Hi from Star Princess in Livorno right now!

[BJS]

"Please refer to my parts one and two. As for tours we were very satisfied with the Princess tours that we took."

 

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about what we can expect. Looking forward to you next part on the tours especially the Princess tours.

[Travl Nut]

Evelyn:

 

For your Ephesus tour, who did you book through?

[Happydog]

Just came back from a 12-day Med cruise with Star Princess. The ship is a beauty and we had such a great time!! Food is fabulous (much better in the dining room than the buffet)and service is good. We did not do any of the Princess's tours and were fine.

Venice: walked around on our own. The Doge's palace secret itinerary tour is fascinating. This is one of our favourite cities and will be on our list to revisit in the future.

Ephesus: did a half day private tour and saw the Ephesus, house of Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St John. We spent the rest of the day in the market that is right across from the pier. We paid less than half of what the ship charged.

Athens: took the subway to downtown Athens and toured Acropolis on our own. We spent the afternoon in the Plaka area shopping. Athens is quite polluted and there are lots of construction going on. I don't think they will be ready for the Olympics in August.

Naples: toured the Amalfi coast and Pompeii with Marcello's associate Adrino as our guide. He is excellent and we were glad to have him. This area is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped at Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi villages and I just fell in love with the area. Pompeii is interesting but after seeing a few ruins we feel that we don't want to see more after this one.

Rome: Our group of 23 saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain in a day. With a licensed guide accompanying us for the day, each person in our group only paid a third of what the ship charges. We were all happy with the arrangement. There is too much to see and do in Rome and I hope that we will return to Rome some day.

Livorno: We had Alessandro as our guide for the day and he is very good. The four of us went to Pisa for a short photo stop and headed to Florence. We spent about 4.5 hours there, saw David and then headed to the outlet mall. The day is perfect.

Monte Carlo: Took the #100 bus to Nice. We walked along the beach, took the little tourist tram around town and did a little shopping in the Antique market (old town). In the afternoon, we took the bus back to MC and toured the old town and the casino. MC is very clean and pretty.

Barcelona: We took the red tourist bus and went all around town. Since we did not have a lot of time, we only admired the buildings and sites from the bus. We spent some time in the Las Ramblas area and loved it.

 

Overall, this cruise experience is unforgettable and we are already thinking of our next cruise.

 

Evelyn

Hi Evelyn,

I loved what you did in Florence.We have seen Florence before but not the outlet.Please let me know does it worth to see and buy?How much we would save compare to the State like Prada,Tods,Celine & Fendi?We were thinking to take the train to Florence but dont know how to get to the oulet?If we take the cab to the outlet how much it would cost ?And did you hire a taxi on your own in Florence and how much it is?We will be on the Oceania Reggata on 10/23/04 and want to do a lot of things on our own so there is a lot of questions to ask yet ?Thanks Evelyn .

Kim