Has anyone ever taken Princess tours in the Mediterranean?

[BJS]

[B]Not[/B] looking for pros and cons about ship's excursions just comments about tours if you have taken any Princess tours.

Venice, Kusadasi, Athens, Naples, Rome, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Casablanca, Gibraltar, Cannes, Valletta, Messina are the ports we will be stopping at.

Future cruises:
Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2
Jan. 05 Diamond Princess
July 05 Star Princess
Aug. 05 Star Pincess

Past cruises:
04 Dawn Princess x 2
03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,
Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess
01 Ryndam x 2
00 Sky Princess
79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[Hlitner]

Well, this time I am puzzled. You want comments, but no pros and cons? That is tough and I sure would have no idea how to answer. Good luck and have a great trip.

Hank

[wwinfl91]

Did ship tours last summer on Golden Princess Med cruise in Barcelona, Athens and Kudasadi, which we enjoyed. We did private shore tours in the other ports including Venice. The Princess shore tours in all three ports were done very well and we enjoyed them. Costwise they were not as economical as the private tours but they were ones that were worth taking.

Have a GREAT next cruise.

HAL Noordam 3/97 West Carib
Hal Westerdam 12/97 East Carib
HAL Veendam 11/98 East Carib
Hal Zaandam 12/00 South Carib
HAL Veendam 10/01 Panama Canal
RCCL Enchantment 09/02 W.Carib
Costa Atlantica 12/02 E.Carib
HAL Noordam 03/03 S.Carib
Golden Princess 07/03 Med
Celebrity Zenith 12/03 W.Carib
HAL Maasdam 05/04 Canada

[BJS]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Did ship tours last summer on Golden Princess Med cruise in Barcelona, Athens and Kudasadi, which we enjoyed. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>wwinfl91 thank you for the response. Which tours did you take that you enjoyed?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Well, this time I am puzzled. You want comments, but no pros and cons? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hank, sorry didn't make myself clear. Not interested in the pros and cons of taking the ship's tours vs arranging your own private tours. This topic has been well covered. What I'm looking for is what tours people have taken and why they were good and if not why not.

Future cruises:
Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2
Jan. 05 Diamond Princess
July 05 Star Princess
Aug. 05 Star Pincess

Past cruises:
04 Dawn Princess x 2
03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,
Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess
01 Ryndam x 2
00 Sky Princess
79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[bruingary]

Hi BJS

I have taken several Princess tours in the Med. Also have taken HAL tours in the Med. I have also visited most of the ports as part of land based visits. I will give you my experiences and comments assuming you are visiting the ports for the first time.

Venice- Took the Princess transportation (tender) from the dock to St Mark’s Square. The advantage is that you are taken to the location of the biggie sites-Square, Basilica, Doge’s Palace, Museo Civico Correr, and Campanile and then can stroll the back streets at leisure. Our ship, the Grand, sailed into Venice at noon. This was probably the most majestic arrival of our cruise experiences as we sailed down the grand canal past St Mark’s Square to awe of those on shore. Be on deck for this.

Kusadasi- Took the Ephesus, St John’s Basilica & Virgin Mary Shrine Princess Tour. These are the 3 biggies, and are must sees. The guide provided very interesting historical info on these sites. Our traveling companions, who did not want to visit Ephesus for their 2nd time chose the Turkish Village and Ephesus Museum Tour. They did not care for it, the village was staged and the museum was very small,

Athens- Take the Acropolis and Plaka Sampler Princess Tour. A comprehensive visit to the Acropolis, a photo op at the Olympic stadium, 30-60 minute drive by to other sites, and 3 hours to wander the Plaka is a perfect way to see Athens.

Naples- Took the Princess Pompei, Sorrento, and Capri Tour. This is the only way to see these 3 without fear of missing the ship sailing. If you would rather see the Amalfi Coast over Capri there is a Princess plus Pompei Tour. Capri was OK, but did not meet my expectations, maybe because they were too high, or because I am from SoCal.

Rome- Our HAL cruise began and ended in Rome so I have no experience in ship tours. There are so many sites and Rome is so far from the port that you will have to decide on which to see and then take the appropriate tour. This is one port where a private tour would maximize the sites you could see.

