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Mediterranen - Aegean Cruise 2025

Paris and Sun Princess 

19 April to 17 May 2024, Cruise was 26 April to 17 May 

 Type: Crusie Ship   GRT: 177882  Length: 1133 FT Beam: 155 FT  Speed: 22 knots Registry: Bermuda   Passengers: 4,300  Crew: 1,600  Shipyard: Fincantieri 

Ports of call  

• Gibraltar  

• Marseille, France  

• Genoa, Italy  

• La Spezia, Italy 

• Civitavecchia, Italy  

• Naples, Italy  

• Chania, Crete, Greece  

• Istanbul, Turkey  

• Mykonos, Greece  

• Piraeus, Greece  

• Mykonos, Greece 

• Bar, Montenegro  

• Corfu, Greece  

• Messina, Sicily, Italy 

General comments 

 Started with a 4- day pre-cruise stay in Paris, train trip from Paris to Barcelona, and 1-day pre-cruise in Barcelona with guided tours in Paris and Barcelona.  There were not any non-stop flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Barcelona (BCN) in mid-April.  We wanted to (and did) fly United.  All available flights required a stop and plane change.  So, I looked at other options, and working with our travel agent (Brenda Campos (brenda.campos@cruiseplanners.com)) arranged to fly to Paris.  

 Our pre-cruise part was by Kensington Tours and was arranged by Brenda. We were picked up at the airport (Charles De Gaul (CDG)), a hotel for 4 nights, private guided tours, taken to the train stain, and high-speed train (TGV InOui) to Barcelona.  Picked up at the train station, hotel for 2 nights, private guided tour of Barcelona, and then taken to the ship. 

 Then 3 weeks touring the Mediterranean and Aegean. 

Trip Details 

Trip Details

Trip Day 0 – 19 April

Saturday - Left SFO

Trip Day 1 – 20 (Easter Sunday) We arrived about 25 minutes late. There was a long walk to immigration and another long walk to baggage claim. We met the Kensington people at the exit from baggage claim.

Drove to hotel Hôtel des Saints Pères (https://www.esprit-de-france.com/fr/hotels/hotel-des-saints-peres). Arrived about noon. Small and quaint, but nice.



Our room was on the ground floor (floor 0 in Europe), looked out, and had access to a small courtyard.

Took a nap. About 4:30 local, we went for a walk. Most restaurants either don't open until after 6 pm, or require reservations. It was fascinating to walk around the skinny cobblestone streets that had pipe barriers to keep cars from parking on the skinny walkways. We got caught in the rain and decided to stop at Bar de LA Croix rouge for a snack. Donna had a fruit crumble dessert I had charcuterie.

Went to bed earlyish. Slept okay, but our driveway alarm sounded most of the night (day in Concord). Yes, we had installed some security measures before we left on this trip.

Trip Day 2 – 21 April, Monday. Paris. The day after Easter is a national holiday in France, so the traffic was lighter than normal, enabling us to get to more places during our tour.

We were picked up at the hotel by Roberto (guide) and Eric (driver) at. 9:30. Spent 5 hours driving around Paris. Saw a lot to include, several churches, and the outside of Notre Dame (long lines and could not get advance tickets), Champ de Elysees and Arc de Triumph, Eiffel Tower, and others. Donna had wanted to see the Shakespeare bookstore, which is close to Notre Dame, we walked up and saw it, but the lines were very long and she opted not to go in.

General route


Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower


Us and Roberto at our hotel.


We had a late lunch/early dinner of hamburgers at Cafe Louise. It was a charming, old bistro-type place with lots of dark wood. It was threatening rain, so we ate inside near the front window where we could people-watch. Walking on the cobbled streets requires a lot of attention to staying upright! Early night,

Trip Day 3 – Tuesday, 22 April Paris.

