Our review of the cruise as a whole would be that the ports of call were superb and the Royal Princess itself was a beautiful ship inside and out but there were some design and feature choices on the ship we didn’t particularly like (personal preference so your views may differ) and, far more importantly, we were treated to some incredibly un-Princess-like levels of service during the trip that left us vowing to never set foot on the ship again during and just after the cruise. Time has a way of smoothing out those peaks and troughs and looking back through the pictures I’m reminded of some of the better parts of the ship and holiday so… the right price, the right itinerary might change my mind. But the Royal Princess would not be my first choice of ship in the Princess Cruises line.

Embarkation

We’d arranged flights to Italy and transfers to the port and ship with Princess for convenience (and they’re very well-priced, we’ve found) so a 4 a.m. start, drive to Heathrow, and check-in resulted in the holiday starting in traditional British fashion with drinks in the airport before we’d normally even be awake.

The weather was perfect across Europe for our holiday (which always helps) and obligatory phone photos of the landscape and lakes we flew over swiftly followed.

Luggage was retrieved, we found the Princess representatives easily, and with only a little bit of hanging around until everyone from a couple of flights had gathered together we made our way to the coach (quite a walk as I recall) to then take the fairly quick drive to Civitavecchia where the ship was waiting. Unlike everyone else, it seemed, we’d filled in all our paperwork early and walked straight through to pick up our ship card, boarding the ship itself within about three minutes of arriving at the port. Outstanding work.

State Room E102

Our late deal gave us the most forward balcony on the Royal Princess, low down on the port side of the ship. The room was decorated in much the same way as any other Princess ship we’d been on but everything was newer and a little brighter as you’d expect from a more modern ship. The Royal Princess was the first (and at time of writing, only) Royal-class ship we’d been on, with all our previous cruises taking place on Grand-class vessels. The only major layout change in the room we could see was a large, wall-mounted TV opposite the bed rather than the smaller, corner-set ones we’d seen elsewhere. In the bathroom there was a minor change in positioning of the toilet which is usually at 45 degrees to the vanity unit.

We like balconies on our cruises and if you like balconies too then you probably really need to think about any of the Royal-class of ships (Royal, Regal, Majestic from Princess, or Britannia from P&O) as balcony depth is appalling unless you’re willing to really splash out on some of the higher priced rooms. As it was, though, our room was at the flaring point of the ship near the front which gave us an angled, deeper balcony than typical; the three or four cabins further back from us had deeper cabins again; the only “downside” was that our balconies were described as partially obstructed which in this instance meant that the barrier portion of the balcony was metal instead of glass. This was no obstruction at all and it even meant there was a metal shelf that was handy for putting drinks on when we were sitting out there. The balcony was partially covered and partially exposed and the ship’s bridge was above and just behind. If you’re concerned about privacy it’s worth thinking about but it didn’t concern us. We’d read that when the bridge windscreen was cleaned some of the cleaning fluid could drip onto the balconies where we were but for E102 this didn’t seem to be possible as we were set ahead of the bridge.

In Civitavecchia we were docked alongside the Celebrity Eclipse. As we unpacked and enjoyed a drink in our room a sudden thunderstorm hit the area; lightning was flashing across the suddenly dark afternoon sky and the rain came tipping down. With only a half-covered balcony we couldn’t step out to really take in the splendour of nature but we did sit for a while with our bodies sheltered and our legs exposed to the elements; the warm rain coming down was nice but the subsequent drips from the metal overhead were decidedly cooler. The storm passed quickly in time for a pleasing sunset before muster and departure.

So, Royal Princess state room E102 was perfectly adequate (and arguably better than the majority of balcony cabins on board) and it was conveniently located just one deck above the promenade deck making it easy to walk to between them rather than rely on elevators (although it’s a big ship so it’s still a fair distance). One thing I must point out, though, is that if you’re a fan of sleeping in then best find another room. Proximity to the anchor meant an alarm clock was rarely required. This didn’t bother us, but it might bother you.

Piazza

The piazza was huge, light, and a very attractive space with some very familiar bars and shops hanging off it as we’d come to expect from Princess Cruises along with a few new places too. But looks aren’t everything. We came to realise very quickly that one of favourite things to do when we’re on a Princess ship – enjoy a cocktail from Crooners at the top of the piazza in the early evening before (and sometimes after) dinner – was completely ruined on Royal Princess because of new functionality for the atrium area; namely, activities. Specifically, noisy activities. It seemed there was almost always something happening in the piazza with the subsequent noise rising up to fill the space. At times it was difficult to hear yourself think because of a band or dance class taking place. This was a real disappointment for us.

