Back from 12 Day Grand Med on Star Princess

[JayCruise]

Hi all! My wife and I just returned from our cruise and although I always vow to write a review after our cruises and "give back" to all of the great people who have helped us on these boards over the years, I usually get so tied up with work issues when I get back I can't remember everything to write a thorough review.

 

So here is my offer to answer any questions that anyone may have. Please post below and I will do my best to answer them.

 

Hope to hear from some of you soon!

 

:D :D

[xxenna66]

Hi and thanks for offering...did you take private or cruise tours?

[zebra]

Jaycruise.. please give us the highlights of the SHIP. We are going to be on the Star in January and would like to hear about it. Did you do Personal Choice Dining? We just came back from the Diamond Princess to Alaska and PC dining was an absolute pleasure, but that ship has a variety of restaurants to choose from each evening. Just wondered about the Star?

[spritzy]

Did you or anyone you know experience any motion sickness on the Star ? Does she roll alot ? Also , we would like to do Rome and Florence and Capri on our own any info that would help us . We would like to take the train.

[JayCruise]

Ok, I'll try to answer all of the questions so far, sorry in advance if I miss anyone, please re-post if I do. . .

 

xxenna:"Hi and thanks for offering...did you take private or cruise tours?"

 

We were fortunate enough to meet a couple on the roll call on this board who had already booked a private tour in Rome so we shared that. WELL worth it. All of the other days we did Princess or on our own.

 

A few words about this: My wife was extremely worried about missing the ship with private tours due to the distance from most of the ports to the sites we wanted to see. Additionally, we only wanted a flavor of the various cities and their highlights, a sampler for future trips if you will. Having been to Rome, however, I wanted my wife's first trip to be a complete overview of the sites there. We ended up sharing the tour with a fantastic CruiseCritic couple (Hi Marla and Ken if you read this, thanks again!!) and had a blast. The best Princess sponsored Rome tour only hit about 75% of what we wanted to see. This was definitely our best tour experience and we made it back to the ship with over an hour to spare.

 

About the Princess tours. . . very well organized, decent overviews of major highlights but your experience will vary with your tourguide and the others in your group. We had 1 great tour guide (at Pompeii luckily), 1 mediocre guide and 1 pooper. Good guides make the experience but we even enjoyed the day with the poor guide, I mean who wouldn't on a trip like this!

 

One important note is that the schedule is pretty rigorous (we had 3 straight days of 5:30am wake ups to get ready for 7:15 meeting times) and you are out all day, in the heat. Also, I'm sure many other people mentioned this but there is no such thing as the American's with Disabilities Act so be prepared if you or someone in your party requires a wheelchair. Even the city streets and sidewalks are virtually unnavigable via wheelchair, nevermind the ruins sites like Pompeii and Ephesus. Not meant to deter people, just to plan appropriately. I would recommend a private tour for anyone who may need assistance or uses a wheelchair. There will be MUCH less walking and standing while you wait for everyone (which usually seemed like an indeterminable amount of time). I would go all private tours or on our own next time.

One last note, typically when you book with the folks mentioned on this site you will get a DRIVER only. They will tell you about the sites you will enter, but they can't go in with you and walk you around. Find out for sure and also see if they can set you up with a tourguide (and advanced tickets) for specific sites you would like to visit. One site I would NOT do without a guide is Pompeii. It is large and there are a number of things that you will never find on your own with the audioguides. It is worth the extra money in my opinion.

Whatever you do, enjoy your cruise!!! Let me know if I didn't hit all of your questions.

 

Zebra : "Jaycruise.. please give us the highlights of the SHIP. We are going to be on the Star in January and would like to hear about it. Did you do Personal Choice Dining? We just came back from the Diamond Princess to Alaska and PC dining was an absolute pleasure, but that ship has a variety of restaurants to choose from each evening. Just wondered about the Star?"

 

Hi Zebra! We LOVE PC dining. That is why we went back to Princess for this trip. Food in horizon court was not so great, but I haven't been on a cruise ship (or land locked) buffet that was. My major complaint was that they seem to have changed the salad dressings (strange to notice I guess, but I was trying to eat somewhat healthy for lunches). Every flavor tasted like it was bought at a supermarket in the generic aisle. Not the end of the world but I thought I would mention it.

