marazul

1 minute ago, alserrod said:

I have been in Dubrovnik, I have searched for Kotor but never been

Everyone says Kotor is pretier than Dubrovnik

There is no comparison. Dubrovnik is far more beautiful than Kotor. However, the sail in to Kotor is spectacular. 

13 hours ago, frantic36 said:

As we spent a long time in Erice we didn't see much of Trapani but what we saw near the port we liked and if we go back would definitely spend our time there. People we chatted to on the ship who spent time in Trapani really enjoyed it. We had to walk through a building at the port and the visitor information people in there were very helpful as we asked about getting a taxi or bus to the cable car. So I am sure could help with planning your visit.

 

The other place of interest near Trapani is the large salt pans which are still harvested and exported plus a sanctuary for both local and migratory birds. 

The Mysteries of the Chiesa del Purgatorio is on my list to visit as the mysteries are 20 wooden statues depicting Jesus Christ's Passion carved by local artisans and paraded through Trapani every Good Friday. I am not religious but fascinated by local artwork.

Thanks. Erice followed by a couple of hours in Trapani sound like the right combination.

You have a lot of choice and prices will probably be lower in October. You should be able to book tours or think about renting a car. 

Good timing.

13 hours ago, frantic36 said:

@texasstar My husband and I did it last September by taking a taxi to the Cable Car Station and then walking. We are in our mid 60s with reasonable fitness and it was fine, but, there were many inclines to walk. The various churches were lovely and we were lucky and the view was good. The cable car people and the visitor centre at the dock in Trapani were very helpful and gave us maps to help locate sites.

 

The other good thing about doing an independent tour, if the weather was raining and misty we might have skipped it as there would be no view up there and the cobblestones would be slippery.

J - We are stopping in Trapani this fall. Any other info on that port? We have been to Palermo and most of Sicily on land trips, but never made it to Trapani. 

Thanks.

I was told that the cable car may be  closed for maintenance this summer. I am trying to get some local info on that.

11 hours ago, Shella73 said:

Ok, I have read the thread and do not see this covered.  We want to buy the Athens combo pass. We land on Aug 29th at 1200, we plan on some sightseeing that afternoon, we have a full day on the 30th and want to see the Acropolis that morning and do some leisurely sightseeing, and eating. On the 31 we have to be on a ship in Piraeus by 1400, so we would like to use that morning wisely.

 

I am looking at buying the Athens combo ticket to start on the 29th, however, I do not want to go to the Acropolis until 0800 on the 30th, Is that possible?

Yes. That's how it works.

11 hours ago, JerryInIL said:

I believe you can select that time for the Acropolis when you buy the combo ticket. Then visit the other sights when you wish.  Watch the You Tube video that someone posted above.

Correct. 

2 hours ago, MarcyLondon said:

will be disembarking  in Monaco in July and have a 12 30pm flight from Nice Airport. We're thinking about a private car to take us to the airport. I know the traffic is normally very bad so would leave about an hour and a half or more to get there. Can anyone recommend a company?

 

Marcy

https://www.friend-in-france.com/

3 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Did you mean May 17th? I didn't see any for June but did see one time slot left for May 17th.  We don't go until September but once I know for sure when they release tickets - forgot to check right at 6pm EST - I'll set up a reminder on my calendar.

Oooops. May 17.

19 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Thank you so much. Very helpful! I will save those links.  We're staying in a VRBO so I can send them a message and see if they can hold our luggage a bit for us. We still haven't decided if we're gonna take a train or private transport to the port. 

I just checked.  There are tickets available for June 17, including non-guided tickets to the underground.

No offense taken. Just pointing out that they and the currents would not be obscure to a professional ship's crew. But maybe so to other staff

Enjoy your cruise. 

3 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

 We still haven't decided if we're gonna take a train or private transport to the port. 

Consider a shared shuttle also. 

3 hours ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

I do have Venmo.  will need to check with the other ladies.  great idea!  But we all will need data in Europe in order to do this....correct??

 

Whatever you do, don't use the restaurant's free wi-fi.  Settle up afterwards or at the end of the trip. Or use a carrier such as T-Mobile that has free data.

34 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Having a hard time find the non-guided underground tickets - their website is a bit confusing to me with all their different ticket options.

The link you are using is for guided visits. (visita guidada). Click on the "Ticketing Homepage" link. Or just use the plain link:

https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/

You will be offered Guided Tours, Individuals, Groups and Schools.  Click on "Individuals."  Then click on a "Full Experience" ticket.  Those are the admission tickets without the tours.

The Domus Aurea is great.  It has a really well done virtual experience.  Your hotel will hold your luggage after you check out until you return.

Good luck.  Let us know if you get the tickets.

9 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

Been checking their new (and old and it sometimes throws you back to the old one) website to try and get an idea as to what time of day (or night here in the US) they add tickets for the new day.  Very much interested in trying to get an underground tour of the Colosseum (but also want to see Palatine Hill as well) and it seems it's always sold out.  Everything is overpriced on Viator and other websites and even when you read reviews it seems they can switch up the tours and sometimes you don't even make it to the underground areas and people are waiting on refunds, etc.   Are all these vendors scooping up that tickets and that's what's making it more difficult for individuals to get tickets?

The new website is supposed to fix the scooping up issue by requiring the name of the person on each ticket. They can ask you for an id that matches the name on the ticket.  This is what they say:

Parco archeologico del Colosseo nominative tickets
The Full Experience Underground and Arena tickets and the Moon over the Colosseum event tickets are nominative and show the personal data of the visitor. The nominative ticket will show the data of each group or family member.
In case of mismatch with the identity document, access to the Colosseum will not be allowed and no refund will be granted.

