marazul

I agree with #3. Any cruise that goes from Istanbul to Crete in one week necessarily has short port days because of the distances involved. Check out other cruise lines. If possible, consider a longer cruise.

It is worth it. You cannot ask questions in the audio tour.

Go to Avignon and Les Baux.

No. Go sightseeing.

Make sure the description is very specific that the excursion returns to Athinios or that the bus returns you to the tender port. If it mentions "includes cable car tickets" that's not it.

Nice. Just a thought. Florence is farther away from Livorno and there is so much to see... Would you consider going to Florence the first day so you can see more and maybe have a nice dinner there? You have plenty of time for Pisa, Lucca and winery the second day.

This is not the done in European ports. You might find some taxi drivers in some who are willing to drive you around, but they are not guides and may have very limited English. Besides, cost could be a problem since you would have to agree to some price set by the driver. It is much better to book with a tour company. In Santorini, there are no taxis at all for casual tourists. The only taxis are at the ferry port where only ship tours are tendered to. So, you could not get to those taxis because you cannot get to that port without a ship's tour. There is no road to the cable car port, only the cable car, donkeys and your feet. As previously said, from that port you can get a boat to take you to Oia or maybe a boat tour to take you to the volcano islands in the caldera.

Awesome! Back to your original winery plans. 😄

NC - Pisa and Lucca would be a great option for your second day. Easy to do by train.

Where does your TA end? How many stops after Le Havre? If you really want to visit Paris, you can go after the cruise or you can disembark in Le Havre and stay at least a couple of days there. Fly back from Paris. IMO, 2 to, maybe, 3.5 hours in Paris is not worth the 6+ hours bus ride. Use the day to visit the beautiful French countryside and lovely towns like Honfleur.

That's good. It wasn't clear if you were skipping the first port. Before you decide which cruise to pick, compare the time each of those cruises spends in each port. Some cruise lines tend to have very short port stops to keep prices down. That can be a false economy if you don't have enough time to see what you wanted to see. HOHO = hop on-hop off tour bus

I did. It was really good and the setting was great. On the water with a view of moais. In one of those "small world" moments we even met someone we had met in Nice some time before. We went a few years back before our first SB cruise on the Spirit, Valparaiso-BA, but around Cape Horn only. Long before SB went to Antarctica. We did some independent travel before and went to Easter Island for three days. One of our most memorable trips.

The restaurant was called Au Bout du Monde - At the End of the World.

A few months ahead. Keep checking. The extra time should be guided, but click on the "more info' link in the description of each tour to see exactly what it covers. Do a fake booking for the ones on offer now. The description will not change for when you are there.

Google "day trips from Marseille" or "excursions to Pont du Gard from Marseille" or something similar. You will come up with a variety of tour operators. Also, sometimes the consolidators might name the local company they use for a specific tour. Google the company directly, don't follow the link from the consolidator's website.

Like the Majestic Hotel? Not a Marriott, but a wonderful hotel in a superb location.

I would vote for Corinth before Sounion. It is also closer to the ort and there is more to see.

HAVE YOU CHECKED WITH YOUR CRUISE LINE THAT THIS IS OK? YOU NEED TO CLEAR IT BEFORE YOU START LOOKING FOR FLIGHTS. ALSO ASK FOR A QUOTE ON FLIGHTS FROM YOUR CRUISE LINE. THEY HAVE HAD SOME GOOD RATES RECENTLY. Also, calculate the price per day of the cruise and factor in how much money you would waste if you skip boarding in Barcelona. Not to say that you would be missing one of the prime stops of your tour - Barcelona.

Transfer companies also do day trips from the port. The cost would be fixed and known ahead of time. I think having a taxi with the meter running for a few hours could get exorbitant pretty quickly. Try romecabs.com or one of the others mentioned here.

Book the transfer now and tell the company you don't have a boarding time yet, but will let them know as soon as you know. Let the transfer company tell you at what time they will pick you up. They know the traffic conditions at various times on various days. That's their job, not yours. Companies such as Rome Cabs are flexible and will work with you to get you where you are going.

They have different size vehicles Go to their website and check prices. If there isn't a right match for your requirements, send them an email requesting a quote.

You do not have time to go to Rome. Book the transfer directly from the port to the airport. It is about one hour.

Agree about the National museum. Tell your son that the original of about every picture of greek art he ever saw in his textbooks is there.

Perfectly safe. You can find gift stores. Some clothing stores. Mostly beach stuff. Lots of good restaurants.

Go on the PK website and check prices or email them and get a quote. There is no obligation. Another equally good company is George's Taxi. Get quotes from them too. taxigreece.com The ride from central Athens to the airport hotel is between 30 minutes and one hour depending on traffic.