pdmlynek

The prices were around 50 to 60 EUR per day, depending on the car.

No, there are no problems with language barriers even in a relatively non-touristy place like Kefalonia. This is not like the 1990s, where English was rarer. Now a days, anyone even remotely connected with tourists speaks perfect English. It felt like being in a Nordic country.

Thank you for the clarification. Iceland is not really very cold (given how far north it is, the temps are mild), but it has very poor weather: a combination of cold, sleet, and wind.

But that is just like everywhere else. What you are describing could be applied to every major city in Europe, and to every major city city in the US that has public transportation. Traveling by metro or by bus with luggage in Athens is pretty much the same as traveling with luggage on metro or bus anywhere else, @Yesimapirate.

Both the buses and metro were excellent. I've taken both several times, and never had any problems (on the X buses; I don't know how it is on local buses). Good luck!

Exactly. NCL will get you on the cheapest flight. Personally, I just book the plane tickets myself. I'd rather control who I fly with and what i want, rather than leave it to NCL.

Well, you are right of course. But one size doesn't fit all. I think that it really depends on the route. If someone living in New York City books a cruise from Miami, well, there are dozens of non-stop flights to choose from and flying a few hours before is fine. But if a passenger from Bozeman, Montana has to make 5 connections to get to Papeete, Tahiti, then planning to arrive two days early would be more appropriate.

Thank you for letting us know. It is surprising that it was very cold. Iceland is relatively mild and warm year round given how far north it is. In summer the temperature in Reykjavik hardly goes below 10 C, and in winter in barely reaches -10 C. Just how cold was it when you visit?

Actually, booze would be one of the LAST things that a cruise line would spend money on. Almost everything on a cruise ship seems to me to be more important than alcohol. I think that food is more important. Imagine having no food on board, and compare it to having no booze. Water is also more important than alcohol. Try to go without potable water for a few days. Having half the ship die of thirst would make the other passengers more irritable than not having booze. Fuel is also more important. Running out of Tito's, Grey Goose and Skyy in the middle of the cruise is unpleasant, but running out of low-sulfur heavy fuel in middle of the cruise means no propulsion, not electricity, no freezers, no fresh water, no waste water treatment, no cooking. I think that passengers would notice that more. The same can be said for safety equipment, salaries for personnel, docking fees, navigation equipment, communication, etc. As a matter of fact, I can't think of anything that is less important for the cruise line to spend money on than booze. Booze should be the last thing to worry about.

I am pretty sure that the @JGmf posted his suggestion in jest. 😄

Regarding the Buses on Mykonos: There is a good network of buses in Mykonos. Unfortunately, they may be are infrequent, or full. There are two bus terminals in Mykonos Town: “Old Port” 37.4509°N 25.3286°E on the north side of Mykonos Town, and “Fabrika” 37.4429°N 25.3298°E on the south side of town. The Old Port and Fabrika are 1.2 km, 0h15 walking from each other. Note that Old Port bus terminal is on the north side of Old Port; you still have to walk along the Old Port to get to Mykonos Town which is on the south side of Old Port. Fabrika bus terminal is really not a terminal, but a place close to an intersection where a bus can pull over. You may not even recognize it if you are not paying attention. Please use the above-given coordinates to locate it. When you take a bus, make sure that you know which terminal in Mykonos Town you are to use. You do not write when you'll be there, and schedules change frequently, but there are typically 15 bus routes on Mykonos: New Port < – > Old Port (5 min) New Port < – > Fabrika (10 min) New Port < – > Airport Old Port < – > Agios Stefanos Beach (20 min) Old Port < – > Ano Mera (a town inland; 20 min) Old Port < – > Kalafatis Beach (25 min) Old Port < – > Elia Beach (25 min) Old Port < – > Kalo Livadi Beach (25 min) Old Port < – > Panormos Beach Fabrika < – > Airport Fabrika < – > Platis Gialos Beach (20 min) Fabrika < – > Ornos & Agios Ioannis Beaches Fabrika < – > Paradise Beach Fabrika < – > Paraga Beach Fabrika < – > Superparadise Beach More at: https://mykonosbus.com/bus-timetables/

