Insights re: Insignia's "wonders of ancients"cruise?

[kbella]

We are on Nautica's Wonders of the Ancients in June and was wondering if anyone on Insignia's April cruise (same itinerary) has any insights, tips, complaints or praises they would like to share regarding the ports,tendering, shore excursions, etc.

Thanks for any info.

Karen

[JimandStan]

It helps if people know what your cruise ports are:

 

Jun 13

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

8:00 p.m.Jun 14

Sorrento/Capri, Italy

8:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.Jun 15

Taormina (Sicily), Italy

8:00 a.m.3:00 p.m.Jun 16

Zakynthos, Greece

10:00 a.m.4:00 p.m.Jun 17

Santorini, Greece

9:00 a.m.8:00 p.m.Jun 18

Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece

9:00 a.m.4:00 p.m.Jun 19

Antalya, Turkey

9:00 a.m.4:00 p.m.Jun 20

Haifa, Israel

12:00 p.m.9:00 p.m.Jun 21

Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel

6:00 a.m.Jun 22

Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel

8:00 p.m.Jun 23

Limassol, Cyprus

9:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.Jun 24

Alanya, Turkey

8:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.Jun 25

Rhodes, Greece

8:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.Jun 26

Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

8:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.Jun 27

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

6:00 a.m.

[kbella]

This message was for anyone who has just been on Oceanias "Wonders of the Ancients" Cruise/April/ Insignia. So, I assume THEY know what ports THEY visited.

[Mura]

In that case, you should post your inquiry to their roll call where THEY will see it! It's possible some passengers might see your question here, but not all that likely.

 

I could look it up for you and give you a link but I don't know what date the cruise left port and it's time to cook dinner!

 

If you don't know how to find the link to the roll call, let us know the departure date and one of us will find it for you.

 

(I'm not being snarky here ... it isn't always obvious how to find a roll call to someone who hasn't done so before.)

 

Mura

[kbella]

Sorry, but it's been my experience that people normally do not visit the roll call of a cruise that they have already disembarked.

[Mura]

That's a point well taken. But it's still worth placing your question there. (Or perhaps as you seem to think -- too late now -- you could have asked in advance. People have done that re our cruises -- when you get back will you let me know such and such.)

 

I for one often go back to the thread after the trip because often there are follow-ups. So I don't think it's something you should ignore out of hand. It's worth a try.

 

But if you feel that isn't something you want to do, then post questions here about your itinerary -- as Jim&Stan suggested.

 

I will go back and look at the itinerary they posted and see if I can give any suggestions, but anything *I* might post won't be current.

 

Good luck.

[billie5]

The latest theory on the location of the Colossus of Rhodes places it in the Rhodes acropolis. There are huge stone foundations inside the temple of Apollo there, which could have served as the base of the Colossus. In any case I would go there just so I could believe I had actually seen the remains of this Wonder!

 

Bill

[kaimedia]

My husband and I just returned from that cruise. It was our first time on Oceania and here is a link to an overall review. http://kaimedia.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/oceania/. Here is what we learned...

 

Sorrento: Take the jet boat over to Capri ( 20 minutes). There is a finicular to the top for 2 euros. Don't take the expensive cabs.

 

Taromina: Our only complaint was we docked in Messina instead due to weather. All public transportation to Taromina was down (Easter Monday) except 180 eruo cab rides to Taromina. We felt Oceania could have arranged for more busses at the last minute since people were stranded in a closed up town.

 

Zakynthos; Took the little tourist train around town it gave us a good lay out for further shopping/eating. Did the same thing in Crete. But if is your first time in Crete do the Palace of Knossos.

 

Santorini also has a cheap finicula. We took a local bus to Oia on the north end which was cheap clean and convient. Saved us a couple of hundred $ on tours. The buses are a short walk from the main shopping.

 

Haifa: The ship had an engine problem so we arrived in Haifa midday. Time for only a half day tour to Nazareth and Galilee. Our biggest disappointment of the trip was only 1 1/2 days in the north and 1 day in the south. Israel was the highlite for us especially after Egypt was cancelled. The next day we were still in Haifa so that forced us to do Jersusalem from there. That added a good 3 hours to the roundtrip. The day in Asdod we went to Masada and Dead Sea.

 

Ephesus was magnificant. Took the ship tour.

 

All in all, out of 13 or so ports, there was only one shuttle in Antalya Turkey.

 

We only took 4 ship tours, 3 in Israel and one in Ephesus. Eveything else was easy to figure out yourself.

[Bruin Steve]

We only took 4 ship tours, 3 in Israel and one in Ephesus...

 

Intrestingly, those would be the two places where I would most urge one to avoid the ship's tours and opt for a private tour instead...

