Kusadasi, Istanbul ,Dubrivnik......

[queeng]

I am trying to decide on which Itinerary we want to do on our Mediterranean tour. I am going to the library and the bookstore today to do some research on these ports because I am not familiar with them. One cruise features the Turkey stops, Kusadasi and Istanbul and no Santorini or Dubrovnik. The other is the opposite of this. I would love any first hand knowledge you might have of these ports.

Mahalo,

Ginger

[jcoltrane]

Just returned from a cruise that hit Istanbul, Kusadasi and Santorini, so I'll give you my impressions.

 

Istanbul is a beautiful city of Byzantine ruins, mosques and minarets. It is a city with such a wealth of history that it is really impossible to concieve of it all. From the beginnings of human civilization, this location has been a key point of power. It is a wonderful, beautiful and interesting city. We wished that we had spent more time there.

 

Kusadasi itself is not much to speak of. It is a relatively built up Turkish resort town. But Kusadasi is the port for the ruins of Ephasus, and these ruins are phenomenal. Ephasus was a city of white marble, a city of great wealth and import until it was abandoned. It is now being restored in an effort that I am sure will last centuries. But there is so much there that they have found, and so much more to be found. If you go, try to be on a tour that has reserved time to view the current reconstruction of the residential buildings. Beautiful restoration work. It is quite simply the most impressive set of ruins that it has ever been my pleasure to see. My wife and I had not known what to expect from Ephasus, but it ended up being a highlight of our trip. Be careful though, when we went it was choked with tour groups because a number of ships were in at the same time. This made it somewhat annoying, but still did not detract from these beautiful ruins.

 

Santorini... My dreams are still filled with views of Santorini. I have always been a true lover of natural beauty... I have found more peace viewing the world from the top of a mountain than from any other vantage point. And Santorini put all of those other views to shame. If there was one port that I had to be torn away from kicking and screaming, that I cursed the ship for leaving, it was Santorini. Not for ruins or shopping or exploring... Santorini's greatest activity is sitting and staring out at that hazy horizon... like sitting on the north rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset, only somehow it is so much more. Of all of the ports that we visited on this trip, Santorini is the only one that we both insisted we would return to someday... and then for at least a week.

 

That, in short, it my take on those ports. If you are a lover of natural beauty, don't miss Santorini. If you are an afficinado of history and architecture, don't miss Istanbul and Ephesus. If you are a lover of both, then I do not envy you your choice.

 

Best of luck.

[queeng]

I went to the library today to read up on these ports but it was closed, so I went to Boarders and spent many hours reading different Europe travel books. IT ALL SOUNDS GOOD!!!!

 

Your post was very informative and helpful. I am waiting for DH to get home to share it with him. Then decision time. We can't go wrong either way.

 

Mahalo, Thanks so much

 

Ginger

 

[queeng]

Well the decision has been made. ..... After reading and researching ALOT!!! We think we would like to see Turkey. Santorini looks so beautiful. The physical beauty of the Greek Islands looks amazing but we live on a Volcanic island that it right up there with beautiful places so we decided to go a little more exotic. Believe me I never even thought of Turkey before this! But after reading my husband and I both agree that we would like the adventure.

 

The two cruise ships both sound wonderful. We both loved the last Princess cruise we took and expect this one to be even better.

 

Again I thank everyone for his or her input. It was WONDERFUL. So helpful.

 

And we are getting a great deal on this cruise too from a tip from a member of this board (Thanks, Ron)

 

Now I can't wait to start working on all the air and pre and post stuff. It makes the time between cruises go faster!

 

Mahalo nui loa,

 

Ginger

 

[Cruise Junky]

Now you get to do the fun part which is all the planning. There's so much information on these boards, you become like a sponge. Enjoy!!

[loum140]

We have been to all these ports and agree with the comments already made. Just a word about Dubrovnik, which we visited for the first time this year. It's a beautiful, walled city and walking around the city along the walls offers spectacular views. There are also many interesting sights within the city, so please put it on your list for a future trip.

 

We found a really interesting Internet site for travel info, called VirtualTourist.com. You can post questions for members who live in each country, or just peruse the many travel tips posted by other visitors. You can select specific tips and create your own personal travel guide, then print them out. This is what we did and the tips were infinitely helpful. Enjoy!