Questions - Cruise from Venice to Athens

[Sunseeker1001]

We have booked for the March 17, 2017 cruise and from reading reviews from others who have had the same ports and reported on excursions, several mentioned that is it a lot cheaper to book the excursion from a vendor not the cruise line. Has anyone had experience doing so and if so, how did it work out.

 

 

• We get into Venice mid-day and would like to take a gondola ride. The cost is $99/pp but see on the internet that rides are priced as low as $50/pp. I am wondering about our personal safety and getting back to the ship before it departs at 11 pm.
  
• In Dubrovnik, all reviews raved about cable car ride up the mountain for spectacular views. Again most of them recommended getting a tour from a vendor off the ship. Any one done it?
  
• Where is the best place to convert our US $$$ for euros? Ship, or exchange site in the airport?
  

 

• Lastly, for now, anyone who has taken this trip or a trip to the following ports, I would appreciate any feedback you have. Ports we will visit are Venice, Italy; Koper, Slovenia; Zadar and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro and Corfu, Olympia, and Athens, Greece.
  

[Melissaghoti]

This is close to my itinerary from last June. I loved it!

I don't think safety is a huge issue in Venice. I returned to my ship very late, alone, after going to the opera, and managing to get lost a couple of times. I didn't feel uncomfortable for a moment. I'm a 'senior' woman and everyone was eager to give me directions, but between their English and my Italian, it took awhile. Everyone says the best way to see Venice is by getting lost and I have to agree. I don't suggest doing it at night like I did, but I'm not sorry about it.

I walked the city walls in Dubrovnik and thought that was spectacular. I'm sure the cable car is too, but for me, the timing didn't work to do that and still spend time walking around town. It's a great town to spend a couple of hours strolling. Take time for a gelato stop! We had a guide for a couple of hours and though you can do it on your own, she gave us lots of information we'd never have had otherwise. I'd say the same for Olympia. A guide both for the transportation and information. Don't miss the museum there. It's wonderful and rounds out your appreciation of the site.

Be sure to be on deck as you sail into Kotor. It's gorgeous. You'll probably want to find a private guide for a day trip. You can see a lot Montenegro in just a few hours. I enjoyed Budva and Cetinje, but the best part was the views from and of the mountains and a stop for lunch at a tiny roadside restaurant that smoked their own hams.

The new Archaeology Museum in Athens is worth a couple of hours, and of course the Acropolis and agora. Shopping in the Plaka area is fun too.

I'm sure there are varying opinions about what is best, but don't stress about exchanging money. There are ATMs everywhere and the exchange rate is set by your bank. I exchange-as-I- go, so that I don't have to carry much cash, but that's just personal preference. I think there's a surcharge at ATMs onboard, so that might not be your first choice.

 

You've chosen a great itinerary. Hope you have a blast!

 

Melissa

 

 

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[sunshinechgo]

Dubrovnik we took a local bus ourselves but the cable cars were closed due to wind. We walked the wall and did some shopping before heading back.

Bring Euros and Kunas with you. We then did an atm if we needed more.

We did our own tours and nothing with the ship. Our table mates were disappointed with the your in Athens and left mid stream.

In Corfu we used Dimitris at corfutaxiservice.com. He and his sister are wonderful. In Athens we used georgetaxitours@yahoo.com

Tell them both I sent you. In Athens we missed all the crowds at the Acropolis. When we left there were all the tour buses.

Please start reading forums in those countries. I learned a lot from them and that is how I found out about Dimitris and George. Worth the money.

 

 

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[Peregrina651]

• Where is the best place to convert our US $$$ for euros? Ship, or exchange site in the airport?
  

 

• Lastly, for now, anyone who has taken this trip or a trip to the following ports, I would appreciate any feedback you have. Ports we will visit are Venice, Italy; Koper, Slovenia; Zadar and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro and Corfu, Olympia, and Athens, Greece.
  

 

 

There is no money exchange on the ship and there is no ATM on board. The on-board currency is US dollars. Best place to get currency is at in ATM (and personally, I suggest an ATM inside a bank). The banks may charge a fee for using the ATM but there is no exchange fee and you get a better exchange rate than if you walk into the bank with dollars/pounds and exchange the money --and certainly a much, much better rate than you get from using a money exchange bureau.

 

I prefer to carry at ATM only card that is attached to a separate account that I use only for travel. To make it an ATM only card, the bank has set the withdrawal amount on the ATM portion to the daily maximum and the daily debit amount to $00.00. The card is not attached to my other accounts so my other accounts cannot be raided if my travel account number and password are stolen (as it did on one of the two times I ever used the card).

