Best Excursions in Mediterranean on Galaxy

[LrdNorman]

My wife and I will be traveling on the Galaxy this summer in the Mediterranean, specifically Naples, Mykonos, Santorini, Sicily, Monte Carlo and Florence.

 

We are looking for suggestions on what ship's excursions to take. We would rather take the ship's excursions for security sake, not wanting to miss being left, and other reasons.

 

We have been to www.portreviews.com and read some of the excursions, which were very good; however, we were looking for other input as well.

 

Which excursions give you the best bang for the money? Which ones are a waste of time?

 

Thank you all for your advice!

 

Kevin

[TourDeCruise]

Kevin,

 

We've been to these ports 1-2 times each, except for Messina, Sicily which we will see in September.

 

What to do in these places depends on interests. We're interested in ancient archaeology and history and not as much in Medieval or Renaissance. Some people are more interested in art (we like art but only certainly periods) and the churches. Some people like to just hang out and take in the beauty, scenery, highlights, or culture.

 

One of my favorite excursions was from Mykonos to Delos, which is an island that is entirely an archaeology site. Our guide was fantastic and the site very magical. We loved it; since we are into ancient archaeology, it was wonderful for us. A real highlight.

 

In Naples the 1st time, we took the excursion to hike up Mt. Vesuvius and go to the Pompeii archaeology site. It was a great excursion; however, we could only spend 2 hours at Pompeii which was like torture leaving because of our huge interest in archaeology. For most people, 2 hours at Pompeii was enough, but not for us. If you do this excursion, be aware that although it may be warm that day, it could be very cold and windy at the top of Mt. Vesuvius. I only weigh a little over 100lbs and I was worried I would blow into the crater when I got to the top. I was dressed for 80 degrees and it may have been 50 degrees and very windy up there. There is a guard rail there, but I didn't want to get too close for that reason! The next time we went to Naples, we took a cab to Herculaneum, the sister town to Pompeii. It was wonderful like Pompeii -- more intact from the volcanic eruption (79ad) but a little less spectacular. Celebrity offers an excursion to Herculaneum, but we did it on our own. Once back at the ship and after lunch, we walked (around 20-30 minutes) to the archaeology museum in Naples. It is an absolutely fantastic archeaology museum with a huge collection from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabae. Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the museum are extremely interesting. In September, we plan to go to Capri on our own by taking the hydrofoil very close to where the ship docks.

 

In Florence one time we did the excursion to Florence and Pisa. We're not crazy about Florence because our interest is more in the ancient. I had been to Florence and Pisa before, but my husband had not and really wanted to go there. Most people like Florence. Pisa is nice. The next time we did the excursion to Lucca, a walled town and that was a great tour although I would have liked more time there. It is a lovely town.

 

In Villefranche (are you actually going to Monte Carol or Villefranche?), we did the excursion to Nice and Monaco. It was nice. Would have liked more time particularly in Nice, but we returned the following year and spent the day in Nice on our own by taking the train. The second time we found our way to a Roman archaeology site and to some beautiful gardens at a monastery in Nice.

 

In Santorini the first time, we took an excursion around the island, wine tasting, and to the archaeology museum. We could have done the archaeology museum on our own -- it is right there in town. The excursion was okay, but I rather have had the time on our own. The second time in Santorini we took a cab to Oia and the Akrotiri, the ancient Minoan site from around 1300-1500bc. Fira (town to which you tender) and Oia are absolutely beautiful towns. And Akrotiri (around 30 min. out of town) and the archaeology museum (in town) are very fascinating.

 

Sicily: It will be our first time in September. We plan to do the ship's excursion of Taormina on Your Own and visit the Roman/Greek amphitheater and Roman ruins in town as well as just walk around and enjoy it.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. You will love your cruise!

 

Kathy

[tom_uk]

I'll be able to tell you a lot more by mid-June, because I'm on Galaxy's 2nd June sailing. We'll be doing ship's excursions at Naples (Capri); Santorini (Oia); Messina (two different ones: Sicilian Cuisine for my wife, and Taormina for me). At Mykonos and Cannes we're doing our own thing, and at Livorno we're joining a privately-arranged tour.

[LrdNorman]

"What to do in these places depends on interests. We're interested in ancient archaeology and history and not as much in Medieval or Renaissance. Some people are more interested in art (we like art but only certainly periods) and the churches. Some people like to just hang out and take in the beauty, scenery, highlights, or culture."

