Izzywiz

We have sailed both the Panama and Suez Canal and enjoyed both in their own way. We found that passing through the locks on the Panama Canal was a very memorable experience but I much preferred the journey along the Suez Canal because it was possible to see the life of the ordinary Egyptian people. We were up very early to see sunrise over the desert and we positioned ourselves on an aft deck to spent most of the day out there. It was very chilly in the early morning though so wrap up in warm clothes. The first time was at the end of November and the second time was early December

Thank you again for your reply. Unfortunately, we, as a family, have to travel in school holidays so I understand about the heat and crowds so go as well prepared as possible. I was hoping to be off the ship early in Santorini to avoid the queues and heat but, thanks to your valuable information, we shall just have to be patient.

Great news!!

Thank you Rebel Rouser. That is very helpful and means that I can begin to think about how to organise our day there. We have been before but it is a new destination for the rest of our family and I would like it to be a great experience for them. I hope you don’t mind me asking if your cruise was the Aegean Shores itinerary from Corfu. If it was, do you have any other hints and tips for us? We are really looking forward to our trip with our DS, DIL and 2 grandsons. It was originally booked for 2020 so it has been a long time coming!!

I would be grateful if someone could explain the system used on Marella ships to obtain tender tickets when not on a ship's tour. I have experienced different methods on other cruise lines - e.g. priority boarding without tickets depending on loyalty level or cabin type while all other passengers have to queue/everyone queues at a given time and place which is usually quite chaotic/ pre-order time and number of tickets which are then delivered to the cabin…..but we haven’t had to tender before on a Marella cruise so I'd like to be prepared for when we get to Santorini.

As other posters have said, the fjords of Norway and New Zealand have many similarities in their scenic beauty. The main difference is that, during a cruise in Norway, you sail along many different fjords and there are settlement to see and opportunities to get off the ship and explore the small towns and surrounding areas…. On a NZ cruise, the ship sails into the 3 sounds during one day and there isn’t a chance to disembark unless you are booked on an overnight tour of the area where you rejoin the ship at one of the future ports. The sail through is sometimes missed because of bad weather. We were extremely lucky with our day as the Captain told us that the ship had been unable to make it into the sounds on the previous 2 voyages. IMHO both areas are well worth visiting but for very different reasons.