and one stop was Saint Martin. We wound up at Orient Beach. We had never been to one before and I don’t think I’ll ever go to a not nude beach again.
Beautiful weather and spot. The little resort was destroyed 7 years ago Irma and what was left is pretty rustic, chairs and umbrellas to rent and a small beach bar with great drinks and food.
Snorkeling was good off the beach, found a lot of live conch around 100 yards off the beach.
After the first minutes of Clark Griswold, “This is crazy! This is crazy!” the strangeness of being nude around strangers wore off and it was fun hanging with my wife in the sun in birthday suits.
As far as the crowd, the older people in general, some 30s to 70+s. As would expect lots of wrinkles, a lot of fatties, but also very fit people, mix of French speaking, Americans and Europeans.
The king of the nudes was an old guy in his 60s. Again, to borrow another Clark Griswold reference he was left in the oven for years and basted in baby oil and Mount Gay rum. Anyhow he sauntered around like he owned the place and based on how dark his tan was, he probably has squatters rights.
We talked to no one at the beach other than the man and woman working the bar.
We did talk to some people in a taxi van back to the ship. Yes, indeed some of these people are weirdos. They had been on all nude cruises, they plan their vacations around nude catamaran trips, nude resorts, etc. they are all-in on that lifestyle.
Not for us, but if we are in St. Martin ever again, will definitely go back to that beach.
We started and ended in Rome, and added days in Rome at the beginning and Orvieto at the end to get the "immersion" experience you don't get on the boat.
For Greece, we visited Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, and Rhodes. We also got to visit Naples (Pompeii), Sicily, and Ephesus (Turkey). We arranged for some private tours that were not run by the cruise company (Athens, Sicily, Ephesus), and did things like Pompeii on our own (just train tickets and site tickets).
There is no way we could have managed all than self-catering over land (particularly with a family of five). We are generally self-guided (currently on a Barcelona/San Sebastian/Bordeaux trip), but highly, highly recommend the Mediterranean cruise we did as the exception to the rule.
Enjoy.
About 15 years ago. Left from Venice and went to Split, Croatia, and then Crete and Greek isles. It was a nice cruise, but the highlights were the new spot every day, so we were not on the cruise much during the day.
Definitely recommend it and I’m not a huge fan of cruises, but as mentioned below if you are using it just to island hop it’s well worth it.
Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Crete and Split I believe were our destinations.
That's where my father's parents are from.
It's on the island of Hvar.
I've never been there.
But I've been to Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma. Not Arizona. What does it matter?
can accommodate cruise ships. You can take a boat excursion from Split to Hvar very easily if you want to go for the day or take a ferry if you want to spend a night or two.
My wife are set to take a Tauck river cruise through France this summer. They have a number of Mediterranean options available.
to find someone better to travel with.
you don't get asked for advice.
wallet in the front pocket at all times and be on the lookout for seedy characters. And avoid the southern part of that boot at all costs; organ grinders and orange thieves aplenty.
Worth the trip in itself. We did Patmos, Rhodes, and Kusidasi Turkey. . She’ll like it.
We sailed out of Civitavecchia (Rome) both times.
it should be seen as a taster of the Med.
On our honeymoon, we did the eastern med which was Italy, Greece, and Croatia. I think we got a nice taste of the Greek Isles. Dubrovnik was incredible. As others have noted, you dont really get depth on a cruise, but some advantages acrue including not having to figure out dining, and not having to pack.
I think a cruiseline like Holland America is great for this sort of itinerary. Their ships aren't huge. Their food is pretty good, and their service stand is high. And since you will probably want to spend the vast majority of your time in the ports and not on the ship, having crazy ammenities is largely unnecessary.
I'm coming from the bias of enjoying cruises
Do you want to soak in the sun, experience life on many islands, or is this an attempt to see the tourist highlights? As others have noted, cruises offer the opportunity to "skim" life in a country and see the big attractions.
