Just back from Venice/Adriatic cruise, on Star: my 2 cents...

I think perhaps the wine package you are looking for is the Viva Vino package available for purchase once on board on the day of departure. You can select 4, 6, or 8 bottles with a starting price of $88. There is usually a table set up in the atrium with forms to complete to select the wines of your choice. You will receive vouchers to retrieve your wine in any bar or restaurant on the ship and may enjoy it there or take it to your cabin.

Thanks DC travelled for this information. We were on RCL at New Years and they had discontinued wine packages.

Thanks also to OveanLover11 for the helpful review.

Good evening everyone!

Next up Dubrovenik, Croatia-

Another beautiful town, hard to believe this historic port was under siege, and heavily damaged during the recent war, of the 1990's. if you know where to look, you can still see slight mortar damage, along the Main Street , the Stradun, or a defect along a random building, ( rebuilt stone is slightly whiter, than the original, (or so out tour guide told us), but it's mostly been rebuilt, and ready to charm.

Prior to traveling, I had read Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports book, found it full of cost saving tips, and very informative! I find that I'm able to get more out of my experience, the more I know about a place. I highly recommended it, prior to a Mediterranean cruise! (Some ports, like Kotor, are not in the book, and no, dear Rick does not give me any kickbacks for endorsing his book:D)

DH had booked a private tour, we had a guided tour of the old town, with emphasis on the cathedral, I also asked to check out their pharmacy which is among the oldest in Europe, and there's small museum, and lovely Franciscan cloisters. The pharmacy has been operating since the 1300's... forget the exact year, but really a mute point! They sell lots of made on premises "potions and lotions" , scented with Lavander, ( turns out Croatia and Montenegro are both renowned for their lavander fields; move over Provence), other scents also available. These would make a nice gift!

Croatia IS NOT in the Euro zone, they still retain their own currency, the Kuna. Good thing is that there were lots of money exchange locations around. ( My DH was able to buy some bottled water using Euros, but I was turned away from a public restroom , for not having the 5 Kuna required.) So be prepared, especially, if you have a very small bladder, such as I do:')

On the up-side everything in Croatia is very inexpensive...I did not want to be stuck with a bunch of Kuna, so I only exchanged 10 Euros, received 70 Kuna back, with which I was able to pay my bathroom toll, buy three delicious gelato, 1 bottle of water, and still ended up with 50 Kuna, ( which I saved for Split.)

A definitive must do is to climb the city walls, which go, around the old city; wonderful photo opportunities from the top! There is a charge to access the walls, but they do accept credit cards. It took us about 1.5 hrs to walk around and a leisurely pace, taking lots of photos. Our guide drove us to Srd Hill, by private auto, but one can get there by using the cable car. Once on top of the hill, there's an observatory building, with great views of the city, and valley below. Srd Hill also has a large cross, and a small museum decimated to "The defenders of Dubrovenik", some 200 local men, who died during the conflict that tore apart Yugoslavia.

Dubrovenik was a great port, and would have liked more time there. As I previously said, we had gotten a private tour, but had I to do it again, I would probably do it on my own; no where there did I not feel safe! The ship offered shuttles from the port to the old town for $ 15, per person, might even find a local taxi for cheaper...

I am on this cruise in October. Thank you for the information on Croatia. If you used a private guide for both ports, who did you use, what was the cost and would you suggest the guide to others? Thank you

I am on this cruise in October. Thank you for the information on Croatia. If you used a private guide for both ports, who did you use, what was the cost and would you suggest the guide to others? Thank you

Hi, we used Sage Travel for Dubrovenik, ( I believe my DH paid about the equivalent of $400 ,for 3 of us) Really no complaints , both the driver and guide were nice enough and informative, but if I had to do it again, I would probably just take shuttle from the ship, to the old city, and do Dubrovenik on my own. For Split we did a ship tour, I'll describe that, in more detail, later, but the ship docks virtually across the street, and it can be done on one's own, also. Safe travels!

Good evening everyone...all three of you!

The next port is Olympia, (Katakolon), Greece-

( When we originally booked this cruise, it included Santorini, about 6 months prior to sailing, out itinerary was changed; Ravenna, changed to Kotor, a sea day removed, Split, Croatia added, and Olympia substituted for Santorini.) I am still bummed about not seeing Santorini, and only see a way out...booking another cruise, that includes it!:D

The Star docked at Katakolon, from what I could see, lots of tourist shops, selling souvenirs, and a couple of restaurants. We used a ship's exursion to tour the ruins at Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games. Honestly, not much was left of this once great site...on earth had to really use it's imagination. The tour guide actually had a book that he would periodically show us , " this great temple, once comprised of 48 columns, was covered in eye-popping colors, and a marvel of engineering ..now look over there at those 2 remaining bricks..." I'm obviously exaggerating, but just not impressed. After touring the ruins, we went to an altogether too long lunch, where we were entertained by enthusiastic Greek dancers.

