I viewed this trip as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
THIS TIME, though we booked a Mediterranean Cruise. No, not Mediterranean cuisine. 😀 The Mediterranean. Having just "met" Celebrity, we kind of considered ourselves to be royalty (you know, "Princess People"). This would be our third Princess cruise, and we were actually building "status" (a dubious honor that we may discuss here on the blog as time goes on). We actually got a different color sea pass (ship card), than the "rookie" blue one. The new "gold" card made us feel less like first timers. Ha.
I VIEWED this trip as a once (or maybe twice) in a lifetime opportunity and had high hopes of making the most of it. It turns out that we have had several "lifetimes" in the Mediterranean. We recently returned from cruising there for at least the 4th time in in October of this year. But for now, we didn't really think that far ahead. This one would be enough!
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| Venice, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
ANOTHER THING that made this cruise seem exciting was that we would be embarking on only the 2nd journey of Princess' brand new "Royal Class" ship: The Royal Princess. Larger than any of their prior ships, this was now the flagship of the line. There are now 5 ships in the Royal Class. We have been on one other: The Regal Princess.
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| Gondolas - The icon of Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
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| Royal Princess Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
WE WERE still in the set table dining mode at that time. We didn't care for the dining room setup as much on the Royal, feeling that it was more spread out, with alcoves that actually made us feel isolated from the other diners, and other features that frankly seemed a little "cooler" in atmosphere than the grand dining room floor seemed on the smaller ships we were accustomed to. Perhaps part of it was that we were seated at an odd, rectangular table that was tucked back into a corner. The set up was supposed to be for 8, but it felt more like two booths in a restaurant which would each seat 4. We only had 6 people, and after the first night, only one other couple routinely showed up. It is possible that the other couple asked to be moved (we might have too, but we didn't want the other people - a very nice, if reserved, couple from New Zealand - to feel like we had just abandoned them). The one time we did go to a specialty restaurant, we made sure to let the other couple know that we would not be joining them. It was also the first time that I really made the connection that the food in the Celebrity Dining room was better. Nothing wrong with the Princess food, but it was just not quite as good.
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| Royal Princess "Seawalk" Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
OTHERWISE, there wasn't really anything that different about the ship. Some (but not all) of the Royal Class ships have something called "The Sea Walk" which is a curved, narrow balcony on one of the upper decks with a bar to the inside. The floor is glass block and the "walk" extends out over the ocean." It's o.k., but frankly, not as spectacular as I would have thought. Nice bar, though. The atrium area is significantly larger and occupies the center of the 5th, 6th, and 7th decks, with a Grand Piazza on 5; specialty restaurants on 5 and 6; and shops on 7 (much like prior Princess ships, except for size).
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| Royal Princess Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
I HAD not developed my "full-on" cigar smoking cruise routine yet, but as far as I could tell the only smoking area on the ship was in a "cigar humidor room," adjacent to the Casino. It was cold and sterile in there and I didn't really spend any time there (the smaller, "Grand Class" ships have a pub-like actual cigar bar - either Snookers or Churchills, depending on the ship). On our more recent Regal Princess cruise, I discovered a smoking area on the back of the ship (similar to the Celebrity Sunset Bar concept, but not as nice, nor did it feel - to me - or as hospitable). That they seem less "cigar-friendly" may have, in a small way, contributed to my attitude favoring Celebrity in the long term.
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| Royal Princess - Grand Piazza Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
ONE OF our principles of choosing cruises is that it is (mostly) about the itinerary. So, if Princess has a better itinerary at the time and place we want to cruise, we still do not hesitate to take it. Although at this point we really hadn't considered another Celebrity cruise, this Princess itinerary was really enticing to us. Starting in Venice (something Venice doesn't allow any more), this cruise sailed down the Adriatic Sea, over the Agean Sea to Kusadasi, Turkey, up to Istanbul, then back to Athens Greece. From there would be a stop in the Greek Islands (Mikonos), and then back around the "boot" of Italy, back up through the Tyrrhenian Sea, eventually ending over in Barcelona, Spain. Scheduled ports of call were Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ancient Ephesus), Istanbul (Constantinople), Athens, Greece, Mikonos, Greece, Naples, Italy, Rome, Italy, and finally, Barcelona, Spain. Looking back at this, it is one of the longest distance and most involved itineraries we ever embarked. But needless to say, we were pretty stoked. We were going to see a lot of the world!
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| Train Station and Vaparetto Stops - Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
OVER THE years I had heard so much about Venice. It sounded wonderful, and we decided (something that we have routinely done in the port of departure or nearby ever since) to spend a few days, pre-cruise in Venice. Part of our travel "gestalt," is that when on land, we stay in hotels that meet the criteria of being clean and safe. We are not looking for luxury accommodations, and really, most of the more local hotels we have stayed in have been just fine. We do look for economy (recognizing that there is a difference between economical and just plain "cheap"). We reason that we will spend very little time in the motel - primarily to sleep and to shower. So, this trip, we actually stayed on the mainland of Italy, just two very short train stops from Venice. We thought the dollars we saved (which were substantial) could be put toward other things we wanted to do. It worked. But having said that, I wouldn't do it again, and I don't recommend it. Especially if you are a photographer. Photographers know that early morning, late afternoon/evening and nighttime are the pick times for shooting. Getting to the island and then to a shooting destination around sunrise turned out to be a challenge. As did staying for night shooting, given the train schedules.
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| Getting Lost in Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
WE DID spend two or three nights in the motel and then another night onboard our ship, docked right in Venice, before the next morning's sail away. That gave us ample opportunity to see a lot of Venice. We had several tours. We got lost. Often. They say you haven't been to Venice if you haven't gotten lost. And sometimes, seeing Venice is about getting lost. True statements. Venice isn't really "an island." Rather, it is a collection of about 122 small islands, interlaced with about 177 canals of various sizes. If it isn't obvious, there are a few bridges there too. I blogged about the many bridges of Venice in my LightCentricPhotography Blog, a while back (I was actually surprised to find that there is a city in America that has more bridges than Venice). In any event, be prepared to walk, and to climb bridges (many of them with steps) while in Venice.
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| Getting Lost in Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
VENICE IS a place that I have continually referred to as "Eye Candy" for photographers. There are colors, reflections, bridges, gondolas and much more. Even though this Blog is about Cruising, (and even though the cruise lines are no longer allowed to bring their ships into Venice) I urge you to plan a few days in Venice, one you have put in the time, effort and money to get all the way over to Italy! We visited Venice again in 2017 (and stayed right in Venice one one of the small canals), and plan to spend 3 days there again this fall after our Mediterranean cruise. I have written extensively - with illustrative photographs - about them in my LightCentricPhotography blog. They can be found at the Blog Archives site (I ran out of alloted space for my blog host). Use the search box toward the bottom of the page and search for "Venice." You can also see most of my Venice imagery at my LightCentricPhotography website in the Venice galleries.
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| Gondolas - the icon of Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
IN THE morning, a few days later, our ship backed out of its slip in the Grand Canal and sailed out of Venice. This may have been the first time I truly appreciated one of the visual and photographic benefits of cruising. To be sure, there are some negatives, but this is truly a unique benefit: A very high and clear viewpoint which allows the photographing of distant landscape as well as close up subjects from a level that not only gives a clear view, but results in shots that are in the correct perspective. This cruise happened for us before the proliferation of personal drones, and reasonable quality drone cameras, and I don't think there would be any other way to have obtained some of the photographic views of Venice. And for those just there for the sail away, the views were also spectacular, and created "forever memories."
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| Royal Princess Sail Away - Venice Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
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