Hi from Star Princess in Livorno right now!

We are loving it. This is perfect. We did Monaco on our own and LOVED it . More details when we get home. We did the Lucca tour and ditched the tour at the end and rode bikes on the rampart walls. so much fun. We are very much at ease even on our first cruise and being very active early 50 year olds. It is just what I hoped so far. Any questions and I will respond later in the week or when we get home. Oh and the weather is perfect. Lobster thermador best I ever had and go for the escargot worth the risk! Later

We will be there in July on Brilliance.

What did you do in the Monaco area? We plan to do that on our own too so any help would be appreciated. No need to respond here if you don't have time. I will look for your info when you return or e-mail me at dperales@ocsnet.net

Have a great time!

Donna

Brilliance of the Sea First time to Europe!

ijkh Glad to hear you are having a great time. We will be on the STAR Princess for most of the month of Sept. and looking forward to doing the same.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Any questions and I will respond later in the week or when we get home. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Have a few onboard ship questions.

What nights are formal nights?

Is Sabatinis open for brunch on sea days and is it the same menu as for dinner?

Were port talks centered around shopping or did they provide touring information?

Is the internet working most of the time or is satellite reception spotty?

Think you are disembarking in Venice? If so would be interested in what you do there. If you toured the Doge's Palace would like some details about the tour especially if stairs were involved and how many.

Thanks

Future cruises:

9/04 Star Princess-Med.x2 Venice to Barcelona/ Barcelona to Rome

11/04 Dawn Princess-Southern Caribbean

Jan. 05 Diamond Princess-Mexican Riviera

July 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Aug. 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Past cruises:

04 HAL-Amsterdam-Alaska

04 Dawn Princess- Southern Caribbean x2

03 Grand Princess-W.Caribbean

03 Sun Princess -Mexico

03-Tahitian Princess-Tahiti/ Cook Islands

03 Royal Princess-x2 British Isles & Norwegian Fjords/ Iceland

03 Island Princess-Panama Canal

01 HAL Ryndam x 2-S. America San Diego to Valpariso/ & around Cape Horn to Rio

00 Sky Princess-China/Orient

79 Sitmar's Fairwind- Caribbean/Panama Canal

We will be there in ten days on the Star Princess too. An we are looking forward to ditching the tour guide too. :-)

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

B

Blake of

Blake and Marla

Blamar

Nordic Prince 1982 Eastern Caribbean

Rotterdam 1988 Panama Canal

Noordam 1995 Southern Caribbean

Imagination 2001 New Orleans/Western Caribbean

Star Princess 2004 Venice/Grand Mediterranean

We leave for Venice

We leave from Venice on the Star Princess

You are adding to the excitment of the anticipation our trip!! We will be on the Millennium in Sept.

My question is: What is appropriate clothing to wear on tours? I am getting alot of mix messages. Many have said that the Europeans dress up and that we don't want to look like the typical "ugly American".

What do you wish you would have left home?

What would you be sure to bring next time?

Hope your experience was FABULOUS!!!

You can email me at Kbarri24@aol.com or post it here when you have time.

Kathy

We will also be on the Star Princess in August doing the same itinerary as you are. We are looking for any good tips about the ports of call. We are thinking of doing Livorno (Florence) on our own and also Monte Carlo. For Monte Carlo does the ship dock right in Monte Carlo or is it a short ride from the ship. But for Naples we are thinking of taking a tour. Has anyone taken tours with any other touring companies that are not with the ship?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ijkh:

We are loving it. This is perfect. We did Monaco on our own and LOVED it . More details when we get home. We did the Lucca tour and ditched the tour at the end and rode bikes on the rampart walls. so much fun. We are very much at ease even on our first cruise and being very active early 50 year olds. It is just what I hoped so far. Any questions and I will respond later in the week or when we get home. Oh and the weather is perfect. Lobster thermador best I ever had and go for the escargot worth the risk! Later<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>theperrottis@aol.com

Monte Carlo is a tender port for most ships.

ijkh:

I have same questions as BJS and others posted here.

Besides the touring plans you did, life on the ship is the next thing I wonder about. Are most folks "early to bed\early to rise" type where there isn't much action on board?

And of course being a woman, what are most ladies wearing while visiting the ports and at dinner each evening?

Can't wait to hear all about your cruise.

