Booboochase

On 9/18/2023 at 9:41 PM, Senga said:

Xcite (not Static), from Trinidad & Tobago, were fantastic and it was the only entertainment we went to consistently.  They are on until mid October and are definitely worth your time.  We really enjoyed Rock Opera.  Went to listen to AJ one night; we couldn't see what the attraction was but, as they say, each to their own.

Agree - besides the Irish singers, Xcite was the only music we really enjoyed. How about the two comedians 😱 so disappointing.

Love these pictures! We are doing this excursion and it sounds wonderful! 

Fabulous pictures of the monkeys - we won't see them on our tour and now I wish we were.  Bit scary to hear about the covid uptick - there is definitely one here also.  I know it's a part of life now - but still concerning when traveling. 

This looks like an amazing itinerary! We leave in less than 3 weeks for our first Med cruise.  I too have a heavy camera with lenses and searched high and low for the perfect bag that wasn't too large and also anti-theft.  That Sony looks like a nice camera. Makes me wonder if I should be taking a more compact one! 

Looking forward to your review!

6 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

There's a Visa gift card and a Visa prepaid card. 

 

Visa gift cards cannot be used at ATMs because of money laundering concerns.  People who wanted to wash money could by a bunch of Visa gift cards and withdraw the cash from an ATM.  No identity attached to the card, so tracing the source money would be hard.

 

A Visa prepaid card can be used at ATMs.  There is an identity attached to the card and the card can be reloaded.  The account holder is loading money on to the card.  If there was any suspicion of money laundering, an institution/law enforcement can freeze the card and go after the account holder.

Thank you SCX22 for clarifying!! Appreciate it!

7 hours ago, peagreenid said:

We opened a separate checking account with debit cards through USAA.  We have a separate bank account for our home.  We never use our home checking account for pulling money out at a foreign ATM. I don't want our home funds lost  should someone have a skimmer placed etc.   We deposit money in the USAA account we are going to travel and then that is the Debit card we use at the ATM.  We have a 1% foreign transaction fee which I feel is pretty nominal plus the transaction fee for using a bank outside of my network.  Several years ago we traveled with a lot of folks on a cruise and several pre-ordered Euros for an exorbitant price.  We withdrew Euro's from an ATM in Barcelona for $1.08 plus the 1% fee. 

I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread and we have been operating this way for travel since.  

Great idea.  Definitely worried about using our main account to withdraw funds at an airport. Wondering how it would work purchasing a visa gift card prior to travel, and then withdrawing funds at (Athens or Rome) Airport? Has anyone tried this?

Hello fellow upstate'er! We are on the Enchanted Sept. 2 for two weeks, Athens to Rome.  First time Med cruise, first time Princess! We have many early excursions scheduled, how is it getting off the ship for them? How were those long flights?! We did book through EZ air, and have a stop in Rome on the way after JFK. Thanks for sharing your experiences!! 

15 hours ago, lion48 said:

Just discovered your reviews here, thanks for all the information.

 

Will be doing this cruise in September  2nd for 14 nights , cant wait to get away especially as its now winter in Australia .

Same cruise! First Med cruise, and happy to be following this!

1 hour ago, Torfamm said:

There are many options in some of the port cities that are walkable. The ports of call boards might be helpful, it all depends on your interests. When you say you don’t want an excursion do you mean you want to only stay in the port area? Would walking tours appeal to you?

 

As examples- Barcelona has many sights that you can see on your own but you might need a taxi unless you are up to a longer walk. Naples has the underground Naples tour that is close to the port and very interesting and there are also many restaurants and sights near the port. Kotor is a lovely place to walk around as is Mykonos, where you can easily take a bus or water taxi to Mykonos town. It’s also easy to enjoy a walk and a meal in Heraklion. Istanbul’s port is right in the city as well. 

Thank you! I truly appreciate the advice given by everyone.

1 minute ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

@Steelers36 is spot on!  Great suggestions.  I’ll add Gibraltar…get on your roll call and see if others, maybe 6 of you or 8 can do a taxi tour of the Rock.  It’s perfect, you see everything.  Walking around town, would not show you anything.

We used this taxi company. Great tour.

http://www.gibraltartaxiassociation.com/
 

 

Fantastic!! Thank you!!!

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I just looked at itinerary and it aligns well with part of what we did last October.

 

I would strongly state you are selling yourself short to simply expect to walk off ship and see things worthwhile, or be able to do the best things available. 

