Galaxy/E. Med 7/2/07 cruise and port reviews

[plane2port]

enjoyed all your reviews. We are on Splendor of Seas Greek Isles on Sept 29. We are stopping at a couple of the same ports on that cruise and then will be on Princess for a couple of others. I do have a question about Santorini:

 

I don't do heights, so the cable car is out for me. My sister and I both have knee problems so was wondering if it is hard to walk the steps up to town from where the tenders come in. Or, can you take a taxi up to Fira and back down again. I think there is also bus service. I did read you can ride a donkey.....ha ha.....wouldn't want a picture of me on a donkey up/down. But not sure if that is up to Fira or another town. I saw a show on Food Network which featured Santorini.

 

Thanks for help ...........Lynne

 

Lynne, I also don't like heights. The cable car is not far above the ground. It takes less than a minute to get to the top. I don't think you'll have a problem with it

With that said, if you don't take the cable car you have two options--walk up or take the donkeys. My husband walked up and had no problems with it. You cannot take the taxi up. The cable car and donkey/walk trail go up to Fira.

 

You may want to check the shore excursions. They may have a ferry from the port to some other ports on the island

[Grumpy7]

We just returned. If you take a tour to oia or other places, a bus picks you up from a different shore location and then drops you in Fira where you can either take the stairs or a donkey(ugh).

[voyages]

Hi, since you were on the 11 nights Galaxy sailing july 2nd, maybe you could tell me at what time main and second seatings were. I am doing this cruise on the 3rd of september with a group and I am having a hard time getting the actual dining times. If second seating was at 9pm, were most of the shows for second seating pre-dinner shows or were the late shows

Please reply.

Denis

[TomMMD]

Bonjour Voyages:

 

Come join us at the Roll Call for the 11 night Galaxy cruise leaving Sept 3 and don't forget to sign up for the Cruise Critic party. (We are tantalizingly close to having enough people)

[plane2port]

Dinner times were at 6:15 and 8:45. Shows were at 7:00 and 9:00. There were a very few nights where there was just one show and it was at 10:30. You will have a great cruise.

 

Leigh

[Ichiban Nekko]

Thanks so much capnlei for taking the time to do this wonderful set of reviews. We are scheduled for this itinerary next October and your detailed reports provide a wonderful template for those who may want to consider exploring on their own vs. using X excursions. Hopefully, we won't need to make use of your umbrella tip in October, lol:D.

 

Your reports have certainly ratcheted up the anticipation factor for us. Thanks again!

[grannygeek]

Thank you capnlei. We are taking your cruise 9/3 and your review is invaluable as we've only booked cruises for 3 ports.

 

We are wondering about dress (guys and gals) for the 3 formal and 3 semi-formal evenings. Any advice?

 

THX

[plane2port]

I'm sure that you already know what the recommended dress codes are, so I will just tell you what I saw when I was on board.

 

Most men do wear tuxes or suits on formal nights. You will see here and there some men in shirt sleeves or even polo shirts. They are, however in the minority.

 

I had a black lace skirt that I wore on all formal nights. I had about 3 tops that I used with this skirt. I wore some of these tops with dressy pants on semi-formal nights.

 

I saw a man that was, in my opinion, very elegantly dressed on formal night and I pointed him out to Bruce as an example of what you could "get away with" on formal night. Bruce just gets too warm on formal nights in a suit. This fellow had on black pants, belt, and a long-sleeved black shirt that buttoned up to the neck, but the shirt had no collar. It's hard to describe, but it was elegant and I thought it was a nice compromise between suffering through dinner in a hot suit, and saying "to hell with it I'm wearing what I want."

 

One of our tablemates wore a black polo shirt to dinner on formal nights. He had skipped the first formal night because he didn't bring a suit. The waiters and us begged him to just wear his best and come to dinner. You know how it is, sometimes you just miss your tablemates!

 

I am so jealous of your upcoming trip. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of ours.

 

Leigh

[TomMMD]

Thank you capnlei. We are taking your cruise 9/3 and your review is invaluable as we've only booked cruises for 3 ports.

 

We are wondering about dress (guys and gals) for the 3 formal and 3 semi-formal evenings. Any advice?

 

THX

 

Have you signed up for the Cruise Critic Connections party?

[grannygeek]

Capnlei,

 

Thank you for the info. What did the gents wear on semi-formal evenings? Is a coat necessary?

 

TomMMD,

 

I did sign up for the Cruise Critics Connections party today. Hopefully our friends will as well.

[plane2port]

On semi-formal nights, coats are not necessary, but most gents wear them. Let me define "necessary." The dress code says that they are required, but you won't be turned away from the dining room because you aren't wearing one.

 

Leigh

[lkb125]

Our flight out of Rome to Atlanta was scheduled to leave at 10:00 am, so we were given a ship departure time of 5:45 am. We were issued luggage tags and were told to report to the Celebrity theater at 5:45. We did not put our luggage out the night before, because all we had were two carry-on size bags each, and one was a roll-on. We always use self-disembarkation and thought we didn't need to use luggage tags. Mistake.

 

They opened the buffet at 4:45 am for the many who have to leave the ship early. We had a very light breakfast and then went to the theater. They called up promptly and we went to the shuttle bus area. They didn't know which bus to put us on because we didn't have our tags. So they just let us put our bags on a bus. I think we ended up leaving with the very first bus out.

 

We got to the airport about 7 am. After going through all the usual procedures, we arrived at the departure gate at 8:00. The Rome airport is not a bad place to kill a couple of hours. They have over a 100 shops, and while I am not a shopper, I enjoyed browsing. All the designer shops are there, Gucci, Prada, etc. If you are in the market for a 400 euro blouse or 200 euro belt, this is where to buy it.

 

We had a couple of euros to get rid of, so I ordered a cafe americano at the coffee bar. After 11 days of drinking the puny Celebrity coffee, I felt as though I had injected the caffeine right into my bloodstream. A decent cup of coffee at last!

 

The Delta non-stop back to Atlanta was the best long-distance flight I've had. They were constantly offering coffee, tea, and water. We ate three times and had the regular beverage service about 3 times also.

 

Now that I'm done with my review I have to accept the fact that I'm not on vacation anymore and have to go back to the daily grind. It's been great doing the review--it's let me experience the cruise all over again.

 

Some things I liked about Celebrity:

 

1. The slightly more formal attitude of the crew to the guests.

2. The lecture series.

3. No announcements throughout the day

4. The cool towel as you come back on board after being in port all day.

5. Being greeted by senior staff as you return to the ship each day.

6. Children and teenagers were under control.

 

Some things I didn't like:

 

1. The deadline for prepaying gratuities is two days before the end of the cruise. We missed it.

2. Closing of the pool and hot tubs at 10 pm.

3. The coffee is terrible and they don't provide half-and-half.

4. Poor selection of wines in the less than $35/bottle category.

5. Poor customer service. We were charged for a bottle of wine out of the fridge that we didn't drink. No response from CS.

 

Hope some of you have found my review helpful. I will try to answer any questions that you may have.

 

Leigh

Great review really enjoyed reading it. Lorelle