NCL Gem to Greek Isles = Heaven

[Mooder]

My goodness. You really did your homework and all that planning seemed to pay off. You really crammed so much into the time you had. I think that is one of the things that may give a trip a bad reivew is not doing the research and finding all these little out fo the way, local only not NCL excursion places. Some people just get off and say " Now what?" I think you get an A+ on this one.:)

Can you plan my next trip?:rolleyes:

 

Thank you!!! I had a couple people on the cruise ask me the same thing. :o Maybe I need to start a business, but for you, gratis. ;) It kills me when someone judges a place by what they can see from the port. Would we want Connecticut judged by what you can see from some of our waterfront cities?!? Yikes! :rolleyes:

[Mooder]

This sounds like a great tour. How much was this tour and how many people can go? Do they charge per person or per car?

How far in advance did you book tour? I know you'll get lots of questions, thanks for being so open and honest and quick to reply about your answers.

I think we may want to go for a swim on an island or at least put my toes in the"greek isles", see all i can in the little time we are there.

waiting "patiently" LOL for rest of ports.

 

Here is the fee information for Corfu Taxi Tours. Because we chose a 5 hour tour, ours cost 200 euro, which we split with the couple we found on roll call. If you figure that that is 50 euro per person and compare it to an NCL shore excursion, I think it is a good deal.

 

Hourly Costs of tours. 40 euro per hour / per car

Minimum charge : 3 hours per car

Payment : By cash at the conclusion of tour (No advance)

Notes:

Price does not include: Entrance fees and meals

Mercedes Benz (E class air-conditioned), holds 4 passengers comfortably,

plus the driver.

 

We booked months in advance (Spiros sent me a Christmas card - that gives you an idea how far in advance), but that's just because that's how I am. I don't know that it would have been necessary.

 

As for the beach. This was considered early or even pre-season (though it got pretty hot!) and we didn't plan on spending any time at the beach so I can't give you first hand experience. The beaches I saw at Santorini did not impress me, so I might look into swimming in Corfu or Mykonos.

 

Someone else asked me if the price of the Venice walking tour was typical. I'm sorry I haven't scrolled back to see who asked. :o I honestly didn't compare prices, but as I say about the Corfu tour, when you split it with others - they don't charge per person, it works out pretty well, and you get so much more personal attention. You'll see a good example of this when I post my Santorini comments.

[VonChap]

 

Kim, the website is a wonderful resource and clearly an act of love. It is very generous of you to keep it active as it holds so much information for future cruisers.

 

Thanks Mooder. I hope that you found it helpful.

 

We are actually considering taking the web site down shortly. KateDen is paying to keep the site active. We are also getting a lot of emails from people about our prices not being accurate for the Summer season. Unfortunately, people think that it is an official site for the guides or for some paid service that we are offering. Its just a Roll Call labor of love over about 14 months.

 

I think you are right, the best way to enjoy this port cruise is to do your research. I am looking forward to reading about your Santorini, Mykonos and Crete.

 

Kim

[Mooder]

Santorini was my primary reason for this cruise. I have had dreams of visiting this gorgeous place since I was a child and it did not disappoint. At first blush, the timing of the port stop (4 pm to 11 pm) seems less than ideal, but nothing could be further from the truth. Santorini is famous for its sunsets and I felt so sorry for the cruise ship passengers who had arrived early and were departing at dinner time. Again, we decided it was worth the money to book a private tour to get the most of our time here. Based on reviews here on CC, we booked with Ocean Waves (oceanwavetours.com) - more about that below.

 

My biggest concern with Santorini was the trip up the cliff at Fira. But, as I mentioned previously, because we were the only ship arriving at this time, it was very easy. The lines for the donkeys and the cable cars were very short. The cable cars seemed new and modern, but were a little scary to anyone with a problem with heights. I saw it as an adventure - sort of like a Disney ride! :) Six people to a car, and be prepared to walk up some steps to reach the car.

