Jkaczano

first hand report from a NH couple on the ferry https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-couple-bahamas-ferry-sinking/45865912#

You’re actually lucky. May 2023 Holy Land cruise changed ports after we sailed. Ashdod was cancelled the night before we were to dock and although we docked in Haifa (and went through immigration), the ship departed 3 hour later due to danger. Replacement ports were decided while “on the move”. We, like you, paid a premium for a “Holy Land” cruise. At least you have the opportunity to decide if you still want to sail.

We did Odyssey 5/6/23 sailing out of Rome (Civi) stopping at Ephesus. We did not require visas.

We did Oia on your own in May. There is a long hill of stairs from where the busses park to the town of Oia. You will be walking both up and down them. It would be completely impossible in a wheelchair (and the busses are not equipped) Honestly, I would not recommend doing the tour unless you can do at least 3 to 4 flights of stairs both up and down A link to my blog with a description of the day is below

Here is a link to my blog on boarding Odyssey in Civi in May. It includes timing on leaving Rome, arriving at the terminal, and boarding

My experience on May 6th Odyssey disembarking May 18th

May 6th Odyssey Holy Land cancelled the 3 days in Israel which was the first sailing after the transatlantic.

On the 5/6 Odyssey sailing, the initial itinerary was Ashdod followed by Haifa. Cruise director announced that 500 passengers were getting off in 1 port and not returning until the 2nd. They asked anyone doing so to please let them know. We ended up skipping Israel due to the political unrest.

Advanced requires you to already have your blue (advanced) band. Self assist is the opportunity for people to attempt stand up. current policy (Anthem in March and Odyssey in May) is to load yourself and ride in control for 10 seconds to get a blue band. Definition of “in control” did vary though. I agree that the best way to learn stand up is a lesson.

You’re not in the states. It’s a cruise ship. My 15 year old has become very adroit at ordering drinks especially virgin strawberry daiquiris at the cruise bars using his diamond vouchers without an adult. Even knows how to add a tip and sign his name. If the bars were not designed for children, there would be big signs saying 21+ only. It is perfectly “normal” for children to be in bars here in New Hampshire as many also serve food. The message I send to my kids is to be polite and well behaved no matter where they are.

Flowrider time is broken up into 4 times - boogie board, mixed wave, assisted stand up, and advanced. To try stand up, you must have previous stand up or surfing type experience. You then must “show” boogie board ability by loading and then going back and forth on wave. Stand up can be tried during mixed or assisted stand up times. Policy is that staff may NOT help you load. You will be given 2-3 tries (depends on ship and staff) and then either you won’t be able to try again all cruise, all day, all session, or for 1 hour (depends on ship and staff).

My FIL is also on this sailing. He has done this ship/itinerary several times and he also said this one has not been up to usual standards.

This morning - we had key so I arranged our private pickup (romecabs) for 7:30. Had a quick breakfast at Windjammer at 6:45 and people were just starting to get off the ship. We went back to the room and were off the ship about 7:15. No line to get out. Driver was waiting and has us to Fimicino in just about an hour. Had to show passports just to get into bag drop line and then again when dropped bags. I purchased Fast Track to get through security faster but it was a complete waste. Security said you could only use fast track if you were first or business class and part of your ticket. I told her it was supposed to be for security too and she FINALLY tried it where it worked. Definitely not worth the money, caused aggravation, and probably took longer than if we just used regular line. Made it to the gate just about 9. flight times - making a 10:30 flight time would have been possible this morning but would have been tight even with key departure, private transfer, no traffic, and fast track.

Wednesday (yesterday) was our last port day in Naples. I had booked the private Pompeii shore excursion through LivItaly. Pickup was scheduled for 8 but Roberto was there 7:45 when we exited the ship. Since we weren’t meeting the guide until just before 9 at Pompeii, he brought us to see the cathedral in the new town of Pompeii. It was amazing inside. Met our tour guide Annalise just outside the ruins. Her tour was absolutely amazing and she was extremely knowledgeable. I’m sure there was much more to see as the site is very extensive, but we got a great overview. After the tour was over, Roberto was supposed to bring us to an authentic lunch but after 2 weeks, we suggested plan 3 - back to the ship. He then suggested plan 4 - his favorite to go. We thought this was a great plan. He brought us to pizzeria da carmine in Pompeii right next to the amphitheater gate. They had small pizzas and calzones - each 2.50 euro - which we ate on the way back to the ship. Both the kids and adults really enjoyed it. spent the afternoon on Northstar, flowrider, and bumper cars. Last night was packing and a make up show of Effectors. The 8:30 show the previous night stopped 3! Times for technical issues before they decided to just do the show again.

