Best shore excursions in the Med/ Greece

[Hawaiidan]

I would like input of waht you all think or have experienced on the following ports . I have booked a cruise ( 29 day) for next year and need some feed back and ideas.

 

Istanbuhl for 2 days is the ships Delux 1 &2 that good or are there better options ?

 

Athens.... whats the best ?

 

Kadusai/Ephesus.... comments on the Best of tour

 

Rome... Ok I have toured town totaly, and St Peters but would like to hit the Sistine Chapel, the Museum and the Tresury/ Vatican gardens.. No one tour does this.. I think Comments and Ideas ( I have done a private tour of St Peters with a friend who is a priest... but at then time the other areas were closed.... Ideas:confused:

[Harry1954]

the ship's excursion for dining at night i Istanbul was fabulous. we also hired a guide a couple of times we were there and found we could get in/out of sites more quickly and were treated as non-cattle - and the prices for private guides are reasonable.

 

In K-E, you want to do the Ephesus/Mary's House .. that is a great tour as well. Once that is done, then there is a ship-s tour to three ciites that is just as exciting - I just cant remember the names of them at the moment.

 

harry

[luxurysailer]

Dan, I can't tell you for sure which tours are the best; but I can tell you about ours. Just bear in mind that we were there two years ago.

 

Athens-The Athens, Acropolis, and Cape Sounion tour was very enjoyable. The drive out to Cape Sounion was rather long and the traffic was bad, but the scenery and Temple of Poseidon were beautiful. Athens is a quite unattractive city with bad traffic. Just be sure you don't miss the Acropolis.

 

Istanbul-One of our all time favorite ports. I highly recommend the Dinner Cruise on the Scenic Bosphorous. The views of the city are spectacular, and the meal was adequate. The Best of Istanbul takes in all the major sites (Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the bazaar, and a high end carpet store). All in all, a very good tour.

 

Kusadasi/Ephesus-The Best of Ephesus is one ancient ruin after another. Ephesus is another of those not to be missed sites. It is quite incredible. But if it's sunny it can be hot and blindingly brilliant, so dress appropriately and have a really good pair of sunglasses. Same goes for the Acropolis.

 

You didn't ask about Santorini, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I hope it is included in your itinerary. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I'd love to go back. We did Panoramic Santorini, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

[smslms]

I would like input of waht you all think or have experienced on the following ports . I have booked a cruise ( 29 day) for next year and need some feed back and ideas.

 

Istanbuhl for 2 days is the ships Delux 1 &2 that good or are there better options ?

 

Athens.... whats the best ?

 

Kadusai/Ephesus.... comments on the Best of tour

 

Rome... Ok I have toured town totaly, and St Peters but would like to hit the Sistine Chapel, the Museum and the Tresury/ Vatican gardens.. No one tour does this.. I think Comments and Ideas ( I have done a private tour of St Peters with a friend who is a priest... but at then time the other areas were closed.... Ideas:confused:

 

We were on a 24 day cruise in the Med last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Without knowing where your itinerary it's hard to advise about specific tours. I can tell you that we did a combination of private and ship's tours and really enjoyed them as there is so much to see. Places we really enjoyed were Barcelona, French Riviera, Venice, Taormina, Istanbul, Acropolis, Santorini, Mykonos, Olympia, but one thing we noticed was that we had very few sea days and when you're on the go touring all day every day you can start to wear down.

[chipmaster]

The best tours are private IMHO.

 

Used EKOL in Istanbul, for lunch took us to the coolest little place next to St Sophia. I can only imagine what she'd have recommended for dinner. I have never enjoyed the big bus ship tours, YMMV.

 

Athens went with Dimitri of Greek Taxi, great again as we beat the big bus tours by 30' and were coming down when the masses were going up.

 

With RIL we had a wondeful guide for Vatican and Sistine. I think I'd do the port again evern though I've it would be the 3rd time around.

 

After my alaskan cruise I'm done with cruiseline unless there is no other alternative.

 

I would like input of waht you all think or have experienced on the following ports . I have booked a cruise ( 29 day) for next year and need some feed back and ideas.

 

Istanbuhl for 2 days is the ships Delux 1 &2 that good or are there better options ?

 

Athens.... whats the best ?

 

Kadusai/Ephesus.... comments on the Best of tour

 

Rome... Ok I have toured town totaly, and St Peters but would like to hit the Sistine Chapel, the Museum and the Tresury/ Vatican gardens.. No one tour does this.. I think Comments and Ideas ( I have done a private tour of St Peters with a friend who is a priest... but at then time the other areas were closed.... Ideas:confused:

[ariawoman]

 

You didn't ask about Santorini, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I hope it is included in your itinerary. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I'd love to go back. We did Panoramic Santorini, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

I just booked the Panoramic Santorini tour a few days ago. Did they give you time to roam around Oia at the end of the trip? Just curious as my coworker said you def want time to roam there.

