For those planning a 2013 Eastern Med Cruise - yet another trip report!

[lovestx]

Where was the amphitheater picture (third one in post #93) taken?

 

Near the top of the entire Ephesus complex. It's one of the first things you visit on the tour.

[lovestx]

I'm really enjoying your review. We're going to some of the same ports next year, and will be using Kagan's company in Ephesus. I don't think we'll have him, since I believe he is only in Istanbul. But his guides in Ephesus come highly recommended.

 

Your family seems to really enjoy one another's company! I'm looking forward to to reading more!

 

Shelly,

Our understanding was that Kagan runs the company and, as such, goes to Ephesus and possibly Cappadoccia (sp?) with some regularity. He had been in Ephesus checking on his guides right before we met him.

 

Lale only guides in Istanbul as they have two daughters at home. If you have the choice, I would pick her over him. And I'm guessing their guides in Ephesus are very good so go with those recommendations.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that I questioned Lale on how they could do business and not require a deposit. No money was exchanged or credit card numbers given prior to our arrival. She explained that Americans are very organized and when they say they will show up, they do. So they have never had a need to take deposits. There were other nationalities that they requested deposits of and some they would not take a reservation at all as they have had such trouble in the past. It was interesting.

 

And thanks for the compliments about my report. Glad it's helpful!

[lovestx]

It's interesting you mentioned the Austrian government being involved in the Terrace Houses. Just this weekend, we happened to go to a presentation at the Getty Villa Museum here in LA where a Dr. was giving a lecture on the Terrace Houses (they also have an ongoing exhibit on Pompeii, so we decided the day at the museum would be appropriate to prepare us for our Med cruise next month).

 

The dr. who did the presentation is supposedly the head archaeologist who manages the Terrace House excavation, an she is Austrian. Apparently she won an award last year - Scientist of the Year in Austria - so she is very popular there. Not sure which came first - if she is Austrian and this is her pet project so the government happens to put its resources there, or if the Austrian government puts its resources in Ephesus, so that's why she is there working. In any case, I didn't even think to question it until you mentioned it here (after all, there are American archaeologists that work in other countries - you have to go where the ruins are, right?) , but now I'm curious....

 

Enjoying your report - thank you for sharing!

 

Very interesting, Saffy. I'm not sure which came first...the archeologist or the Austrian goverment. But there is a big billboard-type sign within the Terrace House that thanks about 8 Austrian companies and the government for their support.

[lovestx]

We had low expectations of our day in Athens as we had heard so much about it being “dirty”. We were also concerned since the Greek elections were held the day before we arrived in port. Thought there might be demonstrations or violence so we had inquired at the Shore Excursions desk about our ship-sponsored touring options. I have to say that the folks at the excursions desk were uniformly unhelpful both times we tried to get info (later we booked a Pompeii tour for the kids and it was the same). You would never know that these folks are selling . When we inquired about our options for excursions in Athens, the staff person simply looked at us blankly and handed us the printed list! We were so put off by that, we decided to take our chances and go it on our own. And it worked out fine.

 

Following instructions from fellow cruisers on CC, we disembarked probably around 9 a.m. and took off on the shuttle bus to the port building (a short ride) and then walked with another couple to the Metro stop. Just as everyone said, keep the water on our left until you see the station on your right. But it seemed like a long walk (took 20 minutes walking briskly) and we kept wondering if we had missed it.

 

The Metro was easy to get on and we were at Monastariki station in 25 minutes. Couldn’t believe when we came out of the station and looked up that we were actually seeing the Acropolis!!! Really an incredible feeling—guess I never imagined that I would be there in my lifetime. My husband, the ancient history buff, was just beside himself and it was fun to watch :)

 

It was a Monday so the new archeological museum was not open (which is why we went directly to Monastariki station). We walked directly up to the Acropolis and found the longest line we faced on our whole trip. Made me wish we had either hired a private guide or had gotten off the ship at 8 a.m. We hit the line at about 10:45 a.m. and it was at least 45 minutes long. We heard that after 1 p.m. there was no line! So plan accordingly. We were lucky to run into folks we knew from the ship who offered to buy us tickets once they got to the booth (they were 10 minutes ahead of us on the line). And, note, Kate as a 15 year old and student paid a much lower price so ask!

