My Italian mistress is tall and hot-headed. But, as with many internet relationships, we’ve never met face to face. Until now.
How tall? 11,053ft. How fiery? Frequently. She was raging only last August. Her local name is Mongibello, but you may know her better as Etna, the mighty, active stratovolcano near Catania, Sicily, which is geologically young at a mere half a million years old. I do like a volcano and jumped at the chance to join Princess Cruises’ newest ‘love boat’ Sun Princess in Piraeus, the port of Athens, for a week-long itinerary to Bar in Montenegro, Corfu Town, Messina in Sicily, and Naples.
And I finally got a hot date with Etna, rather than just browsing webcams and eruption news reports. Care to come along for the ride?
What does a billion dollars get you these days? A fabulous cruise ship that is, as the name suggests, designed for voyages in the sunshine. My wife Debbie and I had stayed in a hotel in Piraeus before the trip and it was less than an hour between checking out, hailing a taxi, collecting our Princess Medallion (more on those later) at the port and arriving, via the swish boarding area, at our cabin to be greeted by amiable steward Digar.
This inside cabin was compact but well designed with clever use of space and super quiet with a good shower, TV, ample storage and Beekman 1802 amenities. If inside is your budget, this is an excellent choice. Sun Princess is a box-fresh 4,300-passenger, 177,882 gross tonnage beauty and she is capital ‘B’ Big. You will initially get lost as you discover the various venues, and the 30 eating and drinking places.
The heart of the ship is the impressive, airy Piazza spherical atrium which has several bars and restaurants and is also a venue for live music, quizzes and game shows, and the likes of line dancing and novelty acts. However, for us it was the glass Dome which made the biggest impression.
This is an absolute showstopper area by day (relaxing in the a/c on loungers) and night (an entertainment area) and has a clever design with a pool segueing from inside to out at the adults-only sun deck and bar at the bow. We did not use the two main pools but did check out the fabulous infinity pool at the stern, where there is also the Wake View bar, which proved a pleasant place to shelter from an apocalyptic thunderstorm in the Ionian Sea. A nod, too, to the large area of outdoor tables by the Eatery buffet on deck 9; a lovely spot for an alfresco breakfast or lunch.
If gambling is your thing, there’s a large casino and you could spend some of your winnings at the selection of upscale shops. Cruise lines love watch and Pandora shops and Princess is no exception. Yes, there are a lot of passengers on this ship but it is really well designed and never felt crowded and there was always a seat or sunlounger somewhere.
And that’s very good and varied entertainment as we were wowed by what we took in during the week. Standouts were the Come Fly Away aerial hula hoop and Cyr wheel show in the Dome and in the main theatre similar stunts from Dan and Kim plus Chris Cox’s amusing and clever mentalist show.
We also enjoyed the Ukrainian Cats Strings electric violin duo popping up in various venues. But for something completely different you had to hand (of God) it to Argentina’s Guinness World Record football juggler and comedian Victor Rubilar on a late-night turn in the Piazza. Some good jokes at the expense of England’s 1986 World Cup football team and he juggled five footballs. Muy bien, amigo!
The Eatery offers everything and anything morning, noon and night, while the main Horizons restaurant spans three decks with many passengers content to dine there all week.
But of course cruise ships also feature cover-charge fine dining and The Catch by Rudi was very fine with a standout surf and turf, while the lamb at both Italian Sabatini’s and steakhouse Crown Grill was perfection (all $45). Teppanyaki chef Hendra conjured up a feast in front of us with the usual food juggling and singalongs ($45). Sweet Caroline and a sautéed Japanese prawn, anyone?
However, the sensational miso soup, sushi, sashimi, teriyaki chicken and sunomono salad for lunch at Makato ($25) was only bested by an incredible dinner at the new-to-Princess venue Love by Britto ($79) on a lofty stern view deck 17. It’s as much an experience as a meal and genuinely unforgettable with exquisite tastes and presentation.
