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Italy, Greece, Turkey & Croatia: Need Advice

The_Weary_Wanderer

By The_Weary_Wanderer,
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The_Weary_Wanderer

The_Weary_Wanderer

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Posted

Hello,

 

I am going on my first RCL cruise 10/15/16. This is a "last minute" booking for me and I am woefully unprepared! I normally do months of research before even booking a cruise so I am in need of some assistance. I have cruised previously with DCL, NCL and Princess. This is the specific itinerary:

 

Venice, Italy (we have a day and a half before embarkation)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Kusadasi, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Katakalon, Greece

Venice, Italy (one day before flight home)

 

Here are the questions is have:

 

1. What would you consider to be the three most important things to see at each port? In Kusadasi I am doing a tour of Ephesus, Didyma and Miletus. In Katakolon I have booked a transfer to Olympia. No other excursions planned at the moment.

2. I'm going to need some cash for each port. I believe all but Croatia accept the Euro. Can anyone recommend either a conveniently located ATM at the ports or a place in Venice beforehand that I can exchange some money? We fly into Marco Polo by the way.

3. What is the entertainment like on the Vision of the Seas? Does anyone have any recent Cruise Compass daily activity newsletters?

4. What is the quality of the wifi on board? One of my travel companions has to do some work unfortunately and wants to be prepared.

5. Can anyone tell me what the weather is like at that time? I have looked up the historical weather figures but I've also been in 105* weather in Florida and in Arizona and they feel totally different. Is this weather more shorts weather or pants? Is it hot during the day but cools off at night?

6. Being that this is my first RCL what can you tell me about dinner attire? From my limited time to research it looks like there may be a formal night how formal should I expect to be?

7. Is there any opportunity to upgrade to a different cabin category once you get onboard? Are they discounted?

8. Are there special events onboard that we should be looking to sign up for? We have booked a chefs dinner and a wine tasting

9. Do they have any cultural discussions about the ports and their history etc?

10. Do they have amenities in the cabins: shampoo, body wash etc?

 

Thank you in advance, please answer any and all questions that you can. Feel free to add anything else you feel I may have missed!!!

 

Holly

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Camino

Camino

Posted
Posted (edited)

I did the cruise in June and can give you some answers:

 

1.

Dubrovnik:

From the ship to the old town you should take the shuttle (10 €) or you can go by feet (30 minutes). The old town walls are great. In cash they accepted only Kuna and no €. But you can pay with credit card and don't have to change Kuna. In the shops and restaurants you can pay with credit card too. Enyoy the old town, the harbour and the old castle.

 

Kusadasi:

Ephesus is impressive, we made an interesting tour from the ship.

 

Santorini:

We took the first tender and went up with the cable car. Then we enjoyed the the village and the beautiful view. Near the cable car station there is a travel agency and we booked a two-hour tour to Oia (18€). I would recommend it.

 

Katakolon:

We went to Olympia with a private taxi (Katakolon Taxi by Andreas) with a friendly driver, a lot of information, a stop at an monastery and finally she drove us to a wonderful small beach (120€/car).

 

5. I've been al lot of times in Greece and Spain in Octubre. It depends. Often it is very warm, shorts are okay. In the evening it could be colder, and there is the chance for some rain too and sometimes it's windy.

 

6. We had two formal nights in June. It was les formal than I know it from cruises in Asia or in the Caribbean, for example no tuxedos.

 

9. Yes some.

 

10. In our junior Suite they offered body lotion, shampoo, shower gel, conditioner. I heard that in the other staterooms there was only soap.

Edited by Camino
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Camino

Camino

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Posted

You're welcome.

 

No, not at all.

We had enough time to enjoy the village in the morning, when it was not crowded. And the we went to Oia. Unfortunately we had only 40 minutes to walk around there. It would be better to have more time. But we saw furthermore another lookout point and were a small group with only 6 people.

 

Back in Thira we had another one an a half for buying souvenirs, drinking greek coffee and enjoying the view to our ship. We walked by feet to the port, it was a bit exhausting but okay.

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Guzzi12

Guzzi12

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Posted (edited)

Hi Holly,

 

maybe I can give you at least a few answers. I live in Austria, just half an hour away from Italy and I know almost evey port you'll visit on your cruise (except Dubrovnik).

1) Venice I think is clear. It's very touristic, just walk around and explore the nice little streets. St. Marcs Square is a great place to observe the cruise ships in the evening, when they are leaving. Great view! If you want to enter the church at St. Marcs Square and climb the tower, please note that there will be long lines. Don't eat directy in a restaurant at this square or other touristic places, it's so expensive there! There are so many fantastic Italian restaurants in the small side streets.