Janine

Future Sailings:

Caribbean Princess July 17, 2004

Star Princess Sept. 1, 2004 (Grand Mediterranean)

Celebrity Summit Dec. 27th, 2004

Past Sailings:

Zenith 1999 (Bermuda)

Dawn Princess 2000 (Carib.)

Carnival Triumph 2001 (Carib.)

Grand Princess 2002 (Carib.)

Star Princess 2002 (Alaska)

Millennium Jan., 2003 (Carib.)

Tahitian Princess May 23, 2003 (South Pacific)

Hi everyone wondering what to wear on the Star on the Mediteranean cruise. We were on it last year in July. It was hot and humid, so I took "casual chic" type sportwear for tours and on the ship. That includes linen slacks, shorts, and very comfortable shoes for tours or lots of walking. YOU NEED TO DO THE TOUR OUT OF NAPLES TO: Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast all day. It was the best tour of all 13 cruises of my life!!!! It was so gorgeous!! and sit on the right side of the bus going! Take some zip baggies and take some snacks or make a sandwich from the Horizon Buffet court at breakfast before you get off the ship for some of your longer tours or bus rides to and from....

CLOTHES FOR DINNER: Men wear khaki pressed Dockers and pressed s/s button down shirts. It was mostly "just comfortable" but not sloppy. LADIES TAKE A SWEATER FOR DINNER FOR THE SHIP!

The ship last year was extra cool outside of your room, so if you take a longsleeve something you are good to go! If any of you want more details: email me: MorMorFreeman@aol.com Good cruising from

Cruising MorMor

CruisingMorMor

P.S. To Janine543, and Nucci

Re: early to bed on the ship? It seems like late to bed and late to rise every time we cruise, so we notice alot of people disappear after they get back on the ship in the afternoon. IT'S NAP TIME!! Personally, if we get too tired, we take a nite off and don't go to the shows after dinner and cash in early.

Monte Carlo. If you want a nice tour, go to Cannes and the French Riviera tour, really nice.

We did that in the afternoon, and walked all over Monte Carlo in the A.M. had lunch and then met our tour AT THE END OF THE DOCK! It worked great for us. If you all go to the famous Casino in Monte Carlo, you have to be dressed nice.....no shorts, no T-shirts. At least go over by the Casino area, as the grounds are so gorgeous, it's defintely a Kodak many moments.

CruisingMorMor

P.P.S. SORRY, I meant to say, it is always late to bed and EARLY TO RISE!

CruisingMorMor

Janine543,

If you are seated with European cruisers, I think you will find that they 'dress' for dinner each night. We sat with a group of 3 lively retired British couples and they were definitely dressed up each night (suits for the men and nice dresses for the ladies). Because of the increased European clientelle, you may find non-formal night dinners a little more formal than they are in the Caribbean. It just adds to the whole European experience. :-)

NEXT UP: Tahitian Princess October 2004 (Tahiti)

Golden Princess May 2003 (Mediterranean)

Golden Princess January 2002 (Eastern Caribbean)

Sea Princess March 2001 (Western Caribbean)

Carnival Inspiration March 1997 (Southern Caribbean)

It has been 2 weeks since we are back from the Star Princess. What a trip! Every day, after I come home from work, I am looking thru 288 pictures we took and relive the moment.

Hi everyone,

We are on our first at sea day. Rome is fantastic. I recomend the ships tour. I watched as one group came honking up to the ship after we set sail waving at the ship to stop. Ohhhh nooo. Well see you in Athens. We did do the Pompeii and Herculeneum on our own no tour just walked and took the train. more details when we get home. Just had a few anxious moments at about 5:00 waiting for the train in Erculano.

The ship does dock right in Monte Carlo. We enjoyed the Oceanography museum and took the little train tour for 6 euros and saw as much of the town and sweated a lot less than those who walked. Monte carlo is very hilly. No need for a tour though unless you go out of town.

Souffles have been awsome. Lobster thermador excellent. YOU MUST TRY THE ESCARGOT. A real treat and suprise.

Almost everyone dressed for first formal which was first night after leaving Barcelona.

Buy a coffee filter and maker on the 7th floor of Corte Englais in Barcelona. Hit starbucks near the Ramblas and brew your own. Nothing like good coffee fresh brewed watching Sicily go by. later, ijkh

Just came back from a 12-day Med cruise with Star Princess. The ship is a beauty and we had such a great time!! Food is fabulous (much better in the dining room than the buffet)and service is good. We did not do any of the Princess's tours and were fine.