Livorno- Took the Princess Florence On Your Own Tour. The guide provided quite a bit of commentary on the 1 ½ hour bus ride, each way, to/ from Florence. The tour made a stop at Piazzale Michelangelo, across the river overlooking the city, for a terrific view and photo op. Buses must park outside the city and you walk into town. There is a tram available. We had made reservations before we left the U.S. for the Uffizi (Europe’s greatest art museum) and the Accademia ( Michelangelo’s David – one of the world’s greatest works of art) and were able to walk right in without waiting in the long lines. A plus of this tour is the meeting place for the return to the ship is Santa Croce Church, a site in its own. But more important, Vivoli’s , for Florence’s best Geloto, is just steps away, a great way to end your visit to Florence. Also a leather school can be reached from inside Santa Croce where you can spend many Euros for a variety of leather products.

Monte Carlo- On our Princess stop in Monte Carlo the captain announced coming of bad weather and we were cutting our visit short to early afternoon departure. This is a tender port . So we did Monte Carlo on our own taking local buses for transportation. As it turned out, with most back on board in the early afternoon, we had to wait for the return of a ship’s tour which was stuck in traffic. This is a plus for using ship’s tours, the ship will never leave without you.
On our HAL cruise we took 2 half day ship’s tours. Morning- Nice & Eze, returned to Monte Carlo for lunch and then took a tour to St. Paul De Vance in the afternoon. The to/froms were very scenic, taking the 3 different Cornice roads. And the hilltowns and Nice were terrific. You could do the same on Princess.

Barcelona- We took a cab tour on our Princess tour and walked the Gothic Quarter in the afternoon(near the dock). By taking the Princess Barcelona Highlights tour you could see some of the sites we saw on our cab tour and then follow up with walking the Ramblas and Gothic Quarter in the afternoon.

Casablanca- We did Morocco on a land tour. Even though it is a 4 hour EACH WAY drive to Marrakech take the Princess tour and envision Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day witnessing a murder in the Djemma-el-F’na Square, what ever will be will be. If the bus ride to Marrakech is too much for you, take the tour to Rabat which to me was more interesting than Casablanca. Casablanca does have a very impressive mosque with capacity of 25,000 and a fun Rick’s Bar( with pictures from the film) with piano player in the Hilton.

Gibralter- Never been there. Just go ape.

Cannes- Ah! St. Tropez, nude beaches, Et Dieu Crea la Femme, Brigitte Bardot. Our HAL cruise stopped in St-Trop. I liked it. Port Grimaud is a 1960 pleasure city, with private lagoon, with waterways for roads, yachts parked at the bottom of every garden. All houses are of Provencal style and you need to be rich and famous to live there. The tour takes you on a lagoon cruise. Old Grimaud, a hill town, is better.

Valleta- Took the Valleta and Mdina Tour on HAL ( Princess offers the same tour). This tour is a good intro to Malta. This is a great port, I got caught up in the Knights of St John thing. The co-cathedrals, esp the one in Valleta, are top 10 churches. Be on deck for your arrival, a great sight of the sun shining on the sand colored city in the distance.

Messina- We took the Taormina tour( a 20 mile drive) on a HAL cruise. Princess offers the same tour. This is Sicily’s best known resort. The Teatro Greco is a biggie, with Mt Etna in the background. This is a place I would like to return to.

Hope this helps.

Gary

[cactusrose]

Gary,

The princess site inidicates that they provide transportion from the dock to a drop off near St. Mark's Square. It looks like they provide a pass for this launch for $10 per person. Do you know if this is good for unlimited back and forth for the time you are in this port?

1972 - Song of Norway, Caribbean
1980 - Hawaii American Curise line, Tahiti
09/01/2002 - Veendam, Alaska
05/29/2003 - Pacific Princess, Alaska
11/26/2003 - Star Princess, Australia/New Zealand

5/28/2004 - Star Princess, Venice to Barcelona
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;05;28;21;0;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]

11/06/2004 - Diamond Princess, Mexican Riviera
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ff00&cdt=2004;11;06;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

[bruingary]

Rose

I do not know if the launch fee is good for the duration of your stay. When we went there was no charge for the shuttle.
A sign of the times.

