After our rather hectic run-around in Livorno/Pisa/Florence, we decided that for Rome we would use Princess' Rome On Your Own excursion. Pretty much all that means is that you get a bus ticket to Rome with a local guide on the bus that will help with some history, advice and a map of Rome. Their information is very good though as they can provide you with details of which sites to see, what kinds of wait time/lines you should expect, distances between sites and bus routes to take. They drop you off in the morning at a specified location and expect you to be back at that location by a certain time. The ride to Rome from Civitavecchia takes about an hour depending on traffic.
Our drop off point was very near the Vatican and St. Peter's square. Since we had to come back this way for pickup later we decided we would head over to the Colosseum, make our way back and see sites along the way. Our tour guide told us we could take one bus from our present location and go to the Colosseum.
When you get to the Colosseum, you will be immediately approached by tour guides offering tours and entrance to the Colosseum for about 20 euros, which is really not so bad because the entrance ticket is already 11 euros. You should ask how long the tour is, especially since you will probably be tight for time. There are several things to see in walking distance around this area such as the Forum, Palatine Hill, and Circus Maximus and the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.
We made some mistakes at the Colosseum which you can avoid. We noticed when we got there that there are two lines to get in. One was to purchase tickets for individuals and the other was for tour groups and ticket-holders. The ticket to the Colosseum cost 11 euros and includes entrance to the Forum and Palatine Hill.
The line to purchase tickets was very long and we didn't want to wait. So in a bid to save time in exchange for cost, we thought we could sign up with a tour, get our tickets and desert the tour when we got in. This backfired on us because after we signed up for a tour, the guide told we would be on our way in "few minutes". But the truth is that the tour won't start until they gather enough people together for a suitable group. In our case, this took a while and we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes anyways!
I did some reading on bulletin boards after our trip, and some travelers have noted that you can avoid the ticket line at the Colosseum completely by going to either the Forum or Palatine Hill entrances. There you can buy the same ticket (Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum for 11 euros) and face minimal lines.
After finally getting in and ditching our tour group, we took in the awe-inspiring sites of the Colosseum. It is truly an amazing marvel of ancient architecture and a grand piece of history. Inside you will also find a mini-museum of sculptures and other artwork.
As mentioned before, make a visit to the other sites in the area as well. Really, there is enough to see here that you could spend several ours visiting.
Our next destination in Rome was the famous Trevi Fountain. We had our trusty map with us and decided to walk the distance to enjoy some of the neighborhoods and find a snack along the way. The fountain was packed that day and the square where the fountain sits is small so it was shoulder-to-shoulder. We took pictures and made our obligatory wish and were on our way again.
We took the bus (the same one we took to the Colosseum in reverse) back to the Vatican and St. Peter's square. Surprisingly, the lines to enter the basilica were quite short and we got in and past the security check points in less than 10 minutes. Entrance to St. Peter's is free (but not to the Sistine Chapel).
By the time we were finished, we had time to leisurely walk to our nearby pickup point and have a gelato on the way.
Again, as with many of the sites on this cruise, there just isn't enough time to see everything in Rome. You have to pick and choose which are your must see locations and stick to your schedule. But most importantly: don't forget to have fun and enjoy your visit along the way!
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Rome on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
* Civitavecchia on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
Monday, June 23, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Livorno, Italy (Pisa and Florence)
For Livorno, you have to ask yourself an important question: How important is Pisa on your must see list? For that matter, how important is Florence/Firenze?
We chose to do both on our own and to tell you the truth, there was barely enough time. This was one port where we made it back to the ship by the skin of our teeth (read on).
Livorno
Princess provided shuttles for 10 euros from the pier to and from the center of Livorno (I don't think it was walkable especially with the time constraints). Before you go anywhere, find out when the last shuttle of the day is scheduled. From there, we conveniently saw a tourist booth where we asked where we could take the bus to the train station. The girl was very helpful and told us to walk down one block to a bus stop and take the #1 to the station. The bus ride was short (10 mins) and you can buy a ticket at any of the numerous newstands.
