KWong Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 So, in the world of first world problems, I seem to have one, and am looking for advice. I am sailing Explorer of the Seas in late October from Piraeus to Barcelona. We were originally taking the cruise that sailed out of Ravenna but for whatever reason that was canceled and replaced with a 6 nighter out of Greece. We rebooked on that because my wife has a conference in Barcelona, so the endpoint and time was actually of more importance than the starting point. But that shifted our plans from doing a couple of days in Venice and taking a train to Ravenna to Athens and the much closer port of Piraeus. We are getting in to Athens around noon on Friday. Not too hard to plan things to do for the 1.5 days prior to the cruise. But here's the big question - should we board the cruise early, or spend a little more time in Athens before making our way to port? RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtang Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 I Athens, so I would spend the time there. The ship will be there when the time comes. imo RCIfan1912 and KWong 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyLady Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 I am not sure I would classify this question as tough at all--it is just purely a matter of energy, choice and interests. We almost always squeeze in morning sightseeing wherever we are before we board our cruises. Also I can never pass up a bit more souvenir shopping! It's a nice little cruise jumping from country to country, but you do not really experience an overall Greek islands cruise, which is one of my favorite places in the world to travel by water. For us, being in Greece means seeing as much of the history as possible. The Acropolis, the museums, shopping in the Plaka-- already a few days in Athens gone. Next a day trip to Delphi--and what about Mycenae? This past Summer when we were in Athens I REALLY wanted to get to Meteora, but it will have to wait until next visit. In terms of the islands, we like all the trendy shopping in Mykonos, and lunch by the windmills, but I always want to head to sacred Delos first. Mallorca is a great island to visit--we will be traveling there this Summer, also. So, you just have to decide if your priority is trying to see more/do more, or just head to the ship early for a relaxing lunch. No worries--on your next cruise you can see whatever you miss this time! KWong 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWind Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 I would spend more time in Athens and buy your ticket to Acropolis ahead of time so you can visit it on Friday afternoon or anytime Saturday. KWong and tingtang 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWong Posted March 24 Author Report Share Posted March 24 12 hours ago, PhillyLady said: I am not sure I would classify this question as tough at all--it is just purely a matter of energy, choice and interests. We almost always squeeze in morning sightseeing wherever we are before we board our cruises. Also I can never pass up a bit more souvenir shopping! It's a nice little cruise jumping from country to country, but you do not really experience an overall Greek islands cruise, which is one of my favorite places in the world to travel by water. For us, being in Greece means seeing as much of the history as possible. The Acropolis, the museums, shopping in the Plaka-- already a few days in Athens gone. Next a day trip to Delphi--and what about Mycenae? This past Summer when we were in Athens I REALLY wanted to get to Meteora, but it will have to wait until next visit. In terms of the islands, we like all the trendy shopping in Mykonos, and lunch by the windmills, but I always want to head to sacred Delos first. Mallorca is a great island to visit--we will be traveling there this Summer, also. So, you just have to decide if your priority is trying to see more/do more, or just head to the ship early for a relaxing lunch. No worries--on your next cruise you can see whatever you miss this time! Thanks for the tips. Going in late October, I don't know that we'll get a true taste of the Greek Islands, but maybe that's a blessing in disguise since Mykonos won't have near as many tourists. But yeah, looking forward to Sicily and Mallorca. We're also gonna hit Lisbon for a day and a half before heading home. Apparently at that time of year there's about one direct flight to Toronto and that got booked up long before we got the conference details... so might as well hit another city and country in Europe, right? 5 hours ago, LCWind said: I would spend more time in Athens and buy your ticket to Acropolis ahead of time so you can visit it on Friday afternoon or anytime Saturday. I like your thinking. I know some of the tickets allow you to visit over multiple days so I was already thinking about doing that anyway. Whether we make it or not depends on how jet lagged my wife is. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedricmr Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 For the acropolis, you must buy your ticket in advance and book the visit schedule. For the morning of departure, you will have to leave the hotel/facility around 11:00 (at the latest at noon). If you are in the center of athens, it will take 45mn/ 1h to go to the port... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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