Live from Galaxy

[tom_uk]

Day 8 up now. It includes some calculations on maximum cablecar numbers at Santorini.

[tcocktail]

Tom,

 

You are truly doing an outstanding job, thank you so much. Did you happen to go to the black sand beach in Oia? Did you take the donkey down? When I was last there I rode the Donkey up, it was a real experience. Do they still have several tide together? Was the island crowded?

 

Would you do this cruise again at this time of year or would you wait until September?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[tom_uk]

I've just posted my last entry ( http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/ ) & I'm almost out of minutes, so I'll leave it with you.

 

I'll do a wrap-up & answer questions when I get home.

 

We have to *get off the ship* tomorrow morning! No!! Say it ain't so Joe.....!!!

[anniecat]

great info, really appreciate it. Sorry your Naples day went badly....Italy seems to require patience at best..and in the heat I don't handle that well. Hopefully it will be cool in November, but weather can surprise that's for sure. At least we should be the only major ship in port, unless there's some that aren't listed on 'cruise ship calendar'. Hope you have a safe trip home....

[tcocktail]

Naples in November is wonderful. It is not the time to go to Capri but the Amalfi coast is truly beautiful and Pompei is great to walk around. There is NOTHing to do in Mykonos, for that reason I am thinking of going in June or September.

[tom_uk]

I said I'd come back with some answers to question, so here they are.

 

ispeed said:

if you get a chance to say you'd do anything differently on each excursion, please let us know ... we may be in line to change our plans as well.

 

I think the only one we'd have done differently would be Naples, of course. With a lot of ships in port, and especially with several ships in port, local transport seems to get very crowded. And these are real limits: there are only so many hydrofoils, for example, with a set maximum capacity. Once they're full, that's it. So looking back, we should have booked an excursion. They used to do a 'Capri on your own' but not anymore. Pity....

 

I was happy with our choices at Athens & Kusadasi - some people were suprised that we weren't going to the Acropolis. However, those that did had a very hot, hard day. Athens is quite often hot in summer.

 

 

sarahsunshine said:

...considering the capri, sorrento and pompeii, even though it's a long day!

 

It does look like a long day, but those we met that did it, really enjoyed it. Perhaps not a good one for kids, though.

 

nonrev1 asked:

When the ship docked in Messina were there drivers available that would take you to Taormina- or do you feel that the best option was to book "Taormina on your own" through Celebrity?

 

We didn't see any taxis, but access to the quayside was controlled, I think. In any case (and I may be letting my prejudices show) I don't think I would rely on ad hoc Sicilian taxi drivers! I think the best choices for Taormina are either the '... on your own' excursion or a private tour. The latter gives the option of switching if conditions are bad. Those who did Mt. Etna that day had a better time of it than we had, for example: it was apparently quite a bit cooler up the mountain.

 

signman asked:

Does Galaxy have new bedding yet??

 

I don't know, but there again I wasn't uncomfortable last year, so I don't think I'd notice whether it was old or new. Sorry.

 

tcocktail asked:

Did you happen to go to the black sand beach in Oia? Did you take the donkey down? When I was last there I rode the Donkey up, it was a real experience. Do they still have several tide together? Was the island crowded?

 

Would you do this cruise again at this time of year or would you wait until September?

 

Black sand beach: no, never been there. I'm not sure that it's actually 'sand'; I think a mixture of pummice & sand might be more accurate.

 

Donkeys: those who have done both say that riding the donkeys down is much, much scarier than riding them up. And yes, apparently they are in strings, tied together.

 

Time of year: I don't know; I still think a cooler June (i.e. a more typical June) than this one would be fine - I enjoy the long light evenings. Maybe the ideal time is May - definitely cooler, still light enough.

 

 

Someone asked on the blog about formal night observance. I would say that for second dining, 80% of the men wore dark clothes on formal nights, possibly about 50% DJs/tuxedos, 30% dark formal suits. The rest wore lighter suits, and some sports coats. Everyone wore a tie.

 

One other thing: we sometimes felt that service in the dining room was a bit rushed. Our waiter (Tayfon) gave us a clue later in the cruise: there were 1200 people for second sitting, as against 800 for first. So they were working very hard during second sitting.

 

 

That's it, folks: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the feedback.

[hcat]

Your blog has been very helpful & fun to read.. Thank you for taking so much care in presenting it to us.