 

For much more information on the individual ports, check out the Ports of Call/Europe section of Cruise Critic. You will get many, many more people answering questions because it isn't limited to the relatively small number of folks who have done these ports with Viking.

 

Also, if you haven't already found it, check out the recent "live" thread from September, 2016 Venice to Athens

[Fitzall]

We have booked for the March 17, 2017 cruise and from reading reviews from others who have had the same ports and reported on excursions, several mentioned that is it a lot cheaper to book the excursion from a vendor not the cruise line.

 

• We get into Venice mid-day and would like to take a gondola ride. The cost is $99/pp but see on the internet that rides are priced as low as $50/pp.
   
  
  • Lastly, for now, anyone who has taken this trip or a trip to the following ports, I would appreciate any feedback you have. Ports we will visit are Venice, Italy; Koper, Slovenia; Zadar and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro and Corfu, Olympia, and Athens, Greece.
    

 

We did the cruise in Aug. The better gondola ride is €80 per gondola so €40 p/p if there's 2 of you. Cheaper again if there's 4 of you.

 

The private night tour of St Marks is brilliant as well. 7-9pm or thereabouts ... around €80 p/p..... around 20 persons

 

We used private tours for Koper, Zadar & Kotor.... used a mixture of free and paid Viking for the other tours.

 

Kotor- The sail in was magnificent . As we we're in port from 0800-2300, it was Top of Mt Lovcen 1st (27 switchbacks) and then walk to the mausoleum at the top, then back to Perast & tour of Our Lady of Rocks, walking tour of Kotor & then Back to the Viking Sea (10.5 hr day) @ €85 p/p incl entrance fees etc via Adventure Montenegro. This was our busiest day and our favourite.

 

Zadar- wanted to go to Plitvice NP but was a bit too far, so opted for Krka NP to see the travertine waterfalls. Travel to Skradin and catch boat into/out of the park (optional cruise tour goes all the way by bus), tour around the park (lunch pack included), then return for walking tour of Zadar. (6.5 hrs @ €90 p/p) includes entrance fees etc via Zadar Guided Tours

 

Koper- Did Postojna Caves & Predjama Castle Tour (6.5 hrs @ €99 p/p) incl entrance fees etc via Istranka D.O.O. Same as the optional Viking Tour but more personal.

 

I had booked Zadar/Koper before I saw the cruise prices for these optional tours. Glad I went the way I did!

 

It was nice to go to out-of-the-way places with just a driver & guide. All private tours had us back to the dock on time.

 

And you'll love the ship!

[Sturmin]

We are on this cruise in reverse order one week from today. We will probably stick with the included tour as this is the first time at any of the ports and enjoy exploring the cities on our own. When we return I will gladly answer any questions you have and may try a short review if time allows. Only worries now is the weather and connections for the plane ride over.

[Kentishincanada]

We used Milo and had a wonderful tour (popmilo@rocketmail.com). He drove us to Budva and Perast, but will tailor the tour to your wishes. We had a van for 6 - finding other couples through the roll call on CC.

 

Enjoy

[binbin854]

We're one of the couples Jill in the last post connected with and can attest to a great tour and time meeting new people.

We also connected with two other couples for a private full day tour in Athens with George's taxi. Had a luxury van with room to spread out. A fabulous tour guide that was also a museum curator.

-Robin

 

 

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[Sunseeker1001]

Thanks BinBin. :)

[roothy123]

We did Empires of the Med last year on Viking and the itinerary was similar. Some of my photos are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/venice - plus others for Kotor, Dubrovnik and Athens. It was a great itinerary. Yours sounds wonderful too.

 

A lot of ocean cruisers arrange their own tours. We are doing more of that now than we did before, since it seems to be becoming easier and easier to find tours that are cheaper than cruise line arranged tours, and often they cover more sites as well. However, I have to admit it was nice to cruise on Viking and have an included tour in every city we visited (well, except for Venice, when there was no time).

