Our main purpose of going on this cruise was the visit to Egypt. We joined the Princess overland excursion with an overnight stay in Cairo. A convoy of ten buses left the port of Alexandria and travelled to Cairo under police escort. Even though Cairo was a very crowded place, we managed to get a glimpse of the city and the culture. Before the trip we were worried about the food and the water in Egypt. The tour operator arranged for meals at banquet halls of American hotels and non-alcoholic beverages were included. The laser sound and light show in front of the sphinx was not as impressive as I expected but it was still a great experience. We were lucky that it wasn't too cold in mid-October and all we had to wear was a wind-breaker type jacket. They put everyone up at the Conrad hotel. We got great pictures of the pyramids. I thought the excursion was a good value for the price. Be prepared to ignore all the young vendors who tried to sell you everything for "one dollar". US dollar was widely used. We didn't have to change any money to Egyptian pound on the excursion. Egypt is quite dirty with garbage on the side of the freeways. Just be prepared for a bit of the culture shock and the whole experience will be very enjoyable. 


Alexandria

We took the Easy Istanbul excursion from Princess as we have been to the city before. We were taken to the Asian side of the city to view the European side. The subsequent visit to St. Sophia was enjoyable. We went to the usual carpet store sales but didn't buy anything. The Grand Bazaar was closed on Sunday, so we just did our souvenir shopping on the street next to it. 


Istanbul

We have visited Ephesus before, so we just walked outside the pier to the bazaar there. Souvenir shopping was great. If you like leather, there are lots of choices. 


Kusadasi

We took a taxi from the port to the new Acropolis Museum. It's worth a visit as they have a very impressive display.I had to spend an hour there even though I am not museum person. We went to the Plakka shopping district and found a wine store with a 100 year history. It offered free wine tasting, but only the lower priced wines. Get a bottle of the Greek varietal wine, Alpha One, and get a taste of the premium Greek wine. We wanted to see the changing of the guards but ran into a general labour protest. Instead we got some pictures of the riot police formation. 


Athens (Piraeus)

We got off the ship and walked to the pier to catch a jet ferry to Capri. Cost was 16 euro per person and the trip took one hour. We could not go to the Blue Grotto due to high swell. We took the tram up to the town and had some delicious morning snack in a coffee shop. We then took another ferry to Sorrento to have lunch. Then we took the train back to Naples. The ride took an hour to get back to the Naples main train station. It was another 15 euro taxi ride back to the pier. 


Naples

A601 - great mid-ship balcony cabin. No problems at all.

The four DVD cruise memory set was a bargain as one could not have captured those moments (especially the pyramid sound and light show) with one's own equipment.Cruise was booked through Princess website over one year ago from Captain Circle e-mail offer at half price.

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