What would YOU do??

I need some help deciding what to do and would like to know what you would do/choose.

Background: Husband turns 50 and want to see Venice and Athens. I want to give him a cruise with Venice and Athens for his birthday gift.

The plan is to leave the Netherlands on Friday Oct 28 in the morning and leave Venice Nov 6th in the evening.

Price does matter because it's an extra cruise we'll do we have already 6 weeks vacation planned in the US including 2 cruises.

There are 2 cruises that there are to choose from and both have pro's and con's.

First cruise is on the Magnifica leave Venice Oct 29

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €1043 / $1185 / £813

Venice 4.30pm

Bari 11am - 5pm = 6 hours

Katakolon 11am -5pm = 6 hours

Mykonos 8am - 8pm = 12 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 7.30pm = 12 hours

Sea day

Dubrovnik 9am - 3pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

Pro: Long hours in port

Con: no Santorini

Second cruise is With Orchestra leave Venice Oct 30

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €948 / $1065 /£739

Venice 5pm

Bari 1pm - 6pm = 5 hours

Katakolon noon -6pm = 6 hours

Santorini 8am - 5pm = 9 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 4.30pm = 9 hours

Corfù 1:30pm - 6:30pm = 5 hours

Kotor 7am - 1pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

Pro: price - more total time in Venice - Santorini

Con: less hours in port

And there the "problem" (I'm looking at these cruise because of Venice and Athens):

The Magnifica is way longer in Athens and I'm wondering if the Orchestra is there long enough to see/do Athens (as far as possible on a cruise day) or that those 3 extra hours (25%) is going to make a huge difference??

And then the selfish "problem" (again this cruise is for his 50th BD and he get's this cruise as a gift from me):

The Orchestra visits Santorini and I would love love love to go and see Santorini much more then Mykonos. There is a very interesting tour that we would both enjoy very much.

So therefor my question what would you do / choose???

Thanks in advance.

The main thing to see/do in Athens is the Acropolis and the parliament building, which you can see using either the ship excursion (from memory this was about 70€) or you can use the hop on / hop off bus . Both of the cruises have enough time to see Athens.

The cruise with Santorini is identical to one I took on Fantasia. There isn't much to see in Bari, and although Corfu is very nice, again there is not so much to see. This does however mean that the time you have in port is long enough to see the main sites.

Santorini is very beautiful, but so is Mykonos. I would also say Magnifica is a nicer ship than Sinfonia

How fun planning, but I know that its a difficult choice. I'll follow your thread and you can follow mine :).

Have you made a spreadsheet of other ships in port at each place? That REALLY helped me. I'm going in August and on some of the itineraries there were six large ships in port which really changes the experience. I think you will have less of an issue with this in November, but it might be good info to have regardless.

I also agree that both ships allow enough time in Athens - especially if you are the only ship in port.

I LOVED Mykonos when I was there in 2011, but just like you, I wanted Santorini this trip.

Bari and katakolon are washes. Does your hubby wAnt/appreciate a sea day? Sometimes it's nice to just cAtch your breath.

Personally, I was huge on Kotor and want to do the national park tour there. Plus the sail in/sail out is beautiful. However Dubrovnik looks amazing. With stops like Kotor, Corfu, and dubrovnick; I would really want to know how many other ships i was sharing port with As that would be major consideration.

Let us know if you find out how many other ships are in each of the ports when you are :). Happy planning :)

and although Corfu is very nice, again there is not so much to see.

Then you clearly have never spent a land holiday on Corfu!

There is plenty of time on both cruises to see Athens, with regard Mykanos/Santorini it depends what you want from your visit, Mykanos you need to take a bus to the town from the ship, Santorini its a boat from the ship to the dock and a wait for the cable car, or a long walk up lots of steps. A tour from the ship that takes you to the dock at Oia and the bus back to Fira and the cable car or walk back down to the dock.

Katakolon you can take the train which is close to the dock and head to Olyimpia to see the home of the first Olympic games if that is your interest, pay on the train.

In early November you are likely to be on the only ship visiting most of the ports apart from maybe Piraeus.

Wow! Two wonderful cruises! I think maybe you should consider a window or balcony on the less expensive cruise since it is a special occasion - maybe the window or balcony would be close to the same as an inside on the more expensive cruise. If it was, that would give me an excuse to book the less expensive cruise. LOL! Other than that, I would have a hard time deciding between the two.

Thanks!!

I looked at the other ships in the ports (great tip)!!

First cruise is on the Magnifica

Bari - none

Katakolon - none

Mykonos - none

Piraeus - 1 other

Dubrovnik - none

Second cruise is With Orchestra

Bari - 1 other

Katakolon - 1 other

Santorini - 3 others

Piraeus - 4 others

Corfù - none

Kotor - none

The excursion i want to do:

Bari - MSC tour 4.5 hour Alberobello

Katakolon - Olympus

Mykonos - ??

