Help... anyone who has done Athens with Princess

[Sandy R]

We are thinking of doing the "Athens on your own" Princess ship excursion. For those that have done it, when does the excursion leave... early am or late am? We would like to get an early start. We are also thinking we might take a taxi or train into Athens... any comments from those that have done the taxi or train, would be greatly appreciated. We are seasoned travelers so we can easily do any of the 3 options. Thanks...

 

Sandy

[sondi 14]

We were in Athens last summer with Princess Cruises and we made our

own arrangments with a taxi company for a three hour tour in the morning

and then some shopping time in the afternoon. They picked us up early

in the morning, dropped us in the Plaka around noon, and then picked us up

to return us to the ship around 4:00pm. We used Greek Taxi and their website is http://www.*****. I have also read about serveral people who have used Sprio's Taxi.

The ship's shore excursions leave both in the morning and in the afternoon.

Hope this helps.

Sondi

[Tania]

Hi Sandy! Catherine here again. Last summer, we took a cab to the Plaka at a cost of 20 euros for the four of us. It was two weeks before the Olympics and hence the price. The driver originally wanted 40 euro.

 

We took the metro on the way back...wouldn't do that again, hot and well, hot! Preferable to walk to Syntagma square and catch a cab at the Grande Bretagne.

 

Last year, Princess charged $24 for the "on your own" ride. Might not be a bad deal with the current exchange rate if the times are convenient to you. I believe it was a full day in town.

 

Enjoy!

[wwinfl91]

in JUly 2003 we were in the Med on the Golden Princess and did the Athens tour that Princess offered. It was the one that goes to the Acropolis and the Agora as well as lunch at a Greek restaurant and time for shopping in the old area near the Acropolis. We were on a large bus and went by several stops for pictures from the bus before getting to the Acropolis. We got pictures of the old Olympic stadium and the Greek guards at their goverment house. Once we got to the Acropolis we got off the bus and were told we would do the tour of the Acropolis and Agora before returning to the bus. I would estimate we got maybe an hour to an hour and a half on the Acropolis followed by another hour to hour and a half in the Agora. We then boarded the buses again and took a short drive to the area where we were to have lunch and then were given some time for shopping or sightseeing. The lunch was pretty good with as much white or red Greek wine as you could drink. There was also water, soda and tea. The food was traditional Greek foods and tasted good after a morning of walking. The lunch took about an hour and then we had another hour or so to shop or sightsee before getting back on the buses. Unfortunately where the buses were parked ended up being blocked by a car that was illegally parked and it took the bus drivers another hour or so to get the buses out. Since it was a Princess arranged tour we weren't worried about the ship leaving without us but because the buses weren't moving the A/C wasn't working and many of us ended up getting off the bus and standing around rather than slow cooking in the bus.

 

All in all my wife and I felt the tour was worth doing and although the price was pretty high it was a full day with a lunch. The advantage of course of any ship sponsored tour is that the changes of the ship leaving without you are very very slight. I have been reading these boards for several years now and have been cruising for about the same length of time and I have never heard of a ship leaving people on a ship sponsored tour. That was important in this case since we were going from Athens to Kusadasi and Istanbul Turkey and we definitely didn't want to have to find our own way from Athens.

 

I suspect you could make your own way from the port to the city for less money and as long as you keep track of your time and nothing happens, traffic accident, etc., blocks your return to the ship you would be fine.

 

Have a great next cruise whatever you decide.