disembarkation in Med ports...how does it work?

[dl13]

Hi.

I need the help of the recent cruisers to the Mediterranean.

 

We will be on our first Med cruise in a couple weeks and having never visited European ports before I'm looking for some information regarding the disembarkation procedures.

 

 

We will be sailing out of Barcelona on the Solstice and visiting:

• Rome
  
• Naples
  
• Mykonos (tender)
  
• Kusadasi
  
• Santorini (tender)
  
• Piraeus
  
• Malta
  

Can anyone please tell me if things are the same as when I last did a Caribbean cruise, ie the ship clears customs as a whole and passengers just walk off the ship with no further screening at the port?

 

Or will we have additional customs/security checkpoints to go through at these European ports before we can be on our way?

 

I'm just trying to gauge how much additional time to allow for meeting up with our scheduled tours.

 

All help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

:)

[Phxazzcruisers]

Once the ship has cleared customs, passengers just walk off the ship where docked. you nay want to wait about 15 minutes to miss the "rush" When tendered the CC class and above guests get special tender passes and they tender the guests off. This process is a little slower. There is no other security to pass through. Enjoy your tour. Those are great ports !!!

[Lastdance]

Hi.

I need the help of the recent cruisers to the Mediterranean.

 

We will be on our first Med cruise in a couple weeks and having never visited European ports before I'm looking for some information regarding the disembarkation procedures.

 

 

We will be sailing out of Barcelona on the Solstice and visiting:

• Rome
  
• Naples
  
• Mykonos (tender)
  
• Kusadasi
  
• Santorini (tender)
  
• Piraeus
  
• Malta
  

Can anyone please tell me if things are the same as when I last did a Caribbean cruise, ie the ship clears customs as a whole and passengers just walk off the ship with no further screening at the port?

 

Or will we have additional customs/security checkpoints to go through at these European ports before we can be on our way?

 

I'm just trying to gauge how much additional time to allow for meeting up with our scheduled tours.

 

All help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

:)

 

I totally agree with Phxazzcruisers. That is the way it works the majority of the time. Small glitches happen now and then, but you are going to have memories for a lifetime! Private tours in Turkey are so inexpensive and wonderful! Enjoy all your ports!!!:cool:

[dl13]

Thanks so much for your help! :)

[Phxazzcruisers]

Not a problem. Enjoy your cruise !!! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask

[Buranogal]

Hi you have me wondering now. saying private tours in turkey inexpensive. Well we going to DIY and walk to touristy sites near hotel but now would like to know who you would recommend for a tour. Appreciate any info thanx Liz

[kitty9]

Those with ship tours get the first tenders and then those with priority tender tickets go next. If you're not in one of those groups, then you have to report to one of the lounges to get numbered tender tickets and then wait for your number to be called.

[sunshine nana]

We just returned from an Equinox cruise last week. In Santorini, the ship's tour people went on the tenders first to a different landing. Then the ship moved and those with priority tender passes (suites) got off and then everyone else in order of their tender ticket. Some did not get into Santorini until 5 pm. Also in Athens, we were held up for an hour. Two years ago, it was 2 hours. This seemed to be the fault of the people in the port. This trip it caused us to cut out one part of our tour as we were going to Corinth. Two years ago, the driver just had to wait, we still saw everything, but we just stayed in Athens.Be sure you are getting up to date information. Things change.

[zelker]

Hi you have me wondering now. saying private tours in turkey inexpensive. Well we going to DIY and walk to touristy sites near hotel but now would like to know who you would recommend for a tour. Appreciate any info thanx Liz

 

We just returned from the Apr. 30th Equinox cruise. We (16 of us on 2 mini buses) and many others from our Roll Call used Ephesus Deluxe in Turkey. They offer a package that combines both Istanbul and Ephesus for an amazingly affordable price that hits all the highlights (it's called the Duo - Istanbul and Ephesus) or you can do either port separately. Even more important than cost though (IMHO) everyone was extremely happy with their guides. Check them out at http://www.ephesusdeluxe.com. Deniz was extremely easy to work with, was willing to customize the sites we visited, and did not ask for payment up front.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We just returned from the Apr. 30th Equinox cruise. We (16 of us on 2 mini buses) and many others from our Roll Call used Ephesus Deluxe in Turkey. They offer a package that combines both Istanbul and Ephesus for an amazingly affordable price that hits all the highlights (it's called the Duo - Istanbul and Ephesus) or you can do either port separately. Even more important than cost though (IMHO) everyone was extremely happy with their guides. Check them out at http://www.ephesusdeluxe.com. Deniz was extremely easy to work with, was willing to customize the sites we visited, and did not ask for payment up front.

