Trip Report - E. Med. on Celebrity Equinox – summer 2012 w/ lots of pictures

[wismergirl]

July 30, 2012 (Day 15 con’t) – Athens, Greece

 

If you don't fancy walking uphill to the top of Lycabettus Hill, there was a funicular from Athens city centre but I didn't think it ran very frequently, that's why Nikos didn't mention it to us. We just found out when we got to the top.

 

It’s definitely worth the walk, as the panoramic view of the Acropolis was spectacular through DH’s zoom lens

 

Since it’s almost 12 noon, Nikos drove us to the House of the Parliament with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers to watch the changing of the guards.

 

Many of us found the pigeons more entertaining to watch

 

We were all hungry so Nikos dropped us off at a local restaurant near Plaka. It’s very close to our next attraction, the Ancient Agora, which used to be the political, financial and commercial centre of ancient Athens.

 

The Greek Souvlaki meal was yummy

 

Especially when eating it with a cold Greek beer on a hot day

[hansolosmom]

Interested in hearing the rest of Athens as I have also booked Private Greek tours with Nikos.

 

Again the photos are stunning and. It looks like you had a great time.

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures!!!

[wismergirl]

July 30, 2012 (Day 15 con’t) – Athens, Greece

 

Although we’d like to visit the new Acropolis Museum, it was close on Monday. In order to spend more time at the Ancient Agora, we all agreed that we would not go to the Flea Market or the National Archaeological Museum. For those who are planning on going to Ancient Agora to view one of the best preserved ancient temples, Temple of Hephaestus (#20 on the map below), please be prepared that it’s a not very long but not-so-interesting walk under the scorching sun. After seeing the famous Acropolis, many of us felt it’s an anti-climax at the Ancient Agora, except us who are still young (at heart) and energetic. We chose the long route as we thought it would give us a better view of the Acropolis which was #1 on the map (see below). Since we chose to walk around the whole sight it took us about half an hour to get to where Temple of Hephaestus (#20) was. You could definitely take a short cut by taking the path on the right at the entrance.

 

Map of Ancient Agora

 

Temple of Hephaestus (this full view of the temple was taken from the Acropolis earlier on)

 

Some of us rather stayed at the bottom of the hill though there were no real seats to sit on but beautiful flowers to enjoy.

 

Walking up to the Temple of Hephaestus

 

Those who went up got this view of the Temple of Hephaestus

 

There was also a statue of the “no head” Emperor Hadrian

[wismergirl]

Interested in hearing the rest of Athens as I have also booked Private Greek tours with Nikos.

 

Again the photos are stunning and. It looks like you had a great time.

 

For sure we had a super time at all the ports.

 

I just posted more about Athens. It would be handy if you have a phone that works in Greece as it's hard for you to set a fixed time to meet with Nikos. Sometimes he would just wait for you on the spot, like Olympic Stadium, at the parking lot of Lycabettus Hill & House of Parliament. Other times we needed to call him as no one had any idea how long the visit of Acropolis was or how long it took us to have lunch, etc. He usually came within 15 minutes of our call.

[wismergirl]

Great review and pictures!!!

 

More to come still...are you going to E. Med. in the near future?

[Waihekean]

Yes, indeed your trip sounded very similar to ours. Great minds think alike!!:D

 

How are you going to Venice? Lots of Luggage? Refer to my Venice posts. That was the city I spent most time to plan on and I still feel my planning was below par. :(

 

Post again if you need further help from me as your planning goes on.

 

Thank you so much! We are actually flying to Venice. First two long haul flights from New Zealand 11hrs and then 13 hrs approx to Amsterdam. Two days rest with me Mum in Rotterdam then about 2hr flight to Venice.

 

Going to organise a transfer from the Hotel, so no need to worry about luggage and trying to find address. Hotel is close to the train station, so going on the train to Florence and we will have a suitcase each plus a carry on. We probably are going to go on the new italotreno train for E20 p.p. Thinking to go back on that one to Rome and then hopefully share a shuttle with roll callers to Civi.

 

The only thing I am worried about is coming back from Florence, as we are in a apartment and am concerned by the time frame of getting bond money back and making the train on time.

 

Same sort of when we are leaving our Rome apartment to fly back to NZ. We have to check in at the airport at 8:55am. I think that maybe if I would do it again I would prefer to stay in hotels only. Much easier to just go when you want. But it is all part of the adventure! So, hopefully it all works out okay.

 

P.S. For the short time you were in Venice I think you have done pretty well, especially with the hotel:)

[CruisingGatorGirl]

I haven't had time to read your whole trip yet but loving it so far! I am a teacher too :) We did a European X cruise last summer. My dad is also a civil engineer, having designed many bridges, he too loved the bridges and architecture of Europe!

