Suggestions for Greek Isles and Turkey...

[thefamilyford]

We will be doing the Splendour of the Seas this coming July. A roll call has not yet been started for my group and I would love some advise from those in the know. My husband, our 11 year old son and I want to start planning our days. We will be stopping in Dubrovnick, Croatia/ Kusadesi, Turkey/ Santorini, Greece and Katakolon, Greece. Any port excursions that are highly suggested? Oia, volcanic springs and Ephesus seem like highlights. We are open to ones through RCL, but are willing to book a private excursion too. Hoping to do 2 ports via an excursion and 2 ports on our own...how would you break it up. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Many Thanks!

[Missus Makkem]

If there really is no Roll Call for your cruise then feel free to start one.

[kissimmee-cruiser]

Make sure you ride the donkey up to Oia in Santorini and eat lunch at Mama's!!

[Jackamama]

We will be doing the Splendour of the Seas this coming July. A roll call has not yet been started for my group and I would love some advise from those in the know. My husband, our 11 year old son and I want to start planning our days. We will be stopping in Dubrovnick, Croatia/ Kusadesi, Turkey/ Santorini, Greece and Katakolon, Greece. Any port excursions that are highly suggested? Oia, volcanic springs and Ephesus seem like highlights. We are open to ones through RCL, but are willing to book a private excursion too. Hoping to do 2 ports via an excursion and 2 ports on our own...how would you break it up. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Many Thanks!

 

 

This is a fabulous itinerary!

 

Dubrovnik is very easy to do by yourself, and it is a lovely place. If you are reasonably fit, don't miss the walk along the city walls. We preferred to use the ships excursions for Ephesus (wonderful). On a first visit to Santorini we used the ships excursion, but on our second visit we just got the bus at the port at Santorini. If you do this make sure you don't miss the last bus back, as we did! Fortunately a very kind local helped us get back to the ship on time.

 

Having said that, if you are going to be stranded somewhere, you really couldn't wish to be stranded in a more beautiful place than Santorini! :D

 

.

[dani negreanu]

We didn't have a very active roll call, because many people were doing B2B2B :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43506855#post43506855

[siren]

Ephesus in Turkey is absolutely amazing. We did the ships tour for safety reasons when we went about 18 months ago. It was actually our best day of the cruise. I can't say enough about Ephesus..but make sure you have a camera!!! I highly recommend this tour. It included a stop at a carpet makers house with a lunch in back yard, with white table cloths, wine and all fresh food, multiple courses. It was wonderful to eat outside in the garden. The only dislike was a stop on the way back at a leather store with a fashion show. That was just plain stupid (for lack of a better term). I belive we also had a stop for shopping. Enjoy your trip

[newport dave]

Dubrovnik is really easy, bus stop right outside port. 3 min walk max. buy return bus ticket from newstand by bus stop. Can't remember the bus # we got, but there's a timetable at the bus stop anyway.

[thefamilyford]

We didn't have a very active roll call, because many people were doing B2B2B :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43506855#post43506855

 

Thanks for the info! A great review.

[thefamilyford]

This is a fabulous itinerary!

 

Dubrovnik is very easy to do by yourself, and it is a lovely place. If you are reasonably fit, don't miss the walk along the city walls. We preferred to use the ships excursions for Ephesus (wonderful). On a first visit to Santorini we used the ships excursion, but on our second visit we just got the bus at the port at Santorini. If you do this make sure you don't miss the last bus back, as we did! Fortunately a very kind local helped us get back to the ship on time.

 

Having said that, if you are going to be stranded somewhere, you really couldn't wish to be stranded in a more beautiful place than Santorini! :D

 

.

Thanks for the information. Thinking we can likely do Dubrovinik on our own too. Specifically, which tour did you do in Ephesus? Any not to miss spots?

[thefamilyford]

Ephesus in Turkey is absolutely amazing. We did the ships tour for safety reasons when we went about 18 months ago. It was actually our best day of the cruise. I can't say enough about Ephesus..but make sure you have a camera!!! I highly recommend this tour. It included a stop at a carpet makers house with a lunch in back yard, with white table cloths, wine and all fresh food, multiple courses. It was wonderful to eat outside in the garden. The only dislike was a stop on the way back at a leather store with a fashion show. That was just plain stupid (for lack of a better term). I belive we also had a stop for shopping. Enjoy your trip

 

Thanks for the information. Seems like Ephesus is the way to go in Turkey. Specifically, which tour did you do in Ephesus? Thinking a visit to Mary's home would be a highlight? What was your favourite stops on your tour? Was the carpet tour too much haggling?

