zannie

Will be sailing on the Galaxy for our 25th anniversary on June 22nd out of Rome to parts of Italy and Greece (Santorini, Myknos, Rhodes, Athens) and Turkey (Ephesus). If anyone has done that particular cruise I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on ports where excursions through the cruise line would be the best idea and where it is just as easy and/or preferred to get around on one's own.

In Santorini, is there bus service that heads to Oia that would be doable for a day visit? In Naples, we'd like to go to the Amalfi coast. Is a ship excursion the best way to go to do this?

When departing the ship, are there shuttles to the port entrance? We need to get to the local train station. I was hoping we could catch a taxi at the port entrance.

I'm planning on doing the late seating for dinner? Does this sound like a good idea?

Lots of questions! Sure would appreciate some suggestions! Thanks!!!!!

Percy

Hi zannie

Okay, I got back from a Mediterranean Cruise about6 months ago.

I had private tour guides at all the ports.

In Mykonos you do not need a guide.

Just take the free bus ride(provided by the Cruise ship) from the port into the town of Mykonos.

It is about a mile walk from the port into Mykonos but do not try to walk it!!!

Mykonos is lovely to just walk around and then sit outside a ta table and have a beer( wine or whatever).

At Naples, there will be many people wanting to take you on a tour so getting a taxi or minvan will be no problem.

The Almafi Coast is a terrific drive.

In Athens you can e-mail Dennis. He picked us up in a stretch limo !!!
His name is Dennis Kokkotos.
e-mail address is:
[email protected]

For Ephesus you can contact Jenny at:

[email protected]

Personally I would not do the late seating for dinner.

We always got back by 5 to 5:30PM.
Had a quick shower and then made it easy for the 6 to 6:30PM seating.

I do not want to eat late and then see the late show at 10 PM..heck I am tired by then and tomorrow is another tour day !!

I met some nice people wanting to drive me and tour me around but I already had guides booked befofe I left home.

Oh yes, if you want to name of a lady tour guide for the Greek Island here is who you contact.Remember..no tour guide needed for Mykonos.!!

Okay her name is:
Judy Likouris
her e-mail is

[email protected]

There will be shuttle and taxis at the ports.
Tours off the cruise ship are more costly, not better..just cost more.

Take Care
Percy

hamlet

As you may already know, the benefit of going on the cruiseline's tours is that if there are any transportation problems or delays related to the excursion, they will take care of it and you need not worry about "missing the boat" if you are late. That said, there are also down sides to the line's excursions - lack of freedom, cost, etc. Is cost a consideration at all or are you just looking for the best experience? If cost is a factor, at some point you might want to ask on the Europe forum if people can tell you what the going rate is for a tour in a particular port.

Based on my experience having visited several of the ports and having taken several cruises I suggest you weigh how much time you have in a particular port and what you'd like to see and what the ship's tour offerings are and decide separately for each city.

Since Santorini is small, I think it would be okay to do something on your own there - such as explore on your own or book a tour with an outside party. There are buses (which can get really crowded) and taxis. You can also rent a moped if you're feeling adventurous and lucky.

Sometimes to get from Naples to the Amalfi Coast is one big traffic jam. You might want the convenience of a private guide to pick you up and take you around, but that doesn't keep you from getting stuck in traffic as well. There are public transportation options but that takes up a lot of time.

For a place like Ephesus I would want to have a guide, but that's just me. You can probably get a taxi there and do it on your own or make arrangements for a driver and guide. If I recall correctly, the Ephesus tours offered by the ship are not full day, if so, you may want to opt for the convenience of a private car and going at your own pace for the same amount or less money.

There are several sights in Athens and things are spread out. You have to decide if you want to get an overview tour, which is probably offered, or want to do something on your own.

Summer time is busy in all these places. Definitely take into further consideration if you are in any places on a weekend as those days will probably be more crowded.

Fodors forums are great but for more cruise specific advice I think you may also want to check out a site dedicated to cruises, such as cruisecritic. Bon voyage.

patandhank

Zannie - coincidence as I just replied to your other post on the Europe board about Santorini.

I agree 100% with Percy. Private tours are the way to go to avoid the crowds, get to the sights you want to see, taylor your own itinerary and if you can get a couple of people to share with you, you've cut your costs and still gotten a better trip.

In Santorini (I'll repeat) we used Dimitrius [email protected]

In Rhodes we used Nick of Rhodes Private Tours [email protected] We went all over Rhodes and over to Lindos - great trip

Athens - we used Paul [email protected] Just for you info here - he's not a licensed guide but a taxi driver with tons of knowledge. We found it worked great with our own tour book. Also went to the Cape with him as well as seeing the sights in Athens -all in one day.