We had a free day, so we walked around the area, went up to the Seine and walked along it for a while. Donna enjoyed seeing the green box vendors, although only a few were open. She’d been hoping for more original materials but most of the ones we saw sold nearly identical old books, posters, etc. Maybe there would be more boxes open on a nicer day because the weather was cool, damp, and threatening rain. Lunch at Café de Flore, sitting under the awning and watching the people walk by on the boulevard Saint-Germain.



Trip Day 4 – Wednesday, 23 April Paris

Wednesday - Personal tour of Louvre by Roberto. It was raining, so we took a taxi there. It was beyond amazing! Donna has been tired and having issues with her legs, so Roberto got us in without standing (probably for hours) in the lines. There was way too much to take it all in, but Roberto gave us a wonderful overview. We did not go in to see the Mona Lisa (but Donna did get a quick peek as we walked by the door to the room. Nearby, she was astounded to stand so close to a huge Michaelangelo that she could have reached out and touched it! But not wanting to get arrested, she refrained. There were so many other things there that you actually could touch and get up close with that it was amazing. Napoleon’s apartment was mind-blowing. Donna could have spent the whole day there just taking it all in. In total, we spent about 4 hours in the museum. While it wasn’t far back to our hotel, our legs were beat, so we took taxi back.



We had a late lunch at Cafe Le Parisian

Trip Day 5 – Thursday, 24 April France.

We took high speed train to Barcelona. A lot of the natural countryside reminded us of California, but the stone homes and fences and old building/communities along the way made it obvious we were not home. The train was pretty comfortable!





Stayed at Majestic Hotel & Spa

Trip Day 6 – Friday, 25 April, Barcelona.

The highlight of this day was the visit to the Basílica de la Sagrada Família (Sagrada Família), the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Donna—I’d always thought it would be incredibly ugly from the pictures I’d seen, and while the architecture was very strange, it was fascinating. Mostly sandstone, which is already showing weathering, the fanciful (okay, sometimes strange) design elements were eye-catching. Our guide explained a lot about them and how natural sunlight was integrated into the design in some unique ways. It was primarily designed by Antoni Gaudí, whose designs came from his passion for nature and religion and which often featured references to bible stories and nature. Gloria took us to see two of his other buildings in Barcelona. The one where the interior looked like the inside of a cave was . . . interesting. Apparently, Barcelona is a bit short of major attractions, so we drove for quite a while seeing the old Olympic Park from 1992, stopped for the view from an overview—which was nice, but the air was too hazy to get good pictures. We also drove along the waterfront area.







Trip Day 7, Saturday, Cruise Day 1 – 26 April Barcelona

After breakfast at the hotel, we were picked up by our driver from Thursday, who drove us to port. He followed the same route as yesterday’s tour. We didn’t really feel the need, but he had not been our tour driver on Friday and did not know exactly what we saw. His enthusiasm for his town was so obvious that we enjoyed seeing it again through his eyes. We boarded the Sun Princess about noon and had a rather easy boarding. Our room was ready, so we dropped our carry-on luggage and went to Sanctuary Club, for snack and relaxing.



Trip Day 8 Cruise Day 2 – 27 April at Sea.

Sunday - Spent most of day at Sanctuary club. Nice outdoor area, Donna enjoyed swimming in the pool.

Trip Day 9 Cruise Day 3 – 28 April Gibraltar

Monday - Shopping in Gibraltar - was National holiday, a lot was closed. Took the shuttle to Casement Square. It was worth the price 10 euros per person round trip. First, we hit a grocery store for some laundry soap. Then we walked down a shopping street, City Real or Main Street. Walked down to Book Gem but it was closed. Many places were closed as was national holiday, including book stores. Unfortunately, the Sun Princess does not have a library or bookstore, just a small cart of left-behind books available in a dining room some mornings.



The Rock of Gibraltar from the sea.



We had dinner at Alfredo's onboard, but did not think much of it.

Trip Day 10 Cruise Day 4 – 29 April at Sea

Tuesday – We took the day easy-part of the attraction of sea days. After dinner we went to show: Fiera: all's fair in love. Very nice.

