We are booked on a med cruise on the royal princess sept 3 2013, a caribbean cruise on the legend of the seas jan 13 2014 and a caribbean cruise on the Disney magic dec 12 2014...per chance is there anyone else going with us on any of these cruises?

CathyG

Wish we were going. The Royal Princess should be an interesting addition to the fleet. I have sailed that Grand Med route twice: once on Emerald (08) and the other on Ruby (12)(both times starting in Venice). It is a great itinerary to see it all in one trip. It is not a sand gravity trip. Not sure what you are expecting, but it is like an action packed version of the Amazing Race plus History/Religion during the day and a great dinner and place to unwind/crash. Til the next morning! Only 2 at sea days out of 12.

The first time we did canned shore excursions from the boat, the second time (with different kids in tow) we did 95% on our own using every form of transportation - Trains, Buses, Taxis, Walking, Boats --- Saved a bundle on attractions - saw more - ate/drank where we wanted in each town -- but you will get a workout and there is some fear of the unknown/never did this in each stop. We spent more than a few moments staring at maps looking for things in each city (especially Rome) - but we found it all. A GPS with stuff pre-programmed would have helped.

Some lady on cruise critic seemed to have already answered every question I put into Google - like how do I get from X to Y. Or is it posssible to cram this + that & another thing and still get back to the boat. What's the quickest/cheapest way to Z?

I made little index cards for each stop. Amazing how the tips off the net were 99% true.

Glad to answer any questions via PM.

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Hi pelicanpirate!
We start in Barcelona and end in Venice and you are right ...two days at sea. I have booked all the excursions from the ship. We do plan to do a beach day at mykonos but the rest of the trip we plan to see as much as we can. I am sure my knees will be screaming at me!! lol We have bookad an extra night in Barcelona to rest after the flight over and another at the end in Venice before we begin the journey home. I know we can't possibly see it all...but boy is this my dream of a lifetime!!! MY husband loves photography so this is going to be heaven for him!

The photos I have seen of the royal princess look amazing!

Cathyg I would love a trip report and pictures of your trip. We are considering a trip like this in May 2014 with some friends. We have only been on 1 short cruise several years ago so any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. The cruise we are looking at is on Norwegian. We also start in Barcelona and end in Venice. Just curious, Are you flying to Barcelona and flying home from Venice or do you need to get back to Barcelona to fly home?

We fly to Barcelona to start. We then fly home from Venice (Venice to Mardrid to DFW). We booked multi-city in the AA reservations.

Have a good trip and look forward to a stop by stop trip report.

Three days and counting!!!! Steve is executive platinum on AA so we are allowed three suitcases each...70 pounds a piece...and two carry ons each. that sounds great but we only have two hands each to carry it...lol So i have 4 big bags packed with room to spare for treasures!

Enjoy!! We had a Med cruise booked a few years ago and had to cancel it. We'll get there someday!