Piraeus - Athens

Dubrovnik - just walk around the city

Santorini - 7.5 hour tour with MSC that shows you around (all) Santorini

Corfù - ??

Kotor - just walk around the city

I can see the advantage of going with the Magnifica because of lesser other ships in ports.

We don't miss the sea day, we know it's a port heavy cruise.

We wouldn't mind a sea day either (done 3 transatlantic cruises and 1 transpacific cruise and those are sea days heavy).

Is there a difference between the Magnifica and Orchestra??

And please sell Mykonos to me....

Because when i think of the greek islands then the picture of the blue roofs of Santorini fills my mind (that's why i'm so drawn to it).

And since they have a very nice 7.5 hour tour of Santorini while Mykonos don't have much interesting tours (thru MSC)....

Thanks again!!!

Santorini is very beautiful, but so is Mykonos.

I've been to both. Santorini is breathtakingly beautiful. No contest I'd pick this itinerary.

Another reason is I don't care for long hours in port. I find it tiring and I like spending time on the ship.

Just my opinion and either cruise sounds nice.

I need some help deciding what to do and would like to know what you would do/choose.

 

Background: Husband turns 50 and want to see Venice and Athens. I want to give him a cruise with Venice and Athens for his birthday gift.

 

The plan is to leave the Netherlands on Friday Oct 28 in the morning and leave Venice Nov 6th in the evening.

Price does matter because it's an extra cruise we'll do we have already 6 weeks vacation planned in the US including 2 cruises.

 

There are 2 cruises that there are to choose from and both have pro's and con's.

First cruise is on the Magnifica leave Venice Oct 29

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €1043 / $1185 / £813

Venice 4.30pm

Bari 11am - 5pm = 6 hours

Katakolon 11am -5pm = 6 hours

Mykonos 8am - 8pm = 12 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 7.30pm = 12 hours

Sea day

Dubrovnik 9am - 3pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

 

Pro: Long hours in port

Con: no Santorini

 

Second cruise is With Orchestra leave Venice Oct 30

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €948 / $1065 /£739

Venice 5pm

Bari 1pm - 6pm = 5 hours

Katakolon noon -6pm = 6 hours

Santorini 8am - 5pm = 9 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 4.30pm = 9 hours

Corfù 1:30pm - 6:30pm = 5 hours

Kotor 7am - 1pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

 

Pro: price - more total time in Venice - Santorini

Con: less hours in port

 

 

And there the "problem" (I'm looking at these cruise because of Venice and Athens):

The Magnifica is way longer in Athens and I'm wondering if the Orchestra is there long enough to see/do Athens (as far as possible on a cruise day) or that those 3 extra hours (25%) is going to make a huge difference??

 

And then the selfish "problem" (again this cruise is for his 50th BD and he get's this cruise as a gift from me):

The Orchestra visits Santorini and I would love love love to go and see Santorini much more then Mykonos. There is a very interesting tour that we would both enjoy very much.

 

So therefor my question what would you do / choose???

 

Thanks in advance.

I'll give you one more element to consider: if you or your husband are afraid of heights, then you might wanna drop Santorini. Scariest bus ride of my life to go to Oia and don't even mention the cable car :eek: But other then that, it is beautiful :D

Mykonos is gorgeous!

I was there last in 2014 as part of our honeymoon cruise.

We were in port for ages, actually we were tendered but we just had a walk around the town which is full of nooks & crannies & great photo opportunities.

You can hire a car to see more of the island or you can get on a boat to see the ancient isle of Delos.

Here's some photos.

These are the famous windmills, just outside the town.

We climbed above the town to snap this shot as we were on our way to have lunch.

This was our lunch spot!

Some of the streets are quite narrow & twisting as this was supposed to confuse any marauding pirates!

Yvet: I was in a similar "quandary" as you a few years ago. Option 1 had everything I wanted except Santorini (mykonos instead). Option 2 had Santorini, but the overall itinerary wasn't as perfect. I selected option 1 and was not at all disappointed with Mykonos (I'll add some photos at the end of this post).

With that being said, for our second eastern med cruise, Santorini was a MUST DO port stop for me and weighed very heavily on my decision. The quintessential photos you see of the Greek Isles are from Ola. Is it possible you would ever return to this area? That may make the immediate decision easier.

Personally, the ship itself would be lower on my list of priorities for a port intensive itinerary like the Greek Isles. My priorities change depending on what I'm looking for in a vacation. With MSC, I have only sailed the Divina so I can't give you a comparison between your two ships; but I chose the Divina because my priority was to lay on my balcony with a good book for 7 days therefore the ship mattered and my cabin mattered: the Divina offered the most bang for the aft balcony buck.