The tour operators using the B2B channel will be required to enter the name of the users of tickets at the time of purchase, with the possibility of changing it once only, no later than midnight of the third day prior to the date of use of the ticket.
Please also note that each operator may purchase a maximum of 500 tickets per day on the B2B channel.

Right now they are only selling tickets for up to one month from today.  The guided tour tickets are sold out.  The regular admission for "Individuals" (no guided tour) are available for every day and there are plenty of tickets available (€24). Tickets that include the underground are only available with a guided tour.  All the "Full Experience" tickets (with or without a guided tour include admission to the Forum and Palatine Hill and all the SUPER sites.  

It used to be that new tickets were released at midnight Rome time. I expect that is still the same.

1 hour ago, mlmdaisy said:

Thank you for the reassurance.  That's what I'm hoping to do, but I need a doctor's visit (mine retired) to get a new Rx.  I can call Atlas, but they're a new cruise line and the agents I've spoken to so far only have experience on their Antarctica itineraries (someday........)    An alternative is to bring Dramamine. 

 

I'll add that one disadvantage of the smaller ship companies is that they switch up their itineraries so often that personnel often have no experience with the more obscure ports.  That certainly adds to the adventure.

 

 

There is nothing obscure about any Mediterranean port.

The currents in the Med are not very strong. The tides are small.  The winds are the big factor.

The mistral winds blow mostly in the winter and early spring, although you can have a day or so of mistral in the summer.

The simoun winds from Africa blow mostly in the summer.  You will know them because everything will be covered with a thin layer of sand from the Sahara.

Both cause very choppy water.

"You can't predict the weather."

Bring your seasickness remedies and use them if needed. 

22 minutes ago, Alatraveler1 said:

While I'm not sure all encompassing, and additional actions may happen without much advance notice, this Italy MIT website lists scheduled transit strikes.  They are listed as national, regional or local and give dates and times of strikes.  Also indicated is the mode(s) of transport affected.  Again, while not an absolute list of all strikes that may happen during a visit, it might be useful to know those scheduled in advance to help in planning your visits to Rome.  I'm hopeful cruisemom42 will post here with her wealth of knowledge of how useful this site is and any other information that might help when dealing with strikes (sciopero). 

You did not post a website.  The official government website listing the scheduled strikes is:

https://www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it/calendario-scioperi

sciopero=strike

Years ago the Italian government and the labor unions reached an agreement to allow strikes provided they are scheduled and that negotiations are conducted prior to the date.  All strikes must be scheduled at least several weeks ahead of time.  Wildcat strikes are a thing of the distant past although small actions in response to a local incident do occur from time to time.

there is a lot of info here:

18 minutes ago, PeggyCTB said:

We will be in Villefranche on Equinox this June. We have been here many times . This time we would like to find a driver to take us to Monte Carlo, leave us there for two hours and then return us to the ship. Public transportation is difficult for me right now. Any recommendations??? Thanks.

https://www.friend-in-france.com/

28 minutes ago, jb12 said:

I was in Athens more than 20 years ago and some missing columns were getting ready for Olympics.  The other ones were still somewhere in England.

Most of the metopes (known as the Elgin Marbles) and are in the British Museum in England. The originals of the remaining metopes are in the Acropolis Museum. Copies have been placed in the Parthenon. 

What remains of the columns are in place in the Acropolis and are being restored in a process that has been ongoing for many years.

The originals of the Caryatids are in the Acropolis Museum and copies have been placed in the Erectheion.

21 minutes ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

We are 4 ladies, all from different families and when we go out to eat in Italy or Greece, looking for advice on how to pay our share of the bill.  We really don't want everyone to bring along cash or have to ask the server to write 4 separate checks.  Has anyone else any experience with this situation?  TIA

Take turns paying with a credit card. Of course, keep the receipts and someone keep a running tally per person on a phone app. At the end settle up in cash. You may find out that you came out pretty even.

17 hours ago, PeggyCTB said:

Has anyone stayed at the Intercontinental in Barcelona? If so, how did you find the location? Was it very difficult to access popular attractions? We have booked a last minute cruise and are having difficulty booking a pre cruise hotel. Any information 

is appreciated. Thanks.

It is far from the main attractions.  Look for a hotel near the Plaza Catalunya.  

7 hours ago, Jayhoaps said:

Hello everyone, will be cruising to Mykonos Town in September and I am very excited. I have come across this Megali Ammos Beach, does anyone know if it is close to Mykonos Town? How long is the walk to get to the beach from Mykonos Town? Also does anyone have any insight on how to get to Megali Ammos? Any advice on this manner would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Best Regards. 

It is too far to walk.  You need to take a bus or a taxi.  If you are going to do that, there are much better beaches to go to, for example, Elia beach.

7 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Somewhere there's an elevator. It's only for those unable to walk up, and I don't know its location.

Worth researching if its important to you.

 

JB 🙂

Here is the elevator info.

5 hours ago, mlmdaisy said:

We will be on an Atlas itinerary in May that has full days at these two ports.  I'm trying to figure out where we can tour independently and for which ports (four in Spain, too) and for which we should take a ship excursion.

 

Does anyone have specific ideas for Montpellier and Collioure?  I can see what the highlights are by studying the Atlas brochure, but we need to choose attractions that are easy to get to by taxi, and more importantly, back to the port the same way.

 

Thanks!

Collioure is charming and small.  You can just wander around on your own.  Montpellier is a big city and the port is away from the center.  You would do well to sign up for a walking tour of Montpellier through your ship. Lots to see there.

4 hours ago, jb12 said:

With 'combined ticket' can I see Acropolis late one day and see all other sites on the ticket on next day?

Yes.