 

 

My wife and I are also interested in history, archeology, and some art, so any chance to walk and explore while learning is right up our alley....

 

Do you remember the names of these excursions? There appear to be some excursions which go to the same places, but have different costs.

 

Does anybody know why?

[TourDeCruise]

Kevin,

 

I looked on Celebrity's site under shore excursions to get the names:

 

The "archaeology" ones we did were:

Ancient Delos (from Mykonos)

Mt. Vesuvius & Pompeii Hike (from Naples) (if you didn't want to hike up Mt. Vesuvius (actually bus part way, hike the rest) , Celebrity offers one just for Pompeii: Exploration of Pompeii); the 2nd time we just went on own to Herculaneum and the Archaeology Museum, but Celebrity offers one called The Ruins of Herculaneum. They have another excursion with the Archaeology Museum & Pizza.

 

The other ones we did were:

Florence & Pisa (1st time)

Highlights of Lucca (2nd time)

Nice & Monaco On Your Own (1st time, 2nd time we went on own back to Nice)

 

We plan to do the following on our Sept. cruise that includes Messina, Siciliy:

Taormina On Your Own

 

The Santorini tour we did doesn't seem to be listed.

 

The prices of the excursions depends on factors such as admissions to sites, whether you have a tour guide or it is "on your own," if it includes lunch, if it is an "exclusive" tour with less people on the tour, how many hours, etc. The descriptions tell you what it includes. If you compare, you will see the differences.

 

Kathy

[WooKeef]

My wife and I will be traveling on the Galaxy this summer in the Mediterranean, specifically Naples, Mykonos, Santorini, Sicily, Monte Carlo and Florence.

 

We are looking for suggestions on what ship's excursions to take. We would rather take the ship's excursions for security sake, not wanting to miss being left, and other reasons.

 

We have been to www.portreviews.com and read some of the excursions, which were very good; however, we were looking for other input as well.

 

Which excursions give you the best bang for the money? Which ones are a waste of time?

 

Thank you all for your advice!

 

Kevin

 

Kevin,

My husband and I are also going to be cruising on the Galaxy for the Sept. 25th sailing to the Eastern Med.

Everyone has given you fantastic advice. We have been to Greece before and Santorini is wonderful but can easily be done on your own. Akrotiri is fantastic if you like archealogy.

Mykonos is great for shopping and we are looking forward to doing Delos this time since the weather prevented us the last visit.

There are private guides that many of the cruise critic users are aware of for Naples,Rome and Istanbul/Ephesus. If you have around 6 people you can book the private tours cheaper than through CC.

Have a blast and let us know how the ship is!

Woo

[LrdNorman]

Thank you all for the advice! We were going to do these following excursions...

 

Naples: Capri, Sorrento & Pompeii

 

Mykonos:

[LrdNorman]

Thank you all for the advice! We were going to do these following excursions...

 

Naples: Capri, Sorrento & Pompeii

 

Mykonos: On our own

 

Santorini: On our own

 

Sicily (Messina): Taormina On Your Own

 

Cannes (Monte Carlo): Nice & Monaco On Your Own

 

Florence: Florence & Pisa On Your Own

 

Are the buses extremely crowded? When they say "strenuous," how strenuous is that? My wife and I walk around five miles a day on flat land...

 

Also, any good restaurants in these cities? We have late seating (8:30 p.m.) on the Galaxy, so lunch will be important...

 

Thank you for all of your help!

 

Kevin

[Joanne G.]

We did the "Taormina on your own" and the "Nice and Monaco on your own" tours when we were on the Galaxy last summer. We enjoyed them both; I think you made good choices.

 

Both tours involve walking, but I wouldn't describe them as strenuous, especially since you are on your own and can walk as far as time allows and as fast as you want. There are some steps and some hilly streets (including on the Greek islands), but I can't remember anything that would be a problem unless you have particular mobility difficulties.

 

The buses were full, but it didn't matter a lot as once we stopped, we were free to take off on our own. We didn't have to deal with the whole busload of people for our sightseeing.

 

You will find many places for lunch on these tours. I can't recommend a particular one, but I can tell you that your only problem will be deciding which one.

 

Have a wonderful cruise. Use a lot of sunscreen, wear a hat, and take water with you everywhere. It was hot, hot, hot on our Galaxy cruise last summer.