If you could do ONE thing in a Med/Black Sea port.....???

[iancal]

We did a tour of Ephesus two weeks ago and it was wonderful. We had been there years ago prior to the Terrace Houses being done. This in itself is worth the visit.

 

We did a private tour with Ecol. Four of us in a large van with driver and guide. The cost per person was less than the cruise line big bus tour. The tour guide was first rate.

[SwissMyst]

I guess I can't say thanks to everyone....so here is a global thanks for all that has been posted and that is yet to be.

 

I have contacted a couple in Instanbul (highly recommended) about a tour there. They offer a walking tour or (for a lotmore money of course) a van. I am thinking we can cover a lot of ground there by walking....am I correct??

 

 

The really interesting parts of Istanbul are not ones you can see by car - yes, a walking tour is highly recommended. Lucky you to find a local guide who can get you around this glorious maze of a city. Here is one of the pedestrian streets, Istiklal Caddessi where a lot of great restaurants are located and the former location of many embassies near the Petra Palace Hotel where Agatha Christie wrote her famous Murder on the Orient Express: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/İstiklal_Avenue. This located on the more modern "western" side of Istanbul if the intensity of the orient side gets to be too much.

[lostatsea200]

I have not used his guide on the med. cruises. but have used Spain, Istanbul, and most others. I Maderira I would suggest that you start off early from the ship walk along the Mariania to Farmers Market area. Take a quick look at the fruits, flowers and veggies here, along with the fish market. If you like tropical fruits it is the place to get some. Get a bus card transporte Publico senior rate. ticket tabacco shops or small mini markets. for bus up the hills Jardim Botanico Da Maderira, entrance price 3,oo euros. bus Number I don't remeber, but there is a lady on these cc boards under Maderia who lives there and can give you the proper number. Interesting ride up the hills to the gardens. It was one euro up and one euro down. They are wonderful, walk thru them is something else. Sort of a zoo of tropical birds near the bottom. The view is outstanding and overlooks the harbour. The ride down is a thrill. Using public buses you can visit the second highest cliff in the world. and a quaint fishing village. If you want to call home phone cards at the telephone office in the centre of town is 5 euros for an hour. Use with any pay phone. Good in all of Portgual. Seville take the local train from the port to Seville. Walk thru old town, note the buildings, to Alcazar, wonderful place, will prepare you for your other visits. It was free to senior citizens. Take copy of passport. The train ride is great, I enjoy watching locals. Valletta, with a good guide book walk the city. I will not bore you or the board with more details. If you would like my info. I would be happy to get my info out when I return home. email me at girlatsea200 --yahoo.---l will be in Southeast Asia for the next five weeks. With good guide books, a few simple phrases of the languages you will be able to get around in most ports. The exception would by Tunisia. I would do a HAL tour here. The mosque and city is wonderful. Such a special place. I have not been back since the change in government. THIS IS A WONDERFUL JOURNEY THAT YOU HAVE PLANNED.

[CJcruzer]

Lisbon- either the Belem area with monument to the discoveries, Monastery and Belem tower Or a tour out to Sintra and visit Sintra Palace - while not as grand as Quelez, it is a real gem up in the Mtns - fantastic colors.

 

Naples - besides the city possibly a private tour with others to Royal Palace of Caserta - a Versailles type palace built by charles the Bourbon King - and a trip to nearby Herculaneum, destroyed by the eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius.

 

Terrace houses at Ephesus are a must!

 

Tunisia. Probably best bet is a ships tour, we have been there twice, last time we arranged a cab With another couple and went to the Bardo Museum, fantastic mosaics!!!

 

Istanbul, Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque are close by - try to get to one of the Bazaars, either Grand or Spice.... Dolmabache Palace is fabulous while Topkapi Palace, further away is the big draw.... also in town is the underground cisterns.

