Transfers and Choices!

[topsey130]

Hi All

 

 

Hope you can help, trying to sort out a 'fitted' in cruise next year, and as my parents have decided to join us i need to make sure the transfer times (airport to port) are quite short, and that they can easily do their own thing. Added to this due to being the social butterfly i am ;) i have only a few available months to squeeze this one in.

 

The months that we can go are

 

March

Early April

Mid June

 

Initially considered the Canaries, but the Majesty would suit us but not our parents - so strike that one out.

 

Red Sea - Celebration Perfect, but itinerary not suitable for parents due to length and distances on excursions. Their later eastern med itinarary is also a problem due to the transfer length between Dalaman and Marmaris

 

 

So....looking at the Aegean Discovery on the Spirit in April, how long is the transfer time form Pathos to port. Any views on this itinerary looks suitable to me - we can do our own thing and they can 'have a little wander'.

 

Failing that i think it will be the Dream in June......

[mtt]

We are doingthe agean discovery in march, was told transfer time was about 45 mins

[Huddersfieldtourist]

Thought the airport used was Larnaca but both are about 45 minutes to Limassol from memory

[topsey130]

Thanks Both, i think this is probably the itinerary we will go for, now to decide on March or April.

 

 

The next hurdle will then be sorting the best cabin for her, I think i will l need another holiday after this one and ive not even booked it yet :)

[topsey130]

Help.....

 

Mother has now decided on June, and apparently the transfer from Dalaman to Marmaris is acceptable!!!

 

So i have narrowed it down to two Cruises

 

Dream Med Medley

Rapallo, livorno, Villefranche, Toulon, Barcelona

 

Or

 

Celebration Ancient Wonders

Istanbul, Mytilene, Athens, Mykonos Town, Kusadasi,

 

What i would like to know is how easy is it to do your own thing on the Ancient Wonders Itinerary, to be more specific (as i did a similar cruise on the Dream last year and have a similar one booked for October, i would prefer not to repeat), are the ports of call nice venues, Istanbul accepted, just to have a wonder around, coffee, lunch etc., as i know that my parents will not want to go on many trips and would prefer to wonder on the ship and off at their own pace.

 

Or would i be best to stick with the Med one.

 

I really would like to do the Adriatic explorer with them as that itinerary would be perfect, but the Majesty just has to many compromises to make.

 

So please help me :eek:

[kruzseeka]

Help.....

 

Mother has now decided on June, and apparently the transfer from Dalaman to Marmaris is acceptable!!!

 

So i have narrowed it down to two Cruises

 

Dream Med Medley

Rapallo, livorno, Villefranche, Toulon, Barcelona

 

Or

 

Celebration Ancient Wonders

Istanbul, Mytilene, Athens, Mykonos Town, Kusadasi,

 

What i would like to know is how easy is it to do your own thing on the Ancient Wonders Itinerary, to be more specific (as i did a similar cruise on the Dream last year and have a similar one booked for October, i would prefer not to repeat), are the ports of call nice venues, Istanbul accepted, just to have a wonder around, coffee, lunch etc., as i know that my parents will not want to go on many trips and would prefer to wonder on the ship and off at their own pace.

 

Or would i be best to stick with the Med one.

 

I really would like to do the Adriatic explorer with them as that itinerary would be perfect, but the Majesty just has to many compromises to make.

 

So please help me :eek:

 

 

Dream Med Medley

Rapallo, livorno, Villefranche, Toulon, Barcelona

 

We got diverted to Rappallo last year (can't remember where we were supposed to be going! :confused:) and we actually did the Thomson tour to Portofino - but as I remember it was a lovely area and it's certainly nice enough to just wander around but I can't remember just how close the port was to the town centre but from a map I looked at it doesn't look too far. Perhaps on Google Earth you could get an idea of distance.

 

Livorno's not too exciting imo - you really could do with going for a trip there but that would be Florence or Pisa. We went to Pisa on the train but there's a fair bit of walking from the station at both ends unless you catch a bus. So I'm not too sure what to advise here -although you say your paents aren't too bothered about trips perhaps a half day to Pisa if they offer one might be worth considering. Florence can be a long and tiring day.