 

We were on this same cruise and used Ephesus Deluxe (The Duo) as well. We were very pleased with the company and the guides. It was $109 pp for both ports and included all entry fees. Each leg did have a carpet stop shop, but neither one was long or high pressure. We actually enjoyed the one in the Ephesus area as it included a very nice lunch in a rural setting.

 

On the docked portions, we just walked off when ready, just like any other port and getting back on was easy too. For tendering in Santorini, get in line about 30 minutes early to get earlier tender tickets; they let one person pick up how ever many tickets they needed, but I can't guarantee they will do this again.

[Mulege]

We used EphesusShuttle in both Ephesus and Istanbul. Great service, guides, tours with small groups. You get a discount sometimes by doing both tours.

 

Aldoslimos was exceptional in Naples or Sorrento. Checkout tripadvisor for reviews.

 

DO NOT MISS THE TERRACE HOUSES at Ephesus if you at able to comb stairs.

[Gracie115]

Each leg did have a carpet stop shop, but neither one was long or high pressure. We actually enjoyed the one in the Ephesus area as it included a very nice lunch in a rural setting. .

 

 

You don't have to do the carpet stops if you don't want to. We were on the same tour with Zelker above and we opted out in both Istanbul and Ephesus. You just have to say no if you don't want to do it and none of us wanted to spend our time that way. We still had the lunch in Ephesus in the same setting we just didn't stay for carpet presentation. The tours were great and our guides excellent. :)

[Lsimon]

AS others have said it is pretty straight forward. The only place that it is problematic getting to shore is Santorini which can be difficult due to the tendering and the limited transportation up the cliffs as both of these issues result in bottlenecks getting started there. This is more of a problem if there are other ships in port when you will be there and less of an issue if your ship is the only one in port. I'd look into some of the threads on Santorini both on this board and on the Greece port of call board here on Cruise Critic.

 

For example here is a recent thread with some discussion on Santorini:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=33477316#post33477316

 

Also keep in mind that some of the ports, such as Rome and possibly Naples depending on your plans, is a great distance from the tourist points of interest. Consider this in planing your time on shore.

[schmidlapp]

Santorini was a bit difficult due to the tendering, we had priority but for those who don't it can be a wait. Make sure you find out the number of ships that day, the cable car runs every 3-4 minutes with 36 people each way. = 600-700 per hour. The donkeys are not fun except the first time,

walking down is doable dodging the donkey dung.

Watch out for pickpockets in Santorini, Last week I witnessed an attempt that failed,

sorry to say the local shopkeepers standing in their doorways just turned the other way when it happened.

Even so it's a beautiful port.

[Nebr.cruiser]

You don't have to do the carpet stops if you don't want to. We were on the same tour with Zelker above and we opted out in both Istanbul and Ephesus. You just have to say no if you don't want to do it and none of us wanted to spend our time that way. We still had the lunch in Ephesus in the same setting we just didn't stay for carpet presentation. The tours were great and our guides excellent. :)

 

We knew that; it's just that none of us really minded. The one near Ephesus was really quite interesting, the one in Istanbul a little less so. Both days were pretty full and I think some of the group enjoyed the rest!

[Buranogal]

Many thanx all for your kind help. Regards Liz

[Travel Writing Mary]

We did this itinerary last year and LOVED IT. For Santorini especially, get your tender tickets for a very early tender. There were only a few people on the first tender to Santorini and NO LINE for the finicular to the top, where the town is. We hiked to Oia and rode the bus back (the taxis were all on strike then). When we got back to the main town we were shocked at the huge numbers of people in line for the finicular back down to the tenders...glad we got back an hour and a half early because we spent ALL of that time in that huge winding line! Brace yourself for that. If you are in line at the time you are supposed to be on the ship, they won't leave you. (They would have left at least 100 passengers if they had). I think they 'pad' the return time for just this reason.

We were off the ship within 15 minutes of when it officially said on the printed schedule of ports and times...usually if it said 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., we were off by 8 a.m.