Back to the Med Greece/Turkey in 2013! Complete!

[MinnieDiva]

Updated post 4, I think. Not finished with embarkation day. Never had enough time or wifi to update during the cruise. Ask questions if you have them!!

For the next Greece cruisers: our pirate night was changed to the 2nd to last sea day (needed to be 12mi out to sea for fireworks) and semi formal night the night of Malta. This actually worked well for our dining rotation : PLA. Both formal and semiformal nights were in Lumieres and pirate night was in Parrot Cay.

 

[drlaurafsu]

Navigators would be helpful if you have time to scan them.

Best port?
Best shopping port?
Best excursion private or DCL?
Anything you wouldn't do in retrospect?

Thanks!!

 

[mardonna]

Where can I read your post....im so confused....I'm on the next greek sailing and trying to plan it out.....also i was just given the following schedule for dining

Formal night Wed July 17 sea day
Semi Formal night Mon July 22 sea day
Pirate night Sunday July 21 Mykonos

was this what you had orginally?

 

[MinnieDiva]

Where can I read your post....im so confused....I'm on the next greek sailing and trying to plan it out.....also i was just given the following schedule for dining

Formal night Wed July 17 sea day
Semi Formal night Mon July 22 sea day
Pirate night Sunday July 21 Mykonos

was this what you had orginally?

Go back to page 1.....I had saved pages so that the actual TR can be read chronologically.

And yes, that was how it originally was so don't be surprised if it changes. Their logic makes sense. We didn't find this out until we saw the navigator on the first day that lists out the days.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Navigators would be helpful if you have time to scan them.

Best port?
Best shopping port?
Best excursion private or DCL?
Anything you wouldn't do in retrospect?

Thanks!!

I saved all the navigators and will eventually scan them in!!

Best port: hard to say. I love Malta...but enjoyed seeing all the new ports as well. We truly got to see new stuff at all the repeat ports we went to!!

Shopping? We had zero time to shop. I had to push the issue in Malta to get a Hard Rock Cafe pin for an aunt of mine who collects them. This was kind of how we built our tours, tho....I didn't like the atmosphere in Turkey. Same haggling that was in Tunisia. I can't stand that.

Best excursion was the private tour by Rome in Limo in La Spezia. Stefano was our driver, but he was AMAZING. We literally got a tour of his neighborhood. We went to Lucca...he lives there...and saw his dad getting on his scooter. More on that tour later !!!

Go cars. Don't do them. See previous post and wait for Mindy to comment on them.

 

[mardonna]

I only see a post for embakation....is that the only one up?

 

[MinnieDiva]

I only see a post for embakation....is that the only one up?

Yup. Just got off yesterday and still sitting at the airport. DH drained my iPad battery. Grr.

 

[tajz90]

hold for La Spezia: June 17, 2013

The Plan: Private tour for 8 arranged thru Rome in Limo for Pisa and Lucca. As this is the day the Patron Saint of Pisa is celebrated, we opted to change our climb in Pisa to the afternoon. In case you're interested, the Patron Saint is Ranierius. Likely, what will end up being closed is the baptistry and cathedral during a celebratory mass (as per Rome in Limo). Link to tickets to climb the tower: http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Turisti/.

Tickets purchased using above link at the 20-day mark. FYI, the website loads the next day at midnight Pisa time...so for me, the day before at 3pm PST. We booked for 2pm to climb the tower. The price was $18E pp with the Cathedral included. You can also "add-on" other buildings if you like, with all the rest of the sites being another $9E, I believe. I booked a Cathedral-only pass for my dad for $5E, as he doesn't intend to climb the tower.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
Menu:

Did you have to exchange the ticket you printed? And is a copy of your passport ok for ID or do I need to bring my actual passport?

Thank you

 

[tajz90]

Hold for Athens: June 21, 2013

We opted to reserve a private tour after seeing how fast the "rent-a-van" option thru DCL went. After contacting a few different companies and doing research on all the applicable websites, we decided to go with Hellenic Private Tours: http://www.hellenicprivatetours.com. A party of 12 for Athens and Cape Sounion AND a guide all day is $580E. Entrance fees and lunch is not included with this price.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
Menu:

We're you pleased with this company?

 

[Stimpy]

We're on the next Greece cruise 7/13/13...looking forward to more of your report

 

[smores]

Heard from a friend of mine who was on that cruise (she likes to embellish) that you had 40 foot waves! We are in the 7/13 med and was a bit worried about 40 ft waves! How was the water????(I've been to the med four other times and it was never really rough!)....wondering if I need a prescription for scopolamine this time....

 

[MinnieDiva]

Did you have to exchange the ticket you printed? And is a copy of your passport ok for ID or do I need to bring my actual passport?

Thank you

I do not believe that we had to exchange our ticket. In fact, we were late for our climb, so DH and Mindy's husband had to walk over to readjust our time...I need to clarify with him what happened in the ticket office and I'll let you know...

We're you pleased with this company?

