Vineyard View

Hotel Granvia looks lovely. It appears that some of these recommendations are not yet open for booking yet during next May. That surprises me. For Instance this one and 1898 remain blacked out. Maybe first of Aug will present booking options

Thank you all. We will be there May next year!

These mega ships are creating issues in ports world wide. IMO. It seems to me that different locations should have the right to limit not only number of ships but also ship sizes - maybe based on population, on fragility of the sea or buildings…..I do not know, but they have certainly changed the dynamics of traveling on cruises, and in a very negative manner. Maybe it would be fair that if you want to sail on a mega ship, then the ports available to you would be restricted? IDK the answer.

I have read your threads over the years. You are a fair and unbiased reviewer. I am sincerely sorry that this happened to you. I hope it is all resolved quickly and fairly as I know you will report the truth. We are looking at Explora and hope these myriad of issues are concluded with class and a manner that sets them up for success.

Have a fantastic voyage! It will all work out and since I wasn’t on a ‘port day’ itinerary, I am guessing you may be right in this option

Thank you again Marazul! I will look at this as well.

I would really advise you to check with the cruise line. Fusina is very strict in their access and from what I have read, no one has accomplished being able to walk on or off freely in the port. It is a working, industrial port and no one is allowed to randomly walk. There is no view from anywhere for the most part from the ship. I understand the “been there done that” with Venice to a certain degree, but Fusina holds nothing attractive in the port itself. Maybe your cruise line offers different tours that Venice that you could take transport to and then DIY. We are not excursions people at all, and have used the transportation to get someplace, then find out what time and where to be back to the bus, and still tip the guide. Then all are happy.

Thank you Bruin Steve. We have been to Barcelona 3 times, and stayed twice for several days. We were in a neighborhood within walking distance to everything and it was just charming with exposed walls, quietness, and each room unique. I have not been able to locate it, so I appreciate these two suggestions and will look at both of them! We love Barcelona but depending on flights will only stay for two nights this trip. Again, my thanks.

Wondering if anyone has a recommendation with some old world charm? When we travel to Europe we really enjoy staying in a hotel that offers some local flavor in the rooms and architecture. Thank you

We took a RT out of Fusina this Spring. You have to transverse the causeway onto Venice island in each direction, which each time took approximately 30 minutes. You are required arrive at the old cruise terminal for embarking and disembarking. If you are just visiting the busses should take you to the Piazalle Roma which may be a shorter transfer time. In either of our directions of embarking or disembarking, we were not allowed to DIY from the ship. There did not appear to be much to do in that area as we drove through it, but I am thinking you likely will not have a choice to just plan your day from the ship without using ship transportation out of the port. It is a gated port with guards inspecting each vehicle.

Does anyone know how the crowds in Oia are from mid afternoon to early evening? I have to believe better than morning. Also, do the one way water taxis to the Oia access point run all day?

Okay good thanks for the clarification Pinotlover! I do my best not to be “that” person, but I know I am not perfect. Even though we don’t take excursions 95% of the time, it sure seems like Oceania prices are pretty high even compared to some ‘luxury’ lines, but that generally doesn’t impact us. I like that O offers smaller groups, but not enough to switch to those prices out of pocket when i can do my own for way less . My idea of small group is 2-6. That said, I think that the two I used my credit for may be good. I think we will enjoy sailing on a yacht around Santorini before we try to tackle Oia, and Tunisia hits all the high points we would want to see even though it is a super long day. I won’t book anymore through Oceania though. BTW meeting up with friends today to enjoy some good Pinot! Now that’s a good day too!

Venice is just a mess to sail into or out of. No matter which line. We did that RT this May/June trip on Quest. The port is requiring that passengers embarking or disembarking go through the old cruise terminal on Venice island, which creates essentially a RT out of the journey with the causeway. The only people who avoided that were those with early morning departures out that some different arrangements were made via authorities. The flip side is most other lines sail out of the three other ports that require long distances to arrive in Venice - so as much as Fusina is truly a hassle (Being polite here) I think it’s the best option until whenever new port options are built. That likely will be a while.