We are not taking this itin on Galaxy until '09 so we have quite a long time to wait..But your comments confirmed that we are best suited to the ship's excursions whihc we will take on this trip & the upcoming one to W medit this Sept. Those trips get prioirt in leaving the ship & they do get you in & out of places pretty well. My only reservation is that our cruise will be in mid Nov & I am concerned about the weather being cool, rainy & seas being rough--but that's when we can go..at least the hot sun won't be such a factor. I hope you wil have beautiful memories of this trip...

[jcallcut]

I wanted to thank you. My wife and I are trying to decide if we should take tours or strile out on our own. This has certainly raised my confidence a bit to go on our own in some of the ports. We do not have experience travelling internationally so it is a bit daunting.

 

Thanks again

[tcocktail]

Tom,

 

Again, thank you very much for taking the time to review your trip in such detail. It was a huge help to me in planning next year.

 

"Black sand beach: no, never been there. I'm not sure that it's actually 'sand'; I think a mixture of pummice & sand might be more accurate."

 

You are very correct it is pummice and sand but the locals know it as "black sand beach"

 

Have a great summer!!

 

Where is your next trip?

[sarahsunshine]

yes, tom, thanks so much for the updates and answers! we will be leaving next friday and we are so excited! we are splurging on the private driver in naples - it will just be long, but fun day... i checked cruisecal and only one ship will be there that day, so hopefully we will dock at the usual port! i hope we have a good balance of restful days and busy touring days...

 

one thing, do you remember how far athens was from the ship's port? we are signed up for the athens sightseeing and acropolis tour, but we might want to leave the tour to hang around the Plaka and get lunch, but want to make sure that we can get back without too much trouble!

 

also, did you hear from anyone whether the terraced houses were included in the ship's ancient ephesus or other ephesus tours?

 

thanks again! : )

[tom_uk]

sarahsunshine asked:

one thing, do you remember how far athens was from the ship's port? we are signed up for the athens sightseeing and acropolis tour, but we might want to leave the tour to hang around the Plaka and get lunch, but want to make sure that we can get back without too much trouble!

 

Athens itself is a few miles from Piraeus. You can get a metro from Piraeus into Athens, but it's about a 20 minute walk around Piraeus to the station. Have a look at http://www.europeportreviews.com - they have instructions.

 

However I think this would be hot & difficult. I thought that Piraeus was the busiest & most confusing-looking place we visited. But others say it's easy, so read up on it.

 

also, did you hear from anyone whether the terraced houses were included in the ship's ancient ephesus or other ephesus tours?

 

You need to examine the fine print of the excursion details to Ephesus. There are several to Ephesus, and some cover more of the site than others, including the Terraced Houses. Ours didn't.

 

Incidentally, we were very impressed with everything we saw in & around Kusadasi - a neat, well-tended countryside, well laid-out towns with wide roads, it was clean - an impressive area. I don't know how typical it is Turkey as a whole (though that's so big there may not a 'typical Turkey'), and Istanbul is possibly very different, but as I say, we were attracted to the area. Just make sure you avoid the carpet sellers!

[nonrev1]

Thank you very much for the updates. We have now booked "Taormina on Your Own". Loved reading your blog every day.....welcome home.

 

Lauri

[iramack]

Tom,

I have been reading your blog and this thread. I must say I had the exact same experience on my Galaxy cruise which ended the day you boarded. Hot weather, bad windows, younger than expected fellow cruisers, shore excursions, etc. As I read your daily journal, I felt as if we had been on the same sailing. Kudos to Celebrity for the consistent service. And thank you for the great journal.

 

Celebrity does do a good job in Europe and I am glad we all got to have a great cruise.

 

Steve

[2sightseers]

Thank you Tom for a most informative blog. We are on the Galaxy on 9/3 to Greece, Turkey and Naples, so I was most interested in your report of tours, ports, and weather conditions. Hope it isn't as hot in Sept. Really appreciated your input.

[tom_uk]

Looking back over the entries, I see that I've tended to concentrate on the itinerary and the events. I ought to finish off by mentioning some things about the overall onboard experience.

 

First, we found the service well up to standard, especially in the bars and the buffet areas. In the morning at breakfast we always found several waiters taking our trays off us and leading us to a table. In the bars also we found service fast and attentive.

 

On the 2006 cruise I don't think we used the Martini Bar at all; this year we practically lived there. All the waiters there were good, but we especially remember a blonde young woman called Elena from Latvia (I think) who spoke excellent English and shook a mean martini. And towards the end of the cruise we started ending off the night with a night cap in Cova Cafe, where we enjoyed the company of Maria from Croatia, who was excellent company.