The station at Livorno (Livorno Central) offered transport to both Pisa and Florence. The trains are run by Trenitalia (which run all over Italy). Use the self-serve kiosks to avoid the lines at the tellers if you don't have any questions. Trains to Pisa were quite frequent (10-20 mins) while trains to Florence were less frequent (30-40 mins). Travel time to Pisa is about 15 minutes while travel time to Florence was around 80-90 minutes.
WARNING: some of these trains are not in great condition and often do not have air conditioning... so make make sure you sit at a seat where the windows can open.
Pisa
As soon as you get off in Pisa you should take the L.A.M. Rossa bus which runs from the airport the Tower and back. Make sure you head north! We took the bus going the wrong way and ended up at the airport. Your best bet is to ask someone at the newsstand in the train station while you are buying bus tickets (there are posts on the newsstand that tell you how to get to the Tower as well).
After a 10 minute ride you'll arrive at the Piazza del Duomo which is where the Tower of Pisa stands... err leans. It is also where you can find the Duomo, Baptistery and Camposanto which are all just as beautiful as the tower. Also in this area is quite the open market where they sell souvenirs to tourists. You will see a lot of tourists taking pictures pretending to push the tower... which was quite amusing to see. Follow the side streets and you will find some nice shops and cafes. This was also our first chance at tasting real Italian gelato (the first of many!).
You can spend lots of time here going into each of the buildings but there is an entrance fee. You can also go up the tower and have a slanted view of the area, but there is also a cover charge. But if you have a lot planned for Florence, you have to manage your time well.
Take the LAM Rossa bus back to the train station when you want to head to your next destination.
Florence
The train ride to Florence is quite nice, there is nice scenery of the countryside to enjoy on your way. Enjoy it on your way there because on the way back you'll probably be passed out from exhaustion... we were. Make sure to get off at the Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station in Florence. There are multiple stations in Florence, but the SMN is the closest to all the sites. We got off the at the first station and found that it was the wrong one. Also, before you leave the SMN station, make sure you note the time of the train back to Livorno and buy a ticket... who knows if you have to run for it later.
We didn't leave much time for Florence which was unfortunate. The fortunate part was that there is lots to see in a tight area. Make sure you have a map, comfy shoes and a good battle plan for this area. Outside the station you'll immediately see the Santa Maria Novella church. We walked from the station to the Santa Maria del Fiore which is the large duomo (cathedral) famous in Florence. Beside it you will find the Baptistry and Giotto's Tower.
A must see is the Palazzo Vecchio, which is the old city hall of Florence. Out in the square where in front you will find some truly amazing statues as well as replica of Michaelangelo's David. The real David is at the Galleria dell'Accademia.
There are many shops, markets and cafes in this area as well. You can spend the entire day wandering just this area itself. We ate more gelato...
Mad Dash
Keep an eye on your watch and make sure you leave enough time to get back to the SMN train station. We cut this close and had to run to our train platform (the next train would make us miss the shuttle back to the ship in Livorno)... only to find that the Livorno train was cancelled! Since the next train to Livorno wasn't for another 40 minutes, we hopped on the train to Pisa that was leaving in 10 minutes. The stop over in Pisa cost us more time as we had to wait again to catch a train to Livorno.
By this time we were sweating bullets. We for sure didn't have enough time to make the last Princess shuttle from Livorno to the ship... we were already running 40 minutes behind schedule. Thoughts of having to catch the train to the next port raced through our minds... I was already trying to haphazardly plan out what we needed to do should we miss the boat. It was a long 15 minute train ride to Livorno.
After arriving at Livorno train station, we immediately jumped into a taxi with 15 minutes left to get back to the ship. This is where our next stroke of bad luck came. In Livorno (and maybe other places in Italy), the taxis do not have meters. You are supposed to negotiate your fare before you get in the taxi. After you get in the taxi and start to move, your negotiating leverage is non-existent. We paid 25 euros for a 10 minute ride... which is a total scam. I think a reasonable price would have been around 15 euros at most. But beggars can't be choosers and we were just glad to get going to the ship. When we got there, we breathed a sigh of relief and let the ship's air conditioning dry up our now sweat-soaked clothes... it felt like bliss.