[kazu]

I would like input of waht you all think or have experienced on the following ports . I have booked a cruise ( 29 day) for next year and need some feed back and ideas.

 

Istanbuhl for 2 days is the ships Delux 1 &2 that good or are there better options ?

 

Athens.... whats the best ?

 

Kadusai/Ephesus.... comments on the Best of tour

 

Rome... Ok I have toured town totaly, and St Peters but would like to hit the Sistine Chapel, the Museum and the Tresury/ Vatican gardens.. No one tour does this.. I think Comments and Ideas ( I have done a private tour of St Peters with a friend who is a priest... but at then time the other areas were closed.... Ideas:confused:

 

Hal offers one tour of Rome which is like a private tours. I believe it is called Secrets of the Vatican. It is very pricey, but includes a private guide that takes you to places the public can't go to. it was absolutely worth every penny. It will cover everything you are interested in and more.

 

You might want to take a look at it. It was much nicer than the HAL description and there were only 8 of us on the tour. The guide was absoutely incredible.

[luxurysailer]

I just booked the Panoramic Santorini tour a few days ago. Did they give you time to roam around Oia at the end of the trip? Just curious as my coworker said you def want time to roam there.

 

Yes, ariawoman, we had at least one hour and probably closer to two hours of free time at the end of the tour in Oia. Just be careful about getting back in time for the tender. Lines at the cable car to take you back down can get long, and if you wait too long you may have to walk.

 

I'm envious. Wish I were going back.

[Hawaiidan]

;)

Ok ,I was reading the Secrets of the vatican..,. but it did not mention the Sistine chapel....Did you go through it? and yes its about $500 person considering that it costs about $200 each way to get to Rome from the ship it isnt that expensive in reality.... B

ut you loved it

Since I am saving a ton on cabins with a J 200 sq ft jewell, I can afford to see the really good things. Thats 15 sq ft larger than a outside veranda..and it has 3 large closets rather than 2.... My inside suite.:cool:

 

 

Thanks too for the Santori suggestion... that sounds good

 

How about Olympia....

 

As far as where we are going we have 2 days in Venice, Dubrovnick, Istanbul, Kudasi, Santori Mykinos, Seville, Rome ,Torramo??

 

So any experience.... I am comfortable on my own too.. As II have travled in europe for decades

[smslms]

Dubrovnik is fantastic. Walking the walls is a bit of a hike but when you're finished that cold beverage tastes even better.;)

[kazu]

;)

Ok ,I was reading the Secrets of the vatican..,. but it did not mention the Sistine chapel....Did you go through it? and yes its about $500 person considering that it costs about $200 each way to get to Rome from the ship it isnt that expensive in reality.... B

ut you loved it

Since I am saving a ton on cabins with a J 200 sq ft jewell, I can afford to see the really good things. Thats 15 sq ft larger than a outside veranda..and it has 3 large closets rather than 2.... My inside suite.:cool:

 

 

Thanks too for the Santori suggestion... that sounds good

 

How about Olympia....

 

As far as where we are going we have 2 days in Venice, Dubrovnick, Istanbul, Kudasi, Santori Mykinos, Seville, Rome ,Torramo??

 

So any experience.... I am comfortable on my own too.. As II have travled in europe for decades

 

 

Yes, we saw the Sistene Chapel and spots in the Vatican that no one had been to. Yes, it is pricey but cheaper than booking a private tour if there is just two of you. I looked at privates (and I usually do them in the Med) but we couldn't get a guarantee that we would get into the vatican and 'skip' the lines. We had a private tour guide. Like Pompeii that is at least another 100 euros, so you can include that in the tour price.

 

I agree it's pricey, but honestly, it was very good. We had a guide on the way in, a tour of a few things (not needed by us, but it was actually nice).

 

first thing before we got to the Vatican, the HAL tags had to come off. The guide did not want those one. He met us outside, walked us in as we bypassed the lines and I have to tell you he was tremendous. We saw the Etruscan monuments, the tombs, the special monuments. He just shook the security guards hand and the line was lifted and in we went.

 

We went all over the place to avoid line ups. It was tremendous and the Sisteen chapel was extraordinary. There is time in advance you could tell the guide you want to go to the gardens and then meet the group in time to meet the private guide. We did spend some time in the gardens though.