However; anytime I've sailed port intensive trips I hardly remember the ship. My personal priority list for the Greek isles this August was: 1) Itinerary (does it go where I want it to go). 2) Time in port, is there enough time to do more than just walk around the city, we like to get into the country and explore a bit (that might not matter to you). 3) Number of ships in port, it has been my experience that the number of ships in port can greatly effect my ability to enjoy the destination. Of course, cost is always a condition.

Anyway, here are my photos of Mykonos. As I stated, I was not disappointed, but I'm excited to be making trip number 2 and actually stopping in Santorini.

This is a little square we found in the winding streets of downtown Mykonos.

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Typical Greek waterfront:

Not sure this post is going to help any, but I hope it doesn't confuse you even more :)

and although Corfu is very nice, again there is not so much to see.

 

Then you clearly have never spent a land holiday on Corfu!

 

There is plenty of time on both cruises to see Athens, with regard Mykanos/Santorini it depends what you want from your visit, Mykanos you need to take a bus to the town from the ship, Santorini its a boat from the ship to the dock and a wait for the cable car, or a long walk up lots of steps. A tour from the ship that takes you to the dock at Oia and the bus back to Fira and the cable car or walk back down to the dock.

 

Katakolon you can take the train which is close to the dock and head to Olyimpia to see the home of the first Olympic games if that is your interest, pay on the train.

 

In early November you are likely to be on the only ship visiting most of the ports apart from maybe Piraeus.

Sidari: You are clearly the Corfu expert :). We have 9 hours in Cofru on a Sunday in August (8am-5pm). Can you please offer some suggestions for an active couple in their 50's? We like to can hike/walk, and aren't intimidated by steps. We prefer to get away from the busy town centers for part of the day. I also read that they play cricket in the square on Sundays in town, is that something of an event you would recommend?

Yvet: I hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your thread also:)

Yvet: I hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your thread also:)

No ofcourse not, you are more then welcome!!!

I will probably learn some stuff along the way.

We aren't afraid of heights.

We have driven thru the alps many times ourselfes so driving on the edge is something we are used to.

Don't know if the cable car is included in our tour i thought it wasn't but my hubby isn't that fond of them but can handle it....

I know that whatever i choose we'll have a great time.

We aren't likely coming back to this area since we have done already so much in the med and Europe that as long as we are young enough to travel far away we'll stick to that.

And Venice + Athens where the only city-trips that we haven't done in Europe that interests us.

Also the longer port times aren't that important because we'll be back on the ship late afternoon anyway (exception would be Athens but i understand that we have enough time there to see/do the main stuff, i know we could spend there several days but we don't need the extra 3 hours the other cruise is getting).

So i lean very much towards the cruise including Santorini but i'm still doubting.....

So more info and tips are welcome

No ofcourse not, you are more then welcome!!!

I will probably learn some stuff along the way.

 

 

We aren't afraid of heights.

We have driven thru the alps many times ourselfes so driving on the edge is something we are used to.

Don't know if the cable car is included in our tour i thought it wasn't but my hubby isn't that fond of them but can handle it....

 

I know that whatever i choose we'll have a great time.

We aren't likely coming back to this area since we have done already so much in the med and Europe that as long as we are young enough to travel far away we'll stick to that.

And Venice + Athens where the only city-trips that we haven't done in Europe that interests us.

 

Also the longer port times aren't that important because we'll be back on the ship late afternoon anyway (exception would be Athens but i understand that we have enough time there to see/do the main stuff, i know we could spend there several days but we don't need the extra 3 hours the other cruise is getting).

 

So i lean very much towards the cruise including Santorini but i'm still doubting.....

 

So more info and tips are welcome

My friend, I think you should book the Orchestra. The only downside is the number of ships in port, but you can easily work around that. I think if you went with Mykonos you would ultimately be disappointed. It's going to be a fabulous trip!!

I would go to Santorini and Kotor. They are both amazing spots. The pure physical beauty alone is worth the visit.

I would go to Santorini and Kotor. They are both amazing spots. The pure physical beauty alone is worth the visit.

I have 8 hours in Kotor and was thinking about the national

Park mountain tour. What would you recommend?

Another factor you may wish to throw into the mix are the ship's themselves. They are both Musica class, so very similar but the Magnifica is not only newer, it is the only one in that class that has a magrodome over one of the pools which may well be a be fit in late October. Then again, if you're planning on spending all day ashore everyday, it may not matter at all!

BB ... Not sure that Cricket is still played next to the Liston on the Green these days, there may be the odd game from time to time.

Would you consider driving ? if so there are enough places to get to and back in the allotted time and you can pick up a hire car right outside the ship to port building.

A short walk after turning Left along the harbour from the port gate is the New Fort which is worth a visit with great views from the top, across town from here is the Old Fort which for some reason cost more to gain entry than the New Fort. Further along the port road is a small harbour where there is a glass bottom boat that goes out to the island of Vidos which was once used as an overflow to the land prison, here there is a show with sea lions watched from the boat.

