Spree75
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Posts posted by Spree75
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Thanks very much for the insights. I am travelling on the Odyssey for the first time in September. I wondered, has the recent dry dock refresh made a big difference? I see you had sailed on Odyssey before.
I didn't really notice anything that looked that different from 2011. I wasn't really looking for wear and tear either but there wasn't any peeling wallpaper/paint or broken deck chairs so I'd guess the dry dock was a success. The only thing that was different was the various odors that I mentioned before. Not sure if that has anything to do with the aging ship...
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We did an outskirts tour for our second time in Rome hitting many points of interest that aren't in the heart of ancient Rome:
- Ara Pacis
- Coppede area (Via Dora)
- Ponte Milvio, oldest bridge in Rome
- Stadio dei Marmi, all those marble sculptures of athletes
- Janiculum Terrace on Gianicolo, views of Rome from one of the hills
- EUR
- Keyhole at the Order of Malta
None of the above will take very long and they aren't very accessible by public transportation but everything was interesting.
If you want to go further afield:
- Villa Adriana and Villa D'este in Tivoli are both amazing and worth a visit at some point
- Sacro Bosco (Monsters Garden) in Bomarzo was also fantastic especially with a guide that is versed in the history of the garden.
We did both of these places on our third trip to Rome that we just finished.
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Thanks Spree75 for your informative post. We too sailed on the Odyssey, April this year, for 14 days in the Caribbean. We also thought that overall the cruise was fantastic (it was our second Seabourn cruise). We still had R2 but we look forward to the TK Grill on future sailings.
I just wanted to comment on part of your post regarding your friends who experienced the odour in their suite. Whilst onboard the Odyssey we met another Aussie couple and they were having enormous problems with the smell in their suite. It was so strong it was making the woman quite ill at times. They believed the smell was coming specifically from their shower recess, so upon entering their bathroom they were knocked out by the smell. Seabourn attended their suite on numerous occasions trying to rectify the problem, pulling apart the drain etc etc. But they were not able to completely eradicate the smell. Their suite was on level 6 - just wondering if there is an odour problem in some parts of the ship.
They were also on deck 6. They're main problem was in the closet and seemed to be fixed with a complete steam cleaning of the carpets which to me means that someone had done something in the closet and it was allowed to "ferment" for at least a cruise. Not good... There were other assorted housekeeping issues that shouldn't happen when you arrive for a cruise (1 piece of toilet paper left on the roll) but nothing as drastic as the odor issue.
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Just back from a 10 day cruise from Rome to Barcelona on the Odyssey (and 5 extra nights in Barcelona) and thought I'd give some quick observations from our trip. This is our fourth time on Seabourn after 1 time on the Odyssey and 2 times on the Pride.
Overall everything is fantastic and I could still get used to living on the ship for months at a time but there were a few things that caught our attention. None of these are major but kind of make it feel like the beginnings of some slippage...
1) No more towel animals. I think we had a rose one night and a paper boat another night and that was it.
2) No more shoe shine service.
3) No shoe horn in the suite. We thought this was weird. The Pride always had one with a really long handle that my partner loved. Guest services didn't know what a show horn was...
4) A really odd odor in part of the Observation Lounge which they said was being worked on but I don't think they ever fixed it.
5) A lack of the general staff knowing your name. I believe only 5-6 people addressed me directly and I'm not sure if several of those weren't because we sat at the same table in the MDR every night.
6) Portion size in the MDR seems to have gotten smaller. It's not really an issue since you can always order more but it was noticeable on some of the appetizers where the portion was more of a one bite amuse bouche.
7) Internet is still not good but that's nothing new.
Our friends that were travelling with us had a major problem with their cabin. They ended up having to talk to management and have the entire suite steam cleaned to remove a persistent odor and have their stewardess reassigned. However, they were satisfied with how the management handled things so that's always a good thing!
What we loved:
1) The food overall excellent. Meat was cooked to what we expected and things that were supposed to be hot were hot and things that were supposed be cold were cold.
2) The included wines were all drinkable
3) The Grill was delicious. Nothing fancy but a table prepared Caesar salad and a NY Strip with perigourdine sauce was wonderful. We actually loved the idea of R2 but the Grill is a great replacement.
4) TK meals appeared in the MDR every other day and I thought they were on the whole innovative (using non-standard preparations and ingredients) and quite tasty. Kudos to Chef Tom on great meals.
5) Plenty of caviar to be had.
6) Liked the new cocktail menu at the observation lounge/Grill. Nothing really new and innovative on the menu but some solid drinks.
