Ephesus

[georgiacat]

Unfortunately, Princess cancelled our cruise.  not going anywhere at the moment.

[bunnyette]

There was a major earthquake in Izmir today, the port near Ephesus.  I hope everything is ok there.

[travelingman]

We are scheduled to be in Ephesus in Nov. 2021 twice with free ship tours.  Do any of you know if you can buy tickets for the Terrace House "on site?"  Would like to break off from the free 2nd tour to do the Terrace Houses and then hook back up with them prior to them leaving the Ephesus site.

Thanks.

 

Stan

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, travelingman said:

We are scheduled to be in Ephesus in Nov. 2021 twice with free ship tours.  Do any of you know if you can buy tickets for the Terrace House "on site?"  Would like to break off from the free 2nd tour to do the Terrace Houses and then hook back up with them prior to them leaving the Ephesus site.

Thanks.

 

Stan

 

Yes -- at least in the past it was possible to buy the tickets for the Terrace Houses but I think it has to be done at the main entrance, not at the entrance to the Houses (which are inside the main site).

[Yesimapirate]

We are scheduled to visit in Oct 2022.  Unfortunately,  it's a short stop from 6:30am to 12:30 pm.  Is it possible to do Ephesus with a private guide in that time?   I'm a history buff that lived in Rome, so some experience with ancient archeological sites. 

 

I don't want to take a crappy ship tour and be bored and turn my wife off on this type of site so early in our cruise.   However,  I also would rather not spend the money for a private tour of we're going to feel rushed and like we missed half.  Tyia 

[MeHeartCruising]

4 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

We are scheduled to visit in Oct 2022.  Unfortunately,  it's a short stop from 6:30am to 12:30 pm.  Is it possible to do Ephesus with a private guide in that time?   I'm a history buff that lived in Rome, so some experience with ancient archeological sites. 

 

I don't want to take a crappy ship tour and be bored and turn my wife off on this type of site so early in our cruise.   However,  I also would rather not spend the money for a private tour of we're going to feel rushed and like we missed half.  Tyia 

 

I'll be in Ephesus twice on back-to-back cruises on the Spirit with the same hours as you in October.  This timing is definitely not ideal and, for the life of me, I can't figure out why NCL did this.   

 

You certainly can get there and explore the the site using a private tour guide if you wish.  They would have the same time available as the ship excursions.  In fact they probably would permit a little bit more time at the site since it would be just your smaller group instead of a full busload.  But I don't think you'll be able to visit the Terrace Houses and enjoy them.  You need an hour or more in the Houses area of the site.  I think it would be quite rushed to do the Houses as well as explore the full site.  It probably can be done, but it's not ideal.  I noticed that the ship is not even offering excursions that visit the Terrace Houses.  I suspect they know it's not enough time.

 

I've been to Ephesus twice before and will probably go back again on my back-to-back cruises.  Perhaps on both of them.  But I'll probably just use the ship excursion since I have the $50 credit promo for them.  I don't really see anything else in the list of ship excursions that interest me.  

[cruisemom42]

On 3/9/2021 at 6:21 AM, MeHeartCruising said:

've been to Ephesus twice before and will probably go back again on my back-to-back cruises.  Perhaps on both of them.  But I'll probably just use the ship excursion since I have the $50 credit promo for them.  I don't really see anything else in the list of ship excursions that interest me.

 

If you like Ephesus, there are other very interesting and atmospheric ruins nearby. Priene is marvelous (a Greek town perched on a hill, where Alexander the Great is known to have stayed...) if you can walk a short distance up a moderately steep hill (good path).  A visit to the temple at Didyma is fantastic -- so much of it remains, and it is colossal.  Or there is a small but good museum with many of the "finds" from Ephesus and these other sites (including Miletus, but it is a large site and you would not have sufficient time for it). The museum was redone a few years back and well worth a visit.

 

[MeHeartCruising]

37 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you like Ephesus, there are other very interesting and atmospheric ruins nearby. Priene is marvelous (a Greek town perched on a hill, where Alexander the Great is known to have stayed...) if you can walk a short distance up a moderately steep hill (good path).  A visit to the temple at Didyma is fantastic -- so much of it remains, and it is colossal.  Or there is a small but good museum with many of the "finds" from Ephesus and these other sites (including Miletus, but it is a large site and you would not have sufficient time for it). The museum was redone a few years back and well worth a visit.