We didn't eat in Sabatini's (did on the Grand and LOVED it!!!). We were just too tired to sit for the ordeal, but I believe the January itinerary is Caribbean is it not? If so, relax and enjoy! Our trip was so hectic we just couldn't motivate.

To hopefully end some confusion here . . . Tequila's used to be the southwestern restaurant but now it has changed to a steak house. Sometimes they refer to this restaurant as Tequila's and sometimes as Sterling. Either way, it is the same restaurant with noticably better steak. Very much on par with a Morton's steakhouse, but all you can eat for $15 a head!I will caution you that the southwestern roots are still very apparent via the jalapeno corn muffins (and just about everything else). But I would definitely plan on at least one meal here.

The main diining room. . . well no visit from the Chef on this cruise but the fare was overall decent. A little (very little) notch below our last Princess cruise on the Grand but still very good. My favorite meal was the Lamb Chops and Crab Legs - both were FANTASTIC and made up for a few nights of just average fare. Oh, and yes, I did order both ;). One thing that I noticed a lot of folks did was to order the crab legs as an appetizer. That would have worked as well.

As usual for Princess the desserts were very good at dinner (just ok at the buffets) with my wife staying loyal to the souffle every evening it was available!! Service was on par with our last PC dining with Princess - service was a bit slower and less coordinated, but we found a few waiters we liked and requested them. Remeber, there are only 3 dining options - Main (or the 2 PC dining rooms), Sabatini's and Tequilas (Sterling). I'm not sure how many were on the Diamond, but we were on the Norweigan Star in Hawaii last year and I think we ate a different dining room every night (5 or 7 total). Now that was Personal Choice!!!

Other highlights of the ship. . . well there isn't much to tell. Our itinerary was much more of a trip than a vacation as we were so busy, but the Star is beautiful. They keep her in great shape, the staff are generally very friendly, announcements are unobtrusive but useful, the captain was pleasant and I can't think of a reason anyone would be disappointed with the Star. Have a great cruise!!!!

 

Finally, Spritzy: "Did you or anyone you know experience any motion sickness on the Star ? Does she roll alot ? Also , we would like to do Rome and Florence and Capri on our own any info that would help us . We would like to take the train."

 

We were in C752 which had a great, fully covered and huge balcony. The seas were the calmest we have EVER been on. No more than ripples until the day before Venice and I think we maxed at 4 foot waves. This is a great itinerary for anyone concerned about motion sickness. We did, however, have a very noticeable engine vibration in our room. We were the last cabin in the back of the ship so that is understandable but we actually had to take down unused hangers in the closet (can you believe we didn't use them all) because the engine vibration was knocking them together and into the closet wall - it was pretty loud. But we loved the room and had absolutely NO motion at all.

 

Here is the best information I can give you on your excursions. Florence - make sure you go to Pisa. I don't know anything about the trains but we lucked out and got to Pisa by 9am(with our Princess tour) and were able to get tickets to climb the leaning tower. I would HIGHLY recommend this. Caution for those out of shape though - the stairs are extra steep on the angle of the lean - almost twice as steep. Also, if you are going to try to see the original David statue or go to the Uffizzi (sp?) get tickets in advance!!!!! There were long lines for people who did, and did not have tickets so don't wait twice if you don't have to.

Rome - get a driver if you can. See our comments about our shared tour above, but we drove by or stopped at everything we wanted to see using Danielle's tour service.

Capri - Boy oh boy, if you haven't been here you are in for a treat (especially if you like to shop). My wife and I were not excited for Capri at all since we didn't know anything about it. By the time we left, we were upset we didn't have enough time there (we did Princess' Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri tour). I don't know if I could spend a whole 8 hour day there - a few people that did so said they wish they had seen another site or two. But we had a blast shopping for my wife's birthday (sucess at Prada:)).

One HUGE NOTE OF CAUTION FOR CAPRI- Whether you go alone or with Princess - you can take the furnicular(sp?) or inclined elevator of sorts to the top of Capri which is where all of the exclusive shopping, quaint village and garden are located. I would NOT recommend taking the Furnicular down to the hydrofoil dock if it is crowded. We literally had people shoving, pushing and fighting due to extremely poor crowd control. It was ridiculous and I can hardly believe it as I'm typing, but everyone was just completely crazy. I think they may have been trying to catch the last hydrofoil back to Naples, but it was horrible!!!! I would highly recommend that you find a way to take the steps down or a taxi (although no cars are allowed in the shopping area I believe you can walk to a taxi area nearby). I would have paid $1,000 for a 5 minute cab ride to have avoided that experience. But even that horrible experience couldn't sour us on Capri.