Here's the icing on the cake: after we got back on the ship, an announcement came on the PA from the captain that explained that the ship wasn't allowed to leave the pier for another 2 hours. Yaaarg!
After we thought about it, it would have probably been a good idea to go to Florence first then Pisa. This way if you're running late you only have to risk a 15 minute ride from Pisa (which ran more frequently as well) to Livorno instead of a 90 minute ride from Florence to Livorno.
Hopefully you'll have better experience in Livorno/Pisa/Florence. It was definitely harrowing but we still enjoyed ourselves immensely when we were there. We made a promise that we'll come back to Florence one day and do it proper. In hindsight, we made a lot of time wasting mistakes on our adventure, which goes to show that anything can happen.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Pisa, Italy on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
* Florence, Italy on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
* Livorno, Italy on Wikipedia
* Trenitalia train lines
We chose to do both on our own and to tell you the truth, there was barely enough time. This was one port where we made it back to the ship by the skin of our teeth (read on).
Livorno
Princess provided shuttles for 10 euros from the pier to and from the center of Livorno (I don't think it was walkable especially with the time constraints). Before you go anywhere, find out when the last shuttle of the day is scheduled. From there, we conveniently saw a tourist booth where we asked where we could take the bus to the train station. The girl was very helpful and told us to walk down one block to a bus stop and take the #1 to the station. The bus ride was short (10 mins) and you can buy a ticket at any of the numerous newstands.
The station at Livorno (Livorno Central) offered transport to both Pisa and Florence. The trains are run by Trenitalia (which run all over Italy). Use the self-serve kiosks to avoid the lines at the tellers if you don't have any questions. Trains to Pisa were quite frequent (10-20 mins) while trains to Florence were less frequent (30-40 mins). Travel time to Pisa is about 15 minutes while travel time to Florence was around 80-90 minutes.
WARNING: some of these trains are not in great condition and often do not have air conditioning... so make make sure you sit at a seat where the windows can open.
Pisa
As soon as you get off in Pisa you should take the L.A.M. Rossa bus which runs from the airport the Tower and back. Make sure you head north! We took the bus going the wrong way and ended up at the airport. Your best bet is to ask someone at the newsstand in the train station while you are buying bus tickets (there are posts on the newsstand that tell you how to get to the Tower as well).
After a 10 minute ride you'll arrive at the Piazza del Duomo which is where the Tower of Pisa stands... err leans. It is also where you can find the Duomo, Baptistery and Camposanto which are all just as beautiful as the tower. Also in this area is quite the open market where they sell souvenirs to tourists. You will see a lot of tourists taking pictures pretending to push the tower... which was quite amusing to see. Follow the side streets and you will find some nice shops and cafes. This was also our first chance at tasting real Italian gelato (the first of many!).
You can spend lots of time here going into each of the buildings but there is an entrance fee. You can also go up the tower and have a slanted view of the area, but there is also a cover charge. But if you have a lot planned for Florence, you have to manage your time well.
Take the LAM Rossa bus back to the train station when you want to head to your next destination.
Florence
The train ride to Florence is quite nice, there is nice scenery of the countryside to enjoy on your way. Enjoy it on your way there because on the way back you'll probably be passed out from exhaustion... we were. Make sure to get off at the Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station in Florence. There are multiple stations in Florence, but the SMN is the closest to all the sites. We got off the at the first station and found that it was the wrong one. Also, before you leave the SMN station, make sure you note the time of the train back to Livorno and buy a ticket... who knows if you have to run for it later.