A must see is also the Rialto Bridge (I hope all restauration works are finished until October) with a great view on Canale Grande.

 

Although I've never been to Dubrovnik I can tell you that the city is wonderful. My husband was already there and he said that you should go to the top of the city.

 

For Kusadasi you've already booked a tour. In my opinion the best decision. :) In the center you have many possibilities for shopping, but be careful what you are buying! Most of the this branded clothing are fakes.

 

At Santorini I can recommend you to visit Oia (the "O" is not pronounced) AND Fira/Thira (which is the port where you arrive with your tender boat). Behind the cable car cash desk you can find speed boats which bring you to Oia. I think you can find the departure times online (just google it). After your visit a bus (included in your ticket) bring you back to Fira/Thira (at the top) where you can walk through the beautiful streets and really have a great view to the "Caldera" of Santorini. If you have time stay there for the sunset, it's really amazing! You can go back to the port by cable car or on foot (and also you can ride on donkeys, which I not prefer and also not recommend, I am really sorry for them).

 

For Katakolon you did a good choice.

 

2) There are many possibilies to change money. Just look at 0% provision signs!

 

5) Regarding the weather: of course nobody can forecast it. It should be warm but not hot, in the evening you'll need a cardigan. It can be very windy. So everything is possible (except snow ;) ).

 

6) Formal nights: a suit would be great, tuxedos are rather rare.

 

7) upgrades or upsells: ask for it, sometimes there are opportunities, sometimes not

 

10) Soap is available and normally also body wash in the shower.

 

Sorry for any grammatical errors or something like that, my English is not perfect ;)

 

Have a great cruise!

Edited by Guzzi12
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EllaDuChien

EllaDuChien

Posted
Posted

Hi Holly, I just got home from the Rhapsody on Saturday, we visited all of those ports. My favorites were Dubrovnik (Game of Thrones walking tour), Kusadasi (Taxi to Ephesus), and Katakolon (Olympia, Wine Tasting and Beach Break). All tours were private/small group. I have thrown my 2 cents in below. Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have. We also stayed 4 days total in Venice so did quite a bit there as well.

 

Hello,

 

I am going on my first RCL cruise 10/15/16. This is a "last minute" booking for me and I am woefully unprepared! I normally do months of research before even booking a cruise so I am in need of some assistance. I have cruised previously with DCL, NCL and Princess. This is the specific itinerary:

 

Venice, Italy (we have a day and a half before embarkation)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Kusadasi, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Katakalon, Greece

Venice, Italy (one day before flight home)

 

Here are the questions is have:

 

1. What would you consider to be the three most important things to see at each port? In Kusadasi I am doing a tour of Ephesus, Didyma and Miletus. In Katakolon I have booked a transfer to Olympia. No other excursions planned at the moment.

2. I'm going to need some cash for each port. I believe all but Croatia accept the Euro. Can anyone recommend either a conveniently located ATM at the ports or a place in Venice beforehand that I can exchange some money? We fly into Marco Polo by the way. There are ATM's everywhere. I try and use ones actually connected to a bank in case there is a problem I can go inside and get some help.

3. What is the entertainment like on the Vision of the Seas? Does anyone have any recent Cruise Compass daily activity newsletters?

4. What is the quality of the wifi on board? One of my travel companions has to do some work unfortunately and wants to be prepared. I had no problems with the wifi on Rhapsody (same itinerary) I was able to VPN into my office in the US and work just fine.

5. Can anyone tell me what the weather is like at that time? I have looked up the historical weather figures but I've also been in 105* weather in Florida and in Arizona and they feel totally different. Is this weather more shorts weather or pants? Is it hot during the day but cools off at night?

6. Being that this is my first RCL what can you tell me about dinner attire? From my limited time to research it looks like there may be a formal night how formal should I expect to be?

7. Is there any opportunity to upgrade to a different cabin category once you get onboard? Are they discounted? No, never anymore in my experience.

8. Are there special events onboard that we should be looking to sign up for? We have booked a chefs dinner and a wine tasting Chefs Table is awesome, I've done that on 3 different ships. There are martini making classes that can be fun and you get cool souvenir glasses!

9. Do they have any cultural discussions about the ports and their history etc? Yes, but they mostly focus around ship sponsored excursions/shopping. Still, they have some good information. If you miss the live talk, they replay it on the TV at night.

10. Do they have amenities in the cabins: shampoo, body wash etc?

 

Thank you in advance, please answer any and all questions that you can. Feel free to add anything else you feel I may have missed!!!

