Detailed Review Istanbul to Athens on Oceania

[Phoenix cruiser]

Sorry for the length of this review, hope this helps for those going to this part of the world:

 

My wife and I took this cruise on the Oceania Nautica from June 20-July 2, 2006. I will make some general comments, talk about the hotels, guides and ports, and briefly touch on the ship. This is meant to be a helpful review with tips where appropriate and not a “diary” of our cruise. I will be glad to answer additional questions as they arise. If you don’t want to post a question you can e-mail me at azboeing@yahoo.com.

General Comments:

I can’t say enough about the value of preplanning. It paid off big time and in general everything met or exceeded our fondest hopes. We flew into Istanbul a day early using British Airways via London Heathrow. Making our own air arrangements insured we got the flights we wanted with ample connection time and aisle seats all the way. We had arranged through our hotel in Istanbul for transport from the airport, and after flying for 18 hours it is a pleasure to see the driver holding up a sign with your name on it. We were whisked to the hotel where we could finally get horizontal and recover some sleep. I dedicated a lot of time leading up to the cruise researching the best guides, good hotels and facts about our ports- so we encountered few if any real surprises. Kudos to the Cruise Critic boards for Oceania and European ports and Yahoo’s Oceania Board for providing a wealth of valuable insights.

Hotels:

We stayed in Istanbul the first night at the Sari Konak Hotel, which is a lovely boutique hotel a few steps from the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, etc. in the Sultanahmet area. The Sari Konak has a rooftop garden area where we watched the sunset and the lights come on in Istanbul. It has earned the numerous recommendations for comfort and convenience, and the breakfast (included) in the garden area was a delight. In Athens we stayed at the AVA Apartment Hotel for 2 nights post-cruise. It is adjacent to the Plaka and you can practically reach out and touch the Acropolis when you step out the front door. The Acropolis metro stop is also right down the street. The staff went out of their way to help us even before we had checked in with touring advice about Athens. Since there is kitchenette in each apartment it also saved us on some meals as well as adding convenience. They clearly merit their top ratings on Trip Advisor. Since our flight from Athens departed at 8 am we decided to spend the last night at the Sofitel Athens Airport. It is a typical high end airport hotel (in both amenities and price) but we got a great deal by booking a pre-paid room on the Internet- saving 80 Euros over the best deal they had otherwise. It was worth the convenience because you literally walked out the front door and into the check-in area.

Guides:

Based on all the advice through Cruise Critic and Yahoo we selected Lale Kosagan (www.toursinistanbul.com, kosagan@yahoo.com) as our guide. It may have been one of the best decisions of our trip, as we enjoyed two days of personalized service seeing the sights on our customized tour. She was able to get us into Mosques as they were closing to the public and everywhere we went we were several steps ahead of the bus tours, or went places they skipped. Lale met us at our hotel right after breakfast and we did a walking tour of the Sultanahmet area. At lunch Lale came through again as she made sure we got to the selected café and were immediately served- sure enough 15 minutes later up pulls a tour bus with 40 people. Lale even accompanied us in a cab to the ship to be sure we got there ok. On the second day Lale picked us up portside and continued our touring by car. For lunch she took us to an Ottoman Restaurant overlooking the Bosphorous far from the tourist crowds. I would rate Lale as one of the best guides we ever experienced.

In Ephesus there were 6 of us who used the services of Levent Solmaz (www.leventsolmaz.com/, info@leventsolmaz.com). He met us as we cleared the port gates in Kusadasi and took us in a minivan with driver to the House of Mary followed by a thorough tour of the Ephesus archaeological site. He was extremely knowledgeable and was able to adjust the pace to suit our needs (being history buffs we went into a lot more detail than the average tour). His extensive collection of drawings and photos showing what the site looked like in ancient times brought the site to life for us. Levent arranged lunch at a local restaurant and then took us through the Archeological Museum. We were all completely satisfied with every aspect of the day and would recommend Levent (who also does Istanbul) in a heartbeat.