 

We did Viking's included tours in Dubrovnik (very good) and Athens (only so-so, but how can you arrange a fabulous tour for 900 people in a huge, historic, heavily visited city with bad traffic that's 40 minutes from the port??!). We also did one of Viking's optional tours in Athens (morning tour through the countryside to Poseidon Temple - loved it). We embarked in Venice but our itinerary had us leaving the same day, so there were no tours offered there. However, we flew in two days early and explored on our own. My impressions/advice for the 4 places we've been to:

 

Venice - very easy to get lost, and very hard to find your way back, even with maps and what help the locals can give you (minimal, as despite wanting to help, often what you'll get is stuff like "go straight for a while, turn right, ask someone"). I was armed with maps and I still got lost twice. If I had had more time, I might not have cared, but personally, I found it a little frustrating, not fun. If you're not up to the challenge, you might want to just take a gondola ride arranged by Viking. We didn't take one (with or without Viking - seemed too touristy and pricey) but I had read that for the best experience, you should try to take one that's off the beaten path, or on a smaller canal, not from one of the more visible spots in the city - like right on the Grand Canal). Venice seemed like a very safe city, but I had read cautions to keep your belongings very close to you in crowded places such as the crowded bridge people use for viewing the Bridge of Sighs. I agree with those who say that Venice should be experienced at night - much nicer and less crowded than during the day! If possible, be up top when you cruise in or out - it's pretty scenic, and gives you a different perspective from the one you'll get just walking around or taking a vaporetto around. Don't try to take a backpack or camera bag into St. Marks, only a smallish purse. They are very strict. I waited in line and was turned away because I had a small sling camera backpack. I saw people going in with a tote bag sized purse, though. Maybe the trick is to just carry what you have like a purse; I don't know! Just be prepared, or if not, you may have to check it at a place way across the square.

 

Dubrovnik - Very crowded but really liked it more than I thought I would. Lots to photograph and see. Never went up on the cable car, but the viewpoint we were taken to on the included tour was almost as nice, I think. Viking provided a shuttle to Old Town, so I was able to go back out after lunch and see more on my own - walked most of the wall, explored some more, bought a small watercolor, etc.

 

Kotor - Kotor itself is nice, but we love getting out in the countryside, so that was what we did. We really enjoyed our 3 hour tour with Milo - very reasonably priced, too, especially when shared with others. It was a tiny bit snug for 4 in the car he used, but adequate for a 3 hour tour. He lets you customize, and is very knowledgeable and personable. In the afternoon I went into town (very close - walkable from ship). I walked part way up "the wall" but it was totally different from Dubrovnik's wall, and very grueling. Don't believe the person taking money at the start of it that you can do it in an hour - wrong, wrong, wrong. Even the younger people going up were huffing and puffing. There were nice views of the city and ship, though....Oh, and I agree - be outside for sail in or out from Bay of Kotor - magic if the weather is great and it's around sunset.

 

Athens - We had been there before for 2 days and had seen the basics. It's fun, but not my favorite city, despite all the history there. The Acropolis is always been restored, and not all that much to look at, in my opinion. We had not wanted to pay for a private tour of the city, so I just took the included tour. At least you get glimpses of some of the big sites in Athens - Acropolis from down below, some of the ruins, guards at the Tomb, etc. The tour was mostly a bus tour, and many people found it a little underwhelming. If you're into DIYing in Athens, there IS a public bus you can take from the port to the historic area of Athens for a day of DIY sightseeing on your own. Where ships dock (Piraeus) is a 40 minute (or so) ride to Athens, plus there's a shuttle bus you need to take to get out of the port, so Athens is not the easiest place for a cruiser to visit. In the afternoon we enjoyed the optional excursion to the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon - not nearly as crowded there as the Athens ruins, and pretty scenic. The price was reasonable, and we were amazed to find ourselves on a bus with only about 8 or 10 other people. On other cruise lines, that excursion might have been cancelled.

Edited December 20, 2016 by roothy123

[Sunseeker1001]

Thank You, thank you Roothy123. Your very detailed review and hints are being copied so I can take them with us when we go in March. Although I know it is "shoulder season" or a tad before, I am hoping for good weather. We depart from Venice and go to Athens but we do get into Venice early enough that we can do somethings in Venice. I hope to take a gondola ride and will hope to find a less popular canal to do it on. I am NOT a fan of "touristy" places. I like the "off the beaten path". Not sure how much we will get to do in Athens. I see we get in the day prior to our very early morning departure. Not the way I would have liked it but the Air Dept. couldn't get us any better connections without LONG layovers in three different airports of at least 7 hours each. Not good!!

 

I was especially interested in your comment about Milo in Kotor. Did I miss[or forget] something in other posts regarding Milo. Is there a way to contact him prior to arrival to arrange and get prices?

 

I am anxious to experience Viking.

 

Thanks again for your input. MUCH appreciated.

[Sunseeker1001]

Roothy123 and others:

 

I have reviewed the prior posts and I had forgotten the post about Milo and the contact information.

