IWantToLiveOverTheSea

If anyone wants info on Paphos, Cyprus, I was just there for a day and can tell you a little about it.

I have no clue, as I cruise on Oceania, and they include port fees in their basic cruise cost. But on occasion I've found port fee information on a port website for a city I've been curious about. It usually, however, is shown per gross tonnage of the ship or something like that.

Love that GPS my city app; also love downloading maps from maps.me while at home. Once in a city, you don't need wifi on your phone (just gps) to access maps, and find out where you are. Loved Lisbon. Used bus and tram. Took one of the funiculars...forget what they were called....fun! Tram through Alfama was worthwhile. Went to Lisbon a day early and did a 3 hour (or so) tour in a sidecar motorcycle with Daniel - Bike My Side. Wasn't terribly expensive, at least not at the time (maybe 10 years ago).

I didn't go by bus, but we did a shortish tour with Tours by Milo and mostly we went to Perast and the little island. We shared tour with another couple. Price was reasonable. So that might be something to consider. Once back in Kotor, I walked part of the way up to the church on the hill (mountain). Also remember that when coming into and out of Kotor you'll pass the little island. I was fascinated by it!

We did a taxi tour around part of the island (maybe 3 hours, not expensive; shared with another couple) and then in the afternoon I walked around the city quite a bit. Such a wonderful place.......if you get up early you can cover a lot of ground.

Agree with Edinburgher above, as well as the others. This was our second visit to Malta, so we found a taxi driver near the port to take us to Marsaxlokk (lots of cute, colorful boats in harbor there) plus Mdina, a walled city. It was $85 for 3 hours; believe that's a standard price. Then I went up the lift, and walked around the port, and all in all, it was a fun day. Most people love Malta. When we were there before, I took a public bus to Marsaxlokk and then met my husband in Valletta to explore the city. It was interesting but I like getting out of city more than staying in. If you want something kind of different, you can take one of the little boats across the dock to another part of the area. I forget what they're called, though, (dhasa maybe?) but you can see them from up in Barrakka Gardens. Take a couple euros for the lift. It was one euro in May up; free down. From port, you'll likely walk downward to get there.... There's a cool webcam which often shows part of a cruise ship when one is docked there, plus the walkway that you'll likely see if you walk down to the lift. And if you want a tourist info booth, we found one quite near the port, a bit up from the jewelry store when you exit the port. And there are a couple booths nearby which I think are normally staffed by excursion vendors in the morning. And there are ferries, and Blue Lagoon or Grotto or something like that, and Popeye Village way up north, and this and that...lots of things to do! And everyone speaks English, which is nice. And the cruise out at night is kind of nice - some of the fortifications are lit up, and you pass the two little lighthouses, and maybe the giraffe crane, etc. And getting through the terminal to the city (lower level, anyway) is easy..... As you can see, I like it all......Here's giraffe, Malta coming in (Siege Bell, etc.), Marsaxlokk, Mdina.

Get that visa! I messed up the one I did online at home for my spouse (a date, I think), and a Turkish official at the Istanbul airport made my spouse go over to a desk and pay cash to get one! Visa is easy, but program was quirky when I used it in April - hung up when I tried to pay. Be sure to give it time, then check to make sure payment went through before starting over. And make sure you don't put a wrong date on it - ouch!

Was there (Galataport) in May. I don't remember an ATM, but it's a new terminal, and very spiffy, but with no amenities that I could see. But I wasn't looking. You may want to google, as I know Galataport cruise terminal has a website with some info. They list hotels; maybe they list other things. And outside the terminal are lots of shops, so it's possible there are some banks with ATMs around there on the main street. If nothing else, perhaps if you googled, you could find bank icons on a map. Just be aware that Istanbul has only been using Galataport for a few months, so if you see info on the cruise port, it may be old....and if you embark in Istanbul and take a taxi to the port, make sure it drops you off at the correct place in the cavernous garage under the port- not an employee or crew or walking entrance down there. Signage was poor in May and we were dropped where a couple people were going in - but without luggage. Someone came and asked for our key card, and we struggled to explain we were embarking. We had to get our luggage upstairs on our own on escalators because we were dropped off in the wrong spot. And also, there's a kind of long walk up to the ship....don't take more carryons than you need!