[kazu]

I have never been to Europe. I will be going on the Prinsendam in March.....we cover MANY Med and Black Sea ports....the usual and some unusual. This is the itinerary:

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?destCode=W&flexibleMonths=false&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&pageNumber=1&sourceName=byRegion&directionCode=M&voyageCode=P215&webItineraryIdForAudit=WMW262

 

If you could only do one thing in these ports......What would it be?? I want to see the highlights and am currently planning my shore time.

 

 

Karen - Seville is absolutely incredible - definitely go the Alcazar & the Cathedral - walk through the old part of the city - it is incredible.

 

caveat - I do hope that the Prinsendam really overnights in Seville for you.

 

We were supposed to and they changed the itinerary to overnight in Cadiz, so be prepared for some flexibility.

 

Have a great time:D

[SwissMyst]

........ Seville take the local train from the port to Seville. Walk thru old town, note the buildings, to Alcazar, wonderful place, will prepare you for your other visits. It was free to senior citizens. Take copy of passport. The train ride is great, I enjoy watching locals. ...........

 

I am trying to talk DH into taking the train from Cadiz instead of the shore excursion (Seville Palaces) by bus. It looks like an easy connection and I would like more free non-group time in Seville.

 

DH worries something will go wrong and we will miss the ship if the train does not get back in time. So any reassurances about your train trip that I can pass on to him? Thanks and I printed out all your tips about Maderia. Thanks for the details.

 

One thing I liked about Rick Steves Cruise Ports book was always putting in directions to get to possible next ports ..... if one misses the ship. As a well-travelled (and well heeled) friend once said, with a passport and a credit card she was good to go anywhere at anytime.

 

That is my feeling, the only real drawback for missing the ship is ..... money. Not your life or your health or anything else. But having a hard time on this one in Seville, which looks like one of the easiest train trips from a port possible.

[Kween Karen]

Thanks again for all the tips....this is really helpful and I hope I get many more ideas.

[superoma]

In Sorrento, go to Pompeii - you may want to take the ship's tour just to make sure you don't miss the ship. Pompeii was incredible.

 

In Rome, we walked through the Sistine Chapel and while it is exquisitly beautiful, it is usually so crowded that you can't even stop to look for long. Tour guides explain it to you outside since they can't keep their groups together inside. We were much more impressed with the "outdoor" Rome. And we walked it. Not sure how much time you will have since the ship docks about 1.5 hours away.

 

In Venice, just walk, you can't get lost. We walked in the direction the tour groups were NOT going. Lovely city, even in the rain and very walkable and safe.

 

In Korcula, just walk - very quaint, touted as the birthplace of Marco Polo. If you are so inclined, a tour of the Dalmation coast would be good. It is very beautiful. i see HAL offers one.

 

In Durres - do anything away from town. Durres reminded us very much of Cairo - dirty, very busy, but without the cultural aspects. We made the mistake of not taking a tour here and we should have. Others on our ship took a tour to the capital of Tirana and enjoyed it.

 

Athens - the Acropolis for sure and the plaka - just hope they are not having a strike or demonstration of some kind because you won't get past the traffic.

 

In Kushadasi - Ephesus, hands down the most impressive thing we saw on our cruise. (Well, maybe the pyramids at Giza, too)

 

Oh yah, I want to come along!!! Room in your suitcase?

[iancal]

Typo error. Just re checked our Ephesus tour provider. It was not Ekol.

 

We used Ephesus tours. We booked ahead and were very satisfied. Sorry for the error.

[kazu]

I am trying to talk DH into taking the train from Cadiz instead of the shore excursion (Seville Palaces) by bus. It looks like an easy connection and I would like more free non-group time in Seville.

 

DH worries something will go wrong and we will miss the ship if the train does not get back in time. So any reassurances about your train trip that I can pass on to him? Thanks and I printed out all your tips about Maderia. Thanks for the details.

 

One thing I liked about Rick Steves Cruise Ports book was always putting in directions to get to possible next ports ..... if one misses the ship. As a well-travelled (and well heeled) friend once said, with a passport and a credit card she was good to go anywhere at anytime.

 

That is my feeling, the only real drawback for missing the ship is ..... money. Not your life or your health or anything else. But having a hard time on this one in Seville, which looks like one of the easiest train trips from a port possible.

