Help Please!

Our 30 year Anniversary Cruise on the Jewel will be coming up in July. I still have not booked any shore excursions yet. I think it’s because for the last 30 years we have been sailing the Western, Eastern, and Southern Caribbean, and I am nervous to make bad or wrong choices.

Can you fellow cruisers PLEASE HELP me out if you have been on any ships excursions in these ports and recommend the best ones to me....

Pretty Please - and Thank You in advance

Greek Islands:

Santorini

Mykonos

Athens

Olympia

Citvitavecchia, Rome

Santorini - I've done two trips. One was getting on a pirate-style boat and sailing to the centre of the Calderra, walking up the volcano there, and then going to swim in the hot sulphur spring nearby. You need to be moderately active for that, but it was great fun. Afterwards, I caught the bus to Oia on my own and wandered round there for a few hours, including lunch. The second time I took a tour to the ruins of Akrotiri, which is one of the best contenders for Atlantis, followed by a wine-tasting (although this was less impressive). But Santorini is beautiful so you should have good views whatever you do.

Mykonos - I recommend catching the 30 minute ferry to Delos and exploring the ruins there. I thought it was just as impressive as Pompeii. Easily done as either a ship's tour or on your own. And you'll get back with enough time to wander around Mykonos itself and see the famous windmills etc.

Athens - if you don't see the Acropolis, you're missing out. It did get very crowded. I did the longer tour which took you all over the city as well and out to see the Temple of Poseidon, which was worth seeing as well - also less crowded.

Olympia - I did the tour that stopped of at an olivefarm - Magna Greco? - and then on to the Olympic site. The farm was actually great fun and really interesting. You got a massive meal (so don't eat a big breakfast if going there) of food from the farm, followed by some Greek dancing. And then on to the Olympic site, which was really interesting as well.

Thank You for all this great information! I truly appreciate your efforts and time to reply! Anyone else with recommendations?

Huntington has given excellent suggestions. I would not miss Oia or Akrotiri in Santorini. Delos May depend on how calm the waters are. For a first time in Athens book a tour, well worth it.

For Athens contact PKTravel Greece. You can arrange for a private tour and it’s not that expensive.

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On 5/10/2018 at 4:00 AM, Huntingdon1701 said:

Santorini - I've done two trips. One was getting on a pirate-style boat and sailing to the centre of the Calderra, walking up the volcano there, and then going to swim in the hot sulphur spring nearby.

I would love more information about this tour. Do you remember who you booked it through? And the price?

4 minutes ago, JenGi said:

I would love more information about this tour. Do you remember who you booked it through? And the price?

It was actually an NCL tour called 'Volcano hiking'. I'm there again in September and the price is showing up as £57 per person (about $95 canadian dollars). There were less than a dozen of us, so it was a nice small group. I would definitely recommend it as a different, relaxing way to see Santorini.

The ship leaves from the dock where you tender so you don't have to face the very long queue for the cable car, and it finishes relatively early (2.5 hours, which was long enough) so you can pop back to the ship for lunch and then head up to Fira to see the views from the top of the island, avoiding all the crowds of the morning. 

On 5/10/2018 at 2:08 AM, butterfly2 said:

Our 30 year Anniversary Cruise on the Jewel will be coming up in July. I still have not booked any shore excursions yet. I think it’s because for the last 30 years we have been sailing the Western, Eastern, and Southern Caribbean, and I am nervous to make bad or wrong choices.

Can you fellow cruisers PLEASE HELP me out if you have been on any ships excursions in these ports and recommend the best ones to me....

Pretty Please - and Thank You in advance

 

 

Greek Islands:

 

 

Santorini

Mykonos

Athens

Olympia

 

Citvitavecchia, Rome

Santorini - Something that gets you to Oia and Fira.  There is a lot of discussion on this Board as to providers.  We did the ship tour as it was easy transportation.

Mykonos - This is a great DIY port. Walking the streets, seeing the windmills and Little Venice made for a nice day.

Athens - If you have never been, the Acropolis is my recommendation.  You can DIY but there is so much to see that I recommend a guide to explain what you are seeing.  We took a tour that also included the Olympic Stadium.  There was free time and we ran to see the changing of the guard.

Olympia - We did not find much to do here other than go to the site of the early Olympics.  Lots of choices for tour providers.  Without a guide it seemed like a bunch of ruins.  

On 1/4/2020 at 11:20 AM, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

It was actually an NCL tour called 'Volcano hiking'. I'm there again in September and the price is showing up as £57 per person (about $95 canadian dollars). There were less than a dozen of us, so it was a nice small group. I would definitely recommend it as a different, relaxing way to see Santorini.

 

The ship leaves from the dock where you tender so you don't have to face the very long queue for the cable car, and it finishes relatively early (2.5 hours, which was long enough) so you can pop back to the ship for lunch and then head up to Fira to see the views from the top of the island, avoiding all the crowds of the morning. 

On 1/4/2020 at 11:07 AM, JenGi said:

I would love more information about this tour. Do you remember who you booked it through? And the price?

Just for info, you can pick up this tour from one of the vendors on the pier where the tender boats drop you at around a third of the price quoted above. We did it a few years ago and it's a really enjoyable trip, but I wouldn't pay ship prices. There are a couple of companies offering it, this is one of them https://www.santorini-excursions.com/excursions/volcano-and-hot-springs

2 minutes ago, Bobal said:

 

 

Just for info, you can pick up this tour from one of the vendors on the pier where the tender boats drop you at around a third of the price quoted above. We did it a few years ago and it's a really enjoyable trip, but I wouldn't pay ship prices. There are a couple of companies offering it, this is one of them https://www.santorini-excursions.com/excursions/volcano-and-hot-springs

Wow the price is significantly lower!! Thanks a lot, definitely will be looking into this!!