And just for anyone interested (John Bull?): There appears to be a boat that goes to Akko from the port. It wasn't running the day we were there, however. But they do have a website.....

We used Guided Tours Israel. Israel turned our 3 day stop into 2 due to Covid testing in May, but GTI regrouped and we went to Jerusalem with them on one of the days. At least for their lowest priced tour (up to 18 people) you can't customize your tour, but we were happy with what we saw and did. Guide and arrangements were quite good.

We liked them; see my comments! They go to Masada as well as Jerusalem.

In May we used Guided Tours of Israel. We were happy with them. You can book them for one day or three days, although initially they ask when you'll be in port and plan accordingly. We were supposed to have 3 days in Haifa/Ashdod but Israel was testing at the time for Covid and we ended up having to sit on the ship all day our first day, which messed up our plans. They do not require you to book all days you're in port. And the price is very reasonable. We ended up doing a full day tour with GTS to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We then did Masada with cruise ship, but had planned to do it with GTS. Things were a little more crowded on their vehicle (not a bus, but not sure what to call it!) than I would have liked, but perhaps that's just because they had to do some re-arranging of tours due to Israel's somewhat last minute requirements throwing a monkey wrench into plans. But overall we saw and did quite a bit, with lunch mid-day (at our expense - moderate price). You cannot change the tour, so you can't customize it, although I believe they offer a Christian based tour versus a Jewish based tour, so you may want to ask about that if it matters. And if you want a better experience, they offer a more private tour. But in Jerusalem there are always crowds, so being with 16 other people was good enough for us. The guide was good; arrangements were good, and the vendor made it clear he could come to either port (Ashdod or Haifa). He's able to get right on the port grounds, too, which was nice. You can prepay or pay day-of. There's no time for shopping, though, so if that's a negative, you may not want to use GTS. But our group of 18 was happy.

We like Oceania because they go to some less traveled places, especially on their smaller ships like Sirena. While I love Santorini, I crave places like Crete (Chania) and Patmos, and don't particularly want to go back to Rhodes (awfully crowded, though I DID have fun last time I went!) But of course they're not cheap, and they attract a fairly older clientele, so they may not be what you're looking for. But the number of places they go, with new ports every year, is one of many things that make Oceania our favorite line. And they do have some mostly Greek cruises, or cruises with Greece combined with Turkey.

I didn't really do a snip very well, as I probably cut off the most important part of the map in order to show where shuttle dropped us. But at very bottom, you'll see mentions of taxi and buses below the "Agora" (market) I mentioned. This will give you a good idea of the area you'll be dropped off in if you take a shuttle. I believe Halidon or whatever it is called is the big shopping street where I ended up walking back to the main street by the Agora. And the other big street with long name (in east) was probably what I used to get down to the old warehouses along the waterfront - and remains of old town walls. Splanzia area is charming; Topanas also worthwhile. Cafes are along the waterfront, more to the west than east. Hope this helps.

