Journey to the “Center” of the World - Pacific Princess Black Sea Review

[cruiseclues]

Great details in your review...interesting photos, thanks. :):)

[RicardoC]

Rico , quick question. Were the announcements on the ship in English or French ? German ? Just noticed that some of the excursions mentioned " French or German" wondering if it would be an issue . Thanks.

Cori

 

Glad to know this may help your daughter! She'll love the itinerary :)

The language should be no issue; all announcements were made primarily in english (only some had other languages in addition) and all crew spoke english.

 

Great details in your review...interesting photos, thanks. :):)

 

Glad you enjoyed!

[dalitos]

Great review! Thanks for all the info as well, on a relatively uncommon itinerary.

I'm impresed by your cruising resume!

[RicardoC]

Great review! Thanks for all the info as well, on a relatively uncommon itinerary.

I'm impresed by your cruising resume!

 

You're welcome! That's one of the reasons I wanted to write this...because of the "different" itinerary. Hahahah "cruising resume"...I like that :D

[Infi]

Just wanted to say thank you for such a wonderful review and great photos. :) The Black Sea cruise is on our to-do list, and it's such a unique itinerary that you rarely see reviews of. It's so rare and nice to see a young person who truly appreciates travel and the chance to see the world - great job and great insights!

[mek]

Thanks for the review. A Black Sea cruise is on my bucket list - I would do it just to go to Yalta and see the Lavadia Palace.

[RicardoC]

Thanks for the review. A Black Sea cruise is on my bucket list - I would do it just to go to Yalta and see the Lavadia Palace.

 

I hope you make it there soon! I'm sure Livadia will be the "reason" but you'll find all other places as amazing :)

[msmoger]

Rico,

 

Great review....you were my main inspiration to book this itinerary on the Ocean in 2014. :)

 

Tanks!!

[RicardoC]

Rico,

 

Great review....you were my main inspiration to book this itinerary on the Ocean in 2014. :)

 

Tanks!!

 

That's great! I'm glad I helped :)

Enjoy!

[nerysj]

Oh boy...looking forward to the same trip on the Pacific Princess in October. Can't wait! Thanks for the info and great pictures.:)

[GradUT]

Hi, we just got back from our Black Sea cruise on Pacific Princess--love that ship! Our itinerary was a little different from Rico's (Rome, Sorrento, Istanbul, Nessebar, Constanta, Odessa, Yalta, Volos, Athens) and we did some different excursions (ship's excursions, private excursions and self-guided excursions) from what Rico did.

 

So, if you have any questions about what to expect on an upcoming sailing, ask away!

[Dididi]

We too were on the recent (docked in Athens on July 29th) Pacific Princess Black Sea cruise. Rico's photos and comments were a great preview of the wonders we later experienced. Thanks so much!

 

Here are some pointers for people who are about to enjoy one of the versions of the Pacific Princess' Black Sea itinerary:

 

Istanbul - the ship offers a $10 round trip shuttle to a location half way between the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. We took it the first time we went into town to figure out how to get out of the port area and where to catch the tram. Taking the tram was very easy -- this is explained in detail in Tom's Guides (google them, they are excellent) and in Rick Steves' Istanbul book. We used Rick Steves' book to visit the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Roman Cistern, the Archeological Museum (the Alexander Sarcophagus is spectacular!), and also did his walking tour of the modern part of town (no protests in Taksim Square during our visit, and we enjoyed our ride on the Nostalgic Tram down Istikal Street). Nicola, one of the dancers on board, told us about Kurkcu Han, a knitting wool shop near the Bazaar, which lead to a fascinating expedition down streets where every type of sewing notion, fabric, and clothing item imaginable were sold.

 

Nessebar - we walked around the walled city, visited the Archeological Museum and a couple of churches, and then took the train-bus to Sunny Beach. Lots of new beach resort hotels, thousands trying to catch rays as early as 730am! Lots of rose oil souvenirs everywhere. Beautiful pottery.

 

Constanta - we took the ship's tour to Bucharest, which is a three-hour drive from the pier. A very long day! The ship had to wait for our bus. Constanta is a large port city, gray and dour. We're glad we went elsewhere. We heard good feedback regarding the Danube cruise excursion.

 

Odessa - we took an excellent private walking tour with Odessa Walks. This was cheaper than the ship's equivalent, but so that you know, any Odessa walk from the pier begins by climbing up the 178 Potemkin Steps! The ship's tour took people uphill to the city; taxis were available; the funicular from the pier to the city opens at 10am.

 

Yalta - we took a private tour with Sergei Tsarapora's company. He required a $50 deposit via Western Union. The price was a bit cheaper than the full day ship tour, but we saw more palaces because we did not stop for lunch/show. Odessa and Yalta are beautiful, in different ways, and were the highlights of our trip (after Istanbul).

 

Istanbul - on the sea day between Yalta and Volos, we passed Istanbul around 11am. Rico had described this in his review. An unforgettable experience!

 

Volos - we made private arrangements with Let's Go Travel, a Volos company that offers a wide variety of tours (including hiking). We took the Moutzouris historical train up the Pelion mountains to the town of Milies, huffing and puffing through olive groves and stopping in the village of Ano Gatzea (with time for a coffee frappe) on the way. The train is on a single track, so its engine is turned around on a circular platform -- the conductor, a couple of employees and even the female ticket collector pushed the engine around so it could be ready for its return journey. In Milies, we visited the Generation School (where Greeks would study and meet in preparation for fighting the Turks for independence) and the Pammegisti Taxiarhes Church (it looks like a regular house from the outside so that the Turks would not know it was a church), had a very tasty lunch, and then went down the mountains to Kala Nera to enjoy its beach. Fantastic beach, we felt like locals! This was a great day and we don't regret choosing this over going to Meteora.

 

Service on the Pacific Princess was exemplar. We could not be happier. Again, cruising through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus will be memories to forever treasure.