Oysters with gold flakes, mushroom cappuccino, wagyu beef, champagne and rose petal granita, chocolate lava cake, themed cocktails, all on beautiful tableware… it’s a stupendous, sumptuously crafted food voyage. Sadly we never got a chance to try the food at O’Malleys Irish pub as it was full every time we went. Unusual on a ship where space is usually so cleverly available. If we had any criticism of the food it was that the breakfast and lunch we had in Horizons was lukewarm.
Sun Princess also debuts Spellbound, a magic-themed experience ($149) which is in a ‘secret’ Victorian illusionists’ club venue. After an enjoyable themed dinner in an annexe off the main dining room you are escorted to the venue – behind a speakeasy-style door near the casino – for some very intriguing ‘magic’ cocktails, some arriving in ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ boxes.
And the real illusions start with some ‘how-did-she-do-that?!’ card tricks at the bar with Ines, from Spain.
Then it’s on to the small private theatre where fellow Spaniard Woody conjured up some mind-blowing card tricks with cards swapping suits right in front of your eyes and another performed via a WhatsApp call to a randomly selected guest’s sister in the USA! Truly incredible; I watched like a hawk and could not fathom how it was all done.
The rendezvous with mistress Mongibello came on a full day coach tour from Messina with an unexpected bonus. Our Etna-only excursion changed at the last minute to include time in delightful, chic White Lotus location Taormina, reached by a coastal highway with fine sea views and villages and castles perched almost impossibly on rocky hilltops.
Guide Sophia took us to Taormina’s Ancient Greek amphitheatre, via the thronged main street’s shops and restaurants, taking in the stellar views. Taormina is a beguiling, classy town but very busy and pricey.
Onwards and upwards (to almost 7,000ft) to cloud-shrouded Etna, which had been erupting just weeks earlier. We had an included lunch at the Rifugio Sapienza then headed to the Silvestri craters, formed by an eruption in 1892.
Then, as if by magic, the clouds around the summit cleared momentarily and my Mongibello revealed her full height. Debbie just asked who on earth I was waving to… Princess pride themselves on their Ocean Medallion technology, which is a disc the size of a 10p that acts as your identity for getting on and off the ship, gives keyless entry to your cabin and facilitates an ordering system for drinks and more wherever you are on the ship – even a hot tub on deck.
Once used, you’ll wonder how you manage without one on other cruise line ships.
Aside from Etna, we had three more enjoyable days off the ship with Bar in Montenegro leading the way. A 10-minute cab ride from Bar’s port gets you to Stari Bar old town and a long, hilly street of shops, bars and restaurants which ends at the ruins of a large medieval fortress – well worth exploring.
The favoured (and flavoured) local brew is pomegranate beer and for three quid a pint it’s worth trying the frothy, fruity encounter. Corfu Town is an old favourite and strolling streets dating from Venetian times, visiting historic churches, browsing souvenir shops and enjoying a coffee by the cricket pitch makes for a pleasant few hours.
With a sea day before disembarking in Barcelona, our last port was Naples. One Italian volcano is never enough in a week and we had breakfast with a fine view of Vesuvius, perhaps the most famous one in the world.
We’d been a few times, so just left the ship for a couple of hours to wander the packed main streets including shopping hotspot Via Toledo, Spaccanapoli – the narrow artery cutting through the historic centre – and the glorious, glass-domed Galleria Umberto I. Back on board in time for lunch under the watchful eye of Vesuvius, we decamped to the deck 17 adults-only area for some afternoon Kindle time in the sun and a dip in the hot tub with a cold beer, again with a view of the Big V. Lava-ly!
Book the holiday
Princess Cruises offers a seven-night Mediterranean voyage on Sun Princess from £877pp, sailing from Athens (Piraeus) to Barcelona on June 21, calling at Santorini, Kotor, Corfu and Sicily (Messina). Flights extra. princess.com
More info at visitgreece.gr visit-montenegro.com italia.it spain.info
