Tips & Info as of Oct. 3, 2015 Empires Cruise

[Got2Cruise]

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/kotor_montenegro__sept_30_2015

 

is a link to my Kotor photos.

 

 

Hi Roothy. I've been waiting for you to return so I could view your photos. All your photos are wonderful, but the one in Kotor with the zig zag view of the path up to the church is my favorite so far. Thanks for sharing.

[roothy123]

New day, new country (Greece, Santorini). It looked like there were snow-capped mountains out there this morning. Scheduled (and were) there 7 to 6; all cruise ships tender here, almost always using Santorini tenders. First tour (full day exploration) met at 7:45; included tours 8:30, 9 and 12:30. We were renting a quad bike (4 wheeled ATV) from Tony’s Car Rental (great place), so needed an independent tender. Viking spells this out in the Daily, but just FYI: If you’re planning to go up top to see the island on your own, you’ll need to take a tender boat that’s headed to a different location than those for the excursions. Tender boats go to 2 different locations in the morning - ferry port for excursions (buses can get down there), or “old port” for people to take cable car or mules up the cliff. If you’re not on a Viking excursion, wait for an announcement that there’s a tender boat going for “non-excursion guests” or something like that. We were surprised to hear an announcement that there were a few spaces available on one going out around 8 (probably for the “Cruise, Hike & Swim” excursion, since I think they start out on a boat, not a bus). However, we weren’t ready to go, so just waited for another announcement. One came around 8:30, saying a boat for non-excursion guests was going out soon. It went out 15 minutes or so later (with announcement) and we got on. (No tender tickets required, just show up by Explorers Desk and head downstairs by steps or elevator when announcement is made). The tender ride was maybe 10 minutes, plus a little time for waiting as people got on.

 

When you’re dropped at the island, you go to left for cable car (5 euros each way; used to be 5 roundtrip, but I guess Greece needs money now!) and right if you want to walk up or take the 5 euro mule trip (neither is recommended, but some people do it.) Cable car is pretty fast and you enter a rather touristy part of Fira/Thira. (Really the island is Thira and the town Fira, but the names seem to be used interchangeably! Santorini refers to the 5 (I think) islands around the area, of which Thira is the one most people visit.) Shops are right there by cable car; car and ATV rentals on main road of 25 Martiou (left from cable car exit). Buses and taxis come to a square about 15 minutes south (walking) from cable car station. This is probably where all excursion folks are dropped off at the end of their tour, as there was a notice in the Daily that due to local regulations guests must be dropped off about a 15 minute walk from the cable car. (Streets in Fira are small – little room for stopped buses!) For a nice walk from cable car, turn right and find stepped walking path that goes up (right turn) or down (left, toward rest of Fira) along water’s edge. (“Caldera” refers to the water basin, by the way. Took me a while to realize that.) After the morning excursions, tenders went back and forth from the ship to the cable car location. If you’re taking an afternoon Viking excursion, the Daily stated that you could go to Fira on your own in the morning, but you’d have to return to the ship to take the excursion. This is because of how the tenders are run.) Don’t worry; Viking has this outlined in the Daily. Allow time to get back down on the cable car, a minute or two walk to tender pier, and 10 minute or so tender ride to ship. We were lucky in that we were the only cruise ship anchored that day, but other cruisers have reported having to wait in long lines at the cable car on days when multiple and/or big ships are in town. I think our onboard time was 5:30 for a 6 PM departure. 5:30 was time of last tender, but we came back a little earlier. Be sure to clarify when last tender goes and allow time to get down the cliff.

 

We had lots of fun on Santorini, tooling around on our 200 cc ATV 4-wheeler. We did this back in 2006, but on an underpowered one, and Howard wanted to do it again. We re-visited Oia (“EE-ah”) and Fira, and went to a very interesting town in the center of the island called Vothonas. How my husband found it I’ll never know, as streets and towns aren’t well marked on the island and I wasn’t really able to manage a map or phone for directions. Passports were collected this afternoon/evening so they could be checked, and I think stamped by Athens officials the next day to satisfy a request from Turkish port authorities – or something like that! There was an announcement next day on where/when to pick them up. Movie Under the Stars, enrichment lecture and trivia were all scheduled that night in the 9 to 9:30 timeframe.

 

My pictures are at http://www.pbase.com/roothy123 (2 galleries - had way too much fun on Santorini!)