[e11wa]

We did the same itinerary in June '14.

Dubrovnik its about a 15-20 minute walk from the port. RC charged about $20USD each for return bus ride.

Santorini volcano and warm springs was beautiful. free cable car ride up to the township with the ticket.

we took the donkey track back down. very hot. very busy. by the time we got back on Splendour there were 4 other ships in the bay.

 

When we are back there in September we're going to go down to Oia on our own.

 

Kusadasi and Katakalon we stayed close to the ship as we'd had a very port-intensive 2 weeks aboard Liberty in the Mediterranean and then Splendour, and decided to lay low.

 

We will be going to Ephesus this time around though.

[mil76]

For Santorini we took a boat directly from the dock to Oia. The ticket included a bus ride back to Fira. The queue for the cable car when we wanted to go back was extremely long so we took the donkeys down the hill, which was awesome. Advice for doing the donkeys is to take them DOWN the hill at the end of your visit rather than up at the beginning, since you'll want to shower as soon as you get back on the boat. I wouldn't want to walk around all day smelling like a donkey after riding them up the hill.

 

Ephesus is great. There are plenty of private tour companies that will cater your day to whatever sights you want to see. At Ephesus the driver dropped us off at the top and met us at the bottom, and the tour guide took us all the way through. Definitely do the Terrace Houses. Worth the extra time and entrance fee (plus it's shaded).

 

The only issue I had with the Ephesus tours was the stops on the way back at places like the carpet or leather stores. It ends up being a hard sell and you have to be willing to say no. The carpet store tour is interesting, but you always leave feeling guilty for not buying anything (or you end up buying something, which is a whole different story). We cruised to Kusadasi twice and the second time we told the tour company in advance we didn't want to stop at any stores (which they agreed to) but when we got on the tour it ended up being an issue since the stores pay the tour operators to bring in tourists, and this is part of their profit. We got quite an earful in Turkish at a store in town they tried to take us to and we ended up leaving and just walking back to the port.

[thefamilyford]

For Santorini we took a boat directly from the dock to Oia. The ticket included a bus ride back to Fira. The queue for the cable car when we wanted to go back was extremely long so we took the donkeys down the hill, which was awesome. Advice for doing the donkeys is to take them DOWN the hill at the end of your visit rather than up at the beginning, since you'll want to shower as soon as you get back on the boat. I wouldn't want to walk around all day smelling like a donkey after riding them up the hill.

 

Ephesus is great. There are plenty of private tour companies that will cater your day to whatever sights you want to see. At Ephesus the driver dropped us off at the top and met us at the bottom, and the tour guide took us all the way through. Definitely do the Terrace Houses. Worth the extra time and entrance fee (plus it's shaded).

 

The only issue I had with the Ephesus tours was the stops on the way back at places like the carpet or leather stores. It ends up being a hard sell and you have to be willing to say no. The carpet store tour is interesting, but you always leave feeling guilty for not buying anything (or you end up buying something, which is a whole different story). We cruised to Kusadasi twice and the second time we told the tour company in advance we didn't want to stop at any stores (which they agreed to) but when we got on the tour it ended up being an issue since the stores pay the tour operators to bring in tourists, and this is part of their profit. We got quite an earful in Turkish at a store in town they tried to take us to and we ended up leaving and just walking back to the port.

 

Thanks for the information. Appreciate all the advice. Two quick questions:

1) Any private tour companies you would suggest?

2) So the carpet sell/factory is unavoidable? We were really wanting to avoid all that.

Many Thanks.

[mil76]

Thanks for the information. Appreciate all the advice. Two quick questions:

1) Any private tour companies you would suggest?

2) So the carpet sell/factory is unavoidable? We were really wanting to avoid all that.

Many Thanks.

 

We used Ephesus Shuttle. I thought they did a great job the first time, even considering the store stops. We stopped at a pottery store in Selcuk, and they had someone there who showed the kids how to use a pottery wheel and they got to make their own creation and take it with them for free. Of course there was the pottery store attached, but that wasn't a hard sell. The carpet store we went to was outside of town, and they actually gave us a demonstration on how they make the carpets from the silkworm on up, which was interesting. That was a bit more of a hard sell, but we were able to make it out. We thought it was fine to go through this once since it was educational, but we really didn't care to the second time.

 

On the second visit, we specifically asked when booking and they agreed not to take us to any stores, but they took us anyway when we got back to Kusadasi, and it was not a comfortable situation when we left without going to the store. So regardless of what they agree to up front, you may end up getting taken to a store anyway.

[stompy]

Pics are in the link in my signature.

