Nautica -Athens to Istanbul 10/29/09 What tours to take?

[pwlevy]

We are going on Oceania from Athens to Istanbul-any suggestions on what tours to sign up for?

[LHT28]

You could check in with the Roll Call for your cruise & maybe share private tours

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=903415

[Andee]

If you list your ports, we could more easily make recommendations.

 

The Port of Call board for each stop will also give you good information.

[pwlevy]

Our Ports of Call are-

Athens

Crete

Dubrovnik

Corfu

Katakolon

Santorini

Delos

Mykonos

Rhodes

Kusadasi

Istanbul

Any suggestions on tours would be helpful!

Thanks! Phyllis

[suec12]

We did this cruise in May - the only port we did not do on our own was Kusadasi - we booked a private guide ahead of time with Ekol tours. Some of the passengers did alot of the ship's tours - it depends, do you want to explore on your own (doing some homework ahead of time) or do you have some sights that are must see's that you would prefer a guide for? Here is briefly what we did - you will notice we are not big ruin / history buffs.

 

Athens - took the metor into town - we did not spend any extra nights there - did a Rick Steves walking tour from his guidebook - looked up at the Acropolis - saw a wonderful church near the Roman ruins (mentioned in the RS book). Had nice long luch at outdoor cafe.

 

Ag. Nic. Crete - walked around the little lake then went to "beach" (pebbles / stones). Anchient site of Knossos here which might be good to use a tour - other passengers gave so so reviews of the site.

 

Dubrovnik - walked around the top of the city walls on our own. WONDERFUL

 

Corfu - walked aournd the city on our own - actually took a little tourist train for about an hour - helped to see a few more sights. The dock is about a 15 minute / 10E taxi from town.

 

Katakalon (Olympia) - we thought there was going to be a beach near the ship - totally gross! ate at one of the restaurants along the water - pretty tastey. You can do Olympia on your own by train but needs to be planned out in advance.

 

Santorini - took local bus to Oia - wonderful day

 

Mykonos / Delos - bad weather - ship skipped Delos - Mykonos we walked around the town on our own - we had plans to go to a beach there but the weather was not co-operating. Ate in town - tried fried cheese - so good but so bad for you!

 

Rhodes - seemed to have alot of sights in the town but we beached it instead. Took taxi (15E?) to beach club not too far from port. Watched the Euro-trash - definatelty as interesting as the "old stones of Europe" in the city, at least for one afternoon.

 

Kusadisi - this was our ruins day. Also included the obligatory rug shop visit but they gave us free lunch - food was good too!

 

Istanbul - stayed 2 extra nights - toured with my favorite travel bud, Rick Steves - saw Topakl Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagi Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Chora Church - wished we had done a Bosphorous cruise - by the way - the approach into Istabul is wonderful on the ship.

 

So thats what we did - let me know if you have any further questions. It was a wonderful trip! so much so we are thinking of doing a very similar trip in 2010. You can tell we are not big fans of history and ruins but this trip was a great mix of cultural opportunities, tastey local foods, relaxed small city wanderings where each island was a mix of cultures plus the amazing city of Istanbul. Enjoy!

[calvin81]

We did the reverse cruise in June 2009 and did very similar things to suec as far as tours. We also used Ekol travel in Kusadasi and had a private (just the two of us) tour that was great. Our guide was Ali and he was wonderful. The day was very warm, so we often walked to a shady spot and sat for a few minutes while he talked. When I saw the large groups standing in the sun or waiting for the slowest person to catch up I was so glad we did the private tour. And we actually spent less than those who did the ship's excursion. The only thing we did differently from suec was in Crete we took a boat trip to Spinalonga, an island that used to be a leper colony. There were boat trips from Ag. Nik., but we had asked about this port on tripadvisor.com and followed their advice and took a taxi to Elounda (about 10 minutes and 12E) to take a boat from there. The trips from Ag. Nik. were all afternoon and we didn't want to be out in the sun on a boat that long. The island was further from Ag. Nik., so the boat trip was longer. The boats from Elounda left every half hour and were 10E roundtrip. The ride was about 20 minutes and they picked you up in an hour, which was plenty of time to walk around the island. Search for photos and you'll see how interesting this island is. I think it cost 2E at the island. Elounda itself was nice (we weren't that impressed with Ag. Nik.) and we found an internet cafe there. We just missed the bus back to Ag. Nik., and we probably spent as much as the longer tour boats when you added cabs both ways, but if you find someone to share the cabs it would be cheaper of course. We loved Spinalonga and had a much better day than many others we talked to who just stayed in Ag. Nik.