Edited October 16, 2015 by roothy123

[OziNewbieCruiser]

Hi Roothy,

Thanks for posting all this info. Your photos are great. What type of camera did you use ?

[roothy123]

Hi Roothy,

Thanks for posting all this info. Your photos are great. What type of camera did you use ?

 

Thanks! About 2/3 of them were taken with a good quality Canon SLR with 2 lenses (up to 200 mm). The remaining third, other than one or two from my phone, were taken with either my husband's or my Lumix Panasonic point and shoot (with Zeiss glass) from Costco. I don't have an iPad, so haven't tried shooting with one of those. I don't think I could do it. I can hardly see what I'm shooting with the phone, and use it very sparingly for photos. I love the SLR but quite honestly, you can do a lot with just a good quality point and shoot. My husband and I often shoot the same thing and my version is really not that different (in terms of sharpness, color, etc.) than my SLR version. I also do use light touches of a basic version of Photoshop, and have found that cropping does wonders for lot of photos. You can kind of recompose the pictures (keep the rule of thirds in mind, if you know it, and consider the balance of things in the photo), make things look like you had more reach on the telephoto lens, and crop out unwanted things around the edges. I certainly didn't put all those pictures into Photoshop, but when I did, the most common thing I did was crop. If you're a beginner, you can use a free online photo processing tool like Picasa (spelled that way I think). I sometimes change the exposure and whatnot, but not enough to make the scene look much different from what I saw. I don't sell my pictures, and want them to remain close to what I saw.

 

I do need to think more when faced with really bright, intense sun situations like we experienced in the Med - it makes for lots of contrast and that can be difficult for any camera to handle. My picture of the 4 of us in Kotor in front of a viewpoint for Sveti Stefan is a good example. I should have forced the flash on for that to even out the difference between us and Sv. Stefan resort. Wasn't thinking. Now I have a weird picture and when time, I'll go into Photoshop to see if I can fix it with Fill Flash or something like that.

 

I also have a polarizing filter (only one I have besides a UV) and know how to use it. When you're around a lot of water or bright stone (like in Dubrovnik) it's often great for cutting down on reflections, allowing more detail to show, and keeping the sky a good tone of blue. I also concentrate on my photography while on tours, rather than listening to what the guide is saying. (I probably get better pictures but learn less.) I am always looking around, especially up, which was put to good use in Dubrovnik. When in a situation where only one view is possible (like on our veranda on Star) I often switch to a different place - 2nd deck, aft or 7th deck Explorers Lounge or possibly aft by the infinity pool. I take a point and shoot practically everywhere I go on vacation, including restaurants, dinner on cruises, bus rides. When at a site, I've learned to keep the camera on and the lens cap off - can recharge later; UV filters can get damaged, but not often, so best to just stay ready if you love taking pictures like I do.

 

For bus rides (you'll see some bus photos in my Athens pictures, as I was on buses more than most days) my advice is to put your camera on Sports mode or a high shutter speed, sit in the back of the bus or somewhere that affords views and room to use a camera on two sides, keep your camera on (can recharge batteries at night) and just snap away. Most shots probably won't be keepers, but in this digital age, who cares? Also, if possible, put your camera right up to the window, as that gives you a better chance of avoiding glass reflections. Keep the flash off on a bus.

 

If your camera has a GPS feature, you may want to enable it so you that if you want, you can later get a clue as to where you were when you took the picture. My SLR doesn't have that, and I wish it did, as I like to know and post a decent description of where I was at the time I took the picture.

 

I also do a LOT of pre-planning, and with over two years to plan this cruise, I did more than my usual amount. That's how I got interested in the little island of Gospe od Srpjela (I probably spelled that wrong, but it's Our Lady of the Rocks in Montenegro) and the little-visited town of Vothonas in Santorini. Once I'm interested in something, I figure out how to get there, even if it takes riding a public bus and boat (like Kotor, but I ended up booking Tours by Milo instead) or renting a car/ATV (Vothonas). Luckily my husband is NOT a planner and pretty much goes along with my plans!

 

OK, there you have it - photography lessons in a nutshell, per roothy! I guess I should add that most people aren't likely to see as much, or take nearly as many pictures as I did, as I'm not much of a relaxer on vacations. However, I'm sure everyone will at least see things they love and take some good pictures of the highlights. It's a great itinerary, and even if you're new to ocean cruising, I think you'll find at least a few things about it that you love. We're hooked, although we DO love river cruising too.

 

Athens info and pix coming up tonight! Have to do some work around the yard and house today. Fall is here!

