Empires of the Mediterranean: what is miss-able, if we get worn out?

[Commasense]

My wife (62) and I (67) are taking the Empire of the Mediterranean cruise in July, with five days before in Florence and Venice, and five days after in Athens. We've booked excursions and tours for practically every day, and I'm thinking that somewhere around the middle of the cruise, we (okay, I) might need a break, scheduled excursion or not. 

 

So for any of you who have been on this cruise, or who have been to these ports (Koper, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Corfu, Katakolon), which was the least interesting, most missable, if we have to sacrifice one. And why do you say that? 

 

Alternately, which do you consider not-to-be-missed, and why? (We already have our ideas about this, but would be interested in yours.) 

 

With luck, we will have enough energy to do everything, and will wait till we get home to collapse, but it would be nice to have a little advance guidance to help with making sacrifices if sacrifices have to be made. Thanks. 

[Cienfuegos]

I found Kotor, Montenegro to be interesting. The fortified city is located at the end of a fjord, and is eminently walkable. The ship anchors a few hundred yards off the pier, and you tender in.

 

The old city might be a mile square, with cafes, outdoor bars, and an ancient Byzantine cathedral. It is also filled to overflowing with cats. Cats are everywhere.

 

We did not do any formal tours here. We walked. My wife sat out the cathedral visit in a nearby cafe while I enjoyed it. She visited the many linen makers while I sat that out. I climbed up the hill to the top of the walled fortifications for a great view, etc.

 

Some of the formal tours included bus rides to various places. The reports back were "eh". Lots of mountains, sharp curves, trees, medieval houses, etc.

 

The fjord entry has been heavily guarded since Byzantine times. There are stone forts at the narrow entry. There are Soviet era submarine bunkers carved into the mountains, and several ragamuffin Soviet era coastal defense ships moored there.  And a lovely Orthodox chapel on an island in the fjord. All of which you can see from the ship.

 

I would definitely put Kotor on the list of places you could enjoy and head back to the ship after a local beverage or two.

[formernuke]

I would definitely not miss Dubrovnik! We were very surprised how much we liked it and are definitely planning to go back. For us, Corfu was beautiful but boring. Others I'm sure will have different opinions.

[lackcreativity]

This was our first Viking cruise (in fact, our first ever ocean cruise) and we loved it. Santorini and Dubrovnik were the highlights for us.  Venice is of course in a class by itself, and the Acropolis was amazing too. Zadar and Katakolon were at the bottom of our list. 

 

From Koper Slovenia I was very conflicted, wanting to see both Ljubljana and Predjama Castle. We chose the castle and caves, and it was terrific, though footing in the caves can be tricky. I still wish we could have seen both!

 

We did this cruise in April, six years ago, and the weather was lovely. July will likely be very hot, so if that bothers you like it would me, take that into account in your planning. Early morning excursions would be a good plan I should think.

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by lackcreativity

[Selion]

Katakolon is a stop mainly for Ancient Olympia.  If you had been there before, Katakolon only has cafes and shops on a few streets.  My cruise stopped at Katakolon only for half a day, just enough time for excursions to go to Olympia and back.

 

If I have to chose a port to stay on the ship, I'd stay on the ship at Katakolon.

[Messybill]

38 minutes ago, Commasense said:

My wife (62) and I (67) are taking the Empire of the Mediterranean cruise in July, with five days before in Florence and Venice, and five days after in Athens. We've booked excursions and tours for practically every day, and I'm thinking that somewhere around the middle of the cruise, we (okay, I) might need a break, scheduled excursion or not. 

 

So for any of you who have been on this cruise, or who have been to these ports (Koper, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Corfu, Katakolon), which was the least interesting, most missable, if we have to sacrifice one. And why do you say that? 

 

Alternately, which do you consider not-to-be-missed, and why? (We already have our ideas about this, but would be interested in yours.) 

 

With luck, we will have enough energy to do everything, and will wait till we get home to collapse, but it would be nice to have a little advance guidance to help with making sacrifices if sacrifices have to be made. Thanks. 

 

I think taking a day off in the middle is a very sensible approach, however, it is not so easy to choose what to skip.

 

We have just completed both the Med Odyssey and Empires back to back.  That means we visited both Corfu and Dubrovnik twice.  I don't think either should be missed.  

 

In Koper we did the old town walking tour and as sometimes happens our guide was overly loquacious, and that really diminished the experience.   We feel the perceived value of the tour can often depend more on the individual guide than the location and the material. 

 

In Zadar we took the tour to the Krka falls and the falconry center.   The falls are nice, but for us the falconry center was a real highlight.  This doesn't depend on the guide much because the presentation at the falconry center is given by the owner(?) Emilio.  He is terrific.

 

In Dubrovnik we did the included walking tour first time and that did give us some confidence that we could do our own thing on the second visit, which turned out very well - we took the cable car to the top of the mountain and then the local ferry to Lokrum Island, where (1) it is nice and shady, and (2) there are many peacocks.  The ferries go every 30 minutes or so so you can spend as much time on the island as your schedule permits.

 

Kotor is a very small town and if you want a down day there it is easy to cover in a short time independently or by taking the included walking tour.  If you go in the morning, you could take the afternoon off.

 

In Corfu we did the Theotsky Winery excursion the first time.  We did the "Traditions of Corfu Old Town" on the second visit.  Both are worth doing and they give you quite different perspectives of Corfu.   

 

Katakolon should not be missed.  The included Olympia tour is excellent.  In our case we lucked out with a truly informative and entertaining guide, but even with a mediocre one the site is really interesting. 

 

So my suggestion is to plan to take the included tour in Kotor.  If you need a day off, you can always cancel and either walk around a bit by yourself or skip it entirely.

[OneSixtyToOne]

We were recently on the Mediterranean Odyssey cruise and found Corfu totally "miss-able."

[Kentishincanada]

We did this cruise in 2016 and it is terrific was such interesting ports.  For us Ancient Olympia was a cruise highlight as was Kotor where we hired a driver and drove down the coast.   I think we would skip Corfu but maybe because we just chose to take the shuttle and look around town which for us was not too memorable, having been to many Greek islands.  

[JeffElizabeth]

2 hours ago, formernuke said:

I would definitely not miss Dubrovnik! We were very surprised how much we liked it and are definitely planning to go back. For us, Corfu was beautiful but boring. Others I'm sure will have different opinions.

Loved Dubrovnik,  took a Game of Thrones tour and also walked the city walls. But beware, it can be very crowded! 35 tourists for every resident I read this week. I liked Corfu, we did a tour but I wonder if you could just walk around on your own. Ever watch the series, "The Durrels"? About a expatriate British family. We loved it so we had to see the island. 

[TayanaLorna]

In the winter of 2024 we are doing the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise with 4 days pre in Italy and 2 days post in Athens.  No sea days. Whew, exhausted already.  At 10 years your wife's senior, i too think i may need some down time and appreciate the comments here.  I am looking at the potential excursions and planning to have a long tour one day and then a shorter easier day the next.  I enjoy the background history and info a guide provides on a walking tour but hate to be herded and rushed around.  So am thinking of doing a little preliminary reading and just self exploring towns where the ship docks close or provides a shuttle.