 

We are hoping to do our honeymoon on an eastern med. X cruise next summer, I will take good notes!

 

I would love to go to Milan one day for the fashion and to see the Last Supper! How was the Last Supper? Was it what you expected? Are the prices of the designer items the same as in the US? I know last summer I bought Longchamp for a better price in Paris than the US. But I do not know much about other designers. I know the VAT refund helps some.

[wismergirl]

Thank you so much! We are actually flying to Venice. First two long haul flights from New Zealand 11hrs and then 13 hrs approx to Amsterdam.

 

Going to organise a transfer from the Hotel, so no need to worry about luggage and trying to find address. We probably are going to go on the new italotreno train for E20 p.p. Thinking to go back on that one to Rome and then hopefully share a shuttle with roll callers to Civi.

 

The only thing I am worried about is making the train on time.

 

But it is all part of the adventure! So, hopefully it all works out okay.

 

P.S. For the short time you were in Venice I think you have done pretty well, especially with the hotel:)

 

Wow! It's a long way to go to Europe from New Zealand! We were there in 1988...time to revisit! Amsterdam was also beautiful when my family went there before our Baltic cruise in 2009.

 

As for trains, I know that you could get on any local train in Italy that comes first to your destination so there is no specified time on the ticket. Not sure about high-speed train as we were given the coach# and the seat # when we reserved the tickets. May be you should ask ahead of time what you should do if ...just in case... you miss your train. I guess it depends on the ticket type as some allow rescheduling and some don't.

 

Anyway, good luck!

[wismergirl]

I haven't had time to read your whole trip yet but loving it so far! I am a teacher too :) We did a European X cruise last summer. My dad is also a civil engineer, having designed many bridges, he too loved the bridges and architecture of Europe!

 

We are hoping to do our honeymoon on an eastern med. X cruise next summer, I will take good notes!

 

I would love to go to Milan one day for the fashion and to see the Last Supper! How was the Last Supper? Was it what you expected? Are the prices of the designer items the same as in the US? I know last summer I bought Longchamp for a better price in Paris than the US. But I do not know much about other designers. I know the VAT refund helps some.

 

I was reading your trip review last year so I haven't been posting! Now I have put Croatia on my bucket list. I could totally feel your enthusiasm, excitement and energy by reading your posts. The proposal by the Eiffel Tower was so romantic!! I always find that family trips are the best for bonding so my 2 young adult daughters have been with us everywhere around the world. Whenever possible, I take my parents with us too. All 3 generations went on 7 cruises together in the last 10 years. We are so thankful for each other!

 

If you go to the designers' outlets to shop in Milan, you could get a deep discount, with Armani, Gucci, Versace, Prada...basically, you name it, they have it.

[wismergirl]

July 30, 2012 (Day 15 con’t) – Athens, Greece

 

After visiting Ancient Agora, Nikos dropped us off near Plaka to do some shopping. Hadrian’s Arch was just across the street.

 

We saw this cute little train while eating ice cream. As a teacher who’d like to know about every educational thing that interests me, I came back home to google it. It’s actually a small train called the Athens Sunshine Express that gives little tours to kids. The tour takes you around the city’s most popular areas such as Plaka, Monastiraki, Thissio and the Acropolis. A train departs every hour and the tour lasts approximately 40 minutes.

 

 

We spent about an hour there and did some shopping for Greek souvenirs. When we went back to the port, we just wanted to hold on to the ice-cold towels and drank all the cold water and juice. We were SOOO HOT!! Athens was very hot in July & August. We heard that a few days before our arrival Acropolis was closed due to the extreme heat. We’re so thankful it’s open for us!

 

As soon as we got back, we took a quick shower and headed to Tuscan Grille for the Elite Elegant Tea exclusively for Captain's Club's elite members. The food, the tea, the view and the service were all great!

[CruisingGatorGirl]

I was reading your trip review last year so I haven't been posting! Now I have put Croatia on my bucket list. I could totally feel your enthusiasm, excitement and energy by reading your posts. The proposal by the Eiffel Tower was so romantic!! I always find that family trips are the best for bonding so my 2 young adult daughters have been with us everywhere around the world. Whenever possible, I take my parents with us too. All 3 generations went on 7 cruises together in the last 10 years. We are so thankful for each other!

 

If you go to the designers' outlets to shop in Milan, you could get a deep discount, with Armani, Gucci, Versace, Prada...basically, you name it, they have it.

 

Thank you! Wow that is amazing, 3 generations! I agree, traveling around the world brings people together- there is a special bond :)

[richsea]

Wismergirl, you're report is fantastic! We did the exact itinerary on Equinox in October& it was the trip of a lifetime!

