Just returned 7 day cruise to Santorini, Athens, Corfu, Port Review with pictures!

[MTV43]

We just returned from 7 day Mediterranean cruise with MSC at the end of June. Our group consisted of 4 families, total 16 people. My family is frequent travelers to Europe and we prefer to do land tour. But our travel companions wanted to visit the Greece islands, so we compromised by combining both land + cruise in one trip. We visited Vienna and Prague before the cruise. A picture tells thousand words, so I put together a picture slide with music for the cruise portion of this trip.

 

Enjoy the music!

 

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0825-4f78-8298?ln

 

 

 

We cruised with Princess, Carnival, RRC and Norgewian and this was our first time with MSC. I read many negative reviews about MSC, but we like to try different line, plus the price was reasonable, the itinerary was good, so we gave it a try. I am not going to write a review about the ship because it is very subjective and we primarily used the cruise as a floating hotel, itinerary is our first choice, next is price, so as long it got us safely from one destination to other at a reasonable price; it is fine in our book.

Below is the summary of the Port of Call, hope that it would help someone who will do the same itinerary.

Itinerary – There was no sea day and actually we liked it. But it would be better just to skip Bari and Katakalon and have more time in Santorini and Corfu.

1)Venice – this is our second visit but the first for our other travel companions. So we stayed 3 full nights before the cruise. We are frequent travelers to Europe and find accommodation at Venice is more expensive than any other destinations within central Europe. However, we managed to find a very affordable 3 bedroom apartment right at Rialto Bridge and shared with other family. Excellent location, very spacious and clean apartment for 250 euro per night for 8 people. One early morning, we went to the fresh seafood market and prepared one of the best scallop and flounder dinner for the whole group at 100 euro. At night, there were about 3 different music bands played romantic Italian music at San Marcos Square. It was a simple pleasure night without the crowd.

Murano Island – the glass company offered free speed boat to the island and the young travelers in our group wanted to see the glass blowing process. It was OK, the murano items there were much more expensive than in various stores in Venice, but for sure it is real from the factory , make sure to bargain.

We mainly walked around the island; on the embarkation day, we only bought 1 vaparetto ticket (7 euro) from our rental apartment to Piazza Roma. From there travelers can buy a “people mover” for 1.20 euro one way to the cruise ship or walk. We walked just to see how far it was, it was not that bad, we just had to cross one bridge and the rest was flat concrete. On the disembarkation day, we used the “people mover” and thought that the line to get the ticket was long due to everybody got off at the same time; we should walk instead. It is best to buy round-trip tickets on the day we boarded the ship to avoid line. The ship sailed down the Grand Canal to get to/from the dock. Everyone was out on deck watching and taking photos, great photo opportunity.

2)Bari – It is small port, we just walked to the town, visited the cathedral and castle, walked around the seaside. This was our least favorite port, but it was OK because it was a short stop, the ship did not dock until noon, so we just took it as a relaxing day, a few hours walking around is better than stay on the ship

3)Katakolon – Since it is another ½ day stop, ½ of our group wanted to visit Olympia but did not want to mess with the train schedule so we opted for the ship excursion, a transfer to/from Olympia for 21euro per person and we had to pay for the entrance fee. Student > 26 with proof is 3 euro, =<18 is free and adult is 7 euro (I think). There are plenty of taxis offered at the port and also a sign for $5 bus to Olympia. Unless you are really in history, there was not much to see and it was a hot day, so we spent 1.5 hours walking around + 1 hour shopped at the nearby town + 1 ½ hour transfer to/from the port. That was our ½ day in visited Katakolon. The rest of the group just walked down the small town and had cold drink and ate seafood. According to them, it was fresh, good and good price.

4)Santorini – The reason for cruise is to visit this island. So we made sure that we maximized our time at this port by booking a private driver. There was no time to waste, we covered everything we wanted in 4 ½ hours, and that is just about the max we can afford due to 2 ½ hrs lost in tender, cable car and line. The charge was 75 euro per hour for the entire vehicle up to 18. MSC supposed to dock from 9am – 5pm, the tender ticket was given out at 8am and the last tender back to the ship was 4:30pm. I arrived at 6:45 am and there were few people already in line. I got ticket for first tender for the whole group. MSC arrived early, 8:30am, when we got to the lounge at 8:40 am and it already called tender #3. Our reservation was at 10am, I called our driver and he met us at the top of the cable car at 9:30am, 30 minutes early, not bad. We visited the famous blue dome church for 15 minutes, 1 hour in Oia, 45 minutes at Winery, 1 hour lunch at Black sand beach + ½ hour at the beach, 1 hour driving to/from Fira/Oia/Back sand beach. We were in line at the cable car around 2:45pm, it took over 1 hour to get down. When we got off the cable, OMG the line to go up to the cable from the ship which arrived in the afternoon was so long. We lucky that there was no line for tender and we got to the boat at 4pm, only 30 minutes before the last tender. To have the private transfer was the best decision and due to our group size, it was only about 20 euro per person + tip to driver +10 euro round trip for cable car.