We didn't leave much time for Florence which was unfortunate. The fortunate part was that there is lots to see in a tight area. Make sure you have a map, comfy shoes and a good battle plan for this area. Outside the station you'll immediately see the Santa Maria Novella church. We walked from the station to the Santa Maria del Fiore which is the large duomo (cathedral) famous in Florence. Beside it you will find the Baptistry and Giotto's Tower.
A must see is the Palazzo Vecchio, which is the old city hall of Florence. Out in the square where in front you will find some truly amazing statues as well as replica of Michaelangelo's David. The real David is at the Galleria dell'Accademia.
There are many shops, markets and cafes in this area as well. You can spend the entire day wandering just this area itself. We ate more gelato...
Mad Dash
Keep an eye on your watch and make sure you leave enough time to get back to the SMN train station. We cut this close and had to run to our train platform (the next train would make us miss the shuttle back to the ship in Livorno)... only to find that the Livorno train was cancelled! Since the next train to Livorno wasn't for another 40 minutes, we hopped on the train to Pisa that was leaving in 10 minutes. The stop over in Pisa cost us more time as we had to wait again to catch a train to Livorno.
By this time we were sweating bullets. We for sure didn't have enough time to make the last Princess shuttle from Livorno to the ship... we were already running 40 minutes behind schedule. Thoughts of having to catch the train to the next port raced through our minds... I was already trying to haphazardly plan out what we needed to do should we miss the boat. It was a long 15 minute train ride to Livorno.
After arriving at Livorno train station, we immediately jumped into a taxi with 15 minutes left to get back to the ship. This is where our next stroke of bad luck came. In Livorno (and maybe other places in Italy), the taxis do not have meters. You are supposed to negotiate your fare before you get in the taxi. After you get in the taxi and start to move, your negotiating leverage is non-existent. We paid 25 euros for a 10 minute ride... which is a total scam. I think a reasonable price would have been around 15 euros at most. But beggars can't be choosers and we were just glad to get going to the ship. When we got there, we breathed a sigh of relief and let the ship's air conditioning dry up our now sweat-soaked clothes... it felt like bliss.
Here's the icing on the cake: after we got back on the ship, an announcement came on the PA from the captain that explained that the ship wasn't allowed to leave the pier for another 2 hours. Yaaarg!
After we thought about it, it would have probably been a good idea to go to Florence first then Pisa. This way if you're running late you only have to risk a 15 minute ride from Pisa (which ran more frequently as well) to Livorno instead of a 90 minute ride from Florence to Livorno.
Hopefully you'll have better experience in Livorno/Pisa/Florence. It was definitely harrowing but we still enjoyed ourselves immensely when we were there. We made a promise that we'll come back to Florence one day and do it proper. In hindsight, we made a lot of time wasting mistakes on our adventure, which goes to show that anything can happen.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Pisa, Italy on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
* Florence, Italy on Wikitravel and Wikipedia
* Livorno, Italy on Wikipedia
* Trenitalia train lines
Submitting Blogger Sitemaps to Google
I found this article very helpful in adding a sitemap for this blog to Google. Sitemaps help Google search crawlers to better index your site.
Also, take a look at Google Webmaster Tools to check how Google sees your websites.
Also, take a look at Google Webmaster Tools to check how Google sees your websites.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Marseilles, France
Our first port of call was Marseilles, France. Admittedly we didn't plan on too much sightseeing there and chose instead to do some strolling and sampling the local cuising.
Princess provided shuttle buses that ran from the ship to the old harbor (le Vieux Port) in the city. The harbor was very nice and had some open market stands that dotted the shore. They sold various things ranging from clothes, soap, souvenirs and freshly caught fish . Off in the distance you could see Notre Dame de la Garde sitting atop a hill that overlooked the city. It was a little rainy but we packed an umbrella and started off.
One other thing to mention is that it was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed (although the restaurants are open). So if you have any ports of call that arrive on a Sunday, do some research to see if anything is open (especially if you want to shop).
Also, if you're interested at the harbor we noticed a miniature locomotive that served as a tourist hop on/off service. I'm sure it takes you to all the sites in Marseilles like similar services in other cities.