 

The owner of Ocean Waves Tours, Dimitris, was very easy to deal with via email. He required a 50 euro deposit to reserve the tour. This was done securely via the internet, but the balance was paid in cash after the tour. He met us at the exit from the cable cars at the top of the cliff in Fira, and introduced us to our guide, Gabriel. We shared this tour with a couple we met on our roll call and then, once on board, asked another couple we met at the martini tasting to join us as well. The tour is 300 euros for up to 4 people, adding the additional couple increased the price by 100 euros. On this tour, we saw the entire island from end to end, including being able to view the entire island from its highest point. We saw black and red beaches (I was not impressed, but I had to see them). Gabriel was a real talker and gave us lots of colorful and educational information. We stopped for photos in many places, including the most famous of the blue domed churches - the most photographed because it provides a view of the volcano just beyond it and in our case, included a great view of the Gem anchored far below. The best thing about Gabriel, which is great because it was the reason we chose to book a tour, was his concern for timing. He wanted us to see everything and be in Oia for the sunset. I never would have known how to plan that. When we dawdled, he would remind us that the tour was our own, but he had a goal that would pay off in the end. :) And it did. We drove to Oia as sunset approached. We passed by the parking lot full of tour buses (including the NCL excursion) and drove on to a private locked area that belonged to a friend of Gabriel's. He let us park there. From there, we approached the best sunset viewing areas from the opposite direction compared to the crowds who were moving in at the same time. Gabriel directed us to a wonderful viewing area and then let us be on our own to choose a spot for dinner. Thanks to his direction, we found a perfect restaurant built into the cliff, just below a windmill, with a patio hanging out over the cliff and a wonderful view of the sunset. We were seated and drinking wine in plenty of time! Meanwhile, crowds were elbowing their way to find a viewing spot further along the cliff. :p The six of us enjoyed a delightful meal (I had the grilled shrimp - huge - yummy) and local wines in a perfect setting. The restaurant was part of a lovely hotel on the cliff and is called Finari. (http://www.fanari-restaurant.gr/) We met up with Gabriel once again just in time to drive back to Fira and take the cable cars back to the tendering area. There was a line at this time for the cable cars, but again, we were the only ship in port at this time, so it moved quickly. Thanks to Gabriel we feel we squeezed as much out of our time in Santorini as humanly possible and we loved every minute. Next time, I would simply choose a spot and enjoy the ambiance -- as Gabriel said, that is the true Santorini experience. But for the first visit, we wanted to see it all.

[Mooder]

Mykonos was the only port where we had nothing organized or planned. We wanted a relaxing day and this seemed the perfect spot for it. As mentioned previously, this is one port where I believe tendering is an advantage. You are dropped off right in the center of things whereas the ships dock some distance away and shuttle bus passengers to town. We just allowed ourselves to get lost amongst the meandering stone sidewalks and alleyways that are the town of Mykonos. It is amazingly charming with every building whitewashed and trimmed in various shades of blue with an occasional green or red trim. Be careful, the buildings are constantly being whitewashed to keep them sparkling and we accidentally leaned against some wet whitewash. Fortunatley, it washes off easily - it was a temporary souvenir of Mykonos. :o :rolleyes: We walked to the windmills, then along the waterfront of Little Venice where we stopped for a Frappe (sort of like an iced capuccino), and did quite a bit of shopping. We had lunch in the main square along the waterfront. A young woman sitting nearby ordered a salad and grilled shrimp and was clearly put off by the fact that the shrimp, like what I had the night before, still had their heads attached. This is how they do it, but it is so large and yummy that it is worth the initial surprise. Cut it off, just as you do the tail, and enjoy! Instead, she said she was afraid of it and fed it to one of many many Greek cats roaming the streets. After lunch, we walked some more. As we walked, we frequently ran into friends/fellow cruisers who were doing the same thing - it is a relatively small area and you really don't need a map if that is all you plan to do. I can't comment, obviously, on what we missed by not venturing further into the island, but we loved Mykonos. Again, the people are so warm and friendly and the place is so quaint and beautiful. We grabbed some baklava and returned to the ship where we enjoyed the sailaway from our balcony - such mixed emotions watching the windmills fade slowing away. ;)