 

In Israel, there is so much to see and everything is so interesting, that it is a shame to try and do it with 40 people in a big bus...There are a multitude of very good English-speaking tour guides who can individualize tours for you here...We formed a group on our roll call and hired a guide who met us in both Haifa and in Ashdod...and took us to the things WE wanted to visit...with only six in our group, we could cover more ground...and could always hear our guide...Rather than waste time in Nazareth (really not that worthwhile), we used our Haifa stop to visit Megiddo and Caesarea--two incredible archaeological sites...Caesarea is the ancient Roman seaport built by Herod and Megiddo is "Armageddon" and the inspiration for James Michener's epic "The Source"...In Jerusalem, we were able to visit Yad Vashem and get a very thorough guided walking tour of the Old City...

 

For Kusadasi/Ephesus, in two visits now, we found the cost of a private tour--even for TWO persons--to be less than what the ship charges...One of our trips, we arranged a full day tour for TWO with Ekol to Miletus, Didyma and Ephesus for less than Oceania was charging for a half-day big bus excursion to Ephesus alone...Last cruise, with a shorter day, we got an excellent tour for four of Ephesus including the Terrace Houses...and we could actually see everything and hear our guide...and we saw the bus tours with the large mobs unable to hear their guide...

 

I would save the ship's excursiuons for those ports where there aren't a lot of reasonably priced private options...For example, we took Oceania's excursions in Crete (Palace of Knossos) and Cyprus (Pafos) since the ship doesn't dock near the sites, private guides are hard to find, and hours (Crete) are a little short and you know they will get you back to the ship...Those tours were not bad at all...

 

I do not mind spending a little money on tours...the cruise costs thousands, I can afford to spend a little more ...

 

Rhodes CAN be easily done on one's own...The ship docks right across from the town's main gate...We wasted our time doing a half day excursion to Lindos, explored Rhodes town (which was much more fascinating) on our own in the afternoon...

[kaimedia]

Intrestingly, those would be the two places where I would most urge one to avoid the ship's tours and opt for a private tour instead...

 

In Israel, there is so much to see and everything is so interesting, that it is a shame to try and do it with 40 people in a big bus...There are a multitude of very good English-speaking tour guides who can individualize tours for you here...We formed a group on our roll call and hired a guide who met us in both Haifa and in Ashdod...and took us to the things WE wanted to visit...with only six in our group, we could cover more ground...and could always hear our guide...Rather than waste time in Nazareth (really not that worthwhile), we used our Haifa stop to visit Megiddo and Caesarea--two incredible archaeological sites...Caesarea is the ancient Roman seaport built by Herod and Megiddo is "Armageddon" and the inspiration for James Michener's epic "The Source"...In Jerusalem, we were able to visit Yad Vashem and get a very thorough guided walking tour of the Old City...

 

For Kusadasi/Ephesus, in two visits now, we found the cost of a private tour--even for TWO persons--to be less than what the ship charges...One of our trips, we arranged a full day tour for TWO with Ekol to Miletus, Didyma and Ephesus for less than Oceania was charging for a half-day big bus excursion to Ephesus alone...Last cruise, with a shorter day, we got an excellent tour for four of Ephesus including the Terrace Houses...and we could actually see everything and hear our guide...and we saw the bus tours with the large mobs unable to hear their guide...

 

I would save the ship's excursiuons for those ports where there aren't a lot of reasonably priced private options...For example, we took Oceania's excursions in Crete (Palace of Knossos) and Cyprus (Pafos) since the ship doesn't dock near the sites, private guides are hard to find, and hours (Crete) are a little short and you know they will get you back to the ship...Those tours were not bad at all...

 

I do not mind spending a little money on tours...the cruise costs thousands, I can afford to spend a little more ...

 

Rhodes CAN be easily done on one's own...The ship docks right across from the town's main gate...We wasted our time doing a half day excursion to Lindos, explored Rhodes town (which was much more fascinating) on our own in the afternoon...

 

I hear you Bruin Steve. Unfortunately this particular cruise had about 5 itinerary changes due to situation in the mid east. We thought it most prudent to stick with ship's tours so we did not incur any last minute cancellation fees with private tour operators. And quite frankly I do not mind coaches. The more the merrier. Half the fun is meeting new friends. :)

[kbella]

Thank you so much, Kaimedia! This is exactly the kind of information that I was hoping to receive.

[kaimedia]

Thank you so much, Kaimedia! This is exactly the kind of information that I was hoping to receive.

 

Good. I am starting to add ports to my wordpress blog so if you want to check there you should get more specific information.

[kbella]

Good. I am starting to add ports to my wordpress blog so if you want to check there you should get more specific information.

 

I just did..very nice work.