 

The climb up to the Acropolis ticket booth and then up to the Acropolis itself is not for the faint-hearted. And, again, it was hot! Not as hot as Ephesus, but hot! We used the Rick Steve’s podcasts again and they were great. Toured the area for over an hour and were in awe.

 

We were shocked at one point to see a woman actually jump over the chain ‘fence’ surrounding the Parthenon to get a closer. What was she thinking?!? Like it isn't big enough for you to be able to see it from behind the fence?!? She was yelled at by guards but it did remind us all of how poorly-behaved some people can be.

 

Note to those going after us: You really do want to wear sturdy shoes or sneakers on this day. The marble is uneven and slippery and it's so crowded that it is hard to be watching your step at all times.

 

Some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We descended down from the Acropolis and were now ready for a break and some shade. We found “restaurant row” that Rick Steve’s has on his map and picked the first taverna that looked nice. We were warmly welcomed at Geros Toy Moria (address: 27, Mmisikleous st., Plaka, Athens. Here are my boys enjoying a beer!

 

 

 

Then it was on to Syntagma Square to see the Parliament building and the sight of recent unrest. It was completely quiet! The only reason you knew that the elections had occurred the day before was the phalanx of strobe lights and cameras on the balconies of a hotel facing the square. We hit it right about the time of 7 a.m. EDT so we figure we might have been on The Today Show!

 

Again we used the Rick Steve’s podcast to learn about the Square and the Plaka. We probably didn’t enjoy that piece of the tour that much but at least did get to see more of the shopping district and then the old shopping area. We bought some souvenirs and just enjoyed wandering. The kids got a kick out of the fact that downtown shopping areas in places like Turkey and Greece don’t look much different than those at home.

 

We returned to Monstariki station and retraced our steps on the Metro. We chose to take a taxi back to the port as we were done with walking for the day. Got “into it” a bit with the taxi driver as we thought he might be overcharging us (he probably was by 1 Euro or so….we should have been more circumspect and we regretted giving him a hard time). The cabs were easy to find at the Metro stop but I don’t think they love the low fare to the port.

And now my impressions of Athens: we really liked it! The Acropolis is amazing and the Plaka area is charming. So many people on our ship thought Athens was “dirty” and we just didn’t feel that way. There was a lot of graffiti….in places like downtown storefronts that you wouldn’t see it in the U.S….but I didn’t think the sidewalks or streets or restaurants were dirty. But then again, most of the people who told us it was dirty had taken a cab or bus into the city. We may have missed some of the blight by using the Metro.

 

On a future trip, I would visit the Agora and the museum instead of Syntagma Square. Just think it would have been more interesting.

 

Back on the ship we learned that the port of Mykonos, our next, much-awaited stop had been closed due to high winds. You could almost hear the entire ship sigh! The captain thankfully made arrangements to dock on Crete. So we quickly cancelled our day at the St. John resort on Mykonos (which sounded fantastic!) and did some quick research on beaches on Crete. And then it was off to dinner and the usual: soccer and martini bar. We didn’t have an interest in Mark Poore the psychic who was the entertainment that night.

 

 

 

 

[hansolosmom]

Thanks for the info. I have to say I was surprised you didn't have a private tour for Athens since you had so many of them set up.

 

So bummed to hear you didn't make Mykonos. Guess you'll have to go back ;)

[lovestx]

Thanks for the info. I have to say I was surprised you didn't have a private tour for Athens since you had so many of them set up.

 

So bummed to hear you didn't make Mykonos. Guess you'll have to go back ;)

 

All had to do with the election in Greece. We thought there was a good chance that we would never even dock in Athens due to unrest so went the 'play it by ear route'. With the exception of the line at the Acropolis, it worked out fine.

[hansolosmom]

All had to do with the election in Greece. We thought there was a good chance that we would never even dock in Athens due to unrest so went the 'play it by ear route'. With the exception of the line at the Acropolis, it worked out fine.

 

Makes perfect sense. I think it was probably nice too since you didn't feel like you were trying to cram everything in.

 

Also hope you didn't take my comment as snippy. I thought about it & it could be construed as a 'gee you didn't plan anything' kind of thing. Which obviously isn't true since you planned everything to a T for the trip.

