I have been talking about booking a cruise FOREVER or like at least a few months now. I have always wanted to see so much of Europe and the idea of a Mediterranean Cruise was always so attractive to me.
I called around, I emailed and I checked stuff online. I ordered a Rick Steves’ book and another book and read some more stuff. Then I talked to Brian about stuff and talked and thought and debated and chose one and changed my mind and on and on.
But – a decision was made and I booked one.
Here’s our plan:
SAILING ITINERARY | ||||
Date | Ports of Call | Arv | Dep | Activity |
Mon 16 Jul 2012 | Barcelona, Spain | 05:00 PM | Boarding (Doing a 1/2 Day City Tour) | |
Tue 17 Jul 2012 | Cannes (Monte Carlo), France | 09:00 AM | 06:00 PM | Tendered (Going to check things on our own) |
Wed 18 Jul 2012 | Livorno (Florence /pisa), Italy | 07:00 AM | 07:00 PM | Docked (Visiting Leaning Tower, Statue of David, City of Florence) |
Thu 19 Jul 2012 | Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy | 07:00 AM | 07:00 PM | Docked (Going to the Vatican and Tour of Rome) |
Fri 20 Jul 2012 | Cruising | Cruising | ||
Sat 21 Jul 2012 | Cruising | Cruising | ||
Sun 22 Jul 2012 | Athens (Piraeus), Greece | 06:00 AM | 06:00 PM | Docked (Still need to book an excursion through RCI) |
Mon 23 Jul 2012 | Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey | 08:00 AM | 07:00 PM | Docked (Terrace Houses, Museum, House of Mary, Basilica) |
Tue 24 Jul 2012 | Santorini, Greece | 07:00 AM | 06:00 PM | Tendered (Blue Domes, Oia, Winery, Black Sandy Beaches) |
Wed 25 Jul 2012 | Cruising | Cruising | ||
Thu 26 Jul 2012 | Naples (Salerno), Italy | 07:00 AM | 07:00 PM | Docked (Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano) |
Fri 27 Jul 2012 | Cruising | Cruising | ||
Sat 28 Jul 2012 | Barcelona, Spain | 06:00 AM | Departure |
Luckily I found this great website called www.cruisecritic.com where people connect who are all going on the same cruise. Everyone shares tips and information about private tours (which seem to cost less and get you more for touring). It’s been FANTASTIC. This trip is absolutely overwhelming (in fact that’s my handle on the boards – OverwhelmedCruiser). The idea of reading tours that sound good and just adding our family onto them has been great! The trip will cost a fortune but I figure it’s a trip of a lifetime and we are packing so much in. The kids are really excited!
Alexander went to an exhibit about Pompeii when he was in NY and was fascinated so to actually take him there is AMAZING! He’s also really excited about touring Athens too so we have to find the best tour to see what we want there. I’m just hoping Cameron does well for it and no one gets seasick. Can you imagine???? Considering that Alexander & I suffer from motion sickness (which is why I drive 90% of the time as opposed to Brian) and we have to stop every 30 minutes in long car rides for Alexander to get out and walk around…… Hoping for the best!!!!