Venice: walked around on our own. The Doge's palace secret itinerary tour is fascinating. This is one of our favourite cities and will be on our list to revisit in the future.

Ephesus: did a half day private tour and saw the Ephesus, house of Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St John. We spent the rest of the day in the market that is right across from the pier. We paid less than half of what the ship charged.

Athens: took the subway to downtown Athens and toured Acropolis on our own. We spent the afternoon in the Plaka area shopping. Athens is quite polluted and there are lots of construction going on. I don't think they will be ready for the Olympics in August.

Naples: toured the Amalfi coast and Pompeii with Marcello's associate Adrino as our guide. He is excellent and we were glad to have him. This area is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped at Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi villages and I just fell in love with the area. Pompeii is interesting but after seeing a few ruins we feel that we don't want to see more after this one.

Rome: Our group of 23 saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain in a day. With a licensed guide accompanying us for the day, each person in our group only paid a third of what the ship charges. We were all happy with the arrangement. There is too much to see and do in Rome and I hope that we will return to Rome some day.

Livorno: We had Alessandro as our guide for the day and he is very good. The four of us went to Pisa for a short photo stop and headed to Florence. We spent about 4.5 hours there, saw David and then headed to the outlet mall. The day is perfect.

Monte Carlo: Took the #100 bus to Nice. We walked along the beach, took the little tourist tram around town and did a little shopping in the Antique market (old town). In the afternoon, we took the bus back to MC and toured the old town and the casino. MC is very clean and pretty.

Barcelona: We took the red tourist bus and went all around town. Since we did not have a lot of time, we only admired the buildings and sites from the bus. We spent some time in the Las Ramblas area and loved it.

Overall, this cruise experience is unforgettable and we are already thinking of our next cruise.

Evelyn

evelyn, who did you use for Rome tour???

Evelyn - could you tell me about your experience taking the subway to Athens? Was it a long walk to find subway at port? How confusing coming & going? Thanks!

binkquest@aol.com

cdaloia, in Rome we used Claudio from www.limoinrome.com. He is very flexible and accomodating as I had to change our reservation from a small, to a large, back to a small, then to a large vehicle.

trixie54: the walk from the port to the subway station is about 20 minutes. There are no signs that lead you to the station. However, if you walk out of the pier teminal and keep walking to the left (around the port), you will see a creamy yellow colour building with lots of people going in and out and that is the station. We kept asking people where the metro is and people pointed us to the right direction. It is an easy walk.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BJS:

_ijkh _Glad to hear you are having a great time. We will be on the STAR Princess for most of the month of Sept. and looking forward to doing the same.

Have a few onboard ship questions.

What nights are formal nights?

Is Sabatinis open for brunch on sea days and is it the same menu as for dinner?

Were port talks centered around shopping or did they provide touring information?

Is the internet working most of the time or is satellite reception spotty?

Think you are disembarking in Venice? If so would be interested in what you do there. If you toured the Doge's Palace would like some details about the tour especially if stairs were involved and how many.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We were just on this cruise but for a lot of info Lephysteria posted a 25+ page review of the Star and the Med itinerary on the CC Cruise Line P-Z/Princess board. I didn't get the link over there but the title is "Our Star Princess Honeymoon Review". She gives good info on stairs, etc.

I can tell you that Sabatini's is no longer open for brunch or lunch. We were SO disappointed. It and the mexican place are only open in the evening now.

There is a port lecturer on board so he will give lots of historical information, things you must see, etc. for each port. He will also narrate over the speakers as you leave interesting ports such as Naples and when you arrive in Venice. I don't recall the usual Caribbean type shopping talks even though they do have that information for some ports.

The formal nights were on the day you leave Barcelona and the second Sea Day.

I saw lots of questions here on how to dress but it looks like anything goes at any time. Of course, people dressed for formal night but other meals, activities, and tours were wide open. Anything from shorts/jeans & tshirts to 'classy' khaki & polo outfits to suits & dresses. Everyone should just feel free to dress as they please since you'll see it all.

Sunmail thank you for the information.

I have read Lephysteria's review and corresponded withn her.

