fraudsterbuster

We are sailing on the Oosterdam late June going into July, 2018. Having never been to Greece and overwhelmed with the thought of shore excursions to each Greek port on a port intensive cruise, I'm feeling a little bit lost and unprepared for what's ahead! I've arranged activities in Santorini and Athens, but the remaining Greek ports, I'm at a loss. The HAL website isn't that helpful, so I'm looking for suggestions from my fellow cruisers. I'm trying to balance relaxation, being spontaneous and making the most of our time in Greece, traveling with mostly mobile and young at heart 70 year old Parents. We love food, local culture, want to be good/responsible visitors and history. Knowing which ports are tender ports would be great too, as HAL isn't that forthcoming with info.

 

Thoughts/suggestions on Rhodes, Crete, Nauplion, Argostoli and Corfu?

We just returned from the Oosterdam....lovely ship and great service. Love the Billboard Lounge!

Santorini: is a tender port. Be aware if you ride the donkeys to the top of the hill, you are in the town of Fira. The town of Oia is where you see the white buildings with the blue dome tops.

We booked the "transfer to Oia" tour. We were taken to Oia and given some free time to walk around and take photos, then were taken to Fira and given more free time. You're on your own re buying a ticket for the cable car ride down to the bottom of the hill where you board the tender that takes you back to the ship.

Rhodes: is an old walled city located across the street from where the ship docks. There are many restaurants and shops. There's also the Palace of the Grand Masters with the Street of Knights. We booked the "Old Town, Master's Palace & Trolley Train" tour. If we had to do it again, we would've just walked around in town and perhaps toured the Palace on our own.

Athens: We booked the "night in Athens" tour via HAL....this was one of our favorite excursions.

There was a good variety of food to please different tastes served buffet style. Overall, the food exceeded our expectations and was very tasty. We had a lot of fun with audience participation on the floor including throwing plates on the floor and dancing on the pieces!

Argostoli: We booked the "Melissani Lake & Drogarti Cave" tour via HAL. After about an hour's ride, we arrived at the "lake".

It's not what we expected. As there was a busload ahead of us, we stood in line on a downhill slope for nearly another hour to board a rowboat that held about 12 people. The oarsman maneuvered the boat about 2 blocks length, then turned around. The ride lasted about 10 minutes. If you've ever seen stalactites anywhere else, then you will be disappointed. This was the worst excursion we've ever taken on over 30 cruises. I do not recommend wasting your time to go here.

Nafplion: We booked the "Ancient Corinth and Canal" tour via HAL. Seeing this canal was pretty neat. We also enjoyed walking around with the narrated tour in Ancient Corinth. However, if we ever went back, we'd book the tour where you actually take a boat ride in the Canal.

Montenegro: The ship is docked across the street from the entrance to the city of Kotor. We took the walking tour via HAL but you could very easily just walk around on your own. There's a Maritime Museum that we entered that was interesting. Some folks walked up onto the hillside. Bring comfortable walking shoes that have good traction if you're leaning to walk up the hill.

Corfu: We booked the "Achillon, Kanoni & Corfu" tour via HAL. We toured the Achillon Palace which is beautiful but at this point we were both getting tired of palaces and ruins....that was just us. I'm sure others will be able to give you better advice.

Iraklion: On this island we booked "Best of Iraklion, Mind the Minotaur" via HAL. We enjoyed the first half of this tour much better than the second portion. We walked among the ruins of the Palace and saw parts of the labyrinth (did not "explore" as advertised in the tour description), then went to village of Arolithos. We walked through/visited the folklore museum in about 15 minutes as it is very interesting but also very tiny. If my memory recalls correctly, there were perhaps two stores in the village-I expected more from the tour description. We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant while musicians played and several folks danced traditional Greek dances. There was also some audience participation which was nice.

Overall, in my opinion, I would visit the Palace ruins but pass on visiting this village.

The evening tour in Athens offered by HAL was much better food wise and entertainment wise in my opinion.

Venice: We booked the City Wonders tour to Murano and Burano. After viewing a Murano glass item being created, we had some free time and took a boat to Burano. Now Burano is a lovely, very colorful town. Rather than take a tour, you can take the boats on your own to either/both of these islands and spend as much time as you like. The lace making demonstration in Burano lasted about 10 minutes if that. All kinds of lace products available for purchase throughout the town and quite a few restaurants/cafes to have a drink or get a bite to eat. Burano was lovely.

At any rate, be sure to take comfortable walking shoes as there is a lot of walking. We went in August knowing it would be hot. June should not be as bad.

On a last note, we were the victims of a pick pocket in Rome upon arrival. I was on the door steps to the hotel and had just paid the driver from the airport transfer company so didn't zip my tote bag with the passport wallet in it knowing I had to show my passport to check in at the hotel. BIG MISTAKE.

Woman came up begging with one hand stretched out with a tin cup. I pulled my arm away from her but just that quick she grabbed my passport wallet with her other hand and took off. The Embassy in Rome is only open M-F 830A-1230P.

They have a photo booth in the building. We were able to get temporary passports within 2 hours. If I may make the following suggestions: be sure your valuables are locked inside a purse. Don't consider knee pockets on men's cargo shorts to be a "safe" place for a wallet or passports, take photo copies of your passports and keep them separate from your passports, limit the money and credit cards you carry with you in each port to only what you think you may need.

Also, assign a pin number to each credit card you plan to take with you. In Europe, credit cards are treated like a debit card in that you need a pin to get a cash advance from an ATM with a credit card. Also, there is a money transfer company called RIA that gives a better rate than Western Union. However, because Rome is considered high risk, they will not wire cash to Rome.

I'm hoping this information will help you and perhaps anyone else reading this information. Be safe!

We will be in Argostoli in November and haven't found much on excursions for this port. We have a group of 14. Thanks for any suggestions/experiences you have.

I was there in August. I booked the Cephalonia Highlights tour offered via Holland America. It took about an hour to get to Melissani lake. There was one busload of folks ahead of us. We stood in line on a downward slope for nearly another hour to board a small rowboat that held about 12 people. The oarsman spoke so fast it was difficult to understand him. He was more busy taking photos of the people onboard trying to increase potential tips. He maneuvered the boat for about 3 blocks length if that pointing to stalactites then turned around. That was it! It was over in 10 minutes. This was the worst shore excursion I have ever taken and I've been on over 30 cruises. I do not recommend wasting your time to go there.

Thank you so much for all the detailed information. My husband and I are booked for the same itinery in October. You helped me plan some of our tours. Many thanks again!

Thanks for asking the question and for the replies to it! My husband and I are sailing on the POA in October. We're fairly new to NCL and have a specialty dining package so I was wondering the best night/s to book those restaurants.

The information here was very helpful. Thanks again!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I was able to book Embassy Suites using a combination of Hilton points and cash - and the cash portion was only $14.76! Hard to beat that for a night's stay! Thanks again!!

You might check out Kelly's Landing New England Seafood Restaurant located in a shopping center very close to your hotel.

It's a pub/restaurant almost like a sports bar atmosphere with all the New England Patriots memobilia displayed. Great seafood at reasonable prices. If you go after 6P, expect to wait.

It's not a large place and they do fill up.

Hi rajkr74,

I really appreciate you and your wife taking the time to give such a complete and thorough review plus photos of your Alaskan vacation. My husband and I are doing the same trip next month and we can hardly wait for it to begin. We did a 7 night cruise in/out of Seattle nearly 10 years ago with my mother-in-law so we're really looking forward to doing the land portion. Many thanks again for all of the information that you provided!