[calvin81]

Also -- forgot to mention that the train in Katakalon to Olympia was so easy! It isn't well publicized on the ship as they probably want you to take the excursion. The train left Katakalon at 12:52 and was about 45 minutes on a nice, newish air conditioned train. The station was a short walk from the dock and it was a short walk in Olympia to the ruins and the museum. We aren't huge history buffs, but the train was 2E roundtrip, the site was 9E so it was reasonable and Katakalon has nothing to see really. The museum was really nice and we're glad we saw the site and even seeing the countryside from the train was interesting. The train returns to Katakalon after two hours -- plenty of time to see the site and the museum. We found another internet cafe in Katakalon -- just one room on the back street behind the shops, but it beat the slow, expensive internet onboard.

[CintiPam]

We did Nautica Istanbul to Athens last September (same itinerary except for the addition of Crete this year and subtraction of Sarande, Albania), and I refer you to my cruise review I posted for my port reviews at the end of my lengthy (but well-captioned) review:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=48450.

 

We are big DIY travelers but also hired EKOL for a private tour for our Kusadasi port day, and had a fabulous tour with the excellent Ali, our first-ever private tour. For Istanbul, we also relied on the excellent Rick Steves' Istanbul guidebook. We rented cars in Katakolon and Santorini.

 

Great itinerary. Enjoy your trip!

[Andee]

In Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Rhodes, we did self-guided historical walking tours I compiled by reading several guide books. I agree that walking the city walls in Dubrovnik (get the audioguide) was wonderful. In Corfu, we also took a narrated trolley ride to some of the city sights that were beyond walking distance--very interesting and also a nice break for our feet in the middle of the day.

 

Athens was our disembarkation port. We hired Spiros, from ********************, to pick us up at the ship, take us on a half day tour, and drop us off at the hotel--great day. I don't know why that website was removed, but is athens taxi dot net.

[cruzagain]

We are going on Oceania from Athens to Istanbul-any suggestions on what tours to sign up for?

 

Hi Phyllis,

One member has arranged an Ephesus 4 hour tour in Kusadasi, if you are interested to join us we need another couple, please go to Roll Calls under Nautica 10/29/2009-Athens to Istanbul & you can read more info about the tour. Hope to hear from you.

[2DesertRats!]

We are going on Oceania from Athens to Istanbul-any suggestions on what tours to sign up for?

 

Did the reverse cruise about 1.5 years ago and loved it.

 

One thing to be aware of is Delos is CLOSED on Mondays. If you are stoping there on a Monday the Only way to visit the island is with a ship tour. Some of our friends did not find this out till too late and were unable to go ashore there.

 

We did many things similar to Suec, however we did book a private half day tour on Rhodes and found it more than worth it. We absolutly fell in love with the town of Lindos that our guide took us too. We explored the main city of Rhodes ourselves and were quite comfortable there.

 

Enjoy!

[legaleaglegreen]

We did this cruise a year ago from Istanbul and it was great. Delos is closed on Monday in the sense there are no ferries from Mykonos. You do not have to sign up for the ship's tour--they will tender you ashore anyway if you want a DIY tour. The museum on Delos will be closed so you will need to get tour info from a guidebook in advance to know what you are seeing.

[debsjc]

Our routing was different, but we did stop at Corfu and Dubrovnik. I've just looked up my port reviews on those 2 places, and will put them below in case they are any help (we did all the Med ports on our own, no organised tours)

 

Corfu - Had a rental car from Sunrise Cars who are at the port, and were excellent. Drove to Paleokastritsa to see the monastery, had lunch in a wonderful spot over looking the beach, then went onto Achillion Palace, then back to the port - a very inexpensive and enjoyable way to see the island.

 

 

Dubrovnik - Taxi into the old town for 10 Euros (same price for 4 or 2 people, so share if you can) - visited the Franciscan monastery which is pretty but quite small, and not very much to see. After that we waked the city walls, which is about 2km and took just over an hour - this is a 'must do' for this city, fabulous views.

[2DesertRats!]

We did this cruise a year ago from Istanbul and it was great. Delos is closed on Monday in the sense there are no ferries from Mykonos. You do not have to sign up for the ship's tour--they will tender you ashore anyway if you want a DIY tour. The museum on Delos will be closed so you will need to get tour info from a guidebook in advance to know what you are seeing.

 

Perhaps procedures have changed since our visit, however, the ship absolutly refused to allow anyone ashore on Delos on the Monday we visited unless they were part of the ship's tour. DIY touring was not allowed. I recommend a VERY careful check with "O" if you are arriving at Delos on a Monday. Hopefully legaleaglegreen is right, but check to avoid disappointment.

[skip01per]

Hi! Just to be a little different from everyone else, we did that cruise in May 2009( fantastic by the way) We did all Oceania tours-generally the most extensive ones offered. We were very pleased with all of the tours-excellent guides and very well run. Maybe you can save a little by booking your own, but the uncertainty wasn't worth it. Have a great time-wish we were going again!