Prepping for the trip:

Make sure you have your passports ready well in advance – you can get them expedited if needed but that also comes with a hefty fee. Getting my passport was super easy! First I filled out this application and got my picture taken at a mail/packaging place – they let me smile & took a few that I could choose from haha. Then I made an appointment at the nearest US Post Office and voila! I had my passport within a couple months.
Side note! If you travel often, or plan on traveling often, consider getting TSA Pre Check and Global Entry. It makes a HUGE difference going through security at the airport. You don’t have to remove iPads, laptops, your shoes, etc. You just do the princess wave to everyone else waiting in the security line and walk on through.  Besides having your passport, make sure you check what other documents are required where you’re going. For example, our cruise line required Visas and multiple photo IDs for certain countries (US was not one of them).
Check the weather and pack accordingly! I’m so glad I packed an umbrella and raincoat.

Flying:

Luckily we fly a lot with American and had enough miles to get there and back. Whoo hoo! We only paid a couple hundred dollars in taxes. Consider if using miles for your trip is the right option for you. We didn’t feel like paying a few thousand in plane tickets sooo it was the right option for us. Ha! Our flights were over 10 hours long each way so we knew we didn’t want to be in Coach/Economy seats. This means more miles or paying a seat upgrade – definitely worth it. I would suggest Business class or if that’s not possible go with an Exit Row or Bulk Head seat. We were in Bulk Head seats that were basically a recliner *heart eyes* We were the only row with reclining seats and foot rests since there weren’t any seats in front of us. You can’t get this in Exit Row since it would be a safety issue/trip hazard. So maybe you should just go with the Bulk Head 😛
Also, try and get adjusted to your future time zone asap. This may mean staying up for 24 hours or forcing yourself to sleep during the day before your flight – we found Zzzquil to be our best friend. I’d also recommend this for any nervous flyers. Take this and pass out. You’re welcome.

The Cruise:

We went on a 12 day/11 night Princess Cruise – “The Grand Mediterranean”.
Because we went during the ‘off season’ (winter months) our fellow passengers were……let’s just say Life Alert necklaces were a common accessory. Luckily, the couple in the cabin next to us were younger so we ended up spending a lot of time with them.

Our stops included:

Barcelona, Spain
Toulon, France
Florence, Italy
Katakolon, Greece
Mykonos, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Kotor, Montenegro
Naples, Italy
Rome, Italy

My fiancé is Italian so he really wanted to see Italy and I’ve always wanted to go to Greece so this itinerary was perfect for us. Also, our cruise had 3 days at sea while others only had 1 or 2. I, personally, am a big fan of sea days. I love to lay by the pool, drink, take advantage of the ship’s amenities and give my body a good rest before heading out to the next port.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona prior to getting on the ship. I loved it! I could totally see myself living there. Our hotel was Hotel Pulitzer. So cute & walking distance to everything. We went on a tour one of the days up to Montserrat then a wine tasting at a castle – picturesque day!
Toulon was kind of a dud – we didn’t have a shore excursion lined up so we just walked around the town a little and then got back on the ship by lunch time.
Florence was great. We did have a shore excursion here so that may have been part of the reason we loved it so much. We saw the statue of David, too many churches to count, some of the largest doors we’ve ever seen, then went on to Pisa and of course saw the Leaning Tower!
Next was Katakolon. We did not do an excursion here but there are so many local businesses that provide tours. We hoped on a bus to Olympia and saw the ruins of the Temple of Zeus and the original Olympic stadium. Pretty surreal and so cool!
Mykonos was my favorite stop!! It’s absolutely beautiful and SO clean. First we got pictures with the iconic windmills then rented ATVs. You can drive on the streets with the rest of the cars – no insurance needed haha. This would be my number one tip – rent an ATV. We saw the entire island in a day, every inch more beautiful than the next.
We also rented ATVs in Santorini the next day. We made the mistake of going to Red Beach and the light house first. Not worth it. Although the ride over was beautiful, the end result was subpar. If you are only there for a short amount of time I suggest going straight to Oia. This is where the iconic white buildings and blue dome churches are. We also had the best pizza of our lives in Santorini.
Kotor was a pleasant surprise. We weren’t expecting much but when we arrived it felt like we were in another world. Teal waters, green mountains, red tiled roofs – it was like an adorable little village. We went on a hike up to a castle on top of a mountain, not for the faint of heart. The hike itself was better than the castle at the top. After the hike we were famished so we sat down for lunch in the village square and I had the best bruschetta ever! (Sorry Italy!)
Naples isn’t going to get the rave review it should because the Italian authorities felt like searching the cruise ship for 3 hours so we were late to our tour. Not only were we late but it was pouring rain the whole time. I guess we just need to go back to get the full/better experience 😉 Even though it was raining we went to Pompeii. Now that was cool – highly recommend! After Pompeii we went into Sorrento for lunch and a walk around the town. It was cute but again, raining. The last part of our tour was supposed to take us to Positano and the Amalfi Coast 😥 SO sad we missed this! Next time…
Our cruise ended in Rome and we stayed for 3 days. We went to the Trevi Fountain, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon…you name it, we saw it! Rome was awesome and the pasta was even better. My fiancé has family in Rome so we were able to meet up with them – perfect ending to a great trip.

Now let’s talk about Princess. We were on the Crown Princess ship and were not impressed. The rooms were smaller than we’re used to (we always get a balcony room, highly recommend), food was meh and they freakin charge you for everything! haha. There were 3 very small pools instead of 1 or 2 large ones. I like when there is a large pool in the middle of the ship – everyone gathers around and dances or they host competitions…nothing of that nature on this ship We did a Royal Caribbean cruise through the Caribbean and were so much happier with that experience – the food, rooms, ship and average passenger age haha (even though we went in December).

Coming back through customs:

Download the Mobile Pass app on your smart phone when you land, take a selfie and answer the yes or no questions. We did this when we landed at DFW and got in a line with 7 people ahead of us. The line for non tech savvy people was well over 100 people long.

I hope you can learn from our mistakes, accept my advice & go see this beautiful world we live in!

Until next time, Europe! ❤