travelingman

I do believe that is the current situation with any cruises currently happening and also for future cruises.

We are all hoping the situation will improve enough that the cruise lines and the various countries will change their requirements.

I know many CC members have said they will not cruise until this changes.

Stan.

2 hours ago, sbjornda said:

 

We were with Scenic. That was our 2nd cruise with them, and we'll certainly do more. 

 

Sailing from Amsterdam, the stops were Antwerp, Veere, Arnhem, Maastricht, Xanten, Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel (with a day trip to Trier or Luxembourg), and then back up to the Rhine for Rüdesheim, Heidelberg (docked at Mannheim), Strasbourg, Breisach (for a walk in the Black Forest), and Basel. So quite a winding trip, especially at the start, but we certainly enjoyed it a lot. Veere was fun because my wife's Mennonite ancestors emigrated from there in the 16th century.

 

Looking forward to more of your updates!

 

Thanks,
Sterling

Hi Sterling.  Could I ask what the name of your Scenic cruise was?  I could not find one with your itinerary on it.  Thanks.

Stan

12 minutes ago, Wiggster said:

I tend to do the lottery and fly on the same day as sailing, There is a local KTEL bus (10 or 11) from Athens airport to Lavrio(n), cost 4 euros each way, then I intend to walk the 3 miles to port, all good exercise :).

I don't see the 3 mile walk as a problem.  But what about carrying the bag(s) on that 3 miles - maybe over cobble stone sidewalks.  Might want to consider a taxi versus walking.  After you are checked in on the ship you can always get off and get your walk in.

Stan

18 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Both of us got our vaccine through the VA Hospital where we work. Unfortunately , they put our information into a national database which doesn't talk to the NY database. So we're still not in NY's database and we can't use this app.

Can you give your primary doctor a copy of your COVID vaccine card? They should be able to get it into the NY system.

Stan

23 hours ago, 57redbird said:

+ when it rains, like it did in San Diego before embarkation, hopefully your belongings will stay dry ---- I hung my sneakers on the line in the bathroom for a couple of days.

I read somewhere a year or two ago that someone with soft-sided luggage say they use a trash bag to pack their clothes in and they were dry when the suitcase got wet one time.  Not sure how they accomplished the packing going in the open end of the trash bag.  But guess always possible.

Stan

4 minutes ago, travelingman said:

 

On another forum I was looking at the other day people were saying they did not recommend the Hilton Athens.  Don't remember why.  Will have to try to find it again.

 

Stan

Found it.  Actually in the post right below this one.

" I will also say there is one very good reason to NOT to  book the Athens Hilton.  To be very blunt, the location of the Hilton SUCKS!  It is just a bit too far from everything.  I think its best attribute is the huge swimming pool...but otherwise it is a hotel to which we hope to never return."

But if you are happy with the price and location - go for it.

On 4/25/2021 at 6:33 PM, ltcTN said:

We are booked in the Hilton Athens for a pre cruise night July 2021. Any suggestions on transportation from airport to Hotel? We arrive early am so we will need to store luggage until check in.  

On another forum I was looking at the other day people were saying they did not recommend the Hilton Athens.  Don't remember why.  Will have to try to find it again.

Stan

Not good.

Stan

Hopefully they will change the rules but I am going forward with their current rules until I hear different.

My biggest thing is that I don't want to make a final payment and then the cruise gets cancelled.  From what I am currently seeing on their website is that they are not going to do the Steps of St. Paul and 3 Continents as a B2B in 2022,  Don't know if I want to do the Eclectic Aegean and Steps of St. Paul as a B2B.

Stan

We are scheduled on the cruise the week of Nov. 20 along with the B2B Steps of St. Paul the week before that (Nov. 13).  At this point I am just hoping it will sail.  Also hoping some of the cruisers before us will post some reviews of the cruise.  Would be nice of some of the COVID restrictions were able to be loosened up also.  We can always pray for that.

If you haven't seen any reviews there are some on you tube.  One I enjoyed was by EECC Travel.  They actually have several you tube videos - include ship, boarding and the different port tours they took.  There are also some others by other individuals also.

