Cruising the mediterranean in June/July

[WBurg2]

We are taking our first Star Clippers cruise this summer to the mediterranean this summer (Athens - Venice) and want to know if anyone has info on the shore excursions. Shall we book them in advance, or wait until on the ship? Also, I have read a lot about the sea activities (snorkeling, scuba, sailing, etc) on the caribbean, but nothing on the mediterranean. Does anyone have any insight on these activities? We are trying to read anything we can get our hand on about the SC.

 

Thank you in advance!:)

[LTCOP]

Do you happen to be on the June 29 sailing? If so, I did start a roll call thread for that cruise!

 

As far as shore excursions - when we were on 2 years ago in the Med. - you signed up for them once you were onboard. However, they do put out a booklet that you can download from the website to see what may be offered. You can still see last year's book on the website to get an idea for what they had last summer. It will probably be a while before they post the excursions for this summer.

 

On our previous cruise, there were many opportunities for water activities - in many ports, you could either take a tender to the actual port or take a boat to a nearby beach where you could snorkel, sail, or ski. There were a couple of days where the ship would anchor and we would go to a beach in the morning and then we would dock at the port in the afternoon.

 

Hope this helps!

Pam

[WBurg2]

Thank you Pam!

 

Yes! we are on the June 29 sailing date. I had tied (unsuccessfully) to start a roll call, so I will look for yours. Thank you for the tips! One more thing - I saw a post about towels (beach towels) - do you recall if we need to bring our own or not? Many thanks!

 

Katie & Sean

[LTCOP]

Hi Katie,

 

The ship provided us beach towels - so no need to bring with you!

 

Pam

[cruisingbarb]

Katie:

 

We did the same itinerary in July 2009 and loved it. As far as the shore excursions, I think Pam was correct. You sign up in the library once you get on board. It's good to get there early if you want one of the popular excursions as space is limited.

 

We were a group of 10 and here is what we did to give you an idea:

 

Athens: Did a private tour of the Agora and Acropolis but if you want a good day tour of Athens, I can give you the name of a taxi driver. The second day, we took a tour out to Cape Sounion (Temple of Poseidon). The driver then stopped by the hotel, got our luggage and took us to the ship which was convenient

 

Mikonos: Just went on shore, found a beach and then walked around the town. Loved Mikonos.

 

Santorini: We've actually been there twice (went again this year on a Princess ship). The first time we took the city bus ( which was an experience in itself) to Oia, walked around and then back to Fira and walked around before takinig the cable car back down (depending on how many ships are in port, be prepared to wait). This year we did a private tourof the island: Oia, a winery, lunch at the beach. It was very nice. If there's only the two of you, you might consider the Flavours of Santorini tour

 

Corfu: We took a cab to town, toured the fort and then spent the rest of the afternoon in town. Town is also walkable from the ship. Our friends took a cab and did an island tour which they thoroughly enjoyed. Hindsight, I wished that's what we would have done.

 

Kotor: It was HOT that day. I don't know if you're going in July or August but it was hot everywhere we went. We took the Perast & Kotor tour which we enjoyed. Be sure to go back into town after dinner. It's a lot different after the tourist have gone home.

 

Dubrovnik: We did the Traditional Dubrovnik and I wouldn't recommend it. Spent way too much time at the winery. The stop at Cavat was nice but by the time we got back to the City, the wall was closed so we didn't get to walk around it. I would either suggest the ship's tour of the City or do it on your own. There's a lot of information on Cruisecritic if you goggle Dubrovnik. And again, either plan on eating onshore or go back after dinner. It's nice without all the day tourists.

 

Korcula: We did the buggy tour which was a lot of fun. Because there is limited space available this is one you need to sign up for right away. We had dinner that night onshore and had a table overlooking the harbor. It was a very nice evening.

 

Hvar: We got talked into doing the Hvar Island tour but wished we would have just stayed in town. Our friends did so and went to the beach and then walked up to the fort.

 

Losing: We went into town for the morning and then took the ship's tender to a "beach" in the afternoon. I say "beach" because there wasn't really any sand, you put your town down on cement or on the grass under the pine trees. But it was nice to be able to go into the sea for a swim.

 

Venice: Just enjoy. You need to do the typical tourist things and just walk around.

 

Hope this helps and gives you some ideas of what you can do. If you have any more questions, I would be happy to answer them.