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First and definitely not our last voyage. Star Flyer


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We have just completed our first Star Flyer cruise from Venice to Athens and it was superb. I will outline some things I think might be useful.

 

Embarkation began at 3:30 in Venice. We handed cases to the porters before going through Italian security. It was easy and we then walked a short distance to the ship and were led into the dining room to hand over passports, collect cabin key and be taken to our cabin.

 

We had cabin 505 and this was great access to the deck and bridge. We spent ages looking for electrical socket (under dressing table and at one end); closet, behind what I thought was a mirror; and AC control, on the ceiling by he vent!

 

There was a muster drill on the first and second day.

Sail away is not to be missed.

We met so many nice people. There were 164 on board and I know 70 of them by name. Meals were friendly affairs. They mix in this order from highest numbers to least... US, UK, CANADA, GERMAN, some French, Swiss, Luxemburg ...

 

Age range 4years to 84 years, median age around 55 I would think.

 

A real highlight was the sea day when we got into three tenders to watch our ship under sail. Pretty rocky in the tender but the crew help you in and out.

 

Another amazing feature was star watching each night ...so clear. Could see the Milky Way.

 

Seas were calm, but wind picked up before Santorini so there was some real sailing for 2-3 days.

 

Ports..TENDER Losinj, small we walked to a beach. NOTE: most beaches are rocky on this itinerary take water shoes if you want to swim.

 

Hvar, TENDER....did the hike, lovely, but very hot. The taverna lunch was AMAZING, a highlight of the whole cruise, the beach at the end of the walk was also very welcome.

 

Dubrovnik TENDER... in port from noon until 10p.m. We walked the walls.

 

Kotor TENDER ... IN PORT FROM 8:00 until noon, went half way to fort for a great view, tricky walking on loose stones.

 

Corfu DOCKED ... Did the swimming trip. Water was fabulous

 

Katakolon DOCKED ... Did the tour to Olympia and then a drink in the little town, left at around 9:00 p.m.

 

Santorini TENDERS... did the tour. What an amazing place. Make sure you go to Oia (pronounce E..a) it is beautiful.

 

Mykonos, TENDER ... walked around Little Venice, the Windmills. And found a beach (need water shoes)

 

Disembarkation, ends at 10:00, starts around 8:30. We had arranged for a taxi to take us into Athens. It was really a nice last morning, nobody felt rushed. You do put your luggage outside your cabin the night before.

 

We had a wonderful cruise and I think Star Clippers Is perfect for the Mediterranean.

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Thank you so much for your review! I'm trying to decide whether we do Thailand or Europe. I would love to see pictures if you have them!

 

Anymore information about experiences onboard? Did you use the water sports?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Vacation Nut,

 

We are doing this same trip next summer. Thanks so much for posting this and the details. Are you up for answering a few questions?

 

Did you fly in earlier/fly out later or did you come in day of embarkation/disembarkation? We are considering coming in a day early and leaving day after cruise to do a little sightseeing in Venice and Greece.

 

Were your excursions through the boat or on your own? We are considering a little of both.

 

Agree with other poster - would love to see a few pictures.

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I will post photos this weekend, but in the meantime some answers. Our cruise started on Wednesday so we flew from the USA on Sunday night and arrived early Monday morning. We took a water bus from the airport to our hotel... Hotel Bauer excellent. The water bus took an hour but I liked the ride and it was only 8 euros. The hotel was close to San Marco stop so we did not have to pull our cases far. We spent Monday, Tuesday and half of Wednesday in Venice. I would not recommend flying in the same day, you will be wiped if coming from USA. I had been twice before but I just love the city. On the day of the cruise we could have taken a water bus again and pulled our cases, but the distance would have been a little further and very hot, so we splurged and took a water taxi from hotel to San Basillio terminal 80 euros.

After the cruise we spent two days in Athens. We pre-ordered a taxi from a company called Welcome and they were excellent. We stayed at the Electra Metrpolis, another lovely hotel. I had not been to Athens before. I loved it. All the main things for tourists are very walkable and we did not need any public transport while there. We took a Welcome taxi to the airport, the trip is about 1 hour without traffic so leave plenty of time.

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Excursions.

We did 4 excursions through the ship and 4 things on our own, by just walking. Many people just got off the ship and wandered around the little towns, You could easily do this at every stop, but if you want to go beyond the town then obviously an excursion is needed. I think in Santorini we could have just taken a bus to Oui... What a beautiful village, but we took the ship's excursion which included Oui but we didn't have enough time there. I am not very adventurous when it comes to booking excursions with other companies.

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Experiences on Board

First, it is so relaxed and friendly. Dinner begins at 7:30 but you can go down any time after that. The latest we went down to dinner was about 8:30. The maitre d' just asks if you have a seating preference, but we just said Englush speaking and let him seat us. In this way we met about 70 different people. Some we got to know quite well. I always wore capris and a nice blouse to dinner and my husband wore long pants and a polo shirt. Even on captain's dinner there was no dressing up. No need for suits, jackets or ties.

Loungers in the shade are at a premium, but there are bench seats or you can spread your towel on the bow deck area and get shade from the sails.

We were so tired after dinner, that most of the time we just spent 30 mins on deck starring at the stars.... So clear.... Before bed around 10:30. There were some passenger activities/games in the Tropucal bar but we preferred the stars. One night, a local traditional group came on board, in Dubrovnik, they were great.

The best thing is that after 1 day you know people and you can have short or long conversations while on deck, you just feel part of a community.

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Thank You for your insights! My husband and I will be sailing from Athens to the cyclades in August and this will be our first time on a tall ship! We are really excited but a little nervous too! I was wondering if the movement of the ship was an issue at all for you. (I get a little motion sickness and its my one concern! ( My doctor will be prescribing me a patch for this one and I always carry dramamine!)

Our last cruise was on a big ship and I had no problems.

Edited by Off2seeAlaska
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Thank You for your insights! My husband and I will be sailing from Athens to the cyclades in August and this will be our first time on a tall ship! We are really excited but a little nervous too! I was wondering if the movement of the ship was an issue at all for you. (I get a little motion sickness and its my one concern! ( My doctor will be prescribing me a patch for this one and I always carry dramamine!)

Our last cruise was on a big ship and I had no problems.

 

The Med is usually very calm that time of year (usually ;)). The patch sometimes has side effects. Hope it works for you. Bonine (or generic equivalent) is better than Dramamine IMHO:D

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