Art Gallery

We’re fond of art, always make a point of attending at least one auction on board, usually buy something, and Princess (or, rather, Park West, who manage art sales on numerous cruise lines) knows this so we were invited to private events during our week on the ship. Yes, we bought again; one of the pieces is shown below but I won’t say which (other than it’s not the sculpture because we’re not made of money). The location of the gallery on deck 7 was a shock to us and we didn’t really like that it was along a main walking area on this class of ship but I understand the reasoning in trying to capture a bit of passing traffic (more on this in a bit). Our experience says that people who like art already know they like art and it’s unlikely you’re going to entice someone in for a sale on the off chance but I suppose it’s possible. The art gallery was by a stairwell above the casino and we did notice the smell of smoke every now and then which was unpleasant. The gallery staff were superb, friendly, and we enjoyed many chats with them both on and off the ship in ports when we bumped into some on occasion (more on friendliness of staff in a bit too).

Club 6

Our favourite venue on the Grand-class ships operated by Princess Cruises is Skywalkers Nightclub; nothing beats some late nights dancing and drinking. So it was an immense disappointment to discover that not only did the Royal Princess not have this club but the club it did have instead, Club 6, had no views out to sea in the evening and was both adjacent to the casino (smoking smell would creep in from time to time) and formed a corridor between the theatre and the piazza. The reasoning – we suspect – is again to capture passing traffic to the club, something that’s not possible for Skywalkers as it’s at the aft and up top of ships. The reality – we found – was that a crowd of people would just suddenly walk through the place a few times each evening talking loudly while you were trying to enjoy the music, blocking most of the routes to and from the dancefloor until they’d cleared. Baffling design decision. We’ve subsequently talked to a DJ who has worked on Princess ships and who made all the same complaints about Club 6 that I’ve done here.

One interesting thing about Club 6 on the Royal Princess, though, was that the resident DJ was Pedro who had also been on our South American cruise aboard the Star Princess. To date we think he’s the only crew member we’ve encountered twice on a trip. If he wasn’t so fixated on playing latin music all the bloody time then this would have been a good thing.

Other Interior Spaces

The food locations were (mostly) all excellent and none more so than the buffet; huge, open, well laid out, fantastic choices; this was one area that was substantially improved over other Princess ships. Quality and range were all excellent. With our recent experiences on P&O, for example, it’s incredible just how good and varied the breakfast is on Princess with regular choices, local dishes, changing dishes sensibly making use of food not eaten the night before, etc. With P&O it will typically be the same five things every day. Wonderful cake choices too.

The blot on the food landscape was the specialty dining in the Crown Grill, something we always like to do on a Princess cruise but… the location was attached to the Wheelhouse Bar which transformed it from a specialty location to a side room in a pub, and a noisy one at that; it was too bright so intimate dining was gone; the waiter didn’t listen to me at all (more on service in a bit). Anyway, awful.

A TV studio replaces one of the lounges on the Royal Princess and it’s a complete waste of space. That’s all I have to say on that. Another lounge had an odd layout of seating that made talking to other people difficult. Pleasant enough artwork was dotted around the ship and the namer of the ship, the Duchess of Cambridge, had her photograph in one of the corridors.

Promenade Deck

We like a nice walk around the promenade deck on other ships. Sadly, this was impossible on Royal Princess with just a few small areas of decking you could step out on and no walking circuit except for up on top of the ship. The deck areas on the promenade deck were pleasant enough but the views were a little limited by the presence of lifeboats. A nice view to the SeaWalk above could be had but that’s little compensation.

SeaWalk

One of the big features of the Royal Princess cruise ship is its SeaWalk, a glass platform jutting out from the side of the ship and allowing views down to the sea. Sort of. It’s mostly over the promenade deck below so there’s no worry about falling through into the water as the wooden decking below would probably cushion any fall. It’s a nice enough gimmick and looks attractive from the ship’s exterior. Except with the lights on in the evening you can’t really see through the glass because of the reflections. What you can see, though, is onto the balconies and into some of the state rooms nearby. And as for what those rooms can see out to? If you like to gaze out at the stars at night (we do) then you’re only going to see a glowing glass obstruction I imagine.