5)Athens – we also reserved a private driver with PK. The driver waited for us at 7:30am and we went directly to Acropolis. The entrance fee was 12 euro, but ½ for student and free for =<18. Please bring proof if you have young travelers. When we arrived there was no line at the ticket and we walked straight to the entrance. Again, when we left Acropolis, the line was long at both the ticket booth and the entrance. PK travel was very professional; the driver spoke very good English; the vehicle was brand new. After Acropolis, we visited the normal tourist destination around Athens and we had lunch at a best local restaurant. It was a very pleasant day at a cost of 25 euro person + tip + ticket entrance.

6)Corfu – 12 of us decided to buy a transfer from a booth at the port for 64 euro per vehicle for 4 to/from Dassi beach (not sure I spell it right) beach. But there was also taxi to offer the same route for 60 euro. 5 of us decided to have a little adventure. We took the bus at the cruise ship terminal for a short ride to town; then walked to the center bus station to take bus 7 to the beach. The ride was about 30 minutes with many stops, a local got off at the same stop and she told us to get off and shown the way to the beach. We made it to the beach and back with some time to shop for souvenirs at the town. The beach has nice facility, beach bar, restaurant, swimming pool, beach chair. The 24 hr ticket is only 5 euro, can buy it right on board the shuttle bus from port to town. Corfu is a nice town and there are more things to do/see than Bari and Katakolon, just wish that ship docked longer there.

7)Dubrovnik, Croatia – There was a bus to town for 2 euro per person. I think you can pay euro but the entrance to walk the walk the wall have to be paid in Croatia currency or credit card. There were 4 in our group, so it was much easier to catch the taxi for 10 euro each way. However, the taxi line was unorganized both ways to/from town. Both Costa and MSC docked at the same time and each ship had roughly 3,000 passengers. So we were looking at approximately 6,000 people in one place at one time. It took away the charm of the old town.

8)Disembarkation Venice – We got off the ship at 9 am, waited for the free shuttle to people mover for a ride to bus station at Piazza Roma. We bought express bus to airport for 6 euro per person, we arrived Marco polo 2 hrs later.

[bearette]

Thanks for the Information. Doing a cruise that does some of these stops.

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Karen H]

Great report and photos as well. Yes, I did enjoy the music.

 

We will be with approximately 5,000 other cruisers in Santorini in September. I can't imagine what the gong show is going to be like that day getting to and from and around the island of Thira. As a consolation is it possible to see the blue and white houses of Oia from the ship when we sail in or out??

[T.O.cruisers]

Yes, great report, pictures. I loved the music too. I will be visiting some of the same ports in October while on the Jade. Like you, our ship is merely our transportation to visit the ports in the time we have available. I chose this ship based on the itinerary, length of time in each port and the price. Nothing else really matters.

Thanks for sharing.

[greatwhitenorth1]

Did you have to wait a long time to get the shuttle? How long of a ride is it to get to Marco Polo Airport? The airport doesn't look that far from the cruise port.

[MTV43]

Shuttle from Cruise Port to People Mover - We did not wait long, just about 5 minutes when we got off the ship. I don't really know how often the shuttle run.

 

Bus to Marco Polo - at Piazzale Roma, there are 2 bus lines. 1) ATVO is a comfortable coach with room for your luggage and it is non stop to Marco Polo; 2) ACTV is Venice public transit with local stops. Both are the same price, 6 euro one way and it takes between 20-30 minutes to airport, depending on the traffic. We used both lines and I think that ACTV runs more frequent than ATVO, every 20 minutes. The ticket booth for ATVO is closer to "people mover", so if you get out of "people mover", turn left and it is right at your left. ACTV is across the street.

