Just Back - Celebrity Solstice Medit...

[vindex]

Don't bother with Lindos unless you like long rides in a coach, tourist-infested areas with cheap t-shirt shops and badly restored (like brand new) archeological sites. Granted, the village itself is whitewashed typical houses and winding narrow streets, but we found it mostly a cheap tourist area not worth the tour.

 

On the other hand we wished we had more time to spare for a better visit of Rhodes city's ancient part (grand master fortress, archeological museum, etc.)

 

I,m cruiseing on the solstice from Cv on 5th june and wondered if anyone managed to see the town of Lindos on rhodes as i,m told it is one of the most beautiful villages in the world, if so how far from the port and how much or was there an excursion there from the ship, also any info on any of the itinerie would be greatfully received,thanks Dave.

[Ommadawn]

Forget one day. My (future) wife and I (we will be on our Honeymoon, she is currently my fiancee) will be spending five days in Rome post cruise. It's _Rome_, people. There is lots to see. Heck, you can spend a couple of days in Vatican City alone.

 

Anyways, thanks for all of the information. I can't wait until September. :) :) :)

[Sparky333]

Hi,

We are on 6/5 E. Med. We will stay an extra day in Rome so we don't have to worry about our 10:10am AA flight & besides its ROME!!. Questions- Mykonos shuttle-is the cost $10.00 pp Round Trip or each way? Where does the shuttle actually take you-town? Bus stop?

For anyone who has done the cruise- can Mykonos & Delos be done on your own or would you recommend a shorex if yes why? Santorini-how long is the tender waiting time? Cost of cable car? Can a round trip tkt be purchased for cable car? Any suggestions for these 2 ports greatly apreciated.

Thanks

Carole

 

Carole --

We did the ship's excursion to Delos because when we investigated other (local) options the price was about the same. There is such a big weather factor with going into Delos that we felt better booking through X. The tour guide we had was good. I think several in our group were bored, though, & rudely talked while the guide was talking but I love history and found it fascinating. Granted, there's not much left standing on Delos so you have to have a good imagination! The small museum in Delos has a lot of nice statues and other items, jewelry, etc.

At the end of that tour we were dropped by the ferry in the heart of Mykonos and given bus passes to shuttle back to Solstice when we were ready so we didn't have to pay that $10.

I thought that excursion was very worthwhile - both for Delos itself and for not having to line up to get shuttled to Mykonos from Solstice. I thought the amount of time we had in Mykonos after spending the first few hours in Delos was enough to see what we wanted to see and then sit in a harborside cafe for lunch.

 

We got priority tender passes (not sure why) in Santorini and were first off. There was no line to the cable car. I believe it was 4 euros p/p each way and they would not let us buy round-trip tickets on the way up. We took the donkeys down because I thought it would be fun & that was a mistake. The donkey guys made us wait until there were 6 people to go together which meant standing around for about half an hour trying to convince people walking by to take the steps to join us. Unfortunately we had paid him (5 euro p/p) when we first got there so we couldn't change our mind & go back to the cable car without losing 10 euros so we waited. Foolishly. When we FINALLY got going, the donkey ride down was pretty painful. There are something like 600 steps and each one jounces you so hard you feel your spine is about to snap. We both had a lot of bruises. I would not recommend. Maybe going up the steps on donkeys is a better experience but then you would smell like donkey all day!

 

As far as what to do in Santorini - we took the public bus to Oia and walked around there - beautiful town, every view is spectacular. Had some snacks and wine there and then caught the bus back. Didn't think there was much in Fira.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip. The OP made some valid points but I came away with a much higher opinion overall. We thought everything was wonderful on the ship (okay, the food was good but not spectacular) and look forwarding to sailing on Solstice again.

[KY Deb]

 

As for an early flight out of Rome, we did a 10:30 and cut it close - our ride picked us up at 7:00. Traffic was fine until the last 10 miles or so and then it was bumper to bumper. Then at the airport it was packed and you have to go through numerous secuirty points.

 

I personally would have not cut it that close again.

