFromDC reviewed last year here on CC. Great pics and review!

[ninjacat123]

Of course the CC boards have been instrumental in making this trip happen!  Getting feedback, reading reviews, seeing pics has brought to life much of what I hope our trip will be.  I have been planning this trip for a looooong time (with other cruises interspersed here and there) and I hope I can pay it forward to another CC member or two.

Ok, back to the packing.  I selected a very forgiving muu-muu like dress for our last dinner on the Pride.  This is strategic so I know after all my noshing, I will have something to cover my expanding body🤣

[princess76021]

Yay! Another live!! 

Thanks for taking us along!!

Hugs from Texas!

[ninjacat123]

Our cruise itinerary. 

[ninjacat123]

5 minutes ago, princess76021 said:

Yay! Another live!! 

Thanks for taking us along!!

Hugs from Texas!

Yay!! Thanks for coming along and the hugs🤗

[maluhia87]

Rest as much as possible during your sea days.  The remainder of that itinerary is brutal with sightseeing. 

 

Someone else mentioned pickpocketers, but I wanted to add that they are in the Rome airport also. Start paying attention as soon as you are off the plane. 

[ninjacat123]

14 minutes ago, maluhia87 said:

Rest as much as possible during your sea days.  The remainder of that itinerary is brutal with sightseeing. 

 

Someone else mentioned pickpocketers, but I wanted to add that they are in the Rome airport also. Start paying attention as soon as you are off the plane. 

Thanks maluhia87 for the good advice!  Both Craig and I were very happy that the two Sea days were at the beginning of the cruise so we could recharge our batteries after 4.5 days of train travel and sightseeing.  I will have Craig wear the neck wallet before we get off the plane and keep my head on a swivel at all times, especially for pick pockets. 👍

[MeganGC1983]

So excited it’s finally time for this sailing. I know you have been planning hard. Hope it all pays off. I’m following along. Have a fantastic time. 

[ninjacat123]

Usually Craig and I get CHEERS! when we cruise.  I'm not looking to hit 15 but it works out in our favor cost-wise and worry-wise (THE BAR BILL!!😲) so all in all, a good thing for us.  From what I understand, we can bring aboard at ports in Europe bottles of wine and liquor so we are not doing our CHEERS! this cruise.  I'm looking forward to a glass of wine looking out over the ship's wake from our balcony.  Maybe two glasses😉

[ninjacat123]

Just now, MeganGC1983 said:

So excited it’s finally time for this sailing. I know you have been planning hard. Hope it all pays off. I’m following along. Have a fantastic time. 

Thanks Megan!!  It doesn't seem real but it's happening!!  Thanks for following along😄

[maluhia87]

33 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Usually Craig and I get CHEERS! when we cruise.  I'm not looking to hit 15 but it works out in our favor cost-wise and worry-wise (THE BAR BILL!!😲) so all in all, a good thing for us.  From what I understand, we can bring aboard at ports in Europe bottles of wine and liquor so we are not doing our CHEERS! this cruise.  I'm looking forward to a glass of wine looking out over the ship's wake from our balcony.  Maybe two glasses😉

And good wine is much cheaper in Europe.  We did sail aways with wine on the balcony before dinner. 

[carsastic]

Recently back from a 17 day paris and italy ( venice, florence , amalfi, Taormina and roma land trip. Looking foward to your review.

 

[ninjacat123]

@maluhia87 That’s what I was thinking! When we were in Amsterdam and Paris wine was cheaper and tastier. Maybe it helped that I was drinking it on the roof of a houseboat looking out onto a canal in Amsterdam…

Edited October 9, 2023 by ninjacat123

[ninjacat123]

8 minutes ago, carsastic said:

Recently back from a 17 day paris and italy ( venice, florence , amalfi, Taormina and roma land trip. Looking foward to your review.

 

Thanks carsastic for following along! I'm hoping the weather holds out for us but even so, we'll be in Italy!!😃

[MeganGC1983]

11 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

@maluhia87 That’s what I was thinking! When we were in Amsterdam and Paris wine was cheaper and tastier. Maybe it helped that I was drinking it on the roof of a houseboat looking out onto a canal in Amsterdam…

Turkey had extremely cheap and good wine at duty free even. We gave wine to everyone. 

[ninjacat123]

7 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Turkey had extremely cheap and good wine at duty free even. We gave wine to everyone. 

Is there a varietal you especially liked?  On CC I was told assyrtiko was a tasty white wine in Santorini. I am more of a white wino😉

Edited October 9, 2023 by ninjacat123

[MeganGC1983]

13 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Is there a varietal you especially liked?  On CC I was told assyrtiko was a tasty white wine in Santorini. I am more of a white wino😉

In Turkey, we were with “entertainment” and Miss Shirley liked red wine… merlot specifically. And we bought like 12 bottles for $50. Greece has fantastic white wine. I’m sorry I was too intoxicated to pay attention. 😆