 

I don't think you should have any issues with the train. A lot are doing that on our cruise.:D Trains in Spain are very good. The train station is not far from the port :) We were planning on it but had enough people and chartered our own little bus to take us to Seville. Everyone will do their own thing and then meet to return. Worked out cheaper than the train plus we will leave as soon as we dock (8 a.m). The first train is at 8:55 after we dock:D

 

if you were to put a group together, you could also arrange a private transfer as we did. A lot cheaper than HAL.

 

If you want any details, feel free to email me :D

[Fred321]

Just got back from 20 days on the Noordam and have to agree that Ephesus was a really pleasant surprise!

 

We booked a private tour for the two of us with Ephesus Shuttle. Car and driver and a guide for 4 hours, tickets to the ruins and the terraced houses (don't miss these) all for 116 US dollars payable AFTER the tour. That's $116 for the two of us not per person. You'll also get a leather coat fashion show and a pitch to buy rugs. Both were a hoot and no real pressure to buy and they came with really good apple tea.

 

We also saw Pompeii and if I could only pick one set of ruins it would be Ephesus.

 

Think we were on the Prinsendam with you last winter around S. America. Enjoy your trip.

[Fred321]

Sorry, but didn't look at your whole itinerary. I'd suggest one more thing in Constanta Romania. It includes some more Roman artifacts so if that's not of interest you can skip the rest.

 

There is a museum in town. Can't remember the name but it is devoted to the Roman settlement of the area and is probably on the shore excursion list. Not the biggest or fanciest museum you'll ever see but it does have a collection of Roman era headstones outside with translations of the carvings that are incredibly fascinating. I know it sounds creepy but the stories on these headstones are so detailed that you really get a sense of the lives of these people as regular people and not just a carving. These are outside so if another museum doesn't do it for you I'd still suggest just reading the stories, No need to even pay an admission price for this one.

 

We were there about 2 years ago on a river cruise and it is still something that we talk about with the people who were on the cruise with us.

[bet410]

FWIW, here's my "don't miss" list:

 

Ephesus - Ancient Ephesus is amazing! Loved the Celsus Library!

 

Istanbul - The Blue Mosque, but definitely!

 

Athens - We loved Athens, Acropolis & Cape Sounion Quite a climb to the Acropolis, but well worth the trip!

 

Santorini - Oia is a charming and picturesque little village. We missed it the first time, but we managed to get back there and really enjoyed it!

 

Argostoli - Melissani Lake and Drogarati Cave were pretty interesting.

 

Venice - You can take a water taxi to St. Mark's Square and do your own thing from there. Try to get up in the Campanile (St. Mark's bell tower) for a great overview of the city!

 

Sorrento - I'd probably do Pompeii or the Amalfi Coast. That said, I've always enjoyed Capri, but the last time we were there, it was way too crowded. But that was in July, and you'll be there in the spring. The Blue Grotto (Capri) is gorgeous but not available on a HAL shore ex.

 

Rome - To tell you the truth, the last time we were there we took a pass - just don't care for the city much! Bad experiences when I was in college, I guess, and didn't enjoy it that much the other times I was there. (We're in the minority...) However, I would definitely visit the Vatican, Coliseum, and Forum if I were going.

 

Sete - I've never been there on a cruise ship, but I have been to Provence in France (back in my college days when I was studying in France). So much to see and do there: I loved Aigues Mortes & the Camargue as well as Arles & Les Baux. My favorite thing there, though, was Pont du Gard - but I don't see it listed on any of the excursions. This is a classic Roman aqueduct - often shows up in textbook pictures. In my crazy college years, I walked across the top of it in a very strong wind! It was extremely rutted - I'm sure they don't allow that anymore, but the memories are really sweet!

 

Barcelona - We loved the Sagrada Familia, and we also really enjoyed Guell Park, both designed by Gaudi. Las Ramblas was easy to get to from the ship by shuttle, and it's a great place to people-watch. We loved the street entertainment there.