 

Did you happen to notice if they had a line in security for first/business class? I was lucky enough to use miles for an upgrade. :) I know here they have special lines for those passengers.

[vince b]

Great info Sparky. We're on the 8/17 sailing and I'm just putting together our touring plans now. Your comments really help. Sounds like the Mykonos ship excursion is a good way to go. Especially since there's time to enjoy the town after returning.

 

On the priority tender passes is Santorini, were you in a suite? Did you have to line up for them, or were the delivered to your room? Also, if you have the time to write, what did you do in the other ports? I'm a history buff myself and am always interested to hear how like-minded others spend their time in port.

[hcat]

Thanks to this thread, we feel better about booking excursions with X for most of the ports, staying over an extra day post-cruise, so no stress to get to the airport & confirmation that Solstice is still a beautiful ship....

 

still have a few more unanwsered Qs

 

What is the earliest realistic time we can board the ship in Cv?

 

Does anyone know when the entertainment contracts change? The Jazz group we had on board was wonderful but I didn't know the xylophone guy was still on board--way too loud for us last time around! The party band also was not our favorite---hoping it will all change by Sept--except for the production shows which we enjoyed--esp the Solstice show..

[Bridge Maven]

Thanks to this thread, we feel better about booking excursions with X for most of the ports, staying over an extra day post-cruise, so no stress to get to the airport & confirmation that Solstice is still a beautiful ship....

 

still have a few more unanwsered Qs

 

What is the earliest realistic time we can board the ship in Cv?

 

Does anyone know when the entertainment contracts change? The Jazz group we had on board was wonderful but I didn't know the xylophone guy was still on board--way too loud for us last time around! The party band also was not our favorite---hoping it will all change by Sept--except for the production shows which we enjoyed--esp the Solstice show..

 

Hcat, with the exception of ports we explored on our own, we used only the cruise line's shore excursions and we very pleased. The guide we had in Ephesus was amzaing because she had been an architecture major in college and was able to answer any question that was asked.

 

Aside from providing excellent tour guides, there are two other reasons why I recommend using the cruise line's tours. Many of the places you will be seeing are at a considerable distance from the gateway port and this way you can spend as much times as possible sight seeing without worrying about getting back to the ship at time. Another consideration is that strikes without much notice are a very common occurrence in Europe and this could present a serious problem if you are depending upon a train that just went on strike five minutes ago.

[tom_uk]

As far as what to do in Santorini - we took the public bus to Oia and walked around there - beautiful town, every view is spectacular. Had some snacks and wine there and then caught the bus back. Didn't think there was much in Fira.

 

We've been to both Fira and Oia, and they're different yet each has its advantages. Fira is much bigger so there are many more shops, bars and restaurants there than in Oia. The shops range widely in terms of articles and price, but quite a few things are positively cheap. My wife bought a beautiful 'washed pebbles' necklace there in 2006 for about €15, and in many ways it's one of her favourite pieces of jewellery - she always gets comments and questions when she wears it. Not for forma wear, perhaps, but with a bold casual look it's great.

 

The big highlight in Fira for me was the archeaoligical museum. It has many items from Akrotiri, including the stunning wall-paintings, and it's all very well presented and explained. Very much recommended. And I also stepped into Fira Cathedral, which was a surprise - a beautiful light and airy basilica, with icons but no statuary, of course - it's a Greek Orthodox church, not a Catholic church.

 

Finally, the actual business of moving around Fira is a bit more interesting than in Oia. I remember that some of the little pedestrian streets were actually tunnels - the houses had been built over the top.

[Sparky333]

vinceb -- no, we weren't in a suite -- only a regular balcony room. We are only "classic" X members so priorty tendering wasn't anything I was expecting. Maybe from being signed up for the CC connections group? Maybe it was a lucky mistake. They were delivered to our room the night before.

 

In Turkey we used EKOL for private tours all 3 days. We were very happy with our guides and the tours we had. Istanbul would be doable on your own but I learned a LOT from the guide and he was able to get us into the palace and mosques ahead of the ship's tour groups so we never had any crowds.

