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Post by Tulips on Oct 9, 2014 1:34:47 GMT
That tour looks awesome, Chech!
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Post by tiffany on Oct 9, 2014 11:53:04 GMT
Oz, the Best of turkey is an amazing tour, and one I would highly recommend. It’s not very expensive, and the loyalty and early payment discounts do apply to this tour, at least they did when I went in 2011. ... Unfortunately, the early-bird discounts don't apply in the Australian brochures, Tiffany. When I look through my 2014 Trafalgar Europe/Britain brochure almost every tour has a red message saying "Book & Pay Early, save up to $....". Until I get to tours of Greece, Turkey, Israel etc. This was confirmed by my travel agent a couple of years ago because until then, I'd assumed the early-bird discount applied to every tour. The TA said that Trafalgar simply doesn't offer that with its eastern Mediterranean tours. It's offered with Spain and Italy, but definitely not Greece and Turkey. We will definitely get to Greece and Turkey some day; they remain at the top of our destination list. However, it's not as inexpensive for us as it may be for you. The Australian dollar had fallen quite a bit (14%) from 2011 when I was seriously planning these tours and I baulked at Trafalgar hiking the tour price up by 28%. Our dollar is expected to fall further in the near future, making any overseas travel more expensive. This doesn't trouble me greatly because we're unlikely to venture abroad over the next two or three years whilst Mrs Oz's father is in poor health and we're nearby if needed. Greece and Turkey suit us better after I've decided to take the plunge into early retirement, which is likely to be in three years. That way we'll never again be restricted in the number of weeks I can be away from work/business. That’s too bad Oz. I remember Turkey being one of the more inexpensive tours, and with my 5% discount, it was very affordable. It’s too bad it’s more expensive for Australians. It sounds like you’ll make it to both Greece and Turkey in the next few years though, even if it’s on your own.
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Post by tiffany on Oct 9, 2014 14:46:01 GMT
Hi Chech, another question for you regarding this tour. I’m taking a closer look at the 4 day cruise option tour, and looking at the optionals offered for the 2014 tour. I noticed that there are quite a few optionals offered for the islands. Are all of them offered, and we get to pick and choose what ones we want to take, or does the Tour Director decide what optionals, out of the ones listed on the website, to offer? Also, is there time to do more than one optional while on the island? A few of the optionals offered look appealing to me, and, if there’s time, I would do more than one on each island.
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Post by chech on Oct 9, 2014 15:22:56 GMT
Not all the optionals were offered or not offered for the TT group (but we could have gone with another group...though no one did). Our TD on the cruise was very good at explaining which optionals he had found, from years of conducting the groups, to be the ones with the best feedback. His choices were also the ones I had picked based on the research on the forum and elsewhere. For example, the optional on Mykonos was skipped by most because by then we had seen enough ruins and the town offered something different. We only had time for one...the optional with just enough time to eat and go back to the ship or the whole afternoon in the town. The town was by far the better choice...to wander the alleyways, meet the famous pelican, wander among the windmills and have a nice meal just off the beach. Very very relaxing. The Patmos optional got us off the ship first and gave us the best views. We got a drive around the island and had time to visit the street by the port. There were two possible optionals here but this is the one everyone took. (Can't remember what it was called. It's listed in my tale). Kusadasi is a no-brainer. Ephesus. The other optional wasn't offered. Rhodes was the Lindos optional. It was great because you could visit Lindos in the morning and had the afternoon to wander the walled city of Rhodes. Crete - this one depends on where the ship docks. The year I went, Louis Lines drew the short straw for limited spots and docked almost two hours outside of Heraklion (the itinerary said Heraklion and it wasn't...so you won't know for sure till you get there). This meant the optional offered to the ruins there required 90 minutes on the bus there and 90 minutes back...and less than an hour at the site as the ship is only at Crete till 11 am. We took our TD up on the offer to sleep in (appreciated by this point) and he showed us the town of St. Nikolas. A gorgeous little town. Those that did the optional were happy but not enthusiastic about the optional. (As with Mykonos, after the Best of Greece, seeing more ruins is trumped by a visit to the towns). In Santorini, there's only time for one and Oia was the one to do (and only one offered). It got us off the ship first and took us to the spot with the best views plus some shopping/photo time and a drop off at the gondola where we could take that, walk down or take the mules. (We took the mules...it was a hoot...but definitely not for everyone). The walk down would be very scenic...just watch where you step! (The mules leave surprises). I knew before I left that not all would be offered and had information on them all. I was very happy with the ones the TD suggested. (And he wasn't pushing the optionals on us....actually the opposite. He gave us a good idea of what we could do if we didn't do an optional and actually promoted visiting Mykonos and St. Nikolas over taking the optionals because of previous comments.) So, you can save a few bucks by skipping optionals and still feel like you had the full experience. I'd recommend Lindos and Oia if you wanted the two that I think were the best. You've probably seen Ephesus and the port in Kusadasi is a great place to wander and shop if you choose to skip it. Patmos - I could take or leave that one. The port was another nice area to visit. If the ship docks in Heraklion, I hear there's little by the dock...so the optional or a taxi would probably be necessary...but the stop there is short. And when I went, the Best of Greece only had the one optional - the meal. Worth it only to get to know your tourmates, otherwise it was not meant to be a tour of Plaka. You can see Plaka on your own on your pre-day no problem. We just walked through the streets at dust straight to the restaurant. St. Nikolas.
