Spirit on 10aug excursions

[sasbob]

First time cruiser's here looking at shore excursions for the black sea are they worth the money ? Can anyone recommended tours that are not Thomson?

Istanbul, Ukraine, Romania and mykonos.

Thanks in advance

[kruzseeka]

First time cruiser's here looking at shore excursions for the black sea are they worth the money ? Can anyone recommended tours that are not Thomson?

Istanbul, Ukraine, Romania and mykonos.

Thanks in advance

 

Do you especially want to do organised tours? If you are able to walk around OK (no mobility issues) Mykonos town is a delight to explore independently. You are either tendered directly into the Harbour in town or have a short shuttle bus ride to town from the port about a mile away - I wouldn't walk that bit as it's a busy road with no pavement but I think there is a small charge for the shuttle. So no need for a tour there unless you want to do something else.

 

Likewise Istanbul - it's a great city with lots to do. Again easy to do on your own either on foot or get the tram from the port area to the tourist centre. If you need any more information on DiY in Istanbul just ask.

 

Sorry can't help with your other ports - unless you're going to Yalta which again is an easy DiY port and nice for a wander. Unless you want o go to the Livadia Palace etc you don't need to do a tour here - but I can't recommend any tour companies though. I don't imagine Sevastopol is back on the itineraries - but another easy DiY port and lovely too.

 

Although the tours look quite expensive, I think Thomson are quite reasonable compared with other companies - some places like the Caribbean I'd say just pick up tours dockside as there are loads of mini buses/taxis offering most of the excursions you can buy onboard the ship but much cheaper. I know there are very well recommended private tour companies people use in St Petersburg but I'm not sure I've read much about private firms in the Black Sea and I don't recollect seeing much in the way of tours offered when we arrived in port.

[crystaltips99]

Hi Bob

 

As I'm just back from the Spirit I can let you know what I did, to see if that helps you decide - disclaimer being I like to do quite a bit of walking onshore!

 

In Istanbul I got the local tram from Tophane to Sultanhamet, 4 turkish lira each way. From Sultanhamet you can quickly get to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cisterns and the Topkapi Palace, and it's maybe a 10 minute walk from these to the grand bazaar. I had considered walking into town, or back from town, but on both visits we docked at a different port to the one I expected, we were docked next to Istanbul Modern which is a little further out.

 

In Odessa you can walk straight off the ship into town by walking up the Potemkin Steps, and it's very easy to explore on foot using the ship's map.

 

In Mykonos we had free shuttle buses, that you got timed tickets for from Destination Services the day before, these dropped us close to the main town. From there I just explored the town, and went to the windmills and Little Venice.

 

We visited Bulgaria not Romania so I can't help you with that one.

 

In terms of excursions the Odessa ones got decent reviews from the people that I met on board. The full day Istanbul excursion got better reviews than Easy Istanbul as far as I could tell.

 

Hope this helps!

[sasbob]

Thank you for the information that is a great help. Did you go in the blue mosque do you need a guild?

[kruzseeka]

We didn't. It's one huge space really - you can only got so far in (there is a rope barrier part way across the building) so you mainly just stand and observe the beautiful building. Not sure guides are available although some groups may go in with one but from a respect point of view I didn't feel talking was appropriate.

 

You have to be respectfully dressed but wraps are available at the door to cover up properly if you don't have appropriate clothing on.

 

The Hagia Sophia is a museum and you can wander freely round there.

[sasbob]

I'm feeling a little more confident now with just exploring on our own. Mykonos I think we will do our self's and Istanbul. You mention a ship map where do I get these?

[kruzseeka]

I'm feeling a little more confident now with just exploring on our own. Mykonos I think we will do our self's and Istanbul. You mention a ship map where do I get these?

 

They have a map of the locality each day available to pick up at Destination Services. It used to be sent out with the Cruise News each evening - also colour but more recently b/w photocopies and usually put out on the desk the night before. But perfectly adequate to get your bearings.

 

Don't worry about Mykonos go explore - the windmills, Little Venice the maze of streets. When you want to get back to the Harbour just head downhill!

 

I bought one of those Pop Up maps of Istanbul before we went - just a few pounds from Amazon - really useful as it also had the tram routes marked.

 

(We sometimes Google Earth the dock area/tourist sites to get a feel of distances and the surroundings before we go. Using the little man you can even walk the route. Very reassuring to have a visual image of where you are and where you're going!

 

Happy planning.

[crystaltips99]

I took a Lonely Planet city guide for Istanbul with me, as I was going there twice, and I used that rather than the ship map there - the ship map for Istanbul was a bit too small-scale for independent exploring IMHO and didn't have the tram stops on, and as Kruzseeka says those are invaluable when you DIY.

 

I went into the Blue Mosque but as Kruzseeka says you only get to walk through a portion of it - its free to go in, I had to queue for maybe 15 minutes to get in. You have to pay to get into the Hagia Sophia and it has some scaffolding up inside for renovations work at the mo, but its still a lovely building.

 

For Mykonos I just used the ship map and it was fine.