Sports

The sports and gym options seemed to be improved from what we’ve seen on other ships with plenty of equipment and walking and jogging lanes. Not that we tried any; we’re not insane.

One piece of equipment looked like it was installed backwards from the accompanying explanation of how to use it and its proximity to the ship.

Swimming Pools

Swimming pools were generally very good with lots of lounges around. A water fountain area seemed to be a little bit of a waste of space but it was fairly entertaining on a few evenings when a sound and light show was performed. The best discovery, though, was the Retreat pool; adults only, sheltered, large enough to do plenty of laps in, and pretty much ignored by most of the passengers on board which suited us perfectly. We were very pleased to get in plenty of swims on our week on the Royal Princess.

Service

The biggest, biggest, biggest problem we had with our week on board Royal Princess was that the level of service was nothing close to what we had come to expect from Princess Cruises. We were met with indifference from bar staff who would take orders with barely a glance, no chat, no smile, then head off without a word until they’d return to hand over drinks in silence, and this happened in every bar we visited on board; at the Retreat pool we couldn’t even catch the eye of a bar steward when we were the only ones there who went out of his way to wander around looking out to sea and ignoring us.

While the food was good in general the level of service was perfunctory at best in the main dining room, and in the Crown Grill it was atrocious with the waiter getting my order wrong and sighing loudly when it was pointed out. By far the worst service we had was when we had to go to the customer services desk to re-register a credit card that had stopped working because two digits had somehow transposed themselves between us booking the cruise and it being entered in their system somewhere; during a puzzled query as to how this could have happened since the card numbers had only been entered once and had obviously initially worked to get us on board we were met with an eye roll from the customer service person and an accusation that it had to be our fault. It was all I could do to hold my wife in check who was livid at being treated in such a way. We’ve never been treated that badly before or since and it just seemed to be pervasive among all the crew we encountered in some manner or another, again with the exception of the art gallery people who couldn’t have been nicer.

I know that sometimes something isn’t quite right or an encounter might not be perfect but it happened to us throughout the week and we weren’t the only people to experience this; during our disembarkation tour in Athens we were talking to some elite-level passengers who had all the same complaints to raise that we did.

Anyway, to finish: a few more photos and a couple of videos of the Royal Princess cruise ship top deck because despite problems on this cruise she was a pretty ship. It just might be a while before we’re tempted back on her or any of her class though.

The brutalist design present in the impressive but abandoned Casa Del Portuale building (architect: Aldo Loris Rossi) was the stand out piece on view…

…unless you count Mount Vesuvius which could be seen from up on deck, of course.

We’d booked an excursion with Princess Cruises for our day in Naples as we like to make sure we’re taken care of and in safe hands for our first time in any new port (we talked to some people at dinner that evening who had headed to Capri on their own but had run into traffic problems on the way back, had to ring the ship to let them know they might be late (but nobody answered the emergency number!), and had their taxi driver weaving in and out of vehicles at over 100 kph to get them back on time).

The main point of our excursion was to visit the nearby excavation of the buried town of Herculaneum (photos and review in the next portfolio post) but as is the way with many cruise ship trips there was an initial stop to allow people to be persuaded to part with more money for things they never thought they wanted. In this case it was a cameo-making workshop which couldn’t have interested us less on paper but was actually quite fascinating to take a look at up close. We got to hear a little bit of history about making cameos and there was no denying the skill involved but the pieces just weren’t to our tastes.

A long, sloping walk initially takes you along one side of Herculaneum, affording views down to the uncovered parts of the town as well as further up to the modern buildings. This gives you a good feel for just how much ash was dumped during the volcano’s eruption, although you get a better understanding when you get into the streets of the town itself, obviously. A bridge over a moat-like structure then takes you into Herculaneum.

During the eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii had been in downwind so most of the initial debris falling from the sky destroyed the town. Herculaneum lay to the west of the volcano so was only initially coated with a little ash and the place was mostly evacuated. Overnight, however, the pyroclastic surges hit the town which had been on the shore; waves of heat killed people who were left instantly while leaving much of the material such as wood, roofs, bedding, etc. intact, albeit buried. So much ash fell on the town (twenty metres as opposed to Pompeii’s four) that the shoreline advanced considerably and the place was all but forgotten to history until the digging of a well in the 18th century led to the beginning of extensive archaeology. Only a fraction of Herculaneum has been uncovered due to the nearby city buildings and the need to preserve what is there.

