Athens to Barcelona Sept 3-12, 2006

[Sacstephen]

I had assumed tendering, and do not ask me why - I guess I just assume the worst.

[YYZTOOL]

I had assumed tendering, and do not ask me why - I guess I just assume the worst.

 

We are doing both legs. The first leg is plenty of tendering.

The second Leg September 3 -> 12 is no tendering.

Both Turkish ports are Docked.

 

Date Port Arrive Depart Activity

27-Aug Barcelona, Spain 6:00 PM Boarding

28-Aug Cannes (Monte Carlo), France 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Tendered

29-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

30-Aug At Sea

31-Aug Santorini, Greece 2:00 PM 10:00 PM Tendered

01-Sep Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

02-Sep Mykonos, Greece 11:00 AM Tendered

03-Sep Mykonos, Greece 2:00 AM Tendered

03-Sep Piraeus (Athens), Greece 9:00 AM Arrive

03-Sep Piraeus (Athens), Greece 6:00 PM Depart

04-Sep Istanbul, Turkey 12:00 PM 8:00 PM Docked

05-Sep At Sea

06-Sep Dubrovnik, Croatia 1:00 PM 8:00 PM Docked

07-Sep Venice, Italy 12:00 PM Docked

08-Sep Venice, Italy 4:00 AM Docked

09-Sep Messina (Sicily), Italy 11:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

10-Sep Naples, Capri, Italy 8:00 AM 11:00 PM Docked

11-Sep At Sea

12-Sep Barcelona, Spain 7:00 AM Departure

[YYZTOOL]

I used cruisecal.com and checked which ships are in each of our ports.

I hate when ports are very busy and cities are overrun with cruise ship patrons. Luckily it seems we have most places to ourselves.

Queen Elizabeth 2 is in port with us at Dubrovnik, Croatia.

 

AAAAHHH! less than a month ! :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

27 August Barcelona, Spain 6 PM

Norwegian Jewel

Brilliance Of The Seas - Atlantis

 

28 August Cannes (Monte Carlo), France 9 AM 6 PM

---JUST US-----

 

29 August Civitvecchia (Rome), Italy 7 AM 7 PM

Noordam

 

31 August Santorini, Greece 2 PM 10 PM

Costa Victoria

 

01 September Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey 8 AM 6 PM

---JUST US-----

 

02 September Mykonos, Greece 11 AM

03 September Mykonos, Greece 2 AM

---JUST US-----

 

03 September Athens, Greece 9 AM

Millennium

 

04 September Istanbul, Turkey 12 PM 8 PM

---JUST US-----

 

06 September Dubrovnik, Croatia 1 PM 8 PM

Queen Elizabeth 2

 

07 September Venice, Italy Noon

08 September Venice, Italy 4 AM

Prinsendam

 

09 September Messina (Sicily), Italy 11 AM 7 PM

MSC Monterey

Costa Concordia

 

10 September Naples, Italy 8 AM 11 PM

MSC Melody

 

12 September Barcelona, Spain 7 AM

Costa Concordia

[Plaza Couple]

Since I'm the newbie...

 

What is tendering?

[YYZTOOL]

Since I'm the newbie...

 

What is tendering?

 

Sometimes the harbour is not deep enough for big cruise ships so we can not tie up at a dock. Docks are great because they open the doors and everyone just walks off and on all day. Tendering is when we drop anchor anywhere from 500 yards to several kilometers away and little shuttle boats (sometimes the ships own life boats) take groups of 50 to 100 people at at time to the shore. Imagine 2000 people and staff with shore leave going back and forth and back and forth all day.

 

This takes more time to get off and on , takes a bit more timing on our parts to make sure we are back in time to tender before we leave.

We have experienced a few times when an entire port of call is cancelled becuase the waters are to rough to tender in those little boats.

[Sacstephen]

Rich Campbell - head of Atlantis - has posted on the MSN boards that the RCI excursion tours will be able to get access to the Haghia Sophia.

[JToronto]

Hello YYZCOOL,

 

As you can from my nickname I'm also in TO.

I've never cruised the Med, so it would be great to get some insight from such a seasoned cruise traveller. I would appreciate it if you contact me by e-mail to start the conversation.

 

note2cguy@yahoo.com

 

Cheers!

