Recent Med Cruise - Review & Reflections from a cruiser

[JC13]

My thoughts, observations, hints, and reflections of recent Med cruise, 6/30/2018 - 7/14/2018.

 

EZ Flights used for this cruise. The flights were in business class and were great. The return however had a tight connection, of 45 minutes which required running to the connecting terminal to board. Lucky for us the outbound return flight was delayed.

We booked our own hotel in Rome, choosing to stay at the FCO Hilton for two nights prior to the cruise date. This hotel is connected to the airport via moving walkways which take one directly to the hotel which is then a short elevator ride to the main doors of the Hilton. I have read about how far the walk is and many have posted anywhere from 20-30 minutes. I can tell you that at a normal pace, with wheeled luggage, it took under 10 minutes to the front desk. Again the walk has lighting, people use it to get to the parking structures along the way. There are moving walkways, which may appear to not be in operation, but will automatically begin running as you approach. It is not isolated, dark, or scary. The FCO Hilton has a free bus shuttle that takes one to the center of Rome. It begins service from the hotel at 8am. Then returns for the next pickup/drop off at 10am. This goes on all day long until about 11pm. A great deal if one has limited time in Rome and chooses to stay near the airport. As a tip, if you are one of the hundreds using this free service, be aware that all of these people will want seats on the return shuttles, so it is unlikely you will get a seat on the last one or two shuttles of the day. Best to plan for a mid afternoon return to avoid seeking other transport back to the hotel. If one is worried about where to eat, the airport is just minutes away and has a number of wonderful places to dine.

Boarding in Rome was easy, we used Princess transfers, going again from the hotel via the walkway to Terminal 3 to pick up the shuttle. We had the first shuttle out of FCO, about 9:30am, and we arrived at the port around 10:30 am. We were checked in and in the VIP lounge when we were called to board. We literally had about 5 minutes in the lounge area prior to boarding. Our cabin was ready. We were on deck 10 aft balcony of the Crown Princess.

We had booked with a Sip and Sail package so we did not have to lug around water or wine when boarding.

We have cruised on the Crown a number of times and she did not disappoint. Beautiful new carpets had been placed in all the common area hallways weeks prior. I know many critics note the aging metal, chipping paint, carpets, and her condition, but frankly I was on holiday and those things are not critical in cruising, it’s all about the venues, ports, and service.

 

In those areas the Crown did not disappoint. We were in a different port almost everyday. I missed sea days, but at the same time the itinerary provided views into cities I would never have visited. We did book 3 excursions. The Athens Acropolis, Salerno, and the Pompeii tour. All were well managed. The Acropolis does require extensive walking and climbing. The slope of many of the stairways makes this very dangerous for those not using typical walking shoes, like sandals, flip-flops, wedges, heels, etc. This tour, for me was exhausting. It was very hot, crowded, almost impossible to move from sight to sight, and even more difficult to exit the sight due to the number of visitors trying to leave at the same time. One factor impacting the Acropolis are the number of people with selfie sticks just stopping and popping in front of walkers to take pictures. It became a battle of the selfie sticks and ones own safety. One highlight was the buffet lunch provided after the tour. The lunch was traditional Greek food. Every item I tried was delicious. One could eat as much or as little as they wanted, and wine was included with the lunch.

On our tour at the Acropolis a gentleman slipped and fell, breaking his leg in the course of the fall. We saw an ambulance leaving the Acropolis about an hour after the initial fall. We heard later that his wife and luggage were moved from the ship.

In a nutshell, our cruise was wonderful, our cabin attendant was very attentive to our needs, the room service people were spot on, and all our servers and wait staff throughout the ship were amazing.

General observations:

Not certain what was happening with how we look when we travel. It seems we have just given up and no longer care. Lots of torn t-shirts, with inappropriate social sayings, torn shorts, daisy duke type shorts exposing more skin than needed. Pretty sloppy wear, but interesting enough most had huge bags/luggage brought on board, which leads me to thinking how t-shirts and cut off shorts could take up so much luggage space? There were Kids running around unsupervised in the cabin hallways and on decks in general. Lots of kids under 16 in the hot tubs, babies with diapers in the pools, young teens in the hot tubs doing what they shouldn’t be doing (they were doing this in front of the Sky Lounge during the Elite happy hour.) Lots of unattended lounge chairs with towels left for hours. MUTS movies being repeated during a 14 day cruise. It was also disappointing to see room service trays out in the cabin hallways. Not certain why cruisers can’t leave them in their cabin or call for pickup rather than placing them in the hallway. The trays are not even in front of the door, but they were physically in the hallway.

