TessFromFlorida Posted November 21, 2022 Report Share Posted November 21, 2022 First time visiting Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Looking for suggested shore excursions and how to make the most of our time! Traveling with two teenagers- 16 and 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria Melon Posted December 1, 2022 Report Share Posted December 1, 2022 Hello! I recently traveled with my family in Greece via a Royal Caribbean cruise and I took shore excursions from Kids Love Greece in multiple ports. We stopped at Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. We loved all the experiences! Check out this article Six Reasons Why You Should Book a Guided Shore Excursion With Kids Love Greece. I totally recommend them! TessFromFlorida 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AniJ1979 Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 Hi Tess, I'm from Florida too. I booked the cruise for next summer, 2024. Please post again, I'm overwhelmed with all the options. Have a wonderful cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TessFromFlorida Posted June 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2023 6 hours ago, AniJ1979 said: Hi Tess, I'm from Florida too. I booked the cruise for next summer, 2024. Please post again, I'm overwhelmed with all the options. Have a wonderful cruise! I get it! I have been planning this trip for a year! We leave next week and I am still finalizing some pre and post cruise reservations. I will share here what we have booked and include prices because I wish I had this info when I started planning out this adventure. I will preface this by saying that I did purchase a few good Black Friday deals for things like 40% off the soda package for my kids ($132 for both for the week), and a splurge lunch at Izumi Hibachi for 20% off ($102). I did book and rebook a few things when prices went down by a few dollars, such as bottled water for the room and a small ($25) arcade credit for my kids ($40). I booked the Key (Black Friday sale) for $650 for the week for the three of us. It includes internet, a scaled down Chops lunch, priority tender in Santorini, priority boarding, VIP seating for shows (with reservations for some depending on the venue), early debarkation, and private time for some onboard activities. This is definitely a nice to have, not a must have, and there is a lot of conversation on the boards weighing in on the benefits of the Key. We had it for our trip to Alaska last summer and I found great value in it, but many disagree Because it was only a few dollars more than internet alone, I went for it. As far as excursions go, I booked the following (all prices are for 3 people): Santorini, Greece- 3-hour, small group island tour through Viator - $160 (you can take a bus to Oia for just a few dollars, I just like the idea of someone pointing things out along the way) Kusadasi, Turkey- Ultimate Ephesus through Royal Caribbean - $228 Mykonos, Greece- Ancient Delos and Mosaics Workshop through Royal Caribbean - $378 (less costly options out there through Royal, Viator, and Get your Guide without the mosaic workshop) Naples, Italy- Best of Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii small group through Royal Caribbean - $695 ( I still get a tear in my eye when I look at the price ) We arrive in Rome the Thursday before we set sail for two reasons - 1) We were burned last summer with flight cancelations, so I had to factor in padding for my own sanity 2) It's Rome, so a win, win situation! We decided to go with an Airbnb so we have a small kitchen, space to spread out, and a washing machine. While in Rome, I have the following tours booked: A cooking class booked through Airbnb Experiences - free- I had a gift card, but retails for $140 St. Peter's dome tour through Get Your Guide - $83 Under the moonlight evening walking tour of Rome through Get your Guide - $39 A guided tour of the Pantheon (retails $22 per person) A self-paced audio tour of the Colosseum, forum and Palatine Hill A self-paced audio tour of the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel I would not choose the last two audio tours again and do not recommended them knowing what I know now. I purchased the Go City 3 choice explorer pass for $195, but the more I looked on Viator, the more I regretted my decision. I may in the moment sign up for a guide, if it is an option. This has become a bit of a book... but.... As soon as I could grab reservations (30 days out from our sail date), I booked the Solarium Bistro for two nights (free) and RipCord iFly reservations for the kids ($58). I may cancel the iFly if I can snag spots on embarkation day. I find the blog posts and message boards on here super valuable and it helped tremendously with planning. I also am addicted to all things Rick Steves and have gained a lot of valuable insights from watching his old PBS programs and reading his guidebooks and blog posts. Happy planning!!! Dutch Frost and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 23, 2023 Report Share Posted June 23, 2023 That price for Naples doesn't really sound all that bad when you realize what a FULL day that is going to be !! That's a lot of ground to cover...but it will be awesome. Have a great time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TessFromFlorida Posted June 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2023 @WAAAYTOOO Thank you! Yes, for three people, not too bad. As someone who was an extreme budget traveler for many years, there was some sticker shock, but the reviews are very good. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AniJ1979 Posted June 26, 2023 Report Share Posted June 26, 2023 Cannot wait to hear about your experience. I'm researching Santorini still, have lots of time to research each port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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