[Valley Girl of VA]

I just came back from an Eastern Med. cruise. Since I was in Athens, I had to see the Acropolis/Pantheon along with thousands of other people. You can hire a guide right there near the ticket booth. Bring some toilet paper with you; although bathrooms are clean, they ran out of tp while we were there.

 

Ephesus - the ruins are a must. We did a fantastic private tour (there were 7 of us). We went to a government cooperative school where they bring women in to learn to weave the famous rugs. We ended up purchasing one from them and it was much cheaper than the one our friends had purchased the day before in Istanbul. Visit what is purported to be the Virgin Mother's home after the crucificton. That was very spiritual no matter what your beliefs.

 

Rome - the worst part for us was the Vatican Museum. It was such a wave of people that we really couldn't see anything. It was disappointing since we had the audiophones and couldn't even see the numbers on the exhibits to get the recording. St. PEter's was much better. We did a tour of the Colosseum, Forum and Pallantine Hills with Angel Tours and if you do that, I highly recommend Joanna as your tour guide. A young Londoner who just got her masters at Oxford and lives and breathes, and makes ancient history come alive. I'd also see Trevi Fountain - touristy but great to see

 

Naples - we did Amalfi Coast but our tour was about8 hours long and that was way too long. At one point, I could have cared less if I was looking at Positano, Amalfi or Ravello - they began to all look very similar.

 

If you have any questions, you can email me at schwalmie at aol dot com

[Storylady]

This is really helpful. I have booked a private tour to Ephesus. I was THINKING of just doing Venice on my own....but not sure if it is adviseable. I do not stop in Naples......the closest I get there is Sorrento.

 

Venice is easy to do on your own. There is a vaporetto that will take you from the area near the ship to St Marks square or you can take the a bus shuttle to Plaza Roma and then take a vaporetto down the grand canal. Read Rick Steve's tour on Venice. He even tells you what Vaporetto # to take if you want a fast trip or a slow trip. Get off at the St Mark's Square stop.

 

If you are worried about the lines to get into the Doge's Palace and the Basilica, you might consider booking tickets online. Below is an forum on Rick Steve's website about doing just that.

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=60618

 

If you enjoy mysteries, you might consider reading Donna Leon's Brunetti series set in Venice. You will get a really good flavor about Venice from her books.

[Storylady]

 

Sete - I've never been there on a cruise ship, but I have been to Provence in France (back in my college days when I was studying in France). So much to see and do there: I loved Aigues Mortes & the Camargue as well as Arles & Les Baux. My favorite thing there, though, was Pont du Gard - but I don't see it listed on any of the excursions. This is a classic Roman aqueduct - often shows up in textbook pictures. In my crazy college years, I walked across the top of it in a very strong wind! It was extremely rutted - I'm sure they don't allow that anymore, but the memories are really sweet!

 

 

Have been to Arles--if you like Van Gogh, you would enjoy seeing the sights where he did his famous painting. The Camargue is nice too. But the place that really impressed me was the old city of Carcassone. We stayed inside the old city and ate cassoulet at a small hole in the wall restaurant. Carcassone is an UNESCO world heritage site.

 

As several people have mentioned, check out Rick Steve's book, Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He tells you how you can do it on your own. Plus he mentions those ports where a tour would be advisable. Since all your ports of call aren't in his book, try to get the book at the library.

 

Highlights not to miss; Seville, St Peter's and Colosseum in Rome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace & Agia Sophia in Istanbul, Ancient Ephesus, Acropolis in Athens, Pompeii and St Mark's Square in Venice (Doge's Palace and St Marks Basilica).

 

It is possible to take a bus to Oia on Santorini, but you would have a fabulous time just doing Thira. Granted all the calendar photos are taken at Oia. Check online as to the important sites to see. Funchal can also be done on your own. Lisbon is spread out, so you probably want to do some sort of tour. If you do a tour with CC, they will probably go to Sintra. Al and I did a HAL tour to Sintra on which we saw parts of Lisbon, the Estoril, Cascais and the monument to the Discoveries, Belem Tower and Jeronimos Monastery.

