Tours from recent Greece cruise

[ssbeard1]

Just returned a few weeks ago from 3 days precruise and 2 days post cruise in Athens and 6 islands on the cruise.   Here is our itinerary:

  

CatTaxi - we used them for pickup and  drop offs for hotel, cruise port and airport.    We also booked Delphi/Meteora overnight tour with them - this was post cruise with port pickup.     Their service was far  beyond our expectations.    This was by far our favorite tour and tour company.  They accept CC payment.  
 

We did an Ancient Corinth, Epidaurus, Nafplion, Mycenae tour with PK Travel with a licensed tour guide precruisr. This company was excellent (we had booked them months before learning of CatTaxi).  They require cash payment at end of tour.  
 

Next,  10 tastes of Athens through Withlocals - we chose Eleni and were less than pleased with her tour.   One - she was 10-15 minutes late for a 3 hr tour and it was through in less than 2 hours.    Part of her 10 tastes was a stop at a meat shop where we sampled 2 salamis, 2 cheeses, a bread and 3wines - that was 8 of our 10.  Then we had a kabob at one stop snd ice cream at another.   Met people on our ship that did same tour but with Demetri and it was entirely different with all sorts of stops and tastings, lasted 3 full hours and he was on time.   Was worried pre-tour because Eleni was not the best at communicating.   

Booked a tour of acropolis and museum with TakeWalks (we had a large credit from canceled tours in Italy last year).  Our guide was Ok.   But definitely recommend doing this tour with a licensed guide.   And enter at 8 AM when the Acropolis opens !

 

Iraklion, Crete - 7 hr tour with Heraklion Taxi.    Did Gortyn, Phaistos, and Matala. Excellent tour and driver.  would highly recommend.  
 

Rhodes- did a full day yacht and snorkeling tour of 3 separate coves through half priced tours.  Our cruise ship  changed port hours a few weeks before (we came in and left earlier).   They went above and beyond working with us. We were with 3 other couples from the boat who we met on cruise critic.  
 

Mykonos - We did a tour of Delos through the ship (this tour started 2 hrs earlier than a self booked tour could).   Going to Delos was like herding cattle.   Soooo many tour operators.

  

Katakolon (Olympia) - did a tour through Nassos Vlassopoulos with a guide assistant (could not go into Olympia with us  but gave excellent discussion prior to our entry).   We also stopped at a honey bee farm, nunnery, ate lunch and brief stop at beach.  Would highly recommend for tours.   

 

Corfu - booked Taste of Corfu through TripAdvisor.   This company canceled the night before (being on a cruise ship this was very problematic).   Walked around the Old Town.   Found a great shop for Olive Wood items.   It was Toms.     He has his own shop and has been doing this for 50+ years.   Please don’t buy from the “made in China” shops.  His business has suffered greatly since these shops opened up several years ago.   The difference in quality is very visible.  
 

Santorini- booked a 4 hr tour to see some of the island.   Hated I didn’t get a lot of photo opportunities.  lots of tour operators to choose from.   Can not highly recommend ours, but average tour.   
 

There have been discussions on getting euros prior to leaving or at ATM’s in Greece.   We did both and found we saved about 5 cents on the USD getting from a bank ATM in Athens - so not a  big difference.   Definitely prebook  taxi transfers.    We stayed at Athens Gate Hotel - probably wouldn’t choose them again, but friendly hotel and perfect location.  Our issue had more to do with A/C and noise from busy road.  

[CarrieAP]

Lots of helpful information. Thanks for sharing!!

[ski ww]

We'll pick up Euro's at home before we leave. We're doing mainly ships tours or just our own thing. We're also staying at the Athens Gate, mainly for the location, hope they have the A/C problem sorted out by the time we get there in July.

[ssbeard1]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

We'll pick up Euro's at home before we leave. We're doing mainly ships tours or just our own thing. We're also staying at the Athens Gate, mainly for the location, hope they have the A/C problem sorted out by the time we get there in July.

The problem with AC - you have to keep key card in slot for AC and power - after the first night I remembered you could put any card in the slot to activate it, so I used our AAA card.   Also if you want to go out in balcony it will disable the AC - we had to take turns going out.   It was around 90F each day we were there and the room got hot quickly.   Ask for a room in the back side or as high as possible if you’re not used to loud city noises.    Otherwise perfect location.   

[Lois R]

Hi, I suggest asking for an additional key and just keep it in that slot. It will keep whatever electronics working😀. AC, lights, etc. I was just in Lisbon and it seems this is the standard all over Europe. Needed a card in that slot.

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I suggest asking for an additional key and just keep it in that slot. It will keep whatever electronics working😀. AC, lights, etc. I was just in Lisbon and it seems this is the standard all over Europe. Needed a card in that slot.

We bring a non-functioning credit card-size card for this purpose [the kind the come in marketing emails].