Trip Day 11 Cruise Day 4 – 30 April Marseille

Wednesday – Apparently, there is an electricity saving mode on the ship, and the lights will shut off, unexpectedly. You then need to use your medallion on the door. We took a shuttle to city, being dropped across from Cathedral de Major. Visited the cathedral, it is very beautiful. Then we walked across plaza to corniche and watched boats and people for a while before we took the shuttle back to ship. There was a small gift store at the pier, Donna bought some lavender soap and dish. We had dinner at Makoto Ocean onboard and really liked it!

Cathedral de Major


Inner Harbor


Trip Day 12 Cruise Day 5 – 1 May Genoa

Thursday - Took excursion to Rapallo & Sestri Levante. We took an excursion bus trip to Rapallo where we walked around beautiful old streets and saw another old church (yes, another old church. There are so many of them and they’re awe inspiring).  Long scenic drive to Sestri Levante where did a wine tasting as part of the excursion. The white wine was decent, but the red tasted corked (oxidized and off-color).  Spent time on beach that was just off the square where Donna got to wade a bit, sat and watched the beach and beachgoers, came back to the ship, and ate at Crowne Grill, which we enjoyed and would do several more times.

Rapallo

 

Sestri Levante



Trip Day 13 Cruise Day 6 – 2 May La Spezia

Friday – We took an excursion to a winery in Cinque Terra region. The countryside was beautiful and the wine was a lot better than yesterday's. Our guide was not very good, seemed to be last minute fill-in. The winery was Cantina Sociale – Cooperativa Agricoltura Cinque Terre. Views were great, wine was decent.

A Cinque Terra town and Winery




Trip Day 14 Cruise Day 7 – 3 May Civitavecchia (Rome)

Saturday - Bus ride in, then Nancy (our guide) showed us the bathrooms, a store (where Donna got postcard) and then we walked into St. Peter’s Square and saw the Vatican and took pictures. It was amazing to stand in St. Peter’s Square and look at the balcony where the new pope would be introduced so soon after we were there. Touching the columns was like stepping back into history. The site has some crowd control stuff in place and a lot of communication equipment since the Conclave starts soon. Donna saw a Cardinal walking outside the Square—in his natural habitat! The bus drove past several sites going back to the ship including the Coliseum, the Circus Maximus where chariot races had taken place, and other sites. Dinner at Sabbatini’s was better than previous Sabbatini’s but we were too tired to eat much.

St Peters



Coliseum and the Circus Maximus




Trip Day 15 Cruise Day 8 – 4 May Naples

Sunday – Bus guide was Sylvania, Pompeii guide was Antonio. Trip started off with a slow loading process, then about an hour drive to Pompeii. Sylvania, did not mention much about what we were driving past, seemed distracted, and mentioned a few things on the way there. Apparently a lot of people go to Pompeii on Sundays. there were a lot of people trying to get in, and took close to another hour to get through the gate (about 300 feet). The group was then split into two, half with her and half with him, each with a separate channel on a receiver. We found that we were with her, so we switched channels and followed him. He was much more interesting. He did a wonderful tour and explained a lot, also very willing to answer questions.

This was supposed to be an Easy Tour, but actually was over some rough ground and areas. Donna helped a lady who got weak from low blood sugar walk back to the opening area. Once we were out the gate, we were hurried onto bus with no time to shop the stores right by the bus then we sat for over half an hour in a warm bus waiting for one person. Sylvania finally abandoned that person even though earlier she’d said she’d wait for everyone. Pompeii was fantastic, we were walking in areas many thousands of years old, seeing ruins of public buildings, homes, and gardens and seeing the original wall murals. Would have been nice to be less rushed (I think they were trying to make up the time wasted waiting in the crowd to get in), but an altogether amazing place to see. There was supposed to be a stop at a cameo jewelry-making shop, but it didn’t happen and it was never mentioned on the way back.

Street in Pompei


Mt Vesuvius



Trip Day 16 Cruise Day 9 – 5 May at Sea

Monday – Took it easy after several active days. We had heard that Makoto Ocean served a Bento Box lunch on sea days, so we tried it and it was very good. Then took naps. Ah, the rigors of life on a cruise!