The Terrace Houses are just amazing as is Epheseus! Turkey was our favorite stop, but they all are fantastic. Our private tour stopped to see the changing of the guard, but they cancelled it due to a little rain. Our guide was embarrassed!

 

Seeing your photos is like being there all over again!

[wismergirl]

Wismergirl, you're report is fantastic! We did the exact itinerary on Equinox in October& it was the trip of a lifetime!

The Terrace Houses are just amazing as is Epheseus! Turkey was our favorite stop, but they all are fantastic. Our private tour stopped to see the changing of the guard, but they cancelled it due to a little rain. Our guide was embarrassed!

 

Seeing your photos is like being there all over again!

 

I'm glad my review brought back fond memories. We were also on the Explorer last year, sailed to Bermuda in August.

[wismergirl]

July 31, 2012 (Day 16) – Mykonos, Greece

 

After breakfast at Blu, we bought a Shuttle Day Pass ($7 each) to go to town. Before the cruise, DH and I were wondering if we should rent a motorcycle as it was our main means of transport while studying in University of London in England. It’s a great way to relive those happy moments when we were dating 30 years ago. I even bought a ‘‘Groupon’’ (discount voucher) for DH to rent a motorbike for 3 hours so he could practise riding it in downtown Toronto.

 

From the shuttle, we could see that there were 4 ships at the port. Since we didn’t reserve any vehicle, we were not sure if we could still get one.

 

We went to the closest ATV/Motorcycle rental store (Auto Power - Nazou Vasiliki) after we got off the shuttle and luckily they still had some vehicles that were not rented out. DH thought it would be safer renting an ATV and he’d like to have his first time driving it, so we just drove it off to Paradise Beach. The seat of the ATV could open with a compartment so I put my purse there. We brought bungee cords so we could strap DH’s backpack to the back rack. We were able to rent helmets too. We paid €35 for a one-day rental, (inclu. tax & helmet rental).

 

It was so windy in Mykonos! DH said fortunately he didn’t go for a motorbike. The ATV slowly took us there but we got there safely without having to push the vehicle uphill. DH thought Paradise Beach was one that’s an adult only beach but there were so many children there.

 

We could easily find 2 chairs and an umbrella and just paid €10…pretty good price.

 

The beach was quite rocky but the water was clear. It was so relaxing that I really didn’t want to leave but DH wanted to drive around the town and at least go to Little Italy and the 5 windmills, so I reluctantly packed our things and drove to Little Italy.

 

Beautiful Little Italy with an amazing sand castle (bottom right)

 

DH took a lot of windmills pictures but I like this B&W one the best

 

We returned the ATV just after 4 p.m. and took the shuttle back to the ship.

[wednesday]

Excellent review, loving the photos! It is getting me excited for my upcoming cruise that visits Venice as well as letting me reminisce about trips I have already taken and showing me ports I should plan for in the future. :)

[frogsgirl]

so much for the visual & written review, I'm thoroughly enjoying it & taking notes for our Reflection cruise this September/October. :)

[wismergirl]

Excellent review, loving the photos! It is getting me excited for my upcoming cruise that visits Venice as well as letting me reminisce about trips I have already taken and showing me ports I should plan for in the future. :)

 

Thank you for reading my review! I just realized that Equinox has a new 2013 itinerary and the new Reflection will be doing our 2012 itinerary...should have waited for another year then we can sail on the new Celebrity ship!

 

When my family went on the Villefranche excursion in 2007 we rented a car right at the port (the rental car company had a sales desk inside the terminal building) so DH was able to drive on the Formula 1 racetrack in Monte Carlo and he was so thrilled. Mind you, French driving was scary (though we already practised driving in Central London for many years!!). However, we joined Revelation Tours for a private excursion so we were just following the guide and listening to the guide's commentary through a walkie talkie. Our group had 9 people and the minivan could only hold 7 so we had to rent a car to tag along. We had a super fun day then. Villefranche and the nearby St. Paul de Vence (with the yummiest crepe on earth) were both stunningly beautiful.

[wismergirl]

so much for the visual & written review, I'm thoroughly enjoying it & taking notes for our Reflection cruise this September/October. :)

 

I should have waited for one more year to do the E. Med. cruise so I could sail on Celebrity's newest ship. I'd like to try the new venues like Qsine, the Alcoves, Celebrity iLounge and the Lawn Club Grill.

[wednesday]

Thank you for reading my review! I just realized that Equinox has a new 2013 itinerary and the new Reflection will be doing our 2012 itinerary...should have waited for another year then we can sail on the new Celebrity ship!