 

Thank you to you all. If you think of anything else, please post.:)

[roothy123]

Well, I just went on my pbase.com photo gallery to look at my photos and info from Kotor. (See http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/kotor_montenegro__sept_30_2015). Milo does have a website (just google "Tours by Milo") in addition to the Facebook page mentioned above. I guess our tour was 4 hours, not 3. I did consider the 5 or 6 hour trip up the mountain to the place someone mentioned before. However, I wanted to have time to explore Kotor too, so planned a shorter trip with Milo.

 

If you want one of his tours, reserve early, as he generally does the tours himself, and gets booked up quite quickly. (He has someone else that he works with, though, so if he's booked, ask for that person's contact info. Last year some folks on the Viking boards were pleased with the tour they got with that person.) I went on our Roll Call last year and asked if anyone wanted to share the tour with us. It was easy to find two other people to get the cost down to a very reasonable amount. I think Viking also had a fairly similar excursion, but not exactly what I wanted, so I booked Milo. I was fascinated by the two little islands in the Bay of Kotor near Perast.

 

I'm not crazy about overly-touristy places, either. Some of the places I've been on Viking and Oceania (our other favorite line) have been the smaller, lesser-known places. I always find something interesting and fun to do. Some people didn't like the tendering situation at Pula, Croatia, but I found the old part of that city quite fun. I don't think Viking's going back there, though.

 

Venice, by the way, is overrun with tourists - but we still had a great time there. I just loved riding those vaporettos around and looking at things. It was especially exciting to go by on one and see the Viking Star for the first time. We boarded her later that day for our cruise.

 

I think you'll love Star.

 

Oh, and as for money, I don't think you'll need too much local money unless you want to take public buses, particularly if they don't take credit cards - and most don't. Credit cards are really widely available, and ATMs are too. However, I think in Dubrovnik, I vaguely remember that local money was required for walking the wall, or something rather unusual (maybe no credit cards and no euros?) I'll check my notes and get back to you.

Edited December 20, 2016 by roothy123

[roothy123]

OK, my notes for Dubrovnik, last year, say that to gain access to stairs and then walk the wall, you need either a credit card or Croatian kunas (100 - around $15 last year). in other words, they don't take euros I would probably just get euros for the other places you'll visit and don't worry about Croatian kunas as long as you have a credit card. ATMs certainly are available most places, but we usually get some euros at home from our bank or at an airport bank. That's probably a little more expensive than using a local ATM, but I like to go prepared for anything, so it's worth it to us. Mostly, though, we use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee to charge everything we can. Once in a while in Europe you'll encounter a restroom that has an attendant (or not) collecting coins. If that's the case, I think they'll let you slide, or perhaps you can give them a few euro coins!

 

Montenegro is on the euro; not sure about Slovenia, though.

Edited December 21, 2016 by roothy123

[rjscott]

Sunseeker,

If you decide you would like to do the cable car in Dubrovnik, you may be able to do it on your own. We tried, but the weather was not cooperative on our day in port. However, just take the shuttle into town, walk thru the Pile Gate and then down the Strada (the main street) To almost the end. Hook a left where you can see steps going up and ascend. Oh, perhaps you will want to look up first to see if the cable car is running, because it is quite a climb up those stairs. :D Unfortunately for us, it was running when we climbed up, but just before we walked up to the counter to buy tickets, they put up a sign that they were closed due to wind. Aargh! But, as we walked back down, it did become quite windy and then the rain came, so I was very glad we weren't caught on the cable car. :eek:

 

Becki

Edited December 21, 2016 by rjscott

[Sunseeker1001]

THANKS. Keep the comments/suggestions, etc. coming. We're hoping for a good trip.:)

[sunshinechgo]

Yes we couldn't do it to wind also. Guess they have never been to Chgo because it wasn't windy in our opinion

 

 

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[Sunseeker1001]

We are on this cruise in reverse order one week from today. We will probably stick with the included tour as this is the first time at any of the ports and enjoy exploring the cities on our own. When we return I will gladly answer any questions you have and may try a short review if time allows. Only worries now is the weather and connections for the plane ride over.

 

 

How was your trip? Do you have any recommendations to do or what you would not recommend?

[Sturmin]

How was your trip? Do you have any recommendations to do or what you would not recommend?

 

We had a wonderful trip with a few hiccups. Missed connection in CDG, thanks to french immigration and poor air france service. Fog in Venice so we couldn't sail in and missed one day in Venice.