We took a walk down the quaint streets which wound around the city. There were many shops (many high end ones as well) but unfortunately they were all closed. We did so much walking we ended up at the Notre Dame de la Garde which is a large church that overlooks the city. The walk is not for the feint of heart as the incline is steep. The church is free to enter and offers some great views of the city and harbor (as well as the beautiful church itself). After we were finished we discovered that there was a bus that ran from the church to the harbor so we took it instead of walking back down.
We also spent time around the harbor vising restaurants and had bouillabaisse and crepes. Bouillabaisse is a seafood dish originating from Marseilles. The place we chose was okay but in hindsight we should have done research on good restaurants because we ended up picking one at random. The waiters didn't speak English at all so we had a little trouble getting what we wanted. Again, if anyone knows of a good place, please leave a comment and share. We also went to a little crepe shop nearby (there are quite a few) and had a delicious Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread) and banana crepe.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Marseilles, France on Wikipedia
* Marseilles, France on Wikitravel
Princess provided shuttle buses that ran from the ship to the old harbor (le Vieux Port) in the city. The harbor was very nice and had some open market stands that dotted the shore. They sold various things ranging from clothes, soap, souvenirs and freshly caught fish . Off in the distance you could see Notre Dame de la Garde sitting atop a hill that overlooked the city. It was a little rainy but we packed an umbrella and started off.
One other thing to mention is that it was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed (although the restaurants are open). So if you have any ports of call that arrive on a Sunday, do some research to see if anything is open (especially if you want to shop).
Also, if you're interested at the harbor we noticed a miniature locomotive that served as a tourist hop on/off service. I'm sure it takes you to all the sites in Marseilles like similar services in other cities.
We took a walk down the quaint streets which wound around the city. There were many shops (many high end ones as well) but unfortunately they were all closed. We did so much walking we ended up at the Notre Dame de la Garde which is a large church that overlooks the city. The walk is not for the feint of heart as the incline is steep. The church is free to enter and offers some great views of the city and harbor (as well as the beautiful church itself). After we were finished we discovered that there was a bus that ran from the church to the harbor so we took it instead of walking back down.
We also spent time around the harbor vising restaurants and had bouillabaisse and crepes. Bouillabaisse is a seafood dish originating from Marseilles. The place we chose was okay but in hindsight we should have done research on good restaurants because we ended up picking one at random. The waiters didn't speak English at all so we had a little trouble getting what we wanted. Again, if anyone knows of a good place, please leave a comment and share. We also went to a little crepe shop nearby (there are quite a few) and had a delicious Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread) and banana crepe.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Marseilles, France on Wikipedia
* Marseilles, France on Wikitravel
Barcelona, Spain
We arrived in Barcelona at around 9:30 am and our cruise ship (The Emerald Princess), wasn't casting off until 10:00 pm that night.
Our first concern was that in our cruise package, it noted that check in time wasn't until 2:00 pm... so what do we do with our luggage until then? We decided to take the taxi to the docks anyways and see what was up when we got there. The taxi ride cost about 20-25 euros and it was a 20-30 minute ride from the airport.
When we got to the docks at around 10:30 am, we found that there were plenty of other cruisers that had arrived early. As soon as you step up to the station, an attendant will come and take your luggage after you tagged them with the appropriate labels from your cruise package... so at least that took care of the luggage! The checkin desk was already open at that point and the line was fairly short. Checkin itself was very smooth as there were over 10 tellers to take care of your needs. We were also told that we could start boarding at 12:00 pm. So we decided to wait around so that we could get into our room and dump other things we were carrying (backpacks, money, etc). If you are raring to go you can actually just dump your luggage at the station and leave. You can check-in pretty much anytime before the ship leaves. Otherwise you may end up wasting time waiting around for your turn to board.
As a side note, there were several other cruise ships docked the day we were there. I recognized two Royal Caribbean ships (one was the Voyager) alongside the Emerald Princess. You can also check to see what ships will be docking on the day you arrive on this site.
