Splendour - Greek Isles/Croatia - Can't miss what?

[MargaritaPlease]

For those who have done the Greek Isles and Croatia (or Greek Isles and Turkey) cruise on Splendour, what the one "can't miss" place or activity that you would tell others not to skip???

[tahqa]

Which itinerary?

 

If you go to Dubrovnik, Croatia, then what I would consider the don't miss thing is walking the walls of the old town.

 

 

If you go to Santorini then I would say hitting a rooftop cafe in Oia is a don't miss.

 

 

I wasn't too impressed with Corfu, Greece, or Kusadasi, Turkey, but I'm sure others would disagree with me. :)

[blueblock]

I wasn't too impressed with Corfu, Greece, or Kusadasi, Turkey, but I'm sure others would disagree with me. :)

 

I would disagree with you (but nicely, of course!) In Kusadasi, do not miss the ruins at Ephesus, and pay the extra bucks to see the Terrace Houses.

[MargaritaPlease]

Which itinerary?

 

Specifically...

Venice, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Corfu, Greece

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Argostoli, Greece

Cruising

Venice, Italy

[PCWalton1]

I would disagree with you (but nicely, of course!) In Kusadasi, do not miss the ruins at Ephesus, and pay the extra bucks to see the Terrace Houses.

 

I will second this choice. I thought Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary were some of the highlights of our cruise back in May. Check my link below for some pictures. :)

 

Bill

[tahqa]

I would disagree with you (but nicely, of course!) In Kusadasi, do not miss the ruins at Ephesus, and pay the extra bucks to see the Terrace Houses.

 

I will second this choice. I thought Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary were some of the highlights of our cruise back in May. Check my link below for some pictures. :)

 

Bill

 

I did go to Ephesus and see the terrace houses. I just thought that, to me, Santorini and the walls of Dubrovnik were much more interesting.

 

 

It's not that Ephesus wasn't interesting, it's just that I've been Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as slept in the ruins of Chersoneses in Ukraine. So to me Greek and Roman ruins were less impressive than the caldera at Santorini. :)

 

 

But it's moot since the OP isn't going to either Santorini or Kusadasi. :)

 

 

In the OPs case I'd still highly recommend the walls of old Dubrovnik but I haven't been to Piraeus, Mykonos or Argostoli so I can't definitively recommend Dubrovnik over them. :confused:

[mjldvlks]

This is a great itinerary. Starting with Venice. Sail away from Venice is the best I have experienced.

 

I agree with the others that Ephesus is worth seeing. Of course archeology is an particular interest of mine -- I also like to spend a long time in museums and watch the history channel and book notes on CSpann. Ephesus was the specific reason we picked the itinerary and we were not disappointed. If that kind of thing is not your interest, you may have a different view.

 

Dubrovnik was a pleasant surprise -- one of those many places I would not have gone but for it being on an itinerary I picked for other reasons. We walked the wall [well half of it -- it is a bit strenuous and my traveling companions were a bit wimpy] and toured old town. We found a place called Mea Culpa Pizza for lunch. Reasonable prices decent food and pleasant outdoor seating -- I recommend it.

 

We had a good time on Corfu as well although it was not my favorite. We rented a car [rental and driving were easy] and drove across the island to Palaiokastritsa. DW found some boat rides available there that are supposed to be worth doing [glass bottom boats through caves etc.] We didn't get to do that because it was in November and they were closed for the season. But we went up the mountain instead and the views were magnificent. Also a good place to get olives and olive oil from the olive groves [orchards?] Just don't try to carry it on your flight home unless it is under 3 ounces. My DW lost a liter of EVOO that way.

 

Actually, Santorini was my least favorite stop. But that might have been because, induced by the great weather the day before in Ephesus, I foolishly left my jacket on the ship and it was a bit brisk on top of the cliffs [it was November remember]. If you want Greek souvenirs, Santorini is a great place to get them.

 

This was our first RCI cruise. We picked it because it went where we wanted to go and the price was better than other cruises/lines. We loved the trip and loved Splendour.

[mjldvlks]

. . .But it's moot since the OP isn't going to either Santorini or Kusadasi. . . .

 

Sorry, I didn't catch that until I had written my reply.

[wantocruisemore]

For Athens don't miss the Acropolis and all the wonderful ruins on it such as the Parthenon. While it's easy to do this stop yourself, if you really like ancient ruins you will not want to miss the Ancient Agora with the amazingly preserved Temple of Hephaestus. There's also the Temple of the Olympian Zeus and the two great museums, National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum. If you want to see more than a couple of things you may want to do a private tour. I can highly recommend Nikos and Greece Tours.

 

Do a search in the Ports section of this board for lot of info on each port.

[Onessa]

On Mykonos sign up early for an excursion to Delios -- some of the best ruins in Greece and generally plenty of time left to putter through the streets of Mykonos town left over.

 

In Athens, try a private or smaller tour -- check on your roll call for folks willing to share. Having a tour guide explaining the sights is great but the ship's tours are 1) way too huge, 2) all end up at each of the sights at the same time, 3) have forced stops at "shops" -- with a private tour you get smaller groups, your tour guide can time your stops better, and if you want to shop they will get you to some more authentic places. We did a smallish tour (10 of us) our first time there and "on our own" the second time -- both times it was late November and we hit the acropolis "between" ships tour times and it was virtually deserted! Our tablemates who took the ship's tour all complained about the sheer number of people.

 

Corfu -- I never found anything "can't miss" about that place -- I'd be happy to miss it. But that is just me!