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We visited Cephalonia on a cruise with Seabourn 2 years ago and enjoyed our time. However, we docked on the Eastern side of the island (originally Fiskardo but later changed to Sami) and it will take 30-40 minutes to get across the island by car. On the Eastern side near Sami is Melissani Lake which is an underground lake that I would guess is similar to the grottos (Capri, Malta, etc) that exist in other areas of the Med. It was interesting for a 5 minute cab ride from Sami but I'm not sure I would have bothered from Argostoli... There is also the Drogararti Cave which has fantastic stalagmites and stalactite formations. This is also nearby Sami. We toured both in about 2 hours and then wandered around Sami for 30 minutes or so before heading back to the ship. I've been told there are beautiful beaches but we aren't beach people so didn't bother to find them. There are also very old churches/monestaries in the area that are supposed to be interesting but we didn't visit any.
Hope that helps
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BTW, I forgot to mention that our trip was 3 years ago (2014) so I wouldn't be surprised if the price may have gone up a little.
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I just checked my records and it was 200 Euros for 5 hours though we ended up going over that time and weren't charged extra. The driver was Spiros Kritikos.
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I can't speak to Kotor since I've never been. However for Corfu I'd say it depends on what you want to do. If all you want to do is go to Old Corfu Town and wander around the area which could be a pleasant day all by itself then I think DIY and just grab a bus. However, if you want to see more of Corfu (which we did) then either renting a car or hiring a taxi for the day (which we did) is the way to go. Here's what we did on our day:
- Drove out of the port and headed North to the highest point on the islands to get views North and East and to look at some of the olive groves and small villages that dot the island.
- Drove westward and stopped for a snack and views of Paleokastritsa from high above. Afterwards drove down and visited the Monestary
- Crossed the island in a SE direction and headed to the Achilleion Palace and spent an hour or so there.
- Finally drove up the coast back to Old Corfu City with a stop on the way to look at Mouse Island.
- Dropped us off at the park near the Fortress. We walked around the Old City for an hour and then caught the ship shuttle back to the port.
A very pleasant day with our driver keeping up a dialogue and making suggestions as we went along to various points he thought we might be interested in seeing. The island is probably the most beautiful by scenery of the Greek isles I've been to (Cephalonia, Mykonos, Patmos, Milos, Rhodes, Lesvos)
I don't think you can go wrong in Corfu. The whole island just felt easy and relaxed when we were there
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If you like ruins and archaeology then I would go. It's a fascinating island. Just be aware that if you are expecting something like the Acropolis in Athens or the ruins at Ephesus or the Roman forum you may be disappointed. For me it was similar to the ruins at Olympia where you need a strong imagination to bring back the glory of the site. One other thing of note, it can be brutally hot on the island. There aren't any trees around and there aren't any tall buildings left either so there is absolutely no shade except in the small museum that is usually the last thing you stop at.
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Judy Livingston that Pam S mentioned was our guide for a day in Hobart during our land vacation. She was fantastic and I would heartily recommend her. I can report that we spent a day that included panoramic views from Mt. Wellington, a drive up to Mt Field National Park with a stop for a morning snack, the three waterfall trek in Mt. Field, a picnic lunch at Mt. Field, and finally the drive back to Hobart with a stop for the opposite scenic view from Rosny. Judy is great in that she gives you options and lets you decide on what you want to do. There are a number of walks/hikes in Mt. Field and she'll help you pick on that let's you see what you want to see and spend the amount of time you want. She's also one of the only guides that I know that leads from the slowest walker. Most guides I've had charge ahead and you end up having to tell them to slow down when one of the people on the tour starts to lag. Not Judy, she sticks with the slowest person and if the fast walkers want to dart ahead (like me) she gives clear directions and what to look out for.
Remember that Mt. Field is a 1.5 hr drive each way from Hobart so you may not have time for much else if you want to take 2-3 hour hike through the eucalyptus trees. They are impressive... massive trees that remind me of the big fir trees on the North American west coast. Maybe not as big as redwoods and sequoias but pretty close.
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See if you can find a tour that includes looking at the street art (graffiti). Maybe you can have that added onto the laneways and arcades since it's all in the same area. This was one of the more unusual and interesting things we did in Melbourne. The street art is almost all high quality and isn't the usual "tags" you see in other cities. In Melbourne most of it is actually murals and other art pieces. I noticed that the half day Central Melbourne Walking Tour included the street art in the description.