[jt1120]

We chose to take a taxi back to the port as we were done with walking for the day. Got “into it” a bit with the taxi driver as we thought he might be overcharging us (he probably was by 1 Euro or so….we should have been more circumspect and we regretted giving him a hard time). The cabs were easy to find at the Metro stop but I don’t think they love the low fare to the port.

 

If I may ask, what was the taxi fare back to the port? We're taking an excursion that has the option of leaving you at the Mercouri statue with us having to find our own way back to the ship, so we're thinking of exercising the option in order to sample some of the local cuisine.

 

Also, are there any local shops and restaurants right there at the port?

 

Thanks again for all of the questions that you have been answering. You get the star on the forehead today!

[lovestx]

I realized when I woke up this morning that I forgot to include my customary expense details for Athens so here they are:

 

Expenses for Athens:

 

Metro tickets (round trip) 11.20 Euros

Cab back to ship 10 Euros

Lunch (including tip) 82 Euros

Acropolis tickets 25 Euros

Cold drinks at Acropolis 8 Euros

 

But I should clarify here. We took the Metro back to the port stop (sorry, can't remember the name right now) and then a cab to the port from there. So it's much cheaper than a cab from Athens to the port would be.

 

And we didn't look for shops, etc. near the port so I can't tell you. If there were some, they were more commercial in nature and not of the sourvenir/craft ilk. You really should wander around the Plaka as it charming with lots of shops of all sorts.

 

And thanks for the star!!

[Cornishpastyman1]

.....and great photos. In case it's of any interest to future visitors, we also had a great time with Kagan. Our ship docked at Istanbul at 4pm on a Monday and as the Topkapi Palace is shut on Tuesdays (our second day) this was our only chance to see it (without a ship's tour, if they could go in on Tuesday).

 

He met us at the ship and appears in this a few times

 

Kagan is really pleasant and very knowledgeable. You don't buy Topkapi tickets in advance as he gets them for your bypassing the queues as he is an accredited guide. He will also obtain tram tickets (2 TL pp from port - Sultanhamet, where the Topkapi, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Basilaic Cistern are) and you reimburse him at the end.

 

Entry to the palace was 25TL (u12s free), + another 15 for the Harem (where the kids had to pay ) You only see relatively little of this enormous complex, but there's still plenty to be fascinated by and I loved it.

 

The Topkapi without the harem is like Laurel without Hardy.

 

The next morning we went (on our own) to the Hagia Sophia

and spent an hour there. Entry cost 25 TL and we bought our tickets in advance from http://www.muze.gov.tr/hagiasophia This worked well as we went straight in past the long lines. You print out an email with a QR code for each ticket and remember to take it with you :)

 

Again, u12s are free but you don't get any sort of ticket for them. Our youngster was obviously under 12 and the official at the turnstile waved her through, but we had her passport with us anyway.

 

The only downside with buying your ticket in advance is that the website makes it clear it is non-refundable so if you don't use it, it's lost. But as 25TL is not a fortune I'd say getting it this way is well worth it - just double check you get the date right.

 

All the best to you all for next year, Tony

[Jetswdo]

Our flight from Rome is scheduled to leave at 12:00pm

Rome cabs told me that 8:00am would be a good time to be met at the port. Should I then request a 7:45am transfer? (It will be on a Monday)

 

After reading that you had an 11:15 flight, it sounded very tight to make your flight after being picked up at 7:30? I think that's what you wrote.

 

Do you think I should ask them to come earlier instead? Now that you have disembarked at port to FCO, what would you advise?

 

PS, I love, love, love your reviews, and your pictures. Thanks for taking the time to do them.

 

Sincerely, Anita (Jetswdo)

[lovestx]

Our flight from Rome is scheduled to leave at 12:00pm

Rome cabs told me that 8:00am would be a good time to be met at the port. Should I then request a 7:45am transfer? (It will be on a Monday)

 

After reading that you had an 11:15 flight, it sounded very tight to make your flight after being picked up at 7:30? I think that's what you wrote.

 

Do you think I should ask them to come earlier instead? Now that you have disembarked at port to FCO, what would you advise?

 

PS, I love, love, love your reviews, and your pictures. Thanks for taking the time to do them.