Mykonos - Percy is right on. Just walk to the towns and windmills

Ephesus we used Ekol Travel www.ekoltravel.com Very reasonable rates quoted in U.S. dollars. We did the tour that included the House of the Virgin Mary.

All of them will taylor your tour for you too.

We never had any issues on "cutting it close" to departure time on our cruise in 9/06.

Enjoy your trip

tennis_woman

Check the thread on "My Big Fat Greek Cruise" as some of islands are the same. I posted on Santorini, Mykonos and Ephesus.

For Rhodes, I rode a donkey up to the top of Lindos Acropolis. The Acropolis (with guide) was quite interesting; I booked thru the cruise (different from yours) but if you have a group, you can also do private tours for cheaper usually.

I like early seating because you're usually back on board by 5pm...time for a quick shower and freshen up for 6pm dinner. Then you have the evening to relax, watch entertainment, dance etc. With the late seating, you're starving by 9pm and have to snack anyway. You don't finish eating until 11pm and the evening is already over! You have to watch the show before dinner then. But it depends on what you're used to!! Alot of people like the late seating.

As for ports, taxis etc. go to the port lectures. You can always find out if there are taxis (almost always) available of if you can walk.

Percy

zannie

You still have time to do your homework and get private tour guides.

This is your 25th Anniversary!!

As mentioned I had private guides at all the ports.
It took some doing but I found them all on the Internet and even called some in person.

Then once a month I would e-mail them just to let them know we were still coming and also just to stay in touch .

Let me tell you it was nice at each port to just walk off the ship and have someone holding a card with your name on it...and off you went.

Driving down the Almafi Coast, the tour guide was aware of the traffic and knew when he had to start heading back.

I asked him once what would happen if he had a flat tire or something.

He said not to worry,he has back -up and it would only take a phone call to have someone else drive us back.

He had mentioned that he knows people have to be back at the ship at a certain time.

That is the great thing about private tour guides.

Of course as has been mentioned, a tour off the cruise ship give you the protection not not being left behind.

In Athens we did the Acropolis and then toured all over Athens.

Dennis knew just where to take us and then he gave us free time for several hours and took us to nice restaurants and shopping places.

Start contacting some people now and ask question that are pertanent to your trip.

Percy

Percy

Yes patandhank is right about those private guides.

By the way patandhank we are talking about the same tour company for Ephesus.!!!

Jenny is at Ekoltravel and also at [email protected]. !!

I had them for Ephesus and for Turkey.
They were great...met us as we were coming off the ship at 7:30AM and off we went.
You are correct,they will tailor their tour to suit you if you have specific places you want to go to .

Percy

indycruise8

We did a wonderful cruise like yours last year - perfect weather, perfect excursions. We used Salvatore - at Drive Amalfi - he was awesome. Great tour clean wonderful van, took us to "out of the way" local restaurant that was great. In Ephesus we used New Faces Travel - Yasar Karadag - again, great guide, very knowledgeable, and know how to avoid crowds. I'm so jealous, want to go again!

carylspall

We prefer the late sitting for dinner as it gives you a longer day before you have to get ready. We once had to do early sitting and hated it! We were going around in our evening dresses at 6pm (for 6.30 dinner) and enviously watching people return from the pool in their shorts! Not much time for a pre dinner glass of bubbly!!!
With the late sitting we always get to bed 11.30pm -midnight latest.

bcirish

Check out portreviews.com It will give you information on most of the ports including where the ships dock, how far to town, what to see. This information may help you decide what you want to do at your various stops and also know about the distance to town. That way you will have a better idea as to whether getting back to the ship will be an issue. Click on Europe port reveiws and then scroll down toward the bottom of the page and look for your ports on the left side of the page. I found this very helpful.

carylspall

That is a brilliant website bcirish!!!
Thanks!

CityOfRefuge

In Santorini, when you get off the venicular-ask for directions to the bus "station"(more like a lot). It's about a 15 minute walk and it's next to the taxi pickup point (again, a "station&quot Look for bus marked "OIA". Buses run every half hour and costs just over a 1 euro (very reasonable)and this is collected on the bus by a person who doesn't look official(no uniform but will give you a ticket receipt). Usually the bus is a new & updated one.It is so worth it to go to Oia. If you want seafood for lunch, you much trek down to the restaurants near the water(one offered calamari by the kilo) otherwise settle for chicken or lamb. We ate at the Castra in Oia-good food & views. Head over right away to Oia as to head off some of the crowds that seem to get there a little later in the day from tours. Have fun!