 

 

Thanks @cruisemom42.  I was on a previous B2B that stopped at Kusadasi on both legs in the past, just like my upcoming October one.  Nicely, I had FULL days in port on those past cruise stops instead of the silly 1/2 day stops NCL is doing this fall.  

 

As a result, I have already been to Didyma (LOVED it and was amazed by what is still there to see!).  We also visited Miletus but pretty much just went into the wonderful amphitheatre for a bit.  We also stopped at Magnesia.  This was all in addition to the stop at Ephesus.  So far, NCL doesn't show excursions that visit any of these sites for the October 2021 cruises.  With the limited 6:30am-12:30pm port stop, they may have chosen to not offer them.  Or they may just not have them finalized yet.

 

For the second visit on that previous B2B, I did Ephesus again, this time including the Terrace Houses.  

 

I'll look into Priene and the museum as options for the upcoming visit.

 

Is the museum you refer to the one that NCL is calling "Ephesus Museum" in Selcuk?

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by MeHeartCruising

[cruisemom42]

3 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Thanks @cruisemom42.  I was on a previous B2B that stopped at Kusadasi on both legs in the past, just like my upcoming October one.  Nicely, I had full days in port on those past cruise stops.  

 

As a result, I have already been to Didyma (LOVED it and was amazed by what is still there to see!).  We also visited Miletus but pretty much just went into the wonderful amphitheatre for a bit.  We also stopped at Magnesia.  This was all in addition to the stop at Ephesus.  So far, NCL doesn't show excursions that visit any of these sites for the October 2021 cruises.  With the limited 6:30am-12:30pm port stop, they may have chosen to not offer them.  Or they may just not have them finalized yet.

 

For the second visit on that previous B2B, I did Ephesus again, this time including the Terrace Houses.  

 

I'll look into Priene and the museum as options for the upcoming visit.

 

Is the museum you refer to the one that NCL is calling "Ephesus Museum" in Selcuk?

 

 

Yes, that is the museum. Not huge but has some nice pieces. 

 

Most people only look at the theatre and the bath-house in Miletus; pity because there is a lot more to see but guides don't think it is interesting enough (most of the ruins are either gone or covered).

 

What did you think of Magnesia?  It's on my checklist for upcoming stops in Kusadasi.  I am also looking for a longer or overnight stop in Kusadasi to get back to Hierapolis (next to Pamukkale, doable in a long day) and as a second, to return to Aphrodisias. Both VERY worthwhile.

 

 

[bennybear]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Thanks @cruisemom42.  I was on a previous B2B that stopped at Kusadasi on both legs in the past, just like my upcoming October one.  Nicely, I had FULL days in port on those past cruise stops instead of the silly 1/2 day stops NCL is doing this fall.  

 

As a result, I have already been to Didyma (LOVED it and was amazed by what is still there to see!).  We also visited Miletus but pretty much just went into the wonderful amphitheatre for a bit.  We also stopped at Magnesia.  This was all in addition to the stop at Ephesus.  So far, NCL doesn't show excursions that visit any of these sites for the October 2021 cruises.  With the limited 6:30am-12:30pm port stop, they may have chosen to not offer them.  Or they may just not have them finalized yet.

 

For the second visit on that previous B2B, I did Ephesus again, this time including the Terrace Houses.  

 

I'll look into Priene and the museum as options for the upcoming visit.

 

Is the museum you refer to the one that NCL is calling "Ephesus Museum" in Selcuk?

 

We visited Priene, Miletus and Didyma last time on a private excursion,  thanks to recommendations from Cruise mom!   We were literally blown away!   Lots to see in this area.  

[MeHeartCruising]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Yes, that is the museum. Not huge but has some nice pieces. 

 

Most people only look at the theatre and the bath-house in Miletus; pity because there is a lot more to see but guides don't think it is interesting enough (most of the ruins are either gone or covered).

 

What did you think of Magnesia?  It's on my checklist for upcoming stops in Kusadasi.  I am also looking for a longer or overnight stop in Kusadasi to get back to Hierapolis (next to Pamukkale, doable in a long day) and as a second, to return to Aphrodisias. Both VERY worthwhile.

 

 

Magnesia is definitely worth the visit, especially for someone with your level of interest. A lot is now just rubble, but there are several recognizable elements.  I do recall thinking it was the least impressive stop of that day to me (after Ephesus, Didyma, and Miletus).  I found the description for the tour I booked and it was 8.5 hours long, but that included the stop at the carpet store.  So admittedly, we didn’t spend much time at any site other than Ephesus.  But I know I enjoyed it. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by MeHeartCruising