Should This Be a Spa Day Port?

[nordski]

Laurieb started an excellent thread on "Favourite European Ports. The theme of that thread was an excellent reminder as to how many favourites there are, albeit for often very different reasons.

 

That started me thinking about ports that we have often found somewhat underwhelming, ports where staying on the ship and relaxing seems to be a sensible course of action. 

 

However, perhaps we have just missed the port"s attractions. So I wonder if a thread might elicit some excellent alternative suggestions as to activities to consider. 

 

I will mention one that we have never considered essential to an itinerary: Corfu.

 

We have taken a tour of the island, visited a kumquat marmalade store, wandered the streets of Corfu Town, and nothing seems to draw us back. There is a nice park to wait for the ship's shuttle, but "nice" is a low bar. We just don't see why it seems to be such a popular port.

 

In case we return. I'd love to hear about Corfu's attractions that we have missed, but perhaps others can suggest other ports where they choose to use their Spa Coupons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[uktog]

Salalah in Oman particularly if your cruise stops at Muscat which is 1000 times nicer 

[candkd]

My TA got us a free 1/2 tour and we went to the Folk Museum of Messi. It's an old house that shows how the family lived in the late 1800s. It was interesting. The tour then went to the Theotoky Estate where we had lunch and their wines. We were then taken to the Old Town and we did some exploring on our own. It was not one of our favorite ports but we still enjoyed our visit.

[nordski]

19 minutes ago, uktog said:

Salalah in Oman particularly if your cruise stops at Muscat which is 1000 times nicer 

 

That may explain why Corfu is not a huge attraction to us.

 

We have usually arrived there after Split, Koper, Sibenik, Kotor, etc.

 

Perhaps, after those ports, a day on the ship is a good choice.

[nordski]

19 minutes ago, candkd said:

My TA got us a free 1/2 tour and we went to the Folk Museum of Messi. It's an old house that shows how the family lived in the late 1800s. It was interesting. The tour then went to the Theotoky Estate where we had lunch and their wines. We were then taken to the Old Town and we did some exploring on our own. It was not one of our favorite ports but we still enjoyed our visit.

 

Thanks for those suggestions.

[Grandma Cruising]

Safaga in Egypt, unless you are taking a tour to a Luxor.

[excitedofharpenden]

If I went back to Corfu I'd try very hard to get in a boat across the Strait Of Corfu to Albania to see Butrint National Park.  It is a World Heritage Site and is an amazingly preserved archaeological area.  We tried to get there when I was on Windstar, but we couldn't drum up enough interest on the ship for them to run a tour. 

 

There are many places where you really do have to get out of town to see the best.  uktog mentioned Salalah.  I went there on a cruise and a friend and I had an amazing day exploring the coast and local area in a 4WD.  Some of it is really beautiful and bears little resemblance to the place one docks.  So even if it's not great near the ship with a bit of planning you can really see some wonders.

 

Phil 

Edited August 15, 2020 by excitedofharpenden

[nordski]

17 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Safaga in Egypt, unless you are taking a tour to a Luxor.

How far is Luxor from Safaga? Egypt is still a dream for me, not so much for my wife 😀

[manc]

It was a long day tour from the ship and with an unnecessary stop at a road side stall on the away back it seemed even longer. Very interesting drive in daylight but not so much fun on the return.

 

Salalah was interesting to us.

 

Following Phil's comment on Albania we had an interesting day in Dulles and took a tax onto Tirana whilst on an Azamara cruise. Well worth a visit. 

[excitedofharpenden]

40 minutes ago, nordski said:

How far is Luxor from Safaga? Egypt is still a dream for me, not so much for my wife 😀

That's another one. We had a really long day driving from the port to see the Valley of the Kings and Temples of Karnak. Probably a couple of hours each way. Everyone raved about the Valley of the Kings, but Karnak I found more impressive. If you've ever seen Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me that's the scene where the baddie Jaws drops a huge stone on his foot was filmed!  I'm afraid I love all things Bond. 

 

Phil 

[Grandma Cruising]

It’s about 3 hours each way. If you are on a cruise that has two days in Safaga, then it’s better to book an overnight excursion. We did that a couple of years ago. We used Your Egypt Tours who were excellent and exceptional value for money. The excursion included a 5 star hotel in Luxor, a guide and our entrance fees. We saw Luxor & Karnak temples, the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hapshuset’s  temple, the Collossi and had a sunset cruise on the Nile. There was also the opportunity to see the light & sound show at Karnak, which I loved, but my DH found boring. We also paid extra to see 2 additional tombs in the Valley of the Kings ( your entrance gives you the right to see 3 tombs). We saw King Tutenkhamun’s tomb, which includes his mummy, and King Seti’s tomb which was expensive, but amazing.

[Mrs Miggins]

Corfu has some lovely beaches (Paleokastrttsa especially) and watersports and for James Bond enthusiasts The Achilleion Palace (Balcony scene plus Casino The Spy who Loved me). Built for Sisi, Empress of Austria - there is a great museum about her  in Vienna .  She was the Diana of her day, mother of Rudolf (Mayerling - murder/suicide/ballet) then she was assassinated by someone in Geneva who actually wanted to kill the Duke of Orleans.  The Duke left earlier in the day by train so Sisi who was walking along the promenade was stabbed instead.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We were going to be overnighting at Salalah next spring on our ill-fated world cruise on Regent. Since we have been to Luxor on a Nile cruise, I had been researching some nice resorts for a beach/spa day, with some good Middle Eastern food.  There were some nice candidates, as I remember.

