pppatpc2

This was our favorite itinerary, but boy were we tired. We took the Amalfi bus trip out of Naples and it was spectacular! If you go, try to sit on the right side of the bus as all the scenery is on that side. We also took the Ephesus tour and loved it (both from Princess). Also the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Bosphorus cruise trip from Princess. Venice is a terrific place to wander on your own, we bought tickets for St. Mark's online before we left which allowed us to skip the line. We did Athens on our own, but were sorry we did. Public transportation is not close to the port and hard to find, then you have to climb the streets to the Acropolis (ugh!). We took the Princess transportation to Florence and did the sights on our own, once again purchasing museum passes online in advance lets you skip the lines. Very walkable. Mykonos, like someone else said, is right there for the exploring. You can't go wrong no matter what you choose. We met people on this cruise that did the same itinerary two years later because they couldn't choose between the excursions. Congratulations on your 30 years!

Does anyone know, if you have the beverage package and want a drink that's more than $10, can you pay the difference like you can with the wine bottle package?

To get the credit do you call your travel agent, or Princess directly?

We are on the Diamond Princess in January out of Sydney and had been looking at airfares which were running no lower than $2500 pp. One day early summer, Princess had an airfare sale and we snagged two roundtrips from Orlando for a little under $1600 pp on EZair with only one stop there and two back (because we end in Auckland and have to go back to Sydney). Now to get anything under $3000 you really are looking at 48 hour travel times. This is our first time booking with them, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I like Princess meatloaf. :p The Mac and Cheese was dolled up with shrimp, I think it was, and bacon. I tasted DH's and was underwhelmed. The stuff didn't last long on the menu. It was at the same time they introduced the MDR burgers (which was also cause for outrage at the time.) I think people have gotten over it. ;) It was just funny to me, at the time, that people got so worked up over the new dishes. Princess did not institute a policy where one must order the food or be shot on the spot. That's still the case, I think. ;) In any case, a new menu can be a revolution starter.

We were on a Mediterranean cruise and met a wonderful couple from England. We usually ate with them every night but one night decided on splurging on the Crown Grill. Afterward we met them in the show lounge and the man came running up to us saying they had the most wonderful thing for dinner, it was called Meat (pause) Loaf. He said "I've never had it before, but I shall be having it again." One of our favorite memories at sea.

So relieved! I've always said my idea of "roughing it" was no chocolate on my pillow. ;)

I usually take a driver's license, some cash and a credit card. My husband takes the same, but a different credit card. In ports that are not in the caribbean we also take photo copies of our passports although some ports require you to take your actual passport. We always leave our passports in the safe unless required by the country you are visiting. And of course... the cruise card.

We have taken so many port-intensive cruises, that it is always so hard to make it to everything the ship has to offer. I have checked off the pub lunch and the MUTS from my Princess bucket list. You have convinced me that "tea" is next.

We found on our upcoming cruise in January, the excursions were actually available about a week before the usual 120 days. So if you have your heart set on something, check in a little early to see. The other nice thing about the Princess excursions is, because you don't have to pay for them until the day you go, if you miss a port due to weather (or something else) you aren't out the money.

For my two cents, I think you can see so much more (and more conveniently) on a cruise and try to avoid land tours at all costs. We will be on the Diamond for the Sydney to Auckland trip. This will be our 4th bucket list trip and always do 5 days on the front end to experience a city and get over jet lag, Princess cruise in the middle, and two days on the end. This minimizes packing/unpacking and gives you the flavor of many different spots. It saves so much time to know that you are being comfortably entertained, fed and are able to sleep while being transported to a new destination. Also, the more you travel on a cruise the more likely you are to stop places that would not be on a land tour ("throw-in ports") which have become several of our favorite memories.

We always book through a TA and the guarantee price is always about $100-$150 cheaper than if you pick any cabin, even the worst one (interior).

We had the exact same situation when our kids were the exact same ages on an Alaskan cruise on RCL. We inquired ahead of time and at the time they said that if we were adamant about it they could both be in the group that was the younger group. (I don't know if this is still an option, or if it is ever an option on Princess) Long story short, the first night they both went to their respective groups and did so for the whole trip, they even skipped dessert because our seating would make them late for the kid program if they had dessert. At those ages however, there were many activities where they combined the two age groups because the activities were suitable for everyone. I think you will be surprised how quickly they become comfortable. Our problem was more getting them to leave the kids club at night.

We have booked the guarantee inside every time and although we have not been dissapointed. They usually give us something very nice. The savings usually are enough to at least buy a wine package or nice excursion.

We are on the same itinerary for Jan 10th. This is our fourth bucket list trip and our first "down under". I cannot comment on these places since we have not been there, however, we do a lot of research on what can be done on our own to save money in each port. As previous posters have said, it all comes down to your personal interest. We like to always see something you can't see elsewhere and as we are from Chicago, our first choice is the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Hobart. We are not much into history and chose to only do the Sanctuary as it was slightly cheaper than the combo tour and leaves us time to explore the local culture of Hobart which is always our favorite thing to do in any port. Get a drink and/or snack and walk among the locals. BTW being so far from home, we always take the ship's tours rather than private. We also like the structure of the ship's tours, as sometimes on a small private tour sometimes you get talked into something that you wouldn't have signed on for, or miss something you wanted to do.

We also signed on for the Akaroa Harbor Cruise (little dolphins!) and the

Wai-o-tapu Valley & Rainbow Springs trip is our splurge. For the scenery and the culture. We chose to skip the Trans-Alpine train because of the cost and the length. I'm sure the scenery is beautiful, but we looked at the You-tube video and it seemed like it would get a little boring for our taste. Once we did the White Pass railroad tour in Alaska, and it was gorgeous, but then we had to turn the train around and do the same in reverse. It was a little too long, especially for the kids.

