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
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
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 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!
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)
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.