I was in Chania in mid May on Oceania. Yes, you dock in Souda Bay at the ferry port a little north of the city. We and another ship docked there, so probably you will too. There was a shuttle from right outside port to the market, as described above. If you look on a map you'll likely see where the market is - large enclosed building, but closed for reconstruction when we were there. From there you can walk down to the waterfront, passing some shops (closed when we were there, which was a Sunday). When shuttle drops you (free for us, but 5 euros roundtrip (I think, or maybe $5, for the other ship) you will just go to main street there, turn left, and then right on cross street to head to the water. But you may want to check a map to make sure I remember things correctly! I went to the right and down, as I wanted to end up on the side of the waterfront that has the breakwater out to the charming lighthouse. I ended up at the other end of the waterfront, so walked back a different way - one that brought me back via a shopping street. There was a big map thingy posted so you could get your bearings, but I just set out to take my chances at getting where I wanted to get. And on the breakwater, if you go at least 5 minutes or so, you may see the mountains behind the town - with snow on them in May! I enjoyed just exploring Chania. It's a very pretty city. To go back to the shuttle stop, I'd suggest downloading a Chania map from maps.me before you leave home. Once in Chania, assuming you have gps in your cell phone, you'll be able to pull up the map without wifi and see where you are, and where you want to be. Back to the shuttle stop location was a little confusing after I roamed around quite a bit along the waterfront and in the "Splantzia" district and more. Back at the stop, I had to wait maybe 5-10 minutes before a bus for the port, an Oceania-bound bus, appeared. If I had taken the one that came first, I suppose they may have asked for my ticket, as I was on the other cruise line. But the port is the port - so each bus was no doubt going same place. I think it was around a 15 minute ride from Chania to Souda port. There are other things to do and see in that area like monasteries and a beautiful Greek (National?) cemetery, or the nearby city of Rethymno, with another lighthouse, and a bus from Chania. But I happily spent the morning, and then a couple hours after lunch, in Chania. In addition to maps.me, you may want to google the website of the segway operator in Chania. It was a helpful website, though the segway excursion was not available Sunday, so we couldn't take it. Also, if you go off on your own (to shuttle and town) and you leave by noon, it's possible there will be a tourist info person with maps stationed at the port. Someone was there until 12.30 when we were there, with a great map for people to grab, but I don't know if the person comes for all cruise ships or just when asked. (Oceania usually arranges that service if it's available.) Whatever you do, hope you enjoy Chania. I found it to be a wonderful place to explore and take pictures. My pictures are in a photo gallery here if interested, but you'll have to find the Chania gallery:www.pbase.com/roothy123

Not sure; see my post!

Just in case this helps anyone, I think pre-cruise we corresponded with Dewa using the dgrock1140 yahoo address, but if his last name was in the gmail address itself, I didn't see it. But he gave us a card, and I think he listed two phone numbers on there. One may have been his whatsapp number and one his cell number, but I forget. If you're a Facebook user, you may be able to contact him initially by looking for him on there. However, I would just use that as an initial contact with little information on your travels and name, just in case other drivers see your post and decide to offer their services! I'm not saying that will happen, but I know that Dewa Gede is a common combination of names in Bali. On a subsequent cruise, a waiter on Oceania from Bali was named Dewa. I asked if his second name was Gede and he said it was! (Ask Dewa about naming in Bali - it's interesting). Anyway, here's the photo of Dewa that he currently has posted on Facebook, just in case there are similar Dewa's from Peliatan, Ubud on Facebook.

I was on Oceania for 2 weeks in May, tested twice. Some, though it didn't look like a lot, of people had to quarantine. I only talked to one couple and they mentioned their stay in their room wasn't too bad, but that they were very, very glad to be out and about the day we rode on the tender with them. They were doing back to back cruises and so had been tested in between the two cruises. They told us they were getting an FCC for the days they quarantined, as they had complied with testing and other requirements early on. But they didn't give details, and I didn't ask. A few people have reported on a Facebook group I scan that they have gotten FCCs. But we were fine the whole cruise, so I can't report any personal experience. However, if the current material on O's website or in correspondence you get right before the cruise indicates you'll get compensation (FCC or whatever) for your situation, I would certainly expect that you would get it.