Like @carlmm wrote, this is a pretty reasonable rough draft of a plan. A few points, though: (1) Your ship will either dock at the New Port (37.4656°N 25.3227°E), or you'll tender to the northern side of the Old Port (37.4510°N 25.3268°E). You should be told before the cruise which it will be, but in either case, there may be last minute change. (2) The New Port (or New Marina) is built about 2.5 km north of Mykonos Town. There is nothing around it. When you get off your ship, your first order of business is to get yourself to Mykonos Town. From there, you can see Mykonos Town, catch a ferry to Delos, rent a car to sightsee Mykonos Island, or catch a bus to parts of Mykonos Island. To get from the new Port to Mykonos Town, you'll need to walk, take a bus, or take a waterbus. More to come.

I am not sure if it an option for @yoolykeme's elderly mother, but for most people there is another option: one can also just walk up to Fira. It is just 600 stairs.

I too like to send postcards to friends and family back home. I had the same questions as you do. Couple of points: (1) as @ski ww wrote, I too bought stamps from the vendor who sold me postcards. That was only because the vendor advertised that they sell stamps. I have no idea if every seller of postcards also sells postcard stamps. (2) The postcard stamps are the same regardless of which country you are sending to. 1 EUR each. (3) I am an observant person, but I had a hard time finding post offices or mailboxes. The few post offices that I found were invariably closed. Also, what @ski ww wrote makes sense: mailboxes should be around, and that's what I thought too, but I just did not see them. (4) In the end, I gave up on looking for mailboxes, and just dropped them off with the service desk on the ship. This is just a part of service that they do for guests.

I am not sure what you mean by "local villages" and "authentic shops". Corfu has been a tourist destination for many tourists for at least 150 years so it is not some unknown backwater, but Corfu is not tourist-focused place, like say, Mykonos or Santorini. The life in Corfu seems to me not much different than other non-touristy place in Greece. People just go about their days like everywhere else.

Yes, there are plenty of taxis at the base of the pier. At least they were 3 weeks ago for us.

The Corfu Town is very nice. So nice, that it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has the New Fort, the Old Fort, lots of neat little streets, etc. The Town doesn't measure up to Rhodes, in my view, but it is something that one should not miss. The Corfu Town is a pleasant stroll from the ship, about 2 km to the New Fort entrance, o about 2.5 km to the Old Fort entrance. If you have mobility problems, just catch the blue bus, or a taxi.

The lack of finding tour groups on Kefalonia is not surprising. It is a beautiful island (a favorite of several members of my family), but it is not well known in the tourist circles. If you were to ask tourists about Greek Islands, they'd mention Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, and like, but hardly anyone thinks about Kefalonia. I certainly have not heard of Kefalonia before booking a cruise that included Argostoli as a stop. We rented cars at Argostoli and toured the island ourselves. We decided to skip Melissani Lake, and instead we drove up north, visiting Assos, Fiskardo and Myrtos beach. It is a wonder island, without many tourists.

What is the "best Greek cruise" is very subjective, depending on your tastes, but I will tell you how evaluated what is "best" for my family purely based on the stops. As with some other world destinations with which I am not intimately familiar, I looked at the list of UNESCO World Heritage site list. There are about 1100 WH sites around the globe, with about 18 being in Greece. Some WH sites on the Greek islands include: City of Rhodes, Delos, Samos, Patmos, and City of Corfu. The cruises that visit a larger number of WH sites would seem preferred over those that do not for those people who are interested in Ancient Greece. NCL did a great job at hitting almost all of them during our voyage on Jade about 3 weeks ago. We stopped at Rhodes, Delos, Patmos, Corfu, and Ephesus in Turkey. I recommend it.

