Anyone sailing the Mediterranean on Golden Princess 7/4/03?

I'm planning to sail the Mediterranean next July on the Golden Princess and wondered if anyone plans to do the same. Besides my husband and myself, we'll have our two sons, 14 & 18 with us. I know this is early, but I'm still shy about committing. We were booked on the Millie which toured the Mediterranean his summer but the trip was cancelled. Thanks for any information.

Our family of 4 are debating over the Millenium and the Brilliance for 07/03. The ports of call are GREAT. I like their itineraries better then the Goldens'. But the Golden is also a GREAT ship. Hopefully we'll decide soon.

Vince

Vince,
Thanks for responding. I'm aware of the itinerary for the Millenium but am not aware of the Brilliance. What cruise line is this ship with? My family and I were scheduled to take the Millenium July 2002 but the ship was pulled last October. We'll try again next year. We're looking for a 11 - 13 day cruise, ports of call to include: Venice, Greece, Naples, Livomo, maybe Rome and maybe Spain. We took a 7 day Mediterranean cruise 2 years ago and it included: Barcelona, Villefranche, Rome, Corsica, and Malta. Very nice trip but we're looking for something different. If you're aware of any cruises other than the ones mentioned above, please let me know. Is it too early to look at itineraries? Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
Joyce S.

Hi,

My husband and I took this cruise already (July 1 - July 13) as honeymooners and it was so wonderful. I've got to admit we spared no expense when it came to making this a memorable trip. We had an outside cabin with a balcony on one of the upper floors. The crew was very nice and the food wasn't at all bad.

One of the best things about this cruise was not the ports of call (although it was hot, hot, hot in Europe!) but the actual size of the cruise ship. It was so large compared to all the other the other cruise ships we saw. Our ports included Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Livorno, Civatavecchia, Naples, Malta, Athens, and Venice. Istanbul was on the original itinerary but it got changed because of the current security situation in that part of the country. We only did two of the sponsored tours... the Rome Sampler and the Malta 4x4 Off-road adventure. The off-road adventure was a blast, but I don't recommend it for anybody with any back or neck problems.

I suggest that if you like to take pictures, invest in a digital camera if you don't already have one. We borrowed some extra memory cards from our friends and we were able to take over 400 pictures. My husband wanted to take a lot more.

I really don't know what else to tell you besides the fact that it is everything you expect. To me, it met all of my expectations, no more, no less... and this was the first cruise for the both of us. It's something we hope to do again...soon.

After trying Hawaii for a change in 4/01, in 8/01 we booked for May 12, 2002 sailing on Millie before she was pulled back to the U.S. after Sept. 11. Would have been our 5th Medit. in 4 years - 2 seven day and 3-12 days. We were really looking forward to that cruise as we were so anticipating returning to Venice (our favorite port - absolutely beautiful in May!). We've learned that a 7-day cruise in the Medit. is simply not enough time to enjoy the pleasures of that part of the world!

We can't seem to make up our mind that we want to fly again yet - so we've been trying ports out of the U.S., specifically Tampa (2/02 for Mardi Gras) and Charleston, SC (2/03) for eastern Carib. - to which we can drive.

Having said that - nothing will ever compare (including Hawaii and Alaska, IMHO) to the beauty and elegance of the Medit. cruises.

Good luck with Princess. I hope we can get over the fear of flying sometime very soon! We really miss cruising the Medit.

Ahhhhhh......Venice!

Pooh Bear
=^-.-^=

[Francie]

We just came back from a 19 day cruise on the Crown Odessey in the Mediterranean. We have done two previous Mediterranean cruises--one on the Grand Princess and one on the Renaissance which went bankrupt last fall. We preferred the Renaissance since the Grand Princess is a huge ship. The Crown Odessey is smaller than the Renaissance but with more passengers--approximately 1000 whereas the Grand Princess had approximately 3000. It's much easier to disembark in ports and get tenders with a smaller ship. The Crown Odessey, which is part of Norwegian, is not as opulent a ship as the previous two however it certainly makes up for that in service and food. My husband, who has a milk allergy, was taken care of without any slip ups which I must say did not occur on either the Princess or Renaissance.

The ports of call were all wonderful and included Civitivecchia (Rome), Livorno, Capri, Nauplia, Taormina, Greece and the Greek Isles (Santorini), Malta, Barcelona...The itinerary was set up so that part way through some passengers got off and others got on.

A fair number of passengers already booked their next cruise while on board since they were so impressed with everything (and a discount was offered returning passengers). We looked at their itinerary for next summer and it is wonderful and includes Venice, which this one did not.

We certainly would sail on the Crown Odessey again. Hope this info is helpful to you.

Francie,
Thanks for the information. What line does the Crown Odyssey belong to? I can't seem to find it on any site.
Joyce S.

