WooHoo!!! Cruise is booked. Mom and I head to Rome at the end of September for a 11-cruise with stops in Italy (Rome/Naples), Greece (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos) and Turkey (Istandbul/Ephesus) .
Booking the cruises, however, seems to in fact be the easy part. Now we have to decide on:
- How long to stay in Rome
- To go early or stay late?
- Where to stay in Rome? I am leaning towards the vicinity of the Trevi Fountain but the Vatican could work as well.
- What port excursions to book.
- Whether to book through the cruise line or another agency.
- What drink package to go with?
- Open seating or reserved seating for dinner?
- Early or late seating for dinner?
Most of these are really preference-based but having no experience is making it very hard. Either way, I truly believe that a trip is what you make of it so no matter what it will be an awesome trip. Plus, I have picked a few guidebooks to help inform some of these decisions:
Guidebooks
The best (and hardest) advice I have seen so far is the pack half the clothes and bring double the money 
. I can be a bit intense with my planning so the key will be for me not to over schedule us to the point of exhaustion. So much to see and so little time.
Any advice or must-sees welcome…..
Does your mother have any say in this? Just asking!!