Trip Day 17 Cruise Day 10 – 6 May Chania Crete

Tuesday – We took the shuttle bus to town, about a 10 minute ride. We walked to Old Port, with a stop looking for a Post Office so we could mail a postcard. Found it, but there was a very long line, so we kept going. What a beautiful port!!! We stopped for gyros (Mike had pork Donna had chicken, apparently gyros in Greece do not use lamb) at Zepos overlooking harbor. Donna bought some more postcards and stamps and finally found a box where we could drop one in the mail.


Trip Day 18 Cruise Day 11 – 7 May at Sea

Wednesday - At sea.

Trip Day 19 Cruise Day 12 – 8 May, Istanbul

Thursday – We stayed on ship, mostly at Sanctuary club. Also did laundry, as ship was mostly empty.



Trip Day 20 Cruise Day 13 – 9 May Mykonos

Friday - Planned beach day, but Donna slipped on ramp, and skinned her arm badly and hurt her good knee. Luckily, no bones were broken. Donna – I got lots of immediate help from another passenger who was an EMT at NY City on 9-11. A few minutes later the ship EMT show up and finished bandaging me. Since the skin on my arm had peeled back, there was a lot of bleeding. The ship personnel cancelled our excursion tickets and refunded them for us since we stayed on the ship.

Trip Day 21 Cruise Day 14 – 10 May Athens

Saturday – We took a bus tour Donna was still stiff, but we went on the excursion for Easy Athens. Drove around and stopped at the Olympic stadium, then Hotel Royal Olympic for the view of the Parthenon from the rooftop café. We saw the Acropolis base and then were bussed to the park at the Parthenon entrance. Our guide took us on a short walk to see good sites for pix which was very nice. But, then she took us to an ‘approved’ store to look at overpriced jewelry. Donna saw a bracelet that looked the same as she bought in Crete for twice as much.

Us in the Olympic Stadium and Parthenon from the café on the hotel.


From base of Acropolis


Trip Day 22 Cruise Day 15 – 11 May Mykonos

Sunday – We took a Sea Bus (ferry) from the ship to Old Port, then walked around the southern part of town (Little Venice) and shopped. It was blustery and cool, but we really got that Greek island feel with the white- washed buildings, narrow streets, lots of shops. Notice the windmills behind Donna. We could have walked up to them, but it was a steep walk and we decided they looked just fine from where we were.



Trip Day 23 Cruise Day 16 – 12 May at Sea

Monday - Quiet day reading, Breakfast at the Sanctuary restaurant, lunch at the Sanctuary pool.

Trip Day 24 Cruise Day 17 – 13 May Bar, Montenagro.

Tuesday – We took shuttle to town and walked around a park area next to marina for private boats. The weather was beautiful, as it has been most of our vacation. We walked over to beach, and along the shore which was what’s called a ‘stone beach’, no sand, just water-smoothed rocks. Dinner at steak house. The town appears to be from Yugoslavia era, mostly 60's and 70's buildings and not well maintained. Still, it was a nice place to walk around.



Trip Day 25 Cruise Day 18 – 14 May Corfu

Wednesday – We had a beautiful harbor and view from our stateroom. For our excursion, we took Easy Drive through town to see Old and "New" Fortresses. We took pix at the Old Fortress, then enjoyed a lovely drive up mountain (sometimes on one lane twisty roads). At one point, we were stopped outside a small town while the traffic went the other way on the one-way road. There was a break at Kuom Kuat Distillery (Mavromatis (https://kumquat.gr/en/)) to sample kumquat beverages, etc. Donna purchased some marmalade. Had baklava, local lemon meringue tart and strong coffee at place higher in mountain overlooking the island and water.



We had dinner on the ship in Umi Tepanyka. The food was good and show was a lot of fun.



Trip Day 26 Cruise Day 19 – 15 May Messina

Thursday – It was a rainy day so we decided to enjoy staying onboard.

