Thanks for the trip report. Glad you survived.

Hoping it was just bugs to work out on the Royal Princess service. We've taken a lot of Princess cruises and service is usually pretty good. I've taken that Grand Med route twice on Ruby and Emerald Princess boats. It takes awhile to recover from that nonstop history/sightseeing Grand Med trip. Only two at sea days out of 12. I did ship excursions the first time and did it on my own with taxis, trains, buses, subways the next. Saved a lot of jack on my own the second time and we moved at our pace. We had the same experience with tour guides only in different cities. Rome was our worst and we paid a lot for our private Vatican entrance. Second time, bought tickets direct from Vatican online. I have two more kids to take on that world experience tour. Each time I aad some things to see and some things to delete.
One of the deletes for me is that Greek Archaelogical museum. It was an addon our second time to replace a boring byzantine museum that wouldn't let my daughter in with shorts on. After a long hike up the Acropolis and around the Plaka, the arch museum was a quick 15 minute walk around. Our cabbie couldn't believe we were out so soon. He took us to some other sights and did such a good job parking up close he got a ticket. Blast watching him fight with the local govt cops. I want to add spice Market in Istanbul, Capri, and beaches in Barcelona. We got off ship in Barcelona on their independence day. Fireworks and firecrackers everywhere. We loved La Rambla and the open air market and fish market. I would add another day there for sure.

We are heading to Cozumel in January on Ruby Princess and I want to see Mayan ruins at Tulum. MY wife says "Didn't we see enough rocks last year? .

I hear the beach is great next to the ruins. I agree with her. 75% beach and 25% history.


It would be nice if there were two Orient Beach like places in the Mediterranean to break up the history tour and relax and recuperate under a yellow umbrella.