 

Enjoy your cruise. You will have a blast!!!!

 

Hope all of this helps. Post other questions if you have them!

[bec2629]

Jaycruise,

 

Sounds like you had a fabulous time, and kudos to you for not letting the Capri incident sour you on the whole place. During your shopping adventures, did you notice if the prices in designer stores, Prada, etc. were better than here in the states? Enough so that it is worth setting aside time to shop???

Thanks,

Becky

[arizonacruzr]

Jaycruise-

 

Thanks for all the info so far. I have a few questions. I've been planning my MIL's 9-05 Star Princess Mediterranean cruise. The last couple things I have to do are to choose a hotel in Rome (where they disembark) for one night, and arrange for private car/limo/taxi service from Civitavecchia to their hotel in Rome. Any good advice?

[arizonacruzr]

Jaycruise-

 

One correction... it's 9-04, not 9-05. I'm not that obsessive of a planner!

[JayCruise]

Well, to be honest, it's a bit hard to tell. Since this was a birthday gift for my wife we didn't really worry about it too much. However, we did find that the exact same purse in Venice went for 50 euro more. Strange but we were happy about that. I've been scanning some websites over the past few minutes but the price looks similar to the discount etailer site prices converted from Euros, but much, much less than the Prada retail price for both the purse and wallet. The one advantage, I guess, is that you get the VAT tax refund which should basicallly negate the currency exchange (minus about 3-5%).

 

So all in all, WHEN (not IF) we go back to Capri, we will be going with the anticipation that we will shop, just like we did on Rodeo Drive in Bev. Hills. When it's time to shop, it's time to shop:D!! No bargains but lots o' fun!!

 

Have fun on your cruise, and remember, do NOT take the furnicular down if it is crowded!!!!:eek:

[JayCruise]

Sorry Arizona, I don't have any info regarding hotels or transportation for you :confused: However, if you post a new thread in the Europe Port of Call board I'm sure you will get lots of feedback.

 

Good luck!!!

 

Jaycruise-

 

Thanks for all the info so far. I have a few questions. I've been planning my MIL's 9-05 Star Princess Mediterranean cruise. The last couple things I have to do are to choose a hotel in Rome (where they disembark) for one night, and arrange for private car/limo/taxi service from Civitavecchia to their hotel in Rome. Any good advice?

[bon voyage!]

Jay Cruise,

 

Thank you so much for all of your useful information! I am on the Star in September and was wondering if they checked tender tickets, or if you have a private tour and really have to get off the ship, can you just go? I know you took a lot of ship's cruises, so maybe you don't know this answer. Also, I assume all of the ship's tours were the first ones off the ship? Thanks.

[JayCruise]

The only port with a tender was Monte Carlo. We did our own thing there so I'm not sure, but they did have non-tender water taxis (like you see on excursions) picking people up as well as the ship lifeboats, so I would imagine that the groups would get on those taxi type boats in the a.m. first after meeting in the Princess theater or Vista lounge. They did do a tender ticket system for people not on tours and by 10:30am they stopped calling tickets and people were free to leave whenever they wanted instead of waiting for their ticket time.

 

All of the other ports were walk off except Venice. In Venice they hired 2 water taxi shuttles for the whole day that went back and forth. Man were these things slow. I guess it is a no wake zone, but it took almost 25 minutes to get to St. Mark's square from the ship. But at least you get the beautiful views to watch so who's complaining:p Princess adds a $10 per PERSON charge to your ship board account automatically and the tickets (which you must show upon boarding the taxis) are delivered to your stateroom the night before Venice. You have unlimited use of the taxis with those tickets. You can get a refund if you don't use the water shuttle/taxi but you have to go to the purser's desk before 1pm (I think) to do so. The last water taxi leaves Venice at either 12 or 12:30 am.

 

Wow, thinking back on all of this brings back great memories. You will have a wonderful time!!! Enjoy!