 

Villefranche is a lovely little resort and would be nice to spend a relaxing few hours wandering and having a drink at the seafront cafes. It's a tender port but you are dropped right in the town. If you wanted to get a taxi to the Villa Ephrussi there are some beautiful gardens there. It's possible to walk to the Villa (we did both ways) but your parents might prefer to get a taxi and there may even be a bus - youcould enquire at the Tourist Office just by the tender drop. It's perhaps a 40 minute walk to the Villa.

 

http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/home

 

Toulon you are berthed right in town. There are some waterfront cafes and usually a good market. Easy to have a wander here too. I would recommend the half day trip to Cassis from here but you don't really want to do trips - but thta was really lovely. I've recommended it to a fewon here and they all enjoyed it.

 

Barcelona - you may be able to walk right off the ship into the centre of town if you are lucky enough to have the 'right' berth (Dream did have last in 2011 most of her visits) but otherwise you may be best to get the shuttle out of the main port which drops you at the bottom of the Ramblas which is central. There are HoHo buses here if you want to see the sights but plenty to see by wandering around.

 

 

Istanbul, Mytilene, Athens, Mykonos Town, Kusadasi,

 

Istanbul is easy to DiY - either catch the tram into the tourist centre or you can walk - it's level until you get over the bridge then starts to climb a bit but it's not too not strenous and may take you half an hour. Plenty to wander around and see in the centre also good cafe culture - certainly no need to do a trip here.

 

Mytilene I don't know.

 

Athens - well you dock in Piraeus which is a busy port and not too attractive - not really a place for cafes unless you walk up and over to the Zea Marina which you will see on your port map. It's quite a pull up the hill and then down again but there are cafes round here and is the best part of Piraeus if you want to wander. I'd say you'd be best to go into Athens even if all you want to do is walk around. You can do it independently by Metro but it's a good half hour walk from the port to the station or you could get a taxi there. Another alternative is to get the Thomson transfer into Athens then have free time to explore the Acropolis area (you don't have to go up but can walk around the base), go into the new Museum (v cheap!), explore the Plaka which is the old town with loads of character, great shops and cafes etc. Or there is a HoHo which starts at the port gated and takes you into Athens.

 

Mykonos is a gem. Don't do an excursion here - just explore. It's sometimes a tender port in which case you are dropped off right in the centre at the Harbour but if you dock then there is a shuttle to take you into the town. It's not far but with no pavement it's advisable to take the shuttle anyway.

 

Kusadasi is easy to just walk off too. It is the port from where you can get excursions to Ephesus - highly recommended but quite a bit of walking on slippery marble pavers. If you just want to walk in Kusadasi that's easy enough - there is a bazaar and plenty of cafes. We caught a local bus (Dolmus) from right outside the port gates to Ladies Beach which is more of a resort area and that had a nice bit of beach and a promenade with attractive cafes. It was only 1€ fare so was a nice little jaunt and we still had plenty of time in Kusadasi itself.

 

It's really hard to advise you Topsey - I think they both have one port wher eI'd give serious consideration to going somewhere; Livorno on #1 and Piraeus on #2. but both are interesting and have a nice mix of ports. good luck with your decision making! :)

[Julessmiles]

Hello Topsey

 

Hope you got my message!

 

Kruzseeka - we are going on this one next year too added onto the Black Sea - did all of the ports this year except Mytilene which we are looking forward to exploring. From what I can gather, there are things to do & see & wandering around the town there.

 

We went to Ephesus this year - did it about 20 years ago & wanted to take the kids back - they enjoyed it even in 40 degree heat!! Our guide was very good and the little shade there was there, she somehow managed to find and stopped under when she was telling us all about it!