In Katakolon/Olympia we were lucky to secure the services of Gemma Economopoulou (www.travelswithfriends.com/Private_Guide_Athens_Gemma.htm, geconom@otenet.gr). She met us portside with a van and driver and took us directly to the historical site at Olympia. She gave us a complete tour with adequate time to rest since it was getting quite hot, paying particular care to locate shady areas to sit down. Gemma is a guide armed with a marvelous depth of knowledge of the subject and was also able to use drawings of the site as it looked in ancient times to provide us with a better understanding of what we were seeing. She also gave a complete tour of the adjacent Archaeological Museum before we returned to port. It was a memorable day and Gemma has the recommendation of our entire party. Of course, she also does tours in Athens itself.

Ports:

Istanbul is a city filled with history. There is so much to see that 2 days hardly did it justice. We saw all the “must see” sights and a few more, but we look forward to returning. The people are friendly and we never felt ill at ease as Americans. Taxis are plentiful but best experienced with your eyes firmly shut. The Turkish vendors are very pushy, we are told it is a cultural thing. Having a guide insulated us from most of that unless we wanted to experience it.

Kusadasi is a small port city with an area filled with tourist shops. Some nice clean beaches are nearby. The primary purpose of this port stop is to see Ephesus, one of the best archaeological sites in the region. You can reach it by taxi and do it on your own, but there is minimal or non-existent signage so you either need a top notch guide book and some thorough studying before your visit, or you need an experienced guide. Whatever you do, don’t be put off by the stories about safety and bombings. You are far more likely to be injured driving to your home airport than in Kusadasi.

Rhodes is a very walkable city. We docked adjacent to the old city and it was no more than a 5 minute stroll into the center of town. It is a compact medieval walled town with mainly pedestrian-only streets so it is nearly impossible to get lost. Unless you want to visit the sites outside of town (which we didn’t) you can easily do this on your own. There was enough to keep us busy throughout the entire day, including several museums, churches, the synagogue, the Palace of the Knights and walking through the quaint streets.

Delos is an uninhabited island that is entirely an archaeological site. It was the holiest location in ancient Greece, the “island of the gods.” The signs at this magnificent site are primarily absent, only a few signs here and there, mostly in French, to indicate a major spot with no explanation of its significance. When we were there the ticket booth did not sell any guide books so you had to get the one they had to offer at the museum, which is halfway around the lower circuit. This stop is best done with a guide or at least arriving already armed with an excellent guide book before you step onto the island. There are no guides available for hire when you arrive either, unlike many other locations such as the Acropolis, so you generally are at the mercy of the ship’s tour unless you are arriving from Mykonos. I had downloaded a description from the internet before we left home which was serviceable but a stop at the library would probably be advised if you avoid ship’s tours at all costs as we do.

Mykonos was on our itinerary for the afternoon following our morning visit to Delos. The winds kicked up and we couldn’t tender in, so I cannot comment on Mykonos. Personally, after spending 3.5 hours walking Delos we appreciated an afternoon of napping!

Santorini is a lovely island. Besides its natural beauty and the classic whitewashed architecture, the biggest attraction is the archaeological dig at Akotiri. Regrettably this is closed until at least late 2007 as a result of the roof collapse that killed a tourist. While we were in Greece I saw a story in the paper that the commission recommending improvements was 6 months behind schedule so the opening may be delayed until 2008. We elected to take the cable car both ways up to Fira town. The donkeys move at a fast pace and take the turns rather sharply. We heard many tales of scraped knees as they make the turns. To each his own, I guess. The don’t miss site for spectacular views is Oia on the northern end of the island. All the postcards, calendars and pictures in travel brochures for the Greek islands are taken here. By all means take the bus for 1.2 Euros per person. It is tremendously easy as you ask which bus goes to Oia and it is also indicated on the front of the bus as Oia-Fira, either end of the route. You hop on and someone collects your fare. When you reach the other end where everyone gets off you follow suit. The return trip is from the square adjoining the cliffs and likewise the last stop where everyone gets off is back in Fira. By contrast the taxi drivers wanted 20 Euros and drove like they had a death wish, so take the bus!

Corfu port is very close to town, although I recommend investing a few Euros in a taxi ride and save your energy for walking the town, especially the Old Fort. We elected not to go to the Achillion Palace and concentrated on the old city. There are lots of museums, the Old Fort is a great place to wander as are the pedestrian streets with lots of interesting shops and cafes.