[Mooder]

Crete was the one place we booked an NCL shore excursion. The time at port (7:30 am to 12 noon) was so limited, we didn't want to take our chances going with a private guide. I'm glad we booked something because this is very much a commercial port with little to see immediately from the port area. We took the Knossos and Village Life excursion and enjoyed it. The "village life" part was taking us to a little village best described as a Greek version of Sturbridge Village. They have re-created an old-time Greek village. But, unlike Sturbridge Village, the little "workshops" are not so much demonstration facilities as shops to sell their wares and souvenirs. It was a lovely spot and they prepare a buffet for us which gave us an opportunity to sample some local food, including Raki which is a Greek spirit best described as kerosene (it seems every culture has their own version of moonshine ;)). Other than that, this was a waste of time. I would have enjoyed it for maybe 30 minutes, but they kept us there for an hour. We then proceeded to Knossos, a 4,000 year old palace. This was a fascinating place and our guide for the entire excursion, Gregoris, was excellent. I couldn't believe his knowledge of history and Greek mythology!! This made it worth while, but I would recommend comparing with other shore excursions to see if they have one that doesn't bother with the "village life" stop. It was very crowded at Knossos, but Greg did a good job of negotiating the crowds.

 

I would like to have had time to see more of Crete, which appears to be a beautiful and fascinating place. But we enjoyed the time we had.

 

The final day was a sea day which we adored. The chair hogs were in full force the morning before Santorini so I planned to get up early and stake my claim. The pool deck was the only place you could expect crowds on this cruise. I would say if you are not up by 9:00 a.m., don't expect to get a lounger before noon. We spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon on the pool deck and loved the chance to relax.

 

As I have said a few times now, most things did not receive high participation. You could always get a seat at the shows. You could always get into any specialty restaurant (we made reservations, but the screens indicated that there was always room available, so we feel we didn't need them). Only the pool deck took some planning.

 

We love NCL's cocktail clinics and participated in 2 martini clinics and 1 margarita tasting. There were also beer and wine clinics available. The second martini clinic, given by Lindsey was especially good as he provided lots of interesting information and some drinks I had never tried before. The margarita tasting on the final sea day was given outside at Bali Hai which was nice and convenient for people like us who had spent the day around the pool on a beautiful day. You couldn't really call it a formal clinic though. People sat all around and each margarita (6 in all for $15) were delivered without any talk from the bartender. We enjoyed it, but not as much as the martini clinic.

 

I think that's the entire cruise, now. Please feel free to answer any questions. I will post the contact information for the Venice walking tour as soon as I hear back from the guide.

[Freckles_51]

Hi Mooder

Thanks for your detailed review....I'm all the more excited now! :D

 

If I remember correctly, you had the vouchers to enter the Basilica, but the online ordering system didn't charge 1 Euro, so I'm just wondering....

 

Did you have to pay 1 Euro as you entered with your voucher?

 

How much time did you need to see the Basilica?

 

Did you go upstairs to the Museum, or other paid areas?

 

If so...Did you have to pay for those areas as you went through the main entrance, or as you entered each of those paid areas? (hope that makes sense :o....just really need to know if we have to decide as we're entering the Basilica, or if we can wait and see if we have enough time to go into the paid areas :o)

 

And on the Gem, which night was formal night (or whatever they call it)?

 

:)

[Eloise4Ever]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful information Mooder, I have really enjoyed reading your posts. I must admit I got quite emotional when I read your description of your time in Santorini :o It sounded completely idyllic and I hope to experience something similar on my cruise in October.