 

The tour around Ephesus and the other sites in that area were also full of good information. I'm sure the ship's tour uses similar guides but I just don't like traveling in herds. I thought EKOL was a very professional, reliable company and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. We had booked & paid well in advance (don't know if that's required or not) but when they later ran a promotion they emailed me and said I would be refunded in cash the difference. I would never have known or expected that and the guide handed over cash without even being asked -- a very nice windfall I thought.

Another point - we were asked if we wanted to stop at a rug demonstration and declined which was no problem - we drove past and all the X buses were there. So if you don't mind that kind of thing or enjoy it...but I hate it and I think most ship's tours include that kind of stop. I could be wrong.

 

In Athens we used Spiros of Spiros' Taxi and thought he was perfect. He drove the 2 of us around to the sites, told us a few things about what we'd be seeing, gave us a tour book to reference and then we went through on our own (he's not a tour guide only a driver). Which I enjoyed. It was nice to get to poke around at our own pace. Again, with him we beat the tour buses and had the Acropolis almost to ourselves -- really there were only a handful of people when we arrived. By the time we headed down the people were streaming up and I heard from others on the ship they did not enjoy Athens at all just because of the crowds. We were practically alone at all of our stops - maybe just lucky timing. He took us to eat in a great little family-run taverna. Excellent meal. We spent I think 8 hours with him and were back to the ship in plenty of time. If you want more info on him let me know and i'll give his website - i think I'm not allowed unless asked? Not sure but don't want this post to get deleted!

 

On the Amalfi coast we used Marcello Maresca. On this board you can find reviews where people either loved or --well, I wouldn't say hated -- but didn't like his style. I thought it was a good tour to see a lot of the coast and not spend time walking through different towns. No shopping, no moseying about. I knew that ahead of time and was fine with that. We saw a huge area, we ate a great lunch in a tiny village off the beaten path, and we got to do Pompeii with a great guide he hired for us. It was a whirlwind 9 hrs and we'll have to go back to spend time lingering in the different towns. However, his style is very -- hmmm...how to say-- talky. I liked hearing about the culture and the way things are changing but he does spend a lot of time also talking about himself and his tour and how much better it is than any other. Which was fine and maybe true but I didn't need to keep hearing it. I think he's very enthusiastic and shows you some of the coast that is not just the tourist loop.

 

In Rome I would mention Icon tours was very good for the Forum & Colosseum. A 3 hour walking tour where we learned a lot and saw a lot with just one other couple (I think they limit tours to maybe 20 at most). Our guide was very good at providing the information in an interesting way - not just droning on. So I would recommend them.

 

If you are interested - the Scavi tour under the Vatican is amazing (to me anyway) and worth trying to get tickets for. Was maybe 1.5 hour tour.

 

Hope this helps - didn't mean to ramble on so long -- but I know hearing about people's different tour experiences was helpful to me when I was planning.

 

Let me know if you want any more info and have a good time planning -- that's half the fun for me:)

[paulred]

 

These opinions/notes are our personal experiences and as we all know, everyone has there good and bad cruises :D

 

 

The Bad ~ :(

 

Food – It was fair to worse. The menu in the main dining room had so many non descriptive wording that you never knew what you were ordering. It all tasted bland, boring selection and nothing jumped out in flavor. They said that they have a new chef on board and there are working on it. We also thought this about the buffet also.

 

 

Spa – way over priced than the normal over priced. Discounts as the cruise went on not that good. Services fair.

 

Music after dinner – there was none! We ate at the early seating and when we were done, there was never any music playing. I have to say that this ship was pretty boring for a night life if you wanted music or something besides the show.

 

Closet – this was by far the worst closet I have ever had on a ship. It was worthless and once again, they have not hung the rod high enough for the ladies evening gowns not to hit the floor. The safe took up half the closet and to get into it, you had to go on that side as the other side was blocked by the bed/frame and too close.

 

The not so sure? ~ :confused:

 

Service – it was hit or miss. Our cabin steward was great, dining table staff good, wine steward horrible, buffet area stiff – non welcoming.