The Liston itself is where in years gone by the well to do would sit and meet friends for Coffee,Tea, Alcohol, Food and watch the world go by, your name had to be on the list in order to get a seat here hence the name Liston.

There is of course Corfu Town itself with its narrow streets which include bars and shops of all kinds and the museums.

If you hire a car turn Right out of the port gate and follow the road and signs to Paleokastritsa or Paleo which is one of the most picturesque places around, the journey should take around forty five minutes to one hour depending on traffic, as you leave Paleo you can turn left and go up to a place called Bella Vista which is high above Paleo with great views (there is usually a ships tour to here) you return back down the same road and turn Left to head back towards Corfu Town.

Angelo Castro or Castle can also be reached from Bella Vista and is about a twenty minute drive, the walk up to the castle takes about twenty to thirty minutes.

Gouvia Marina is passed on the way from the port after about a fifteen minute drive, there is an old Venetian boat house ruin on the way in to the Marina.

Further on from Gouvia is a road junction that goes up the East coast road to Kalami and Kaloura from here Albania is less than two miles away, there is also a place called Kontokali where the Durrell`s lived.

Achillion palace or Achillio is also worth a visit and you have to drive through town past the airport and towards a place called Benitses, the palace was used in one of the James Bond films and the end of the garden has views back towards the town. On the way to Achillio you will be able to see Mouse island which is accessible via a small boat ferry down a path from the main road.

Directly across from Achillio on the other side of the island is Pelekas where there is a place called the Kaisers Throne or seat which is perched high up looking back to Achillio from here you can also see the town and airport, this is where Kaiser Wilhelm used to go to watch the sun go down there is a Cafe here also. Pelekas beach is a short drive away.

There are other places that you can get to like Kassiopi but it would all depend on what you choose to see and do.

Hopefully some of the places mentioned will be of use to you as you plan your trip. I have included a link to some of the places mentioned above.

http://in-corfu.com/historic/kaiser.html

I need some help deciding what to do and would like to know what you would do/choose.

 

Background: Husband turns 50 and want to see Venice and Athens. I want to give him a cruise with Venice and Athens for his birthday gift.

 

The plan is to leave the Netherlands on Friday Oct 28 in the morning and leave Venice Nov 6th in the evening.

Price does matter because it's an extra cruise we'll do we have already 6 weeks vacation planned in the US including 2 cruises.

 

There are 2 cruises that there are to choose from and both have pro's and con's.

First cruise is on the Magnifica leave Venice Oct 29

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €1043 / $1185 / £813

Venice 4.30pm

Bari 11am - 5pm = 6 hours

Katakolon 11am -5pm = 6 hours

Mykonos 8am - 8pm = 12 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 7.30pm = 12 hours

Sea day

Dubrovnik 9am - 3pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

 

Pro: Long hours in port

Con: no Santorini

 

Second cruise is With Orchestra leave Venice Oct 30

2 adults inside stateroom, black members €948 / $1065 /£739

Venice 5pm

Bari 1pm - 6pm = 5 hours

Katakolon noon -6pm = 6 hours

Santorini 8am - 5pm = 9 hours

Piraeus7:30am - 4.30pm = 9 hours

Corfù 1:30pm - 6:30pm = 5 hours

Kotor 7am - 1pm = 6 hours

Venice 9am

 

Pro: price - more total time in Venice - Santorini

Con: less hours in port

 

 

And there the "problem" (I'm looking at these cruise because of Venice and Athens):

The Magnifica is way longer in Athens and I'm wondering if the Orchestra is there long enough to see/do Athens (as far as possible on a cruise day) or that those 3 extra hours (25%) is going to make a huge difference??

 

And then the selfish "problem" (again this cruise is for his 50th BD and he get's this cruise as a gift from me):

The Orchestra visits Santorini and I would love love love to go and see Santorini much more then Mykonos. There is a very interesting tour that we would both enjoy very much.

 

So therefor my question what would you do / choose???

 

Thanks in advance.

No question about it: SANTORINI!

You cannot loose with any of those two cruises. I wish I had that dilemma.

Cheers and Happy Birthday Guy..

BB ...

Would you consider driving ? if so there are enough places to get to and back in the allotted time and you can pick up a hire car right outside the ship to port building........

Hopefully some of the places mentioned will be of use to you as you plan your trip. I have included a link to some of the places mentioned above.

 

http://in-corfu.com/historic/kaiser.html

Thank you so much! I'm off to do my research :)

Okay i have booked today!!!

I booked the Orchestra with Santorini!!!

Whoohoo pre planning can begin (but only after this vacation that start tomorrow: 2.5 weeks Orlando and 1 week cruise on Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean cruise)!!!