Corinthian Canal Trip with RCCL

Has anybody been on the Corinthian Canal tour. I have "done" Athens and wondered about taking this 6hr trip. Is it worth doing please?

didn't do a ships tour but pre booked a private taxi tour that took in Corinth canal,ancient ruins of Corinth and Acrocorinth

we enjoyed all 3 sites

what does the RCCL trip include and how much are they charging?

Has anybody been on the Corinthian Canal tour. I have "done" Athens and wondered about taking this 6hr trip. Is it worth doing please?

abnfortysomething: didn't do a ships tour but pre booked a private taxi tour that took in Corinth canal' date='ancient ruins of Corinth and Acrocorinth. we enjoyed all 3 sites. [b']what does the RCCL trip include[/b] and how much are they charging?

Appreciate this good question and the excellent follow-up about what all (or not) might be included with your tour through RCCL. The canal itself is nice to see, but that only takes a few minutes. BUT, what else do you get to do and experience?

Below are some visuals for what we did in a loop around the scenic and historic Peloponnesian Peninsula. Like? Need more details, specifics? Happy to share more. Also, tell us more on your personal interests, travel likes, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 218,123 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

The Corinth Canal is right on the route as we were circling the Peloponnesian Peninsula and nearby to the famed, ancient, historic city of Corinth. This canal is a unique engineering job carved through about 260' of rock. The canal is four miles in length, 75' wide and was built between 1881 and 1893:

Historic Roman ruins are in Ancient Corinth, including this portion of the Temple of Apollo and the mountains over this site. This historic area is 48 miles southwest of Athens. It was a city-state on the Isthmus of Corinth that joins the Peloponnesus to mainland Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta. In classical times, Corinth rivaled Athens and Thebes in wealth, based on the Isthmian traffic and trade. Apostle Paul first visited the city around AD 51-52. He lived here for eighteen months, including writing two of his epistles on the difficulties of maintaining a Christian community in such a cosmopolitan city with so much sin and corruption existing in this city.:

In the Peloponnesian Peninsula, you can enjoy many countryside views, including of this goat watching over the charming area:

These Mycene ruins go back 2700 years from a spectacular empire. As a major center of Greek civilization, this military stronghold dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae's power during this "bronze age". Much of the Mycenaean religion survived into classical Greece in their pantheon of Greek deities. Lots of "real" history here!!:

Example of Mycene gold in the museum at this historic site:

Epidaurus is the famed outdoor theater with super great acoustics on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Their local prosperity enabled Epidaurus to construct civic monuments including this huge theater that had dramatic performances, ceremonial programs, etc. It was designed in the 4th century BC. The original 34 rows were extended in Roman times by another 21 rows. As with many Greek theaters (and as opposed to Roman ones), the view on a lush landscape behind the performing areas was an integral part of the design. It seats up to 15,000 people. The acoustics permit almost perfect intelligibility of un-amplified spoken word from the proscenium. A 2007 study by Georgia Tech scholars indicates that the amazing acoustic properties are either the result of an accident or the product of advanced design . . . rows of limestone seats filtering out low-frequency sounds and amplify/reflect high-frequency sounds from the stage.:

didn't do a ships tour but pre booked a private taxi tour that took in Corinth canal,ancient ruins of Corinth and Acrocorinth

 

we enjoyed all 3 sites

 

what does the RCCL trip include and how much are they charging?

ditto ... did a tour of these three sites but not as part of a cruise stop ... the canal is interesting to see and hear about, but it will not take long ... the ancient sites are far more interesting, especially the Acrocorinth ... the photos above of the temple at the site of Corinth you can see the Acrocorinth in the background high on top of the mountain peak

We are also considering RCCLs tour of Corinth but would much rather go privately. Who did you use for the tour?

We are also considering RCCLs tour of Corinth but would much rather go privately. Who did you use for the tour?

we used PK travel

it cost 170 euros for 4 of us in a taxi

extra 8 euros for admission to ancient Corinth and lasted 5 hours

Thank you. I have been in contact with PK travel and will most probably use them.

We did the Corinth Canal Tour with Celebrity (owned by RCCL) as a ships tour as I wanted to cruise the canal and to fit with the port of call timetable I had to use the ships tour. It was fun and worth the money IMO ... Totally different experience to actually cruise the length of the canal (and back) rather than just view it from a view point above....

Glad I did it... and yes we got to watch a bridge SINK ... the locals use the bridge as their fishing nets and wait to grab the stranded fish when the bridge resurfaces.d advise the ships tour so you can experience the canal!!!

And this from one who shuns ships tours and generally organizes private tours for every port!

We did the Corinth Canal Tour with Celebrity (owned by RCCL) as a ships tour as I wanted to cruise the canal and to fit with the port of call timetable I had to use the ships tour. It was fun and worth the money IMO ... Totally different experience to actually cruise the length of the canal (and back) rather than just view it from a view point above....

Glad I did it... and yes we got to watch a bridge SINK ... the locals use the bridge as their fishing nets and wait to grab the stranded fish when the bridge resurfaces.d advise the ships tour so you can experience the canal!!!

And this from one who shuns ships tours and generally organizes private tours for every port!

I know this is an old post, but maybe you are still around lurking. LOL... I am looking at a similar ship's tour through NCL. I am assuming they are pretty much the same. Could you please tell me what all you did. I am looking at a couple of private tours that do the Athens things, and then just view the bridge, then go on to Corinth. I want to do it all. :eek: