PurpleTraveller

On my Alaska cruise in June internet cost USD20 a day (24 hours) if buying one day at a time. With my 50% discount it cost USD10. I don't know how much it costs if you buy for the entire cruise when on board. I can get my 50% discount when purchasing internet before the cruise when using the app.

Really hope that you don't get one of the bad mattresses. All the bad mattresses (and Princess would know where they are) need to be replaced immediately. There really is no excuse for leaving such terrible mattresses in use. Good luck and hope you have a great cruise!

In regard to 1) I was unfortunate to have one of the terrible saggy mattresses in E631 on Crown in June. When we spoke to our steward about how terribly uncomfortable the mattress was he told us that as there was already a mattress topper on it there was nothing else that could be done. I hope your mattress is better than ours, which was the most uncomfortable mattress we have ever had the misfortune to try to sleep on. Re 6) Afternoon Tea was held on each Sea Day in the Da Vinci Dining Room at 3.00pm. We lined up at about 2.45pm and we were about 30th in the line. A long line formed behind us and when we left there was still a long line of people waiting to get in. We found that Crown was in good condition. We had excellent service everywhere and particularly in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The food was good in the MDR at dinner and in the buffet for breakfast. We had a wonderful cruise. Hope you have a wonderful cruise! 🛳️

In Naples the ship docks and you simply walk off the ship. There would be no need to book a ship excursion to get priority to disembark. Cable car tickets are included in most of the ship excursions in Santorini and are given to you either at the end of the tour or when you leave the tour.

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful trip. I have enjoyed every moment! I will let you know about my extended Turkey trip next June and show you my photos of Pamukkale. Thanks for inspiring me! Allison

So very glad that you were able to get a new mattress. I was on Crown in June in a cabin on Emerald deck and had an atrocious mattress. You could see the sag just by looking at the bed and it was the most uncomfortable mattress I have ever tried to sleep on. We asked for something to be done but were told that a mattress topper was already on the mattress (making it a soft, lumpy, saggy, uncomfortable mattress) and nothing else could be done. I wrote at length about the terrible state of my mattress in my post cruise survey and also sent an email to Customer Feedback but have had no response. The mattresses on Crown need to be changed immediately.

On a recent thread of a review of an Infinity cruise the poster reported that he took the option of taking the Celebrity excursion bus back to the Athinios port rather than staying in Fira and taking the cable car or walking down the stairs. The relevant posts are on page 6 from post #128 to #134.

Thanks for this. We have walked from the Pantheon area to Termini but never with luggage. I'm hoping to do carry on only but may just wait until we are there to decide whether to walk or taxi.

Hi. When you went from your hotel to Termini to get the train did you walk or take a taxi? If you got a taxi was it easy to get one, how long did it take and how much did it cost? If you walked how long did it take? I am trying to plan for next June when we will be getting the train from Termini to Civitavecchia for our cruise. Thanks. Allison

It depends on where you are flying to. If you are flying out of Europe it is recommended to be there three hours before your flight. The queue for security can also be very long so plan to have plenty of time to get through.

I just wanted to let you know that I was so inspired by your time in Istanbul and Cappadocia that I have extended our trip to Istanbul before our Infinity cruise next June. We are now including Cappadocia as well as Gallipoli, Troy, Pergamon and Pamukkale. Thank you! Allison

When you get onto a tender may be of more concern than the length of the tender ride. What time is your ship arriving? Depending on your arrival time it will be important to plan to get your tender tickets as early as possible to get on one of the earliest tenders possible unless you have some sort of priority. After arrival it may take a short while for the tender services to start and you may have to wait to get on a tender. The tender ride is usually about 10 to 20 minutes long depending on how far the ship is moored from the dock.

Wow, just wow! What an amazing sight! Your photos are wonderful and I'm loving your trip report. Thank you.

John Bull has given some excellent advice as per usual. I am on the exact same itinerary but for June 25 next year. I always recommend looking at the ship shore excursions to get an idea of what is available to see and do in each port. Websites such as whatsinport can also be valuable sources of information. Also books either bought or borrowed can be helpful. You can also read previous reviews here and also search for specific ports. Once you have an idea of what you might like to do in each port you can then decide if you want to do ship shore excursions, private tours or DIY. Many if not all of the ports can be done independently. Some ports such as Livorno and Messina don't have a lot to see or do so most go further afield such as Florence, Pisa or the Cinque Terre from Livorno and Taormina or Mr Etna from Messina. Take into account the distances to travel to what it is that you would like to see and do. Decide what interests you most to narrow down what you would like to see and do. Don't feel obliged to do a big ticket item such as Pompeii for an example, if you have no interest whatsoever in Roman ruins. A trip to Capri or the Amalfi Coast may be more to your liking. Then you can ask more specific questions about a particular port or activity.