 

Finally, I haven't mentioned our sommelier in the dining room. Unfortunately I've also forgotten his name so I can't say too much about him! But he was certainly tested as one of our dinner companions, Pasquale, works as a maitre'd at a good restaurant in Ottawa, and he had definite tastes in wine. He also did well in the casino, so he was generally looking for, and could afford, excellence. But even with mere mortals the sommelier was good; one night I ordered a glass of the recommended Shiraz and he said that he could give me a glass of a better wine for the same price. He then produced a glass of Wente Cabernet Sauvignon which was excellent, and which we drank from then on when we wanted red. He made it a special experience for us even though we were drinking from the budget end of the wine list.

[sarahsunshine]

hi tom,

 

thanks for the info! do you remember if your shore excursion was called "highlights of ephesus" or "ancient ephesus"? they are both three hour tours, and ancient ephesus mentions the "terraces of the apartment houses", so that might be it! : ) we'll probably just stick with the tour for athens or take a taxi - sounds like we don't want to get lost or stuck in athens! sorry for all the questions...

 

thanks, sarah

[tom_uk]

hi tom,

 

thanks for the info! do you remember if your shore excursion was called "highlights of ephesus" or "ancient ephesus"? they are both three hour tours, and ancient ephesus mentions the "terraces of the apartment houses", so that might be it! : ) we'll probably just stick with the tour for athens or take a taxi - sounds like we don't want to get lost or stuck in athens! sorry for all the questions...

 

thanks, sarah

 

We did the 'Ancient Ephesus' excursion, and you're right, there is a mention of the 'Apartment Houses', which I do remember - near the bottom of the site, close to the library. But there were plenty of other bits that we didn't go to - we only looked at the big theatre, for example, we didn't visit it. Even so there was very little standing around.

[Lois R]

Hi Tom~you mentioned earlier about a new specialty restaurant

on Galaxy? Were you given any sort of time frame about it?

 

Oh, I enjoyed reading about your trip:)

[snowmouse]

Hi Tom. We just returned home yesterday, having returned through Germany. We all had a great time, and it was so nice to meet you and Val.

 

Having just read your great blog, I can say our experiences and impressions were similar to yours. We, too, found the ship and its' service fantastic for the most part, and we also found our shore experienced to be unbearably hot. The weather, while the most disappointing part of the trip, did not change the incredible experiences our family enjoyed.

[este1204]

i will be on the july 13th sailing, so this is great!

 

ispeed, i too am looking for info on excursions. we've booked ephesus and athens sightseeing, and are tryting to figure out what exursion to do in naples...considering the capri, sorrento and pompeii, even though it's a long day! :)

 

 

Was wonderiing with whom you booked your Ephesus tour....have been trying to find email address of Negat, the popular tour guide.

ekpilo@peoplepc.com

[sarahsunshine]

hi este,

 

we just booked the ancient ephesus shore excursion from celebrity....however, i am worried that we won't get to go to the terrace houses that i have heard so much about. I guess i could call celebrity and ask them...

 

i did contact that tour guide i think you are referring to...nejat. however, he was already booked for our date and the other group didn't want to join with anyone else. he offered to set us up with another tour guide for $80 pp for 5 of us...however, i didn't follow up with it, because it sounded kind of expensive... his email if you want it is: **********@yahoo.com.

 

good luck! : ) sarah

[sarahsunshine]

hi este,

 

check your email for his email, it didn't come up here.

 

: )

[tom_uk]

Hi Tom~you mentioned earlier about a new specialty restaurant

on Galaxy? Were you given any sort of time frame about it?

 

There is a hole in Galaxy's schedule in spring 2008, between late April (after the still-unannounced eastbound TA) and late May or early June. The work will apparently be done in that period.

[tom_uk]

And as a final post, my review is now on line, here:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=30488

 

Some people may notice that it's a bit different from the blog. I think that's inevitable: the blog is a daily of record of what's happening day by day, whereas the review is a more considered overall summary. So there may be things in the blog which don't make it into the review, and there may be things mentioned in the review which weren't in the blog.

[tcocktail]

Tom,

 

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to review your trip with us. I am so looking forward to the Galaxy again next year and I love the med and look forward to returning.

 

You did an outstanding job with your review and I can really feel your trip within me as your describe the places. Have you ever thought about writing a travel book :-)!

 

We will certainly miss your reviews on the Celebrity board please let us know of your next trip so that we can follow you around the world.

 

Have a good day, and thank you so much!

 

Tom