When we used Dewa in Dec. 2019, he picked us up at the airport, with a sign. When he dropped us off at the port for our cruise, he dropped us inside the port area. He had to pay to get in the port area, but then was able to drive right down to the port terminal to drop us off with our luggage. I don't know exactly where he meets people coming off the cruise (either at disembarkation or for a day tour) but I imagine right at the terminal. The terminal and parking area are not huge, so even if you have to meet him outside, I wouldn't consider it a long walk to where he can park, at least not to let us off. But you do NOT want any driver/guide who wants to pick you up outside the port entrance, which I believe has a fence - not walkable to that point! At the airport, there were tons of guides and drivers holding up signs. I suppose it COULD be similar at the port, though likely a lot fewer people. At home, you may want to download/test (keeping large time difference in mind!) the whatspp app on your phone in case you need to call him at the port or elsewhere. We never had to, but the app was good to have just in case. I'm not good with phones when overseas. Touring with Dewa, with the things we chose to do, we did not need much cash, and really not all that much money at all except for lunches, which we were able to charge. However, once you have a tentative plan of what you want to do, you may want to ask him how to handle little things like admission, as I don't know how widely anything but rupiah is accepted. He's very familiar with all the places tourists normally want to go, so he can advise you on which ones require the least/most walking, steps, etc. Just keep in mind it is quite hot there, so you may not want to spend as much time outdoors walking around as you think you want to do initially! I was a little bit overly optimistic, but in the end it worked out fine. My spouse likes to do less, so he spent some time with Dewa, just talking and relaxing while I did a few things. Enjoy!

I can’t comment on Oceania excursions because I didn’t do any. I considered the Arkadi & Rethymno excursion because I wanted to see the lighthouse in Rethymno (about an hour from Souda). But I had discovered that Chania was a beautiful city and didn’t want to risk not having enough time for it. I briefly considered renting a car or finding a private tour. But I really enjoy exploring on my own, so in the end I decided to stay in Chania and do my own thing. We were there mid-May (last month) and docked in Souda Bay, which is about a 15 minute ride from Chania. A shuttle bus was provided from outside the port (maybe one city block walk ship to bus) to an area right next to Chania’s City Market building. (Market was closed for renovation. Stores nearby (brick & mortar) were too, but it was Sunday). We were there 8 – 5 and shuttle ran 8:30 to 4. From shuttle drop it was a 10 or so minute walk “down” to the waterfront. I had downloaded a map on my phone at home from maps.me (which once loaded, can be used without Wifi) but forgot to use it. But I also had photographed a map of Chania from a travel book I got from home, and picked up a map from the tourist rep outside the ship that morning. (In a pinch, the Library on Oceania ships probably have a Lonely Planet with a map that you can photograph, or maybe google/print one out on the Oceania at Sea printer. Or you can look at the big map displayed near the shuttle stop, then maybe follow someone.) Once at the water, you can go to the right (marina, warehouses, old city walls, start of breakwater to Venetian lighthouse) or left (cafes, Naval Museum, fort). I walked the breakwater to the lighthouse – closed, but the views of the city were charming, and changed as I walked. The lighthouse walk was hot but reasonably easy and more or less smooth as long as you kind of paid attention to where you walked. You can walk the mostly upper walk or mostly bottom walk; both were around same effort, but top one a tiny bit stressful. Toward the end there’s about a 15 foot stretch (no matter which level you start out on, I think) where you have to step over some rocks with nothing to hold onto. Good shoes are highly recommended. My balance isn’t the best, but I managed. If you don’t want to go over that part, just turn around. It’s probably worth the walk that far just to see the city from the water, snow in the background, lighthouse ahead of you, etc. In the city, the Splantzia area (east, near water) was most interesting to me as a photographer. But in the west, the Tophanes area sounded good too. See if you can find the Old Town of Chania map here: www.chania.gr We picked this map up outside the ship from the tourist rep Oceania (or the city) arranged. In my travels (not all day, but at least 3 hours or so) I saw remnants of town walls, old warehouses, little church decorations outside homes, a church with tops of two widely different styles, people at cafes, people inside churches, graffiti, etc. See my photos with captions here: https://pbase.com/roothy123/chania_crete_on_sirena_may_2022&page=all (Make sure “All” button is pushed so you see all photos.) If you're adventuresome you could rent a car. There are monasteries in the peninsula near Souda Bay that sounded interesting to me (though the best requires a long walk to get to it) and the Allied War Cemetery is out that way too. Chania and Crete have public buses (e-KTEL) too, and Segway tours (company has good website), and I think a HoHo bus, though I don’t know if that worthwhile if you want to see a lot of the old part of the city. Much of it is car-free, so you may end up walking more than you anticipated. There are, of course, shops, museums, churches, etc. And I've read that most people like Knossos, though from Chania it's not very close. But we saw tons of ruins and very old places on our cruise (Ephesus, Paphos, Masada in Israel, Rhodes) so I wasn't yearning to see more in the Chania/Souda area! Enjoy beautiful Crete!

