Port review from 10 night Greek Isle Cruise

Just got back from a 10 night RCI cruise that started in Rome, and went east- this is just to review the ports in the port review area.

Itinerary was:

Rome

Sea

Crete/Chania

Mykonos

Kusadasi/Ephesus

Santorini

Pireaus/Athens

Katakolon/Olympia

Sea

Naples

return to Rome

The cruise started in Rome, where we arrived 3 days early to tour around. We saw the Colosseum, Forum, Vatican (and the Pope), and wandered around a whole lot. Hard to be specific on something- there's just so much to do in Rome that can be specific to a person.

For transportation to the port, we thought we'd be brave (and cheap) and take the train. For all of 5 Euros each, we got to the port to the minuet on time. Amazing. Then trying to be even cheaper, we walked to the rest of the port- not a great idea- as we got really lost. Thankfully, one of the other port busses took us over to the correct location.

First day was at sea- we sailed between Sicily and Italy. Pretty cool.

Day two was Crete, where we took the cheap bus to Chania. When there, we walked from one end of the port bay all the way around to the lighthouse side. Very pretty, and made us nice and hungry. Not knowing where to eat, we just looked and tried to find someone, when one of the hawkers did the line "your table is right over here"- and we were hungry, and just sat. Great decision- as the food, and better yet, the people serving us were really great. We talked a lot with what we thought was the son of the owner, about Chania, the people, and the food. Got a long so well, that he brought over nice cold Raki- which is like ouzo (but not spicy). And when we left, he introduced his mom to us. Montastrini Taverna. And they have a Greek Website.

Day 3- Mykonos. We planned on walking around (again) and maybe spending some time on the beach. But it was a little cold and windy to get into the water. So it was just wandering around. We found a great jeweler right under one of the windmills- Anima Mykonos. Great guy, but I'm not sure how long he will be there- he was not optimistic about the future. Good stuff he has. We ate at a small off the bay restaurant called Maria.

Day 4- Kusadasi, Turkey. Which is the closest port to the amazing site of Ephesus. For this stop, DW did some work on Trip Advisor, and found Ephesus Port Tours. For this trip, we got a drive and a guide for the day- totally worth it. Our guide Nizam taught us a lot about Turkey, it's background, and the current culture. (not sure if our host name is showing up- N I Z A M)

The first stop was the Virgin Mary's home- which was "found" in the 19th century, and decided by the Vatican to be the home. One can get some holy water from the site.

Second stop was Ephesus. Wow, what a site. This was a very old city, and is referenced in the Bible. Huge, too. Being that it was abandoned, as opposed to build on over and over again- most of the parts of the city are still around. So it's now a big archeological site, that will get MUCH MUCH bigger. ****m took us to the entire site, which was easy to do since it was just 3 of us.

Next was a rug making demo and then lunch. Then a stop at the Temple of Artemis.

Cost was just 175 Euros! Seemed like a good deal for an individual deal compared to the large group ship excursions. Again, Ephesus Port Tours, and they have a website.

Day 5- Santorini. This day was mostly a hike from Feria to Oia. 12km of hiking was amazing but exhausting. So we ate at a nice little cafe in Oia called Skiza. Then took the very cheap (1.80 Euro vs 20 for a taxi) bus back to Feria and walked down to the ship instead of taking the cable car. Saw a LOT of tiny resorts along the cliffs. We want to head back for a very relaxing trip.

BTW- there are some notes about the long ling to take the cable car back to the ships- they are all TRUE. So if you are going in the summer, and can't walk down the hill- be there early. Lot of the line appears to be in the sun.

Day 6- Athens. I'd say Piraeus, but it's actually more of a part of Athens, it's so close. For this stop, we got a tip from a cruiser we met at a M&M to try George's Taxi for a driver and a tour guide for the day. And it was George who did the driving! His card had taxigreece, privatetoursathens, shareatouringreece, and athenslimo dot com as the many websites. George was great- and explained that they have a couple of cars, a couple of small mini-vans, and one larger van. They can do a lot in Athens for you.