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I didn't really mind the tent. If you are interested in the scenic shots of the Temple and the surrounding mountains then it's definitely a bummer... But from my memory the whole temple is under the tent so I didn't really notice it while looking at the restoration. If scaffolding and other restoration efforts impact your enjoyment then be aware that there is a lot of that around and you can't wander into the temple. We were limited to three sides of the temple as the restorers were working on the back. Personally I thought it was worth going to the temple since it's in magnificent shape considering it's construction material. However, we hooked this on to an Olympia tour. If the temple was the only thing on your itinerary and you aren't that interested in the countryside then it might not be worth the 3 hour round trip from Katakolon.
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We visited the Temple of Apollo Epikourios the last time we were in Katakolon. The temple itself is probably only a 30-45 minute tour but the site is up in the mountains and you pass through a number of beautiful local villages that overlook stunning valleys. We were rushing over to Olympia after our visit so we didn't stop in the area but I could see spending the day exploring the surrounding area such as Andritsaina.
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We toured with Scott Ricketts at Your Sydney Guide and were extremely happy. He can customize anything in the Sydney area that you want (beaches, Blue Mountain, wine tours, etc).
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It should be possible but it's going to be tight depending on when your ship leaves. We docked at Sami so it was super easy to do the whole thing in under 3 hours with a taxi that we hired at the pier. However from Argostoli you have at least a 40 minute drive out to either site. It's an additional 15 minutes between the two sites so figure 2 hours of driving. The Cave is on the way to the Lake so you could go there on the way there or on the way back. I don't think it really matters which one you do first as both stay open late.
We got to the Lake before the tour buses so we didn't have to wait to get on a boat. There was a limited number of boats that each could hold about a dozen people. The tour took about 20-30 minutes. You'll be getting there in the afternoon so figure a bit of a wait to get on a boat, say 60 minutes total.
The Caves were a completely DIY affair. The driver dropped us off, we bought tickets and wandered down into the caves. You could probably walk the entire direct circuit in 30 minutes. I think we spent about 60 minutes in total since we took every side path and photo opportunity available.
Add that all up and you have a 4 hour tour. Hope this helps.
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Sounds like we may be doing the same itinerary as as you ab21au. We're being a bit more ambitious for our 2 days in Malta. What we are planning is to spend the first morning/early afternoon in Gozo and then taking a ferry on our own down to the main island. We'll spend the afternoon travelling the west side of island to Rabat and finally end up Mdina where we have dinner reservations. After that it's off to Valletta to meet up with the ship. Day 2 we'll tour around Valletta and the south but won't make it all the way to the Blue Grotto.
I checked with Seabourn to see if it was okay and they said it will be fine and to make sure we check in at Seabourn Square to let them know of our plans. I know we'll miss the sail in at sunset but with so little time in Malta I couldn't get over losing half a day on the sail over to Valletta.
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I saw on the news that the Rockaway Ferry opened today. Not sure how convenient this would be to get to Manhattan from JFK. Air Train to the Howard Beach station. Take the A to Beach 105 and hop on the Ferry to Pier 11/Wall Street. Web site says every hour on the half from 5:30 AM to 8:30 PM. 1 hour ferry for 2.75. Might be something to consider if you pick a hotel on the lower end of Manhattan.
Thought I'd put a small bright spot in an otherwise terrible transportation situation in the city...
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4 x 2 x $2.75 = $22 plus $1 for the metrocard.
If the OP walks from the theater to PATH at 33rd St, they need 3 x 2 x $2.75 = $16.50 plus $1 for the metrocard.
If they want a late night train option, they should only buy 2 x 2 x $2.75 = $11 plus $1 for the metrocard. When they decide later, they either buy NJ Transit tickets for $11 (no metrocard option) or add the missing value to the metrocard.
Whoops. That'll teach me not to even look at the actual math :(
As to the various options, I think your choice of subway back to WTC is a good choice. You already will know where the entrances and exits are and you don't have to navigate Penn Station or transfer on the PATH system.
It's a good thing that you are coming in on Wednesday. The Subway has been a nightmare on the weekends with E running on the F line frequently.
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Two things that could throw off your calculation.
First, if you don't have a Metrocard already there is a $1 surcharge for a new card so don't forget to keep that in mind when filling your card up.
Second, you can use the Metrocard for PATH service so if you really are going to do PATH -> E -> E -> PATH then you can put that all on one Metrocard. Both PATH and MTA is 2.75/ride so you would need a $45 card (4 rides x 2 persons x 2.75 + 1 for the new card). There should be Metrocard kiosks at all PATH stations. Remember that Metrocard can be used on PATH but Smartlink cannot be used on the MTA subway.
