marazul

Many people here would be interested on your comments on the hotel. People always ask and, as you said, there is hardly any info.

Good idea for the private transfer. And when you are on board, check on disembarkation procedures, luggage, etc. You might want to check on all of that on the Celebrity CC board to give you an idea.

@msvca The ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion is very long. It takes about 9.5 hours. The flights are 50 minutes. You would waste too much time on the ferry if you only have one or two days to spend in Crete. You are better off taking one of the many daily flights. Check out the schedules in aegeanair.com. Having said that, there are overnight ferries to Crete. Not my cup of tea. I would rather spend the time in Crete.

As mentioned above, there are minimal formalities clearing the ship. You should be able to get out one hour after docking. And, certainly, by 7 am.

A couple of years ago we cruised with a single friend. We assumed we would be having dinner together every night, but she kept on getting invited to dinner with other singles almost every night! There were also one or two coctails-before-dinner events. She has been on two other SB cruises since.

@giadav We usually book the island flights at least six months ahead of time. However, keep checking aegeanair.com as they have sales from time to time. You only need to check in one hour ahead of time for domestic flights. Add one hour to get to the airport from the pier. To be safe, leave the ship a little more than two hours before flight time. In your case, if you can disembark at 7:30 you will have enough time to make your 9:50 flight. If you go to one of the smaller islands, you might fly a 30 or so passenger plane. Carry-on rules are very strict. You will need to check any US sized carry-on luggage. Also, many domestic flights leave from the tarmac and they bus you there from the gate. If that is the case, make sure you get to the airport a little sooner. So, leave the ship by 7:30. Where are you going to?

That would take just as long as starting and ending in England. But the OP was considering a cruise out of Lisbon so maybe this one would be appealing.

George's has great private tours, but it does not do shared tours. PK does. https://www.georgestaxi.com/faq/

@Nancyewhite01 The beauty of Kotor is the long sail in and out one of the most fabulous bays (technically a fjord) in the Med. You can enjoy that from the deck (best) or your balcony. There are some good excursions out of Kotor, but I would rank them as of less interest than those of your other ports. The town of Kotor itself is very small and well worth looking around. If you feel ok during the day just get out for a short walk in the very scenic town. And enjoy the sail out. The same could be said about Portofino (without the long sail in) unless you choose to go to Cinqueterre. Portofino is even smaller than Kotor and you could also plan to tender in for a stroll around if you feel like it.

. Check out PK Travel. pktravelgreece.com. They have semi-private tours where you are added to a group.

Sorry! I should have said Montjuic, NOT Tibidabo! The local hill, not the local mountain. Montjuic is 173 meters. The tower will be 170 meters.

Your baby will bring the average age on board by 15 minutes. Good points on post #19 above. Enjoy your cruise and welcome to your little girl.

We also return again and again. The first time we saw it was closer to 40 than 30 years ago. We walked into the site which was full of weeds. There was no roof. You could look straight up to the sky. It really amazes us the way it has grown to almost completion. The most striking was when we were there shortly after all the stained glass windows were installed. The colors are magical. Hopefully, we will see that main tower completed in the future. That will be quite an accomplishment considering that it is meant to be just a few meters shorter than the Tibidabo mountain that overlooks Barcelona. Gaudí believed that no work of man should be higher than a work of God (but it could come close.)

https://www.medocvignoble.com/en/my-stay/convenience/ https://www.medocvignoble.com/en/degustation/maison-du-tourisme-et-du-vin-de-pauillac/ https://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/pauillac-11560.htm https://www.cellartours.com/destinations/bordeaux/wine-regions/pauillac

Here is some additional info. Look at the first photo posted by @mskaufman in post #5 above. That is the Villefranche harbor. There are lots of restaurants along the waterside. Stores are nearby and on the side streets. Look at the wall on the right side of the photo. The beach is there, just past the sailboats. At the end of the beach is Saint Jean-Cap Ferrat. Above the wall is the road that runs along the shore from Nice to Monaco. The train station and the bus stops are close to the steps that get you to the top of the wall. It would be a waste to stay on the ship.

Taxi. About 10-12 euros. Your hotel will tell you where the closest taxi line is or call you a taxi. If they call the taxi, ask how long before it picks you up. It could be quicker to get to a taci line.

And you do know that Nice is in France, not in Italy. You will find many. opinions on your question on the France forum.

All of that is more than doable. Don't stay on the ship. Villefranche is a beautiful small town.

I second Hank's. suggestion to go to Nice. You will run out of things to do in Villefranche very quickly. If you insist on staying there, you can walk or taxi to Cap Ferrat which is the peninsula right across the small Villefranche harbor. There you can visit the Ephrussi de Rotschild mansion, now a museum. You can also walk around the town (Saint Jean-Cap Ferrat). If you are feeling energetic there is a really great walking path around the Cap Ferrat peninsula and you will be able to admire the billionaires' mansions from the seaside. There is also a Jean Cocteau museum which may or may not be open.

And the buses do not fit in the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter...

Cannes and Nice are very near each other. Marseille is further west. So your choice is Nice/Cannes or Marseille. Either choice has a lot to offer based on personal preference. You really need to look in a guide book for the Riviera and Provence and see what appeals to you. There are no wrong choices.

Seabourn should have a shuttle bus transfer. It will be offered on board when you get disembarkation instructions, not ahead of time on the website.

Do check George's also. We have used them many times in the past few years. They have always been excellent.

@Katemusical The best reviewed agencies for Athens are George's Taxi and PK Travel. They are both local Greek companies with an excellent track record going back many years. They may also provide services on some of your other ports. Since they are both local Greek companies, you deal with them directly. Italy Tours and Viator are consolidators who will contract with local operators. https://www.georgestaxi.com/ https://www.pktravelgreece.com/

Me too.