 

Jay Cruise,

 

Thank you so much for all of your useful information! I am on the Star in September and was wondering if they checked tender tickets, or if you have a private tour and really have to get off the ship, can you just go? I know you took a lot of ship's cruises, so maybe you don't know this answer. Also, I assume all of the ship's tours were the first ones off the ship? Thanks.

[Tania]

JayCruise, we just got back from Europe yesterday and did the same cruise as you. Too bad we never met.

 

We were 300 something on the waiting list for traditional dining but saw the Maitre D to request a specific table at a specific time in the PC Dining Room. We were seated with six wonderful people with the best waiter we've ever had. It was fun to go over the day's activities and subconciously plan the next trip. We kept each other in stitches during the course of the meal. Even though our table was in the centre of the Capri dining room, the table was elevated and we didn't hear the rest of the diners at all (although they may have heard us...LOL...) On the last night in Venice we went back into town after dinner until the wee hours...

 

I'm glad we booked a specific tale because there was always a line for dinner around 8:30. The lines on formal nights were horrendous due to the Captain's Welcome and CC parties.

 

I thought the food was better than average on this cruise. The Chateaubriand of beef, filet Mignon, shrimp, and in particular the lobster, shrimp, and the rack of lamb (and the crab! I too had both) were particularly good. My daughter also had every soufflé, I didn't realize they made so many different kinds...

 

We ended up doing the Rome and Florence on your own tours and was glad we did. No worrying about making it back to the ship on time and getting to and from the train station. The cost of the taxi to and from the train stations added significantly to the cost of the train fare (remembering that the euro's value has increased dramatically since last year) and with the added risk of not making it back to the ship on time was the clincher for me. No regrets here... We have been to these ports before so knew our way around without struggling too much with a map. We did the Medieval villages tour, very good, on the Monaco stop, and the Amalfi Drive in Naples, excellent. With stops in Sorrento and Amalfi with a delicious 4 course lunch with wine and sparkling wine at a restaurant with a terrific view, it didn't seem as though we were gone all day. Kusadasi and Athens we did on our own as we'd been before.

 

The sailing was the smoothest I'd ever been on. The storm on the second sea day before Venice was barely noticeable and cooled things off nicely for us in Venice.

 

People often ask which is the best way to do this cruise- Barcelona-Venice or vice versa. I can categorically state that it is easier on your body to do it Barcelona-Venice. There are four major ports in the first half of the cruise: Monaco, Florence, Rome and Naples, all back-to-back. This leaves you exhausted. It was so bad that the assistant cruise director told me that few people took in the evening activites. In the second half, there's only Athens and Kusadasi followed by two glorious sea days before Venice which you visit all rested.

 

 

I posted my thoughts on shopping on the "Must buy thread" if you're interested.

[JayCruise]

Tania, I am sorry we didn't get to meet as well. It was a great trip (we've taken to calling it a "trip"instead of a vacation due to the craziness of all of the ports). But I would definitely agree with you regarding the direction of the cruise.

 

My wife was adamant about doing the itinerary Barcelona to Venice because of the restful 2 sea days at the end. If anyone is doing the reverse, you will still really enjoy it either way! I didn't even notice the storm, it was so calm. We only saw a few rain clouds in the distance and noticed some water on the bridge cam, but that was it!

 

Glad you enjoyed! Maybe we'll see you on the next cruise!

[zebra]

Jaycruise... thanks for the detailed information - you've helped us immensely. By the way, what did you do about obtaining Euro's, your suggestions please.

[xxenna66]

Thank you for this info...What was the name of the tour company that you used in Rome?

[BJS]

My wife was adamant about doing the itinerary Barcelona to Venice because of the restful 2 sea days at the end. If anyone is doing the reverse, you will still really enjoy it either way!

Thank you for your posts. We will be doing the cruise in the opposite direction but also staying on to Rome for a b2b. Glad to hear we will still really enjoy it the opposite direction. Looks like we will sleep the entire flight back and maybe for days after that!

 

What were the other two Princess tours that you took besides the "Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri" tour? I think you mentioned one was to Florence but not the name of the tour. You also mentioned advanced tickets there so there must have been some "free" time and I was wondering how much free time?