If I'm ever in this port, I will probably opt to to explore the beach in Katalon proper, which can be reached by foot. In Katakolon, one can also find transportation to Olympic for about 10 euros, if you'd like to do it on your own.

I think you're going to love it! September, ( and May) , are probably the best times to go, not as warm, still nice weather, and not as crowded. ( We have a kid in school, so our travel times are limited by her school and sports activities.)

More port descriptions coming up.

I completely understand working around children's schedules. My husband and I have just recently been able to take vacations during the school year as our youngest of 7 boys has entered his sophomore year in college. Now we just work around college breaks and just booked a surprise cruise for December with 3 of our sons and one of our daughters in law. Thanks for continuing your review, looking forward to more. :)

Definitely more than three watching your posts! I'm on the Star Sunday 23rd July (this weekend) and enjoyed all your posts. I've done med cruises a few times, love Venice, and this takes in a couple of new ports for me Kotor, Santorini. we stayed a week last year in Dubrovnik (Milini) as a result of visiting Croatia on a cruise. We have $350 on board credit and thought to use a couple of the speciality restaurants for lunch or dinner. Let me know your top 2 choices? Do you know what time the main dinning room closes on embarkation day? We have 2 nights in Venice pre cruise and I've booked the Doges palace Sunday morning after Mass in st Marks basilica.

Enjoying your thorough and entertaining review Oceanlover11. Your experience of the ruins, "...a marvel of engineering, now look over there at those 2 remaining bricks..." reminds me of visiting Pompeii. Quite a let down after the remarkable ruins of Ephesus. Haverley your experience mirrors ours. Have been to each port except Kotor and Santorini. Boarding the Star this Sunday also, and staying 2 nights pre (and 1 night post) in Venice. Sorry to ask an off thread question, but what time is mass on Sunday, and do you need to reserve? Thanks everyone!

I'm enjoying your review, too. We sail on 9/3.

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Enjoying your thorough and entertaining review Oceanlover11. Your experience of the ruins, "...a marvel of engineering, now look over there at those 2 remaining bricks..." reminds me of visiting Pompeii. Quite a let down after the remarkable ruins of Ephesus. Haverley your experience mirrors ours. Have been to each port except Kotor and Santorini. Boarding the Star this Sunday also, and staying 2 nights pre (and 1 night post) in Venice. Sorry to ask an off thread question, but what time is mass on Sunday, and do you need to reserve? Thanks everyone!

Just a quick answer to your mass at St. Mark's question. You do not need reservations (even on Easter), but the entrance for the masses is on the left side as you face the cathedral. I don't remember the times, but I think they are on the website. Have a wonderful time. Going to mass was a great way to see the inside of this beautiful church.

Sunday Mass times at St Marks. 7am 8am 9am 10.30am 12 and 6.45pm. No booking required. Confession 10-12 and 5-7pm

Sunday Mass times at St Marks. 7am 8am 9am 10.30am 12 and 6.45pm. No booking required. Confession 10-12 and 5-7pm

Thank you so much for this info....we board the Star on Aug 20th...Thanks to all who have posted...reviews for the ports and the Star are so limited.....Keep them coming!!!! and Happy travels

Hello

what time did disembarkation begin.. Looking to plan a flight. The one im thinking leaves at 10 55 am and I wasnt sure we could make it?

Hi Brookfairway, I've gone through this with both NCL and the forum. Disembarkation starts at 8am. Early flights need one of the earliest colouredvtickets to walk off with luggage, but even a private Hoppa type taxivtransfer will still take 20-30 mins by car to the airport. Personally I think a morning flight will be cutting it fine. My flight is 12.20pm.

Hello

what time did disembarkation begin.. Looking to plan a flight. The one im thinking leaves at 10 55 am and I wasnt sure we could make it?

Inadvisable ... why stress yourselves out at the end of cruise ?? Please book a later flight.

Definitely more than three watching your posts! I'm on the Star Sunday 23rd July (this weekend) and enjoyed all your posts. I've done med cruises a few times, love Venice, and this takes in a couple of new ports for me Kotor, Santorini. we stayed a week last year in Dubrovnik (Milini) as a result of visiting Croatia on a cruise. We have $350 on board credit and thought to use a couple of the speciality restaurants for lunch or dinner. Let me know your top 2 choices? Do you know what time the main dinning room closes on embarkation day? We have 2 nights in Venice pre cruise and I've booked the Doges palace Sunday morning after Mass in st Marks basilica.

Hope you have lovely cruise! My top two specialty restaurants are Le Bistro and Cagney's, enjoy!

