paradiselivin1

You will love Santorini. Oia not to be missed. Friends just came back and raved & we will be spending two nights there next month:D Happy Princess was there to help with the rescue in a humanitarian nightmare.

Nicks probably still in the ATM line.

 

Thanks for a bit of levity. Hope he's out on a beach somewhere...

Changing of the guard is 11 am at the parliament building in Syntagma Square.

 

I thought the line for tickets at the Acropolis moved pretty quickly. The Acroplis Museum is worth a visit as well, very well done and also has a terrace with a knockout view of the Acropolis where you can have a nice lunch.

 

Same time every day including weekend?

What is your plan? (I figure you are kidding about the gold bars.) Will you be taking Euros from the US? Enough for your trip, or just enough for the first couple days?

 

Our travel plans are similar, and I am thinking to bring a couple hundred Euro. I will probably buy them from my bank (Wells Fargo) but they are charging such a premium. In the grand scheme of things, the surcharge will probably be about $10 to $12. (They are charging about $1.16, and the exchange rate tonight is $1.10.) I keep checking everyday, but it has only dropped a penny in the last week.

 

I am wondering if you know of a place with a better exchange rate?

 

Maddle

 

Right now we're between a rock and a hard place but have six weeks for this to potentially level out. There isn't much we can do but wait & if I take a beating on buying Euros here, that's what will have to happen. I don't have the luxury of stopping elsewhere as we are spending a day or two in Athens before boarding our ship & as luck would have it, the first few ports are in Greece. Don't let it ruin your trip ~ just roll with it and hope for the best results. Truly, my biggest fear is that the cruise won't start in Athens if there is any real trouble & we have very pricey flights in and out of Athens. Mine is a small problem compared to those living with this stuff every day. They have no idea when the banks will open again ~ that's truly sad!:(

I think if Athens really becomes an issue, the ships will cancel the port of call.

 

Sure hope that doesn't happen as that is where my cruise STARTS. Also, no chance to get euros in another EU country as flying into Athens from US. :eek:

I guess I'll pull those gold bars out from under the mattress now....

How can one "plan accordingly" for a strike? Im bringing extra cash. I have credit cards if they work. There is nothing else I can do. I also have the number for the U.S. Embassy. If there are strikes published I will try to make alternate plans. I hope to spend every penny I saved all year to spend in Greece. They need my cash, I need the vacation. Good Luck to all my fellow cruisers.

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for your trip. Must be incredibly stressful. We're playing by ear as we start in Athens, end in Athens & expect to fly to Santorini for a few blissful days if we can get there. All plans in place & we're hoping for the best just like everyone else. Hope you think to report when you return as those of us coming after you will want to hear first hand from a fellow cruiser.

Call me crazy, but, I'm still willing to try one. It doesn't matter if it's not the best as it doesn't cost me anything extra....

Thanks to all the locals who are posting and keeping us up to date. The news reports don't look good ~ so what else is new? We expect to be there will bells on and will be happy to bring cash with us if that's what it takes to get by. We are so excited to explore the many places in Greece ~ starting and ending in Athens. Thanks, again & wishing you Athenians nothing but the best. See you next month1:)

Tampa will lose their ability to compete in the market unless they take the port to the west side of the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Larger ships are the wave of the future & we will sadly not be a major player without a change.

 

As far a cruising the Caribbean in the summer, most ships pull out of here because it is hurricane season!

10%? 20%? 30%? We've been told different percentages from locals, but all I know is we are now in the elite club of viewing Denali, in full, without a cloud in the sky. Words nor photos can capture its magnificence. We still cannot believe our luck.

 

A few months back I posted a query on the Alaska Boards, "If I do not Fly will I regret it Forever?" Well, of course I got in depth responses from our Alaska experts, Budget Queen, Maple Leaves et al. The gist of their responses were, "yes, if you don't fly, you will regret it forever." So with no mind to our bank account or pocketbook we bit the bullet and booked the Base Camp Tour with Glacier Landing with Talkeetna Air Taxi.

 

QUOTE]

 

You were truly lucky to see the mountain without a cloud in the sky. It took us three days to get that lucky and were glad that we'd spent the time in Denali to be able to get the rare chance. I could not stop taking photos!

 

Your flight-seeing trip with TAT sounds like the flight of a lifetime. We used them as well after getting similar suggestions and, although our weather was not good enough for a landing, was a truly wonderful experience with views that we wouldn't have otherwise witnessed.

 

Enjoy your trip. I was lucky enough to be there for 2 1/2 weeks for my trip and can't wait to get back!

[quote name='Nan_Sea']Has anyone ever changed a booking by removing the FCC so it can be used for another booking without canceling? I have my FCC tied up for a short cruise and it would be better used for a new, longer cruise.