[id4elizabeth]

Roothy - totally enjoying your photos as well - like re-living our trip all over again. Good tip on the Sports mode for bus pictures. None of mine turned out, so I'll try that next time.

 

Most of all I'm awed by your ability to get the photos up, captioned and edited so quickly! I took 24,000 pics on our 50 days and all I've been able to do is upload them onto my computer and put them in folders by port. And my ports report is barely started, despite my best intentions. Kudos to you!

[roothy123]

Roothy - totally enjoying your photos as well - like re-living our trip all over again. Good tip on the Sports mode for bus pictures. None of mine turned out, so I'll try that next time.

 

Most of all I'm awed by your ability to get the photos up, captioned and edited so quickly! I took 24,000 pics on our 50 days and all I've been able to do is upload them onto my computer and put them in folders by port. And my ports report is barely started, despite my best intentions. Kudos to you!

 

Thank you, Elizabeth. I'm totally obsessed with travel and photography, and I guess that's the only way I can whip out all my pictures so quickly. I've gotten my routine down pretty well, too. First I try to use one card for one or two ports only. I crop and save anything that looks half good, leaving the picture number first, with a short description typed in after it. That way, when I load stuff onto pbase, it usually loads in order (except the pesky point and shoot pix, which are "P's" instead of IMGs). I also have the start of my captions. Then I go and pick out the "More" pictures (second string) to put in a separate gallery, with less care given to telling a story. I guess it helps that I did a lot of researching and writing pre-cruise, so that I remember a lot of what I saw and what it was called, or if not, have it written down close by. Of course, it's still a huge task, but I've gotten pretty good (and fast), and love doing it, so I keep chugging along. I'm a little afraid of Istanbul, though - took a LOT of pictures there, since we stayed over 2 days.

 

I don't envy you with pictures from 50 days. I would just suggest that you stick to your favorites and don't worry about the rest. I seem compelled to record everything I see, but it's really not necessary.

 

I know it's probably hard to choose, but did you have any favorite days among your 50, port wise?

 

Another tip: Don't try to take a flash picture at night. I can't even do that with my SLR. Flash only goes about 10 feet, so while the picture might (or might not) come out, you won't be able to see much. I see SO many people taking pictures at night and wonder if they ever get anything good out of those pictures. The only way you might be able to do something at night is if you find something to put the camera on, take off the flash, and put it on automatic. If you can, change the ISO to something high (800). The picture might be grainy, but at least you might get SOMETHING. Oh, and stay clear of the selfie sticks....sheesh...they were almost as annoying as the carpet vendors in Istanbul! How many pictures of yourself in Venice do you need?????? Personally, I hate selfies.....

 

Athens is coming up soon....

Edited October 17, 2015 by roothy123

[roothy123]

We were in port 7 AM to 6 PM. We did the $49 “Myth & History - Cape Sounion” tour to the Temple of Poseidon), which met at 8:15. Piraeus, the cruise and ferry port for Athens, is about a half hour drive from Athens, assuming the traffic cooperates. For Cape Sounion, however, you’ll be going south. This may be different on future cruises, especially if the ship docks at a different terminal, but this was our experience: We were docked at location E11, cruise terminal “Pier Xaveri” with one or two other cruise ships. There were a couple more at the other terminal farther down. First step was to get out of the terminal. It was not a long walk. Viking reps in red jackets were standing along the way to make sure we knew where to go. We exited double glass doors and got on shuttle buses (don’t think it mattered which one; they all went to the bus area outside the port.) Shuttle ride was only a couple minutes, described as 400 meters, and not one bus per excursion but filled with people from another tour as well. We were assigned a tour bus number before we left the ship (remember it!), and there were Viking reps waiting at the coach parking lot to direct us to the correct bus (coach). I guess the walk from where the port shuttle bus dropped us to where the coaches were waiting was a couple minutes or less. Our group on the Cape Sounion tour was only 12 people, so we had plenty of room to spread out on the ride down to the Temple of Poseidon (built between 444 & 440 BC). Guide pointed out things on the way in Piraeus (lots of stadiums, harbors, etc.) and told us about Greece and its history. I think the ride was almost an hour, but it went quickly. I sat toward the back where I could see on both sides, slapped my camera on Sports mode and enjoyed the ride. It wasn’t a spectacular ride, but definitely pretty, relaxing, and as usual, the guide was good at giving us all the details we could process. Interestingly, she said she was from Oia (Santorini).

