Travelling2Some

If you can reach the island on a closed loop cruise with a birth certificate/government ID it would seem a little silly to require passport holders to have 6 months left on their passports.:)

I agree with you. Very reasonable and logical statement. However, in my (unfortunately quite extensive) experience, low level government bureaucrats are remarkably unreasonable and illogical. (Frankly, I sometimes think they hire only those who flunk IQ tests!) There's little downside in renewing it a bit early and a whole lot of downside in having the bad luck of running into "Joe Zealot First Day on the Job", not to mention the peace of mind in the meantime. She shouldn't have to renew it but I'd do it anyway.

I should also say that these rules are generally applied more or less strictly depending on the country that issued your passport. The concern of the country you are entering is that you will overstay your welcome. They generally assume that U.S. citizens with the means to travel have homes and jobs to return to and are not fleeing political oppression.

Thanks Chole and Got2Cruise. We're mainly interested in the scenery not the swimming so deserted beaches are fine. Seems like almost everything in Corfu is "very nice" but nothing is a "must see". Makes it hard to decide how to spend our port time, lol. On the other hand it does seem that whatever we end up doing will be make for a nice day. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.

We were there on a Monday. I wanted to go over to Paleo for the beach and Monastery but it didn't work out. I wish we did.

So did you go into town? Did the shops close for a couple of hours mid-day or do they stay open if ships are in town? Did you find enough to do? I'm leaning towards Paleokastritsa too mostly because it's a Monday but also thinking that I may have seen enough charming towns since we're spending time in Northern Italy before the cruise.

I realize that you think that is a heavy load, but remember that most Europeans are not on holiday then, and there will not be many people on the island except for cruisers, unlike in the summer when there are thousands of tourists staying on the island.

 

That is getting late in the season so a lot of beaches will be deserted. I would suggest reserving a scooter ahead of time if you want one, just to make sure the places will be open.

Good to know. Thanks very much for the information!

We were in Corfu on a Monday last October and had a lovely trip (booked in advance) to Ambelonas for lunch. It was a rainy day so we didn't bother with the shops.

Thanks for the suggestion but it wouldn't suit us as we live in an area that offers lots of "weekend at the vineyards" and farm to table dining establishments. We would either want to explore the island or wander the old town and I'm not sure we have enough hours to do both so I'm trying to make a choice between those two options.

I guess what I really need to know is if there is enough to see and do in the Old Town with many of the small museums and churches closed that day and the possibility of the shops closing up for a few hours at mid-day too.

I just wanted to drop in and say that you should get a prize for the scariest thread title of the week. "Inside Cabins with Toddler" frightened me almost as much as last week's "Greece in August". Run for you lives, citizens!!!

Its high time all the beneficiaries of cruise boat visits to Santorini upgraded the existing cable car to a continuous belt operation where the volume of pax in each cabin and more cabins on the rope would double the capacity like the cars on the Lantau island cable ropeway in Hong Kong . the existing operation like an elevator with 3 cabins going up and 3 going down is so slow and low capacity .

Yes, sounds like that's long overdue. But it will probably happen right after they start making those donkeys use the restroom . . . and pigs fly . . . and hell freezes.

Thanks for alerting us : we will also be there on 7 October !

Looks like dang near EVERYBODY will be, lol! If you're on the Jade with us we will have Santorini all to ourselves the day before:)

I suspect it's a regulation to protect the cable-car and donkey operators union. Same reason that cruise ships have to tender to Fira instead of Athinios, unless booked the Oia Village excursion from the cruise line.

 

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I'll bet you are right. Whenever something makes no sense bureaucracy is usually involved, lol.

We will be in Corfu on a Monday in October. Had planned to explore the town, popping into various small museums and churches. However, according to the Rick Steve's guide pretty much all of those are closed on Mondays. Is the town still interesting enough for a first time visitor with so many sights closed? Do the shops close for several hours in the afternoon as well? We'll be in port from 8 AM until 3:30 PM. None of the out of town attractions (Achellion, Mouse Island, etc.) are of interest to me but we do enjoy scenery and exploring on our own (rather not have a third party like a taxi driver with us). Should we stick with town or rent some kind of transport (ATV/scooter) and go off on our own? Unfortunately the things that do interest me are quite far away so time and poor road signage will be an issue too. What do you think? I'd especially appreciate hearing from those who have been there on a Monday.

The day that we will be in Mykonos (October 7) the port load will be over 9,000 pax:eek: From what I can see on the Cruisett site this is pretty unusual. To make it worse we will be the third ship (out of four) to arrive that morning at 8 AM with two other ships just ahead of us at 7 AM. The fourth ship, thank goodness is not due in until the afternoon.

So . . . with that in mind I am wondering a few things. First, should I assume we will tender or is there room at the dock for a third ship? Secondly, I had planned to just rent an ATV or scooter and run around the island for a bit before returning to town in the afternoon. Will they be all out of ATVs and scooters by the time I get there. If I should reserve one in advance I'd appreciate a recommendation on who to deal with. Thanks very much for any advice.

Sorry I don't have a constructive solution. I have been wondering why the boats that take people to Oia in the morning do not offer transport back to the tender port later in the day. There is certainly a market for their services then. Why would they not want to make twice as much money by providing service both ways??? Anybody know the answer to this?

Thanks for the Kalafatis recommendation. Sounds like what we are looking for.