Tuesday was a well needed sea day. Sports staff was incredible which meant that there really was not much rest.

Monday was Piraeus/ Athens. Private tour booked through HP tours. Company was clear that they are NOT licensed tour guides so they couldn’t accompany us IN the sites. It was a great day. We were one of the first off the ship and driver got us to the Acropolis / Parthenon well before the group tours got there. We then saw some of the smaller sites like the Olympic Stadium, and changing of the guard, before spending the last hour/ 90 minutes at the Acropolis museum. Again, wonderful tour.

Ephesus

I definitely fell down on the job. We’re sitting at airport now so I’ll try to catch up. Sunday Kusadasi/ Ephesus. We booked a private tour through Ephesus Shuttle (4B biblical Galilee and terrace houses). Tour started with trip to House of the Virgin Mary, then went to Ephesus. Ephesus was amazing and the terrace houses were well worth the extra charge. We then went to St John’s Basilica, and toured a rug coop. The rug coop was really interesting to see but it was obvious they wanted to sell rugs which made 1 of my teens uncomfortable. Sounds like a bunch of cruise ship tours stopped there too so not sure it could be avoided. Overall it was a great tour.

Oops - forgot to mention the lifeboat drill this morning. They actually took down every lifeboat on starboard side and drove them around the harbor.

Once we were back on the ship from Santorini, we had some lunch and the kids and I headed to the flowrider for 3:30 when it opened. We rode until 7 when it closed with no one else showing up. Guess that’s one good thing about Santorini. after riding we had dinner at Coastal Kitchen - another filet night. Great food and great service. Then we watched the virtual orchestra in 270 (I slept through) and then royal 5 in main theater. Royal 5 is a show featuring 5 vocalists from the onboard shows. All had great voices and it was great to hear them singing songs of their choice highlighting their strengths. This morning, we had windjammer and then rode again advanced then mixed wave. After flowrider closed, DH and I headed into Old Town in Chania. RC was providing shuttles from port to right outside Old Town. We had very low expectations but had a wonderful time. You could tell that it wasn’t just tourists. Lots of non-souvenir stores with a bunch of restaurants. DH and I grabbed a spinach pie (we call it Spanikopita at home) and it was absolutely delicious. 3.50 euro. got back on the ship and had el loco fresh and rode again at 3:30. Definitely busier today. Our dinner reservations are at 9 tonight so just had a Sorentos snack to hold us over.

Pictures from Santorini

We woke up this morning, had Windjammers, and met in royal theater at 7:45 for our tour (Oia on your own, $59 per person). We boarded tender at ship which brought us directly to the commercial port where we boarded busses for Oia. Tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly but it was hard to hear him over the 2 small children sitting behind me on the bus screaming and kicking my seat. Once we arrived in Oia, we walked to the top of the hill as a group, then had about 75 minutes on our own before we had to be back in the bus. I thought we’d be waiting around forever for stragglers but we left only 5 minutes late. Bus drove to Fira and dropped us close to bus depot. Guide pointed out where cable car departed from and gave us all 1 way tickets. Tour itself was OK for a ship tour but the screaming children reminded me why I generally book privates. Unfortunately, I found Santorini to be disappointing. Even with only 1 ship in port, the streets were crowded and lined with souvenir shops, gelato stands, and restaurants. Can’t imagine what it would be like with 3 or 4 ships in port. Quite frankly, Santorini felt like nothing more than a tourist trap.

Woke up this morning at 7 and they had started posting tours for tomorrow. We ended up choosing Oia on our own because we had concerns about tender, cable car queue, and transport to Oia as private tours picked up at top of cable car. Just got a letter at our room tonight that we had priority tender through the key program so if I had it to do over again might have done something different. Hard to make last minute decisions though. Still haven’t found anything I want to do in Chania. rode Flowrider for 3 hours this morning, had lunch at Chops, napped for 2 hours, and rode for another 2 hours. Dinner again at Chops and then at 8 we went to get seats for 8:30 show but there were barely any left so we left and watched the Odyssey orchestra. Back in the room now. We are meeting for tour tomorrow at 7:45 so probably going to be early tonight.