Santorini excursion

[lawk]

We will be sailing on RCCL Splendour of the Seas in June 2009. Ports are Santorini, Corfu, Ephesus and Dubrovnik.

Can anyone recommend a privately-arranged tour for each port, that would be more reasonable and more comprehensive than the ship's shore excursions?

[jpthomas27]

I will be in these ports next summer also (Ruby Princess in July), and although I haven't yet experienced either the ship excursions or a private tour in those cities, I have done a lot of reading on them.

 

One thing I will tell you is that my research tells me that you will not find private tours more reasonable than the ship excursions unless you have a larger group (generally speaking, there are always excpetions). It really depends on your party size. For us (just two of us) the shore excursions are usually cheaper because they are charged per person. The private tours are generally charged by the tour, so if the car seats 4 and there are 4 of you, then you divide the cost by 4, but if there is only two of you then it cost more per person, but the same flat rate.

 

Santorini and Dubrovinik seem to be two ports that a lot of people do on thier own, without a tour. Some rent cars in Santorini to see more of the island.

 

As for Ephesus, which is Kusadasi, Turkey, right? I have seen that many people recommend EKOL for private tours. In all the research I've done it seem that this a great way to go. For $105 per person (2-3 people) they visit all the main points of this port; Ephesus, Terrace House, House of the Virgin Mary, Basillica of St. John and the Temple of Artimus. This option is "Tour: 4" if you follow the link below. If that's not exactly what your looking for, there are other options on this page also.

http://www.ekoltravel.com/turkey/tours/shore_kus.html

 

The main attraction in Dubrovnik seems to be the walls that surround the city. Here are few links I've looked through;

http://www.croatiatraveller.com/southern_dalmatia/Dubrovnik/dubrovnik_index.htm

http://www.dubrovnik-guide.net/

 

Here are some links to information I've looked into on Santorini;

http://www.travel-to-santorini.com/

http://www.santorini.net/home.html

http://www.santorini.com/rentals/tonys/

 

For us, since our cruise is 12 days with lots of ports, Corfu and Santorini will both be days that we take it easy, maybe go for a drive in the morning and then find a beach to relax on that has fruity drinks with umbrellas in them.

 

I know I didn't answer all of your questions directly..Sorry about that. Like I said, I haven't actually done the ports yet. I just thought maybe you could benefit from some of my research so far since the first step is deciding what you want to see.

[MVPinBoynton]

I did all of those ports last year on the Grand Princess. You can read my review and see lots of photos on my website www.thepreismans.com . The only port we did a ship excursion in was for Corfu. It is a lovely island and the excursion showed us a whole bunch of it. We used Nejat in Ephesus and had an absolutely wonderful day, but we did have other folks on the tour with us. There are several very good tour operators that have good reputations in Ephesus. I cetainly can't see taking an excursion in Dubrovnik, since the best part is easily seen with a walking tour on your own. The first time we went to Santorini we did take a ship excursion to Ia; but the for the latest Med cruise we just rented a car and saw a lot more.

[avacruiser]

We will be sailing on RCCL Splendour of the Seas in June 2009. Ports are Santorini, Corfu, Ephesus and Dubrovnik.

Can anyone recommend a privately-arranged tour for each port, that would be more reasonable and more comprehensive than the ship's shore excursions?

 

My vote goes for Ekol travel

[CintiPam]

We will be sailing on RCCL Splendour of the Seas in June 2009. Ports are Santorini, Corfu, Ephesus and Dubrovnik.

Can anyone recommend a privately-arranged tour for each port, that would be more reasonable and more comprehensive than the ship's shore excursions?

 

I don't know RCCL's tour prices, but we sailed with Oceania in September, and arranged for a six-hour private tour (two only) in Ephesus through Ekol Travel at a much more reasonable rate than the ship's tour. I specified in my email exactly what we wanted to see (emphasis on history/archaeology, primarily Ancient Ephesus, including Terrace Houses, St. John's Basilica, Archaeological Museum in Selcuk, no stop at Virgin's House and absolutely no shopping), and we were extremely satisfied with our day. BTW, prices for tours in Turkey are much more reasonable than those in Greece.

 

Santorini, Corfu, and Dubrovnik we did on our own. Here is the link for my rather lengthy review of our trip:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=48450.

You can just scroll down to focus on the port reviews, which are clearly labelled, for more information. It's a great trip; have fun!

 

Pam

[micruiser2002]

We just did Kusadasi at the beginning of the month and in Turkey I used:

(Mr) Emre ATES

Kusadasi Tours Travel & Shipping Agency

e-mail: emre@kusadasitours.com

Msn: arkamasa@hotmail.com

WEB: http://www.kusadasitours.com

 

We did The House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus including Terrace House, St. John's Basilica, Temple of Artemis, and the Village of Sirince. It was the best tour of our entire trip. He is a wonderful guide. Emre also does tours for Ekol but now has his own company. If you get the chance try to visit the Village of Sirince, it is up the mountain and just wonderful. We had one of our best meals there as lunch was included in the tour.