Stan

The way things currently stand I am not sure we will have any choices of what to do at the ports.  If I remember correctly under the current rules the only way to disembark at a port is on a Celestyal excursion.  If that holds true we would not be able to take any other kind of transfers in Cairo or Jerusalem.  I have been hoping to still do an independent tour in Jerusalem but not holding my breath at this point.  We were also planning to arrive about 3 days early to spend some more time in Athens.  However, with a requirement of a negative PCR test dating maximum 72 hours before embarkation we will have to find somewhere in Athens to have the test performed.

Still hoping things might loosen up some and that Celestyal might accept fully vaccinated certification versus the PCR test.

If you are coming in to Athens early I don't think it would be to hard to make the connection to the Lavrion port.  Since there will be another couple with us it might be a reasonable fare for us to take a taxi or private transport to the port.

Stan

Look at Celestyal Cruises and see if they fit your requirements.  May be able to do 2 back to back cruises with them that work.  They are not fancy ships.  A bit older than the newer ships and not all the bells and whistles  but have good destinations for Greece and Turkey.

Stan

Have you checked out the rome2rio website -  https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Athens/Lavrio-Port

It gives the info for the different methods of transportation to the port.  From the airport might have to take bus or metro to Athens and then change to get to the port.

I have not checked on the COVID insurance yet.  Will wait until close to cruise final payment time.

Have the deposit insured through tripinsurancestore.com and will check with them.

I believe the cruise is still up in the air at this time.

Stan

I see it has been a good while since an of us have posted.  Thought I would start us off again.

I am assuming that everyone knows the cruise was moved from the Crystal to the Experience and now has been moved back to the Crystal.  in looking at the website i see Celestyal is pretty much going the same route as most cruise lines.  Requiring a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to boiarding or qualified proof of vaccintion; thermal screening at boarding; Health checks throughout the cruise; physical distancing; face masks; and only Celestyal excursions.  Between now and November there is always a chance some of this could change.

The real question is whether the cruise will be able to sail or not. Things are still not looking good in Europe and most countries are not leting us American in.  in fact, I have been reading that a number of the European countries have been geting worse and putting restictions back in place again.  Turkey is giving lots of shots ut the cases currently continue to climb.  israel has 56% of its population vaccinted and the number of cases are declining, but they have found a new strain of COVID 19 there.  In Greece the aily number of cases has increased since they eased restrictions on March 22.  So thing are not looking too good in the areas we are destined to travel to.

The one thing Celestyal has not moved to at this point is the requirement of passenger to have had the vaccine to board.

So, I would say that as of today things are not looking up at this point for the cruise to happen.

I am hoping someone might have some good news to share.

The good I can point to at this time is that in the US we are rapidly increasing the number of vaccines being given which means many of us will be ready to travel when allowed to - from a vaccine point of view.

Stan

We have Celestyal booked in November 2021, so have not traveled with them yet.

But would suggest looking at some you tube video reviews and ship tours.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=celestyal+cruises

Stan

Saw this in my research: "

New, dedicated terminal

Celestyal will operate from a new, dedicated terminal at Lavrion, which it said will provide an enhanced and expedited embarkation and disembarkation. This terminal will enable the thorough implementation of comprehensive and enhanced health protocols, while ensuring the short cruises operate in a timely manner.

'In keeping with Celestyal’s aspiration of providing more immersive experiences, Lavrion is a historic, small Greek town on the outskirts of the greater Athens area and just a 10-minute drive from the world renowned site of the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion,' said Leslie Peden, chief commercial officer, Celestyal.

'The port and city of Lavrion is definitely one more interesting destination worth discovering,' he added. 'We hope that having to move the start of our scheduled season doesn’t inconvenience our guests too much. Our top priority is always the well-being of our guests, and we want to ensure that they receive our award-winning Celestyal experience, visiting all the unique destinations we call upon in the region.'"

_____________________________________________

Lavrio (Larion) is a bit further away than Piraeus.  Looks like 3 options - bus/ taxi, subway/taxi, taxi..  These are listed in order of cost.  Taxi is quickest with bus the longest time-wise.  See https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Athens/Lavrio-Port.
For info on the port itself try this site - https://www.davestravelpages.com/lavrio-port-athens/.  Not sure how old the info is.

