Carnival Pride 10-day cruise to (Pompeii), (Mt. Etna), Mykonos, Santorini, Athens, Olympia, Turkey, plus train around Italy

[peteandpris]

Great review, thank you.

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks for the Katakolon info.  I'll have to think about it.

 

We're going to Taormina on a private tour.  Looking forward to that.  Not going to Mt Etna but I do love a volcano!

 

Getting close to having all our arrangements lined up.  Only think left - I think - is our tour in Rome the day before embarking.  I just know I want the Colosseum and Forum.  Not even sure I need to go inside the Colosseum.  I just want to be there!

 

Couldn't care less about the CD unless they're horribly annoying, especially when they think they have to say a little "catch phrase" every time they make an announcement.  Gets really old after a few days.

 

And if I have to listen to ANYONE sing Margaritaville, I may jump overboard. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by NCTribeFan

[nybumpkin]

11 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

We are on the 10.01 cruise as well.  Something to keep in mind for Messina, we will be there on a Sunday. Past experience has been that the town os basically shut down on a Sunday, not sure of that will be true on our cruise or not.  Intrepid, were you there on a Sunday?  Can you confirm this?

Hi Jimbo - We were in Messina on a Sunday on Vista in 2016. A lot was closed, but not completely shut down. Lots of vendors and trattorias. We went to the square at the cathedral to see the astronomical clock at noon - it's well worth seeing. 

[luv2trvlnow]

1 hour ago, NCTribeFan said:

Thanks for the Katakolon info.  I'll have to think about it.

 

We're going to Taormina on a private tour.  Looking forward to that.  Not going to Mt Etna but I do love a volcano!

 

Getting close to having all our arrangements lined up.  Only think left - I think - is our tour in Rome the day before embarking.  I just know I want the Colosseum and Forum.  Not even sure I need to go inside the Colosseum.  I just want to be there!

 

Couldn't care less about the CD unless they're horribly annoying, especially when they think they have to say a little "catch phrase" every time they make an announcement.  Gets really old after a few days.

 

And if I have to listen to ANYONE sing Margaritaville, I may jump overboard. 

Hi NCTribeFan.  Do you know who you have booked for your private tour to Taormina?  That is something we would be interested in for our cruise next year.  We are doind a B2B and stop in Messina on both cruises.  So we have the opportunity to concentrate on a site on each cruise.

 

I remember meeting you on the Splendor cruise from San Juan to Miami.  We were on the same shuttle from the port to the airport.  I was traveling with my son.  I was a CPA also, now retired.

[IntrepidFromDC]

9 hours ago, luv2trvlnow said:

I do have a question for you.  Did you change time during the cruise at all?  If we decide to do a independent excursion in Athens, we need to know the ship's time.  I know Rome and Athens are 1 hour apart.  I don't want to plan an excursion and then miss it because I am an hour late.

We changed time twice going from Rome to Turkey but I only noticed it once coming back.  That probably doesn't help, sorry,  but that's what I noticed. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

14 hours ago, maluhia87 said:

What time is debarkation supposed to start tomorrow? 

For PLATINUM and diamond with self assist it's 645am.

[IntrepidFromDC]

If any of my Positano pics are dups I apologize...

 

On the way to Positano we stopped at a limoncello shop. I taste several kinds of chocolate and several limoncello. All were fantastic quality!  Being the cheap bastard I am, I bought nothing.  Zoom in on a couple of these pics and you can see the olives and lemons growing on the trees.

[IntrepidFromDC]

[ninjacat123]

What is the name of the tour you are doing?

[kwokpot]

35 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Being the cheap bastard I am, I bought nothing.

How would you get it home? You would have to pack it in your check luggage. Reminds me of a story from my family. Brother in Law and wife were flying back from a Mediterranean cruise, and bought a bottle of Limoncello. Forgot to pack it in the check luggage, and they already had their free check luggage max. Refusing to just leave it they paid the excess checked luggage fee of over $125 for that one bottle of Limoncello.

Edited September 21, 2022 by kwokpot

[IntrepidFromDC]

11 hours ago, kwokpot said:

How would you get it home? You would have to pack it in your check luggage. Reminds me of a story from my family. Brother in Law and wife were flying back from a Mediterranean cruise, and bought a bottle of Limoncello. Forgot to pack it in the check luggage, and they already had their free check luggage max. Refusing to just leave it they paid the excess checked luggage fee of over $125 for that one bottle of Limoncello.

I never check luggage. Slows me down. I fit everything in an overhead bin sized roller, plus bring an empty backpack for souvenirs. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

11 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

What is the name of the tour you are doing?

Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii for small groups. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Positano is very hilly, all downhill to the beach and all uphill back to the minibus. Very clean and beautiful. Lots of shopping,  mostly for the ladies and a lot of unique items.

[IntrepidFromDC]

The beach is very rocky with volcanic rocks. It's the best place to take beautiful pics of the town, I think.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Lots of street artists. Positano is beautiful.  I wonder which I'll like more,  Positano or Cinqe Terre?

[IntrepidFromDC]

Sorrento did not impress and the included lunch was disappointing.  In fairness,  we had an hour free time in Positano and only 40 minutes in Sorrento.  I recall that I was not that impressed with Sorrento the first time I visited,  either,  about 20 years ago.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Pompeii was well preserved when all its inhabitants were killed in the 3-day eruption,  79AD. This is my third visit and everything I saw was brand new to me. The tourguide said we covered about 5% of the city in our two-hour guided tour (excellent). I recommend Positano and Pompeii enthusiastically! Where you see color frescoes, it's original and was preserved because the home/public bath/shop used stone or ceramic roofs instead of wood.

[IntrepidFromDC]

They quarried local stone to build the city. The streets are made of volcanic rocks from eruptions prior to the big one in 79AD. The divots are from Roman chariots. The stepping stones are crosswalks,  the streets were used as the sewer, containing pee and poop from horses,  dogs and humans. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

[IntrepidFromDC]

Ceilings preserved are rare.  The 2 pics with large rectangular stonework are public baths.  Citizen homes typically had foyer, bedrooms,  kitchen and dining area,  and gardens. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

The main forum and victims. Zoom  in close on the horse's mouth,  you can see the teeth. You can see Vesuvius, 8 miles away.  The statues are replicas,  everything else is original. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

I disembarked this morning at 630am, after my favorite cruise ever. Taxis refused to take me to the train station, holding out for bigger fares. So I  walked about a mile or two (40 minutes). It's all flat and a straight shot from the pier to the stazione, I would do it again, one of many advantages to packing light. The view the entire 2-hour ride to Pisa was fantastic. I was off the train and at my hotel in Pisa at 11am, directly across the street from the stazione so I know I'll be on time for my train to Cinque Terre early tomorrow. Pics of Pisa later. I love italy!

[MJSailors]

@IntrepidFromDC Your photos are great. However, could you space them when you post them? It makes the photos easier to view. 

Thanks !

MJ

 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

I never check luggage. Slows me down. I fit everything in an overhead bin sized roller, plus bring an empty backpack for souvenirs. 

You can't take that on any plane since it's over 100ml. You would have to buy a bottle AFTER airport security. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You can't take that on any plane since it's over 100ml. You would have to buy a bottle AFTER airport security. 

I didn't buy the limoncello as a souvenir,  I bought it for my belly. I just shared that pic because I found it a funny coincidence that as soon as I buy it someone shared a story about limoncello.