Just Back from Magic in Mediterranean June/ July….got questions? Ask away

[wendygator]

Sounds grand! Thanks so much!

 

[SomePixiedust]

Is #tonyfromspain on the Magic? Had him as the host for games/trivia etc on the Magic a few years ago and he was great. Hoping he is back on the Magic when she comes to NY in the fall.

 

[tidefan]

Sounds wonderful! Considering taking a Greece cruise next summer. What types of excursions did you take on Santorini and Mykonos? Or did you do those islands on your own? Thanks so much!

We loved Greece as well. For our excursions:

• Rome - Day 1 - Slept once we got to the room as we were dead tired from the flight. Met a friend out for dinner.
• Rome - Day 2 - Were supposed to go to Vatican, but were so tired still that we skipped it. Met same friends for lunch and explored between Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.
• Rome - Day 3 - Went to "Free Sunday" at Vatican (last Sunday of each month). Line was ridiculously long (like, longer than Flights of Passage ) in the afternoon, we did a Golf Cart tour of Rome. That was amazing and to me, the absolute best way to see the city. Guide (Iames) was great!
• Katakolon - Olympia Archeological Museum and Mercouri Winery booked via DCL (NOTE: we went to the Museum, but did not get to see the actual archeological site. Good tour guide.)
• Heraklion - Knossos and Heraklion City Tour booked via DCL (NOTE: found the BEST souvlaki stand ever here. It was 3.30 euros for chicken souvlaki in a pita with fries and was amazing. Also, Knossos is a really cool site. Good tour guide.)...
• Athens - Acropolis Tour and Plaka tour booked via DCL (NOTE: Acropolis was amazing, however, this is the worst traffic in the world. Only left us 15 minutes in the Plaka, so we opted to stay longer and take a cab back to Piraeus. Terrible tour guide).
• Santorini - Oia, Winery, and Fira town booked via DCL (NOTE: this was an amazing excursion and the best one we did with a great tour guide (Dora). Absolutely loved Oia and the fact we went there first before the big NCL ship got in port, so it wasn't as crowded as Fira. Winery had amazing views and pretty good wine).
• Mykonos - explored on our own, you can wander around the town for hours. It is SO picturesque... However, with a college aged daughter, it will lighten your pocketbook...
• Naples - explored the port on our own for about 2-3 hours. Was so hot and miserable we went back to the ship. Also, we were beat by this time in the cruise...

Other notes:

• Make sure to find out when you will sail through the straights of Messina. That is a really cool experience
• Our first morning out from Civitavecchia, we opened the balcony doors to an amazing view of the Stromboli volcano. We also saw Mt. Etna when passing Sicily.
• The ship would not break Euros down in denominations over 20 euro, so you may need to do that off-ship
• We only made one show (Tangled: The Musical) as we have seen both Dreams and Twice Charmed a number of times. Did not make any of the variety acts.
• Lots of trivia. We won a couple of them! (though honestly, the last one we won on a complete lucky guess of a multiple choice question on how many lights were on King Stefan's Carousel...)
• There is an elevator on the side of the Acropolis. My DW had torn meniscus in her knee right before we left and she didn't think she'd be able to go up, but they led us over to the elevator that goes up the side of the rock face and she was able to go). You could also take a scooter or walker up there if needed that way.
• Spent 3 nights in Rome prior to the cruise, but 2 nights is probably enough. We stayed at the Rome Waldorf Cavalieri. Great hotel, wonderful breakfast, but a 10-20 euro cab ride into town. If we return, we may stay more centrally located. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Cavalieri again (especially since it can be booked with Hilton Honors points...)
• We were surprised that we liked Greece much more than Italy (though we did enjoy Rome).
• If you are a Starbucks coffee mug collector, there is a Starbucks in Heraklion. There I got the Greece Mug and Mug Ornament as well as the Athens Mug (they had it there). In Mykonos, I made a loooonng uphill hike to the Starbucks there to get the Mykonos mug.

If you are on the fence about doing this cruise, I'd absolutely say do it. It is an amazing itinerary. We were supposed to do this in 2020, but, well, you know... So glad we went. We will go back, though next time we will probably either just fly in and stay on the Islands or maybe do a cruise out of Athens that just goes to the islands.

 

[Intr3pid]

Irish Trio in O’Gills, same

Known as the Revelers, by any chance? We had them on our Baltic and Norway cruises in 2019.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Greece was mind blowing, we loved it. For excursions:

• Katakolon-explored on our own, Greek Technology Museum and Taverna Jimmy
• Heraklion- Archeological Museum and free time booked via DCL
• Athens-Acropolis Climb, Museum and Art Museum booked via DCL
• Santorini-Sailed and swam Caldera booked via DCL
• Mykonos-explored on our own, beach and shopping

The only 8 hour excursion was the Acropolis, the others were basically half days. I would keep to that. There is so much to see, the full day excursions can kinda hamstring your day. Plus we were dead tired after the HOT day climbing the acropolis but it was AMAZING. Our pictures are honestly not to be believed. So amazing to experience.

Oh! Please post your pictures! I have been trying to get on this cruise. This year we backed out as we didn't want to test to get on, last 2 were cancelled. We are very hopeful at this point to be on this cruise next year. Great info! Who did you book the golf cart tour in Rome with?

 

[Buzzster]

Hmmm…not great at pic posts. Let me see

 

[tidefan]

Oh! Please post your pictures! I have been trying to get on this cruise. This year we backed out as we didn't want to test to get on, last 2 were cancelled. We are very hopeful at this point to be on this cruise next year. Great info! Who did you book the golf cart tour in Rome with?

I think you were asking me about the golf cart tour. It was through Viator, but there are a number of companies that do it.

Pictures:

 

[tidefan]

Katakolon:

 

[tidefan]

Crete:

 

[tidefan]

Athens:

 

[tidefan]

Santorini:

 

[tidefan]

Mykonos:

 

[tidefan]

More Mykonos:

 

[tidefan]

Naples:

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Naples:
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Thank you, thank you tidefan! Your pictures are truly amazing! Just makes me more excited and hopeful that we will be in these same spots next year. Looks like an amazing time. Welcome home!

 

[PezRuth]

Is #tonyfromspain on the Magic? Had him as the host for games/trivia etc on the Magic a few years ago and he was great. Hoping he is back on the Magic when she comes to NY in the fall.

He was but he is now (or about to be) on the Fantasy. And also given his promotion he isn't doing a lot of interfacing with games/trivia. His big thing is Bingo.

 

[Buzzster]

Love those pics. Such cool experiences

 

[mrp4352]

He was but he is now (or about to be) on the Fantasy. And also given his promotion he isn't doing a lot of interfacing with games/trivia. His big thing is Bingo.

He was on the Fantasy in January - absolutely loved him at Bingo!!

 

[whatlevelisthis]

I was on the same sailing as you! I just posted my thoughts on a separate thread reviewing the cruise from a DCL vs. other cruise lines perspective. Overall I had a fantastic time too.

A question for others on this same sailing--- did you feel like the crew and the servers in the dining room felt "new"? Our assistant server said half of the crew onboard the Magic were on their first contract with DCL. This was my first time on DCL so I didn't have any basis to compare it to.

 

[Buzzster]

Looking forward to reading your review!!!

As for servers, our dining servers were seasoned and rotating out. Room steward changed mid-cruise.