There were lots of preserved details of tiles, mosaics, wall decorations, etc. Herculaneum was a truly fantastic place with some truly jaw dropping moments as you stood in the streets looking up to where the ash had settled or looking out to where the sea used to be. It’s one of those places where you frequently find yourself realising just how scarily powerful nature can be. You also get a great feel for just how impressive the town would have been to live in.

Although it looks overcast from the photos of Herculaneum it never rained while we visited. The excavation, being within a recess in the ground, acted as a heat trap, though, so the combination of heat and humidity made the visit a little tiring but definitely worth it. Walking around was never a problem, the size of the site was just about right for the time we had there, and it wasn’t packed; we heard a few stories back on the Royal Princess about the excursions to visit Pompeii being more hectic, crowded, and fleeting so if you’re only in the city of Naples for a day and looking to see a site covered by volcanic ash almost two thousand years ago then I’d recommend Herculaneum as probably the better option.

We couldn’t see the medieval town of Kotor from our state room and we had an excursion booked that would take us well away from it. We knew we would have time after our excursion to see what the town held in store but after breakfast we gathered with our excursion group, took a tender boat across to land, then immediately headed to a nearby boat that would take us nearly ten kilometres back along the bay for a sightseeing tour of Our Lady of the Rocks then the town of Perast (photos to come in later portfolio posts). The Royal Princess wasn’t the only cruise ship in the Bay of Kotor when we visited, with the considerably smaller Queen Victoria alongside the town ahead of us.

One of the things we noticed was the large number of churches in the hillsides that we passed. I’m not sure what the ratio of churches to people is in Montenegro but it wouldn’t surprise me to discover it among the highest in the world from observation.

The boat ride was lovely and the gentle breeze that came in off the water was very welcome. We could tell every time that we slowed down for one reason or another or as we started to approach our first stop at Our Lady of the Rocks that the temperature was ridiculously hot. From talking to our guide we discovered this wasn’t unusual for the region and that temperatures had got so hot the month before we arrived that entire towns and the government itself had to shut down. The water we’d taken with us for this excursion did not last very long at all.

Our Lady of the Rocks is an artificial island created by sinking ships loaded with rocks and rocks dropped on top of them. The tradition of dropping rocks was allegedly started by sailors to give praise for a successful voyage and still takes place in a more ceremonial form to this day. On the surface of the island stands a Catholic church and museum.

While the boat ride had been just about perfect temperature-wise on account of the breeze off the waters of the bay as we moved the same couldn’t be said for Our Lady of the Rocks itself. The sun had risen as we’d travelled so it was hotter than it had been at the start of the cruise excursion and there was barely a breath of wind. The exposed location on the island was uncomfortable for me and my wife – we don’t handle hot temperatures very well – but that was nothing compared to actually going insde the church and museum, neither of which (as you can imagine) were air conditioned. We had to wait for another tour group to vacate the place first as it can’t handle too many people at once. It was still very crowded with just our boat-lot visiting but inside it was very interesting. Decorations in the church were modestly impressive and throughout it and the museum there were plenty of examples of local art. We would have appreciated it all more if we weren’t so intent on getting outside for some air but none of this should put you off considering a visit if you’re ever visiting Montenegro.

Perast is pretty much a single road running along the shoreline with buildings set inland from that. The hills behind stop much building too far back so the town feels long and thin rather than spread out. The population of the town was around 300 which gives you an idea of the small size of the place but it was incredibly picturesque. The architecture was lovely and very typical of that whole area of coastline.

A number of shops and vendors were around but we headed as a group for Perast’s museum in the first instance. In truth there wasn’t a lot of interest in the building but what it did have was an air conditioning unit which we took advantage of for a few mintes to cool down in front of and a balcony flanked by stone lions affording lovely views out across the Bay of Kotor and along the shore of Perast.

After the museum we had some time to ourselves to look around. Most of the tour group headed to get drinks or do some shopping where they could but we decided, despite the incredible heat, to wander about for a bit to see what other photo opportunities the Montenegrin town had to offer.

The most notable landmark in Perast was the church of St Nicholas.

The church more-or-less marked the extent of our wandering as we didn’t really have enough time to walk any further along the shoreline without risking a hard march to get back to our tour group in time, something we were most definitely not keen on doing in the temperatures there. We took a slow wander back the way we came with just a few more photos of Perast on the way.

