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Eastern Mediterranean Cruise

Published on by Liz & Kris VeckLeave a comment
MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
Fly to RomeArrive in RomeRome
RomeBoard ShipSalerno, ItalyAt SeaSantorini, GreeceKusadasi, TurkeyKatakolon, Greece
At SeaRome
Fly Home

Day 0 – Fly to Rome

Afternoon – Eugene to SEATTLE
evening – SEATTle to Rome

Day 1 – Rome

Morning- arrive at rome airport

Afternoon – getting to rome

Booking a private driving tour of the Appian Way or hidden Rome, staying mostly in the car with optional short stops (catacombs, aqueduct park views, or Piazzas)

We’ll Check in at our hotel, Hotel Mancino 12, and relax for a bit.

evening – WALK & Dinner

Then lets start our special time in Rome with a rooftop drink at Notos to start the evening off!

Around the corner we’ll check out to the Galleria Sciarra (closes at 8pm)

Then a trip by another famous stop, Galleria Alberto Sordi (closes at 8PM), across from the Piazza Colonna with the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius which was erected in AD193.

Finishing the short walk for dinner at Il Vicolo Nel Corso and then back to our hotel.

    Day 2 – Rome

    Morning – Walk

    We’ll start our day off with Breakfast at Hedera – Osteria Contemporanea. From there We’ll take a walk to:

    1. Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva (10:30 – 1) – see if you can get into the closter next door at the Il Chiostro di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Entrance is to the left of the Church.

    2. Pantheon

    3. Church of Saint Louis of the French – Cappella Contarelli (9:30 – 12:15)

    4. Palazzo della Sapienza

    5. Piazza Navona

    •  Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini
    • Sant’Agnese in Agone Church by Francesco Borromini
    • Fontana del Moro by Bernini
    • Stadium of Domitian (closes at 6:20pm)
    • Fountain of Neptune by Bernini

    6. A stop for a couple treats! Two Sizes for Tirimisu, Barretta Pesce e Porchetta for Pork sandwiches, and La Boutique del Limoncello Roma for a little Limoncello tasting!

    7. Walk through the stalls of Campo de’ Fiori

    with a stop at Forno Campo de’ Fiori for one of their sandwiches or pizza.

    8. Passetto del Biscione

    8. Via dei Giubbonari a cute Roman street not to miss!

    Day 3 – Rome

    morning – Trastavere Walk
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’Orto
    • Mercato di San Cosimato
    • Sotterranei della Schola Cantorum e della Basilica
    • Basilica di San Crisogono
    • Chiesa di San Giovanni della Malva
    Evening – Pasta-making class – Make Pasta & Gelato in Rome’s Best Cooking Class $90 per person (4:15 – 7:15PM)

    Piazza di San Giovanni della Malva – the meeting point for our Cooking Class!

    Maybe dinner after? at Fradiavolo Pizzeria – Roma Trastevere

    Day 4 – Rome

    Morning – Trevi Fountain
    Afternoon – Transfer to Civitavecchia 

    Take a Private transfer to the cruise port to board our ship and set sail

    Day 5 – Salerno

    7am – 6:30pm

    Tour Herculaneum, Positano & Sorrento

    Day 6 – At Sea

    Day 7 – Santorini, Greece (Tender)

    9am – 8pm – https://www.santorini-karavastravel.com/

    Day 8 – Kusadasi, Turkey

    7am – 4pm –

    Ephesus

    Day 9 – Katakolon, Greece

    12pm – 9pm

    Olympia – https://www.viator.com/tours/Katakolo/Katakolo-Shore-Excursion-Marble-Art-Workshop-and-Honey-Farm-Visit/d50251-409268P4

    Day 10 – At Sea

    Day 11 – Rome – Head Home


    Budget

    ItemCompanyDatesGroup CostCouple Cost
    Rome HotelHotel Mancino3 nights1899.24 EUR949.62 EUR
    CruisePrincess7 nights2,718.00 USD
    Airport TransferMyBestTour140.00 EUR70.00 EUR
    Cruise TransferMyBestTour260.00 EUR130.00 EUR
    Rome Cooking ClassDevour Tours270.00 USD180.00 USD
    Ephesus Tour280.00 EUR140.00 EUR
    Olympia Tour300.00 EUR150.00 EUR
    Solerno Tour450.00 EUR225.00 EUR
    Cruise to Airport Transfer179.00 EUR89.50 EUR

    5552.62

    What’s Next 2026 & 2027 – Options

    Published on by Liz & Kris VeckLeave a comment

    We’ve talked about several options for trips for 2026 & 2027 but we need to start narrowing down the options. How do we want to spend our time? Land Journeys? Cruises? a Mix? and how many trips can we afford to take? So here are some options we’ve talked about:

    Some land options:

    Cruises (all per cabin rates below)

    Most cruise lines don’t have 2027 cruises listed yet so here are the 2026 cruises for the most part we can use as a guide:

    Virgin Voyages – from the reviews I’ve watched, we are going to mostly want to stick to the warmer weather