[countess5]

How many ships were in Santorini with you in the AM? We will be there in September on the Reflection and we are the only ship in. All be it 4,000 passengers! :D

[MTV43]

When we were in Santorini, one ship before us and one ship arrived in the afternoon. Total 3, but the cable line car was so long both ways in the afternoon

[Cammy8]

We just returned from 7 day Mediterranean cruise with MSC at the end of June. Our group consisted of 4 families, total 16 people. My family is frequent travelers to Europe and we prefer to do land tour. But our travel companions wanted to visit the Greece islands, so we compromised by combining both land + cruise in one trip. We visited Vienna and Prague before the cruise. A picture tells thousand words, so I put together a picture slide with music for the cruise portion of this trip.

 

Enjoy the music!

 

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0825-4f78-8298?ln

 

 

 

We cruised with Princess, Carnival, RRC and Norgewian and this was our first time with MSC. I read many negative reviews about MSC, but we like to try different line, plus the price was reasonable, the itinerary was good, so we gave it a try. I am not going to write a review about the ship because it is very subjective and we primarily used the cruise as a floating hotel, itinerary is our first choice, next is price, so as long it got us safely from one destination to other at a reasonable price; it is fine in our book.

Below is the summary of the Port of Call, hope that it would help someone who will do the same itinerary.

Itinerary – There was no sea day and actually we liked it. But it would be better just to skip Bari and Katakalon and have more time in Santorini and Corfu.

1)Venice – this is our second visit but the first for our other travel companions. So we stayed 3 full nights before the cruise. We are frequent travelers to Europe and find accommodation at Venice is more expensive than any other destinations within central Europe. However, we managed to find a very affordable 3 bedroom apartment right at Rialto Bridge and shared with other family. Excellent location, very spacious and clean apartment for 250 euro per night for 8 people. One early morning, we went to the fresh seafood market and prepared one of the best scallop and flounder dinner for the whole group at 100 euro. At night, there were about 3 different music bands played romantic Italian music at San Marcos Square. It was a simple pleasure night without the crowd.

Murano Island – the glass company offered free speed boat to the island and the young travelers in our group wanted to see the glass blowing process. It was OK, the murano items there were much more expensive than in various stores in Venice, but for sure it is real from the factory , make sure to bargain.

We mainly walked around the island; on the embarkation day, we only bought 1 vaparetto ticket (7 euro) from our rental apartment to Piazza Roma. From there travelers can buy a “people mover” for 1.20 euro one way to the cruise ship or walk. We walked just to see how far it was, it was not that bad, we just had to cross one bridge and the rest was flat concrete. On the disembarkation day, we used the “people mover” and thought that the line to get the ticket was long due to everybody got off at the same time; we should walk instead. It is best to buy round-trip tickets on the day we boarded the ship to avoid line. The ship sailed down the Grand Canal to get to/from the dock. Everyone was out on deck watching and taking photos, great photo opportunity.

2)Bari – It is small port, we just walked to the town, visited the cathedral and castle, walked around the seaside. This was our least favorite port, but it was OK because it was a short stop, the ship did not dock until noon, so we just took it as a relaxing day, a few hours walking around is better than stay on the ship

3)Katakolon – Since it is another ½ day stop, ½ of our group wanted to visit Olympia but did not want to mess with the train schedule so we opted for the ship excursion, a transfer to/from Olympia for 21euro per person and we had to pay for the entrance fee. Student > 26 with proof is 3 euro, =<18 is free and adult is 7 euro (I think). There are plenty of taxis offered at the port and also a sign for $5 bus to Olympia. Unless you are really in history, there was not much to see and it was a hot day, so we spent 1.5 hours walking around + 1 hour shopped at the nearby town + 1 ½ hour transfer to/from the port. That was our ½ day in visited Katakolon. The rest of the group just walked down the small town and had cold drink and ate seafood. According to them, it was fresh, good and good price.

4)Santorini – The reason for cruise is to visit this island. So we made sure that we maximized our time at this port by booking a private driver. There was no time to waste, we covered everything we wanted in 4 ½ hours, and that is just about the max we can afford due to 2 ½ hrs lost in tender, cable car and line. The charge was 75 euro per hour for the entire vehicle up to 18. MSC supposed to dock from 9am – 5pm, the tender ticket was given out at 8am and the last tender back to the ship was 4:30pm. I arrived at 6:45 am and there were few people already in line. I got ticket for first tender for the whole group. MSC arrived early, 8:30am, when we got to the lounge at 8:40 am and it already called tender #3. Our reservation was at 10am, I called our driver and he met us at the top of the cable car at 9:30am, 30 minutes early, not bad. We visited the famous blue dome church for 15 minutes, 1 hour in Oia, 45 minutes at Winery, 1 hour lunch at Black sand beach + ½ hour at the beach, 1 hour driving to/from Fira/Oia/Back sand beach. We were in line at the cable car around 2:45pm, it took over 1 hour to get down. When we got off the cable, OMG the line to go up to the cable from the ship which arrived in the afternoon was so long. We lucky that there was no line for tender and we got to the boat at 4pm, only 30 minutes before the last tender. To have the private transfer was the best decision and due to our group size, it was only about 20 euro per person + tip to driver +10 euro round trip for cable car.