Katakolon has one street of shops to offer and a quaint harbor. It is worth at most an hour of strolling. The rationale for this stop is to see ancient Olympia. As with Delos the signs in Olympia are minimal or absent. I am not sure but here you may be able to hire a guide once you reach the site. As mentioned earlier we took advantage of pre-booking our guide so we were met at the dock and didn’t need the services of a taxi driver. The other option is to use a taxi and come armed with a detailed guide book. Taxis were not plentiful at the dock but could be called.

Dubrovnik was a true gem and a wonderful surprise. Unless you want to see the countryside or a winery tour, this is the easiest city to do on your own. It is a very short taxi ride from the dock and taxis were abundant. Once at the old city, when you walk through the gates of this medieval walled city you can see from one end to the other. All the streets are pedesrtrian-only. It is a best a 10 minute stroll from one side to the other and since it is all within the walls you cannot get lost. The true treasure is to walk on top of the city walls. There is an audio guide available to describe the history and the sights. There are some interesting museums and several monasteries to visit within the walled city, as well as a lovely dock area where you can book excursions around the nearby islands. We saw a lot of street performers in traditional garb and playing traditional music. It had some of the feel of Talinn in Estonia.

Athens can also be done very easily on your own. There is an excellent metro system and many of the things you want to see are very close together. The Plaka is a joy to walk through and of course the Acropolis, the Roman and Ancient Agora, the Museum of Archaeology (that was worth an entire day) are all must see areas. We also took advantage of a whim and booked a Chat Tours one day excursion to Delphi, which was well worth the money. For those staying longer in Athens Chat Tours has many half day, full day and multiple day tours available.

From our viewpoint all the things you have heard about Athens taxi drivers are true. At Pireus they almost refused to take us straight to the Acropolis, all wanted to offer full day tours. When the one we finally settled on agreed to take us where we wanted, the entire trip he tried to sell us on a tour. And of course miraculously the meter was broken. We elected to take the metro back to Pireus and it was easy, although at 102 degrees that day the 25 minute walk back to the ship seemed like 25 hours. Also, this was the one day (I like to attribute it to climbing the Acropolis in the heat and not my own stupidity) that I let my guard down briefly and stuck some money deep in my Velcro pants pocket instead of in my money belt. Sure enough halfway through the trip to port my wife noticed my metro ticket on the floor and we confirmed that I had been the victim of a pickpocket. Use a money belt or neck pouch at all times! The next day going from the ship to our hotel we got a seemingly honest taxi driver whose meter actually worked, but we had to keep stopping so I could show him on the map where our hotel was. Recall that it was only a few blocks from the base of the Acropolis! Our final trip from the hotel to the airport involved a taxi driver who took every back alley in Athens to avoid the traffic. We were constantly amazed when we caught glimpses of streets that looked familiar, but we arrived safely in the end.

I believe enough has been said about how glorious Oceania ships are, with magnificent food, service and the relaxed country club atmosphere. For that reason I will not review the ship here, but will answer specific questions as they arise.

Finally, one more advantage of these message boards is the ability to meet wonderful people before even setting foot on the ship. The highlight was a cocktail party with all the friends we had met through Cruise Critic. About 12 of us met for drinks one day at sea to match up faces with our “handles.” Another night we all dined together and celebrated the birthday of one member of our new group of friends.

In all it was a spectacular vacation and it already seems a bit like a dream. Now only 5 ½ months until the Panama Canal cruise embarks! :)

[birdrock96]

Thank you for the detail account of your trip, we are taking this cruise September 2007.

 

Bonnie

[aneka]

Thanks for the excellent review. We are on this same cruise Oct 24th, and your review will be quite valuable.

Annette

[lucinjo]

Thanks for your terrific review. We will be in many of these same ports in September. I especially appreciated your info on Delos - we too hate ships tours, so now I will be sure to come armed with a detailed guide.

[china addict]

:) Thanks to your great notes and Toranut's excellent photos, I feel as though I was there with you. I love the spirit of sharing on this board and now feel well prepared for my Aug 11th Nautica adventure. Thanks for your very informative feedback.

[TudorSue]

Phoenixcruiser-

Let me add a note of appreciation and a question or two. We are also booked at Hotel Sari Konak, Istanbul in November for 3 nights post-cruise, so it was great to hear your feedback. I've also been in touch with both Kagan Kosagan, Lale's husband, and Levent Solmaz about an Ephesus tour. I haven't heard back from LS, but I gather this is peak tourist time! I feel confident that either will be very good.