 

Ephesus can be pretty crowded if there are a lot of ships. We just hopped off the bus outside the carpet shop at the end since it was pretty late and we had early seating.

 

I haven't looked up your itinerary but if you get into Dubrovnik on a non-Sunday go see the oldest operating pharmacy.

 

One thing that really surprised us was all the stray cats. There are hundreds of cats throughout the region. Most seemed to be in pretty good health, particularly at the monasteries.

 

Akroteri was really fascinating and it is a bit sad that the work has stopped due to funding and the overall crappy economy in Greece.

 

Do try the local food. So good!

 

Enjoy

[robint]

We will be doing the Splendour of the Seas this coming July. A roll call has not yet been started for my group and I would love some advise from those in the know. My husband, our 11 year old son and I want to start planning our days. We will be stopping in Dubrovnick, Croatia/ Kusadesi, Turkey/ Santorini, Greece and Katakolon, Greece. Any port excursions that are highly suggested? Oia, volcanic springs and Ephesus seem like highlights. We are open to ones through RCL, but are willing to book a private excursion too. Hoping to do 2 ports via an excursion and 2 ports on our own...how would you break it up. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Many Thanks!

 

For Ephesus, I recommend Elgin at Ephesus Tours Best. And I'd highly recommend going to Priene--it was our absolute favorite stop! Elgin took us to Priene in the morning, where we spent several hours; then we did Ephesus in the afternoon, stops at the Temple of Artemis and a few other places, and lunch at a carpet factory (absolutely delicious lunch, totally worth the 20 minutes of watching them get silk from silkworms, etc.) And we finished with a stop at a Turkish Delight store.

 

To us, Ephesus felt very...pristine. Clean. Touristy. Priene, on the other hand, was great for really exploring and experiencing ruins.

[skylight]

We did private tour of Ephesus with another couple off the ship. We told our guide we didn't want to go to leather factory etc. We went to a local restaurant for lunch which was great. He was the best guide we have ever had and worth every cent.:)

[Jackamama]

Thanks for the information. Appreciate all the advice. Two quick questions:

1) Any private tour companies you would suggest?

2) So the carpet sell/factory is unavoidable? We were really wanting to avoid all that.

Many Thanks.

 

 

I'm afraid I can't answer about private tours, as we took the ships tour (the full day one, with the terraced houses and lunch)

 

If you don't want to go, the carpet shop and demonstration is absolutely avoidable at the end of the tour, if it is the last stop at the port.

 

The guide/driver may be quite pushy and insistent that it is an important part of the tour. It is not. It is an arrangement they have with the shop owners that they will direct you there and make you feel like you have no choice. In Kusadasi, carpet demonstration store is very close to where the ship is docked. You will probably see the ship as you get off the coach, and the guide tries to herd you towards the entrance of the store. If you don't want to go in, just politely but firmly say "No thank you", and walk away the direction of the ship. It's your vacation. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to, although you could be made to feel a bit uncomfortable about saying no. It depends on how comfortable you would feel doing that.

[Mabbiesmum]

We used Magical Steps when we visited Ephesus in November 2013. Cost was $180 for a private tour for two. Guide spoke perfect English, knew all the ways to get ahead of the group tours and was very knowledgeable.

 

We had the inevitable stop at the carpet factory but made it clear we were not interested and that was the end of the sales pitch.

[Clio1610]

We did the ship's tour in Santorini as a private Tender collects you directly from the ship and takes you around to a different part of the island to embark for the coaches.

 

We didn't want to do battle with the donkeys and everything they leave behind on the 558 steps up or the long queues at the cable cars - from off the normal Tenders :eek:

 

If you get the chance, visit the Santos Winery in Santorini as the views from their Terrace are simply breathtaking - and the Wine Tasting & canapes are pretty awesome too ;)

 

If you visit the Market in Kusadasi, be prepared for VERY AGGRESSIVE sellers :mad: We only stopped outside a stall to have a look & didn't touch anything, the guy sprinted from the back and grabbed my arm to "come inside and look". When we kept saying No Thank You and started to walk off - he shouted at us "Not come back to my shop, I not sell to you again" :eek: Rude, rude man.....

[gillsjottings]

We did the ports you mention while on a Med cruise last year. We mainly used private tour operators, except for Dubrovnik where we did our own thing.

 

Have a look at my blog here You can navigate to the individual days by clicking on the links on the right.

[pseudoware]

Great thread. We're doing this itinerary in June, and this had been a huge help.

 

We're thinking of going to the beach while in Katakolon and found this:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1145610

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited March 26, 2015 by pseudoware