 

There were some steps to navigate at the Temple, but they were large and not too steep and interspersed with some straight areas, so I don’t think they would be considered hard unless your mobility level is really low or it’s important for you to have a railing to hold onto. First we waited about 5 minutes for the guide to buy tickets. I guess it took about 5, maybe 10 minutes of walking and standing and talking until we reached the Temple itself. There weren’t too many people there when we arrived, which was nice. You could walk around the temple and only a small wire fence separated you from the Temple itself – kind of surprising to me. We were given info on the temple and then free time to walk around it, go to the café, restrooms, etc. Back at port, we had to show our sea pass card, I think go through security, and take the shuttle bus back to the ship.

 

Since there was an afternoon complimentary tour offered (1:45 meeting time), I had signed up for that. I had about an hour to eat and go back out. There were 26 of us on the afternoon tour. The tour was primarily a bus ride (no Quiet Vox boxes needed), with one 5 minute photo shop at the huge, marble Panathenaic Stadium, a minute or so pause near Syntagma Square (guide told us they couldn’t really stop), a drive into one of the hills, and then a stop at the Acropolis base with 45 minutes of free time. We saw some things from the bus – Hadrian’s Arch, Parthenon, Syntagma (Constitution) Square, evzones (guards) walking down the street, etc. I didn’t do much at the Acropolis stop – could see the Parthenon but doubted I would have time to pay and get anywhere up there and back in 45 minutes. There was lots of scaffolding on it, as there was when we visited Athens before. I just walked around the park a little and photographed things that caught my eye. (I’m easily entertained!) Obviously, if you want to see more of Athens, you’ll need to do more than take the included excursion. For me, it was OK (in combination with the Poseidon excursion), as we had spent a day and a half in Athens before, so weren’t terribly interested in seeing it again. At least the bus tour was a nice break from the walking tours of the previous ports, and I did see a few things I had not seen before. It’s hard to see Athens in a day. If you take the bus tour, you might want to see my photography tips in a previous post. Also, you could do a morning included tour, leave with a good map, and come back to the ship via cab or X80 express bus from around the Acropolis Museum. Just make sure you know which terminal you need, as there are two. We were told that E11, “Xaveri” terminal is near big, blue St. Nicholas church, which might have been mentioned as a clue in getting us back if we took a cab back. By the way, in case I didn’t mention this before: while there are usually 3 tour times listed for each included tour, those groups are usually split up into smaller groups, each with their own guide. Tour size seemed to range from about 20 to 35, at least for the included tours. I think the afternoon tours were probably less crowded, but since I only took one (Athens), I can’t really say.

 

That night we ate at Chef’s Table, which I’ve mentioned before. We liked it quite a bit, but not sure if others did as much, as there seemed to be quite a few open tables compared to Manfredi’s. Then again, maybe that's just how they do it. We liked that it was quiet. We also managed to eat at Chef's Table once again, different menu, with same wonderful waiter. While most of the restaurant crew rotates quite a bit, the staff in Chef’s Table seemed to be more consistent – perhaps because they had to learn so many different menus, wines, details about what they’re serving, etc. Viking Daily listed a couple LIVE NCAA viewings at night on Prime US channel for sports lovers.

 

The first of two galleries containing pictures of Athens/Temple of Poseidon is here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/athens___oct_3_2015

[roothy123]

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/kusadasiephesus_oct_4_2015

 

The above is a link to my Ephesus/Kusadasi pictures. I think I commented on our 2/3 day in Kusadasi when I began this thread, so I won't add more unless someone tells me I didn't. (Really not sure.) I also won't comment on Istanbul, except perhaps to post something when I sort through my many pictures of Istanbul.

 

In another day or two I'll post the two menus I have from Chef's Table. You get a copy to read at the table and/or take back with you, and it has interesting stuff to read on the back - in conjunction with Viking's "cultural immersion" theme. I'll probably post the menus in a thread that someone started on Chef's Table. Overall, I liked Chef's Table a lot, even though I'm a bit picky when it comes to ethnic food. However, I think they did a good job of offering food that was different and a bit out of some people's comfort zone, but it was not exclusively one "type" and I would guess that most people liked most of the food. I won't normally pay for Indian food, and don't like spices in general. Therefore, I wasn't overjoyed when I realized I had signed us up for Chef's Table when the "Indes" spice menu was being used. However, for the most part, the "Indes" food was really good, and as the server said, it's really all about the spices, and one particular kind of food.

