Pacific Princess - Holy Land Cruise - November 2008 - Trip Report

[Future Islander]

Pacific Princess

 

Holy Land Cruise – November 4 - 16, 2008

 

Disclaimer: The following report and comments are our personal comments and are not meant to imply that any part of this trip was something that anyone else could expect to experience (good or bad). They are our experiences and opinions. They took place on particular dates under unique conditions. The following report is only meant to give the reader an idea of what we observed and recommendations that we think were appropriate for our individual needs and circumstances. Our ratings will be classified as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair & Poor.

 

General Comments:

 

Pacific Princess – Smaller ship than what we have previously sailed on, maximum capacity 670 guests. Ship’s condition was very good, very clean and the relative smallness afforded a better ability to associate with other guests. I liked the smaller ship, the Mrs. didn’t, citing the lack of (more) things to do and fewer shops onboard. This was my 10th cruise, the Mrs’s 11th.

 

Food – Very good, both variety and quality. Also, very good presentation.

 

Service – Very good to excellent…both in the dining areas and cabins.

 

Activities – Could be more, but staff is limited on this size vessel…I was getting bored by the second day at sea. (Note, I’m the type of person that can’t sit still.)

 

Entertainment – Good, but could be better and more of it. Piano player in the casino lounge was fair and didn’t play a lot. Theater productions were “OK”, but lacked the spectacular type that you get on larger ships. However, the performers were very talented. One guest comedian was not funny.

 

Internet – Expensive. 75 cents per minute, unless you buy a plan. Plans start at $55. For 100 minutes. The internet speed is slow.

 

Cell Phones (AT&T): I was almost never out of cell phone contact, even at sea….but I wonder what the “at sea” bill will be.

 

Guest Lecturer – Not very good…not a good speaker….Debbie, the port of call lecturer was better.

 

Tours – While most of the Princess tours were OK ….I would recommend that future guests try to book private tours in Alexandria (for Cairo), Ashdod (Jerusalem) and Haifa (Nazareth). In my opinion, too much time is wasted on tourist trap shopping stops, bathroom visits (waiting for the 45 people to finish), restaurant stops (do you really need another big meal while on a cruise?) when a “quick bite” stop at a Mc Donald’s (or box lunch from the ship) would suffice? And waiting for “missing people” who are late getting back to the bus.

 

Details:

 

We left Newark, NJ (EWR) on November 3, 2008 aboard Continental flight 40 to Rome (FCO) at 17:30. Arrived in Rome at 08:00, November 4, 2008.

 

Princess Cruises met us at the gate and told us to claim our luggage (we had purchased the airport to ship transfers for $75. each – well worth the cost). Another Princess Representative met us at the baggage claim area and took our luggage. Next time we saw the bags were onboard the ship in our stateroom (Great Service!). We boarded a bus at around 10:00 for the ride to Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) however, since it was too early to check in on the ship Princess took us on a 3 hour (complimentary) tour of Rome….then onto the port. We arrived at the port at about 14:00. Check-in went very smoothly. The Pacific Princess only accommodates about 670 passengers (we are accustomed to much larger ships with 2,000 to 3,000 passengers). The good news….we were upgraded to a balcony stateroom from our original ocean view room. Emilio, our cabin attendant, greeted us upon arrival. Luggage took about 3 hours to arrive in the stateroom. The stateroom was spacious with lots of storage space….we packed for 2 seasons (Summer & Fall) due to our destinations and time of year. In all we had 2 large and 1 medium suit cases along with 2 carry on bags. Lunch at the buffet was good….we met Henry and Monica (from Los Angels) at the airport and joined them for lunch.

 

Before sailing the Captain announced a change in port for the next day. Instead of Sorrento we would dock in Naples…I was a little disappointed here but if the seas were rough then tendering into Sorrento would be a problem. Dinner was good, the Mrs. had Mahi Mahi and I the seafood crock pot. We asked to be seated at a table for 8. Here we met Stan & Iris (from Long Island) and Merle & Diane (from Rochester, NY)…..we had 2 empty seats at our table. Note: The ship was not full…..but I would estimate the occupancy at about 500-550 passengers.

