dbail4

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all. Enjoy the holidays. 

The Beds ? Are they for massages on the beach?

Thanks for all the great advice. X80 bus sounds like the way to go.

This sounds like great advice. We will be in Athens for 12 hours also next April and will take a taxi/Uber from the ship. Are the Metro tokens available at any station? How much is a metro pass? Is it for a daily use?

After reading these posts I wanted to share that I did check the ports we will be in and wanted to let you all know what other ships are in port. Athens is a crowded port with a celebrity ship there and two Celestial ships. Santorini there are no other ships in port till 5 PM. Rhodes there are no other ships in port. Mykonos has no other ship till 6PM. Crete we are the only ship docked. This was part of my research I did prior to booking. Just wanted to share. We also spend about 10 to 12 hours at each port. This will be a good start for us to see some of Greece.

Here's a good thread on car rental in Rhodes: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2519798&highlight=RENT+CAR+RHODES

 

 

We rented a car for our day in Rhodes and headed down to Lindos then drove all the way around the island. It was a lovely day and very easy driving. Galaxy met us at the port with the car and just had us park the car in the same spot and leave the keys in it when we were done. We then went into old town and walked around until it was all aboard. Very nice day.

I just sent an mail to this rental company and will wait for a short time before trying another way if they don't answer. Was there a charge for extra insurance in case of an accident?

We just booked jewel of the Seas for April 23rd of next year. She starts from Civitavecchia (Rome is 1.5 hr drive) the to Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens and back to Italy for a stop in Naples and the ends in Civitavecchia. I looked into others and decided on this because it fit us best. Everyone is different. Royal Caribbean was our choice. We will plan our own excursions from the ship with local guides. I am planning already. We didn't like the real small ships without food anytime you want or a good gym. We do not smoke and was also worried about that. You get about 12 hours at each port which sounds great.

Marazul... Loved the video... Made me laugh but definitely learned something..Thank You..

We are in port from 11 AM to 8 PM.

How much is it to rent a car in Crete? Will using a certain credit card cover the insurance or do you pick up the extra insurance.

We are docking in Chania and were thinking of renting a car to go to Phaestos Palace, Palace of Knossos and Irakleio Museum. Is this a good plan?

We will be on her next April and was wondering which dining room it will be in. Do you have a choice?

Thank You.

Is there a ticket booth or a machine to buy the train ticket from. Is it underground?

We made a decision and will take the Metro getting on at the Urquinaona station to the Espanya station and buy the package that includes all except lunch. We will stop at a store and buy food on the way from our hotel to the metro. We will go on Sunday the day our ship gets into port since we will be up very early anyway. Hope the metro will be less crowded with less computers that day. April should be great weather for hiking.

Thank You for all your help Enric.

We bought ours 90 days out.

Yes, the TransMontserrat ticket is to be bought on the day. As mentioned this is a commuting line so there are plenty of trains and no need to prebook -actually, you can't. If you find one train too busy, you catch the next, which is just a few minutes later (there are several per hour)

How about the tickets to Montserrat. Can we buy the tickets that day? We don't want it to sell out.

Eric

Can tickets be bought on the day we decide to go? I would like to hear about the weather before we make a decision.

Thanks,Debbie

@dbail4, it depends on what you're looking for...

 

Sunday is a festive day for us too so many families take the opportunity to escape the cities and spend a day in nature, and Montserrat is one of the many destinations. Thus, you'll find more people than on a Monday, obviously.

 

But, if you really want to enjoy the performances of the world-famous boy's choir, l'Escolania de Montserrat, Sunday is the perfect day as they sing twice in the morning, once during the mass at 11 am and then again at noon they sing a salve and the Virolai, the hymn to Our Lady of Montserrat. On Monday they only sing the later at 1 pm. You can peek at some of their other performances here. And for a great video shot for the annual Christmas telethon in Catalan TV for fundraising for rare illnesses, see it here: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/tlNRX

 

Enjoy!

Would you have a plan we could use to see the sites at Montserrat. We will catch the 1st (hopefully) train from Barcelona at 8:30. Take the train up the mountain. We would like to see as much as possible while there. Spending the whole day.

@dbail4, it depends on what you're looking for...

 

Sunday is a festive day for us too so many families take the opportunity to escape the cities and spend a day in nature, and Montserrat is one of the many destinations. Thus, you'll find more people than on a Monday, obviously.

 

But, if you really want to enjoy the performances of the world-famous boy's choir, l'Escolania de Montserrat, Sunday is the perfect day as they sing twice in the morning, once during the mass at 11 am and then again at noon they sing a salve and the Virolai, the hymn to Our Lady of Montserrat. On Monday they only sing the later at 1 pm. You can peek at some of their other performances here. And for a great video shot for the annual Christmas telethon in Catalan TV for fundraising for rare illnesses,

see it here: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/tlNRX

 

Enjoy!

Beautiful. Brought tears to my eyes. Thank you.

Is a Sunday or Monday a better day to go?

We used Barcelona Day tours last April off the Epic. A Full day to see Highlights of Barcelona and we are using them again this year for the Full day Monserrat and wine tour. They picked us up at the dock and dropped us off at our hotel. Our suitcases were stored in the back of the van. They were friendly and informative.

Don't miss The Sagrada Familia. It is breathtaking & grotesque at the same time and should not to be missed. It is hard to imagine, yet when you see it, it will all makes sense. The natural blend well with the abstract and the organic mixes perfectly with the geometric.It is a work of art that is still under construction. It is definitely a Gaudi masterpiece. Buy tickets ahead of time on line and go early in the morning when less crowded. Walk around it to see all the details and do some research so you know what your looking at. We spent about 2 hours in side.

Thank you for your reviews. I enjoyed reading them.

You will love cruising. It is the most relaxing vacation I know. You can also book some shows on line before you go. Then on the first day of the cruise you can sign up for the rest of the offered entertainment at the box office.

I bring magnets to hang any tickets or schedules on the wall in the cabin. You can use a highlighter to pinpoint the items you want to do each day when the daily comes out each evening for the next day. You can eat as much as you like in the dining rooms and if someone doesn't like what they got you can get a different appetizer, entree or desert. We always order multiple desserts :D .

We try to arrive in the morning to board the ship and miss the crowds. Then we have lunch at the buffet to taste all the different types of food they offer. If there is outdoor seating we sit there.

Have a wonderful cruise.

I am always one for an adventure and will most likely get on this ferry and enjoy Belize.