Eastern Med and shore excursions

[GrandMed091808]

Hello All, I recently booked a 12 day cruise from Rome from September 19-Oct 1. I am busily trying to decide how is best to spend my glorious vacation. I would be most comfortable doing shore excursions through the cruise line (I don't speak the languages and wouldn't want to miss the ship). I will be spending time in the following ports:

Rome

Naples

Marmaris

Izmir

Istanbul

Athens

Katakolon

Livorno.

Does anyone have any advice regarding the best excursions or alternative tours??

Thanks so much!! :D

 

 

My cruise:

http://carnival.com/Itinerary.aspx?embkCode=CIV&itinCode=EE3&durDays=12&shipCode=FD&subRegionCode=E%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&rateCode=BCA&sailingID=45278&sailDate=9/19/2008

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Hello All, I recently booked a 12 day cruise from Rome from September 19-Oct 1. I am busily trying to decide how is best to spend my glorious vacation. I would be most comfortable doing shore excursions through the cruise line (I don't speak the languages and wouldn't want to miss the ship). I will be spending time in the following ports:

Rome

Naples

Marmaris

Izmir

Istanbul

Athens

Katakolon

Livorno.

 

Does anyone have any advice regarding the best excursions or alternative tours??

 

Thanks so much!! :D

 

 

My cruise:

http://carnival.com/Itinerary.aspx?embkCode=CIV&itinCode=EE3&durDays=12&shipCode=FD&subRegionCode=E%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&rateCode=BCA&sailingID=45278&sailDate=9/19/2008

 

There is a pretty active roll call for this cruise. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=545683

 

They probably have a lot of your answers already.

[nanadeborah]

My DH and I did this cruise on May 10th. For Naples, we did the ship's Pompeii excursion in the morning. The tour guide was very good and the excursion was very tiring. Even in May, it was very hot, but well worth it. I would not do Pompeii without a guide, since you would miss so much of the very interesting descriptions and background. If you do a private excursion, make sure you have a guide included. It was just easier for us to do the one with the ship.

We didn't do any excursions in Marmaris. None of them appealed to us.

In Izmir, we did the Ephesus and National Archeological Museum Tour with the ship. Ephesus is quite a distance away and you would need a reliable tour company. Most of the companies charge the same amount of money as the ship does per person. Once again, lots of walking and very hot and sunny.

In Istanbul, we did the ship's tour with the Blue Mosque, Hagya Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and Grand Bazaar. There is really not enough time to do all of the Topkapi Palace. There is a trolley not too far from the port that will take you to the area where all three are located. If you are comfortable with touring on your own, get your info and travel in a group.

In Athens, we did the Acropoklis and National Archeological Museum tour with the ship. Good thing we did it with the ship, because it turned out that the main part of the museum was closed to visiters except for those tour groups who were scheduled ahead of time. This tour also drove past several of the city sites as we drove back to the ship.

In Katakolon, we just strolled through the village, shopped, and had lunch. We were tired of ruins by this time and just weren't that interested in seeing Olympic ruins. We had a lovely time.

In Livorno, we joined a private tour group to do Pisa and Florence on oour own. It was a big mistake. It was no well organized and we paid more than we would have for the ship's tour. We only had 2 hours in Florence and had no guide. Those who did the ship's Florence On Your Own tour wound up with much more time.

For Rome, we took the train from Civitavecchia to St. Peter's station (I think it was San Piedro) and visited the Vatican and the Vatican Museum. It was fairly easy to do.

Will you be on your own or with others?

[Onlycruisin13]

Hi!

Just wanted to offer some ideas for your excursions. We are US military and lived in Germany and traveled all over as well as an eastern Med. cruise. I would highly recommend getting a Rick Steve's Europe tour book b/c they are exceptionally helpful. We did Istanbul on our own with a taxi and it was not a problem. We are big walkers, so we usually can see alot without using lots of taxis. It is a good idea to have a map of some sort so you know where to go and the ship usually provides something. I felt like we never had enough time in port and the ship seemed to always be behind, but it was still awesome to see. We felt a little skeptical getting taxis in Olympia and Ephaseus, but talked to others that had and felt they saved money and got a better deal. Ephaseus was SUPER crowded and the tour guide was difficult to understand. I think if you did minimal research you could know in advance what you wanted to see and could breeze through some of it without being restricted by a bus and the herd of tourists with you. Most Europeans speak English in the touristy areas and most of the areas in the cities can easily be walked. Don't plan to spend hours at Pisa, it just doesn't require it unless you want to climb the tower or go into every building. You could also inquire at the excursion desk on board and see if ports like Olympia are restricting guests to just those on tour if you really want to see it. Olympia and Epheseus both require tickets and you will have to wait in a line unless you are on tour and the guide will do it for you. I hope you have a great time!