 

We didn't wander around Kusadasi; just wanted to get back to the ship knowing we were going to return next year - what is Ladies Beach like? Is it full of sunbeds & very busy? When we did a cycle ride from Marmaris to Icemeler this year, we thought Marmaris was awful all along the beach - sunbeds literally covering the beach practically touching each other (unlike Kalamata where we found a lovely bar, grabbed some sunbeds & enjoyed a lovely day on the beach at no cost - except for the drinks - it was a bank holiday but even then wasn't too busy!)

 

Would you say that Ladies Beach was very busy and crowded? (we will be going in peak summer season unfortunately!) We will either take a Dolmus to a beach or head out on a boat trip - we did a beautiful Gulet Cruise this year from Bodrum and it really was lovely diving into the warm Turkish sea!

[kruzseeka]

Hello Topsey

 

Hope you got my message!

 

Kruzseeka - we are going on this one next year too added onto the Black Sea - did all of the ports this year except Mytilene which we are looking forward to exploring. From what I can gather, there are things to do & see & wandering around the town there.

 

We went to Ephesus this year - did it about 20 years ago & wanted to take the kids back - they enjoyed it even in 40 degree heat!! Our guide was very good and the little shade there was there, she somehow managed to find and stopped under when she was telling us all about it!

 

We didn't wander around Kusadasi; just wanted to get back to the ship knowing we were going to return next year - what is Ladies Beach like? Is it full of sunbeds & very busy? When we did a cycle ride from Marmaris to Icemeler this year, we thought Marmaris was awful all along the beach - sunbeds literally covering the beach practically touching each other (unlike Kalamata where we found a lovely bar, grabbed some sunbeds & enjoyed a lovely day on the beach at no cost - except for the drinks - it was a bank holiday but even then wasn't too busy!)

 

Would you say that Ladies Beach was very busy and crowded? (we will be going in peak summer season unfortunately!) We will either take a Dolmus to a beach or head out on a boat trip - we did a beautiful Gulet Cruise this year from Bodrum and it really was lovely diving into the warm Turkish sea!

 

Jules - I'm hopeless at this but I have, with considerable difficulty, managed to upload a few pics of Ladies Beach into my Photobucket BUT I've ended up getting them into the same set of pics I did for Majesty and can't find how to move them out into a separate folder!! Anyway they are there if you want to look - but they are right at the end.

 

http://s1149.beta.photobucket.com/user/cruwza/library/

 

The sun beds are fairly regimented - it wasn't busy when we were there as you will see but it was 29th May this year so not high season. There was a notice saying it was a council run beach and proceeds from sunbed hire went towards student bursaries (good for them!). But it is said to be popular with locals so perhaps it could get very congested but the sand looked quite nice and good and safe for swimming. But perhaps your idea of a gulet would be safer.

 

Hope that helps. :)

[davecttr]

Jules - I'm hopeless at this but I have, with considerable difficulty, managed to upload a few pics of Ladies Beach into my Photobucket BUT I've ended up getting them into the same set of pics I did for Majesty and can't find how to move them out into a separate folder!! Anyway they are there if you want to look - but they are right at the end.

 

http://s1149.beta.photobucket.com/user/cruwza/library/

 

The sun beds are fairly regimented - it wasn't busy when we were there as you will see but it was 29th May this year so not high season. There was a notice saying it was a council run beach and proceeds from sunbed hire went towards student bursaries (good for them!). But it is said to be popular with locals so perhaps it could get very congested but the sand looked quite nice and good and safe for swimming. But perhaps your idea of a gulet would be safer.

 

Hope that helps. :)

Use thumbnails!

 

this is what you do

get a free copy of irfanview on your pc

load your photo into it

reduce the size to 800x600 pixels

save it as a pdf portable document format file with whatever name you want, i save mine to the desktop

on here use the manage attachments button to find and load your piccie

it appears as a thumbnail below your post

when a reader clicks on it it opens at 800x600 in acrobat

works for me

this is a brilliant excursion from Barcelona that Thomson should do

can you guess where it is?

barcetour.pdf

[kruzseeka]

Use thumbnails!