Included excursions were a bit hit and miss. We had two guides that were teachers and were rather dry. We left as soon as we found the shuttle pickup spot and verified the last shuttle pickup. Don't be late for the shuttles, they leave right on time. (I'm always a bit early. It was nice not waiting for 15 minutes in case someone is late.) Other guides were very good. My favorite port was Kotor. We climbed to the fortress and took a path to an old small chapel below the wall. On the way down we took the lesser traveled path and ended up on the opposite wall. Enjoyed Athens and the Acropolis. Great guide in Santorini, but should have taken the Akrotiri excavation excursion. Olympia was fun, but not enough time to walk around the grounds. Again, once we had meeting time we left the group to explore on our own. Guide was fine, but wanted as much time to explore as possible. Corfu, poor guide so walked the town. New fortress was closed but enjoyed old fortress and shopping in the town. Kotor great with a good guide. Dubrovnik, good guide but left early since only short time there. Walked the wall and then shared a pizza at Mea Culpa. Excellent food and best beer of the trip. Zadar took excursion to Krka Park. Excellent with a good meal to follow. Once we found meeting time we left the group to enjoy the park on our own. Enjoyed taking our time and having the boardwalk to ourselves. Koper Slovenia we took included excursion but friends did Castle and Cave. They said it was excellent. Venice spent two extra days on our own. We enjoyed every second of Venice. Most ports we tried to eat at a local restaurant. Usually we had an appetizer and drinks. Great experiences at all except in Santorini. Ate right above the cable car and would not recommend at all. Poor service and overpriced. Any other questions just ask😄.

[Sports5b]

Following these posts. We are cruising leaving Athens March 25th. We are in Athens for 3 days prior to the cruise. Anyone taken the ferry to Hydra? Thoughts?

[Sunseeker1001]

Thanks Sturmin. Can't remember whether you were on Viking or another cruise line. Interesting comment about clearing customs in Paris. We are currently scheduled to go through there, although I had paid for CUSTOM AIR through Viking because I wanted to know exactly where I would be sitting and was not willing to take potluck on Air France. I had them use Delta where I could choose seats. Now 50 days out I find that they have rebooked me on Air France and told that I can PAY to get assigned seats prior to 24 hrs. prior to flight or just take potluck. GRRRR.

 

Interested in your comments about the excursions...especially since I have booked two of them and had considered another that you mentioned.

 

And, did you find it easy to make monetary exchanges or were you able to use US currency or credit cards for most everything??

 

And most importantly, I think I recall that you were going in November. How was the temperature? The website says that in March we will have low 50's to mid 60's. I can handle that. I will not be too happy if we have a lot of rain though.

 

Thanks for the reply.

[Sturmin]

Thanks Sturmin. Can't remember whether you were on Viking or another cruise line. Interesting comment about clearing customs in Paris. We are currently scheduled to go through there, although I had paid for CUSTOM AIR through Viking because I wanted to know exactly where I would be sitting and was not willing to take potluck on Air France. I had them use Delta where I could choose seats. Now 50 days out I find that they have rebooked me on Air France and told that I can PAY to get assigned seats prior to 24 hrs. prior to flight or just take potluck. GRRRR.

 

Interested in your comments about the excursions...especially since I have booked two of them and had considered another that you mentioned.

 

And, did you find it easy to make monetary exchanges or were you able to use US currency or credit cards for most everything??

 

And most importantly, I think I recall that you were going in November. How was the temperature? The website says that in March we will have low 50's to mid 60's. I can handle that. I will not be too happy if we have a lot of rain though.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

We were on the Viking Sea, Athens to Venice, from Dec 4th to the 13th. We also had custom air and had a good experience with them. Another couple who went with us, also with custom air, started out with a screwed up flights. I called and asked for help and had a rep fix their flight plan. I believe there are gaps in Vikings training/experience levels in customer service levels. With custom air, as long as you aren't ticketed yet, call and change the flight plan and then ask to be ticketed if paid in full.

We got Euros before leaving from Bank of ND, they charged a flat fee of $25, and then the current exchange rate. Supposedly can do better at Europe bank ATMs, but I go over to relax and want no worries. I did use an ATM in Dubrovnik to get Kuna's, but wouldn't have needed to. Everyplace took credit cards including the fee for walking the wall.

Our weather was great for December. We were low 60's everyday except for Venice, mid 40's and cold fog. The cruise before ours had a lot of rain according to the crew so just luck of the draw. We really enjoyed the lack of crowds at all the ports. We saw one other cruise ship, NCL Spirit, in Katolona.

Missing the sail in to Venice due to fog was disappointing, but I thought Viking did an excellent job compensating. Anyone who booked air with them, Viking arrange all the travel arrangements for missed flights and transfers. Independent travelers were also helped, but to a lesser degree I believe. We paid for air deviation and were bussed to the port of Venice and then walked to our hotel. There was room for improvement, but having to organize the whole thing from buses to people to help guesses at the airport, train station and both ports, I have no complaints.