At least it was on the same side of the Pacific Ocean. For my December cruise to New Zealand from Sydney we all got an itinerary change email that we would be late arriving in Vancouver! 😂 Fortunately the next itinerary change email that was received the following day was changing an actual port in New Zealand and apologising for the previous days email.

Oh, thank you so much for showing us your boat cruise. I had vaguely considered a cruise but after seeing how reasonable the cost was and seeing your wonderful photos, a cruise is definitely on the must do list for our Istanbul trip next year. Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Gorgeous photo of you! Thanks for giving us such great detail of your trip. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading of your travels.

When researching for my Santorini port stop for June 2024 I found this helpful website for the Santorini Old Port with information, photos and prices. https://www.santoriniport.com/ I am not sure how often the website is updated for prices but the other information about the facilities would be the same.

The cable car or path is the only way down from Fira to the old port to get the ship tenders. If you get a tender to the old port and do not wish to go up to Fira or get a boat to Oia there is very little to see or do in the immediate area of the old port. This is a link to the website for the old port of Santorini https://www.santoriniport.com/ which has information about the old port.

Firstly I would do some research both online with websites such as whatsinport and perhaps buying a book. Also look at the shore excursions available to book through your cruiseline to get some idea of what you might like to see or do in each port. You will have to decide whether you want to DIY or do ship shore excursions or private tours. Planning ahead will ensure that you get to see and do what you want in each port. In Valletta it is very easy to get off the ship and explore Valletta which is a beautiful city. The St John's co-cathedral is magnificent and there is lots to see and do in the city. In Naples there is lots to see and do in the city itself and you dock in the city. You could consider going to Pompeii, Capri or the Amalfi Coast on some type of tour either with the ship or private. You can DIY to Pompeii by train or to Capri by ferry. Livorno does not have a lot to do or see and Florence is about 90 minutes from the port. You can do a tour of some type to Florence, Pisa or Cinque Terre from Livorno or DIY on the train. Rome is about an hour from the port at Civitavecchia. You can DIY to Rome on the train or take a tour to Rome. You will need to prioritise what you want to see and do in Rome as there is so much that you won't be able to see it all in one day but you will be able to see a lot. There is not a lot to do in Messina itself though it is a short walk from the dock to the cathedral area. You may want to do a tour to Taormina, Mt Etna or perhaps to a couple of towns where the Godfather movies were filmed. I would recommend spending a few days in Barcelona either before or after your cruise. Barcelona is a great city to visit with lots to see and do. Spending time before the cruise will also allow you to recover from any jetlag. Most importantly have a wonderful cruise! 🛳️

Great to see another trip review from you! I'll be spending four days in Istanbul next June before flying to Athens for a Celebrity cruise, so I'll be following closely to see what you do. I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum many many years ago and can't remember a lot but recently went to the Museum of Flight in Seattle and spent more than six hours there and still didn't see it all. Looking forward to reading about your trip. 😊

I really hope your bed is good, particularly for a 31 day cruise! Usually Princess beds are very comfortable but we were so pleased to get off the ship and sleep in a bed in our hotel after only 11 days. Hope you have a great cruise! 🛳️

So sorry to read this! Hope you recover soon. Take care.

I was on Crown for the June 2 cruise from Vancouver. I was in E631 and had the most uncomfortable, saggy and horrible bed I have ever slept in. The two mattresses that were pushed together to make a queen bed were completely worn out with large sags in them. A mattress topper had been placed over the mattresses but all that achieved were very soft saggy mattresses. There was a hump in the middle of the bed where the two mattresses met. Our steward told us there was nothing else that he could do to make it more comfortable. When I emailed Princess with my complaint about the terrible state of our bed and an itinerary change, Princess did not even mention the state of the bed in their reply. On my review of the cruise a number of people have commented that they have also had worn out mattresses, particularly on Emerald deck. Fortunately others reported that their beds were fine. You can see the sags in the bed from the photo I took when we first entered our cabin. I thought the rest of the ship was in good condition.

It is dependent on where you are, the terms of your existing booking and the terms of the new price. Many times the new price or promotion will be for new bookings only so Princess will not re-fare and require you to cancel your existing booking and then rebook to get the new price or promotion. Any existing reservations such as excursions will be cancelled and you will need to rebook them. The excursion price may have gone up since you booked originally, there may be currency conversion loss or gain (it often seems to be a loss and rarely a gain) or they could be sold out. Sometimes you can not rebook the same cabin (this happened to me when the cabin category was changed to guarantee bookings only between my original booking and rebooking). Always check all the different components of your existing booking including promotional OBC which you may lose, any cancellation costs, current price of any excursions you have booked and whether you can rebook the same cabin before you cancel an existing booking.