Just back from Galaxy Eastern Med - any questions?

[uktog]

I will do a more detailed review in due course but it was a very good cruise, the food was as good if not better than previous trips, the ship seemed a very happy ship, great ports, nice beds, carpets always look like being relayed - at each port new rolls were coming on - yes, there are some wear and tear issues but they did not in any way spoil any of the trip.

Some nice touches including the Officers serving up taco lunches one day - the crew loved that.

Entertainment not quite at the level of previous trips but as it was port intensive I am not sure I would have been able to pack in too many visits to shows anyway

So happy to try and answer any questions

[suthenfield]

I will be making this trip on July 23...any tips for tours or private tour guides in Istambul? In fact if you have this kind of info for any of the ports I would surely appreciate it! Thank you!:)

[Alebd]

Hi- we'll be sailing Galaxy transatlantic on Dec. 8. First time on X, tenth cruise overall. I have a few questions...

Was there new bedding in the staterooms? And how comfortable are the beds?

What "alternative dining" is there in addition to the main dining room? How does the nighttime buffet/cafe work on Galaxy- what sort of menu items, e. g. Sushi or theme nights?

Thanks so much for any and all info!

[uktog]

I will be making this trip on July 23...any tips for tours or private tour guides in Istambul? In fact if you have this kind of info for any of the ports I would surely appreciate it! Thank you!:)

 

OK cannot help with private guides in Istanbul as we used the X trip which we thought was very good value considering it was over 2 days and included a huge lunch on the 2nd day. Below is a response I put in to another post re excursions on the whole trip which might help.

In Athens I would definitely go with Paul fromGreek taxis and say hi from Ann and Charles

 

We are just back from the 21 May trip which was great

As regards excursions, as this was the first full run of the programme there were some glitches however overall they were fine. Here is what we did

Mykonos - there is only the excursion to Delos on offer, we did not take this. We had a lovely afternoon wandering around the port it is very pretty

Santorini - we went on the X excursion to Mesa Gonia - the hidden Santorini; weather was cloudy but it was very pretty and as I understand it becuse OIa was clouded out we may have had a better run

Rhodes - we went to Filermimos and Meze tasting before wandering around Rhodes town. The Meze tasting was brilliant in a little fishing taverna. If you are only planning to look at Rhodes town, do it yourself it is very easy

Istanbul - In general the tourist authority seemed to have a good handle on trips however, I know one excursion - the shopping one - was a disaster. We went on the Best of Istanbul which was good, except we were in Istanbul on a Saturday which is a traffic nightmare; we got back over 2 hours late and I know some people missed the evening show. I would still say (despite the high sales pitch at the carpet place) that this trip over 2 days is good

Kusadasi - we went to the House of the Virgin Mary and Ephesus - both parts really good

In Turkey they now use a headset system with the guides so as long as you are in about 100 meters of your guide you can wander and take other pictures and are not bothered about hearing over the noise of other groups -this was excellent

In Greece we went on an independent trip through Greek Taxis and we had the best as we did not go to the Acropolis until the afternoon. Our ship was late in and the ships tours hit the Acropolis all together as they tried to catch up time; from what I can gather, it was a nightmare and very unpleasant

Naples we went on the taste of Naples, Sorrento and Pompeii - a lovely trip to a real farm to see Mozarella being made. The guide was ok, she became very wearing and domineering later in the day and kept extending times "so I give you the best" the trouble was it was the last day of the cruise and we all needed back to pack. From what I can gather the Capri trips were not good as there were problems with the buses on Capri and as a result the ship had to sail late as over 150 people did not get the scheduled hydrofoil back. Independent travellers found that the hydrofoils were booked out and had to go back at 1330 to be sure of making the trip

Anyway, hope this helps and ask away

By the way it was a really good trip and we were very pleased with our experience

AJ

[uktog]

Hi- we'll be sailing Galaxy transatlantic on Dec. 8. First time on X, tenth cruise overall. I have a few questions...

Was there new bedding in the staterooms? And how comfortable are the beds?

What "alternative dining" is there in addition to the main dining room? How does the nighttime buffet/cafe work on Galaxy- what sort of menu items, e. g. Sushi or theme nights?

Thanks so much for any and all info!

 

The beds were really comfortable so I assume they have been done

In addition to the main dining room there is Casual Dining on Deck 10 where one part of the buffet area is set aside for a more informal waiter served experience - you have to prebook and they suggest a tip fee of $2 per head

They did themed buffets on two nights on our trip from 1830-2030 they were both excellent Greek and Mediterranean - not sure they would do those on a transatlantic as it is outdoors

You can have pasta, pizza and saland as a buffet any night up to about midnight

Room service including the dining room menu is available during restaurant hours

and yes they have sushi and of all the X ships I would say Galaxy had the best sushi I have had onboard so you will not go hungry!!

[Alebd]

Thanks, UK, for the prompt reply! I'll probably have more questions as the cruise approaches- can't wait!