As I said we won't be there until January, but I can post here when we get back, if you'd like. Regardless, you will enjoy cruising, it's addictive!!!

It was not offered on the 5 day Caribbean Princess in February :(.

I don't suppose Princess has come out with ship Christmas ornaments yet? Last time I bought a key chain, removed the "chain" part and tied on a bow. Not quite the same.:p I have an ornament of all the other ships I have been on.

I also collect Christmas ornaments and a few times I have found Princess ship ornaments in gift shops in port.

OMG! Martini recipe playing cards! I hope they still sell them. Three of my favorite things-playing cards, recipes, and drinking. LOL

My favorite souvenier is my Princess water bottle I won playing trivia with a people we met on the Grand Asia sailing. The couple we played with have become very dear friends.

The advantage of two cabins? TWO BATHROOMS!!!! When our kids were little, the four of us shared an inside cabin to Alaska. It was a great time, but there were tense moments. Put one adult in each cabin and if the adults need alone time remember there is always the schedule kid program.

I agree about the patch. We had terrible seas outside of Barcelona, on the way to Monaco. The seas were splashing our balcony on the Baja deck, but I wasn't queasy at all. You didn't say how old your daughter is, and I don't know if they are safe for children. On an Alaskan cruise my son was seasick and we got him the pressure wristbands in the gift shop, which did the trick.

Happy sailings!

Great thing, IMHO, about Princess is the service. So if you go to dinner and you don't like what you have ordered, ask nicely and they will happily bring you something else. That being said, my DH and I are big foodies and have disliked very few things on Princess. One thing I avoid are the steaks, because they cannot have an open flame on the ship they cook them on grill pans and I just don't like the flavor, but the prime rib is good. They do the comfort foods very well-oxtail pasta, short ribs, lamb shanks, etc.

As others have said "not Seabourne", but if that is not your expectation, you will not be dissapointed.

As for clothing, you can dress as you like, but you will be limited to where you eat. No shorts in the dining room at dinner, etc. I always bring a few pairs of black slacks and some tops made of the travel knit material, throw in some layers or different jewelery and you can make it look like a bunch of different outfits. My DH always orders one of the tuxs available from Princess online to be delivered to the cabin. We enjoy formal night. There is usually laundry on board as well. You will find on a long voyage like that one there are alot of seasoned travelers who are like minded and do not like to bring alot of baggage.

Our tour ended in Bangkok, and a nice lady we met on the roll call arranged for reasonable group transport back to the city. We had some hotel points and spent a few days on our own in Bangkok. The Grand Palace is a must-see. Another couple we met on the ship rented a long boat to cruise the canals and invited us along, it was a good way to see some things because it was so hot. We also took public transit to the Dusit zoo which was interesting, large (monitor?) lizards walking around free and swimming in the ponds. Lots of great things to see in Bangkok, but Grand Palace is #1.

We were on the Diamond Grand Asia in April 2013, so not exactly the same, but for what it's worth here's my two cents.

Nagasaki- very doable on your own, the ship docks right in the middle of town. Saw the Glover Garden, very nice, but they don't take credit or US$, got local currency from the 7-Eleven ATM

We missed Shanghai due to weather, but got two days in Hong Kong instead of one. We spent one day on the Kowloon side and one day on the Hong Kong Island side both on our own. Both days transportation to the harbor was provided by Princess, one day by tender, one day by bus. Hong Kong Island side is much more Americanized. We walked to the Man Mo Temple and then took the multi-level escalators up to where you can catch the tram to the top of Victoria Peak. The escalators are unbelievable, lots of nice places to eat on the way up. Kowloon side was a very different experience, very fancy at the harbor, as you walk toward the jade market/ladies market it gets very "authentic". Great experience.

We did the seafood market tour in Busan, which was terrific. Also took ship tours in Nha trang and Phu My but did not go into Ho Chi min (too far on the bus) took the Vung Tau trip instead. Our trip ended in Bangkok, but the city is far from the port.

Singapore we did on our own. Transit system may be the best I've ever seen (just remember no gum). We went to the Orchid garden, Marina Sands, and walked around the harbor area. Just terrific.

It's all fun, just very different cultures. Have a great trip!

Oxtail pasta in the MDR and the sea bass ceviche in Vines.:o

We always go right to Vines and sign up, sometimes they have to page the wine manager to get on the list, but they happily show up. It is not widely known or advertised yet, so most times it doesn't usually fill up quickly, but I don't get it. If you are a wine lover, it is one of the biggest bargains on the ship. We love it because they are informative, but not snobby. I learned more from Alan, the wine manager on the Ruby, than any wine tasting I've ever been to and he didn't drone on while you are staring at your glass hoping for a sip. They did have a couple on the 5 day western caribbean in February.

Stammtisch is very limited, but very good. $15 per person at Vines, you should sign up as soon as you get on, if you are interested. Last cruise I was on they had an Old World and a New World version. It is usually 10-12 passengers and they hold it at a large high-top in Vines. The wines are accompanied by individual plates at each setting, loaded with prosciutto, dried fruits, nice cheeses, etc. They usually instruct you as to what wine goes with which thing on your plate. There were four wines at each event and they were better quality and more generous pours than the one in the dining room. (The Maitre' D one will usually have one higher priced wine, but you'll be lucky if they give you enough to actually taste it, plus that tasting is $25) I highly recommend it, the intimate setting, makes a good opportunity to make new friends.