Costa Concordia Excursions

[UMASSJAG]

Hello, I am a first time cruiser. I am scheduled to take the April 4 Eastern Med cruise. I am trying to decide whether to purchase excursions or just do things on my own. Stops are Olympia, Athens, Izmir, Rhodes, Crete, Alexandria, and Rome. I am fairly good at getting around on my own, have been to Izmir and Rome already and plan on booking an excursion while in Egypt. Looking for any advice on the other ports of call. I will have a 7 year old and an infant with me.

 

Also, does Costa give priority embarking/debarking to people with small children. I have read a lot of posts about how crowded the Costa ships are.

 

Thanks for any advice!!

[Dogface]

I'm new to cruising, going on my first Oct 1st. I'm in the same position wondering what to do. Couple of thoughts, ruin sites like Olympia, etc, you really need a guide, it's a ruin. You'll have no idea what you're looking at. Also some ports are in no-mans land, docks with oil tankers, go to the web camera and look where your ship is.... For example, Rome is not along the sea, the ship ports at Civitavecchia. It's going to cost you at least 40 euros to get into town, you'll be subj to the train schedule...you start to wonder if these excursions are pretty convienent. Some of the smaller Greek isles might be a great place to go solo. On our cruise, we're going to do 4 out of the 7 excursions...have a great trip.

[nickle0806]

You will want to schedule a tour for Olympia. The port is about an hour away from the ruins and as our table mates found out there is nothing to do in the port town with a two year old. The museum and the ruins were very interesting, although we were on our own to explore the ruins. We were there in April of 2005 and it was a beautiful sunny day and everrything was green and growing. April is a great time to go. The Greek islands should be okay for independent travel but I haven't been to the ones mentioned. The Athens port is right by major bus and subway connections so you should be able to get around on your own, we took a tour here and felt rushed the whole time and while we saw a lot we saw it for 2 seconds each, your choice. I would not suggest traveling alone in any middle eastern country at this point, better safe than sorry. Hope this helps, happy cruising. :)

[graemerigg]

We are actually booked on the same cruise as you are. We went on a similar cruise 2 years ago on Costa Victoria so have an idea of what we plan to do this time.

 

Olympia - there is a huge line of taxi's waiting beside the dock, which is cheaper than taking the tour to the ruins (we did this last time, and recommend it - but probably just plan to take the short walk around Katakolon on this trip- an attractive but very small port)

 

Athens - we just walked around from the ship to the train station within Piraeus, however this would not really be recommended with small children since it's quite a hike. Probably best to get a taxi around town (we spoke to someone who hired a taxi for a tour) or go on an excursion.

 

Izmir - haven't been here, so it would be interesting to hear any tips that you have. Currently plan to do it on our own taxi/walking.

 

Rhodes - my partner recommends that we take a bus/taxi down to Lindos (which she says is beautiful) but you may prefer to walk around Rhodes town which is very interesting. I don't think there's any need to go on a tour unless you wish to.

 

Crete-with Costa Victoria they actually provided a free mini bus to Limassol. We actually walked from the dock but wouldn't recommend this since it was further than expected and not the most attractive walk. We plan to take the free minibus (or get a taxi) and then head to the main 'resort area', which is slightly further East, and away from the town centre.

 

Alexandria- we took the Pyramids/museum tour to Cairo- a long distance on the bus but very rewarding. We also spent an extra day walking around Alexandria (since our ship had additional time after changing schedule due to an ill passenger needing to be taken off the ship). Alexandria is very busy and we did walk around on our own with ease however we did stand out as 'tourists' and would definately recommend an excursion here.

 

A review of our Costa Victoria cruise is at http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/memreviews/costa/victoria8.cfm

 

Afraid I didn't hear of any priority for those with children but it's clearly worth asking. Personally we didn't find the ship crowded last time. Not the most spacious but really pretty good space levels

 

All the best

Graeme

Scotland

 

Hello, I am a first time cruiser. I am scheduled to take the April 4 Eastern Med cruise. I am trying to decide whether to purchase excursions or just do things on my own. Stops are Olympia, Athens, Izmir, Rhodes, Crete, Alexandria, and Rome. I am fairly good at getting around on my own, have been to Izmir and Rome already and plan on booking an excursion while in Egypt. Looking for any advice on the other ports of call. I will have a 7 year old and an infant with me.

 

Also, does Costa give priority embarking/debarking to people with small children. I have read a lot of posts about how crowded the Costa ships are.

 

Thanks for any advice!!

[Dogface]

Definitely take a tour at Olympia, it's all in ruins and you'll get alot more out of it with a guide. I haven't been on a cruise before and am going on my first Oct 1st, Costa Concordia. We were in Greece last year and came into Athens by ferry from Mykonos. The taxi we took from the port at Pireaus (sp?) spoke english very well and during the short ride to our hotel convinced us to take a tour with him the next day. For $100 euros (my wife and two childern included), he picked us up from the hotel and and took us to all the places of interest in Athens, it was well worth the the money. So, I would say as you get off the cruise ship at Pireaus look for a taxi driver who'll do the same, and whom you can understand....

[UMASSJAG]

Graeme, Thanks a lot for the great information. I used to live in Turkey and have done Ephesus (I would highly recommend it if you have not) so I will skip the tours to there. I, however, have two friends that live in Izmir and I plan on asking them for some hints on what to do. I am most interested in shopping for carpets and will probably spend my time doing that. I can certainly pass on any info I get to you if you tell me what you might be interested in. Thanks again and maybe I will see you on the ship.:D

 

If you want my email is jacklemieux77@hotmail.com

 

Dan

[graemerigg]

Thanks Dan. We haven't been to Ephasus so will consider it. Currently we plan to walk around Izmir on foot - if you do hear any tips then these would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you haven't already seen them, there are some good photos of Costa Concordia at -

http://cruise-chat.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6191047722/m/2001082522/p/3

 

and at

 

http://www.shipparade.com/indx.htm

 

Hopefully see you onboard the ship.

Regards

Graeme

 

graeme_rigg@hotmail.com