 

When my family went on the Villefranche excursion in 2007 we rented a car right at the port (the rental car company had a sales desk inside the terminal building) so DH was able to drive on the Formula 1 racetrack in Monte Carlo and he was so thrilled. Mind you, French driving was scary (though we already practised driving in Central London for many years!!). However, we joined Revelation Tours for a private excursion so we were just following the guide and listening to the guide's commentary through a walkie talkie. Our group had 9 people and the minivan could only hold 7 so we had to rent a car to tag along. We had a super fun day then. Villefranche and the nearby St. Paul de Vence (with the yummiest crepe on earth) were both stunningly beautiful.

 

Villefranche is both an upcoming and reminiscing port.:D We usually just slum it there and take the train to Nice and Monte Carlo. We have always eaten well there so I believe you about the crepe! There is a great little patisserie right by the park where you exit the tender. Will June just hurry up already!

[wismergirl]

August 1, 2012 (Day 17) – At Sea (2nd formal night)

 

We needed a sea day to relax before going to Naples tomorrow. I hid myself in the spa all morning and had treatments from head to toe…SO SOOTHING! DH had to collect our passports from the Sky Lounge at 10 a.m. and he said there was no line. We then went to book our future cruise for S. America and paid $5 each to have lunch at Bistro on 5. Delicious crepes!

 

DH & I didn’t feel like having the Brunch in Silhouette Dining Room though it looked wonderful!

 

After lunch, Vacation Vignettes offered us a free but very good Galley Tour.

All the menus in pictures

 

After attending a scrapbooking workshop (DH was the only male there!), we started to get ready for the 2nd formal night. We went to many photo stations and took lots of pictures. We ate with our tour buddies at Blu and shared our trip pictures on our iPads. A cake was brought to us for our 25th anniversary.

 

Then we went to the spectacular and incredible show of “Equinox” in Cirque du Soleil style. After the show, I had a chance to take pictures with the cast as I loved their wonderful costumes.

 

A cute towel animal was waiting for us on the bed…

[nothriver]

I love your review - thank you so much for sharing!

[wismergirl]

I love your review - thank you so much for sharing!

 

You're most welcome!

 

I could see that you're going on a river cruise. Please share when you come back! I've never been on a river cruise before...still in the process of gathering info and reading reviews before we are committed to one.

[wismergirl]

August 2, 2012 (Day 18) – Naples & Capri, Italy

 

Last day of the cruise already???...Must make the most of it! Since we went to Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast 5 years ago, we decided to do something different this time. We booked a tour with Tours of Capri and paid €780 for the 6 of us. As a Capri taxi could only accommodate 6 people, we couldn’t have more than 6 on this tour so each of us had to pay €130, the most expensive of all our tours but IT’S THE BEST!

 

Before I booked the tour I did some math to see if it’s really worth paying that much:

1) ferry from Naples to Capri - €20.20 (we were given the tickets so we knew the exact fare)

2) taxi fare from Capri Port to Blue Grotto - €5 (€30 split by 6)

3) entrance fee to Blue Grotto - €12.50

4) taxi fare from Blue Grotto to Anacapri - €1.50 (€9 split by 6)

5) chairlift from Anacapri to Mount Solaro - €10 (return trip)

6) taxi fare from Anacapri to Capri - €3.50 (€21 split by 6)

7) entrance fee to Augustus Gardens - €1

8) funicular from Capri to Port - €1.80

9) private boat ride around the island of Capri - €20 (€120 split by 6)

10) ferry from Capri to Naples - €17.30 (we were given the tickets so we knew the exact fare)

Total cost per person: €92.80

 

I would be more than happy to pay €40 more to get a private guide and be escorted to all the attractions from the Port of Naples and back. Lining up for tickets (ferries, taxis, chairlift, funicular), getting taxis from one destination to another and getting a private guide with invaluable info about Capri’s history and attractions are totally worth the €40.

 

Here comes the adventure! It would be a great “transportation” trip for my Grade 2’s.

First we had to take the ferry to Capri from the Port of Naples. Our guide Michel was introducing where to go for the day while we were on the ferry.

 

Then we had to take a Capri taxi that seated 6: 1 beside the driver, 2 in the middle row and 3 at the back

 

How do you feel after seeing the following picture? We all said,”WE WOULD NEVER DRIVE IN CAPRI!”

 

People lining up to get on the boats, the boats lining up to get inside the Blue Grotto.

 

We all needed to lie completely flat in order to get past the small entrance of the grotto.

 

The guide used a chain to push the rowboat through the little hole into the grotto.

[wismergirl]

August 2, 2012 (Day 18 con’t) – Capri & Anacapri, Italy

 

This is the tiny opening of Blue Grotto. No boats could go in when the tides were high or the waves too big, so we were lucky to be able to enter.

 

We are trying to get out…but a boat was trying to get in…

 

Michel showed us the map of Capri before taking us to the chairlift.

 

Chairlift going up to Mount Solaro…quite foggy on the top of the mountain

 

The journey took 20 minutes

 

Panorama view of Anacapri