[Okie1946]

Also the Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar

 

If possible also go to Topkapi Palace and Dolmabache Palace

 

Dolmabache is a special tour type but if you are seeing the city through a local tour guide service - they might be able to get you in. Fantastic place.

 

Previous Cruises:

Alaska - Westerdam - September 2009

Alaska- Rotterdam - September 2010

Mexican Riveria - Oosterdam - April 2011

 

Future Cruises – in planning stage:

September, 2012 - Alaska – Amsterdam - 14 day cruise

2013 Eastern Med - 28 day (includes cruising Black Sea)

[Kween Karen]

Just got back from 20 days on the Noordam and have to agree that Ephesus was a really pleasant surprise!

 

We booked a private tour for the two of us with Ephesus Shuttle. Car and driver and a guide for 4 hours, tickets to the ruins and the terraced houses (don't miss these) all for 116 US dollars payable AFTER the tour. That's $116 for the two of us not per person. You'll also get a leather coat fashion show and a pitch to buy rugs. Both were a hoot and no real pressure to buy and they came with really good apple tea.

 

We also saw Pompeii and if I could only pick one set of ruins it would be Ephesus.

 

Think we were on the Prinsendam with you last winter around S. America. Enjoy your trip.

 

Thanks Fred. Yes we were on the South America......see you two again on the World 13 right??

[Kween Karen]

Thanks Sharon and others......I continue to find this thread really helpful. I will probably have to print out the entire thread in order to keep track of all the tips!!

[Valley Girl of VA]

We did the Hello Ephesus tour and had Suzan as our tour guide a couple of weeks ago. she was fantastic and I would highly recommend her.

 

Others are speaking about Rick Steves books and guess what!!! He was on our cruise last month. I know for a fact that he toured Istanbul on his own. I believe he did Ephesus with a group - I saw a sticker on him during one of the ports and I think it was Ephesus since it was closer to the end of the cruise for us. A great guy. He didn't really know about Cruise Critic. He attended, by accident, our Sail Away party and then we invited him to our Connections Party.

[eh2zed]

This is a great thread. Wonderful new ideas

[lcand1923]

Malaga - go to the Alhambra

Lisbon - make sure you buy a pastry. They are delicious.

Venice - try to visit St. Mark's Square at night. It's like a fairy land.

[Ontariotrekker]

In Odessa make sure to walk the grand promenade to people watch and make time to go into the museum. It's chock full of things and there is a "Gold room" in the basement that is a spectacular display of jewellry and artifacts.

I have hopefully included a picture of one of the 3 bridal couples we saw while strolling.

 

In Venice, beg, borrow or steal a way into St. Mark's Bacillica for a nighttime visit for a light show. I did this on a Voyages to Antiquity tour and it was fabulaous.

[Storylady]

Malaga - go to the Alhambra

Lisbon - make sure you buy a pastry. They are delicious.

Venice - try to visit St. Mark's Square at night. It's like a fairy land.

 

 

Definitely add the Alhambra to your list. It was one of the major highlights of our last Mediterranean cruise which also included Venice, Santorini, Ephesus and Istanbul.

 

Check out the website www dot alhambra dot org switch the web site into english and look at the Alhambra guide on the left. It has very detail information on the Alhambra. This was on my bucket list for years after seeing a slide show on the Alhambra.

 

Read the book by Washington Irving; Tales of the Alhambra. It is available on Kindle for 99 cents or more depending on which version you purchase.

 

It is a long ride to Granada, but the scenery is very interesting. And you should see snow on the Sierra Nevadas at that time of the year. Definitely a must see!

[SwissMyst]

.....

Lisbon - make sure you buy a pastry. They are delicious.

...........

 

I wonder if you mean the Portuguese egg tarts - they also show up all over Shanghai China, and probably came when the Portuguese were in Macao ----- or vice versa. :confused: Yes, very yummy and a great breakfast snack on the run you can get in the Shanghai metro stations.