When we reached the meeting point for our tour we had a few minutes spare so we grabbed some gelato from a vendor and stood in the shade of a building to try to regain some composure. We spent a few minutes talking to our guide while we were there who remarked that Montenegro made better gelato than Italy but that he grudgingly conceded Italian pizza was just a bit better. He also mentioned that the temperature was just shy of forty degrees but it had been several degrees hotter a month before and they’d had to shut down the government because nobody could work. We could well believe it.

Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks is a great little excursion for a few hours if you’re in or around Kotor. We’d happily spend a few days in the region without a second’s thought.

I didn’t take anywhere near as many photos heading back to the port as I had on the original boat trip up the Bay of Kotor towards our excursion destinations, taking advantage of a swifter pace with less commentary on the return leg to allow the increased breeze to cool me down when possible. Nevertheless, there were some lovely sights captured along the journey; the hills around Kotor are dotted with churches and attractive buildings.

One of the other excursions that we could have booked from the ship or undoubtedly arranged from the port upon arrival was a group kayak trip along the bay. If that’s your sort of thing then it looked pleasant enough as we passed several groups on the boat ride. Needless to say, it’s not our sort of thing. Effort? On holiday? The very thought!

Inside half an hour we were alongside our home for the week in the Mediterranean, the Royal Princess cruise ship, anchored out in the bay. Our balcony was on the port side of the ship so not visible as we passed it and made for the docking area in Kotor. We’d overheard some people remarking that they were planning on taking the tender boat immediately back on board in order to grab some food before heading back to the town to explore it but that seemed a horrible waste of time to us and we would head into the town directly. I understand that the food on the ship is technically already paid for but to give up time (and quite a bit of it when you’re tendering, then heading to the buffet, then coming back to tender again) in order to save probably very little money that could probably benefit the local economy (part of the reason we love to cruise) seems an odd decision-making process to me.

At the point where we disembarked from the boat there was a monument and some nice views beyond the town to St. John’s Fortress that was situated up in the mountains.

Our ship was anchored in the bay which is why we’d had to use tender boats ashore earlier in the day. The Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria was alongside the town.

The town is no more than five minutes’ walk from the waterside area where the boats tie up. Probably one of the most photographed sights on the approach to Kotor on foot has to be the impressive fortifications built during the period when the town was under Venetian rule.

The town is surrounded by walls and the main entrance was through a large, arched gate.

Outside the walls were a number of vendors and places to grab maps of the old town but for the amount of time we had to spend there we didn’t bother picking any up and headed straight past the queues of tourists and through the crowds of more tourists into Kotor’s lovely interior. The architecture was fabulous and the town had plenty of narrow alleys and tall buildings; shops, houses, museums, and churches could be found at every turn. While the place was somewhat maze-like at points Kotor was not large enough to really get lost in especially with the imposing views of the mountains behind it that always gave a good indication as to what direction you were facing.

We mostly wandered at random, taking photographs naturally, but also did a little bit of shopping for souvenirs. Finally, to eat up the remainder of our time in the fabulous Montenegrin location and because it’s something we like to do when we’re abroad, we sought out a bar away from the main and very crowded square and ordered some local beers. The place we selected had free Wi-Fi, was shaded, and gave us ample opportunity to observe the many cats and kittens wandering around to passing tourists’ and our delight.

Exploration, shopping, and sampling of local wares done we headed back out of the town to the bay and found our Princess Cruises boarding area. Gratefully accepting the cool towels they handed out to help freshen us up from the intense heat of the day we then boarded a local boat rather than one of the ship’s tender boats – both types were in operation carrying passengers and crew back and forth and it was good to see that sort of aid to the local economy taking place as well – and headed back to the ship.

Some photos and information about Kotor’s cats as well as another cruiser’s view of the town can be found here: Adriatic medieval gem for cat ladies – port of Kotor!

We’d obviously seen a lot of similar sights along the hills we passed during our boat ride up the Bay of Kotor and return trip back down it earlier in the day but there was a lot that appeared different. For a start we were at a greater height but mainly the lighting was completely changed with the sun now having dropped below the hills we were passing on the port side of the ship. The heat from the day hadn’t quite vanished so there was a cooling effect on the stored warmth in the surroundings that was throwing a lot of desaturated, hazy conditions to contend with. Despite this I elected to use my lower quality zoom lens for the vast majority of the photos in order to pick out distant details that hadn’t been identifiable with the higher quality, wide angle I’d used exclusively up to that point.

