Grand Mediterranean May 6-May 18, very long review

[CraftyEC]

The main luggage allowance is usually about 22 kg for your checked baggage, but there is also a restriction on your carryon / cabin baggage.

 

Ryanair is 10 kg: Strictly one item of cabin baggage per passenger (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm is permitted. (handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, camera etc.) must be carried in your 1 permitted piece of cabin baggage.

Extra/oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the boarding gate, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of £50/€50. If you are unsure, check at the Bag Drop desk before going through security.

 

British Airways, in contrast, has a much more generous allowance, and you are allowed a handbag / laptop case in addition: You are allowed one piece of hand baggage plus a laptop or handbag.

A 23kg (51lbs) maximum bag weight applies and you must be able to lift the bag unaided into the overhead lockers in the aircraft cabin.

 

Lufthansa is more generous to First and Business Class travellers, but even meaner to those of us who travel Cattle Class - just one bag up to 8 kg: In First and Business Class you may take two pieces of hand luggage and their contents on board with you. Economy Class passengers are only permitted one piece of hand luggage. Please check for possible country-specific variations to this general rule.

A piece of hand luggage may not be larger than 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm and may not weigh more than 8 kg. Foldable garment bags are an exception to this; they count as hand luggage up to a size of 57 cm x 54 cm x 15 cm.

Items of hand luggage which exceed these limits will be carried free of charge in the cargo hold within your permitted free baggage allowance, as storage space on board is limited.

 

The moral of this litany? Check your airline's terms and conditions on their website VERY carefully.

[caribill]

The main luggage allowance is usually about 22 kg for your checked baggage, but there is also a restriction on your carryon / cabin baggage.

 

The moral of this litany? Check your airline's terms and conditions on their website VERY carefully.

 

Just carry on one coat. This one http://www.scottevest.com/company/carryon_release.shtml

[CraftyEC]

My sister, who has to fly Ryair and AirArann (the low cost, 'baby' planes of Aer Lingus) frequently because of where she lives (west of Ireland) would LOVE that coat, but not at $225! She does do a pretty good job with more conventional coats with lots of pockets, however!

[KruisingMarina]

The main luggage allowance is usually about 22 kg for your checked baggage, but there is also a restriction on your carryon / cabin baggage.

 

Ryanair is 10 kg: Strictly one item of cabin baggage per passenger (excluding infants) weighing up to 10kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm is permitted. (handbag, briefcase, laptop, shop purchases, camera etc.) must be carried in your 1 permitted piece of cabin baggage.

Extra/oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the boarding gate, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of £50/€50. If you are unsure, check at the Bag Drop desk before going through security.

 

British Airways, in contrast, has a much more generous allowance, and you are allowed a handbag / laptop case in addition: You are allowed one piece of hand baggage plus a laptop or handbag.

A 23kg (51lbs) maximum bag weight applies and you must be able to lift the bag unaided into the overhead lockers in the aircraft cabin.

 

Lufthansa is more generous to First and Business Class travellers, but even meaner to those of us who travel Cattle Class - just one bag up to 8 kg: In First and Business Class you may take two pieces of hand luggage and their contents on board with you. Economy Class passengers are only permitted one piece of hand luggage. Please check for possible country-specific variations to this general rule.

A piece of hand luggage may not be larger than 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm and may not weigh more than 8 kg. Foldable garment bags are an exception to this; they count as hand luggage up to a size of 57 cm x 54 cm x 15 cm.

Items of hand luggage which exceed these limits will be carried free of charge in the cargo hold within your permitted free baggage allowance, as storage space on board is limited.

 

The moral of this litany? Check your airline's terms and conditions on their website VERY carefully.

 

 

Thank you so much for the detailed answer! We might be flying with Easyjet, from Paris to Barcelona, and most likely will have hand bags besides carryons. Ughh, so they might penalize me for my purse and overweight carryon?

[KruisingMarina]

Hi Tedferg,

 

Glad you made home okay. Considered it a blessing to be home when the earthquakes hit. We flew Air France coming back

 

I believe the weight restriction was 22 kilos or 50 lbs but do check. It wasn't the ticket agent who stopped me. We had a connecting flight in Paris and we had to go through security again. It was the security agent who stopped me at that time. I was just lucky that I didn't paid the second checked bag at the counter. I don't think the agent realized.

 

Hi Disnyfan

 

Thank you for your reply, can you please tell me anything about the laundry part.

 

Thank you again,

 

Marina

[CraftyEC]

Here is the link to their information about baggage allowances and they do state ONE piece only. It would appear that they won't just charge you extra for a second bag they WILL put it in the hold, at a cost of £25 if it's spotted at check-in, but £40 if you make it to the gate without being stopped. So, take a small handbag / pocket book and put it into the carry on. And they are very likely to check your carry on to make sure it fits into the 'cage' at the check in and/or the gate. It's OK if it's a squeeze, as long as it fits in.

