KimberlyC

Thank you. Were there 2 formal nights? I can tell from the app that as anticipated the first at sea night will be a formal night. I know the port days are all going to be casual because it notes casual portraits taking place on the itinerary, but there’s no mention of the type of photos being taken on the last at sea night before disembarkation or whether it will be casual or formal so I’m trying to plan my packing and have no idea. Most seven night cruise have two formal nights, primarily on sea days, but rarely the night before disembarkation so I’m at a loss and the dissemination of information from Princess is quite honestly pretty poor.

Fabulous review and photos. Thank you. I’m booked on the last 7 day Mediterranean sailing from Athens to Barcelona 9/7-9/14 before the ship transitions. It’s my first cruise on Princess and so far there have been a few little hiccups including a port change and inability to book dining reservations for any decent time. I spoke with a supervisor who said they are having system issues even though sailings before 9/14 and all Sun sailings shouldn’t be affected by the system upgrades. So I’m wondering, were there long wait times for Main Dining on Deck 7 without reservations? Also were there 2 formal nights? We have 2 sea days and I assumed they would both be formal nights, but I’ve not sailed Princess before. TIA

Fabulous review and photos. Thank you. I’m booked on the last 7 day Mediterranean sailing from Athens to Barcelona 9/7-9/14. First cruise on Princess and so far there have been a few hiccups including a port change and inability to book dining reservations for any decent time. I spoke with a supervisor who said they are having system issues even though sailings before 9/14 and all Sun sailings shouldn’t be affected by the system upgrades. So I’m wondering, were there long wait times for Main Dining on Deck 7? Also were there 2 formal nights? We have 2 sea days and I assumed they would both be formal nights, but I’ve not sailed Princess before. TIA

Thank you for the advice. We opted for a private tour in Sicily, but reserved an automatic convertible in Corfu for the 4 of us who prefer that option. Only half our group can drive a manual and sadly I never learned to do so. I’m heading to AAA to get my international driver’s license just in case.

Thank you for the advice. I agree private tours are usually the best way to go. I will never do another ship tour ever again since I was once herded like cattle onto a bus in Naples, Italy after enjoying private tours in Rome and Florence. The experiences were night and day. For Messina, we ended up hiring a tour guide/driver with a van who will also arrange for us to go via small boat to Isola Bella for 900€. It was half that without the 2 hour boat portion but we decided the boat tour sounded like a great addition. We will leave driving ourselves to Corfu which is so small it will be hard to get lost. I’ve never driven abroad before but 2 of my companions have. We were able to reserve a convertible rental car for the 4 of us who are comfortable with that while the other couple chose a private tour.

Our group of 3 adult couples will be in Messina on September 11th (a Wednesday) and I see there are a few rental car companies close to port that should be open during the week. I’m comfortable renting a car in Corfu, but iffy renting one or 2 cars in Messina. We have no idea if we want to go to Taormina or Etna etc yet, so booking a private tour at this point seems premature. I definitely don’t want to do the ships tours because being herded like cattle onto a bus is not my idea of a good time. Has anybody rented a car at the Port of Messina for a day? How crazy is driving in Sicily, really? How hard is it to find parking in places like Toarmina or Casteloma? Is this a bad idea and should we just hire a private driver? Thanks!

Bar was just confirmed for the final September 7th sailing. There are NO excursions listed yet. Last week there were 30 excursions for Kotor. My group of 6 will be driving to Kotor killing nearly 4 hours to commute but I have no desire to see Stari Bar. 😔

I think for some people it’s the principle of it. As consumers we have a choice of which cruise line we choose to vacation with. When ports are missed due to weather or issues out of a cruise line’s control that’s unfortunate but understandable. However, when it’s an intentional bait and switch and a cruise line refuses to update the itinerary so that passengers won’t cancel, that’s just wrong. Many people choose specific cruises based on the advertised itinerary. While half of my group haven’t been to any of the ports on the itinerary we selected, I’ve been to over half of them already and Kotor was a big selling point. It was the port I wanted to see the most and on the specific date we will be there (my 50th birthday) so I selected this cruise for that reason. I’m not canceling for the reasons previously stated, but if this was a solo cruise I probably would have. Instead my group will be wasting 4 hours commuting round trip to spend 5ish hours in Kotor during the 11 hours we are in port. Come hell or high water, I intend to see the Blue Caves.

I don’t blame you. If this wasn’t a trip coordinated with others for a specific date for a special celebration I would probably do the same. It really is leaving a bad taste in my mouth particularly since I called Princess excursions last week after a local Kotor tour operator declined a private tour saying the ship would dock in Bar instead. That’s how I found out first and then I came to the boards seeking confirmation. The Princess rep put me on hold to talk to his manager when I said “look the locals are saying the ship will not dock in Kotor but the app is saying Kotor and you have 30 Kotor excursions listed so just tell me what’s going on please.” He came back and INSISTED that the ship would go to Kotor. I’m fairly certain that was a bold faced lie.

Thank you!

I asked a cruiser currently on the June 8th Sun sailing when Princess notified them of the change from Kotor to Bar and was told April 28th. So just shy of 6 weeks notice. I suspect each and every sailing will be switched from Kotor to Bar but Princess will NOT say so until after final payments are due. I called and asked but Princess excursions insisted the ship was going to Kotor. I don’t believe it! I have a backup plan in place but it sucks we will lose 4 hours commuting to/from Bar to Kotor plus the expense of it. To me this is an intentional bait and switch. I’m not cancelling the cruise because we have 3 couples cruising for my big birthday celebration but this is my first time sailing Princess and so far I’m not impressed with what clearly appears to be some shady shenanigans.

Oh I believe it’s intentional. I’m sailing the Sun Princess last cruise out of Athens on September 7th. I tried to book a private excursion because that’s my birthday and the local tour operator declined, saying Princess has been skipping the port. I called Princess excursions this morning and they insist the port is Kotor. They have 30 excursions on the Princess app to choose from, but at this point I’m not believing it. We just made final payment and this is absolutely a bait and switch. 🤬

Happy Cruising! I’m on the September 7th sailing. Would you be so kind to advise when Princess notified you of the port change from Kotor to Bar, Montenegro? Our Itinerary is still scheduled to arrive in Kotor on my actual birthday, but I was trying to book a private excursion when the local tour operator said that Princess has been switching the port to Bar (2 hours away). I called Princess this morning and they insist it’s still Kotor but from what I’ve read here there were last-minute switches on the April and May sailings. I’m trying to gauge how much notice we will get IF they switch. Thanks!