 

We were also there 2 years ago and used Ekol and they were also good, but I think we got much more value from Emre this trip plus he was very open to doing exactly what I wanted. Also our day in Kusadasi kept changing between 2 days and even with less than 1 week notice he was still able to accomodate us. Now of course this was low season but I thought he was very patient with the changes.

[carolmacey]

We just did Kusadasi at the beginning of the month and in Turkey I used:

(Mr) Emre ATES

Kusadasi Tours Travel & Shipping Agency

e-mail: emre@kusadasitours.com

Msn: arkamasa@hotmail.com

WEB: http://www.kusadasitours.com

 

We did The House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus including Terrace House, St. John's Basilica, Temple of Artemis, and the Village of Sirince. It was the best tour of our entire trip. He is a wonderful guide. Emre also does tours for Ekol but now has his own company. If you get the chance try to visit the Village of Sirince, it is up the mountain and just wonderful. We had one of our best meals there as lunch was included in the tour.

 

We were also there 2 years ago and used Ekol and they were also good, but I think we got much more value from Emre this trip plus he was very open to doing exactly what I wanted. Also our day in Kusadasi kept changing between 2 days and even with less than 1 week notice he was still able to accomodate us. Now of course this was low season but I thought he was very patient with the changes.

 

 

I haven't used EKOL, but did use Kusadasi.biz with Emre. Our 3 van group of 36 raved about our day. I will certainkly use them the next time we get to Turkey.

[iancal]

Not sure how long you are in Dubrovinik. If you want to stay in town I would do it on your own. Would also recommend that you start, first thing in the AM, with walking the walls. If there are many ships in port the walls get busy. Another option for Dubrovnik is to rent a car for the day and drive south to Kotor in Montenegro. We picked up a car at the Hilton and did this. It wa a very nice day. I would not do a group tour of Santorini. It is too beautiful-being in a large group will spoil the ambience. I would spend my time touring the island and walking to FiraStefani (sp). Forget going in all the jewelry stores etc.

[mickfoxland]

we did this cruise last year(photos on the link)

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563665541ggCJsB

we didn't take any tours but arranged things by ourselves

dubrovnik - ships shuttle to town and downloaded guide from visit dubrovnik website, printed off and away we went

kusadasi - picked up a private taxi & tour guide at the port, to ephasus, mary's house, st johns basillica and temple of artimus then to a beach, tell the guide you do not want to go to the rug factory or the leather shop or the gold shop and be firm, unless you want to go(cheaper than ships tour)

santorini - took boat from quay to volcano and springs then cable car to town(save queuing for the cable car when you first get off the ship)

corfu - arranged a horse treck through the countryside over the internet with "trailriders Corfu"

whatever you chose to do you will have a great time

[margbem]

We did this exact cruise on Splendour this Septmber and it was fantastic! In Dubrovnik we got a cab to the old town to Ploce Gate which is much quieter than Pile Gate where the tour buses drop off. Sometimes there are enormous queues to get in. The cab driver took euros/dollars but then we got kunas from an ATM to pay for entrance to the walls, ice creams etc. A lot of place do take euros. Take water with you onto the walls as it is very hot up there but don't miss walking them - the views are fantastic!

 

In Kusadasi we had pre-booked with Ekol and had the best day ever. We had Yelda as our guide who also freelances and if you search this board you will find where someone has posted her e-mail address. Make sure that you include the Terrace Houses as they are the highlight of the visit to Ephesus. Be firm about not going to the ceramics and the carpet factory as it is very expensive to buy anything.

 

In Santorini hire a car when you get to the top of the cable car or take a cab to Oia - it's very beautiful. We used Santorini Day Tours who were very expensive and not worth the money. Be brave and don't go back to the cable car until about 3.30pm when the queues will have gone!

 

In Corfu we had a car arranged which we drove round the island. It cost us about 40 euros for the afternoon.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!

[samavarcruiser]

Another vote for Ekol Trav

[betonic]

Kusadasi - We used Ekol and they did a great job developing a day that would be fun for my 8 year old. We went to the train museum and my son made his own pottery. We also saw some of the villages and ended up at a water park.

 

Corfu - We also used Dimitris who was amazing with my son. I highly recomend him.

 

Dubrovnik - I hired a private driver but I can't remember him being so great and I wouldn't recomend him. I don't have great memories of this port but it might be because it was a crappy weather day.