 

this is what you do

get a free copy of irfanview on your pc

load your photo into it

reduce the size to 800x600 pixels

save it as a pdf portable document format file with whatever name you want, i save mine to the desktop

on here use the manage attachments button to find and load your piccie

it appears as a thumbnail below your post

when a reader clicks on it it opens at 800x600 in acrobat

works for me

this is a brilliant excursion from Barcelona that Thomson should do

can you guess where it is?

 

 

Thanks for that Dave - that's great. Will save it for future reference. No idea where the pic is though - looks fabulous. A trip for another time methinks!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Is it Andorra?:confused:

[topsey130]

Use thumbnails!

 

this is what you do

get a free copy of irfanview on your pc

load your photo into it

reduce the size to 800x600 pixels

save it as a pdf portable document format file with whatever name you want, i save mine to the desktop

on here use the manage attachments button to find and load your piccie

it appears as a thumbnail below your post

when a reader clicks on it it opens at 800x600 in acrobat

works for me

this is a brilliant excursion from Barcelona that Thomson should do

can you guess where it is?

 

I think it might be Monserrat, :confused: I was hoping when we were on The Dream in July that had a trip out to there as i would have loved to have gone....

 

Just about to book The Celebration........so then on to the cabin dilema :D

[Julessmiles]

Jules - I'm hopeless at this but I have, with considerable difficulty, managed to upload a few pics of Ladies Beach into my Photobucket BUT I've ended up getting them into the same set of pics I did for Majesty and can't find how to move them out into a separate folder!! Anyway they are there if you want to look - but they are right at the end.

 

http://s1149.beta.photobucket.com/user/cruwza/library/

 

The sun beds are fairly regimented - it wasn't busy when we were there as you will see but it was 29th May this year so not high season. There was a notice saying it was a council run beach and proceeds from sunbed hire went towards student bursaries (good for them!). But it is said to be popular with locals so perhaps it could get very congested but the sand looked quite nice and good and safe for swimming. But perhaps your idea of a gulet would be safer.

 

Hope that helps. :)

 

Thank you for doing this - nice to see that the donations for sunbeds go to students:)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I think it might be Monserrat, :confused: I was hoping when we were on The Dream in July that had a trip out to there as i would have loved to have gone....

 

I think you are right Topsey, just googled it!

 

Just about to book The Celebration........so then on to the cabin dilema :D

Where are you going?

[kruzseeka]

Yes, after all that deliberation - do tell! :)

[topsey130]

All booked, Celebration - Ancient Wonders - 24 June flying from Exeter.

 

Thanks Julesmiles and Kruzseeka for you help :)

 

 

I loved the Spirit so can't wait to see what Celebration is like :D

[kruzseeka]

All booked, Celebration - Ancient Wonders - 24 June flying from Exeter.

 

Thanks Julesmiles and Kruzseeka for you help :)

 

 

I loved the Spirit so can't wait to see what Celebration is like :D

 

 

Sounds like a good mix - enjoy! And I'm sure you'll find the Celebration great too - and will have loads to tell us after the refurb!!:)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

All booked, Celebration - Ancient Wonders - 24 June flying from Exeter.

 

Thanks Julesmiles and Kruzseeka for you help :)

 

 

I loved the Spirit so can't wait to see what Celebration is like :D

 

Sounds good :) Celebration was our first cruise and got us hooked. Looking forward to going back on her in April (Middle East situation permitting:eek:)

 

Never been to Istanbul, Athens, Lesbos or Mykonos so one for the future for us :)

[Julessmiles]

All booked, Celebration - Ancient Wonders - 24 June flying from Exeter.

 

Thanks Julesmiles and Kruzseeka for you help :)

 

 

I loved the Spirit so can't wait to see what Celebration is like :D

 

You're welcome :)

 

I didn't realise you hadn't been on the Celebration - that was our first Thomson Cruise then Spirit was our 2nd - at least you will be able to find your way around easily;)

 

Celebration is lovely - it will be our 3rd time on her next year.