 

I would strongly suggest you find your Roll Call for these voyages and see what others are doing and perhaps join in with something.

 

 

Here is my port-by-port take on it:

 

ATHENS -  You should arrive early anyway, but could do the Acropolis area, but also walk the neighborhoods like Plaka .  Athens is a ways from the port, so I would say this is important and I would likely plan two days there.

 

SANTORINI - A beautiful island that requires a tender and then a cable car ride to get to the top of the cliff and Fira town.  But you really ought to see the island and AT LEAST get to Oia.  We had a small group local guide and it was great.  We saw a couple of beaches and had a nice lunch, etc.  Wish I had more time for Oia.  If you just want to go there on own, then get a taxi there and back.

 

KOTOR - This is another tender/shuttle port and the town is in a gorgeous setting.  You really want to see the sail-out at end of day.  We had two stops there and one we had a small group guide to Perast and that was enjoyable.  That said, once the tender drops you off at Kotor town, you can take in that town nicely without heading off elsewhere.  You would really need a second port stop to make something of the extra trip.

 

MESSINA - We had multiple stops in Messina. The town is small and the dock is about the most accessible place you could imagine.  However, there isn't much in Messina at all.  You have to get out to the countryside.  You can visit Godfather towns, Mt Etna, or a real highlight is to get to Taormina.  If you have only one stop there, get yourself to Taormina and you can walk the village from one end to the other and then return to the port.  A small group tour would let you see more on the way, but your call.

 

NAPLES - I think this is pretty universally thought of as a poor city to visit.  You really need to get out of there and head to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, or a ferry trip and day in Capri.  I just could not imagine staying in Naples and not doing one of those three things if never done any of them.  I would have recommendations for both Amalfi Coast guide and Capri.

 

BARCELONA - We have only been there once as a port stop/turnaround day like you.  We had tickets for the Sagrada Familia (quite the experience for sure) and we walked around part of the city.  You need transportation from/to the port.

 

GIBRALTOR - Not been, but you could read up on other CC member trip reports.

 

MARSEILLES - Again, there is nothing of interest near/around the port.  You need to get out into the countryside. Perfect change to explore around parts of Provence and the Luberon.  

 

GENOA - Have been to Genoa on a land trip, but I don't recall us doing much in the city itself.  Lots of history there no doubt.  Don't have any recollection of specific recommendations.  If you can get to Positano, that would be worthwhile.

 

LIVORNO - You don't want to stay in this city.  It's about 1.25 hrs to center of Florence (Duomo) and the museums nearby.  So you do have 2.5 hrs at least road travel, but Florence is an amazing place.  You just need to be careful how much you can fit in and book museum tickets ahead of time.  Another option is the Cinque Terre villages, which we did last Fall with a small group tour.  This really pays off because our guide was so good at timing things, we got to everything and timing with the ferries was great.  Typically, driver drops you off in Riomaggiore and you travel by foot and ferry up to Monterosso, where driver picks you up again and returns to port.  It is longer by road, but you can easily cover the villages in the day with a smart guide.

 

 

Please don't sell this trip short by not exploring highlights and famous places.

 

Oh most definitely - we just wondered about perhaps not doing an excursion per se at each port.  Thank you so much for this information, I will be printing this out!! It is greatly appreciated!! 

On 5/28/2023 at 2:56 PM, sminkoff said:

We just got off the Enchanted Princess after a two week cruise beginning in Rome and ending in Barcelona.  The cruise was unusual as people got on and off every Saturday, but around one-half of the people stayed on for another week or two.  This resulted in some of the entertainment being repeated (including cruise director jokes verbatem).  Overall we were very pleased with the cruise.  Ship was in great condition, staff treated us really well, and food in the dining room was very good.  After this cruise I don't think there need be any more discussion of the dining room dress policy; nothing was enforced even on formal nights.  Shorts, jeans, flip flops and t-shirts were very common.  This doesn't bother us, but realistically one would think Princess would either change or enforce the rules.

Hello! Husband and I have been debating whether to take this cruise in September - have done many cruises but would be first time Princess and first time Med.  Ours would start in Athens and two weeks later end in Rome.  Did you love the ports? Were there any where you were able to just walk off the ship and walk around to sightsee, get food etc instead of doing an excursion? Thank you for any insight!!

oooooo I see cards against humanity - so hilarious!!  And must be all the snow really is staying east - I am southeast of Rochester and we only have a couple inches so far.

