cruising: Athens to Venice
 

Looking for helpful comments about Radisson/Regent line.(the Navigator) Been on Seabourne, how does this one rate? Going in June, Athens to Venice. Favorite shore excursions? Also, planning a couple of days in Athens....hotel recommendation? Must see sights in Athens? How about Venice? May stay over a couple of days there. Hotel?

You really should look at www.cruisecritic.com. They are a wealth of info about ships/ports/ etc. Regent has their own forum.
We just got back in from a Istanbul to Venice cruise with Oceania. You will enjoy your trip. We had a private guide in Athens, but Venice was very easy to do on your own. Didn't stay over in either Venice or Athens though so sorry no help there.

Just got back from Venice to Athens cruise and then on to Turkey etc.

I would stay over for 2-3 days in Venice.
You might as well see it good while you are there...no use to rush through.

I stayed at the Duodo Palace. Nice walking distance( 3-4 blocks) to St. Mark's Square and all the major places.

In Athens I had a private guide( as I did in all the ports I visited).
I booked them all ahead of time.

Of course in Athens you will spend 2-3 hours at the Acropolis...then it is on to other places and this is where a good guide is helpful as he drives you around.

Percy

regarding private tours for ports..did you book through the internet? How did you filter the good from the bad??

There almost is no bad!! Really
They all spoke English well

Dennis in Athens pickedus up ina Stretch Limo Wow...

Maybe I am lucky but all my private tour guides at each port, were waiting, as I disembarked at each port..just holding up my name sign..and off we went.
Percy

One thing you should know is that in Athens you must be a licensed tour guide to officially "guide." Normally the guides do not provide their own transportation, that is separate. What we had was a private driver who picked us up at the port and then took us to the Acropolis where we toured on our own with our own guidebook. He took us all over the city of Athens to see the various sights to include the changing of the guard. We also went to the Cape and did lunch. The full (and I mean full 8:30 to 4:30) day tour was 250 Euros for the two of us. They charge per car, not per person. He always beat the tour buses and was great and was willing to tailor the tour for what we wanted to see. English was excellent. We selected him because he was honest up front about not being licensed. He also came highly recommended on the cruise critic boards by others who had used him. We also appreciated that he even made a stop for us on the way back to the ship at a shop when we told him we wanted a cheap bag as an additional piece of luggage (we forgot to plan space for gifts). The bag was 10 Euros - couldn't be beat. If interested, e-mail Paul at [email protected] We also used other private tours on Rhodes and Santorini I highly recommend if you are going there. Let me know if you want that info.

very helpful information! Thank you! Could you pass on the information about santorini? Thank you!

We used a private driver for a full day tour of Santorini. Contact Dimetrius at [email protected] He was great. We went all over the island. Lots of time to walk, again whatever we wanted. Don't get spooked by the fact he asks for a deposit. After we got back to the States, he contacted me because I had inadvertantly overpaid him. Was willng to refund it.

My typo - it's [email protected]