 

RE Ephesus: My DH and I are also avid history buffs and are wondering how to spend our time in Ephesus. We want to see the Terrace Houses and other key ruins sites, plus the Museum. How would you rank/rate other sites in the area that you visited?

 

Thanks very much.

[vacationhappy]

Hi -

 

Were ther any teens on board the ship?

[Lexizmom]

Yes, there were some teens. However, my goddaughter, who is 18, found that they tended to keep to themselves or their own little groups. She enjoyed spending time with the older folks, who all had a great sense of humor and were warm and very hospitable. At least on this cruise, the ship is really not geared for youngsters in terms of special activities. But, that was not a "negative" in my opinion.

[NAS-KARR]

Great review......I especially like your style of "review", quite refreshing.

Thanks for the detail of the Greek Is's as DW and I are planning a trip to the Greek Is's and North Africa in the near future.

I may even e-mail you with queries if you don't mind.

 

Ciao,

[Phoenix cruiser]

TudorSue- we felt that the more time at the archaeological site the better. Obviously this is an item of personal beliefs- but we were completely unimpressed with Mary's House. Would ahve skipped that in a heartbeat. The mueum had some interesting rooms but does not require much time. As a couple that spent 7 hours in the Archaeological Museum in Athens you can gauge the quality when I say 1 hour in the Ephesus museum was enough. So the more you can cover the actual site the better.

 

vacationhappy- To add to what Benjzmom said, we saw several groups of teens but with no real opportunity to mingle, no events or venues geared to teens it is much harder to interact. That being said, the cruise is so port intensive that there is less need to find things to occupy one's time.

 

To all, glad to get e-mail questions- it helps me prolong the dream!:)

[ama22]

What a great review!!! I love the detail. Thank you so much for the time it took to write. (I write detail also, but it takes me months on returning home to finish it).

 

Birdrock96: What ship are you sailing the Med on in Sept '07. We are doing a Sea Dream from Istanbul to Rome.

 

Mary Lou

[TudorSue]

Phoenixcruiser,

 

Thanks for your suggestions about Ephesus. I was inclined to skip Mary's House and you've confirmed my intuition. Also great to know about time allocation for Ephesus ruins and Museum.

 

I'm glad to be in contact with another "deep" history person on this board. My DH and I are really thinking about getting a guide just for the two of us just for this reason. We're experienced travelers (though newbie cruisers) and accustomed to making our own schedule and itinerary. Plus we probably won't re-visit Ephesus any time soon....

[roothy123]

Thanks Phoenix. We go to the Greek Isles and Athens in early Sept., so I was very interested in your experiences in those places. We did the Panama Canal with Oceania not this past winter, but the one before. It was great.

[conan]

A thousand thanks for a most informative and entertaining review! We're even more anxious now to embark on our own. Your warnings about Athens pickpockets are especially appreciated since we're using the metro from and to Piraeus.

One question though, what currency did you use to pay the cabbie in Dubrovnik (Ragusa) and if not euro, where did you find the currency exchange?

 

Thanks again

[Phoenix cruiser]

We paid for the cab ride in Euros. There is an ATM right outside the entrance to the walled city and many ATMs inside to withdraw Kunas. However, despite what we read on CC before we left, it seems all the museums and restaurants in Dubrovnik had prices posted in both Kunas and Euros.

[Red Ryder]

Thank you so much for your in-depth review. My husband and I are booked on the 5/17/07 Istanbul to Athens trip on Nautica and your comments and contacts should prove invaluable. I'm hoping to hear from others who would be interested in sharing costs for private tours, etc.

Can you tell me how far in advance you booked your guides.

[Phoenix cruiser]

We booked the guides in mid January for our June cruise.

[Red Ryder]

Thanks for the response. Again, your review was terrific.

[JLSchutt]

Thanks for the excellent review. We are on this same cruise Oct 24th, and your review will be quite valuable.

Annette

 

Annette, is your cruise this year or in 2007? We are on the latter.

 

--Jim--

[Justgottago]

Mark

 

Thank you for your detailed review. I found it while searching the CruiseCritic archives and have found it useful for planning our activities when we do the same cruise in May 2008.

Derek

[jaysue]

Thanks - very useful information for our planning

 

Cheers

jaysue