We only had one site in mind- The Acropolis. So all cities have an acropolis in ancient Greece, but this is the Acropolis of all of them. Of course, the Parthenon is the highlight of this, but there are a few other sites. However, the skies decided to not agree, and as we huddled under Nike, the skies opened up. After a stop, we got to the top, and did our best to see what we could but Zeus was not happy, and there was lighting all around the city. Being that this was one of the highest points in Athens, it was a little nerve wracking. After getting down, George took us to the Acropolis Museum to dry off and warm up. Very cool- as there's either original or replicas of all the carvings on the top of the Parthenon that you really can't see from the ground up there. At the Museum, they are almost at eye level.

After seeing all of that, George them drove us around to see more of Athens- the old Forum, the 1898 Olympic stadium, great views from the top of other hills (there are 7), and a few other Temple ruins that are included in the price of the Acropolis entry.

Even after all of that, and the traffic in Athens, George got us back to the ship in plenty of time. Can't wait to be back there to have him give us another tour. 230 Euros for all day. Well worth it.

Day 7 was Katakolon- which is a close port to Olympia, where the ancient games were held. For this port, we did the ship tour to Olympia and the Mercouri Estate winery. We had a great tour guide for the bus, who did a great job explaining the site of Olympia. And we ran the track that is in the stadium.

Winery tour was really nice, and we did want to buy some. But we were already super tight on luggage. For sure, we will be looking for Greek wines around here- similar grapes, but different grounds and processing means they taste different. Then there are the unique grapes for Greece.

All in all, Greece was a great place to visit- especially the people. All of them were super friendly, all spoke English, and all of them were happy to help us learn a little Greek. BTW, if you have a strong science background- you will be capable of saying some of the words- phonetically.

Day 8 at sea

Day 9- Naples. Originally we were going to just wander, then thought about going to Pompei. Based on a few crew members, just decided to take the train down to see the sites. But when we were going to leave the ship, the skies opened up. So much for those plans.

Back to original plan. Many have complained about Naples and waking around- that its dirty, boring, and pickpockets, etc etc. We didn't find that Naples. After heading to the Spanish quarter, we started Rick Steves walking tour- and really enjoyed it. Getting back into the Spanish Quarter neighborhood- it seemed far more real Naples than anywhere else. Small shops making shoes, or upholstering furniture, or making gloves, or processing rabbit leather. Very cool. (we did see the bland area that I think many reference- so if waking out of the port- don't turn right- turn left to the castle across the street, and then into the cathedral plaza. Next to it is the Spanish Quarter)

Be adventurous, walk around. Eat pizza (it IS Naples, afterall).

So that's not 10 days- but all of you know that the official day one is embarkation day.

We did return to Rome for two more days- where we went to a very interesting DaVinci exhibit- which was an interesting comparison to what Archimedes did in Greece at least 1500 years before. And then a visit to the Museo di Liberazione- which is really cool if you are into WWII history.

Thank you for sharing! We will be doing a similar trip next summer and I enjoyed reading about your excursions.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enjoyed your review.

Keith

You must have been on the Rhapsody. We were on the Celebrity Reflection and were in port several times together. Had a great cruise but be prepared for a lot of long days and walking. We need a vacation from this one to rest up.

Hi Alfaeric

Thank you for very informative and detailed review. It really helps. I plan a cruise to Greece in the next spring. What’s your impression about prices in general? I mean cafes, restaurants, museums…. I presumed that Greece at the moment should be rather a cheap country for travelers but after reading several threads I already have doubt. Thank you!

Jess :)

Hi Alfaeric

Thank you for very informative and detailed review. It really helps. I plan a cruise to Greece in the next spring. What’s your impression about prices in general? I mean cafes, restaurants, museums…. I presumed that Greece at the moment should be rather a cheap country for travelers but after reading several threads I already have doubt. Thank you!

Jess :)

I thought the prices were good- but it REALLY helped that the exchange rate was in the $1.12 range the whole time- when a few year ago, we had a $1.35 rate.

The museum rates have not changed since the economic situation, but I do remember that we thought that at least the Acropolis museum could charge a whole lot more for what we saw there.

The other big impact may happen in November, when new taxes go into place in Greece. Maybe. Depends on who is in charge if that happens or not. One jeweler thought he would go out of business, but was not sure since there was an election one weekend we were on the trip.

All in all, though, the food and museum prices were really good for our trip.

Thank you Alfaeric ! It sounds quite optimistic :)

Jess :)