[Julessmiles]

Sounds good :) Celebration was our first cruise and got us hooked. Looking forward to going back on her in April (Middle East situation permitting:eek:)

 

Never been to Istanbul, Athens, Lesbos or Mykonos so one for the future for us :)

 

 

Can't believe with all the cruises you have been on Linda that you haven't "done" Istanbul or Athens ;) You must do that itinerary - it is lovely - Istanbul has got to be one of my favourite cities now and Mykonos is beautiful too - the sail through the Dardanelles is very moving and the sail-in to Istanbul was great too - and we saw Dolphins as we walked across the Galata Bridge!!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Can't believe with all the cruises you have been on Linda that you haven't "done" Istanbul or Athens ;) You must do that itinerary - it is lovely - Istanbul has got to be one of my favourite cities now and Mykonos is beautiful too - the sail through the Dardanelles is very moving and the sail-in to Istanbul was great too - and we saw Dolphins as we walked across the Galata Bridge!!

 

Blimey, you make it sound as if we are ALWAYS cruising :D:D Yes, Greece and Turkey are sadly lacking from our cruising CV :)

 

Loved the Adriatic Explorer though and I shall never forget the sail in to Venice - magic :)

[kalos]

Jules - I'm hopeless at this but I have, with considerable difficulty, managed to upload a few pics of Ladies Beach into my Photobucket BUT I've ended up getting them into the same set of pics I did for Majesty and can't find how to move them out into a separate folder!! Anyway they are there if you want to look - but they are right at the end.

 

http://s1149.beta.photobucket.com/user/cruwza/library/

 

The sun beds are fairly regimented - it wasn't busy when we were there as you will see but it was 29th May this year so not high season. There was a notice saying it was a council run beach and proceeds from sunbed hire went towards student bursaries (good for them!). But it is said to be popular with locals so perhaps it could get very congested but the sand looked quite nice and good and safe for swimming. But perhaps your idea of a gulet would be safer.

 

Hope that helps. :)

 

Hi Kruzseeka,

Regarding Photobucket , Should you still be stuck trying to move your photos around you may want to try this once

 

your logged into your Photobucket :)

 

From the home page Click the " Albums " Tab

 

Now look for the Tab marked " Organise " and click on that .

 

You should see in the left hand pane near top "create Album" Click on that

 

Give your new album a name and any other settings you wish (IE ..Public/Private ) then click "Add Albulm"

 

The new albulm is now sat in the left hand pane ,so all you do now is from the right hand pane ,

simply drag and drop the photos over that name you have made ,in the left hand pane .

 

All your pictures you have selected are now in the new folder .:cool::)

 

 

Hope that is of help to you kruzseeka ;)

[kruzseeka]

Blimey, you make it sound as if we are ALWAYS cruising :D:D Yes, Greece and Turkey are sadly lacking from our cruising CV :)

 

Loved the Adriatic Explorer though and I shall never forget the sail in to Venice - magic :)

 

 

Lucky you - so many treats still in store! You really must put this area on your list Linda - Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Marmaris, Bodrum, Athens, Ephesus, Istanbul - oh so much to yet explore. Start planning!! :D:D

[Julessmiles]

Blimey, you make it sound as if we are ALWAYS cruising :D:D Yes, Greece and Turkey are sadly lacking from our cruising CV :)

 

Loved the Adriatic Explorer though and I shall never forget the sail in to Venice - magic :)

 

I think the Adriatic Explorer has to have the most scenic sail-ins I must admit but as Kruzseeka says, you really must visit all those places she suggests!! (you will just have to book another cruise!)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Lucky you - so many treats still in store! You really must put this area on your list Linda - Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Marmaris, Bodrum, Athens, Ephesus, Istanbul - oh so much to yet explore. Start planning!! :D:D

 

It's not the planning that's the problem, it's the money! Mother-in-law's money running out :( Still you can't take it with you :D

 

OH is finally retiring at Christmas (he is 75) so might look for a part time job myself ;)

 

I have been to Ephesus, Rhodes Town, Marmaris and Bodrum on hotel holidays, but not really "done" many Greek Islands:(