After we left the station, we walked back to Plaça de la Porta de Pau square (where the Christopher Columbus monument stands). In hindsight it was a mistake, the walk from the docks wasn't that pleasant (big incline and no sights). It probably would have been better to catch a taxi from the docks to our first location (there were plenty of taxis at the dock at this time). There was also a bus that ran from the docks but we foolishly didn't look into it.
In the city there was plenty to do before our ship embarked. Metro stations are everywhere and there are many stops close enough to most major locations. The metro and city buses are from the same company, so tickets were interchangeable. Also, hop on/off tourist buses (Bus Turístic) ran routes around the city that went to the major sights for 20 euros for a day pass. Taxis were also quite reasonable and plentiful in the city. We ended up using the metros/buses and it was quite easy to use. See this link for more information on the metro and maps of the routes.
Here were some of the sights we went to:
* La Rambla - famous boulevard full of shops, markets and restaurants.
* Barcelona Harbour - also very scenic with shops and restaurants.
* Sagrada Família - beautiful historic church and an example of Gaudi architecture.
One of our goals on the trip was to eat local cuisine and we were looking forward to some good paella. Unfortunately, without some advice, we just ended up haphazardly picking a random restaurant, and the food was just okay. Maybe if someone knows of good restaurants in Barcelona they can post some comments.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Barcelona, Spain on Wikitravel
* Barcelona, Spain on Wikipedia
* Barcelona Metro
* Barcelona Bus Turístic
* porttime.com - shows which ships are sailing from each port
Our first concern was that in our cruise package, it noted that check in time wasn't until 2:00 pm... so what do we do with our luggage until then? We decided to take the taxi to the docks anyways and see what was up when we got there. The taxi ride cost about 20-25 euros and it was a 20-30 minute ride from the airport.
When we got to the docks at around 10:30 am, we found that there were plenty of other cruisers that had arrived early. As soon as you step up to the station, an attendant will come and take your luggage after you tagged them with the appropriate labels from your cruise package... so at least that took care of the luggage! The checkin desk was already open at that point and the line was fairly short. Checkin itself was very smooth as there were over 10 tellers to take care of your needs. We were also told that we could start boarding at 12:00 pm. So we decided to wait around so that we could get into our room and dump other things we were carrying (backpacks, money, etc). If you are raring to go you can actually just dump your luggage at the station and leave. You can check-in pretty much anytime before the ship leaves. Otherwise you may end up wasting time waiting around for your turn to board.
As a side note, there were several other cruise ships docked the day we were there. I recognized two Royal Caribbean ships (one was the Voyager) alongside the Emerald Princess. You can also check to see what ships will be docking on the day you arrive on this site.
After we left the station, we walked back to Plaça de la Porta de Pau square (where the Christopher Columbus monument stands). In hindsight it was a mistake, the walk from the docks wasn't that pleasant (big incline and no sights). It probably would have been better to catch a taxi from the docks to our first location (there were plenty of taxis at the dock at this time). There was also a bus that ran from the docks but we foolishly didn't look into it.
In the city there was plenty to do before our ship embarked. Metro stations are everywhere and there are many stops close enough to most major locations. The metro and city buses are from the same company, so tickets were interchangeable. Also, hop on/off tourist buses (Bus Turístic) ran routes around the city that went to the major sights for 20 euros for a day pass. Taxis were also quite reasonable and plentiful in the city. We ended up using the metros/buses and it was quite easy to use. See this link for more information on the metro and maps of the routes.
Here were some of the sights we went to:
* La Rambla - famous boulevard full of shops, markets and restaurants.
* Barcelona Harbour - also very scenic with shops and restaurants.
* Sagrada Família - beautiful historic church and an example of Gaudi architecture.