 

Sincerely, Anita (Jetswdo)

 

Thanks for your kind words, Anita. Glad my review is helping others:)

 

I think an 8 a.m. pickup is fine. You will be at FCO at 9 a.m. which gives you over 2 1/2 hours to get through all of the lines. That will be plenty of time. I just remember that people told me about the lines at FCO and I wondered if it was that bad...and when we got there I understood how it could be long with three separate check points (passport control, luggage, security).

 

Have a wonderful trip!

 

I am away for the weekend so won't be posting the end of my trip until next week (Sandy willing!).

 

Carol

[Jetswdo]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews. I will keep the 8:00am pickup time then. I saw you requested a 15 minute earlier pickup time when your cruise was finished- so I'll do the same and ask for 7:45--

Thanks again for your advice. Anita:)

[hawkers]

Disappointed! Checked in for the continuation of this amazing review and ... nothing...

Have I missed it somewhere else??

[lovestx]

Disappointed! Checked in for the continuation of this amazing review and ... nothing...

Have I missed it somewhere else??

You haven't missed it....I just haven't finished it yet. Am somewhat motivated to get the last couple of days done before Thanksgiving. Thanks for your patience

[Mazbutler]

Yay! Can't wait! Such good reading.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the detailed trip report!

[freddiebud]

you are a great writer. enjoy reading all of your posts.

[lovestx]

As a reminder to those who have been following this review, we were supposed to dock on Mykonos today, a port I very much looked forward to seeing. But the winds were so high that they closed the port on Mykonos and our Captain was able to reroute us to Crete.

 

As you can imagine, this change caused this uber-planner a bit of a fit. I mean, really, how were we possibly going to enjoy ourselves on Crete if I don’t have months of research under my belt?!? Worse than that, we had limited internet access and there really isn’t much offered in the Crete section of the Ports board here on CC.

Somehow we managed to have a good day….but it wasn’t our favorite and would have been better with planning.

 

Let me also say that we had quite a rocky night due to the winds. None of us got seasick but it was our first exposure to rougher seas (and most on CC would say they weren’t bad). We had a CC friend who was so frightened by the rocking that she slept on a lounger in the Adult pool all night!

 

When we disembarked in Souda, Crete, there were public busses waiting to take passengers into town (2 Euros per person and Kate was free). The ride took about 20 minutes and wasn’t very scenic. The bus dropped us off in the center of the Chania and we made our way through the winding streets toward the water. The Venetian harbor (think that’s what they call it) was very quaint and, in retrospect, we would have been better off spending the day here and exploring the town. We did a little bit of exploring and then decided to take off for a beach since that had been our plan for Mykonos.

 

 

View of Venetian Harbor

 

 

Shops at the Venetian Harbor

 

 

Kate and Steve at the Venetian Harbor

 

My quick research the night before told us that we should try to get to the beach at Agii Apostoli. We found a cab stand and hopped in a cab. Felt like we were on our favorite family show, The Amazing Race, as the driver did not speak much English. It was clear that he knew where Agii Apostoli was but he was trying to convince us to go to Agii Marina instead. But we thought he said it was 50 km past Agii Apostoli and we had no interest in going that far. Of course, we thought he was trying to make money off us uninformed Americans. Turns out, we were definitely uninformed but he wasn’t trying to make money off of us.

 

We arrived at Agii Apostoli and it wasn’t impressive. Beach looked like clay, there was no decent restaurant in sight, and the bathrooms looked like outhouses. We got out of the cab and arranged for our driver to pick us up in 3 hours. At that point, smart son says, “Mom, are we really going to spend the whole day HERE?!?” Thankfully, I’m not stubborn and realized David was very right. Fortunately, we were able to wave down our driver and asked him to take us to a better beach.

 

So off we go to Agii Marina thinking that we were going to get fleeced but it had to be a better option than the one we left. You can imagine how relieved we were when the 15 km he said we had to travel seemed more like just 4 or 5 miles. He took us to a restaurant/bar/beach that worked really well for us and now I can’t find the business card that I took so I could share with CC fans. Oh well.

 

 

 

View from beach restaurant out to beach at Agii Marina. The large of umbrellas made us feel we were definitely at a European beach!

 

The beach cost 6 Euros and we got four loungers and two umbrellas for that charge. We had a nice Greek lunch for 53 Euros and we also had access to clean bathrooms.

