Emerald Princess Review

The Best Ever!

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Emerald Princess
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ylmama
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Aug 2008
Traveled with children

Just back from a wonderful vacation and now trying to deal with jet lag, laundry, and the accumulation of dust while gone. Our family of four (two sons age 14 and 15) flew from Los Angeles to Venice three days in advance of our cruise. We chose to use a private water taxi since we had left Los Angles 26 hours earlier. I did not prearrange for a water taxi. Collecting our luggage was easy and we headed out the door into the main terminal. There we headed for the water taxi desk and got a slip and instructions as to where to go. In less then 5 minutes we were at the docks and boarding onto our private taxi. The cost was 100E, this was for 4 people, 5 suitcases, and 2 backpacks, and included the tip. We gave them our address to our hotel and off we went. This is the way to go. It alleviated any worries that we had since we were tired. This ride was a great pick me up, and we could take all of the pictures we wanted and stand or sit anywhere. I booked the Hotel Antiche Figure located on the main Canal www.hotelantichefigure.it. This hotel is rated number three on Trip Advisor (they have various rooms with view or no view). The hotel had a dock right in front of it. We booked the Deluxe Triple Room + extra bed overlooking the Grand Canal with buffet breakfast. I am glad that we booked this room overlooking the Grand Canal. We could go outside and people watch and boat watch, which was fun or just go out sightseeing. The hotel is located directly across the train terminal. Our room was comfortable and never had any issues with any noise. Also just outside our hotel was one of the areas to hire a gondolier, they were very busy. We were given some great ideas for places to eat and shop and were not disappointed by any. Make sure you pre-purchase your tickets for the Doge's. The line outside was running over 2+ hour wait in line for those who did not pre-purchase. We also took the Secret Itinerary. It was okay, we learned and saw plenty. The only thing that I would highly recommend is taking a fan with you if you are going in summer. It is extremely hot in some of the rooms, and our guide got upset that some of the people wanted to leave these rooms early because of the heat. (Oh yeah, she was the only one with a fan, and stood by the windows). We loved Venice, we had two days of brief rain, but this added to our experience. We would run to doorways with locals and other visitors waiting for the rain to let up. You could see they were also having fun doing this. I highly recommend to just get your self lost in the different alleys and streets. You will be amazed with the things that you will experience along the way. I would also highly recommend to coming early to Venice. There were quite a few people who flew through Princess and had less then ½ of a day in town. Plus when we arrived into our room we were notified that we would be leaving early in the morning when it was dark not the 8am departure like planned. We once again took a private water taxi to the dock, where they took our luggage and sent us off to do the normal embarkation process. We were in our room in less than 45 minutes. The majority of the rest of my review will mainly cover the ports visited. The ship was nice and really did not have any complaints. We did not make any of the evening shows. We actually were heading to a show, when we found out that we would be sailing by Stromboli, while sailing by we were entertained by it's eruptions, we later decided this was the best show. We were on the Sapphire last August and felt that the food on the Emerald was much, much better and that the buffet and Caribe buffet worked 100 times better. The staff that we interacted with were all attentive and wanting to help to make your cruise a memorable one. I booked private operators for all but one port. We were not disappointed by any. They all gave us a great day in each port but there were three tour operators who were absolutely outstanding. Athens - I booked with Athens Taxi- www.athenstaxi.org. Paul met us at the dock and immediately took us to the Acropolis as he said the crowds could get awfully bad. He was right, when we were heading back to his vehicle the bus were unloading and the crowds were thick. For those of you taking children under 18 they are free at many venues, just have a copy of your passport and they will let them in free. Over all we enjoyed Athens. Kusadasi/Ephesus - I booked with Ekol Travel www.ekoltravel.com. We booked Tour - 2 Ephesus, Terrace Houses, and the Temple of Artemis. We started the morning at Ephesus and had a wonderful time here. Make sure you have water and a hat. Pay the extra money and visit the Terrace Houses. Are family thought this was one