 

Definitely wear a coat with lots of pockets, whatever the weather!

[BratDet]

Hi,

 

I've sailed on Princess before and we usually bring the all in one sheets...detergent and dryer sheet in one. I think they have fabric softener too...not my usual brand, but the clothes were clean and fresh.

Mine are in my pile of stuff set aside for this cruise. They worked great before and ultralight...

Poster on CC had mentioned before getting them at Target, but I looked recently and they didn't have them...I will also check my local supermarket and Wal-Mart (out of curiosity).

The machines take quarters, so a roll will be in my pocket at airport security...

 

Bernadette

[disnyfan]

Hi Disnyfan

 

Thank you for your reply, can you please tell me anything about the laundry part.

 

Thank you again,

 

Marina

 

It was $2 to wash and $2 to dry. There is a change machine that took dollars in the laundry room. The machines ran 30-40 minutes respectively and had large capacity. There was a machine that sold detergent but I brought mind from home. I could find the all in one sheets but brought liquid packs in my packed luggage. They kept the room very clean, actually saw someone cleaning it during our trip.

[AttilaTheFun]

Another question - was the port lecturer, Hutch, on this sailing as well? He got good review on sailings last year.

[disnyfan]

It was Jeana Rogers for our cruise.

[tdubya]

Is there anyone else here who is deaf and/or has any knowledge of assistance that may be provided by Princess onboard please ?

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

It was Jeana Rogers for our cruise.

 

She was quite boring unfortunately. JMHO. :rolleyes:

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

It was lovely to meet you and your mum.... hope to cruise with you again some day. I think this roll call group was wonderful.

 

For the people who want to know.... I booked tours with Rome In Limo in Rome and Livorno (excellent!!!!) Celsus Travel in Kusadasi (also excellent), for Naples - Benvenuto Limos (again excellent) and for Istanbul I chose Private Tours in Turkey (an outstanding day was had, I can't recommend this company enough, especially if you are lucky enough to have the owner Kagan as your guide.)

 

All the tours were excellent and fantastic value. Don't hesitate to book with any of them. :D

[msdurk]

Note my original screen name. I could not remember my login info when I got back so I had to reregister. My IPad remembers this. To answer posted questions, I wore both sandals and sneakers. It depended on the port. Sneakers for Pompeii and Ephesus because of the dust and grit. I wore Ecco sandals that I have had for a few years. Would go private tours in a heartbeat. That seems to be the general consensus of most of the people I talked to. Our guide with Hola! Barcelona was awesome. Ellie spoke great English. I thought she was American at first. She went with us everywhere, mostly along the streets of Barcelona checking out Gaudi sites. She went with us into Park Guell and the Sagrada Familia. Our tour was changed a bit because we went inside the church. I am sorry I cannot name the Ephesus tour company(***********), it keeps getting block. The other tours were arranged by people we met in our roll call. They were Rome in Limo.

 

And Disneyworld is my favorite vacation destination.

 

We are getting into Barcelona in the afternoon and would like a short tour of the city before bedtime. Do they do short tours and what was the cost of the tour? thanks

[caribill]

for Istanbul I chose Private Tours in Turkey (an outstanding day was had' date=' I can't recommend this company enough, especially if you are lucky enough to have the owner Kagan as your guide.)

 

[/quote']

 

We have had two tours with one of his guides. Also recommend them highly.

[disnyfan]

Hi Eileen, you did a great job organizing our tours. I had forgotten about the one in Istanbul. It was pretty good. Reading yoour comment about the port lectures, I am glad we to see any of them. Thought Rick Steve's book was plenty.

 

Our tour of Barcelona was the half day tour, which is four hours. You can email them to see if it fits in your schedule. Our muster drill was at 6 (I forgot to answer this question previously), so you probably need to be onboard by then.

[msdurk]

Hi Eileen, you did a great job organizing our tours. I had forgotten about the one in Istanbul. It was pretty good. Reading yoour comment about the port lectures, I am glad we to see any of them. Thought Rick Steve's book was plenty.

 

Our tour of Barcelona was the half day tour, which is four hours. You can email them to see if it fits in your schedule. Our muster drill was at 6 (I forgot to answer this question previously), so you probably need to be onboard by then.

 

Did they pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel after 4 hours and did you get a chance to try any of the food on one of your stops? We get in at 2:30 and leave the next day, so not much time.

Thanks so much for any advice.

[Canuckjammer]

Thanks for the great review!

I'll be doing the same cruise in reverse in mid-Sept!

[disnyfan]

Did they pick you up at the airport and take you to the hotel after 4 hours and did you get a chance to try any of the food on one of your stops? We get in at 2:30 and leave the next day, so not much time.

Thanks so much for any advice.

 

They picked us up at the airport that morning and then dropped us off at the ship. We did not get a chance to eat anything. Some souvenir shopping and a stop at the ATM.