shore excursions enquiry adriatic and aegean medley princess cruise july

[PaulnChristine]

hi everyone.

 

we are doing the Adriatic/Aegean medley cruise in july from rome to Barcelona.

 

ports of visit are: salerno, kotor, corfu, crete, Mykonos, Piraeus, santorini, messina, and naples.

 

we are after information about shore excursions - specifically:

• which ports are easily accessed by foot into the centre
  
• which ports can we easily do our own thing or relax, wander in town
  
• which ports are worthwhile doing a tour in
  
• princess shore excursions or do our own, if our own recommendations of tour companies
  

we would really like to see the alfami coast, any suggestions on best way to do this

 

thanks in advance, christine

[IECalCruiser]

We haven’t been to Crete or Santorini.

 

We have sailed to Kotor, Corfu, Mykonos, Piraeus and Naples in the last few years.

 

You will have the opportunity to visit Kotor twice. Whether you Dock or tender in Kotor you are only a few blocks walk from the charming old town. We took the HoHo bus but not certain if it is worth the 20 EUR cost.

 

We did a Princess tour in Corfu which included a city tour and cooking demonstration. The city is not walkable from the port but I think Princess may have had a shuttle at a fee.

 

You should probably take a Princess shuttle bus or private shuttle boat from the pier to “downtown” Mykonos. I believe the shuttle boat was only a couple of Euros. The town and the windmills are very walkable.

 

You will probably want to tour Athens from Piraeus so you will need a tour or some form of transportation. Once in Athens, you can walk to many sights which is what we did.

 

You will be in Naples and Salerno and will have two opportunities to visit Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and/or Capri. There really isn’t much to do in Naples and the port is not walkable to anywhere. We were in Naples twice and did an excellent private tour that included Pompeii in the morning and the Amalfi Coast in the afternoon the first time and a Princess tour that included a visit to a winery at the base of Mt. Vesuvius with a very nice lunch the second time. You could do a private tour of the Amalfi Coast from either port.

 

We docked at Catania rather than Messina on our stop in Sicily. We did a Princess tour that included a stop at a winery at the base on Mt. Etna.

 

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Edited April 6, 2018 by IECalCruiser

[paul929207]

Santorini - you can walk, ride the donkey or take the cable car from the tender port to the town. It is a mile or so up hill, so not an easy walk. the other two were about 6 euros one way.

 

Naples - walk to street to get the tram to the train to Pompeii.

 

Corfu is about 1 1/2 mile walk. Too long for some, but a short stroll for others.

 

Get a copy of Rick Steves's book Med cruise ports for detailed DIY instructions.

[IECalCruiser]

...Corfu is about 1 1/2 mile walk. Too long for some, but a short stroll for others...

It seemed longer on our tour bus but as you say, the walk from the cruise port to the downtown area is just over 1-1/2 miles.

 

 

 

 

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[IECalCruiser]

You will be in Naples and Salerno and will have two opportunities to visit Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and/or Capri. There really isn’t much to do in Naples and the port is not walkable to anywhere. We were in Naples twice and did an excellent private tour that included Pompeii in the morning and the Amalfi Coast in the afternoon the first time and a Princess tour that included a visit to a winery at the base of Mt. Vesuvius with a very nice lunch the second time. You could do a private tour of the Amalfi Coast from either port.

I would like to correct my post. As paul929207 you can get to the train station to DIY to Pompeii. There is also a ferry to Capri adjacent to the cruise port. The main attractions such as Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and Capri are far from the port.

[cruisequeen4ever]

That’ll be a great cruise!

Kotor- DIY exploring the walled city and a hike up to the fortress

Mykonos- DIY shuttle to Mykonos Town and stroll the gorgeous narrow streets, visiting the windmills, eating in Little Venice, and putting your feet into the cool sea

Santorini- DIY When you step off the tender, turn left and listen for the locals shouting “get your tickets to Oia”- 15 Euros pp or so gets you a hydrofoil ride to Oia, several hours to explore, and a return bus to Fira (the town where the ship is). Once back, wander around Fira and take the cable car back down to the tenders.

Piraeus- We embarked here so didn’t need an excursion, but the HOHO seemed best to me because it is affordable and hits the major sites.

Messina- Princess excursion- Godfather excursion or excursion to Taormina for a scenic stroll through the hillside village

Naples- Princess excursion- Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri excursion or one that hits multiple Amalfi Coast towns (2/3 times we did Princess excursions- 1 of them, we would have missed the ship had we not been on a Princess excursion, and the time we booked independently, there was heavy traffic that put us back too close for comfort, so due to the lengthy travel to/from the Amalfi Coast, book through Princess)

 

 

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[capriccio]

My responses are based on living and travelling in Italy and Greece and doing a Western Med and Adriatic cruise last year:

 

 

 

• Salerno - visited over 30 years ago with a car and just remember visiting the Cathedral and historic center.
  
• Kotor - visited last fall. Five in our party took a morning bike ride around the Bay with www.kotorbaytours.com/tour-de-bay-with bikes that they loved. They regaled me with stories on our sail away (we could see the entire circuit on our sail away. Alternatively, the historic city is very easily done DIY. Make sure you pick up a map outside the gate at the information booth; it is easy to get lost (along with the thousands of other tourists) in such a small place! Check out Tom's Port Guide (www.tomsportguides.com) to Kotor, one of a series of guides available free and done as a labor of love by Tom. We've used them in many ports.
  
• Corfu (last fall) - we used Tom's Port Guide.
  
• Crete - we spent a week on Crete on vacation 20 years ago. I'm not sure where you will dock but if you have any interest at all in ancient Greek history and mythology make sure you visit the Palace of Knossos. If you are docked in Heraklion, the waterfront and a number of museums are worth visiting DIY.
  
• Mykonos - easily DIY. Check out Tom's Port Guides.
  
• Piraeus - you must visit Plaka and the historic center of Athens, Check out independent excursions and Tom's Port Guides if you want to DIY.
  
• Santorini - easily done DIY. Tom has a port guide for there too!
  
• Messinia 9last fall) - we arranged an all day tour to Mount Etna and Taormina with Sicily with Mario (http://www.sicilywithmario.com/). It was fantastic!
  
• Naples - Naples is easily done DIY (Tom's Port Guide again) but if you want to expand your day I recommend APTours (https://www.aptours.it/). We (group of 6) arranged a private driver/guide who took us to Pompeii a few minutes before it opened and handed us off to a private guide who was wonderful, then we got back in the van for a drive down the Amalfi Coast to Positano where we had an hour or so wander around. We were then off to Sorrento where the driver/guide recommended a restaurant for a late lunch (fantastic pizza!) and gave us info on shops and sights in the historic walking district. Finally he met us at the ferry to give us our tickets and make sure everything was set before we took the ferry from Sorrento across the Bay of Naples to the cruise port. Even though my husband and I had been to each of these places multiple times, it was still wonderful. We were as enchanted as the 4 newbies to the area we were traveling with!