Azamara Excursions

[bgreen]

We are looking for anyone who has taken any of the ship's excursions in

Sorrento, Mykonos, Santorini, Chios, Volos or Istanbul.

[lisiamc]

We are looking for anyone who has taken any of the ship's excursions in

Sorrento, Mykonos, Santorini, Chios, Volos or Istanbul.

 

We've taken Azamara excursions in Instanbul and Chios. We especially liked the excursion in Istanbul as it extended over two days.

 

What would you like to know?

 

Lisa

[cruisedudes]

We are looking for anyone who has taken any of the ship's excursions in

Sorrento, Mykonos, Santorini, Chios, Volos or Istanbul.

We took the Pompeii and Amalfi lunch excursion from Sorrento and thought it was wonderful. We had an excellent guide in Pompeii and lunch and the view from the restaurant was exceptional.

[Bob and Peg]

We've taken Azamara excursions in Instanbul and Chios. We especially liked the excursion in Istanbul as it extended over two days.

 

What would you like to know?

 

Lisa

 

Which excursion did you take in (on?) Chios. We'll be there in July.

 

Since we've been in Istanbul before, we've made arrangements for a private tour there to see some things we missed before.

[lisiamc]

I went back over our notes and photos because I could not remember which excursion we took on Chios. It turns out that we didn't take one there! I'm sorry - can I blame it on a blonde moment?:p

 

We did buy an extremely large box of delicious baklava in a nice bakery on a back street and visit a lovely church, but that won't help you with your plans.

 

Lisa

[macruise]

So, what did you do independently in Chios? - besides buying baklava, which sounds like a very good plan.

[Wineart]

We just returned from an Azamara cruise that included Chios. We did the excursion that included the monastery. It was nice, but not very exciting. I compared notes with another couple that took a different excursion, and we came to the conclusion that there's just not a lot to see in Chios!

[bgreen]

Which tour did you do in Istanbul? Was it worth the price.

[acruisergirl]

We also were in Chios and took the excursion that included villages of Pyrgi and Mesta. Pyrgi has narrow streets and houise facades decorated with geometric paterns. Interesting but the village is "new" to tourists, construction going on, and sometimes I thought we were on display. Mesta was a walled village, nice but not much to see. It was just interesting to get out into the countryside. After we walked around the town. Did a private tour in Istanbul with others that we met on our cruise roll call. There were (8) of us and it cost $75/person. Guide was very knowledgeable and I highly recommend her. If you are interested I will provide a contact point.

 

Pat

[lisiamc]

So, what did you do independently in Chios? - besides buying baklava, which sounds like a very good plan.

 

I was mildly interested in taking the tour to the monastery through Azamara, but not enough to actually book it. So instead, we got a late start, and went to the Tourist Information office to see about getting a bus to Pyrgi or Mesta, but we were too late to do it comfortably, and too cheap to get a taxi.

 

So we walked around the town, bought some bottled water in addition to the baklava, visited the church, ate spanikopita in a local cafe and walked around the waterfront a bit. Very low key!

 

Lisa

[joelmomma]

I was mildly interested in taking the tour to the monastery through Azamara, but not enough to actually book it. So instead, we got a late start, and went to the Tourist Information office to see about getting a bus to Pyrgi or Mesta, but we were too late to do it comfortably, and too cheap to get a taxi.

 

So we walked around the town, bought some bottled water in addition to the baklava, visited the church, ate spanikopita in a local cafe and walked around the waterfront a bit. Very low key!

 

Lisa

 

This actually sounds like a perfect day. Since we have an extremely port-intensive itinerary (only 1 sea day out of 15), we'll probably do very little in both Chios and Volos. It will give us a chance to enjoy the ship :)

 

Jo

[brandonjordan]

We've taken Azamara excursions in Instanbul and Chios. We especially liked the excursion in Istanbul as it extended over two days.

 

What would you like to know?

 

Lisa

We will be on the 8/23 Black sea cruise. Can you tell us a little more about your experience. That 2 day sounds good. how much did it cost? Would we be better off doing it on our own, with or without a guide? Thx.

[lisiamc]

We will be on the 8/23 Black sea cruise. Can you tell us a little more about your experience. That 2 day sounds good. how much did it cost? Would we be better off doing it on our own, with or without a guide? Thx.

 

The two day excursion was really the afternoon of one day and the morning of the second. I think we started at about 11.30 on the first day. I hadn't had any lunch, and was really glad to buy a bread roll with sesame seeds on top from a street vendor later. (Cheap and very tasty!) The second day we started in the morning and finished after lunch at Topkapi Palace.

 

We saw Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome and took a quick drive to the Asian side, as well as stopping at a very upscale shop selling rugs and expensive jewellery. (Yes, we bought a gorgeous rug, but no jewellery.) I think the price was about $150/person, but I don't remember exactly.

 

Our guide was very knowledgeable, and had a real drive to ignite interest in the rest of us. He was fantastic. We had those headphone/radio things, but mine didn't work properly the first day, so I just stuck close to the guide. I didn't want to miss a word he said! The headphone set I had on the second day worked much better.

 

My only regret is that we didn't have time to tour the harem in Topkapi Palace. Other than that, I thought the tour was a really good introduction to Istanbul. We really fell in love with the city and want to go back for a long weekend.

 

Lisa

[Paulchili]

 

My only regret is that we didn't have time to tour the harem in Topkapi Palace. Other than that, I thought the tour was a really good introduction to Istanbul. We really fell in love with the city and want to go back for a long weekend.

 

Lisa

 

Lisa,

Some of the other things you may want to check out on your return are:

Basilica Cisterns

Chora Museum Church

Dolmabahce & Beylerbeyi Palaces (esp. the former).

Cruise on the Bosporus

Spice Bazar

Mehter Band concert (in Military Museum) in full regalia - what a show

and many, many more......

It's a fascinating city (not to mention the rest of Turkey)!

[lisiamc]

Lisa,

Some of the other things you may want to check out on your return are:

Basilica Cisterns

Chora Museum Church

Dolmabahce & Beylerbeyi Palaces (esp. the former).

Cruise on the Bosporus

Spice Bazar

Mehter Band concert (in Military Museum) in full regalia - what a show

and many, many more......

It's a fascinating city (not to mention the rest of Turkey)!

 

Thanks! I'll keep this list. We liked the other stops in Turkey too.

 

Lisa