Stan

Will have to check with Trip Insurance Store to see if they know any companies offering it yet.

Stan

My guess is that because there were move cabins in each category on the Experience than the Crystal they cannot give everyone the same cabin category again when downsizing the ship size.  If there are.20 SB cabins on the Experience and 10 on the Crystal something has to give/

Stan

Hello everyone.

I was looking at the Celestyal website a several days ago to see if anything new was posted on it.  Just for the heck of it I looked at the Nov. 13, 2021 "Steps of St. Paul" and the Nov. 20, 2021 "3 Continent" cruise and to my surprise I noticed it looked like the cruise ship had changed back to the Crystal.  I emailed my TA last Friday afternoon who contacted Celestyal yesterday and sure enough they have gone back to the Crystal.  Wasn't given a reason and I didn't ask for one.  So, back on the original ship (Crystal) booked.  Negative is that on the Experience and being in a Suite there was some additional perks included that are not on the Crystal.  One of those things that once you are given something you don't like giving them up even though you didn't pay for them originally.

Now we wait to see if anything else changes and if we will actually be able to sail.

Stan

I generally book the cruise myself after doing my research.  I then transfer it to a TA that I started using that was referred to me by another CC member.  I usually get at least $150.00 per person OBC and sometimes a little extra.  An example is:  I changed a booked cruise that originally had a $50.00 OBC/person from the cruise line.  When I got the new booking the cruise line OBC no longer showed up.  Follow up with the TA disclosed the cruise line OBC did not transfer with the new cruise.  The TA volunteered to cover the $50.00/person cruise line OBC at their cost.  Now, this shows they were making plenty off of my booking.  But on the other hand they did not have to cover the $50.00/person OBC we lost on the transfer.

On some more expensive cruises we have gotten more TA OBC and on a less expensive cruise we have booked for Nov. 2021 we only got $125.00/person.

It is all in finding a TA you like and are comfortable with.  As someone else has mentioned once the TA has your booking they will help you with any questions and if they are a good TA they will go to bat for you when needed.

Stan

We are scheduled to be in Ephesus in Nov. 2021 twice with free ship tours.  Do any of you know if you can buy tickets for the Terrace House "on site?"  Would like to break off from the free 2nd tour to do the Terrace Houses and then hook back up with them prior to them leaving the Ephesus site.

Thanks.

Stan

Do any of you see any difference in being in a French Balcony D versus a French Balcony C?  I know they are on a different deck and the French Balcony D has some mid-ship cabins while the French Balcony C cabins are only toward the rear.  Do you believe the difference in the decks has any affect on the choice of cabins?

Thanks.

Stan

My first question is - how many days before the cruise or you going to be arriving.

Even if you are only arriving one day early Imwould suggest staying in Athens and seeing some of the sights and then taking a taxi to the port.  Better yet, I would come in several days early and see as many of the sights as I could.  The AcropolIs will easily take up 1/2 day and you could easily spend 1/2 day in the Plaka area.  Then there is the Acropolis Museum and the National Archeological Museum.  If I was gong to stay in Athens I would look at the Plaka area.  For this you could either take a taxi or the train.  If you take the train you might want to use a taxi to the hotel.  The hotel can arrange a taxi to meet you at the airport.

if you are going to come in the day before and go to Piraeus to be close to the port  then I would definitely do as saltshell said and take the train to Piraeus and then. Taxi to the airport.  Don't know anything about Piraeus hotels.  Would check TripAdvisor for that.

You can check this link for some info on transportation from the airport and on Athen's hotels -  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/463-greece-ports/page/152/ 

Stan

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

This link doesn't work for me. Is this what you mean: https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/ 

 

I like this website.

Sorry.  You are correct it should be https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/

My Norton Lifelock added the other characters and I did not notice it.

Stan

5 hours ago, Renmar said:

@travelingman, Any chance of having a link to that article?

 

Theo

Had to search for it but this is the comparison I was talking about.

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com%2Fcomparisons%2F

Stan