 

Holly

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waterbug123

waterbug123

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Posted

While it's very easy to just walk around Venice on your own, I suggest a walking tour. We've been several times and last time on a whim we decided to do this. We learned and saw so many interesting little things that we never would have realized or known to look for!

 

If you are starting in Venice there should be ATM's in the airport. It's the easiest way we've found to get euros. Never really had a problem finding ATM's anywhere in major tourist areas in Europe though.

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

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You've gotten good answers. I'll add that MOST places in Croatia take credit cards or Euros (I have had 3 multi-day visits to Croatia; although you might get a better rate using Kuna, it might not be worth the hassle for a day stop). BUT government run activities (local buses [there is one by the port that goes to old town; cheaper than the ship shuttle], City Wall walk, etc) generally do not take Euros. Weather in October is generally pretty nice, but no guarantee:rolleyes:

 

I second using bank ATMs. Most airports have switched to private company ATMs whose rate and fees are not as good (you might be able to use credit cards until you can get to a bank, but if you have to immediately have Euros...).

 

Thom

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

Posted
Posted
Hello,

 

I am going on my first RCL cruise 10/15/16. This is a "last minute" booking for me and I am woefully unprepared! I normally do months of research before even booking a cruise so I am in need of some assistance. I have cruised previously with DCL, NCL and Princess. This is the specific itinerary:

 

Venice, Italy (we have a day and a half before embarkation)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Kusadasi, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Katakalon, Greece

Venice, Italy (one day before flight home)

 

Here are the questions is have:

 

1. What would you consider to be the three most important things to see at each port? In Kusadasi I am doing a tour of Ephesus, Didyma and Miletus. In Katakolon I have booked a transfer to Olympia. No other excursions planned at the moment.

 

If you like ruins, you'll love the tour you've booked. Really great sites. The temple at Didyma gives you an idea of what the Temple of Artemis -- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world -- would have looked like.

 

Olympia is great, but there is little signage. If you are going without a guide, do have some good descriptions from a guidebook to help orient you to what you're seeing. Take time to visit the excellent museum -- which unlike the site does have good signage.

 

2. I'm going to need some cash for each port. I believe all but Croatia accept the Euro. Can anyone recommend either a conveniently located ATM at the ports or a place in Venice beforehand that I can exchange some money? We fly into Marco Polo by the way.

 

There are many ATMs in Venice; you should have no problem getting euros. Use an ATM associated with a bank. Be careful at the airport, as some ATMs are associated with Travelex and give a terrible exchange rate. I assume you know to let your bank know (and your credit card companies) that you'll be traveling.

 

 

5. Can anyone tell me what the weather is like at that time? I have looked up the historical weather figures but I've also been in 105* weather in Florida and in Arizona and they feel totally different. Is this weather more shorts weather or pants? Is it hot during the day but cools off at night?

 

The weather can still be warm but not as hot as summer. You could hit a couple of cloudy or rainy days, more likely in Venice or Dubrovnik, less likely in Kusadasi or Greece. Take a lightweight rain jacket. Most locals will be dressed for fall weather but shorts are fine for most sites except any churches in Italy (knees and shoulders covered) or Greece (skirts for ladies).

 

 

 

Thank you in advance, please answer any and all questions that you can. Feel free to add anything else you feel I may have missed!!!

 

Holly

 

See my answers above. Let me also suggest doing some reading on the Ports of Call boards for Italy, Greece, and Other Med Ports as there is a lot of great info there.

 

In your wanderings around Venice, don't miss the upstairs museum at St. Marks where you can see the REAL bronzes horses (not the fakes on display) and also have a gorgeous view of the Piazza.

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jjones

jjones

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In Venice there are boats that operate as buses. The price is cheap, stops are frequent. You can buy an all-day ticket and use the boat/bus as if it were a HOHO. Great way to see parts you might miss and the beautiful buildings along the canals. You might also like to take a boat to one of the nearby islands, several are very interesting. St. Mark's Square and surrounding areas are easily walked.

 

In Dubrovnic, I second the city wall walk. Lots of history and wonderful views.

 

Ephesus and Olympia are both terrific. If it's open, the museum on Santorini is noted for Minoan artifacts.

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Musigurl

Musigurl

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Don't pay ship prices! Take the local bus (very easy to find -- it's on the free map that you'll receive, and there's also signage). It's frequent and only costs a Euro or two. To come back, wait in the same place you got off.

 

Thank you Amy! Should I get transportation to Oia via RCL or get my own transportation. Is it far from port?

 

Holly

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