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Post by tiffany on Oct 9, 2014 15:52:45 GMT
Thanks Chech. I looked for a tour tale, but noticed that none of the Greece ones made it to this forum. I’ll read though all of the optionals, and make a note of the ones that will probably be offered. I’m glad to hear that the port in Kusadasi is a great place to wander and shop as I’ll probably skip the Ephesus tour. I loved Ephesus when I saw it the first time, but would rather see something else this time.
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Post by chech on Oct 9, 2014 16:34:37 GMT
I am putting all my travel tales up on my blog. I'll do the Greece one next and the link will be posted like I did for the others I've done so far. Should be up in about a week.
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Post by tiffany on Oct 9, 2014 17:04:08 GMT
Sounds good. I noticed the 4 day cruise tour didn't list any optionals for Patmos, however the 7 day cruise tour did, so I took the optionals from there. I think I did briefly read your tour tale before, but I don't remember the details. Looking forward to reading it again.
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Post by chech on Oct 14, 2014 0:16:54 GMT
My tale is up there now and Tulips put up hers as well.
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Post by tiffany on Oct 14, 2014 11:54:35 GMT
Thanks Chech. I’ll check both of them out when I have a chance. I saw my friend on the weekend, and she said she’d know by next month if she can join me on this tour or not. If she can, we will book the 7 day cruise option, but if not, I’ll book the 4 day cruise option in order to cut costs.
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Post by tiffany on Dec 29, 2014 13:00:44 GMT
Well, it looks like Greece will have to be put off for another year. The good news is, it looks like my friend will be able to travel with me next year. The bad news is, she really doesn’t want to go to Greece. On a positive note, she’s really interested in the Highlights of Eastern Europe trip, so I think we are going to do that tour instead as it is on my list. I will make it to Greece someday though!
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Post by chech on Dec 29, 2014 22:24:16 GMT
That's a great tour. I did all the spots over two tours - Bohemian Highlights and Highlights of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. My only caveat with it is that there are a lot of long bus days. Does your friend mind long days on the bus? Granted, the payoff was usually worth it - Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Ljubljana, Lake Bled....all phenomenal destinations and this tour gives you a full day in each (which helped break up the bus days). With the exception of New Zealand, this one was, by far, the most expensive when it came to optionals. I took them all and it added up to almost $1000. (And NZ was expensive only cause I took three flights). There are definitely some you could cull from that list...like Wilanow Palace. This tour is the reason I like to aim for train/plane tours over multi-country long bus drive tours. But of all the tours I've looked at, this is the one that I think is worth those long drives. Make sense?
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Post by tiffany on Dec 29, 2014 23:13:26 GMT
Well, I just heard from my friend, and she’s reconsidering Greece for the fall after all, and wants to go on the Eastern Europe tour in May 2016 instead. She actually wants to go to Athens and the Greek Islands, she’s just not interested in the land portion of the tour. I really want to go on the land portion though, so she asked me to send her the price for both tours, and she’ll consider which one she wants to go on first.
I usually do all of the optional tours, even though they can add up. On The Best of Italy and Sicily tour, the optionals came out to well over $1,000.00, so I know how expensive they can be. I just add them to the cost of the tour, like the single supplement.