 

Wednesday (November 5, 2008). We docked at Naples. Since Sorrento was a long ride away we opted to return to Pompeii. Princess provided a bus to the main transportation center of the port, but the driver was nice enough to drop us off near the train station (for Pompeii). The tickets cost 4.60 Euros (roundtrip). We met another couple on the train also going to Pompeii (Dennis & Betty from Wisconsin). Dennis & Betty were on a NCL Mediterranean Cruise. Admission to Pompeii was 11 Euros. We had a great time exploring Pompeii with Dennis & Betty and saw many things we missed on a previous trip in 2002. On the way back to the port we stopped in a small food store in Naples and bought 2 bottles of Italian wine (the good stuff). We were back on the ship by 16:00 for a sailing at 17:30. Hungry we went to the pizzeria, but it was closed…we opted for a burger instead (something to eat was always available aboard the ship). At 20:15 we went to dinner in the main dining room. I had scallops (yum). Bob & Marla (from Ohio) joined us tonight. Also, we met another couple on-board that had booked their cruise 2 weeks ahead of time (we booked ours 6 weeks ahead). They told us that they paid $995./person….we paid $1,997./person…boy did they get a good deal.

 

Thursday & Friday (November 6 & 7, 2008). Two days at sea. I got a chance to relax, slept late and read my book, “A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity” by Bill O’Reilly. I’m beginning to really like this “smaller ship”. It’s less congested and “friendlier”. We’re meeting a lot more people than we usually do on the larger ships…..I guess it’s because you see them more frequently on a smaller boat. Breakfast in the main dining room was good, lunches at the buffet were good and dinner in the main dining room was very good with excellent company and great service. Diane (from Rochester) keeps ribbing me about the election….she knows that I’m a Republican….it’s all in fun, though. The Mrs. tries her hand at ceramics & joins the other ladies for afternoon tea. I’m into exploring the ship and finding a quiet place to read my book. The ship also offers lectures/discussions on the “Global Economy” and “Ports of Call”….we both go. The lecturer on the “Global Economy” was not very good (sorry if I offended someone)…..I tried to ask questions, but he was “unavailable” for that kind of thing. Debbie, the “port of call” lecturer, was good, informative and very receptive to answering questions.

 

Saturday (November 8, 2008). Alexandria, Egypt. Awoke at 05:30, had a quick breakfast and met in the theater at 07:10. Today we purchased a Princess tour to the Pyramids, Sphinx & Egyptian Museum. The Princess personnel were very efficient and had us on the bus by 08:00 for the 3 hour ride to Cairo. The ride was smooth, but long…yes they have a (clean) restroom on the bus. Mohammad was the name of our tour guide…so was the bus driver (we also had an armed guard on-board). The tour guide was very good and provided a lot of good information during our long ride into Cairo. At about 11:00 we passed the Sofitel Hotel in Giza and I can now see the Pyramids (Wow). We stop at a parking area above the 3 pyramids and are told by Mohammad that we have 17 minutes to take pictures (huh?....17 minutes?.....a 3 hour ride for 17 minutes?). The stop was tooooo short….I barely got a chance to take a few pictures and negotiate a deal with one of many vendors for some papyrus prints before being shuffled to the bus by our guide. The Mrs., the shopper of the family, is not “a happy camper”…she wants to shop. Next stop the Great Pyramid of Cheops….we stop here and are told we have 25 minutes (huh?...the last remaining wonder of the ancient world and we have 25 minutes?)….the Mrs. & I venture into the great pyramid (tickets are included in the tour price)…the Mrs. turns back at the start of the decline…I venture further and enter the great chamber with the stone sarcophagus of Cheops (Wow!). I borrow a flashlight from an attendant and very closely view the final resting place of Cheops…..placing my hand on the very spot where this great Pharaoh was laid to rest. Back out on the desert floor I join the Mrs. who is being admired for her blond hair (I’m offered 2 camels & a goat for her….…just kidding). Being a Saturday there are a lot of school aged children at this site and they all want to meet us and practice their English….topics of the day were “where are we from” and “Obama being elected”. We’re hassled by a few vendors wanting to give us gifts (of course they wanted cash gifts in return). By the way U.S. dollars and Euros are accepted everywhere. Remember to take lots of singles and five dollar bills with you. Next stop the Sphinx….here we have a total of 35 minutes….just enough time to walk down to the Sphinx and take some pictures…then the long walk back to the bus. Total (scheduled) time at the Pyramids & Sphinx was 77 minutes (including the time to walk to and from the bus). Then off to a “scheduled” shopping opportunity (organized)….we are told we have 20 minutes here to shop (the Mrs. is in a panic mode by now…it must be “shopping withdrawal”). The Mrs. purchases 2 custom silver (with gold hieroglyphics) cartouches for $100. each with chain…..the ship wanted $140. each without the chain. Then off to lunch at a local hotel. We’re told that we have 1 hour to eat and return to the bus. Food was good. The Egyptian beer and wine was good, as well. Then back to the bus (the customized cartouches are already here) for the ride through Cairo to the Egyptian Museum (admission is included). Here we have 75 minutes…..(huh?...the greatest archeological museum in the world and we have 75 minutes for exploring and shopping (can’t forget the Mrs.). We barely touch the surface of this fascinating place…it’s a good thing that we’re coming back to Egypt in April 2009 for 2 weeks and can spend much more time exploring the sites that we just visited. I bought 3 paintings at the museum gift shop for $8.00 each. Then it’s back on the bus for the 3 hour, 15 minute ride to Alexandria. We’re back on the dock at 19:20. The Mrs. does some shopping at an area adjacent to the dock. The ship leaves port at 20:00. In all we had 2 hours and 23 minutes of “sightseeing” for an 11 ½ hour trip. I can only say that “we’ve been there”, but really didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. If any Princess Cruises representatives view these comments may I recommend the following (and it applies to the Israel tours, as well), 1. Restroom facilities on the bus are a must, it saves time; 2. Pack a box lunch from the ship so we don’t waste (precious) time at restaurants; 3. Shopping can take place at the archeological sites, we don’t need to shop at “over priced designated tourist traps”! ; 4. Assure that the tour guides are fluent in English (our Israeli tour guide in Jerusalem was terrible); 5. Smaller groups on tours. Tour groups of 45 people are just too unmanageable, 20 people maximum would be better….also, I estimate that we spent over an hour just waiting for people to use and return from the restrooms on the Israel tours, because there were no restrooms on the buses.