In addition to the many churches we’d seen dotting the hillsides earlier we also spotted fortifications that had been built up during World War II. The waters of the Bay of Kotor were fairly busy and we passed numerous other boats. The shoreline as well was dotted with small towns and beach-like areas with plenty of people enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine and many of them taking photos of us as we passed by, often waving to other passengers on balconies elsewhere. To avoid sending waves crashing ashore the Royal Princess transited the bay at a very slow speed and this made for a very serene experience and a great way to finish off a visit to a spectacularly beautiful and fascinating European destination.

The architectural design was intended to represent an ancient Phaecian palace. The building, with the classic Greek statues that surround it, is a monument to platonic romanticism as well as escapism and was, naturally, named after Achilles: Achilleion.

With timezone changes we arrived at the port of Corfu before the sun had risen. Breakfast downed (after some poor service from the buffet area staff, a common theme on this particular cruise with Princess), we met up with our tour group and made our way to the waiting coach as the sky began to lighten.

Achilleion is set on the top of a hill with commanding views out over the island of Corfu; indeed, the location was the reason for building the palace there in the first place. The road to Achilleion is narrow and winding. Coaches are wide and inflexible. This made for an interesting and somewhat concerning trip up the hillside. Cars coming the other way often had to reverse suddenly as we approached and there were numerous examples of chipped stonework and scrape marks along the walls of houses and other buildings we passed indicating that not every vehicle made the journey without damage. I’m happy to report, remarkably, that our driver had no such incidents although the occasional gasps from other passengers on the bus said it was a close-run thing at times.

Our guide bought tickets and we entered the palace grounds. Us and maybe two dozen other tour groups at the same time. There was a bit of a wait to get inside the building but the temperature – as it was still early – wasn’t too bad, the skies were bright, and the chance for some photographs was appreciated by me.

Once inside the palace it was even more crowded and very noisy. It was practically impossible to hear the tour guide with all the other tour guides speaking too; some were using radios to talk to the groups but others were simply speaking loudly in a variety of languages. As we shuffled from room to room we would occasionally gather close to hear a description of what we would see and then disperse briefly to muscle our way amongst the many other groups, have a nose at what had been described, then return to move off to another room. The crowded insides didn’t make for the greatest visual experience but it was still fairly interesting to hear about the history of the place.

The gardens were far more relaxed and far more photogenic. There were some wonderful, bold colours on show and some great examples of architecture in the Pompeian style which was a nice connection back to our first stop on the cruise in Naples. The gardens had some lovely views out across the island of Corfu.

The German sculptor Ernst Herter‘s famous statue Sterbender Achill (“Dying Achilles”) was bought by the Empress of Bavaria and forms the centrepiece of the gardens at Achilleion.

Time for a rant intermission…

Taking a picture of the statue of Dying Achilles took a long time because I’ve found that people on cruises are, by and large, really, really inconsiderate. I’m not, which is why before I take a photo I look around to see if I’m in someone’s way or, like on this particular day in Corfu, I move out of the way to let other people take their photographs first so that I can, if possible, take a little bit of extra time to compose the shot (I don’t often get a chance because of time constraints but I do my best); most other people taking photos on holiday take a snap and move on. Great. However, some people don’t. Can I make a request? If you’re taking a photo of something then take the photo and take a look around to see if someone else wants to do the same, and if they do then please, please, please move the fuck out of the way. I shifted back from the picture I wanted to take to let a small group of Americans shuffle along in front and take their shots first. They then proceeded to just stand right there, right in front of the statue, listening to the tour guide without a second’s thought for anyone else. People, eh? And if I clubbed them out of the way with a nearby rock somehow I’d be to blame.

Anyhoo…

Another large statue of Achilles guarded the gardens, looking northwards, and it formed another point to gather as a group and hear some more about the location.

We finished our visit to Achilleion with a walk back through the gardens and briefly into the top level of the palace. We then had a few minutes to wait for those who needed to empty their bladders before leaving the palace and hunting down our coach. There was a bit more of a wait as some people had got lost between the toilets and the coach. There was a bit more of a wait after that as our coach was blocked in by numerous other coaches. But eventually we headed off down the terrifyingly narrow and twisting road towards the city of Corfu itself.