Did you have to tender at many ports & if so how long did it take?

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Did you have to tender at many ports & if so how long did it take?

 

 

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Luckily, we did NOT have to transfer in any of our ports. ( My DH has mobility issues so he was relieved that we didn't have to deal with an extra level of transfers.)

Sorry for the delay, have been back to the real world for a couple of weeks now, and between work and family obligation, I'm afraid my Mediterranean state of mind is fading faster than my tan.

Best wishes to all of those who are starting off their cruises today!:hearteyes:

Athens:

Let me start off by saying that Athens made for a very trying day, not worthless or lacking in interest, but if you're looking for a relaxing day in an idyllic location...this ain't it!

Again my DH has some motility issues, so we often had to take different escursions, not ideal, but at time necessary, as not to wear him out, but allow the rest of us to get the most out of our visit.

My DH did the Views of Athens and New Acropolis Museum, through the ship, this was supposed to be a more leisurely excursion, (level 1 intensity), lasting 3.5 hours. The bus dropped them off about a 1/4 mile away from the museum, they had about 1 hour inside the museum, he said it felt rushed. The rest of the "views of Athens" were mostly what they could see from the bus windows, except for a 5 minute stop at the Olympic Stadium, to take pictures. Traffic was hellacious!

Myself and DD did the more ambitious Best of Athens and it's Scenic Coast

Also bought through the ship, duration 8.5 hours, and labeled as a "level 3" in intensity, ( more on that to come.)

Athens was super hot that morning, as Greece tends to get in the Summer, I believe temperatures reached 104 degrees F, and no, "but it's a dry heat!" argument does not really help!:')

We were supposed to drive to the Acropolis first thing in the morning, to beat both the heat and the other invading heards of tourists, however, as fate would have it , the tourist guards, ( yes, they have such a thing as "tourist police"), were on strike, and our tour guide informed us that they "might" lift the strike by 11 AM...so the whole tour was started in reverse- we drove into Athens, and visited the outside of the of the Olympic Stadium, home of the modern Olympic Games, dating to 1896; still a cool place to visit, especially if you grew up watching the Olympics, as I did. Good photo opportunities, a kiosk to buy water, and snacks, public bathrooms, I believe they were .5 Euros, and a cute stand selling Olympic inspired souvenirs, at really reasonable prices; very soft t-shirt for 10 Euros.

We then drove back where we had come from, did I mention traffic was hellacious? Drove again towards the port, on the way we saw: the Royal Palace, Hadrian's Gate, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but unfortunately only through the bus window...we also drove past various venues used in the 2004 Olympics, and many vacant businesses, and half finished projects, victims of Greece's economic crisis.

We drove 1.5 hours up the coast, enjoyed beautiful views of the gulf, well as long-stretches, with nothing much to look at...our destination was was Cape Sunion, to visit the temple of Poseidon, beautiful temple, nice photo ops., but not sure can recommend driving more than 3 hours, round trip, out of an 8 hr. Day, to do this. Most of the tour involved driving, with very little time to actually visit the sites. The tour descriptions do not tell you that, so unless you're familiar with the area, you would not know what the distances between sites are, and that visiting an extra temple would chew off 3+ hours from your day!

We drove again into Athens, and were supposed to go to the Acropolis, but because of the strike, it had opened late, and was now swamped with tourists, ( that day another 4 large ships were in port), our tour guide said it would be too crowded, and took us to lunch, instead. We went though the Plaka, their main shopping street, and were hearded up a side street, for lunch. Lunch was decent, large portions, and had a nice time getting to know som elf my fellow cruisers, however, the restaurant was kind of isolated, and lunch took over 1 hour...would have rather have had free time to shop, and to choose my own small lunch, right on the Plaka.

At about this time the natives were getting restless, as it was was past 2pm, all aboard time was supposed to be 4:30 pm, and we had yet to go to to the Acropolis...

We drove to the parking lot for the Acropolis, which was chocked full of busses...our driver tried some "creative parking"' but was approached by the police and asked to move along, in no uncertain terms....we circled the lot a couple of other times, without luck, before finally being dropped off at, at a point a little further off. We walked up, a small hill, and then climbed the 75 or so steps it takes to reach the top,of the Acropolis. As previously mentioned it was a very hot day, of course there are cobble stones, dirt, and uneven steps, but the "75" steps in question and spaced out, with plenty of room to stop and catch your breath, should you need to. In my opinion, this was not really a "level 3" excursion, as 80% of the tour was spent sitting on a bus. So, if you're even moderately fit, going up, the Acropolis should not be a problem! :) ( I do suggest not wearing sandals or open- toed shoes, as both Athens and Olympia's historic sites have dirt roads/ areas. I think athletic type shoes work best and keep one's feet clean.)