 

I would be interested to hear your views on the disembarkation process as this has been the subject of some dissatisfaction in the reviews posted so far. I am hoping any problems have just been down to Venice being a new embarkation/disembarkation port for NCL and will be ironed out fairly quickly.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to describe your cruise in such helpful detail. You are helping us live the dream as we await our own cruise date :)

[Mooder]

Hi Mooder

Thanks for your detailed review....I'm all the more excited now! :D

 

If I remember correctly, you had the vouchers to enter the Basilica, but the online ordering system didn't charge 1 Euro, so I'm just wondering....

 

Did you have to pay 1 Euro as you entered with your voucher?

 

How much time did you need to see the Basilica?

 

Did you go upstairs to the Museum, or other paid areas?

 

If so...Did you have to pay for those areas as you went through the main entrance, or as you entered each of those paid areas? (hope that makes sense :o....just really need to know if we have to decide as we're entering the Basilica, or if we can wait and see if we have enough time to go into the paid areas :o)

 

And on the Gem, which night was formal night (or whatever they call it)?

 

:)

 

We did not have to pay to see the Basilica. The website said the reservation fee was waived until they could get the credit card operation working and that turned out to be true. We just walked in. We looked around on our own and I would say we only spent about 20 minutes in the Basilica. We did not go into the pay areas so I'm sorry I can't help there. I was mostly interested in the Cosmati-style floors so I got what I wanted in the main part of the church. It is glorious!

 

Sunday night was dress up or not night, including the opportunity for photos with the captain from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m.

[Mooder]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful information Mooder, I have really enjoyed reading your posts. I must admit I got quite emotional when I read your description of your time in Santorini :o It sounded completely idyllic and I hope to experience something similar on my cruise in October.

 

I would be interested to hear your views on the disembarkation process as this has been the subject of some dissatisfaction in the reviews posted so far. I am hoping any problems have just been down to Venice being a new embarkation/disembarkation port for NCL and will be ironed out fairly quickly.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to describe your cruise in such helpful detail. You are helping us live the dream as we await our own cruise date :)

 

Eloise, that's so sweet. I am glad you are enjoying reading my experience. This was the realization of a long-held dream for me, so I am glad if I can share and convey a small fraction of what we experienced. I neglected earlier to thank our tour companions in Santorini. Mary Jane, Ken, Jim and Linda all made it a wonderful experience. At one point as the sun was setting in Santorini, Mary Jane turned to me and said this was the ideal she had pictured and hoped for, and we reminded each other to live in the moment so as to truly appreciate our good fortune. I will be hoping that your experience is the same.

[OceanDreaming2]

Mooder,

 

Thanks so much for detailing your cruise in such detail! It will make some of our decisions much easier.

 

I've read of pickpockets in several of the ports. Did NCL post any warnings about certain ports?

 

I have more questions coming up!

[Cruisin'cockney]

Thanks for the geat review. Travelling on the Gem in July for the first time and was getting worried by a lot of negative reports so good to hear some positivity. :)

 

Really interested in the Corfu tour. Did you book by email? If so do you have an address as the address on the website keeps pinging back to me as incorrect! :mad:

 

Neil

[LOWTYD]

It kills me when someone judges a place by what they can see from the port. Would we want Connecticut judged by what you can see from some of our waterfront cities?!? Yikes! :rolleyes:

 

LOL. I wouldn't be living here if those cities where my first inpression of CT! I think that this is true with any port. Take Freeeport (please!) What dump of a port but once you get inland, much better! True with many of the ports I have been to. Most are are used for shipping and you see a lot of crap. Old ships, drums, rusty piers, cranes, old bulidings with brroken windows. Not very appealing to the eye. If you can get past all that you will mostly like find what you are looking for.:)

[Cubechick]

Thank you for your wonderful review. You've bumped this itinerary up several notches on my "to do" list. :D

[Mooder]

Mooder,

 

Thanks so much for detailing your cruise in such detail! It will make some of our decisions much easier.