 

Sunday (November 9, 2008). Port Said. We docked at 10:00. Since there were no tours offered here we just took a walk into town. Port Said is small compared to Alexandria…..and we felt a little unsafe here walking around by ourselves. We were asked for money by a couple of beggars. The beach area was filthy and the worst I’ve seen anywhere in our travels….litter and garbage everywhere. We met up with another couple from the ship and walked back with them. There were many vendors on the dock and the Mrs. satisfied her desire to shop…..I bought an Egyptian coffee set and some decorative plates (by the way the Egyptian vendor freely admitted that most of the Egyptian souvenirs here are made in China, but he assured me that my coffee set was made in Egypt….hmmmm). I also purchased some Egyptian book marks for gifts….then back to the ship…..it was late so we wanted pizza….but again (the third time) it was closed (hmmm). The ship also hosted an Egyptian folklore show which was very good…we thoroughly enjoyed it…very worthwhile. Following the show we joined our new Indian friends for drinks at the casino lounge. After visiting here I’d say that Port Said is not a worthwhile port to visit, actually it would have been better to stop in Malta on the way from Naples rather than Port Said.

 

Monday (November 10, 2008). Ashdod (the port for Jerusalem & Bethlehem). We chose to do the Princess tour for Jerusalem & Bethlehem. This was by far the WORST tour we have ever taken, ever. We were very disappointed. The tour guides’ command of the English language was poor…his heavy accent made it worse….and his constant repeating of things, four times, made it very annoying. We awoke at 05:30, breakfast at 06:45 and met our tour group at 07:20 in the ship’s theater. We boarded the bus and are off at 08:00. The walking tour through Jerusalem, except for the stops at the Wailing Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was a high speed, try to catch the tour guide, chase…we saw NOTHING! We then boarded the bus for a ride to a Kibbutz for lunch…another total waste of precious Holy Land time where a box lunch, from the ship, would have saved time. The food was O.K., but they ran out of desserts (or at least they said they did). We were then taken to the Palestinian held territory crossing for the trip to Bethlehem. We had to change tour guides, since our original guide was not allowed to go there. From here we were told that a Mass was being said at the Church of the Nativity and we couldn’t go there yet (we later found out, through people on another tour bus, that this was simply a lie). Instead we were taken to a tourist trap shop that was completely isolated….I felt a little insecure at this time…I felt trapped here (and we were)……items at this shop were severely over priced…what a rip off….and we waste almost 1 ½ hours. We finally get to the Church of the Nativity (this is what I came for) and are told that we can’t stay since we are out of time (really…after wasting 3 hours at lunch and a rip-off tourist trap shop)…..???? Princess Cruises needs to definitely do something to change this tour!