[Mrs Miggins]

I am always, "I have to get off, I may never pass this way again".  Sometimes leave other half onboard.  We have found some lovely places eg. Castaglioncello on a bus from Livorno - we had been to Livorno so often and done all the usual places, plus an actual tour of Livorno including a trip to the Montenero funicular railway to the Sanctuary of the Madonna rather strange church which appeared to be dedicated to near fatal and fatal accidents.  I think I saw someone recommend Castaglioncello on cruise critic somewhere.  Fantastic spot, with a lovely lunch on one of the beaches.

 

However I do have to admit that I would stay onboard if we visited Katakolon again.  We had a trip to Olympia, which is lovely.  Apart from that there is one street of tourist shops.  Sorry, I expect there is something else (I know a tiny museum, closed when we were there) that we missed.

[Bloodaxe]

I agree about Katakolon, the town is disappointing.

We did take a nice trip on a land train that took us out of town and through a village to a hotel in a lovely setting.

[uktog]

I think this thread highlights that all ports have positives so long as you find the right thing to do.  I think my negativity in Salalah was not helped by two sub par Azamara excursions with guides who were male and had a different cultural view about women to most of us.  I suspect a different shore experience could have changed my views.

[oddjob16]

Katakolon is a port where you are dependent on good shore excursions. Olympia is one, but they have a few other interesting ones. For us Katakolon would either mean a winery visit or a "seaday". The port itself has little to offer.

[laurieb]

If I ever cruise the Caribbean again, I will have a spa day if the ship happens to go to Jamaica.  Been there twice which was one time too many

[nordski]

21 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

I am always, "I have to get off, I may never pass this way again".  Sometimes leave other half onboard.  We have found some lovely places eg. Castaglioncello on a bus from Livorno - we had been to Livorno so often and done all the usual places, plus an actual tour of Livorno including a trip to the Montenero funicular railway to the Sanctuary of the Madonna rather strange church which appeared to be dedicated to near fatal and fatal accidents.  I think I saw someone recommend Castaglioncello on cruise critic somewhere.  Fantastic spot, with a lovely lunch on one of the beaches.

 

However I do have to admit that I would stay onboard if we visited Katakolon again.  We had a trip to Olympia, which is lovely.  Apart from that there is one street of tourist shops.  Sorry, I expect there is something else (I know a tiny museum, closed when we were there) that we missed.

 

I would have been rather chagrined to see an itinerary that included Corfu and Kataklon, but now that you and Phil have made suggestions re: Corfu, it wouldn't seem so unattractive.

 

And perhaps, after almost 50 years it might be time to revisit Olympia. The ruins may not have changed but I'm certain the tourist experience has. 🙂

[Azamarajunkie]

In Corfu we’ve hired cars and driven around the island, lots of nice old villages and sights to see  provided you don’t mind narrow roads and bends. Like most of Greece and its islands, there is always a lot of interest off the beaten track.

 

the Monastery of Pantokrator is a must visit place for a fantastic view of the island, although the drive up there is not for the faint hearted!

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Azamarajunkie

[snowglobe]

Regarding the Port of Safaga, if you’re a scuba diver, there are some really good dive sites accessible from there (both shallow and spectacular deep wall), where you can see some of the best of the Red Sea’s pelagics, soft corals, gorgonias, and the ubiquitous Napoleons who check you out. I was lucky enough to spend some extended time along that coast and got to dive Elphinstone. 🙂

[Werangels]

On 8/15/2020 at 3:37 PM, nordski said:

Laurieb started an excellent thread on "Favourite European Ports. The theme of that thread was an excellent reminder as to how many favourites there are, albeit for often very different reasons.

 

That started me thinking about ports that we have often found somewhat underwhelming, ports where staying on the ship and relaxing seems to be a sensible course of action. 

 

However, perhaps we have just missed the port"s attractions. So I wonder if a thread might elicit some excellent alternative suggestions as to activities to consider. 

 

I will mention one that we have never considered essential to an itinerary: Corfu.

 

We have taken a tour of the island, visited a kumquat marmalade store, wandered the streets of Corfu Town, and nothing seems to draw us back. There is a nice park to wait for the ship's shuttle, but "nice" is a low bar. We just don't see why it seems to be such a popular port.

 

In case we return. I'd love to hear about Corfu's attractions that we have missed, but perhaps others can suggest other ports where they choose to use their Spa Coupons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Corfu, I would steer clear of Paleo and the hordes of tourists and hire a boat and skipper for the day.  Two choices, Paxos and Anti-Paxos or the North East coast which is the strait which runs between Corfu and Albania.  For the north east coast; visit Kassiopi early, coffee on the harbour and some pleasant trinket and olive wood shops and boutiques, then bay hop, stopping for a swim in empty coves, see Kouloura which is always featured on photos of Corfu, Agios Stefanos, the Rothschild mansion, Kerasia, Kalami which was home to Lawrence Durrell and his wife Nancy in the White House, then lunch at Taverna Agni or Toula’s (booking essential) in Agni bay which are two of the best tavernas on the island.  Rick Stein has eaten twice at Toula’s and the food writer and Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles eats there most years.  
 

If it is a late port, you have the top restaurant in the whole of Greece at Ano Koriakiana, Etrusco; Ettore Bottrini’s 2 gold cap place and some superb tavernas in Corfu Town; the Venetian Well, Rex, etc followed by an aperitif or two on the Liston whilst people watching.