The view and temples up the Acropolis were fantastic and worth all the aggravation!! This was also very rushed, as we only had about 1 hr., from when we were dropped off, to make our way up, and tour the site. Once back to our scheduled meet-up place, the bus parking lot, our bus was not there, and we had lots of stragglers... We finally managed to reach the ship around 5 pm, ( 30 minutes past the "all aboard time"... and we were NOT the last group to arrive! ) Never was I so happy to catch sight of the beautiful Star! The the cruise director, Lorena, and her staff welcomed us with music, dancing, not to mention the cool drinks, and wash cloths; baby I'm home!!

In closing, usually private tours always beat the ship's cruise, but in this instance, neither the weather, the traffic, or the strike, could have been preventable. I was grateful to have been on a NCL tour, as the ship hadn't to wait for us. ( A private tour would have had to curtail the program, to get us back on the ship in time.) If I have the opportunity to visit Athens again, I would stick to Athens proper, and ensure our tour has time for proper sight-seeing, shopping, lunching, etc., so the day is not so rushed!

Safe travels!

Thanks so much for your reviews. It is so helpful to those of us planning future cruises. Ours isn't until next summer but I had decided already to spend the $$$ for a private tour for just our family in Athens. I have already booked it and hope since we are a small party that we can get to the Acropolis first thing in the morning. Based on your recommendation, I don't think we'll even attempt to make the drive to Cape Sounion. Thanks again.

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Thank you so much for your informative reviews, We are booked on Oct.8...I too was disappointed by the revisions to the itinerary dropping Ravenna and Santorini but looking forward to the ports we will be visiting. My question is what times are the production shows? I was planning making some restaurant reservations but wanted to be able to eat at semi -leisure before the shows.

Thank you so much for your informative reviews, We are booked on Oct.8...I too was disappointed by the revisions to the itinerary dropping Ravenna and Santorini but looking forward to the ports we will be visiting. My question is what times are the production shows? I was planning making some restaurant reservations but wanted to be able to eat at semi -leisure before the shows.

Hi, nightly shows were at 7:30, and 9:30 pm. :)

Thanks for an awesome review. Been waiting for the rest. :)

We're booked on August 27th on the Star and getting some good tips from you. Got a question for all of you if you guys don't mind. After the cruise, debarkation starts at 8AM and we're planning to take the train from Venice to Florence at 10:25AM that same day. We also plan to bring our own luggage out. Is that doable? Would that be enough time to take the People Mover and walk to the train station?

Also, are we allowed to bring bottled water upon check-in?

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

Thanks for an awesome review. Been waiting for the rest. :)

 

We're booked on August 27th on the Star and getting some good tips from you. Got a question for all of you if you guys don't mind. After the cruise, debarkation starts at 8AM and we're planning to take the train from Venice to Florence at 10:25AM that same day. We also plan to bring our own luggage out. Is that doable? Would that be enough time to take the People Mover and walk to the train station?

 

Also, are we allowed to bring bottled water upon check-in?

 

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

disembarked in Venice last year and carrying own luggage off wasn't allowed-think that is a Venice port thing

so luggage left out night before for collection and only hand baggage to carry off

lines for the people mover can be very long especially if lots of ships in port-Saturday is the busiest day

from the people mover to get to the main railway station you will have to cross a large bridge with shallow steps which is possible with luggage but awkward

to be sure of catching that train you may want to consider pre booking a land taxi and dropping off at Mestre station on the mainland as that will avoid bridge issue

sorry no bottled water allowed to be brought on board

Thanks for an awesome review. Been waiting for the rest. :)

 

We're booked on August 27th on the Star and getting some good tips from you. Got a question for all of you if you guys don't mind. After the cruise, debarkation starts at 8AM and we're planning to take the train from Venice to Florence at 10:25AM that same day. We also plan to bring our own luggage out. Is that doable? Would that be enough time to take the People Mover and walk to the train station?

 

Also, are we allowed to bring bottled water upon check-in?

 

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

disembarked in Venice last year and carrying own luggage off wasn't allowed-think that is a Venice port thing

 

so luggage left out night before for collection and only hand baggage to carry off

 

lines for the people mover can be very long especially if lots of ships in port-Saturday is the busiest day

from the people mover to get to the main railway station you will have to cross a large bridge with shallow steps which is possible with luggage but awkward

 

to be sure of catching that train you may want to consider pre booking a land taxi and dropping off at Mestre station on the mainland as that will avoid bridge issue

 

sorry no bottled water allowed to be brought on board

We disembarked at about 9:15 and caught a cab for Mestre to catch a train to Milan. It was less than 20 mins taxi ride and we were glad to do it (rather than going to S. Luca) and we were at the station before 10am.

There were plenty of cabs outside the terminal.