Thanks, Nancy[/QUOTE]

Nope. But had to cancel a booked cruise recently where I had used my FCC to make the booking. My FCC was returned to our respective accounts [B]however[/B] we lost our OBC associated with our FCC. Not sure if that is still the policy or if each situation is different. Good luck!

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Note that Histria was the ruins tour a took that while not great was much better than the city.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Were these all in Histria or were some in Constanta? We are part of a small group going to Histria but believe we are taking a short tour in Constanta as well. Safety sounds like a definite issue..:(

Depends on day of the week. Will you be dealing with rush hour on a weekday? Or not? It matters tremendously. Rush hour is horrendous.

We've done a 6 am flight with no traffic getting to the airport. We've also

done a tour where the guide said "45 minutes to get you back to the hotel, or 10 minutes if you walk." We walked.

 

We're leaving on Saturday morning. Does my idea of 7AM sound logical based on all of the shared thoughts by others? Thanks to all for your input! It helps when someone has done the same thing contrary to the cruise line's "advice".

Unless you like a LOT of vibration, avoid A-747 (the last aft cabin) on the EP. We had a great extended balcony and no foot traffic or hall noise, but the vibration was like sleeping on top of an old fashioned washing machine. I took a sleep aid every night and still was awakened by the docking at every port...early in the morning. Docking at Houston/LaPorte was the worst by far!

I have a far different opinion! I loved A747 so much on the Ruby that I booked the same cabin for our upcoming cruise. I am an extraordinarily light sleeper & have no complaints. We loved the extra space & ability to look down the length of the ship from the extended balcony. I guess its true - to each his own!:D

I can only guess that everyone posting must have the name of their PAST cruise ship and corresponding "voyage date" written on the back of the card. I just checked mine that I bought on the Regal at Christmas and there are no identifying markers so how would they know? Guess we got lucky ~ although we only use the card for specialty coffees so they're not losing on us!;)

Unfortunately this forum doesn't allow people to edit posts after a short time, so when I changed photo hosting providers, all the links went dead, and I couldn't update them.

 

Anyway, you can find them on my Flickr account here, if you or anyone else is interested...

 

 

Thank you for posting the link. Your photos are beautiful and hope we have just as great weather as you seemed to have when we go in late August. I hope you post more when you visit again next month.

OMG - that's strange. I was going to re-check mine but won't take the time now..:eek:

We have A726 on a cruise on the Royal Princess for August and was concerned about possible soot problems, it is side facing but very close to the aft balconies. Hoping it isn't affected by soot.

 

We booked on a guarantee and were aloocated this cabin. Are you able to ask to be moved if you booked on a guarantee for the same grade cabin you have been allocated?

 

We were in R726 on the Regal at Christmas and had no soot issues although had been worried after seeing this thread. Turned out to be no problem & love being all the way aft as it is sooo much quieter than other places on the ship. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks Cruisemom42. We may give that a try, too ~ sounds easy enough to do!

Another vote for PK Travel. Paul runs a great tour company…..

 

We have used them twice now and both times had a great day. We were the first ones on the Acropolis both times - our pics are empty of the hordes of people that will be there later …….. just sayin :D

 

What was the approximate cost for your tour? How early in the day did you start & how long was the tour?? Thanks!

Here is a link to some pictures

 

https://markandkareneurope2013.shutterfly.com/pictures/264

 

Thanks for posting. I have been looking at posts for both Mykonos & Santorini to decide which to add on for a few days after our Black Sea cruise. I wanted Santorini but know Mykonos is closer to Athens which is where we will depart but I think this just tipped the scales for Santorini. I hope it is as beautiful as I have read and your pix show!:)

You know this for sure??? We love the Emerald. Going Feb 2016 and this may be our last Princess cruise, as we are NOT INTERESTED IN REGAL OR THE ROYAL. We like the aft COVERED BALCONIES WITH NO SOOT. Always stay in a suite. We love Princess, but will not sacrifice what is important to us.

 

Amen to that. Didn't get much soot but didn't like the Regal at all. Best thing was that it was new...

We will be returning to Athens to tour but it may make sense to come in the day early; tour; do our cruise & then see if I can find a better way to Santorini without going back through Athens.

Thanks, Karen. Had thought about that as a possible idea but it seemed a pricey way to go & was hoping that wasn't the only option.

Ok. I already know this sounds crazy but we arrive in Athens at 9AM & cruise does not depart until 8PM. Hate to waste an entire day when we could be seeing the sites of Athens before heading to Piraeus. How can we do this as we will, naturally, have luggage? I was thinking of taking the express bus to the port from the airport but there doesn't seem to be anything drawing me to Piraeus early in the day.... Any suggestions would be appreciated.