Gary

[wwinfl91]

When we were there last summer, the pass for transportation between the ship and St Marks was $10 a person and was good for as many trips as you wanted to make back and forth. We used our twice (to and from the ship each time) and felt we got our money's worth. But it was only good for the first day we were in port not the second day when we were leaving the ship.

As far as what Princess tours we took, we did the following ones: Kusadasi- Took the Ephesus, St John’s Basilica & Virgin Mary Shrine Princess Tour. Ephesus alone was worth the cost of the tour. In Athens- we did the Acropolis and Plaka Sampler Princess Tour. It was a full day including a lunch in a Greek restaurant including wine. Again it was an excellent introduction to the city. In Barcelona we did the Barcelona Highlights tour which spend much of the tour at Church of the Holy Family which has been under construction since the 1880's and was designed by Gaudi. It was something definitely worth doing.

Have a GREAT cruise.

HAL Noordam 3/97 West Carib
Hal Westerdam 12/97 East Carib
HAL Veendam 11/98 East Carib
Hal Zaandam 12/00 South Carib
HAL Veendam 10/01 Panama Canal
RCCL Enchantment 09/02 W.Carib
Costa Atlantica 12/02 E.Carib
HAL Noordam 03/03 S.Carib
Golden Princess 07/03 Med
Celebrity Zenith 12/03 W.Carib
HAL Maasdam 05/04 Canada

[BJS]

Thank you all for your response. You have been a big help. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Future cruises:
Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2
Jan. 05 Diamond Princess
July 05 Star Princess
Aug. 05 Star Pincess

Past cruises:
04 Dawn Princess x 2
03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,
Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess
01 Ryndam x 2
00 Sky Princess
79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[jody]

We did the Montserrat tour in Barcelona and the Grand/Royal tour (the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, and Topaki Palace trip) in Istanbul. The Barcelona tour was good (and easier than going on our own). Next time I'd do Istanbul on my own with a private guide as the Princess tour was too large a group and it was hard keeping people together walking around the city from site to site. Fellow CCer's had their own guide and saw/learned much more than we did (for less money). In summary, both trips were good, just tough with the big crowd in Istanbul.
Happy sailing!

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)

[BJS]

Jody - thank your for the information will put it to good use.

Future cruises:
May 04 Amsterdam
Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2
Jan. 05 Diamond Princess
July 05 Star Princess
Aug. 05 Star Pincess

Past cruises:
04 Dawn Princess x 2
03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,
Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess
01 Ryndam x 2
00 Sky Princess
79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[Jacqueline]

WOuld agree with Jodie. Monserrat was great- esp as we did it as a morning tour and the ship left at 1pm no way I would have tried that independently. Keep this in mind, for those days that the ship departs early.
Also felt the Istanbul tour was too crowded.
Ephesus was fine though.
My husband enjoyed the Pompeii tour.

Jacqueline
Constellation 3/20/04
HAL Westerdam 7/30/04
Tahitian Princess August 2003
Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003
Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002
Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001
Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001
Grand Princess Med 2000

[janine543]

BJS:

When is your first sailing on the Star in September? My daughter and I are traveling together on the Sept. 1st sailing out of Venice. Are you traveling on same date?

Gary and Others:

I too really enjoyed all your info on the ports you visited. You've provided me with useful information in order to plan our excursions....boy is this alot of work for 2 people who have never experienced these 5 countries!

Janine
Zenith 1999 (Bermuda)
Dawn Princess 2000
Carnival Triumph 2001
Grand Princess 2002
Star Princess 2002 (Alaska)
Millennium Jan., 2003
Tahitian Princess May 23, 2003 (South Pacific)
Next: Caribbean Princess July 17, 2004
Then: Star Princess Sept. 1, 2004 (Grand Mediterranean)
And Then: Celebrity Summit Dec. 27th, 2004

[BJS]

[B]janine[/B]Yes
Future cruises:
5/04 HAL-Amsterdam-Alaska
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 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

[This message was edited by BJS on 05-14-04 at 01:11 AM.]