Trip report - Galaxy, E. Med, 6/12/06

[mlbcruiser]

You bet, cruizluver. And anyway, it's a joke to think that anything on the Galaxy (even stuff I pointed out that might have been a tad better) is bad - or would make anyone not like the cruise. Phooey on that! The food alone is so good. . .! Yes, Nejat does know his stuff and the cool thing is, you do not so much feel like you are on a "tour" w/him. More like you are hanging out with and becoming friends w/a Turk who is helping you to enjoy his country!

[slavearlen]

You bet, cruizluver. And anyway, it's a joke to think that anything on the Galaxy (even stuff I pointed out that might have been a tad better) is bad - or would make anyone not like the cruise. Phooey on that! The food alone is so good. . .! Yes, Nejat does know his stuff and the cool thing is, you do not so much feel like you are on a "tour" w/him. More like you are hanging out with and becoming friends w/a Turk who is helping you to enjoy his country!

 

 

Hi Mlbcruiser! There is a group of us ladies who cruise Celebrity for years now. Been on the Galaxy before but never the Mediterranean. We are booked September 2007, right around the corner. Any tips or advise on money for shopping, etc., while on land? Did you need a Visa in Turkey? Your review is wonderful and we may have more questions later. Thanks for you input!

[mlbcruiser]

You're welcome, slavearlen. First off, you definitely will NOT need a visa to visit Turkey from a cruise ship. (Our CC boards were all over that issue before our cruise & I know my info. is correct, just having done it myself!)

 

When you are in Turkey, the only things you need Turkish money for are public transportation and entrance fees into places like the Topkapi Palace, etc. The merchants in the Grand Bazaar and Spice market, as well as the street vendors, all took American dollars. We used our Visa card whenever we could. (Helped w/keeping records, too.) The Galaxy Purser's desk will exchange American dollars/euros for you. I can't recall for sure, but I am pretty sure you could get Turkish money there, but they would not take back the Turkish money (IF my memory serves me right? :confused: ). They will also cash traveler's checks, which you can use for either type of money. It's hard to tell someone else what amount of money to bring. Everyone's spending habits are different. I will say that food was never as cheap as we expected it to be beforehand, having been in Europe 5 yrs. ago. Even things like the ferry from Naples to Capri were MUCH pricier now! Just bring more money than you think you will need! . . .Some people were very into fine jewelry and rugs, which the ship's staff pushed - always recommending stores and particular items to buy. But that is always the case on a ship. Other people (like me) purchased things like handpainted plates, art prints, lemoncello and ouzo in unusual bottles, costume jewelry and other handicrafts. One of the more popular gift items in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul were these little painted boxes called "camel bone boxes" (although I think they are mostly NOT truly made of camelbone). Also, watch out about purchasing things on the ship. I saw some lovely contemporary glass coasters on the ship that were about $56. I bought some for my dd just like it in Santorini for $23! And saw them elsewhere in stores there for up to $42. And watches. I sell costume jewelry and watches in a major dept. store. The watches are by Anne Klein, Fossil, Kenneth Cole, Guess & Skagan. On the Galaxy they were selling Anne Klein watches at what was supposed to be these super prices (around $40-60) and very many of them were older models that my store months ago at prices between $19 and $32! The discount on Fossil watches usually ran about 10%.

 

Sept. must be a huge month for cruising the med.! I have 2 sets of friends going then. Hope you have a wonderful time!

[iuac1]

This is a great review with so much valuable information. I do have a "dress" question for someone that has been on the Galaxy ( or similar ships in the Med.) What were most men/women wearing on the "informal - semi-formal" nights? I understand the formal evenings and casual seems to be suggested as khakis/golf shirt for men and capris/skirt for women. Is that correct? The semi-formal is what I'm not sure about. I would appreciate any suggestions.