J

[canlobef]

Sacstephen, don't forget the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul w/their museum filled w the sultanate treasures and antiquities and of course the Grand Bazaar. Also, don't miss Sorrento and Capri in Naples, i'm not sure if you guys could do it in one day along w Pompeii, but its totally worth it.. Have a fun cruise.. Angel:cool:

[sjbdtz]

Lots of Torontonians around here! ;)

[Sacstephen]

Angel:

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I have hired a guide for Capri/Amalfi/Pompeii that a lot of posters here on cruise critic rave about, who says it will be a long day but we can get it all in. The traffic will probably be pretty dreadful because it's a Sunday. Anyone going on the cruise wants to join us, we still have room for two more.

[_worldcruiser]

if you still have the space, we (2) would like to join to on this excursion...feel free to get in touch with me at rotheudt@aol.com...hugs

[YYZTOOL]

I think I will suggest to Atlantis they start running a message board for registered guests. There are just to many threads here to follow ;) ;)

 

Atlantis Europe 2006 Back-to-back

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=266283

 

Athens to Barcelona Sept 3-12, 2006

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=371375

 

Atlantis Cruise August 27.... Whose going?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=357488

 

ROLLCALL-Brilliance Sept. '06 (Athens to Barcelona)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=284097

 

barcelona to athens 2006

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=296436

 

 

Did I miss any.

 

P.S. There will be a full moon in Venice September 7th.

How romantic - Gondala ride, full moon, italian wine.....

 

P.S.S. I guess the 8th is really a day at sea. That makes 3 days at sea.

[Sacstephen]

For what its worth, the itinerary of events on ship for our cruise is now available on the Atlantis Website. Click on the page for info on our cruise and look for the link for "important information about your cruise." We have Charo the first night, and an unnamed special guest later on. A number of the performances in the theatre have been pushed back to accomodate late returnees from port. Of course, there is a dog tag party, a classic disco party, and a white party, but also an ancient greece/rome themed party to encourage "conquering your neighbor." Not clear if that is meant to include rape and pillage.

[Atlcple]

We have Charo the first night, but also an ancient greece/rome themed party to encourage "conquering your neighbor." Not clear if that is meant to include rape and pillage.

 

We had Charo on another Atlantis cruise and she brought the house down and the girl can play a guitar!!

 

"conquer your neighbor"...HMMMM....well, that's one way we could celebrate our 15th anniversary...(it's either that or we'll see everyone up on deck 13...) <wink> <wink>

[soupbones4u]

thinking about doing a private guide especially in naples like some of you posted here but i'm hesitate. would like to do amalfi/capri/pompei but the advantage of ship sponsored tours is the ship will never leave you...thinking about the awful traffic... disadvantage is they are usually more expensive than doing it on your own.

 

what is the cost comparison for the amalfi/capri/pompei tour private vs RC?

 

any thoughts?

[Sacstephen]

We are scheduled to dock at Naples at 9:00 (I believe) and not scheduled to leave until 11:00 pm, so I am not that worried about missing the ship. In order to make it cheaper to use a private guide, you need a group of at least four people, as most want around 500 euros for the day.

[Sacstephen]

I just read on the MSN Board that the Atlantis travel documents packets for our cruise are starting to arrive in the mail.

[Sahaj]

My partner and I are from Dallas, and are taking this cruise to celebrate my 50th also. We are a little concerned about the TSA tightening of regulations. No hair mousse or toothpaste on carry-ons..wha'st a boy to do?

Just kidding of course. We are so happy to be able to be on this trip. We are doing both cruises back-to-back!

 

Sahaj

 

 

 

We have not done this cruise before. Six years ago we did a sailing cruise in the Mediterranean with RSVP, and did our first Atlantis Cruise, the Mexican Riviera, this past October. This trip is to celebrate my 50th birthday. We are going two nights before the cruise departs to Mykonos, and then taking an Atlantis chartered ferry to Athens.

 

On last Fall's Mexican cruise, the age demographics were spread out, but the largest group was clearly early 30's. I am anticipating on this cruise it will skew more towward more toward 40's and 50's. Was that true on the cruise last year?

[Sacstephen]

Sahaj:

 

Our birthdays are 12 days apart.