I recently contacted Dewa on Facebook messaging because someone on a November 2022 Oceania cruise asked for the name of the driver/guide we used. Dewa was appreciative that I gave the person his info. I imagine the long Covid shutdown was pretty hard for him. But now Bali is open and the ships are going. I'm so happy for that. I wish I could go back, but I suppose that will never happen. Anyway, if you're on Facebook, you may be able to just send him a Facebook message, either by writing on his page or by messaging him. I don't think you have to be Facebook "Friends" to correspond by messaging. In case there are two Dewa Dg folks, he's the one who's sitting down, sideways shot, with face turned.

I never heard that rabies was a problem in Bali, at least not in Dec. 2019 when we spent 2 1/2 days there before getting on our cruise. The only things I worried about were jetlag (12 hour time difference from EST in U.S.) and possible "Bali belly" - similar to what some people get if they drink water or eat food that their stomachs aren't used to. Half the time we ate where we wanted, and the other half at places our wonderful driver/guide recommended, and had no problems. We didn't get any vaccinations for our Bali, Australia, New Zealand trip.

Elizabetes 10b, wouldn't you love to live here?

I cruise mostly on Oceania, which has smaller ships. However, I would say that in general, many to most shuttles in European ports I've visited have shuttles operated by the city or port, not specifically the cruise line. If the cruise line is involved, it seems to be more for payment of shuttle service, as I've been in a number of cities where a shuttle was free for Oceania passengers but at a smallish charge for non O passengers. I'm not sure if Royal Caribbean can or would want to do anything at this point, but at least once you're on the ship, I would guess they would at least advise you of whether a shuttle is available, when it starts and ends, and if there's a price. But of course I, and many other people, like to find this information out before I go if possible! With the shuttles I've used (though on ships holding either 700 to a thousand guests), I've found the first shuttle normally runs about a half hour after the ship gets in (or half hour after itinerary arrival time) and that first one is often fairly crowded. But then things slack off. I have always been on the first one, as far as I can remember. And coming back, I have made it a policy to NOT plan on taking the last one in case there's a problem. When I've been in a port overnight, the shuttle has run late, though possibly not overnight. And in a very few cities, I've found that a shuttle will not go during a long period during lunch time. Generally shuttles have been offered every half hour, usually with one coming at a time. I wouldn't expect more, though of course it is POSSIBLE you may have to wait for another shuttle if the shuttle you want is full. But normally large buses are used, so it has never been a problem for me. But that's with Oceania, so other cruise lines may be different. I've taken lots of shuttles, but in certain situations, if I want to be at a place quite early, I simply take a taxi. I usually find out in advance whether taxis are likely to be at the port. Pre-Covid, the answer was almost always yes, but now, I don't know -- and obviously it depends upon what port you're talking about. I also try to find out if taxi drivers there will likely take (small bills? euros (obviously depends on country), credit cards? Honestly, if taxis are available and inexpensive, as the helpful local says, you may just want to avail yourself of one of them! Good luck, with either an overnight in Riga or a 7 AM arrival, I imagine you'll have plenty of time to see and do what you want. For me, it was mostly the art nouveau buildings, which required some walking/navigating, as the number on one street was totally unexpected. But I found what I was looking for and it was fabulous.

If you're (still?) going to Souda Bay for Chania, I can help. Beautiful, fun city.