 

Room Service Food – It was hit or miss. We liked the fact it was always on time and hot, but they would bring items you didn’t order and forget what you order. A 50/50 on this.

 

Show/Entertainment – Most of the time good, then others what were they thinking.

 

 

We just got back from the Solstice TA and a few weeks in Italy. Our experience, which was shared by a huge number of CC members on board was quite different from this.

 

First, the food was superb in every venue. Sure, the odd item may have had a problem, but the staff were quick and anxious to make it right. Silk Harvest is a joy for those of us who like Asian cuisine. Murano, at $35 a pop extra is almost worth it, though I will say the sommelier tried a little too hard to push the overpriced premium wines.

 

(P.S. the pastries were outstanding everywhere)

 

We packed for a 15 day cruise, plus two weeks of travel, and had more than enough closet and storage space. Remember, this is a cruise ship, not a freight container ship. If you had problems with the storage, you probably didn't read the sites about packing properly for a cruise.

 

We had music all over the ship, but you did have to read the dailies to find out where they were playing.

 

Service was, at all times, everywhere, outstanding. We only used room service for breakfast, and it was on time, and had what we ordered every time. How can that not be excellent.

 

We treated every service person we met as a real person and got the same smiling response every time.

 

I agree about the spa comments. I also felt the wine was vastly, and I mean vastly, overpriced. I will be writing X about that.

 

Paul

[hcat]

Hcat, with the exception of ports we explored on our own, we used only the cruise line's shore excursions and we very pleased. The guide we had in Ephesus was amzaing because she had been an architecture major in college and was able to answer any question that was asked.

 

Aside from providing excellent tour guides, there are two other reasons why I recommend using the cruise line's tours. Many of the places you will be seeing are at a considerable distance from the gateway port and this way you can spend as much times as possible sight seeing without worrying about getting back to the ship at time. Another consideration is that strikes without much notice are a very common occurrence in Europe and this could present a serious problem if you are depending upon a train that just went on strike five minutes ago.

 

We agree with your approach-- have always done so--& it worked well for us in Costa Rica when the bus broke down on a jungle road--transfer to a new one was handled quite well & the ship did wait..

 

we booked all ship's excursions except Mykonos--just going to chill out at a tavern.. The ships tours get you in & out & last time, they sent X employees along too as an added help to the guides! have never had a really bad tour (well once & felt we saw everything we were promised & more...

 

Glad you had a great guide in Ephesus--that's going to be a very inetersting port--although it is the one I have done the least reading about...

 

Tom :Another must for us after our Oia tour is the archeological museum in Fira--hope is not too hard to find... we have a very busy day planned in that port (the tour, the museum & a restaurant ) & want to make it to the cable line before the major crowds start lining up..

[bradford bull]

Don't bother with Lindos unless you like long rides in a coach, tourist-infested areas with cheap t-shirt shops and badly restored (like brand new) archeological sites. Granted, the village itself is whitewashed typical houses and winding narrow streets, but we found it mostly a cheap tourist area not worth the tour.

 

On the other hand we wished we had more time to spare for a better visit of Rhodes city's ancient part (grand master fortress, archeological museum, etc.)

Thanks Vindex i think we'll head your advise.Dave

[frisbeeace]

Update on ATV's in Mykonus:

 

My auto or homeowners will not cover any damage. The ATV comes with insurance, but will only pay if someone hits you. If you damage the ATV, you pay. I have trip insurance which will cover medical.

 

ATV's are allowed to drive anywhere on the island, except in town.

 

I'm interested in renting scooters or ATVs for our group of 4. Do you know if they wait for you at the dock with them? This would save the $10 pp for the shuttle. Where can you park the ATVs while visiting Mykonos where they are not allowed? I guess I would only use them to visit the beaches and if possible for the transfers to/from the dock.

[RME]

RME,

 

We will be taking the Solstice Mediterranean itinerary in November. Would love to hear details of the private tours you took.