 

I've read of pickpockets in several of the ports. Did NCL post any warnings about certain ports?

 

I have more questions coming up!

 

I don't recall any warnings from NCL. We took the typical precautions and saw no signs of trouble. I heard second-hand of someone on our cruise having their purse snatched in Split. From what I heard, it was while they were having lunch and perhaps they had lost contact with it (putting it on a chair or something), but I don't know. I was very sad to hear it as I can imagine how that affects a vacation.

[Mooder]

You can contact the guide we used for our walking tour of Venice directly. Her name is Federica Fresch. Her email address is ffresch@alice.it and phone number if needed is +393294036043.

[OceanDreaming2]

Here's what may be the most important questions of your cruise:

 

Did you get a blinkie glass? Or the fishbowl? ;)

[Mooder]

Here's what may be the most important questions of your cruise:

 

Did you get a blinkie glass? Or the fishbowl? ;)

 

;) Not this time. We didn't want to add to our return suitcases any more than our shopping already was! :eek: And, when the fishbowl called to me, my sister reminded me that we have them at home. :p

 

Our pics may be more than anyone asked for, but for those interested, my sister has started to weed through and upload to Picasa the ones she feels are worth keeping. Doing it in installments, here is a link to the Venice pics. Note, one is a movie and you can hear the bells ringing throughout Venice as we sail away - it was magical. :) (The other movie is of one of the orchestras in St. Mark's Square.)

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/baross76/2010GreekIslesCruiseDay12Venice?feat=email#

[OceanDreaming2]

Our pics may be more than anyone asked for, but for those interested, my sister has started to weed through and upload to Picasa the ones she feels are worth keeping. Doing it in installments, here is a link to the Venice pics. Note, one is a movie and you can hear the bells ringing throughout Venice as we sail away - it was magical. :)

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/baross76/2010GreekIslesCruiseDay12Venice?feat=email#

 

Absolutely breathtaking! Can't wait until October 23rd!

[Kancruze]

We're on the 6/19 sailing and can't wait. Thanks so much Mooder for keeping us informed and entertained in the meantime. I was delighted to see you stayed at Hotel Arlecchino as this is also our hotel. l loved the pics of it and the sailaway.

[wacopolumbo]

Thanks so much for your reviews. We are on the Gem on the 29th. We are doing 3 nights in Paris and two nights in Venice before the cruise, and seeing your pictures of Venice make me happy we are taking the extra time there!

[LoisGriffin1]

Thanks so much for the pics. It looks wonderful

[Mooder]

Thanks for the geat review. Travelling on the Gem in July for the first time and was getting worried by a lot of negative reports so good to hear some positivity. :)

 

Really interested in the Corfu tour. Did you book by email? If so do you have an address as the address on the website keeps pinging back to me as incorrect! :mad:

 

Neil

 

Neil, I am not ignoring you. I emailed Spiros with the address I have and am waiting to see if I get a response. If it works, I'll pass it on to you. Didn't want to post something that would only frustrate people, and I'm sure he'll want to know if there is a technical problem. My experience is that he responds within a day and I emailed this morning, so hopefully by tomorrow morning, I'll know more.

[b0684]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. I was getting a little worried with all the bad reviews. We are also from Conn. (North Haven area) and we've been wanting to do the Greek Islands for a long time. We did a Med. cruise a few years ago but we didn't get to see Venice, so this cruise was perfect for us. We'll be staying in Venice for two nights before the cruise and one night after. We can't wait, we'll be on the Sept 11 cruise. Hope the weather is good. Thanks again for all the info.

[tv77]

We are doing the same itin (AND cabin!) in August, and things have been so busy I haven't had time to do any research, or really even think about it.

 

Now that the final payment due date is coming up, I thought I better get my act together, which led me to your awesome review.

 

Thanks again!

-tv77