One of our goals on the trip was to eat local cuisine and we were looking forward to some good paella. Unfortunately, without some advice, we just ended up haphazardly picking a random restaurant, and the food was just okay. Maybe if someone knows of good restaurants in Barcelona they can post some comments.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Resources:
* Barcelona, Spain on Wikitravel
* Barcelona, Spain on Wikipedia
* Barcelona Metro
* Barcelona Bus Turístic
* porttime.com - shows which ships are sailing from each port
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Emerald Princess
Name: Emerald Princess
* Line: Princess Cruises
* Built: 2006-2007
* Passengers: 3070
* Crew: 1200
* Weight: 113,000 gross tons
* Length: 952 feet
The Emerald Princess was a fine ship. Like most cruise ships these days, it's massive. You really can't appreciate how big these behemoths are until you're standing beside it.
Like most cruise ships its size it has all the amenities of a floating resort:
* Pool
* 3 dining rooms, 2 specialty restaurants and 2 buffets
* Multiple bars/lounges
* Virtual golf and mini golf
* Exercise facilities and spas
* Theatre (for movies and live shows)
* Casino
* Internet access
* Much more...
The food was good, but not spectacular. Dining room cuisine was on par with an above average banquet meal. The buffets are open almost 24 hours and are adequate. As for specialty restaurants, we only went to Sabatini's (Italian cuisine) and it was actually quite good. You have to pay a $20 per person cover charge but it was worth it.
Internet access was painfully slow and expensive. We didn't want to sign up to one of the available packages because we only occasionally used the Internet to check emails. The pay-as-you-go plan was 75 cents a minute, which adds up quickly when you are waiting for pages to load.
The service was good. Staff were friendly but sometimes seemed overwhelmed by the amount of passengers (especially in the dining room and buffets).
The layout of the public areas on the ship seemed slightly off to us. I'm not sure what it was exactly but it seemed that some areas required you to go down a level then up again from a different area of the ship to access the same floor. This left us feeling a little disoriented sometimes and scratching our heads to figure out how to get to a specific area. Not a big deal but we don't seem to recall the same experience on the Radiance of the Seas from Royal Caribbean.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Other resources:
* Emerald Princess on Wikipedia
* Line: Princess Cruises
* Built: 2006-2007
* Passengers: 3070
* Crew: 1200
* Weight: 113,000 gross tons
* Length: 952 feet
The Emerald Princess was a fine ship. Like most cruise ships these days, it's massive. You really can't appreciate how big these behemoths are until you're standing beside it.
Like most cruise ships its size it has all the amenities of a floating resort:
* Pool
* 3 dining rooms, 2 specialty restaurants and 2 buffets
* Multiple bars/lounges
* Virtual golf and mini golf
* Exercise facilities and spas
* Theatre (for movies and live shows)
* Casino
* Internet access
* Much more...
The food was good, but not spectacular. Dining room cuisine was on par with an above average banquet meal. The buffets are open almost 24 hours and are adequate. As for specialty restaurants, we only went to Sabatini's (Italian cuisine) and it was actually quite good. You have to pay a $20 per person cover charge but it was worth it.
Internet access was painfully slow and expensive. We didn't want to sign up to one of the available packages because we only occasionally used the Internet to check emails. The pay-as-you-go plan was 75 cents a minute, which adds up quickly when you are waiting for pages to load.
The service was good. Staff were friendly but sometimes seemed overwhelmed by the amount of passengers (especially in the dining room and buffets).
The layout of the public areas on the ship seemed slightly off to us. I'm not sure what it was exactly but it seemed that some areas required you to go down a level then up again from a different area of the ship to access the same floor. This left us feeling a little disoriented sometimes and scratching our heads to figure out how to get to a specific area. Not a big deal but we don't seem to recall the same experience on the Radiance of the Seas from Royal Caribbean.
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Back to Mediterranean Cruise Guide.
Other resources:
* Emerald Princess on Wikipedia
Friday, June 13, 2008
Mediterranean Cruise Guide
* Note this is a work in progress, so I'll be updating and expanding these posts with more information. Check back regularly for updates!