Yes I'm sure there are more flights available if I don't book straight from Rochester NY and just get to JFK on a separate booking.  Something to consider for sure.  

There were a couple different choices going through Philly or Chicago rather than JFK which were a few hundred more - the one in Philly was a 40 minute layover.  I was weighing price vs layover madness ha.  On the way back there is just under 4 hours at JFK. 

Thank you all for your information it is greatly appreciated! 

I know it's crazy long - trying to avoid 2 stops and the other few 1 stop's are a lot pricier.  How do I get to that? Thank you!!

Hi - considering Med cruise on Enchanted in Sept - I was looking for advice/opinion on a couple things please!

We would have about a 10 hour layover at JFK to Athens - I know it would be brutal, but is it something we should absolutely not do? It would be an evening flight, wondering if it that creates much more of a delay possibility?

Also, any advice on ITA airways? This would be from Rome back to JFK for first leg.  And, to upgrade to premium would be about 350 pp. 

Apologies if these things have been covered many times! Thank you for any input!

Ours would be in September.  Family going has booked two weeks! Athens to Rome. We are still all over the place with which week to book or to even book!  Two weeks seems like it's pretty ambitious  😄

3 hours ago, buckeye7 said:

We are booked on the Enchanted for the Barcelona to Rome trip. We have a mini suite on Caribe, midship, and one of the ones with an extended, angled balcony. Of course we haven’t seen it yet, but people say it makes the balcony large enough to enjoy. I like that it’s midship and a lower balcony. Check out the deck plans and you’ll see the ones with the extended balconies. 

Have you done a Med cruise? We have only ever done Caribbean so this is entirely new and a bit overwhelming trying to decide if we want to travel that far and the planning involved.  On the other hand, a great opportunity to cruise with family who are booked.

Sea Hag, these cabins sound amazing!! I don't recall seeing these available though, no surprise.  I did see a forward cabin with a larger balcony, I don't recall if it was a mini or a balcony but it said you can't utilize the balcony when the ship is moving due to wind.  I wonder if that should be a deal breaker? 

1 minute ago, Buckeye10640 said:

I have been on Enchanted twice and she is a great ship, as well as one of the newest ships.  If the pricing is similar, you have the freedom to take the 14 day cruise, and you have no distinct preference on ports.....I would go with the longer cruise!

Sorry - I am totally hijacking this thread! Have you done any Med cruises on Enchanted? Be our first time if we take the plunge - Either 1 week Athens to Barcelona, or the next week Barcelona to Rome, or the full two weeks - so unsure! Family is going, this is why we are considering.  Thank you for any advice!

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

If I were shopping for myself, I'd give the nod to the Enchanted since it has our favorite cabin type, the M6 minis on Marina. 

New to Princess - may book Enchanted Med cruise, can you tell me why mini suite on Marina? Thank you!!

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I will happily sacrifice an hour of my time to ensure the crew has some training...but I'm afraid I may go full Karen if the crew tries to shush me or funnel me into an area before the actual presentation begins. Tony's video (as mentioned above) definitely does not seem to bode well for the experience. But, I'm sure all will be well and I'll be having a yummy dinner not too long after the drill. I'll just think of shrimp and filet. We can survive this people! 

HAHA!! I am pretty much guaranteed to get a kick out of your posts, so thank you!  We were just on Escape, ultra full muster in Manhattan Room, waiting forever for those who chose to arrive whenever they darn well felt like it.  How about if they force us to do this, they have us report to our station as soon as we get onboard, get our card scanned, watch someone do the life jacket routine (not saying it's not important) and be on our way?  nvm...just a silly thought.

43 minutes ago, SunshineGal2022 said:

I’ll have to check them out!  

 

I hope your DH recovers quickly. 

Thank you so much! Also - it's shore excursions group dot com - sorry, I forgot that part! I have post cruise brain!

Regarding the excursion to JVD - it was the bus driver on Tortola, not affiliated with Shore Excursions, however, I did email them to let them know.  She was passing on curves with traffic coming. It was BAD.

17 minutes ago, big al said:

What outside agency did you use to get to JVD? "The Escape to JVD" is still not available on the NCL site for my Escape cruise in Dec...just want a back up in case...and how much $$ was the excursion? Thanks!

 

Big Al

We used Shore Excursions dot com, saw them recommended on another thread - it was $139 pp I believe? Part of it was a ferry ride.  Myself and another person were quasi begging the guy who drove the Rebel Yell from the NCL excursion to take us back with them!