 

Thanks for the information about the furnicular. This is a concern for me and have some additional questions about it. Did the tour group only have to meet at the bottom rather than stay together for the ride down? Was this the last place you went on the tour? Was this "last hydrofoil back to Naples" just for Princess or for the general public also?

 

Have a question about your standing reservation in the PC dining room. When did you speak with the Maitre'd to get this reservation? I see you ate at 8:30 which is too late for DH so would like your opinion as to how early would you say the earliest would be that you could make dinner? That would be allowing about 45 min. for a quick shower and change of clothes.

 

Thanks for the help.

[EDRI]

JayCruise - I am enjoying your Princess comments. We are planning a Spring 2005 Venice to Barcelona on the Grand. Could you expand your description of C752. As I see the Princess deck plan of the Star and Grand, it look to me that the C752 balcony is rather small next to the other Caribe BB catagory cabins. Also, is the so called "beam" obvious in that cabin? Since we will be starting our cruise from Venice, what will our view be as we sail out?

 

Thanks

Ed

[JayCruise]

Glad to help! I have always sponged from the board and want to make sure to give back a little;).

 

We got a few hundred euro from an American Express office near our house before we left, the rate was just so-so but we didn't want to have to worry about $ right out of the gate.

 

I used ATMs 2 or 3 times throughout the cruise with no problem, but you should do a search for ATMs on the boards because I have heard (and did see one couple that did have) problems with certain pin #'s and other issues. Also, there were ATMs on almost every corner or block in every port. I'm curious to see how much will hit my bank account in charges or the conversion rate but we'll see.

 

If all else fails you can always get $ at the casino (for 3% charge - ouch) or change travelers cheques at the purser's desk.

 

Right next to the purser's desk is a money machine. You put your $ in and get euros out. The rate wasn't too bad but it was a bit confusing - almost everyone I spoke with had this experience so hopefully this will help you avoid it. . .

 

The cost of changing $ on the ships machine is $1.50 for up to 10 bills. When you put your first bill in it asks if that is ok. It wasn't clear, but you hit "confirm" and then put in the rest of your bills and with each subsequent bill it will ask you to continue or cash out. At first I thought it was $1.50 for each bill so I was going to change my 10's and 20's into $100 bills, but this was unnecessary. Hope this helps so you don't waste the extra 5 minutes you could use seeing the beautiful sights:).

 

Another very useful tip for Venice . . . don't try to fool yourself into thinking you won't take a gondola ride. We spent the day in Venice, came back to the ship to finish packing (I'll explain below) and then went back out for an evening gondola ride. Make sure you have euros for this! It was very romantic and my wife and I felt it was a PERFECT ending to our trip!!

 

During the day the gondola prices ranged from 60 euro to about 100 euro. These were 30 minute to one hour prices. After 7:30pm or 8:00pm the prices go up to 100 euro for 30 min. and 150 euro for a full hour. I guess the romantic sunset rides command a premium, but we felt it was very much worth it. I didn't hear a lot of people saying they had much success with negotiating, but you can always try.

 

Also, for the shorter rides you have the choice of going on the grand canal (which you can see from Rialto Bridge and elsewhere) or through some of the smaller canals (i.e. under the Bridge of Sighs). We chose the latter thinking it would be a bit more romantic and it was! I think you have to go to different launches for the different routes, but just ask and they will tell you.

 

PACKING: No one told us this but I thought it would be useful to know. Your luggage is supposed to be packed and outside your stateroom door by 7pm the night prior to disembarkation. For anyone that is used to the Caribbean, it is usually 11pm or midnight (and if you are like me you test the absolute latest you can put them out there;)). The cruise director said that because of the early flights, people passengers would be getting up at 4am so they didn't want the porter's moving baggage to interrupt those going to bed early.

 

We ended up packing most of our bags the night before as it was the end of a sea day. By the time we got to Venice, we only had to pack our toiletries and a few items. Then it was back out for a Gondola ride. This worked out well for us but I just thought I would mention it.

 

Happy cruising!!

 

 

Jaycruise... thanks for the detailed information - you've helped us immensely. By the way, what did you do about obtaining Euro's, your suggestions please.