 

Santorini - For something totally differnent we went on a semi-private catamaran trip with Santorinisailing.com. After the 5 hour sail the owner arranged for a driver to take us to Oia for a couple of hours before heading back to the ship. Our day in Santorini was one of the best we've ever had on a cruise!!

[crjj]

We did this exact cruise on Splendour this Septmber and it was fantastic! In Dubrovnik we got a cab to the old town to Ploce Gate which is much quieter than Pile Gate where the tour buses drop off. Sometimes there are enormous queues to get in. The cab driver took euros/dollars but then we got kunas from an ATM to pay for entrance to the walls, ice creams etc. A lot of place do take euros. Take water with you onto the walls as it is very hot up there but don't miss walking them - the views are fantastic!

 

In Kusadasi we had pre-booked with Ekol and had the best day ever. We had Yelda as our guide who also freelances and if you search this board you will find where someone has posted her e-mail address. Make sure that you include the Terrace Houses as they are the highlight of the visit to Ephesus. Be firm about not going to the ceramics and the carpet factory as it is very expensive to buy anything.

 

In Santorini hire a car when you get to the top of the cable car or take a cab to Oia - it's very beautiful. We used Santorini Day Tours who were very expensive and not worth the money. Be brave and don't go back to the cable car until about 3.30pm when the queues will have gone!

 

In Corfu we had a car arranged which we drove round the island. It cost us about 40 euros for the afternoon.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!

 

In Santorini, did you reserve your rent a car beforehand? If so, which company did you use and how much did it cost? How much did the cab cost to Oia?

 

Thanks,

chester

[samavarcruiser]

we did this cruise last year(photos on the link)

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563665541ggCJsB

we didn't take any tours but arranged things by ourselves

dubrovnik - ships shuttle to town and downloaded guide from visit dubrovnik website, printed off and away we went

kusadasi - picked up a private taxi & tour guide at the port, to ephasus, mary's house, st johns basillica and temple of artimus then to a beach, tell the guide you do not want to go to the rug factory or the leather shop or the gold shop and be firm, unless you want to go(cheaper than ships tour)

santorini - took boat from quay to volcano and springs then cable car to town(save queuing for the cable car when you first get off the ship)

corfu - arranged a horse treck through the countryside over the internet with "trailriders Corfu"

whatever you chose to do you will have a great time

 

 

Great Pictures

Loved them :)

[CintiPam]

In Santorini, did you reserve your rent a car beforehand? If so, which company did you use and how much did it cost? How much did the cab cost to Oia?

 

Thanks,

chester

 

On our September port day in Santorini, we had planned to rent ATV's but decided they were a bit too tippy, so after visiting the wonderful Akrotiri Museum in Thira near the bus station, we rented a car with no reservation, and because I cannot drive a stick shaft, was pleasantly surprised that automatics were available without a reservation. It cost 40 Euros (all inclusive, including gas, from Europecar), and we drove to Oia, where parking is easy, wandered around and then did a circuit of the northern part of the island. Absolutely glorious day.

 

Here's a link to my review of our Istanbul to Athens trip. Just scroll down to the ports section:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=48450.

 

Have a great trip!

[FunLuv'n]

I have a few questions for those who have used Ekol for tours. How did they want payment? Can you pay at the end of the tour or do they want a deposit or full payment up front. I don't like giving out a credit card number. I assume since their site mentions US $ that they take it. I wasn't able to really find any of this information on their site unless I missed it.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CintiPam]

We paid 25% by credit card using my husband's business fax machine, and the reminder in cash in US dollars after the tour on our way back to the dock.

[FunLuv'n]

Thanks for the info, I'll send them an email.

[margbem]

Chester - we didn't hire a car in Santorini, we hired a driver but he was VERY expensive. We saw lots of car rental places in Fira so it would be easy to rent one. I think I read a post the other day saying that someone hired a car which was an automatic in Fira. I know if you are from the States that you don't drive gearshift cars like us Brits!!

 

In Corfu we hired a car from Corfu Sunrise who were waiting for us on the pier when we arrived. We had arranged it beforehand.

[traveler girl]

Betonic!!!

 

Your day in Santorini sounded wonderful!!! What was the damage for your day?

 

How many people would the catamaran accommodate?

 

Thanks ....

[betonic]

There were 12 people on the catamaran but they may be able to accomadate more.

 

I don't remember the price exactly but I think that the boat was about 100 euros per person and the land tour about 150 for both of us. I can tell you for sure that I spent less on this day than I did on private tours in Italy.

 

We've done some amazing private tours all of Europe and our day in Santorini was one of the most memorable.

[Gourmetgoddess]

Fun Luv'n:

 

I recently booked a tour with EKOL Travel for our upcoming stop in July. It will be a private tour with 13 of us going. They didn't ask for any payment up front but the full amount to be paid at the start of the tour.