5)Athens – we also reserved a private driver with PK. The driver waited for us at 7:30am and we went directly to Acropolis. The entrance fee was 12 euro, but ½ for student and free for =<18. Please bring proof if you have young travelers. When we arrived there was no line at the ticket and we walked straight to the entrance. Again, when we left Acropolis, the line was long at both the ticket booth and the entrance. PK travel was very professional; the driver spoke very good English; the vehicle was brand new. After Acropolis, we visited the normal tourist destination around Athens and we had lunch at a best local restaurant. It was a very pleasant day at a cost of 25 euro person + tip + ticket entrance.

6)Corfu – 12 of us decided to buy a transfer from a booth at the port for 64 euro per vehicle for 4 to/from Dassi beach (not sure I spell it right) beach. But there was also taxi to offer the same route for 60 euro. 5 of us decided to have a little adventure. We took the bus at the cruise ship terminal for a short ride to town; then walked to the center bus station to take bus 7 to the beach. The ride was about 30 minutes with many stops, a local got off at the same stop and she told us to get off and shown the way to the beach. We made it to the beach and back with some time to shop for souvenirs at the town. The beach has nice facility, beach bar, restaurant, swimming pool, beach chair. The 24 hr ticket is only 5 euro, can buy it right on board the shuttle bus from port to town. Corfu is a nice town and there are more things to do/see than Bari and Katakolon, just wish that ship docked longer there.

7)Dubrovnik, Croatia – There was a bus to town for 2 euro per person. I think you can pay euro but the entrance to walk the walk the wall have to be paid in Croatia currency or credit card. There were 4 in our group, so it was much easier to catch the taxi for 10 euro each way. However, the taxi line was unorganized both ways to/from town. Both Costa and MSC docked at the same time and each ship had roughly 3,000 passengers. So we were looking at approximately 6,000 people in one place at one time. It took away the charm of the old town.

8)Disembarkation Venice – We got off the ship at 9 am, waited for the free shuttle to people mover for a ride to bus station at Piazza Roma. We bought express bus to airport for 6 euro per person, we arrived Marco polo 2 hrs later.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this. Very helpful

[MTV43]

Thanks for reading my report. I typed fast and did not re-read until now. The bus drive from Piazza Roma to Marco Polo was 30 minutes max. When I said "we arrived 2 hrs later" which meant 2 hrs from when we got off the cruise at 9am.

[travelingla]

Your report was wonderful and the slide show and music made me feel like I was there - -thank you so very much! :D

 

I've never been to Europe -- never really had the desire. Friends of ours really want to visit Greece -- we love cruising but if the port times are so short I am wondering if this is indeed the way to go?

 

Since you have traveled Europe by land on previous visits -- do you think a land trip in Greece might be better????

 

Thank you

[Ewoodspark]

Santorini – . We visited the famous blue dome church for 15 minutes

Can you please advise the exact location of this church. Was it in Firostefami?

[MTV43]

Can you please advise the exact location of this church. Was it in Firostefami?

 

Ewoodspark,

 

I don't know the exact location, the driver just dropped us there but I know it is in Fira, not far from the cable car. We drove thru very narrow street, just enough for one car to pass.

[MTV43]

Your report was wonderful and the slide show and music made me feel like I was there - -thank you so very much! :D

 

I've never been to Europe -- never really had the desire. Friends of ours really want to visit Greece -- we love cruising but if the port times are so short I am wondering if this is indeed the way to go?

 

Since you have traveled Europe by land on previous visits -- do you think a land trip in Greece might be better????

 

Thank you

 

Travelingla,

 

Based on my personal experience and my travel style, I would enjoy Santorini and Athens more if it was a land tour. Every time I visited European destination, I normally stayed 2 to 3 nights at one place, rented an apartment, visited the museum, went to morning market, strolled around quaint town, hired a car and visited vineyard. And last but not least, searched for photo opportunity. I like cruising but only to the Caribbean and not everybody likes Europe. As you indicated that you never had a desire to visit Europe, so you might like experience it from cruising first.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your review and photos.

 

Keith