[JayCruise]

Hi BJS! We took the Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri. We also took the Acropolis and City of Athens 1/2 day tour (started in the afternoon and only 1/2 day which worked out great for us!) and we did the Florence and Pisa tour and in Turkey we did the Ephesus, Basillica and Mary's House. And if I gave you the impression that there was free time, I apologize because there really isn't. We literally had to RUN up the Leaning Tower of Pisa as we only had 25 minutes at that site. I'm not sure if you can get advanced tix here, but they only let 30 people climb the tower in 1/2 hour intervals so we were very fortunate.

 

There were a few "shopping" times but they were no more than about 30 minutes, which really didn't buy much time to go see anything that you would need tickets for (i.e. the original David stature) since there are still lines even with the tickets and the tours operate in opposites so you couldn't be sure if you were in Pisa in the am and Florence in the pm or the reverse so I don't know if reserved times would work.

 

Great questions about Capri - I wish we would have thought to ask. On our tour, Princess rented the entire Hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri so it was only us. They did the same from Capri back to the ship in Naples - only Princess folks. Basically, once you get off the hydrofoil, the guide buys and hands everyone a ticket for the furnicular and you can go up, stay down by the pier (don't know what was there as we went up) or walk with your guide for a walking tour at the top. Once my wife saw the stores, I knew we were in trouble so we just did our own thing. Unfortunately, our tour was VERY late due to someone with a disability trying to get an uncooperative cab ride to the Sorrento pier so the whole hydrofoil was held up for everyone. I think Princess should have planned a bit better since there were quite a few wheelchairs on our tours, but it appeared that none of the cab drivers wanted to deal with the issue for such a small fare. Whatever the issue, the entire Princess contingent (all 5 or 6 tours) were held up for about 20-30 minutes and we only had about a half hour on capri.

 

Once you get your ticket, your tour guide will tell you when to meet at the bottom of the furnicular, but if there appears to be a line I would RUN - not walk to the steps or find out how to take a cab down. Again, I think all of the locals were shoving to get the last non-Princess hydrofoils back to the mainland and it was ugly. I can't even remember how long it took us to get down, but it was a LONG time. The only reason I recommend a cab (as we obviously didn't take one) is that the same wheelchair bound person was able to take one going up to the top of the island, so I assume there must be a way to go down via cab! (In case I didn't mention, there are no cars allowed in the shopping area - only pedestrirans and these little carts that seem to take nothing but hotel furniture and people's Luis Vuitton luggage all over town). So find the cab spot early on if that is your intention.

 

In terms of the dining room, we actually never made a reservation, but I would recommend that you do if you find a time and location you like. We got to know the greeter and Maitre'd pretty well and they just took care of us when we got there. We did have to wait at times, but we didn't mind. We also were able to get a last minute Tequila's/Sterling Steakhouse reservation on one of the days because people didn't seem to go there until a bit later. Depending on which tour you are on, I wouldn't plan on specific times for dinner throughout the cruise, just go with the fllow. We never had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes but we usually sat at a table for 2 (every cruise is like a honeymoon for us and we enjoy our together time) and these were the only tables that seemed to have a wait. If you want to sit with others, you can usually get seated very quickly.

 

By the way, we found the Capri dining room service much better than Portofino (downstairs vs. upstairs). I think the Maitre'd and head waiters were more attentive and that definitely filter down.

 

Either way, it beats cooking so enjoy!!!!

 

 

Thank you for your posts. We will be doing the cruise in the opposite direction but also staying on to Rome for a b2b. Glad to hear we will still really enjoy it the opposite direction. Looks like we will sleep the entire flight back and maybe for days after that!

 

What were the other two Princess tours that you took besides the "Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri" tour? I think you mentioned one was to Florence but not the name of the tour. You also mentioned advanced tickets there so there must have been some "free" time and I was wondering how much free time?

 

Thanks for the information about the furnicular. This is a concern for me and have some additional questions about it. Did the tour group only have to meet at the bottom rather than stay together for the ride down? Was this the last place you went on the tour? Was this "last hydrofoil back to Naples" just for Princess or for the general public also?

 

Have a question about your standing reservation in the PC dining room. When did you speak with the Maitre'd to get this reservation? I see you ate at 8:30 which is too late for DH so would like your opinion as to how early would you say the earliest would be that you could make dinner? That would be allowing about 45 min. for a quick shower and change of clothes.