I am not surprised. Yes, there are many scams that North Americans and Western Europeans fall to, but it is not simply fraud that is the problem. Yes, scams are a big problem when traveling in Mediterranean countries, but that is not the main problem with ordering services in Greece on-line. The problem with Greece is that things just don't work like you may be used. Standards are just more relaxed. Venues close because the ticket office personnel left to go home to watch a soccer match. Websites are not updated for months. Schedules are just approximate and flexible. It is akin to traveling in some developing countries of Latin America. If you want things to work according to schedules, without problems, vacation instead in Germany or the Nordic Countries. The lack of punctuality or to details, flexible schedules, lackadaisical attitude, and like, are just a part of the charm of traveling in Greece. Don't sweat it.

The Acropolis Museum was extremely crowded for us as well, when we visited weeks ago (early June 2022). I am no sure if it is crowded all the time or we just hit it at the wrong time. The Acropolis Museum structure is beautifully done. Really world class. Unfortunately, the exhibits themselves are not stellar. Except for a few notable examples, I was pretty underwhelmed. I'd skip it, unless you've seen all the other major museums in Athens ... twice. Instead of Acropolis Museum, spend a day at the National Archeological Museum, and a few hours each at the Benaki Museum, and the Museum of Cycladic Arts.

I do not know if there is a combo ticket (Acropolis & Acropolis Museum), I have not seen one, but there is a combination ticket of Acropolis and other archeological sites around Athens. The price when I visited 4 weeks ago for the 7 sites was 30 EUR, and is valid for 5 days, but you can't repeat a site. Single ticket prices which the combo ticket covers: Acropolis & slopes: 20 EUR Ancient Agora: 10 EUR Roman Agora: 8 EUR Hadrian's Library: 6 EUR Olympieion: 8 EUR Kerameikos: 8 EUR Lykeion: 4 EUR. The ticket essentially covers all of the major archeological sites within walking distance of Acropolis. I'd recommend it.

I am not sure how much you are able to see for 90 minutes. We rented boats for a mere 3 hrs, and it seemed way too short. To get to Paleokastritsa, we rented cars from a rental place just outside the pier in Corfu. It is a 30 minute drive. Regarding boating, I also replied to your question in another part of the this board.

There are 10 to 20 different boat rental outfits at Paleokastritsa. I tried to make reservations several weeks ahead for our stop 2 weeks ago, none seemed to be too busy, but each wanted a deposit. In the end, I just rented two boats (one center console, one side console) from some outfit on the beach. Boat rental was very easy and painless. I've never driven a boat, neither have any of the other people in our party, so the rental place took a few minutes to teach us how to operate them, before letting us go onto the sea. For boats under 30 horsepower, no boating license needed. The outfit that we used (Skiclub105) had some maps, but it did not have the sea caves on the maps. This is unsurprising, since boat rental places do not want to have neophytes driving their boats into caves. There are about 17 beaches in the area, and about twice as many sea caves. I brought my own navigation chart of the area, onto which I annotated the various sea caves that we should see. The boat rental place required us to get no closer than 40 meters from any sea cave or beach, so we anchored about boats, and just swam to the caves and the beaches. There are many beaches close to Paleokastritsa, so there is no need to boat too far. We had only 3 hrs, so we visited only a few beaches, including Chomi beach and Limni beach. The furthest that we went was the island of Vrachonisida Kolyviri, a small island about a km off the shore, about 5 km south of Paleokastritsa.

(3) We rented two cars from Dimitris Vardaramatos (dvardar_89kef@me.com) from kefalonia-auto.rentals . I was very happy with the rental in part for the following reasons: - the cars that he rented were in a great shape; - the rental process was very quick, both outgoing and returning; - the price was reasonable; - we did not need a deposit when I reserved the cars; and - the car rental place is very close to the pier (Leof. Ioannou Metaxa 10, corner with Leof. Antoni Tritsi, 38.1838°N 20.4879°E) compared to other car rental places.