My friend’s done two tours with me, and one of them was pretty long with long driving days (24 day tour of Great Britain and Ireland), so she should be okay with the long coach rides. I just hope there’s enough time to see the sights if so much time is spent on the coach. That was my main problem with the Switzerland and Austria tour I went on in the fall. Too much travel time and time at coffee shops, and not enough time seeing the sights.
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Post by chech on Dec 30, 2014 0:36:54 GMT
If it came down to just Athens and the cruise, I think it's still a good look at Greece...just make sure to do the day tour to Delphi. Or you could do the land tour and meet her in Athens and you both do the same cruise. Most of the bus legs on the HoEE are longer than anything in the UK tour. Just the leg from Berlin to Warsaw is like going almost all the way from London to Edinburgh in one day and much of it is not on modern highways (though they were building them). We had stops along the way between the cities but usually they were just bathroom breaks and then to a town for lunch. Don't recall much in the way of sightseeing en route. Everything was in the cities and we did get a good look at them all. So, the whole tour was bus day, city day, bus day, city day. After a week or so, I was waking up and had to stop to remember which city I was in. LOL
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Post by tiffany on Dec 30, 2014 12:57:16 GMT
I really want to do both the land and cruise portion of Greece, and my friend said she’d do both as well if she chooses Greece over Eastern Europe. Both tours are on my list, and the price of both tours are similar, with Greece being a little bit cheaper, so I’m okay with either one. She said she’d let me know in the next couple of weeks what her decision is. In the meantime, I’m going to see if anyone wrote a tour tale regarding the Eastern Europe tour so I can get a better idea of what to expect. I’m glad to hear you got a good look at the cities on your tour. I don’t mind a day on the coach as long as we get to see the sights in the cities. I think if we do this tour we will fly into Vienna a day early, or out a day late, as we both really like Vienna. We have both been there before on different tours, and really liked the city, so it will be nice to have time to see more of it on our own.
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Post by chech on Dec 30, 2014 16:20:00 GMT
Yeah, Vienna is worth the extra time. My Bohemian Highlights and the Highlights of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia (for Lake Bled/Zagreb) tales are there. Timings and all that would differ but the stuff done in the cities would be pretty much the same. Think Oz's tale for BH is there too.
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Post by tiffany on Dec 30, 2014 17:52:51 GMT
Thanks. I’ll check them out in the new year. I’m also going to check out the Bohemian Highlights tour and compare it to the Eastern Europe tour, since it sounds like they are very similar.
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Post by tiffany on Feb 11, 2015 16:03:40 GMT
So it looks like I’ll be doing the Best of Greece with 4 day cruise, as my friend is unable to come with me. I have another friend who’s interested in joining me now, however, she has some anxiety issues, and is worried about going to Greece because of the protests. Has anyone who’s been there recently been affected by protests? If so, in what way?
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Post by chech on Feb 11, 2015 19:00:05 GMT
When we were there, our guide said 'Greeks love to protest.' There is zero reason to worry. They happen so often that the tour companies are on top of it and can very easily avoid any protests going on. (The TT reps were very well organized there). Most are centred by the Parliament building at Syntagma Square and even if you're out walking around Plaka on your own, it's very easy to avoid. The protests are very very rarely violent. The media can turn a simple protest on a single square into something like a country on the verge of revolution. When they had that single day general strike (nothing major...just a day long general strike) our guide said 20,000 rooms were cancelled the next day. All she could do was shake her head cause the world media had made it look like the country was descending into chaos. Don't let the protests worry her. The Greeks are great people and very fluent in English (taught in school) and they are very good to tourists cause they know we're their bread and butter.
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Post by tiffany on Feb 11, 2015 20:47:00 GMT
Thanks Chech. My travel agent pretty much told her the same thing as you. I emailed your comments to her so she can read them herself. I hope it will help relieve her anxiety.
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Post by tiffany on Feb 11, 2015 21:33:40 GMT
My friend’s been convinced to go, and we are just waiting for my travel agent to give us the total price, including flight and hotel cost in London, before she decides for sure. This tour is a lot cheaper than the one we took to Italy a few years ago, so I can’t see the cost being much of a problem.