of the highlights on our cruise. Yes there are steps to climb up in the beginning and at the end but I use a cane for a bad knee so I just went slower and did just find. The Temple of Artemis wasn't really much. The only problem we had with Ekol's is that they talked us into stopping at a handicraft cooperative. This turned out to being a rug stop. I would have preferred that they had been upfront with us. Istanbul - I booked with Kagan Kosagan and his wife Lale - Kosagan@yahoo.com. To start with we also tried to book them also for Ephesus but they were already booked. Lale Kosagan met us at the ship and she was one of our three favorite tour operators. She has such a love for her country and wants to be able to share it with you. We visited the Blue Mosque, the St. Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Cisterns. She allowed us as much time as we needed and was great with the boy's questions. We had a short time to also visit the Grand Bazaar. Everything was easy to do and had a great lunch that the locals like to eat at. Like I stated before, I would highly recommend their company. Mykonos - I originally booked a tour with Princess to tour Delos but we lost this port due to high winds of 65+ knots. The only excitement that day as we approached Mykonos was that the boat listed at least 10+ percent. It was a bit scary as one watched the water from the pools flowing out to the other side. Princess offered nothing for this loss. Naples/Pompeii- I booked benvenutolimos - www.benvenutolimos.com. Palo picked us up and suggested that we head straight to Vesuvius to hike the last ½ mile, before it was crowded and hot. It was an excellent idea. As we were hiking down, the cruise buses were just arriving. We then headed off to Herculaneum. Here we were met by Patrizia our guide for both Herculaneum and Pompeii. Patrizia was great and it helped having her at both sites. I would highly recommend visiting Herculaneum, which was buried under lava not ash like Pompeii. Many of the areas uncovered are in better condition then Pompeii. Benvenutolimos was our 4th favorite tour operator. Palo took us to a restaurant not usually visited by tourists. Here I had one of my best meals during this cruise. Rome - I booked Rome Cabs - www.romecabs.com. We were met by Big Marco who was one of our three very favorite tour operators. Marco was charming and thoughtful in making sure everyone was doing what he or she wanted. He seemed to go out of his way to get me as close as possible to the various sites. He said he wanted to make sure that my knee would hold up for the private afternoon tour at the Vatican. I had Marco once again arrange for a private guide at the Vatican and was extremely glad. It is so expansive and so many things to see. Once again would highly recommend RomeCabs with Big Marco. Livorno/Florence - I booked with Tuscany in my Pocket. Our family's goal was to spend the day in Florence only, as we wanted as much time in the museums there. We started off visiting the Accadamia, which besides the David had another special collection that was just amazing. We ended up spending an extra hour more then planned. We then grabbed a quick snack and headed off to the Uffizzi. What a great collection they have. We ended up at the ended with a bit of extra time and stopped by for a short visit to Pisa, which was perfect for us. Marseilles - I booked with Planning RVP - www.rendez-vous-provence.com. We were met by Thibaud Boyer who also was quite a nice young man. He made sure that beside us that the boys were having a good time. We chose this tour company because the boys wanted to see the Pont Du Gard up close and then spend as much time as we could in Avingon. There is a bit of hiking if you want to get up close and personal with this Roman Aqueduct. Had lunch outside the castle gate in Avingon, which was charming but expensive. Barcelona - I booked with Pepitours. Unfortunately I can't find his e-mail but search CC and you can find it. Pepitours was also one of our three favorite companies and a wonderful way to end our vacation. We visited Genoa a medieval castle and city, the Costa Bravo (the beach), and Barcelona. Everything about this day was great, great, great. We had a wonderful time visiting the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. There were unfortunately people who would not pay the 5E to go in. That is a total mistake in my opinion. You need to experience this in person and it helps to pay for the building of this church. We stayed at the Marriott Renaissance in Barcelona it was okay. But not up to the usual Marriott standards. As far as disembarking in Barcelona it only took us max of 15 minutes to disembark (we left the boat at 7:15) and meet up with Pepitours. Princess seems to have this well planned out. I hope that this information might help others plan their trip as other fellow reviewers at CC helped me.

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