My wife and I are celebrating our 5th year anniversary this year and we decided that we wanted to do something special. Back when we first got married we bantered around the idea of a Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon but decided against it because of the cost and time. We ended up going to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic instead (which was also very nice). Five years later, we finally booked a cruise to the Mediterranean through Princess Cruise Lines between May 23rd and June 6th 2008... and it was everything we thought it would be!
We had previous cruise experience before (a 10 day cruise to Hawaii with Royal Caribbean) and found that some of the excursions on the ship were rather pricey. Being newbies at the time, we booked all of our shore excursions from the ship and found that many of them were available ashore for a fraction of the price.
So this time around, we wanted to test the waters a little and try adventuring on our own in some of the ports. Unfortunately, there wasn't much coherent guides on the Internet that I could find that were specialized for cruisers, so we had to play a lot of it by ear. Time is the biggest restriction for cruisers at port. Most ports you get between 8-12 hours which includes travel time. And with the Mediterranean itinerary some of the ports are quite a distance away from the cities/locations of interest.
I'll post our experiences here from each port and maybe it could serve as an ad-hoc guide for anyone planning a similar cruise.
Cruise Itinerary (From Princess website)
Click on the links below for information on each location...
* Barcelona, Spain (Embarkation Port)
* Marseilles, France
* Livorno, Italy (Pisa and Florence)
* Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)
* Naples, Italy (Capri and Pompeii)
* Mykonos, Greece
* Istanbul, Turkey
* Kusadasi, Turkey
* Athens, Greece
* Venice, Italy (Disembarkation Port)
This was a great itinerary. We really liked all the ports that we stopped at and it contained all the ports on our wish list. Before the cruise, we were really unsure of what Turkey would be like but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Ship
* Emerald Princess
* Passengers: 3070
* Crew: 1300
* Weight: 113,000 gross tons
* Length: 952 feet
General Cruising Tips
* Coming soon!
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Resources:
* www.cruisecritic.com
* www.cruisemates.com
* www.cruisereviews.com
My wife and I are celebrating our 5th year anniversary this year and we decided that we wanted to do something special. Back when we first got married we bantered around the idea of a Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon but decided against it because of the cost and time. We ended up going to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic instead (which was also very nice). Five years later, we finally booked a cruise to the Mediterranean through Princess Cruise Lines between May 23rd and June 6th 2008... and it was everything we thought it would be!
We had previous cruise experience before (a 10 day cruise to Hawaii with Royal Caribbean) and found that some of the excursions on the ship were rather pricey. Being newbies at the time, we booked all of our shore excursions from the ship and found that many of them were available ashore for a fraction of the price.
So this time around, we wanted to test the waters a little and try adventuring on our own in some of the ports. Unfortunately, there wasn't much coherent guides on the Internet that I could find that were specialized for cruisers, so we had to play a lot of it by ear. Time is the biggest restriction for cruisers at port. Most ports you get between 8-12 hours which includes travel time. And with the Mediterranean itinerary some of the ports are quite a distance away from the cities/locations of interest.
I'll post our experiences here from each port and maybe it could serve as an ad-hoc guide for anyone planning a similar cruise.
Cruise Itinerary (From Princess website)
Click on the links below for information on each location...
* Barcelona, Spain (Embarkation Port)
* Marseilles, France
* Livorno, Italy (Pisa and Florence)
* Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)
* Naples, Italy (Capri and Pompeii)
* Mykonos, Greece
* Istanbul, Turkey
* Kusadasi, Turkey
* Athens, Greece
* Venice, Italy (Disembarkation Port)
This was a great itinerary. We really liked all the ports that we stopped at and it contained all the ports on our wish list. Before the cruise, we were really unsure of what Turkey would be like but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Ship
* Emerald Princess
* Passengers: 3070
* Crew: 1300
* Weight: 113,000 gross tons
* Length: 952 feet
General Cruising Tips
* Coming soon!
Please feel free to leave comments and helpful suggestions for other travelers.
Resources:
* www.cruisecritic.com
* www.cruisemates.com
* www.cruisereviews.com
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