[sarh]

We were on Eastern Med on Galaxy in July. There were many different interpretations of semi-formal. I wore dresses or skirts on those evenings - dressed up but without the evening glitz of the formal nights. My husband wore jacket and tie, (the sort of thing we in Britain would call "smart-casual" for business) rather than a formal suit. Some people turned up in clothes similar to formal nights, others looked very casual. I felt comfortable that what we wore matched the dress code and was along the same lines as the majority of people there.

[mlbcruiser]

On our Galaxy cruise (11 nt., E. Med.) there were NO semi-formal nights. Only casual nights and 3 formal nights. On formal nights there were probably a few more tuxes than we have normally seen on most of the other large mainstream line ships. Maybe about 40% or so. Also suits and sportscoats w/ties. Women wore the usual eveningwear and New Year/wedding type dressy clothing you usually see on most ships during formal nights. Some (like myself) wore the same thing on the first and last formal nights, but I used a shawl I'd gotten in Spain the wk. before we cruised to "change" my outfit the 2nd time I wore it. My husband merely used a 2nd tie/cumberbund set the second formal night for a bit of a change. As for the "casual" nights - men wore the usual Dockers w/polo shirts, or shirts they did not tuck in made of nice fabric - and even the Hawaiian style shirts (yes, even on a European cruise!). But then, we were cruising in June, not autumn. Women wore capris a LOT, lots of skirts in the peasant style so popular now, sundresses, slacks, and some were a bit more "smart" or "resort" casual as they say. I wouldn't say the dress overall was much different than on most cruises, however.

[tom_uk]

I do have a "dress" question for someone that has been on the Galaxy ( or similar ships in the Med.) What were most men/women wearing on the "informal - semi-formal" nights? I understand the formal evenings and casual seems to be suggested as khakis/golf shirt for men and capris/skirt for women. Is that correct? The semi-formal is what I'm not sure about. I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

We were on Galaxy on June. For formal nights I wore a dinner suit (tux), and my wife wore either a gown or acocktail dress. For 'informal' (semi-formal) nights I wore a jacket & tie (actually a blazer, plain shirt & tie, and a pair of tailored trousers) and my wife wore smart skirts and tailored tops. And finally for casual I wore a patterned shirt w/out a tie, and less smart trousers. My wife generally wore trousers and a top of some sort for the informal evenings. (For those familiar with them, we both wore Rohan trousers for the informal evenings, 'Bags' in my case.)

 

Also the level of smartness on the informal (semi-formal) nights did drop off during the week - on the last one I may have left off the tie, for example, ie blazer, open-neck shirt & trousers. You can tell that I like to stretch the boundaries.....

[mlbcruiser]

Tom, which cruise were you on? We were on the June 12 sailing, I think it was. (Gosh, my mind is going! How could I forget the date?!) But there were never any semi-formal nights listed for us. It was always either casual (which was described as "smart casual" depending upon what you were reading) or formal. Nothing like the old semi-formal nights we had experienced on cruiselines going back at least 10 yrs. or so ago, where yes, the men did wear sportscoats. It seems like the real formal evenings are going the way of the horse and buggy on many lines, but Celebrity, HAL and a few other lines seem to hold true to the idea a bit more. Some of the other (even upscale) lines are starting to lean toward the "elegant casual" or "smart casual" a bit more. One formal night is fine. I can stand 2. But 3 (which is what we had on the Galaxy) definitely had most people in our CC group complaining. W/even transocean luggage limits being only 50 lbs., and many people doing land trips when they cruise from far away, besides their cruise (like us), it just seems to be a pain to have to drag along so much extra weight when most of us won't use those clothing items any other time in our trip. Now, I am NOT one of those who promote the jeans/t-shirt type of outfits, or shorts. I like my fellow passengers to look nice - like they tried to fix up somewhat to make the atmosphere nicer. But we are going to try the new NCL Pearl this coming spring and formal dress is optional. I understand about 30% of the people observe it on the proper evening and the rest wear their usual casual clothing. Should be interesting!