 

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

[roothy123]

The link below is to the last of my pictures from my cruise (Istanbul). There are two galleries, but I think the first will give you a good idea of some of what we saw and did. Really, we just scratched the surface. Istanbul has much to offer, and the food and people are great. Shopping is pretty amazing, too, although I'm not much of a shopper, so only did a little bit.

 

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/istanbul__oct_58_2015

 

In the next few days I hope to scan the Viking Daily papers. I'll probably post them in the regular Viking Oceans forum rather than here, so people can get an idea of activities, entertainment, etc. on Star - at least for the 10 days I spent on her!

 

Thanks for following along!

[DianeLikesToTravel]

Thanks, Roothy, for all the details--bringing back wonderful memories from my Sept. 3 sailing from Venice to Barcelona. Your photographs are wonderful; your photos of the cabin are much better than mine. You did a great job helping those to follow in your footsteps.

 

Someone asked about places to stay in Venice. I stopped at the Hilton as I had friends who stayed there, but it was too far removed for me and I was glad I didn't stay there. You need to take a boat from the hotel to get to Venice proper. We waited 40 minutes for a boat back on a hot, sunny day. That being said, people I talked with liked the Hilton.

 

My friend and I stayed at this hotel in the Dorsoduro area: http://www.donorione-venezia.it/en/

We liked the location, one minute's walk from the Zattere vaporetto stop and the Alilaguna stop, on a flat street--no bridges to deal with luggage. The cost of an Alilaguna ride from Zattere to the port is 8 euros. Interesting that Alilaguna charges 9 euros from the Hilton and Alilaguna goes from Zattere across to the Hilton and then to the port.

 

Our hotel was very reasonably priced (I think we paid 165 euros a night for a twin-bedded room), A/C that was quiet and worked well, good shower, comfortable beds, elevator, free wifi, continental breakfast included, and very, very quiet in the rooms and public spaces. We walked to San Marcos several times via the Academia Bridge. We booked far in advance and I don't how easy it would be to get in here on short notice.

 

The vaporetto from the airport to Zattere would have taken about 90 minutes. Even the semi-private boats would have taken long. Since we were arriving late afternoon we splurged on a private water taxi that we booked once we arrived at the airport. I think it was about 100 euros and was a great way to start our vacation. I've always taken the public vaporetto in the past. Now I'm spoiled. Regardless of how you get to your destination, you'll need to walk about 10 minutes to get a vaporetto or private water taxi.

[roothy123]

Thanks, Roothy, for all the details--bringing back wonderful memories from my Sept. 3 sailing from Venice to Barcelona. Your photographs are wonderful; your photos of the cabin are much better than mine. You did a great job helping those to follow in your footsteps.

 

Someone asked about places to stay in Venice. I stopped at the Hilton as I had friends who stayed there, but it was too far removed for me and I was glad I didn't stay there. You need to take a boat from the hotel to get to Venice proper. We waited 40 minutes for a boat back on a hot, sunny day. That being said, people I talked with liked the Hilton.

 

My friend and I stayed at this hotel in the Dorsoduro area: http://www.donorione-venezia.it/en/

We liked the location, one minute's walk from the Zattere vaporetto stop and the Alilaguna stop, on a flat street--no bridges to deal with luggage. The cost of an Alilaguna ride from Zattere to the port is 8 euros. Interesting that Alilaguna charges 9 euros from the Hilton and Alilaguna goes from Zattere across to the Hilton and then to the port.

 

Our hotel was very reasonably priced (I think we paid 165 euros a night for a twin-bedded room), A/C that was quiet and worked well, good shower, comfortable beds, elevator, free wifi, continental breakfast included, and very, very quiet in the rooms and public spaces. We walked to San Marcos several times via the Academia Bridge. We booked far in advance and I don't how easy it would be to get in here on short notice.

 

 

Wow, Diane, that hotel sounds pretty interesting - and nice, too, not just different. I researched a lot of hotels but didn't come across that one. I'm thinking that maybe the variation in price on Alilaguna could have been due to how a ticket was purchased. I think they (and the regular line ACTV line) charge a euro extra if you buy the ticket on board rather than from a machine. However, I never used Alilaguna (too slow for impatient me) so I can't say for sure.

 

Everyone else who has yet to go on the "Empires of the Mediterranean" cruise: I've posted copies of some of the the Viking Daily papers from our cruise in a separate thread if you want to see more about the activities and whatnot.