Excursion Advice-Greek Isle/Italy/Dubrovnik

[dynamitedeb]

Hi All, We are sailing on Costa Fortuna on 18th Oct from Venice. We are nervous about the ship and food as have read some really bad reviews but we are trying to be open minded- we got it for a great price so hey how bad can sailing round the beautiful Greek isles and Venice be??? One thing we are excited about are the ports, Venice/Bari/Katakolon/Mykonos/Santorini/Rhodes/Dubrovnik WOW!!! Please can someone who has travelled to any of these places give us some advice on excursions or trips we can do on our own as the excursions are a bit pricey and may not go the the best places ( sometimes tend to go to tourist traps from past experience). Any infor on ship/food/cabins etc would also be appreciated-- thanks

[Capricruiser]

Besides reading the really bad reviews, try reading the good ones as well! You'll feel better. Try checking out the Eastern Mediterranean reviews. Regardless of the ship, many of the reviews give some good info on the various ports of call. The ship's excursions will go to the primary places of importance at that particular port. Go on the Costa website and read the overviews for their excursions to have a good idea of what's to see at each port.

[CtheW0rld]

In Dubrovnik, the 'thing to do' it to walk the walls. In the old part of town there are many sidewalk cafes to sit and enjoy a coffe or other libation. Lot of artists selling there wares, too. Some of them are known for their work in lace. If you can, take a morning excursion into the countryside that includes lunch then do the walls in the afternoon.

[kasi1979]

If you are in Mykonos in the evening, try to get of the ship as early as possible. Walk straight up to the windmills, take your pictures. If you´d like to, go to one of the restaurants by the waterfront and eat some seafood or authentic gyros. We sat at a restaurant with a view of both, our ship as well as the windmills.

Afterwards there´s still enough time for a leisurely stroll through the shops.

 

Santorini is expensive. We did the ship excursion to Oia, as you get of the ship with an organized excursion at a different spot than everyone else. If you want to to things indepentendly, wait til Fira, take either the donkeys or the tram uphill and start from there.

 

When leaving Venice or returning a week later, be sure to be up on deck, even if that means you´ll miss dinner. There´s always a chance to eat pizza, but you wouldn´t want to miss the cruise throught the channels of Venice going right by St. Mark´s Square and the cathedral.

 

Bari is hit or miss, you can walk the city and the fort and do some grocery shopping if desired. The cathedral is quite interesting, however, in my opinion, it´s good that the stop there is so short.

 

Katakolon: Are you interested in sports and / or history? If so, so an excursion up to Olympia, were the ancient olympic games took place. You can either do a ship excursion or take a taxi. The time is usuallyto short to use the train. If you decide to go on your own, be sure to get a guidebook, otherwise the old stones will mean nothing to you.

Katakolon itself is y touristy mini-town at the seaside with restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops.

 

Just a thought, if you are interested in buying glass-jewelery, do so in Venice, they have the widest selection, and you get really good prices. I bought a seastar-chain in Venice for 6 Euro, a similar chain was prized 25 Euro in Mykonos...

[dynamitedeb]

Thank you, that has been really helpfull, we are really looking forward to these ports. We went to Venice twice last year and saw the cruiseliners sailing past and we are so excited to be on one this year. We are sure the Costa Fortuna will be a great expereince- thank you for your help

 

If you are in Mykonos in the evening, try to get of the ship as early as possible. Walk straight up to the windmills, take your pictures. If you´d like to, go to one of the restaurants by the waterfront and eat some seafood or authentic gyros. We sat at a restaurant with a view of both, our ship as well as the windmills.

Afterwards there´s still enough time for a leisurely stroll through the shops.

 

Santorini is expensive. We did the ship excursion to Oia, as you get of the ship with an organized excursion at a different spot than everyone else. If you want to to things indepentendly, wait til Fira, take either the donkeys or the tram uphill and start from there.

 

When leaving Venice or returning a week later, be sure to be up on deck, even if that means you´ll miss dinner. There´s always a chance to eat pizza, but you wouldn´t want to miss the cruise throught the channels of Venice going right by St. Mark´s Square and the cathedral.

 

Bari is hit or miss, you can walk the city and the fort and do some grocery shopping if desired. The cathedral is quite interesting, however, in my opinion, it´s good that the stop there is so short.

 

Katakolon: Are you interested in sports and / or history? If so, so an excursion up to Olympia, were the ancient olympic games took place. You can either do a ship excursion or take a taxi. The time is usuallyto short to use the train. If you decide to go on your own, be sure to get a guidebook, otherwise the old stones will mean nothing to you.

Katakolon itself is y touristy mini-town at the seaside with restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops.

 

Just a thought, if you are interested in buying glass-jewelery, do so in Venice, they have the widest selection, and you get really good prices. I bought a seastar-chain in Venice for 6 Euro, a similar chain was prized 25 Euro in Mykonos...

[dynamitedeb]

Thank u, you are right there are more good than bad reviews, I do feel better now. Its just that we are going with friends and I feel responsible for them enjoying themselves. We have cruised on RCI Independence of the Sea x 2 and P and O Ventura which were both new ships and we are going on Celebrity Eclipse in April on its first crossing and Oasis of the Seas in June so we would have only been on new ships. Nothing matches the ports though on the October Cruise on Fortuna and we have a balcony cabin so I am sure the views will be breath taking, thanks for you advice, this will probably turn out to be the pick of the bunch !!!

 

 

Besides reading the really bad reviews, try reading the good ones as well! You'll feel better. Try checking out the Eastern Mediterranean reviews. Regardless of the ship, many of the reviews give some good info on the various ports of call. The ship's excursions will go to the primary places of importance at that particular port. Go on the Costa website and read the overviews for their excursions to have a good idea of what's to see at each port.

[dynamitedeb]

Thats sounds great - we will certainly Walk the Walls- thank you for your input

 

 

te=CtheW0rld;23201498]In Dubrovnik, the 'thing to do' it to walk the walls. In the old part of town there are many sidewalk cafes to sit and enjoy a coffe or other libation. Lot of artists selling there wares, too. Some of them are known for their work in lace. If you can, take a morning excursion into the countryside that includes lunch then do the walls in the afternoon.

[cruisermarta]

I agree wholeheartedly with "Kasi 1979" and "Capricruiser". We did this cruise on Costa"Victoria" 3 years ago and loved it. People were extremely friendly and of course the history surrounding these places is amazing. Try not to miss sunset on Mykonos". Beautiful! Just go with the flow on board. The ship, cabins and staff were great. Enjoy your cruise.:D:o

cruisermarta