Oceania/Nautica Mediterranean July Cruise/Tour Guide Suggestions?
 

Could someone please help me with some recommendations regarding tour guides that they have worked with in Athens, Istanbul and Kusadasi? I am travelling with my family on Oceania/Nautica in July and would prefer to use personal guides rather than shore excursions offered by Oceania . I think we can do most of the other stops, which basically consist of Dubrovnick and various Greek Islands, on our own, but if you have travelled on this cruise and would suggest tour guides for the other ports, I would appreciate your advice. Thanks so much in advance!

Of those three ports, we've only stopped in Athens with Oceania, and that was our disembarkation port. We very extremely satisfied with Spiros from www.athenstaxi.net.

Thank you for the information. Would you mind if I ask if you use the ship airport transfers or did you handle that on your own?

We are on the 11 July departure from Istanbul to Athens. The only place we are getting a tour guide is Kusadasi. Because the Santorini web site says the archeological site is still closed, we plan to tour there with taxi or bus. It is easy to get a taxi to the old city in Dubrovnik from the cruise port.

But, if you are stopping at Katakolon, we though the ship's tour to Olympia was worthwhile. OTOH, we did not try to find a private tour guide for that location.

Thank you Jeff. We are travelling to Katakolon so thank you for the advice. Just wondering, are you using the ship airport transfers or doing that on your own?

In Kusadasi we used Sammy's Tours (EKOL is very popular also) and were very pleased for our family of 8. Request to do Ephesus from the top down.
In Athens for transfers (airport, city, pier) we always use Paul at greecebytaxi.com. We have always been very happy with the service. Taxis in Greece cannot do tours (different license) but can drop you off and wait at the Acropolis, etc.

Patricia,

We did not use the ship's transfers in either port. They were more costly than a taxi for two. But, do not, repeat not, use a taxi in Istanbul. The drivers there are the most terrifying I have encountered in all of Europe. There are many car services showing on the web as well as good advice available on these boards.

I hope that you are not planning to arrive in Athens or Istanbul on the day the ship boards. That is anxiety making, and you will be paying for your first night of the cruise while you are too tired and jet lagged to enjoy it. Get to your embarkation point a few days early, enjoy the city on your own, and then you can board, relax, do laundry if you are so inclined, and enjoy the first evening on the ship. We usually go to the "Welcome Aboard Dinner" in the main dining room late on boarding day. We make a point of not getting to the dining room until about 7:45 and always find it nearly empty because the passengers who arrived that day have, for the most part, eaten early and taken to their beds. Of course, we learned this by making the very same mistake on our first cruise.

Thank you Jeff and Charli...we are a family of five so it normally makes sense to use a private service rather than the ships transfers, since that is always a per person basis. Charli, thanks for the tip on Ephesus and we will start at the top. Thanks again!

We used Spiros from the ship to our hotel (with a half day tour in between); he suggested that we not use him from our hotel to the airport because he would be more expensive than just a taxi--so we had our hotel call us a taxi.

We had a wonderful licensed guide in Dubrovnik Denis (in case you change your mind).He was awesome and affordable because when we share the cost of the tour it was NOT so bad.We visited museums,city walls and he pointed out so many interesting details from Dubrovnik history so we were amazed with his knowledge.
His e-mail : [email protected]