One of our most enjoyable cruises started in Barcelona and stopped in Monaco (meh), Florence, Rome, Naples (Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi), Mykonos, Athens , Kusadasi (e.g. Ephesus), Istanbul, and Venice. That covers 3 or 4 of the most important cities in history. Many cruises have stopped going to Turkey (political situation) and Venicce (local restrictions0, but substitute other stops.
In Athens we saw the Parthenon and the Museum. Mykonos is a nice beach stop with the patented white stone buildings with lunch in a local taberna.
It always seems to me that passengers are required to spend too much time at sea in transit and not enough time ashore seeing stuff. Then, there is the requirement to watch one's fellow passengers gorging themselves at the buffet line. Hunger pangs are a symptom of mild seasickness, so you've got these people who spend their days hovering around the buffet table shoving large portions of potato salad into their maw. Then, the Indonesian steward brings out a fresh platter of grilled octopus and someone chunders.
Having said all this, Greece might be one exception to my no-cruise rule. The distances between the islands are not great, and it seems to me that the itineraries are full of interesting stops. If it were I, I'd choose one of the itineraries that includes Istanbul. It is a fascinating place, for me, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Finally, I think you should invite KByrnes, sorin69, and me to accompany you on the trip. We would deliver lectures every night on topical issues: the music of the eastern Med (Kevin); Constantinople vs Rome (Mike); Gallipoli and the Battle of Salamis (BI). It would be a trip of a lifetime.
Oh, pretty! Let's see how close we can .....("Ahhh Noooo!)
We used ferries to see Croatia and have now gone on 2 Carribbean cruises. I don't think I'd ever want to use a cruise to see cities I was actually excited to explore.
Ferries will get you closer to where you want to be on the islands and you won't have to wait in the long shuttle lines back and forth. It would also provide flexibility if you'd like to spend more time in one place or see something outside of a cruise group.
You'd certainly have to do a lot more planning on your own and paperwork than just paying a cruise line to do it all for you. So it might depend on if you think the planning of a vacation is a big part of the joy of a vacation.
go to Greece. How about a cruise on the Chicago River followed by dinner in Greektown? Opa!
Pros:
- see many different sites (i.e., it's a scouting trip for later)
- no thought on where to eat (I find this stressful when overseas)
- no need to unpack/change hotels
Cons:
- limited time in each port of call - usually just there for the day and miss the charm of early morning/night (as well as fewer people).
- ship excursions can be expensive and limiting in what can be done (sheepherding 100 people on a bus just slows everything down)
Royal Caribbean hits a pretty good price point (except for their two newest ships - Wonder/Icon).
Because of family considerations, it made sense to do a Mediterranean cruise from Israel to Greece. I echo the points listed here.
I would personally much prefer to spend time in a place (the best parts of that trip included staying inside the Jewish quarter in Jerusalem and walking around early morning and late evening when the other tourists were all gone) but the cruise made for an easy way to hit a few cities I would otherwise not have gotten my family to.
I've only been on 3 in my life (and one was a Carnival one in college 25 years ago so I don't count that/don't remember half of it). I don't plan on going again in the near future, but at some point in my life would like to do and Alaskan and Mediterranean.
That said, we really enjoyed MSC. Who? Yeah, one of the biggest if not biggest cruise lines in the world. We've only done them out of the US, but being European I imagine their Med cruises are solid. The caveat on them, is I can only recommend their premium ticketing class, Yacht Club. You get your own section of the ship shared with 50-80 other staterooms: dining room, lounge, bar, pools, etc. You get a butler, premium access to everything (no lines), top shelf booze, unlimited room service, etc. Generally speaking they seem like a budget cruise line, but the price of the Yacht Club experience seems to be middle of the pack for other lines.
This works as Greece is your destination.
And stay in Oia, don’t stay in Fira. You’ll have a great time.
Is that a euphemism?
Bonger is as pale white as a fresh snow layer on a frozen New Hampshire lake in December.
Spend a little time at each stop and figure out where you want to spend more time on the next trip.
It's like a sampling platter.
not working or rampant diarrhea. So there is that.