 

Thanks for the help.

[JayCruise]

I think it was driverinrome (or something like that). If you search it was the tour company that Daneille and his father, Remo run. We did not have either of the owners, but our driver was ok. We all wished he would have been a bit more interactive so, although I don't think you will get a guarantee, you should request Danielle or Remo. We still had a GREAT experience in Rome though!

 

Many people have written reviews about this company and all I have seen have been very positive.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Thank you for this info...What was the name of the tour company that you used in Rome?

[JayCruise]

Glad you are finding this useful! Ok now about C752:

 

the cabin is very typical, didn't seem any larger or smaller (maybe a foot smaller here or there) but nothing noticeable.

 

The balcony was VERY large. We had a BB on the Grand 2 years ago and loved it. C752 was completely covered though (BB's are typically only 1/2 covered, which was also fine for us) and we liked the additional privacy. There was NO BEAM on our balcony, no obstruction of any sort. Already present upon our arrival were 2 straight back chairs, a small dining table, a very small balcony table and 2 lounge chairs (which we usually have to request). All of these items fit more than comfortably on this balcony. In the BB on the grand (midship) we sometimes had to stack the loungers or chairs to get good use of our balcony as I recall. So rest assured, the balcony is very large and accomodating in comparison.

 

One very important point, in case you missed it my earlier post below:

We were in C752 which had a great, fully covered and huge balcony. The seas were the calmest we have EVER been on. No more than ripples until the day before Venice and I think we maxed at 4 foot waves. This is a great itinerary for anyone concerned about motion sickness. We did, however, have a very noticeable engine vibration in our room. We were the last cabin in the back of the ship so that is understandable but we actually had to take down unused hangers in the closet (can you believe we didn't use them all) because the engine vibration was knocking them together and into the closet wall - it was pretty loud. But we loved the room and had absolutely NO motion at all.

Just beware that the vibration is pretty significant. If you are not prone to motion sickness, etc. it shouldn't be too bad but you should take note. The only other thing I would mention is that the walk is LONG, LONG, LONG. We loved it, but commented every time we walked back. Nothing like burning off all of those souffle calories!!

 

In terms of the view leaving Venice, I assume you will follow the same rout going out as we did coming in so the West to East track will take you right past the southern edge of Venice and ST. Mark's square. It is really a beautiful sight.

 

I'm jealous already and we just got back!! Have fun!

 

 

JayCruise - I am enjoying your Princess comments. We are planning a Spring 2005 Venice to Barcelona on the Grand. Could you expand your description of C752. As I see the Princess deck plan of the Star and Grand, it look to me that the C752 balcony is rather small next to the other Caribe BB catagory cabins. Also, is the so called "beam" obvious in that cabin? Since we will be starting our cruise from Venice, what will our view be as we sail out?

 

Thanks

Ed

[BJS]

JayCruise thank you so much for your detailed response. We also enjoy our table for two at dinner so will follow your advice and just "go with the flow". We frequently get a standing reservation once we find a wait staff, table and time we prefer but this may not be the cruise to do this.

[Tania]

BJS,

 

We were the ones with a standing reservation at 8:30 in PC with three other couples who were unknown to us before the cruise. The Maitre D made an excellent match for us in every respect. We saw him at 2 the day of embarcation.

 

The time was excellent as it offered us a rest/nap period before dinner and therefore we were able to see a show etc after dinner. (We were totally exhausted after the Monaco, Florence, Rome, Naples days so the late dinner really helped.)

 

We especially appreciated the reservation on the formal night dinners which were preceeded by either the Captain's Welcome Party and the Captain Circle PArty. The lineups were horrendous.

 

Going with the flow is fine but I didn't go to Europe to spend my time in line if I can possibly avoid it. Don't forget to make reservations at museums you want to see. The booking fees are worth it in my opinion as you bypass the long lines at places like the Uffizi, etc.

[BJS]

BJS,We were the ones with a standing reservation at 8:30 in PC with three other couples who were unknown to us before the cruise. The Maitre D made an excellent match for us in every respect. We saw him at 2 the day of embarcation.

I realized that later but thank you for seeing my error and responding. We appreciate your response.

 

I do have another question after seeing your post about the dress and will post it there as to not mix threads.