Roll Call--Grand Princess, Sept. 23, 2005--Rome to Venice

[jrcooper]

This cruise has a great itinerary and is in port on days when things are OPEN (as far as I can tell) , and we need to find others who are going! Please come and join us! The itinerary is as follows:

Rome, Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Florence/Pisa, Italy
Naples, Italy
At Sea
Santorini, Greece
Kusadasi or Ephesus, Turkey
Mykonos, Greece
Athens, Greece
Katakolon, Greece
Corfu, Greece
At Sea
Venice, Italy

Is there anyone out there going on this cruise?

Jan

[lizzie]

How much does this cruise cost?

[ketelhut]

You'll be back just before we leave for the 10/29 Grand Princess cruise going from Venice to Rome with the same stops. We picked this cruise because it spends more time in the Greek Islands then any of the other cruises we looked at. We have been to Italy before & wanted see the Greek Islands.

We have not been to Venice before. We will be spending 2 nights in Venice pre-cruise. Will you be spending any time in Venice post-cruise? If you have a chance after your cruise I would be interested in hearing about your trip.

Lizzie, if your really ineterested, email me & I'll give you info. on the cost & a TA that has great prices.

[jrcooper]

We will be staying 3 nights pre-cruise in Rome and 1 night post cruise in Venice. I agree that this is an awesome itinerary! This will be our first trip to the Med so everything is new for us. I used to teach Greek mythology so seeing the Greek Islands and all the ruins in Rome and Athens is going to be so special to me. I will try to post a review of our trip when we return.

[Mike & Charlotte]

We did the greek Isles on the Star Princess last September/October, although we stopped at Dubrovnik and Rhoades, skipping Monte Carlo and Livorno. If you're at all into the Olympics or sports, be sure to do Kataklon on your own. Bargain hard, and hire a taxi for 6 hours or so; don't let a driver pressure you into 4 hours, and don't take a price from the first taxi driver who meets up with you as you walk off the dock.

Kataklon Village only serves for souvenier shopping; the big draws are the original site of the Olympics, the museum at the Olympics site, and another museum in the town of Old Olympia/ Ancient Olympia, which is the town nearest the Olympics site and about 30 miles from where the ship docks. Unfortunately, the guy who was bargaining for our taxi didn't understand that we needed more than 4 hours or that we needed to stop in the city of Ancient Olympia to see the second Olympics Museum.

Plan on about two hours to see the original field (where a couple of field events were held in the 2004 Olympics), the gymnasium, and all the other ruins at the site; another hour to tour the museum at the Olympics site; then ask your taxi driver to take you to the Museum of the Olympic Games on Angerinou Street in Ancient Olympia. It's up the hill from Kondili. An hour should do there. That is the site where the statue of Baron de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic games, stands -- and where his heart is buried.

It takes about 45 minutes each way to drive from the Village of Kataklon to the Olympic Site. The town of Ancient Olympia is nice and shady; a good place to have lunch if you want to eat off the ship. Also quite a few shops with other than tee shirts and the standard curios.

Charlotte

[SailAway]

Hi Jan,
My husband and I and friends (another couple) we met on a cruise in 1988 will be on the Grand Princess with you Sept. 23rd. We will also be spending 3 days pre-cruise in Rome.
Where are you from and have you been on the "Grand" before? We all live in Texas, but our friends live in Houston and we are in the TX Panhandle.

Have you already booked your shore excursions with Princess or do you prefer a local guide?

I look forward to hearing from you!
Kay

[dsawyer]

Hi Sailaway, We have a large thread going for this cruise over on the CruiseCritic message boards. We have several groups who are posting. Please join us. We are Dorothy and Joe from Virginia and look forward to this cruise and to meeting you and your friends.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...4&page=1&pp=25

[blanca2]

Private driver shore excursions

Hi, my husband and I are looking to share a private driver tour of FLorence Sept. 25 and Naples/Amalfi Coast/ Pompeii Sept. 26. We have temporarily booked with Princess, but would really prefer a smaller group and private tour. The prices are usually better and you get to see more, any chance you might be interested?