Carnival Pride 10-day cruise to (Pompeii), (Mt. Etna), Mykonos, Santorini, Athens, Olympia, Turkey, plus train around Italy

[staceyglow]

Just curious, my son is a huge Giannis Antentokoumpo fan.  I thought it would be a Giannis t-shirt from Greece (when we are there next month) would be a fun souvenir for him.  Have you seen anything like that?

[IntrepidFromDC]

I was still a little hungry after Seafood Corner so I had lentil soup and a caesar salad in MDR before heading to see the newlywed couple I met on the train from Rome to Civitavecchia. Both were yummy. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

I had lentil soup and caesar salad in MDR before heading to Love And Marriage. Both were yummy. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

My newlywed friends from the train,  Preston and Ashton on the left. Funny show!

[IntrepidFromDC]

Bacation Day.  🤔😬😡

[IntrepidFromDC]

Taj Mahal is the excursion meeting place this morning.  Acropolis here I come! 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Just hop on the bus, Gus.... actually I must be Rodney cuz I must be in the front row! 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Carnival excursion to Acropolis was a trainwreck. But the octopus salad in Plaka is fantastic! 

Edited September 17, 2022 by IntrepidFromDC

[luv2trvlnow]

2 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Carnival excursion to Acropolis was a trainwreck. But the octopus salad in Plaka is fantastic! 

Which excursion did you do to the Acropolis.  I have been looking at their offerings and trying to decide which one to try?  

 

This one was a trainwreck?  What went wrong?

[Saint Greg]

8 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Bacation Day.  🤔😬😡

A sausage, a spoonful of eggs, and some shoe leather?

[IntrepidFromDC]

I chose the Carnival excursion to Athens Acropolis and Plaka (foothills of Acropolis) because I hadn't been to Athens before and didn't want to miss "back-on-board" time (didn't know how far Athens was from Piraeus, Athens traffic,  etc) but wanted to be sure I got a thorough history of Ancient Greece and not a combination Acropolis/shopping trip.  The tour description at carnival.com says it includes a guided tour,  including headphones.  Neither is true and the tour operator blamed Carnival... 

[IntrepidFromDC]

The tour guide led us on a focused shopping expedition through her selected coffeehouse,  souvenir shop, insisting there wasn't time for everyone to go about shopping on their own, yet after that was over she cheerfully said "you now have free time to explore the churches and square". At the Acropolis entrance she handed us tickets to wait in a long line without shade, disappearing now and then,  unable to answer any questions about anything interesting, then reappeared as we finally got to the entrance. By that time we lost 4 elderly people. She spoke softly on purpose so only 5 or so people (me included) heard her instructions to meet at the exit in 40 minutes,  then she disappeared again.  Everyone was a sweaty heap of a range of negative emotions and nobody learned anything from the tour guide. By the last hour of the 5.5 hour excursion about a third of our group of 30 were yelling at her. In the end she lost two of us when we boarded the bus back to Piraeus. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by IntrepidFromDC

[IntrepidFromDC]

With excursion experience of four Carnival excursions and over 30 independent excursions I already knew Carnival excursions have the disappointment of a "dumbed down" experience but this was a new low.

[luv2trvlnow]

42 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

With excursion experience of four Carnival excursions and over 30 independent excursions I already knew Carnival excursions have the disappointment of a "dumbed down" experience but this was a new low.

Sorry to hear this.  That was the excursion we were looking at.  We are going to have to rethink this.  I have never done a Carnival excursion and was hoping it wouldn't be this bad.  But independent excursions are always good either.  We have has a couple of pretty bad ones in the Caribbean with tour operators that were hightly rated.  Sometimes things just go wrong.  Your experience might help others, like me, avoid a similar disappointment.

[IntrepidFromDC]

The bus ride to Athens was good. We passed two smaller ports with yachts, a the narrative offered was "this is where foreign wealthy persons rent space to dock their yachts and now the price is too rich for Greeks to rent space." Athens/Piraeus is like a bit of a megalopolis,  I couldn't tell where one city started and the other ended,  and if there were signs I missed them. The modern part of Athens was not impressive,  albeit we saw a tiny bit of it.

[IntrepidFromDC]

The steps up to the long line to enter the Acropolis were very slippery!  Water and marble, nice combination for decor, not flooring. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

After going through the turnstiles there's another very long line to go through the ancient gateway to the Acropolis,  which has several structures of architectural and historical importance.  All three structures are in honor of various aspects of Athena. I estimate total line time about 1.25 hours, although the second line was better because as I slowly ascended the huge marble steps to the ancient gateway there were nice views of Athens,  below. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Atop the Athens Acropolis at last. It's a bucket list item for me, so despite the tour guideless experience,  I'm both grateful and thrilled to see these icons of the birthplace of democracy and western civilization we enjoy today. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Parthenon  and Erechtheion

[IntrepidFromDC]

[IntrepidFromDC]

The foothills of the Acropolis are called Plaka, a nice shopping area filled with cafes and the ancient Greek shopping mall that was adopted and used by the  Romans during their rule. Many years later the Ottomans defeated the Greeks again and the Greeks lost independence for another 400 years.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Sushi for dinner was better than I remembered. But nowhere near as good as the fresh octopus salad I had in Plaka for lunch. 

[Jamman54]

15 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Just hop on the bus, Gus.... actually I must be Rodney cuz I must be in the front row! 

 Actually, you don't get any respect because it was Bob Uecker who was in the front row! 

 

Really enjoying your review and pics! 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Jamman54

[IntrepidFromDC]

6 hours ago, luv2trvlnow said:

Sorry to hear this.  That was the excursion we were looking at.  We are going to have to rethink this.  I have never done a Carnival excursion and was hoping it wouldn't be this bad.  But independent excursions are always good either.  We have has a couple of pretty bad ones in the Caribbean with tour operators that were hightly rated.  Sometimes things just go wrong.  Your experience might help others, like me, avoid a similar disappointment.

Your words are wise, I think. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

I don't know his name,  but this guy was worth the admission price and then some.