Future cruises:

9/04 Star Princess-Med.x2 Venice to Barcelona/ Barcelona to Rome

11/04 Dawn Princess-Southern Caribbean

Jan. 05 Diamond Princess-Mexican Riviera

July 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Aug. 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Past cruises:

04 HAL-Amsterdam-Alaska

04 Dawn Princess- Southern Caribbean x2

03 Grand Princess-W.Caribbean

03 Sun Princess -Mexico

03-Tahitian Princess-Tahiti/ Cook Islands

03 Royal Princess-x2 British Isles & Norwegian Fjords/ Iceland

03 Island Princess-Panama Canal

01 HAL Ryndam x 2-S. America San Diego to Valpariso/ & around Cape Horn to Rio

00 Sky Princess-China/Orient

79 Sitmar's Fairwind- Caribbean/Panama Canal

Evelyn

Do you know if it's easy to get a taxi from the ship to the Acropolis? I've heard we can be ripped off, but would like any info you (or any other previous med cruisers) have on this. Also, is it easy to get a taxi back from the Acropolis? We don't really want to linger in a polluted building site (aka Athens!!!!) - we'll save that for a cooler time of year, some time in the future.

Vivienne

27 July 04 - Princess Star - Mediterranean

Hi Vivienne,

In Athens, we did not specifically look for a taxi as we planned on taking the train. I recall seeing a line of taxi waiting for passengers from the ship in Athens as well as all the other ports. It is easy to get a taxi but you should negotiate what you are going to pay for before the ride. The Acropolis is not very close to the pier (train ride is about 20 minutes) so it can be quite expensive to take a taxi. Your other alternatives are: prearrange a taxi for the day (cost around 200E for 4) or take the Princess transfer which costs $24USpp and they drop you off at the Acropolis and pick you up in the Plaka.

Hi I am writing my trip report in stages. I do have one thing to answer and that is the question of Sabatini's being open for brunch. I did not notice it open for brunch, it was not advertised and no menu was posted for this so I think not open for brunch. I am not 100% sure though.

Second question about the internet connection. It was fine until we left Kusadasi and then closed for a while opening intermittently until we arrived in Venice to the best of my recollection.

Still fuzzy after our 25+ hour marathon trip home. Even business class seats get weary after that long.

Evelyn:

We will be on the Star Princess in late August. Your trip sounded great. Can you please email the contact info for your drivers/tour guides?

Thank you!:p

Ilene

Just came back from a 12-day Med cruise with Star Princess. The ship is a beauty and we had such a great time!! Food is fabulous (much better in the dining room than the buffet)and service is good. We did not do any of the Princess's tours and were fine.

Venice: walked around on our own. The Doge's palace secret itinerary tour is fascinating. This is one of our favourite cities and will be on our list to revisit in the future.

Ephesus: did a half day private tour and saw the Ephesus, house of Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St John. We spent the rest of the day in the market that is right across from the pier. We paid less than half of what the ship charged.

Athens: took the subway to downtown Athens and toured Acropolis on our own. We spent the afternoon in the Plaka area shopping. Athens is quite polluted and there are lots of construction going on. I don't think they will be ready for the Olympics in August.

Naples: toured the Amalfi coast and Pompeii with Marcello's associate Adrino as our guide. He is excellent and we were glad to have him. This area is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped at Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi villages and I just fell in love with the area. Pompeii is interesting but after seeing a few ruins we feel that we don't want to see more after this one.

Rome: Our group of 23 saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain in a day. With a licensed guide accompanying us for the day, each person in our group only paid a third of what the ship charges. We were all happy with the arrangement. There is too much to see and do in Rome and I hope that we will return to Rome some day.

Livorno: We had Alessandro as our guide for the day and he is very good. The four of us went to Pisa for a short photo stop and headed to Florence. We spent about 4.5 hours there, saw David and then headed to the outlet mall. The day is perfect.

Monte Carlo: Took the #100 bus to Nice. We walked along the beach, took the little tourist tram around town and did a little shopping in the Antique market (old town). In the afternoon, we took the bus back to MC and toured the old town and the casino. MC is very clean and pretty.

Barcelona: We took the red tourist bus and went all around town. Since we did not have a lot of time, we only admired the buildings and sites from the bus. We spent some time in the Las Ramblas area and loved it.

 

Overall, this cruise experience is unforgettable and we are already thinking of our next cruise.

 

Evelyn

We are back home now and I am writing the just back report in stages. Please refer to my parts one and two. As for tours we were very satisfied with the Princess tours that we took. More details in my up coming report but sufice it to say in Rome, Lucca, Athens and Kusadasi we used the ships tours and were mostly pleased. We did Pompeii, Herculenium (Naples), Monaco and Venice on our own. More coming soon I promise.