Woke up this morning, checking the threads I learned that there were a bunch of port time changes. Go to check my itinerary and of course it was changed without any notice. I am leaving on the Jewel for Alaska in 12 days!!! I am so upset, this is a trip of a lifetime for me and what is Alaska/canada with no whales. If I wasn't a part of this group when would I find out about this? The day of? So ridiculous. I had my whole day planned, excursion booked, attractions I wanted to see.

That is very upsetting! When were they planning to tell you? I'm guessing NEVER. They were hoping you either wouldn't notice or wouldn't mind. So sneaky. Many who feel it's "no big deal" visit the same ports many times. But for those unlikely to "pass this way again" this can mean loosing the chance to do a long-dreamed-of item on their bucket list.

The changes in St. Thomas are particularly upsetting too because in that port 3 hours less translates into not enough time to take the ferry over to St. John.

People will feel mislead. Or is it just me who sees that as a potential problem?

What? People feeling mislead? Judging by this week's posts NCL does not see any potential problem in that, LOL!

I never cared for the "like a Norwegian" and "Norwegians do this or that" advertising. I'm just buying a cruise, not looking to join a tribe or a cult or change my nationality for heaven's sake.

Add the Jade out of Venice in October to the list. Port time in Mykonos has been shortened by an hour. Why don't they notify the passengers about all these changes? They are hoping to slip it by us, banking on that many passengers won't notice or even remember exactly what the times were when they booked their cruises months ago. The vast majority of their customers have never even heard of Cruise Critic. Lots of people cruise primarily for the shipboard experience and they won't care even if they do notice. Lots of others cruise for the ports and view the ship as more of a deluxe ferry. The second group will be more likely to choose land vacations over cruising in the future if the port times are shortened. My ideal cruise would spend two nights in each port before moving on (not going to happen - I know). The "hit and run" nature of cruising is why we already do more land trips than cruises.

Just discovered another one! Add this to the list of "port shortages": Just checked my Jade itinerary out of Venice in October and, sure enough, we are now leaving Mykonos at 5 PM rather than the 6 PM departure that I booked it at. Just an hour but I do feel cheated. I'll likely only be on Mykonos once in my life so that hour really matters to me.

Changing the departure time for St. Thomas on the Escape from 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to me is a big deal. This new time change changes our plans for the day. Three hours is a lot of time.

Yes, it is a big deal AND yet another way for the cruise line to make more money. A shorter port day not only alters plans, it also makes people more concerned about getting back to the ship on time. The one and only ship sponsored excursion I have ever taken was because I wanted to make the most of being in port for just a few hours in the morning after an overnight in Kawaii. Of course I would have had a better experience on my own but I felt so time pressured that I opted for the ship's overpriced excursion.

I've got one cruise booked on the Dawn and so far no changes. Every cruise line makes changes at one time or another. One cruise line just cancelled a port on some Caribbean cruises and made one of the other stops and overnight.

Good point. Hope this is just a hiccup. I doubt my cruise (Jade in October) will change based on the logistics (sea days right after and before embarkation/debarkation). I really, really LOVE the itineraries that port overnight and was hoping that was becoming more of a trend in cruising. If things start trending in the opposite direction (less port time) I will likely choose more land trips than cruises.

Wow, I'm starting to wonder if ol' FDR (Franklin Delano or whatever his name is these days) has set himself a goal to see if he can annoy ALL of the passengers! I was fine with all the other little changes but if NCL (or any of the lines) start cutting into port times that would matter to me. We cruise for the ports and I always look carefully at the time in port on the various lines and itineraries before picking one. Feeling "rushed" is THE main downside to cruising for me so if port times shrink I'll likely choose more and more land vacations over cruises.

I can see where the cruise line stands to profit in several ways by cutting shore time. They save on fuel by slowing the ship (and might even brag about it saying they're "going green" lol) and they would have to pay the port authorities less to dock I would think (?). And it's a no brainer that passengers who are ON the ship spend more money on the ship than passengers who are OFF the ship. A few extra drinks, a spa treatment, a couple of extra hours in the casino, etc.

Now THAT'S an issue that would bother me. NCL can raise gratuities, take away the lobster tails and toss the specialty dining venues overboard for all I care. But when they start shortening port times it tips things in favor of land vacations for me. We cruise primarily for the ports so time in port carries a lot of weight with me when I choose which cruise to take.

Sorry to hear about this, she was lucky they were still off of the US. It is my understanding the USCG does not charge for the med evacuation.

 

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Well that will be a bright spot at least. I bet you are right about the USCG. Hope she comes through it with (eventually) only an exciting story to tell her kids some day.

I agree with the person who pointed out that you live in Florida so you can always rent a wave runner (and have a heck of a lot more fun with it than the ship excursion will allow from the sound of it). Go with the sting rays.

So sorry to hear this' date=' hope she fares well.

 

Makes you think about trip insurance, for sure!!!![/quote']

 

My thoughts exactly. A perfect example of why cruise insurance is a must even for the young and healthy. Accidents and things like this can happen to anyone and being airlifted off a ship is terribly expensive. Such a disappointment that it happened right at the start of her trip. That's a tough break :(. I hope she's doing well.

We do too' date=' at least most nights. Brings cruising to the next level or two or three!! :)[/quote']

 

Now even though I am in the $0 camp your way of looking at it makes a lot of sense. It is nice to have the option to upgrade a single aspect of your cruise without jumping the whole tab up by switching to a luxury line. Especially if you are happy with the quality of the other aspects of the cruise. I'm happy with the MDR BUT I would probably pay an extra charge for enhanced entertainment. And, NO, I'm not complaining about the entertainment. Just making the point that I like that each of us can pick and choose what we pay a bit more for rather than having the cruise fare raised to cover extras.