 

Tuesday (November 11, 2008). Haifa (the port for Nazareth & the Sea of Galilee). This Princess tour was much better than the previous day….at least the tour guide was understandable and very knowledgeable. We visit many religious sites and have lunch at another Kibbutz (again a box lunch would have done well and saved time). Special Note: Although we didn’t come here for a “religious experience” we found that all of the religious sites were totally commercialized to the extent that it was appalling. These were built-up sites where they “think” events took place along with severely over priced merchandise. It is a shame that these most reverend places in all of Christendom are displayed in this manner. I don’t think Jesus would have approved of all the building of shrines and the trinket kiosks with their religious items (that are made in China)…..it seems that the dollar (or Euro or any other currency) has replaced the sanctity of this area. I for one would have rather sat on a rock at the “Hill of the Multiplication” contemplating the words that Jesus spoke to his Disciples and the masses that came to hear him speak. Anyway, I can say that I saw the places where Jesus walked…the Mrs. even put her feet in the River Jordan….and for the most part it was an enjoyable day.

 

Wednesday (November 12, 2008). Day at Sea. Another day making new friends and enjoying many conversations and experiences….Diane keeps kidding me about Obama winning the election. Today we met Malcolm & Margaret from Scotland…a wonderful couple….Malcolm even wore his kilt to the formal dinner tonight…we also went to the onboard show (very good) and danced the night away at the disco….took a lot of pictures. I managed to finish my book, too. The Mrs. finished her ceramics project. Plus Debbie gave a briefing on Turkey (the country, not the bird).

 

Thursday (November 13, 2008). Kusadasi, Turkey. Again we took the Princess tour to Ephesus, St. John’s Basilica and the Virgin Mary Shrine…which was the best tour of all that we had taken…….the tour of Ephesus was amazing! We thoroughly enjoyed it…took lots of pictures…and we would come back one day to re-visit the area.

 

Friday (November 14, 2008). Patmos, Greece. We are on our own. Took a taxi (with two other friends) to St. John’s Grotto and Monastery…cost was 25 Euros (total for all 4 of us)….the tour (on our own) took about 3 hours…the taxi driver was pretty fluent in English and described the places to visit……well worth it! Then back to town for shopping before boarding the ship. I bought a bottle of Greek wine.

 

Saturday (November 15, 2008). Santorini, Greece. Since we’ve been here before we opted not to take a tour. We took the cable car to the top of the hill (4 Euros each way, each) and the Mrs. spent the day shopping while I explored the surrounding area on foot. Since it was late in the season a lot of shops were closed. Back to the ship to pack our bags and get ready to disembark. At dinner we say good-bye to all of our new friends…we exchange e-mail addresses, as well.

 

Sunday (November 16, 2008). Piraeus (Athens), Greece. Today we disembark the ship. We take a taxi to the Sofitel Hotel next to Athens airport (the cost was 50 Euros)….we asked for an early check-in…the cost for the hotel was 160 Euros (advance booking). From here we took the train into Athens and got off in Plaka (cost 10 Euros, round trip, each). We shopped had lunch at Byzantino Vizantino (a sidewalk café), shopped some more and re-boarded the train for the airport. We went to sleep early (very tired).

 

Monday (November 17, 2008). Awake at 03:30 to repack and get to the airport by 05:00 for our 07:00 flight to Paris on Air France (by the way, Air France was on a partial strike, but our flight was unaffected). Arrived in Paris at 09:30. Fortunately our Continental flight back to Newark was on schedule. We enjoyed a glass of champagne at Continental’s Presidents Club prior to boarding our flight at 12:00. The flight went very smoothly….landing about 35 minutes early…our daughter picked us up at the airport and 60 minutes later we’re home………the end of a wonderful trip.

 

Throughout our trip we met many wonderful people from around the world and formed relationships that we hope will continue through e-mails, for many years….and perhaps form some type of reunion on another cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed the Pacific Princess and would definitely sail with them again.

[Alessandrina]

Thanks for taking the time to report about your trip. I enjoyed reading it and I hope to take this cruise someday.

Cheers!

[Druke I]

Thanks for your review.

[Ggrrrr]

Thanks! I appreciate the detail!

[jaynak]

many thanks for your detailed - most enjoyable review. Jayna K

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

Loved your review, especially the detail and your objective style of writing. We are going to be on the Pacific Princess in September 2009 to Hawai'i. That little ship sure seems to get around! A couple of questions, first, what are the casual or alternative dining options on board? Second, how rigidly were the formal night dress codes enforced? I ask because the casual destination (Hawai'i) and the return trip (some expletive deleted US airline) restrict us on what we would pack for the formal nights. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance. Patric