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Post by tiffany on Feb 12, 2015 12:39:05 GMT
My friend is convinced to go, but now her husband is changing his mind, and doesn’t know if he wants to take care of their daughter by himself for 2 weeks. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens! I don’t mind travelling alone, but it’s a lot cheaper and more enjoyable when you have someone to travel with. Hopefully her husband will change his mind again.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Feb 16, 2015 17:49:15 GMT
Hi all, feels like coming home, cannot believe I found this forum, really disappointed for Traf closing their forum, had such nice and interesting tips and info. My husband and I are looking to do this trip, with 7 day cruise. I also saw the premier, premium and superior options, any tips? AND there are sooo many optionals?Surely the Td will only choose two or one optionals per day? Otherwise we have to save for another year to pay for all the optionals, we want to go next year July, planning to go with friends we made on two previous Traf trips.
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Post by chech on Feb 16, 2015 19:19:09 GMT
Hi Daphne, Check out my tale on the BOG and 7 day cruise. Not all the optionals listed were offered and the guide was great sorting through the crap vs good optionals and I note this in the tale. You can find the tale here. As for the three levels - first of all, none have a balcony. It's not available on the ships (there are like two cabins with a balcony and they are always taken). Not that you need one. You spend so little time in the cabin, having a window wasn't even a big plus. There was plenty of space on the deck to sit down and relax for the little bit of time you do have free on the ship. For the most part, you're off the ship during the day doing sightseeing. I got the top end one but it wasn't worth the extra cost. You got a bit extra room, but the beds were oriented so that they were in the way so that the extra space never got used. The shower configuration was a bit different. I checked out the mid-range and the lowest range rooms and quite frankly, I would have been happy with the lowest. It is an inside room that was more "spacious" than the one I had (beds against the wall instead of poking out in the middle of the room). The mid-range was similar to the lowest (in configuration) but had a window (though a life boat may be in the way). Again, not a big deal. You spend so little time there, the cabin shouldn't be the focus. Save the bucks and go for the mid-range or lowest one....and use the savings on the optionals or souvenirs. Any questions, throw them out. Others here have done the tour too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 5:27:19 GMT
Cruises to Greece will provide you with a few sights that you may have never seen. A cruise to Greece will include the coastlines, massive rocky mountains, rivers and natural occurrences that have shaped the land to the unique way it is today. With the view of more than 300 huge rocky masses of mountains, cruises to Greece will be the experience of a lifetime. You had better bring your camera so you may enjoy the view of this magnificent country when you return home. The majestic home of the gods, Mt. Olympus, which is the highest of all in this country, is one of the most popular among the cruise to Greece visitors.
Although Greece is a country of mountains the islands are another wondrous sight to behold. There are 6,000 islands and only 227 are populated. Throughout the Aegean and Ionian Sea of which you will be a visitor on your cruise to Greece you will see many of these islets and their coves with stretches of sand so golden it is unreal.
Greek ports are often the destination of many cruise ships from many foreign countries and over 500,000 passengers use this method every year to visit one of the most wondrous areas of the world. Cruises to Greece are normally booked rather quickly due to their popularity. However, if this is your plan, do not worry; there are many ships that travel to Greece.
Do you want your cruise to Greece to be to the capital city of Athens? If so, you can arrange a seven day cruise which includes three nights in this beautiful city and then your cruise begins. Stay at the Hilton Athens Hotel and enjoy the fabulous view of the Acropolis before leaving for your cruise. You will fall in love with the country and when you get aboard the cruise ship it will happen all over again. This is truly one of the most magnificent areas in the world.
Many of the cruise packages have no set schedule. When you contact them, they design the cruise just for you. With ports of call at Spetses, Crete, Kea, Nafplion, Mykonos, Monemvasia and Santorini you will have the chance to experience more than just the sea.
The best thing about looking for a cruise to Greece is you do not have to be rich to go. There are many prices that can range from those on a budget to the luxurious cruises.
A typical cruise to Greece will dock at Patras and on to land to see the Temple of Zeus. The Olympics home which is quite old will be another site and then on to Athens. After this you will be back on board the cruise ship and go to Mykonos. Hitting all the hot spots for tourists and allowing you to see as much of Greece as possible, you should expect to spend about 15 days on your cruise to Greece.
There are amenities galore on the cruise ship. Your meals are all provided and if you like you may have hotel stays at the ports of call included with your vacation. This will allow you the chance to stretch your legs a bit and see the sights.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Feb 17, 2015 7:56:45 GMT
Tx Chech, LOVED your travel tales, still busy reading, love all the details and the tips for shopping and the description of the ship, the breakfasts etc etc.