 

Sorry that it took me so long to respond. In Istanbul and Ephesus, we used Ekol, http://www.ekoltravel.com. We customized their tours to suit our needs and Nur Koray was very helpful with this. I highly recommend Ekol for Turkey. The guides are excellent, the cars are comfortable, they are punctual, and they will individualize the tours. In Ephesus, we had the best guide we ever had, Yelda Celik. Nur will say that you cannot request guides, but just ask her to do her best to get you Yelda. She was fabulous. I heard from others that most of Ekol's guides are very good though. We saw Ephesus, which is not to be missed. If you have any walking difficulties though, you will probably need to skip the Terrace Houses. You can see some of them without taking that whole tour. We also went to the House of Virgin Mary and Sirince village. In Sirince, we had a Turkish lunch with Yelda and then shopped and looked around on our own. This was a perfect day. We did end this day with a stop at a rug making school, but could have avoided it if we had wanted to. However, I found it very interesting and even bought a beautiful Turkish rug.

In Athens, we used http://www.athenstaxi.org. Paul is the owner and he and his two sons are the drivers. We had his younger son, Jim or Dmitri, and he was fabulous. He is not a tour guide, so he cannot accompany you through any of the sights, but he is very knowledgeable and basically told us what to look for. In the morning, we drove to Sounion and saw the Temple of Neptune. The whole area was gorgeous and gave us a feel for more of Greece than just Athens. We made a few stops to take pictures. We then went to Athens, had lunch at Plaka, and shopped there a bit. We saw the changing of the guard and the Acropolis. We have walking issues and did not tour the Acropolis, so Dmitri brought us to a tram that goes to the top of the highest point in Greece and we looked down at the Acropolis from there. Another do not miss. If I can help you in any other way, you can email me at rmebobbie@gmail.com. Enjoy your cruise.

Bobbie

[frisbeeace]

Sorry that it took me so long to respond. In Istanbul and Ephesus, we used Ekol, www.ekoltravel.com. We customized their tours to suit our needs and Nur Koray was very helpful with this. I highly recommend Ekol for Turkey. The guides are excellent, the cars are comfortable, they are punctual, and they will individualize the tours. In Ephesus, we had the best guide we ever had, Yelda Celik. Nur will say that you cannot request guides, but just ask her to do her best to get you Yelda. She was fabulous. I heard from others that most of Ekol's guides are very good though. We saw Ephesus, which is not to be missed. If you have any walking difficulties though, you will probably need to skip the Terrace Houses. You can see some of them without taking that whole tour. We also went to the House of Virgin Mary and Sirince village. In Sirince, we had a Turkish lunch with Yelda and then shopped and looked around on our own. This was a perfect day. We did end this day with a stop at a rug making school, but could have avoided it if we had wanted to. However, I found it very interesting and even bought a beautiful Turkish rug.

In Athens, we used www.athenstaxi.org. Paul is the owner and he and his two sons are the drivers. We had his younger son, Jim or Dmitri, and he was fabulous. He is not a tour guide, so he cannot accompany you through any of the sights, but he is very knowledgeable and basically told us what to look for. In the morning, we drove to Sounion and saw the Temple of Neptune. The whole area was gorgeous and gave us a feel for more of Greece than just Athens. We made a few stops to take pictures. We then went to Athens, had lunch at Plaka, and shopped there a bit. We saw the changing of the guard and the Acropolis. We have walking issues and did not tour the Acropolis, so Dmitri brought us to a tram that goes to the top of the highest point in Greece and we looked down at the Acropolis from there. Another do not miss. If I can help you in any other way, you can email me at rmebobbie@gmail.com. Enjoy your cruise.

Bobbie

 

Can you tell me a bit more about the Sirince village tour? Is it worth the time and cost? How much does this add to the Ephesus tour? Thanks

[RME]

Can you tell me a bit more about the Sirince village tour? Is it worth the time and cost? How much does this add to the Ephesus tour? Thanks

 

We had our guide for a full day, so it really did not cost much more at all to include Sirince. It is a small hilly village with many women selling needlework and ceramics that they made. There are also a number of restaurants. We enjoyed it and felt it was very worthwhile. We also got to see more of the countryside, which we enjoyed.