 

Yes, it's pricey and if you can find a private to do it, go for it. I tried and no one would guarantee that we could get in until at least two months before the date. My deal with the DH was he would see it this time (It was closed the last two times) so we opted for this.

 

Just a suggestion. Pricey, but in my opinion worth it. Just my thoughts and a suggestion. Usually, I avoid a lot of HAL tours (prefer private), but in this case I would rate this one an 11 out of 10. I was shocked when they called our tour and there were 8 of us. the private guides only take so many so that's understandable. I'll never regret it and it is one of our best memories of the trip. Whatever you do, have a great cruise :):)

[luxurysailer]

We've been in the Sistine Chapel twice. Once with the large crowds when we were literally packed in like sardines making it very hard to move around and see everything. The second time was on a HAL private tour during the early evening when there was only about 200 people at the most which was infinitely better. On this tour we also had a private viewing of the Vatican museum which, in itself, is incredible.

 

The first trip was certainly better than not seeing the Sistine Chapel at all, but it was a far, far second behind the HAL tour. If you have the chance to go, I highly recommend it even if you must sacrifice elsewhere.

[slotl]

One word of advice in Kusadasi/Ephesus. FIRST SEE EPHESUS then leave some time to SHOP TILL YOU DROP!!!

 

Kusadasi is THE BEST place (aside from Asia) to purchase "knock offs".....and better yet, their currency is the Turkish lira (sp) NOT THE EURO!! Bargain, bargain.

 

Leather, faux watches, faux handbags, Yes....even Louis Vitton.....Turkish spices and souviniers, anything and everything you can think of.....just steps from the ship.

[Hawaiidan]

Thanks for the description of the secrets of the Vacitan.... And glad to know the include the Sistene Chapel.... As well as the treasury and museum.... This seems to be the way to go with the ship tour for 2 at $1100 . however, the experience seems to be over the top in quality and more than worth it. There is a time to spend and a time to save this is the time to spend... value

How soon can I book it in advance... I dont want to get shut out of this one....

Thanks for the shopping suggestions but this trip is for emotional experience and brain food.. not baubles and the like. But thanks neverthe less

 

Whats with private tours elsewhere? Someone suggested a company called IMHO.... any experience

 

Keep the suggestions comming please

[kazu]

Thanks for the description of the secrets of the Vacitan.... And glad to know the include the Sistene Chapel.... As well as the treasury and museum.... This seems to be the way to go with the ship tour for 2 at $1100 . however, the experience seems to be over the top in quality and more than worth it. There is a time to spend and a time to save this is the time to spend... value

How soon can I book it in advance... I dont want to get shut out of this one....

Thanks for the shopping suggestions but this trip is for emotional experience and brain food.. not baubles and the like. But thanks neverthe less

 

Whats with private tours elsewhere? Someone suggested a company called IMHO.... any experience

 

Keep the suggestions comming please

 

You should be able to go on line and book it now. If not, shortly. And definitely for me a must.

 

Not sure of the tour company you are referring to. We have a few booked in the Med in October. Once we have done them happy to send you recommendations. Some of them may not cover your ports.

 

You are going to have a great cruise. There are cabs available (or there were last time we were there at Epehsus ) to take us there. Enjoy your cruise :):)

[Grandmacheryl]

It means "In my humble opinion."

[sunshine nana]

In Ephesus, you MUST see the Terrace Houses. It was the highlight of our E. Med trip. Most of the ship's tours do not included this.The Sistine Chapel and Collesuim were the highlights of our W. Med. trip.

[travelinjones]

In Dubrovnik, if you have already walked the wall and had a walking tour, we recommend a ferry ride to the island of Cavtat. Mesmerizing blue water. Also the details on how we got there are in this blog post:

http://www.travelingwiththejones.com/2007/05/31/day-27-dubrovnik-croatia-sailing-to-cavtat/

[Divi]

We used Ekol Travel for a private tour in Ephesus and for a two day, four person tour in Istanbul.

Both guides were great and the prices were very reasonable.

We took the HAL tour, Istanbul by Night I think it was called and it was lots of fun.

In Pompeii we also took a HAL tour. It seemed the safest thing to do because of the distance from the ship.

Enjoy your cruise.

[Hawaiidan]

Thank you to all for your opinions as to the "secrets of the vatican @ $550 a person. I appreciate the candor and honesty. Visiting the Vatican is to me a big deal so I appreciate all ot youwho described in detail where and how you went. For me , all things considered the cost is not an issue.. the experience is however . There is a time to spend and a time to save... living 9000 miles from Rome means a very expensive return if I dont get it right:rolleyes:

DAN

[ArthurIhde]

i recommend Cavtat too,it is amazing!