Trip Day 27 Cruise Day 20 – 16 May at Sea

Friday- Spent part of the morning at the Sanctuary club, then Bento Boxes at Makoto Ocean for lunch. We spent afternoon packing (it’s amazing how well you can become unpacked after three weeks in the same suite), as luggage had to be out in hall by 8:00 pm. Went to Butcher Black by Dario, food was decent, but seemed to be selling the concept, be very hungry when you go. Donna—I found it much to protein-forward and several of the beef dishes were lacking in flavor. We wouldn’t go back.

Trip Day 28 Cruise Day 21 – 17 May Barcelona and home

Saturday - Easy off ship and bus transfer to Barcelona Airport.

First issue was finding the United counter, as BCN is not well labeled. After being directed back and forth across terminal 1, we discovered the counters were in alphabetical order basically. Then the typical back and forth across the terminal to get to the concourse. We finally found the VIP lounge used by all international flights. It was not nearly as nice as others we’ve been to, especially in terms of the food and beverage, but it was definitely better than sitting in the terminal.

Finally, home almost 24 hours after we woke up. But it was a fantastic trip! We saw so many places we’d only heard of or seen pictures of. The experiences have given us memories that will last for a lifetime!

Sun Princess General Comments

We had Sanctuary Mini-suite which came with the Premier package, and the Premier Plus addition. This gave access to the Sanctuary Club, which we used often. Also, the Sanctuary Dining room, which was consistently good and had great service. In particular, our regular waiter Renate, and Mary both of which did great. Also, the Maitre d Constanine and the receptionist Isabella. In the Makoto Ocean would commend Almario, for showing Donna that by having the sushi cooked she could enjoy it (Donna-I’m not permitted raw fish for medical reasons). On most of our other cruises the ship would sell us stamps and then post our cards we sent home, not Sun Princess.

The Sanctuary pool area was perfect for us. It was much quieter than the general pools, less crowded, had a nice little Greek-themed lunch buffet on sea days, and a regular lunch menu and waitstaff that was very attentive.

Frankly, you can never say enough wonderful things about sitting on your balcony or somewhere else on the ship and watching the waves or the passing scenery when you are near land.

On the Sun Princess we had a sanctuary mini-suite Cabin 14446:
267 sqft (25 m2), Balcony: 36 sqft (3 m2)

Comments on dining

While generally very good we did not try every place.

• The Sanctuary Dinner room (Sanctuary level passengers only) was consistently good and had great service.

• The Butcher Block by Dario is good but very meat heavy, and 20 or 30 years ago would have loved it, however, at this stage and age, we were not overwhelmed. Oddly enough, their seafood course was our favorite of their food. Also, a beef restaurant without a filet? Really? (Donna-that’s my favorite cut). The Crown Grill was better in our opinion; we are now tending to eat lighter than we did when we were younger.

• Sabatini's is decent, but not the best Italian food, at least in our opinion. Didn’t go back.

• Crown Grill was very good, and we went back a couple of times. They did a wonderful job on the beef filet and the lobster.

• Same for Makoto Ocean, the lunch menu (Bento Box) was also excellent.

• Alfredo’s Pizza did nothing for us. The crust was too hard, and the pizza had little flavor. We actually felt the pizza on the Promenade was much better.

• The Eatery was always crowded, but the extension in the back, the American Diner was always much less busy.

• The International Café had good coffee and cold orange juice, and hot English muffin breakfast sandwiches. We used this often, especially on mornings when we had early excursions scheduled.

• O’Malley’s was very good; the only issue was that their onion ring stack was chopped preformed rings. The hamburgers were excellent and cooked properly to order..

• Umi Teppanyaki food was very tasty, and the show was a lot of fun.

• Room Service breakfast was tried once. The oj warmer than room temperature and the eggs were watery. 

• While Spellbound sounded interesting, we decided to pass.
  We looked at Love by Brito, and the menu never really inspired us.

 

 

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