[Francie]

Sorry I missed that bit of information. It is part of Orient Cruise Line which is Norweigan Cruise Lines' smaller ship. They also have the Marco Polo which people on our trip raved about. It was doing the northern part of Europe. It is an older ship which like the Crown Odessey has been refurbished. Both ships were originally part of Royal Cruise Line which went out of business. Both these ships are supposed to be part of NCL upscale ships--they also recently bought a third. I've never been on NCL so I cannot comment on the "upscale" part. Compared to Renaissance and the Grand Princess, the Crown is not as luxurious a ship but the room we had (outside cabin) had enough space and certainly enough closest and cupboard room. The things that impressed us, the food and service, were what counted most to us and of course it was the itinerary that go our initial interest in this trip.

Also if you are one to take the ship's excursions, theirs were cheaper than ones I' ve seen on other ships.

Hope this helps you,

Francie

[Francie]

Francie wrote:

> Sorry I missed that bit of information. It is part of Orient
> Cruise Line which is Norweigan Cruise Lines' smaller ship.
> They also have the Marco Polo which people on our trip raved
> about. It was doing the northern part of Europe. It is an
> older ship which like the Crown Odessey has been refurbished.
> Both ships were originally part of Royal Cruise Line which went
> out of business. Both these ships are supposed to be part of
> NCL upscale ships--they also recently bought a third. I've
> never been on NCL so I cannot comment on the "upscale" part.
> Compared to Renaissance and the Grand Princess, the Crown is
> not as luxurious a ship but the room we had (outside cabin) had
> enough space and certainly enough closest and cupboard room.
> The things that impressed us, the food and service, were what
> counted most to us and of course it was the itinerary that got
> our initial interest in this trip.
>
> Also if you are one to take the ship's excursions, theirs
> were cheaper than ones I' ve seen on other ships.
>
> Hope this helps you,
>
> Francie

[Francie]

Francie wrote:

> Francie wrote:
>
> > Sorry I missed that bit of information. It is part of
> Orient
> > Cruise Line which is Norweigan Cruise Lines' smaller ship.
>
> > They also have the Marco Polo which people on our trip
> raved
> > about. It was doing the northern part of Europe. It is
> an
> > older ship which like the Crown Odessey has been
> refurbished.
> > Both ships were originally part of Royal Cruise Line which
> went
> > out of business. Both these ships are supposed to be part
> of
> > NCL upscale ships--they also recently bought a third.
> I've
> > never been on NCL so I cannot comment on the "upscale"
> part.
> > Compared to Renaissance and the Grand Princess, the Crown
> is
> > not as luxurious a ship but the room we had (outside cabin)
> had
> > enough space and certainly enough closest and cupboard
> room.
> > The things that impressed us, the food and service, were
> what
> > counted most to us and of course it was the itinerary that
> got
> > our initial interest in this trip.
> >
> > Also if you are one to take the ship's excursions, theirs
> > were cheaper than ones I' ve seen on other ships.
> >
> > Hope this helps you,
> >
> > Francie

Sailing on the Grand Princess - Grand Mediterranean itinerary from Barcelona on 6/7/03

My Fiance and me are planning on taking the Golden Princess sailing July 28th through August 9th, starting in Venice, Italy, stopping at Istanbul, Turkey, Ephesus Turkey, Athens, Greece, Naples Italy, Florence Italy, Monte Carlo Monaco and finishing in Barcelona Spain. We are first time cruisers but the stops sound amazing. Take a look at this schedule.

[edp]

WE sailed the Golden Princess last June-- loved the Mediterranean cruise. This June we are doing the Baltics on the Constellation. enjoy!

Joy,

We are also booked on this sailing (6 of us... parents and 4 kids 18, 16, 12, 11yrs)!!!
It is the second time we have done this itinerary... and you will have a ball. The schedule is very port intensive, so you will need to pace yourselves, if you want to do it all. I am also aware of another couple going (their honeymoon). Wondering whether they will remove Turkey from their ports of call???

Laura

[Bioteach]

We are also on this sailing (July 28). My husband and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary. We are doing a land tour of Prague, Austria and Budapest before the cruise. Anyone else doing this land tour? We are a little apprehensive about the trip, but are still planning to go.

when was Millie pulled from the Med? We are planning to sail October 2nd from Barcelona to Venice. Is this cruise still happening?

[jody]

Bioteach,
I did a private 'tour' of Prague, Vienna, and Budapest last summer as part of a grad school class. They were all wonderful cities and I am sure you will enjoy the land part of your vacation!
jody

We are sailing out of barcelona 11 days on the brilliance june 29, with our 4 kids, 17,16,13 and 9. wonder if you have any suggetions based on prior cruise

I don't know where the Brilliance is stopping, but the Golden Med experience is very port intensive. From our experience, travelling with teens, we found that as much as they liked visiting the different countries... after the first few excursions... they seemed to suffer from 'culture overload' and their expressions became glazed as we ventured ashore... and further away from their new found friends onboard the ship. It wasn't that they were ungrateful, just that (in their eyes) one ruin or museum started to look much the same as any other. It didn't help that it was very hot, particularly in Greece and Turkey. Personally, I would limit some tours to half days only, rather than full days... if only to avoid the possibility of irritable kids.

Laura