My husband almost had a fit when I told him he had to dress fancy or formal for the 2 dinners at least, so would you say a neat pair of trousers and shirt would do, or a long sleeve fancy shirt, not sure, we will be travelling for at least 3 weeks (2 in Greece includ 7 days cruise) and after or before 9 days in Italy, so for him to tag along extra fancy clothes just for 2 nights? I am still struggling with that.
carltraveler, tx for all your info, we will be doing a Trafalgar trip with cruise included, be departing from Athens yes.
Chech, was there any time for swimming when stopping at the islands (see some optionals available), not sure if the TD will choose that.
I LOVE shopping, will the be enough time to shop for jewellery and scarves etc, what is the main thing to be on the lookout for in terms of gifts to take home?
Hairdryer on the ship? Adaptors needed on the ship?
We will be going in July, weatherwise? I suspect very hot, but I would'nt mind, we are used to 38degrees Celsius (today) up to 41 degrees in summer, and in July we have high winter in South Africa, so some sunny weather would be awesome!!!
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Post by Tulips on Feb 17, 2015 9:38:41 GMT
Hi Daphne,
ive vey done this tour as well.
You don't need to bring fancy clothes. A nice pair of pants and shirt will be fine. Some people like to dress up and others don't. It's not a big fancy cruise ship like other cruise lines.
technically all the options on he ship are open to you. It's just if you choose ones the TD hasn't highlighted, you won't be with your group of people and you may not get the best disembarking times.
Some people went swimming on their own while on Rhodes.
There was a hairdryer in my cabin which was the midrange one. I like to have a window to the outside.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Feb 17, 2015 11:40:42 GMT
Tx Tulips, if I take my own hairdryer, which type of connection do I need, same like Italy, "two point plug/prong"?
Great, will for sure not take tooo fancy clothes, want to pack lite for some shopping!!!!
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Post by tiffany on Feb 17, 2015 12:50:12 GMT
Hi Daphne, I’m going this tour with the 4 day cruise option in Sept/Oct, and I picked the moderate room, as I didn’t want to spend all that extra money just for a window. I figured I’d only be in the room to sleep, and would rather spend the money on the optionals.
You will only have time for one optional at each port, and will choose from the list offered to you. The tour guide will highlight the ones that he/she recommends, however, you can choose whatever optional you want. You can even go off on your own if you want, however, the people who booked excursions get off the ship first, which means you may be waiting a while to get off the ship.
I like dressing for dinner, and plan on bringing a couple of dressy items with me, however, I think as long as your husband is not wearing jeans, shorts, running shoes or flip flops, he should be fine, even on formal nights.
I’m not sure if there will be a hairdryer in the room, but you should bring an adapter with you to Greece. You will need it. As you are going on your tour before I am, I look forward to hearing about it when you get back.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Feb 17, 2015 12:59:35 GMT
Oh noooo, you don't understand, our trip is on July 2016, we need to book by Oct this year!! LOL, so I will be looking forward to hear all your travel tales!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats just the way I am, doing research about a year ahead, dreaming and planning and saving etc etc, I also like dressing up a bit, so will be taking something pretty for the evenings, but hubby will have to do without a pair of shorts to dinner, summer or not!!!!
Tx, will be count down with you!!!
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Post by chech on Feb 17, 2015 13:45:48 GMT
2016! LOL. You'll be well prepared. July will be very very hot. In mid-end September, we were hitting high 20s and low 30s (especially in Turkey). They may be time to swim. Rhodes gives you a full afternoon off. There may be time on Mykonos or Crete as well. No one on my tour went swimming. And if you have free time in Athens, there might be time to spend at the pool. So, worth taking the bathing suit. And yes, no need for "fancy" clothes. I just wore black jeans and a collared polo shirt. They just don't want anyone to show up on those nights in blue jeans, capris or short. And the staff know some travellers are with tours that limit luggage so there's a lot of leeway. Adapter is the regular twin round European one. Don't remember if there was a hairdryer but my guess is yes. Pashmina are a good buy in Turkey (in Kusadasi, not Istanbul....spend no more than 5 Euro for a scarf. Some will try to charge $50 or more). Jewelry is a good buy. And yes, you'll have time to shop. I recommend at least one full free day (pre or post tour) in Athens. Plaka is a great area to explore and shop at.
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