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The big loop is a great idea. If you want to pack in even more... From World Trade Center, take the E and anywhere from Canal to 42st/Port Authority switch (free transfer) to an express A or local C train and head up to 59st/Columbus Circle. From there you can wander into Central Park and take a look at the southern end. Exit out on Center Drive and walk down 6th Ave to Radio City/Rockefeller Center (you'll walk past MoMA too). Walk west across 50th or 49 St to 7th Ave or Broadway for the Theater District. Wander around the area (M&M store on 48th and 7th, Late Show up on 53rd and Broadway, the concentration of Broadway theaters are between 49th and 42nd St between Broadway and 8th Ave). Make your way south on Broadway or 7th Ave to Time Square. Finally walk down 7th Ave towards 34 St and see Macy's, Penn Station, and Madison Square Garden. On 34th or 33rd St you can walk East to the Empire State Building (33rd and 5th) or just pick up the PATH at Greely Square (intersection of Broadway and 6th Ave on 33rd St). This is a lot of walking but gives you a great flavor of Midtown Manhattan and passes by most of the major attractions in the area.
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MoMA sits right outside of the 5 Ave/53 St station that is serviced by the E subway line.
The Met is 4-5 blocks from the 96 St station on the 4/5/6 line
The Whitney is 4-5 blocks from the 8 Ave/14 St station on the A/C/E line
I'd personally recommend somewhere south of Times Square. Something around Penn Station. Convenient to the E to get to MoMA and The Whitney. However, if you like walking, the entire High Line is amazing and you can get on around 30 St right around the new Hudson Yard Complex and walk all the way down to the Whitney which should take about 30 minutes. As for The Met, I personally would just take an Uber there. If you don't mind walking you can take the A/C up to 81 St and get out at the Natural History Museum and take a 15 minute walk across Central Park.
Another option if you are around Penn Station is that you can hop an NJ Transit train from EWR directly to NYC (hopefully these derailment issues will be fixed by then).
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Lots of great advice already. I'd chime in that private tours that I've had in last 10 years of travelling have almost always been a flat fee based on the length of the tour and size of the vehicle. Everything else is pretty minor. My rule of thumb for a small vehicle for an entire day it's going to cost ~$1000. If you only have two people that works out to $500/person but if you have 6 people (where I've seen a jump in price) you are now at $167/person. I remember one funny time in Istanbul where my partner and I were the only two people in a 12 person mini-bus.
Moral of the story is find an extra 2-3 people and the price per person of the private guide will drop quite a bit. And for me guides are worth it. Even though I do research before I go the guide always knows even more. And any good private guide will gauge the groups interest really fast and make modifications to the tour as you go along (with your consent of course). That's how we ended up in a eco-village in Helsinki to look at some interesting modern architecture or sneaking into the old Olympic Stadium to look at marble sculptures in Rome. Any guide that wants to work more will make sure you get back to the ship on time so I wouldn't really worry about that too much.
Sorry I can't help you specifically with the places you are going but I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.
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Crystal has an LA-NYC Panama Canal, NYC-Portsmouth transatlantic, NYC-Quebec City fall foliage, and an Anchorage-NYC NW Passage
Cunard always has their NYC-Southampton transatlantic
Azamara, Carnival, Disney, HAL, Norwegian, and Princess all have cruises out of NYC and Royal Caribbean and Celebrity sail out of Bayonne, NJ
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Want to try some new places on next trip , we do NYC every year but normally do same restaurants, Becco's , Angelo pizza, Galleghers, Peking duck house, What is your favorite been wanting to try Orso on restaurant row and also Delmonico's downtown where I worked in late 60's and 70's
Nougatine (French) which is the casual area for Jean-Georges is a great restaurant and not TOO expensive (if you are comparing Le Bernadin or Per Se). It shares the same kitchen as Jean-Georges.
I always recommend Nomad (American) these days. The chicken for two is one the best dishes I have eaten.
Le Coucou (French) is the hot new high end restaurant in the city and is difficult to get a reservation. It's really good. Had a rabbit dish there that was fantastic. Some other suggestions would be Milos (Greek fish) and Forgione (American).
If cost is no object then I would also recommend Bouley (French) if it's still open by the time you come through NYC.
Nougatine is off Columbus Circle, Milos is on 55th at the edge of the Theater District, Le Coucou is in Little Italy/Soho, Nomad is mid-town, Forgione and Bouley are down in Tribeca.
Happy eating!
Quick Reflections for 10 Day Western Med on the Odyssey
in Seabourn Cruise Line
Posted
Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours. The Odyssey has been chartered a lot this early summer. There were 3 back to back 7 day charters before my cruise and there was another 10 day charter right after my cruise which should have ended on Sunday.