Yes, I was. More on them later

We're on the next Greece cruise 7/13/13...looking forward to more of your report

Thanks! I'm trying to get to the report...but I'm terribly jet lagged. Made the mistake of taking a nap today...

Heard from a friend of mine who was on that cruise (she likes to embellish) that you had 40 foot waves! We are in the 7/13 med and was a bit worried about 40 ft waves! How was the water????(I've been to the med four other times and it was never really rough!)....wondering if I need a prescription for scopolamine this time....

The waves were not 40 footers. They were 10-15 ft max. The last day from Malta to Barcelona was rough seas and many were feeling the effects (incuding my DD ). The wind was crazy...40-50 knots!! There was a name for the area...lion-something??...and Meclizine was readily available at the front desk. Unless you're prone to seasickness I'm not sure a prescription is necessary. Scopalimine has to be worn prior to experiencing problems and the medication has side effects of it's own.... dry mouth and sleepiness being 2 of the biggest ones. You kind of have to weigh the pros and cons for your needs....

There was also a bit of movement between Athens and Turkey, but nowhere near as bad.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Pics added to posts 3&4

 

[OurDogCisco]

I'm so excited that you are back. I love all the updates. Did you book another cruise?

 

[MinnieDiva]

Did you have to exchange the ticket you printed? And is a copy of your passport ok for ID or do I need to bring my actual passport?

Thank you

My DH tells me that when they went into the ticket office that they easily changed the time....it was to 3 different times, each 15 minutes apart. We went from all 2pm climbs to 2:45, 3:00, and 3:15. No ID was needed.

 

[MinnieDiva]

I'm so excited that you are back. I love all the updates. Did you book another cruise?

I booked a dummy date . We have a cruise booked already for next August...Eastern Caribbean

I put my request into the box 2-3 days before the end of the cruise and still have yet to get my confirmation. They were VERY backed up and we were told they'd be gotten to. I usually don't delay that much, but kept remembering when I was doing something else .

 

[lasdisney]

MinnieDiva, Love your detailed info. The banter between you and Mindlemouse is priceless. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Just a note about the last sea day when the seas were rocky and it was very cold and windy out on deck. I am not somebody who is prone to motion sickness unless I'm playing a 3D computer game from days of long ago. On the last sea day, the ship was rocking pretty good. I was out on deck during some part of the afternoon (in my fleece hoodie) watching the Funnelvision movie. I actually fell asleep out there. Fine as can be ... no issues.

BUT THEN ... I went on the Art of the Theme tour and then went to our stateroom (big Navigator's window) and started the process of packing. Big mistake. As soon as I went inside and spent about an hour inside, I started getting that clammy, cold, sweaty feeling ... the signs of impending DOOM. What we should have done was gone up on deck as soon as we felt this way ... but we kept on packing instead. Ugh... We wanted to see Dreams that evening (6:30 pm showing) so we thought we'd duck up on deck just before the show. But it was 6:15 when we headed to the show so we thought, let's just get a breath of fresh air outside on Deck 4 first. BIG mistake. There was some foul odour on Deck 4 ... very fishy, gross smell. It make me feel worse. So we gave up and just went to the Walt Disney Theatre. THANK Goodness for the excessive air conditioning in that theatre. As I sat in there, and fell asleep at one point (just for a few minutes), the air conditioning helped me immensely. By the the end of the show, I was feeling much better and revived.

When we headed to dinner, our head server asked us if we were ok (we were by then). Apparently many were not ok. Our assistant server suggested we have ginger ale. I think much ginger ale was served that night. The seas calmed down later that evening.

 

[MinnieDiva]

MinnieDiva, Love your detailed info. The banter between you and Mindlemouse is priceless. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

Thanks!!

BUT THEN ... I went on the Art of the Theme tour and then went to our stateroom (big Navigator's window) and started the process of packing. Big mistake. As soon as I went inside and spent about an hour inside, I started getting that clammy, cold, sweaty feeling ... the signs of impending DOOM. What we should have done was gone up on deck as soon as we felt this way ... but we kept on packing instead. Ugh... We wanted to see Dreams that evening (6:30 pm showing) so we thought we'd duck up on deck just before the show. But it was 6:15 when we headed to the show so we thought, let's just get a breath of fresh air outside on Deck 4 first. BIG mistake. There was some foul odour on Deck 4 ... very fishy, gross smell. It make me feel worse. So we gave up and just went to the Walt Disney Theatre. THANK Goodness for the excessive air conditioning in that theatre. As I sat in there, and fell asleep at one point (just for a few minutes), the air conditioning helped me immensely. By the the end of the show, I was feeling much better and revived.

When we headed to dinner, our head server asked us if we were ok (we were by then). Apparently many were not ok. Our assistant server suggested we have ginger ale. I think much ginger ale was served that night. The seas calmed down later that evening.

I was on the same tour and we were stumbling our way down the aisles....it was rockin and rollin!!

 

[MinnieDiva]

Post #4 is complete and #5 is started...with pics!!