    • East Coast
      • 3/28-4/6/26 – 9 nights (Puerto Rico, BVI, DR, Charleston – SC, Newport – RI, NY) $4,862
    • West Coast
      • 4/7-4/12/26 – 5 nights LA RT (LA, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Ensenada, LA) $3,000
      • 4/12-4/18/26 – 6 nights LA RT (LA, Cabo, Mazatlán, LA) $3,538
      • 5/3-5/11/26– 8 nights (Los Angeles, Catalina Island, San Francisco, Astoria, Victoria & Vancouver) $4,562
      • 9/11-9/19/26 – 8 nights (Vancouver, Astoria, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, San Diego & Los Angeles) $4,322
    • Mediterranean/Europe
      • 5/10-5/17/26 – 7 nights (Barcelona, Rome, Amalfi Coast Salerno, Catania, Mykonos &  Athens) $4,200
      • 10/4-10/11/26 7 nights (Athens, Mykonos, Catania ,Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Barcelona) $4000
      • 8/20-8/27/26 7 nights (Portsmouth(UK), Bruges, Amsterdam, Hamburg <overnight>, Portsmouth) $4200

    Viking River Cruises

    • 5/27 – 6/10/26 – 15 nights Grand European Voyage – (Budapest to Amsterdam) $16,998
    • 5/1 – 5/8/26 – 8 nights Danube – (Regensburg, DE – Budapest) $10,598

    Explora Journeys – this is a luxury fully all inclusive cruise line

    • 10/5-10/12/26 – 7 nights Eastern Med – (Athens, Paros – GR, Rhodes-GR, Corfu-GR, Hvar-CR, Rijeka-CR, Venice) $8760
    • 10/12-10/19/26 – 7 nights Eastern Med (Venice, Rovinj-CR, Dubrovnik-CR, Brindisi-IT, Kotor-MN, Santorini-GR, Athens) $9340
    • 5/3-5/10/27 – 7 nights West Coast (LA, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria, Victoria, Vancouver) $7180

    Celebrity – I included drinks, wifi and gratuities to compare with the cruises above. if we don’t do the full package it could be cheaper (or not) and these can be booked on Costco so you get the costco cash

    • Mediterranean
      • 9/7 – 9/18/26 11 nights (Barcelona, Nice, La Spezia, Rome, Naples, Olympia, Ephesus, Santorini, Athens) $7,083.44 (Eclipse) $5,543.44 (with no everything package)
      • 5/15-5/25/56 or 9/18-9/28/26 – 10 night (Rome, Sicily, Olympia, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Split, Bar, Naples, Rome) $9,051.68 (Ascent)
      • 5/5-5/14/26 or 9/22-10/1/26 – 9 night (Rome, Naples, LA Spezia <overnight>, Portofino,  Nice, Marseille, Barcelona) $5,614.98 (Equinox)
      • 10/9 – 10/19/26 – 10 Nights (Athens, Santorini, Rhodes, Ephesus-TKY, Mykonos, Dubrovnik-CR, Kotor-MO, Split-CR, Venice) Balcony – $5,607.00 (ECLIPSE)
      • 10/30-11/9/26 10 nights (Barcelona, Malta, Crete, Olympia, Sicily, Naples, Rome, Barcelona) $5,468.16 (Equinox) $4068 w/o package
      • 10/30-11/10/26 11 nights (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Naples, Rome, La Spezia <overnight>, Nice, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona) $6,686 (ECLIPSE) $5,146
    • New England
      • 9/5-9/17/26 – 12 Nights (Boston RT) Balcony -$6,321 (SILHOUETTE)
    • New Zealand
      • 1/29-2/12/26 13 Nights (Sydney RT with 8 stops in NZ) Balcony $10,270.72(Edge)
    • Norway
      • 6/14-6/21 or 7/26-8/2/26 7 Nights (Amsterdam RT) Balcony $4,437 (Eclipse)
      • 8/29-9/12/26 14 Nights (Southampton RT) Balcony $9,927 (7547 w/o package) (Apex)

    Princess (premier package – all included) and Brand New Ship

    • 9/27/26 7 nights ( Vancouver <overnight>, Victoria, San Francisco <overnight>, LA) $5,944
    • 4/19/27 7 nights (LA, Mazatlán, Cabo, LA) $6740
    • 10/3-10/10/26 7 nights (Athens, Bar, Montenegro, Corfu, Sicily, Naples, Barcelona) $5,504
    • 10/3-10/17/26 14 nights (Athens, Bar, Corfu, Sicily, Naples, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Marseille, Genoa, La Spezia, Rome) $10,920.64
    • 10/10-10/17/26 7 nights (LA, Cabo, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, LA) $4694
    • 5/12-5/19/26 7 nights ( Rome, Naples, Santorini, Ephesus, Olympia, Rome) $6,594

    How do we fill in this calendar?

    Feb-MarApr-JunJul-SepOct-Dec
    2025Xmas Markets
    2026
    2027