Many rude cruisers being unkind to staff.

On the Sip and Sail. I can honestly tell you that we tried our best to drink and then drink some more in order to capitalize on our package. It was difficult and we failed. We would have a morning select coffee, bottled water, a morning bloody mary or mimosa, an afternoon cocktail, and a glass of wine in Vines. If attending the Elite event we would have a cocktail there, and a glass of wine at dinner. At most we would have 4 or 5 drinks. Drinks we never finished. Our conclusion was to avoid the package on future cruises and just drink what we want when we want it and we will come out ahead of a package. For us it was not worth it, nor is it worth the price difference to obtain a package. For example on one of our recent future bookings the price difference between having a package and not having a package is close to $700 per person. We would never drink $1400 worth of beverages, even water, juice, or coffee. (Our big box store travel agency now gives an option of booking with a sip and sail package at an increased price or a lower price without the package)

I hope this was helpful, we have already booked a Nov. 2018 Cabo Cruise, a 2019 Summer Med cruise along with a cruise on the Sky in December of 2019. We just might sneak in an Asian cruise on the Diamond and a Mexico cruise for Dec. 2018. All without a sip and sail package. Thank you for reading and keep on cruising.

 

 

 

[partybarbie]

Thanks for posting a review. We have been to the Med twice, but it's been in the late fall, without the crowds and kids. We had the same "hot tub" show on the Grand Princess. We have nick-named it "Princess Porn Star". ;p It's not always teenagers either. :rolleyes:

[lor74]

Thanks for posting....one day I will make it on to that cruise [emoji3]

 

 

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[JF - retired RRT]

Nice review...thanks.

I agree about the SnS. One cruise we have booked, I had the option of OBC or SnS. Chose OBC, it's not as much $$ as the package would cost, but between us we have about 4 drinks a YEAR.

I was disappointed that the current SnS doesn't allow any exchanges.

[srpilo]

Solid review

 

Your view on the value of UBP (sip & sail) mirrors mine exactly. I never drink enough alcohol, bottle water or expresso on a cruise to warrant the significant addition cost

 

Thanks again for the Crown report

Srpilo

[phabric]

Thanks for your helpful review.

 

I am on the Sky Princess doing a 14 Med cruise in Oct 2019. We plan on taking the Princess’s post excursion and staying in the Hilton Airport hotel before heading home.

 

What did you do in the other ports?

[SquishTheWhale]

Thanks for the review! We are on the Crown in December so glad to know you found everything about the ship itself great. How was the food, any highlights?

 

Re the skimpy clothing, European teenagers and young adults (including the UK where I live!) seem to dress like this nowadays. I'm only 32 but I'm still shocked when I see 16yr olds wandering around with 'both cheeks on show' shall we say.

[CATGUY7]

Really nice review. Thank you.

[leck57]

Great review of the ship but I really can't understand why people would stay at a hotel near Rome airport. What a waste of time having to shuttle in to the city in a place where there is so much to see and the area around the airport has nothing. A short stay overnight perhaps but never for two days.

Just my opinion though.

[vantec]

Great review of the ship but I really can't understand why people would stay at a hotel near Rome airport. What a waste of time having to shuttle in to the city in a place where there is so much to see and the area around the airport has nothing. A short stay overnight perhaps but never for two days.

Just my opinion though.

 

A few years ago we did it because we had Hilton points to use.

[workinggal]

A nice review. We were on the Med & Greek Isles cruise aboard the Crown June 2 to 23, boarding in Barcelona. Interesting so many more tourists when you visited. The first two weeks of the cruise was fairly quiet, just a very small number of children. Beginning the third week people embarking in Athens were a good number of families. We noted teens sitting on the stairs, running around the pool areas and kids around 6 to ten years unattended. Lots of blue cards. Also noted more rude people at the elevators, pushing their way on and off. All said, we did have a great time. Loved the Crown. Was on it in Feb. this year, June, and will be on for 20 days next Feb.

[Lori Dobson]

I have seen the hot tub porn show too. I like to plunk myself down on a chair right in front of them and start a verbal critique. Sometimes if a staff member is passing by, I will call loudly for popcorn. The people in the hot tub get pretty ticked off but they usually leave!

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[happy cruzer]

How was disembarking and reboarding in the ports without a Ship sponsored tours? It seems like a large number of people to move.