If I said or suggested something that offended you I certainly did not mean to. I don’t really understand this post about me, who btw is a she. But sincerely, I meant to offense to anyone regarding my post on this thread.

It think it may also be port/country specific for some of us who want to DIY when we travel. I have organized small group tours on different cruise lines including Viking on roll calls. Also privates. All but one went well. On this itinerary, Tunisia is a country we were not sure about for DIY for independent. So a max 16 people tour that hits the main historic places we a]want to see is a great option using the credits. Another may be Santorini where there are too many cruise ships in that day to our liking, so we may just stay on the water with one O is offering. That will use up our credits and we will figure the rest out on our own. So it may be a mixture of people who don’t do excursions, but find a couple offered that are very small, pricey tours and those tours go to places of interest where they use their credits until gone and then go to normal travels for reasons such as ours. It may be another mix of people who in fact this generates more bookings. I have just read that often the small group tours, and those on Santorini, sell out quickly (there is no Oia on your own offering darn it) because of the elevator debacle and if I DIY or private, I haven’t found a way to avoid that.

Have to agree. We are not shore excursion people at all. I just booked a small group tour in Tunisia last night when they opened up that used a nice portion of our credit. I am looking at doing probably one more and that will be likely all that I book on Oceania. The rest will be DIY or Private.

There are several timetables for ports that you can look at. Cruisetimetables.com, cruisemapper.com are a couple of them. They are really helpful in planning.

I don’t think so. We are DIY people or private. I will use the $1k excursion credit in two tall group tours and call it good. There are specific ports where we will do a ships tour due to geographic locations, and there is one on this itinerary so I am actually pretty happy about that. I will say that O excursion prices are pretty pricey and so I am happy to have the option in Tunisia included.

Have you looked at how many other ships are in Civi that day. Our disembarkation next year has 6 with some large sized so I have to believe that will Impact the boarding process? We have only sailed from Civi so I am glad for this thread OP. Thank you. I am not sure yet if we will be flying out that day or the next, but assume taxi from Rome train station is the best option or another train.

We are also in port with 4 ships. Ours is smaller, but there are a couple large ones so approx 10k cruise pax! We are not excursions people. This is our first time to Santorini. We are in port 1000-2100. I have done some research and would like to see Oia but if it’s a complete zoo that just changes the dynamics. I which we had an Oia on your own, but that is not offered. I would do that if so. I have narrowed it down to three choices: 1)Excursion that goes to a winery and Oia. 4 1/2 hrs so I don’t think there would be much free time in Oia 2)Taking the water taxi and bus back with hopes the cable car isn’t insane 3) Taking a ship sponsored yacht 4 1/2 hrs around the island and caldera - with end time 0f 2:30 and possibly catching a water taxi to Oia with his back Maybe these thoughts could bring ideas to OP as well. I am not sure I would battle these crowds and probably stick with the yacht if we had visited before. I get the feeling that excursions sell out in advance so likely OP and we should determine our plans sooner than later. land64shark - very cool story!

I figured that was the reason. We haven’t been and with all the ships, the yacht sailing might be the ticket. I really would like to experience Oia and have read that there are boats that take you one way with a bust ticket to return. We really aren’t typically excursions people, but there are a couple of ports that make sense such as Tunisia and maybe Argostoli…..also new ports for us.

When you are given a total number of excursions you need to make for the discount, is that the total, or is it per person?

We are also on this itinerary with several repeat ports. When shore excursions were finally loaded in our account on Saturday, but we couldn’t book them, I called Oceania. I was told that they would be loaded in a few days because of it being the first cruise post dry dock and were still being loaded in their system. I was just Informed by another fellow cruiser that they are open this afternoon to book (they weren’t this morning) so I have to believe/hope that it is all a go. SM saved us quite a bit of money so we transferred it after having booked it just before SM with the thought that pricing would go up.

Thanks again. Have you been to Santorini previously? We have not but there are 4 other ships in port that day so not really sure what makes most sense.

Thanks! Just walking in and this is a change from this morning. I was able to see excursions since Saturday but could not book them. I called Oceania Saturday and was told to give it up to 7 days. I tried just now on the Tunisia port and it’s in my cart! Yay! Will keep looking at the rest.