barb67

I just think it is cruel and unnecessary suffering for the animals. The donkey owners should know better.

I think the tourist was a German lady actually.

I agree with post #2 in this thread regarding the stairs. We walked down them a few years ago and it was a very unpleasant experience. The steps are smelly, dirty and slippery and the donkeys are overloaded with building materials if they are not carrying tourists. There have been accidents and certainly one fatality (an American tourist I think) in the last few years. The donkeys are not well looked after, google Santorini donkeys. IMHO Santorini is somewhere that has suffered hugely from mass tourism and unless I joined a tour that avoided Fira altogether, I would stay on board and enjoy the views from the ship.

I found this thread earlier and have read it with interest as I will be a 1st time cruiser with Princess later this year. We have done about 16 previous cruises with other lines. First I would say to the OP, good on you, go on your cruise and enjoy it. We have booked the Plus package for our cruise (14n) as we like to be able to have a drink whenever we like without thinking about the cost. Wifi for 1 device each is fine for us. We will definitely book 1 or 2 speciality meals as we have on previous cruises. When we first started cruising in 2007, there was only a wine package (3,5 or 7bottles) available and our bar bill at the end of the cruise....well, we were a bit surprised😳. As I understand it, the 15 drink limit is all drinks inc coffee, water, soft drinks, so not a bad deal I think. I think for us the plus package will be cost effective.