 

We ran into some folks from our ship whom we didn’t know and enjoyed some relaxing time on the beach. Steve and I were extremely relieved when we returned to the parking lot at the appointed hour and a car was waiting for us. Our first driver couldn’t return to get us but had sent his friend! We felt awful for assuming he was out to get us. It was a quick trip back to the ship and a nice day in the sun.

 

This may have been the night we tried Silk Harvest which was a hit with all of us. And then off to the Ensemble Lounge to listen to Top Shelf yet again and to buy their CD (which our daughter has loaded on her Ipod!). I had wanted to go hear Jane Hunt the violinist who performed in the theatre that night as Kate is a very talented violinist. However, there was no tearing her away from “her boys” so Jane had to go on without us!

[ShellDil]

It's nice to see some information and pictures on Crete! We'll be stopping there while on the Navigator next June and I have NO idea what we'll be doing. As you mentioned, there's not much talk about Crete yet on the CC boards. We're there from 6:30 to 3:00. I'm not sure if we'll try to get to a beach, or try to tour the town. It's till up in the air.

 

I enjoyed seeing your pictures and it sounds like you ended up making the best of the change of plans!

[lovestx]

After so many port days, we were happy to be able to just hang out on the ship for our final port day: Breakfast in Blu, some time in the gym and a nice group of loungers at our favorite spot on the Solstice Deck. I spent a little bit of money at the Bazaar where you could purchase small items from ports in Turkey which was helpful for a few souvenirs.

 

While looking back at my Celebrity Todays, I do notice how many talks and activities I highlighted thinking I would enjoy some of them. But I found that it was much more relaxing for me to be lounging outside with my family and reading a good book on my Kindle (started and finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand on this trip and it was FABULOUS). Read several other good books along the way and thoroughly enjoyed that.

 

Today was also the brunch in the MDR so the kids and I decided to give that a shot. It was definitely worth seeing!

 

 

 

View of the Brunch from the second floor

 

 

In keeping with our Ancient History theme…

 

You can see why so many people can gain many pounds on a cruise—the choices are endless and anyone with a sweet tooth could not restrain themselves. We were all conscious of gaining weight on the cruise and most of us gained about 3 or 4 pounds, but the port-intensive itinerary helped. Steve and I are sure all of our weight gain came from adult beverages!

 

Of course, tonight was also our second and last Formal Night and my crew enjoyed dressing up yet again.

 

 

 

 

We had dinner in Blu this time and our team of waitstaff did not disappoint. We thought the food was excellent at all times and the service was terrific. The staff were friendly and worked well together. The sommelier got to know us and brought us our preferred Kim Crawford Chardonnay and a new Grenache that we liked whenever our glasses were empty. Steve introduced David to Port (yuck!) and they enjoyed sharing that after dinner tradition each night.

 

We made sure to go to “Equinox – The Show” as it gets such rave reviews and we were amazed at what they were able to offer in the way of entertainment on a cruise ship. Simply terrific!

[lovestx]

Back to the subject of adult beverages….I don’t think I’ve posted any of my numerous Martini Bar pictures so will add some here. We loved the bartenders (Orlando and friends) and our Premium Alcohol Package did allow us to sample different types (though I usually stayed with my usual, a Cosmopolitan, and Steve stuck with Scotch). We did order one of their Martini Flights one night ($15 surcharge) and it was so much fun watching them make it!!

Here are some of my favorite Martini Bar pictures. The bartenders are true performers and added immensely to our enjoyment of the cruise!

 

Orlando setting up the Martini Flight

 

 

The facial expression shows just how entertaining these guys can be!

 

 

 

 

Amazing! Almost too beautiful to drink J

 

 

 

 

I think one night we saw the crew make 24 drinks at once!

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for the review! We have been to many of the ports. I too was thrilled to see the Acropois, but very disappointed in the rest of Athens. When we stopped there again last May we went on a private trip to Corinth which was very inspirational. We did stop in Mykonos. It was really only a shopping area, fun, but not a highlight.

[hansolosmom]

Love the martini pix! Glad things kind of worked out for Crete, it's a shame you didn't get to Mykonos.

[sunrise4]

Thank you for your comments on my son review and for let me know about this wonderful review.

 

You have done an excellent work.