giadav

1 hour ago, marazul said:

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.

Thank you for your help and suggestions

Just now, marazul said:

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.

Wow, really?  Thank you, I think I will book a private transfer so we don’t waste time as someone suggested above as well.

8 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

That would sort of depend on when you are scheduled to dock. As documented here, its close to an hour to the airport.

We dock at 5am

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Which island are you going to? It might be more efficient to take a ferry.

Kos,  and the ferry is too long.  

2 hours ago, marazul said:

@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?

 

We go to the Greek islands every year, just never did a cruise.  I don’t know if getting off the ship by 7:30 is doable (we are on Celebrity).  I would assume the ship has to get clearance 1st, like it does in the United States……..(we are going to Kos)

54 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

On a land trip, not a cruise but it should make no difference, we took a ferry from Piraeus to Crete where we spent a week.  You will already be in Piraeus when you disembark, so a ferry to your island choice would make sense and no luggage weight issues either.......providing there is a ferry service with timings which suit your plans.

I wish we could take the ferry, but the trip is too long.  We are going to Samos and Kos, so we have to fly.

What is the earliest time I should book my flight from Athens to a Greek island?  Our cruise ends in Piraeus in July.  My choices are 9:50am or 4:20pm, I really want that morning flight because it would be a wasted day if we take the afternoon.  (We have been to Athens many times).  Is it crazy to book the morning flight?  

My parents are on this, they are older and we were nervous with them traveling alone.  Keep the live updates coming.  How are the seas?  

Sailed on the Equinox twice and absolutely loved it.  A friend asked me a specific question and I couldn't remember.....Do they have live music by the pool during the day at all?  Someone told him that it is boring and they only play Frank Sinatra type music.  Can someone answer this for me so I can share.  Thanks.

A better suggestion would be to take the Hornblower Boat to the Blue Lagoon (go for a nice swim in that beautiful spot) in Comino and they will even work in a side trip to Gozo. It was one of our favorite days on the cruise. The Hornblower people have a bus waiting right outside of the cruise terminal. It's a long day, but a very good one.

This sounds exactly like something we are looking for. Did you set this up in advance on a website?

Thank you for share your story. I can't imagine having to go through something like that. Very scary and it make us realize how lucky we are to live where we do.

Just returned from 2 weeks of cruising to Costa Maya and Cozumel twice each port also Key West, Grand Cayman, Roatan and Harvest Caye, Belize. As frequent cruisers in the Caribbean we were definitely surprised by the huge amounts of sea grass floating throughout our waters during our sailings back and forth to Miami. Really large patches of the stuff at the surface almost "fermenting" due to temperature of the water I suppose. It was really interesting to us as we live on a barrier Island and sure do hope that crap doesn't come pollute our beaches!

We saw the same thing as we were cruising as well. Just got back on 7/24/18. We were looking forward to Costa Maya, we were there 2-3 years ago and had a fantastic beach day. It was so gross and smelled horrible this time, we stayed 5 mins and went back to the ship (after we paid for it LOL). Cozumel was great, went to Chackanaubb (spelling) State Park and it was clean and beautiful.

We are very experienced cruisers and it must be by pure luck that we have had smooth seas for almost every day at sea. Just curious on what to expect for this cruise from VC to Hawaii in Sept. Thanks.

No sorry, I don't think so. "Restaurants with guitars" is just another way to say tourists traps.

Really? I'm surprised and wouldn't consider that a tourist trap. When we go to Greece, we have been to many restaurants that are local that have someone playing the bouzouki, just nice live music. And now that I think of it, we found a local place in Italy as well. Oh well thanks.

If this helps, there are several websites that we locals "use" when going out... to know what's new, what's up, when, etc. Among those, one seems to stand out from the rest: www.timeout.com/barcelona They have a rather good section on food and I feel happy with many of their suggestions.... And talking about food, since you're visiting Catalonia, it'd be only normal that you'd try the local cuisine, right? :)... check out for Catalan cuisine here: https://www.timeout.com/barcelona/restaurants/the-50-best-restaurants-in-barcelona-catalan-cuisine

 

Also, since you're located at the Olympic Port already (Hotel Arts is there!), don't forget to drop by the fish restaurants in the marina -if you like fresh seafood-, and also the above mentioned Cangrejo Loco. I said it wouldn't be my choice for paella, but the restaurant has other specialities.

Thanks for the above link. Do any of the restaurants offer live Guitar music during dinner? We will be in Barcelona Sept 18-21. Staying at the K+K Picasso which I believe is close to the port or beach, not that it really matters to us. This is our second stay in Barcelona and absolutely loved the beauty of your city. We love to eat where the locals do.

Need a down day on a port intensive itinerary. What is the best way to get from Catania Port to Giardina Naxos beach. We are going to be on Celebrity Constellation in Sept. Thanks.