Bobbie

[D4]

RME (Bobbie): Your post caught my attention because you mentioned you have walking issues. DH has bad knees and cannot walk long distances or do more than a few steps. I looked on the Ekol site and it says "Note: Ephesus include walking ( 1.5 k.m. ) Not recommended for people with physical disabilities." Were you able to customize a tour with Ekol that mimized walking?

 

Also, did you do any of the ship's shore excursions? We're considering the mild ones designed for people that cannot walk alot. If you did any of those, I'd love to hear your opinions on them. Thanks!

[RME]

RME (Bobbie): Your post caught my attention because you mentioned you have walking issues. DH has bad knees and cannot walk long distances or do more than a few steps. I looked on the Ekol site and it says "Note: Ephesus include walking ( 1.5 k.m. ) Not recommended for people with physical disabilities." Were you able to customize a tour with Ekol that mimized walking?

 

Also, did you do any of the ship's shore excursions? We're considering the mild ones designed for people that cannot walk alot. If you did any of those, I'd love to hear your opinions on them. Thanks!

 

Ephesus involves a lot of walking. We just tried to minimize it, walk slowly, and take rests when needed. That is one of the great advantages of a private tour. If you want to take a break, you can. If DH cannot walk more than a few steps, I believe he would have difficulty with the tour we did of Ephesus. There are some steps that cannot be avoided. These are rather uneven and there is no railing. Most of the walking is on uneven surfaces, if that is an issue. I would suggest asking Nur at Ekol if there is another way, but I was unable to see one there.

 

There was only one mild ship shore excursion and that was already fully booked, so I have no experience with those. I did see one man at the shore excursion desk though complaining that a specific tour was too much for him and involved more than had been described, but I am not certain what tour that was. He and a few others apparently sat somewhere for about two hours waiting for the rest of the group to return. That was similar to my experience with the ship's tour of Santorini, except that I somehow managed to keep up, or straggle behind. There was a whole lot more walking up and down hills than described. However, this tour was not labeled mild.

 

In Athens, we had a wonderful private tour of Athens and Sounion with very little walking and the walking could have even been less if we had wanted. I highly recommend this entire tour if walking is an issue. We saw many beautiful places and the tour guide was excellent. I posted the link above. I am not sure if I am allowed to post it again here since you did not ask about Athens.

 

I was not impressed with the ship's shore excursions and would ask many questions before booking them. We booked another of their excursions and I had written to them and asked specifically what kind of walking was involved. The responses I received from them turned out to be quite inaccurate. If I had realized how much was involved, I would never have booked that particular tour.

 

Please let me know if I can be of any additional help. These areas in general are not easy for people with problems walking, but we still had a wonderful time.

[OregonGal56]

Just back last night from 5/15 Solstice sailing. First time cruises, had a fantastic time. Though the food was great. About the Santorini tenders, said would start handing out tickets at 8am, got there at about 7:50, already up to ticket #4! Was not happy, but only waited about 20min, then got on the boat, no line for cable car up, and there was at least 7 other ships in port that day. Lots of tenders coming, some old wood sailing boats, really cool looking. Walked down as there was as long line for cable cars around 3:30. Walk was really hard because of the slippery rocks, wear tennis shoes with good traction or hiking shoes! Lots of donkeys, but can push them out of the way. Donkey poop was dried up, so not really a problem. Rented an ATV that day to go to Oia. Was 30euros (for 1), plus had to get gas! Renting a small car would have been 50. I recommend going in with another couple to do a car. We didn't do any ship excursions, but did private at Sicily (with group from cc), and a private tour with Ekol in Ephresus (really good). Do not do Naples by yourself! We did, took train to Pompeii with tons of kids from Naples going to the beach for the day. Everything in Naples shut on Sun, plus that city is really dirty, trash everywhere. Wish we did an excursion instead. Live and learn. Let me know if any other questions. Oh yeah, we flew out the same day at 10:40, went on a shuttle with other CC members at 7am, was no traffic and got to FCO around 8:30, plenty of time.