Eastern Mediterranean Ports

For our June 2012 itinerary aboard the new and luxurious MSC Divina, we sailed out of Venice to Bari, Italy, Katakolon, Greece, Izmir, Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey and Dubrovnik, Croatia. For a 7-night cruise, that is a lot of stops and only one day at sea. However, that is exactly why we chose this itinerary! I must mention that we did enjoy our day at sea and really used this day as a “lazy Sunday”. I spent time reading about the ports and reading port reviews on the individual port websites, the MSC Cruise line website, and my website because we have a contract with Shore Excursion Group (SEG), and cruisecritic.com. I really wanted to know if we would benefit from an organized shore excursion or if we would be better off exploring on our own. After all my research, here are the results:

Bari, Italy~ This southern shore town is an authentic Italian seaside community. Initially, we saw that our cruise line provided a shuttle to the town center and decided to utilize this to get into town and explore on our own. It would have been lovely had it not been a Sunday. All the shops were closed in Old Town. Old Town was the original town center that is nestled behind the walls closing off this portion from the rest of the seaside city. It was a quiet day and we enjoyed walking down the concrete path along the ocean watching the men fishing and showing off their catch. Most of what we saw was octopus. One man stood by the shore banging his octopus on the concrete over and over; we decided he was tenderizing his dinner.

There was a seafood market with men showing off their morning catch and waiting for an offer. We walked through the city to get to the opening into Old Town and stopped at a local food mart for water and a snack and headed back to the ship. We only spent a couple hours walking around and if you are there on a Sunday, I recommend taking an organized excursion or going for a long walk along the ocean. We saw people swimming at a beach in the distance but it looked to be a 2-3 mile walk from the port drop off.

Katakolon, Greece~ Without a doubt we knew we wanted an organized tour to visit the ancient ruins of Olympia to see where the first Olympics were held. We wanted a small group tour and knew that booking through our cruise line would land us in a group of 50 or more, so I researched other companies. When you research companies, make sure they offer a guarantee back to port before purchasing your tour. CruiseOne’s, SEG on my website, did not offer a tour for our itinerary here and I found a lovely tour through Cruising Excursions based in London. They offer a guarantee, fair prices and small group tours. We arrived at the tiny and quiet port and walked out to the main road and found our guides. It was just the four of us in a large van and we had two guides. We drove about 30 minutes to the Olympic site and purchased our entry tickets to the ruins and the museum. It was 11 euro total. Our guide did not enter and we used a map and followed the path reading about each site. This area is peaceful and open to the hot sun but it is surrounded by trees on the perimeter. After touring the grounds, we walked with our guide to the museum and spent an hour looking at the excavated items found at the ancient site.

It was an amazing experience. Outside, the “boys” got a Greek beer as we headed into Katakolon near the port to get our shopping on! We noticed that the stores all had similar items and started to narrow down what we wanted to purchase. Although plentiful, we passed on the olive-branched/toga wearing men and women portraying XXX-rated poses on the coasters and card sets. We did have many laughs though. As we walked down this seaside road toward the port, I realized that I could see myself sitting at one of the small restaurants enjoying a drink watching the water and the scenery.

Although our guide did not escort us into the grounds, she was very knowledgeable about the area and the ancient ruins. Most importantly, we felt safe and enjoyed being able to have conversations with our local guides.

Izmir, Turkey~ After reading port reviews, we knew, without a doubt, that we wanted to be in Ephesus to explore the ancient Roman city and see the current excavation being done on the Terraced Houses. I didn’t spend any time in Izmir but I am sure there are plenty of things to do in this large city. It is an hour drive to Ephesus and we wanted a private tour. Again, we found Cruising Excursions offered the best deal for our itinerary. The port seemed to be in a very busy part of town and we didn’t have to walk far to get to the parking area outside of the terminal. Our driver was waiting with our names on a sign and he walked us down the street to his van. We had two guides and they were very knowledgeable. We learned a lot as we asked many questions on our way out of Izmir toward Ephesus.

Once we arrived, it appeared we were in a country setting that was dry and hilly. Our guide had our tickets to enter the site and we started at the top of the city and worked our way down the main road to the end. Our guide talked with us the whole time and explained the ruins to us and their significance. A little over half-way down, I noticed a large enclosed area off to the side that looked like a tiered glass house. This was the entrance to the Terraced Houses. Tickets must be pre-purchased and they only allow a certain number of entries per day.

Inside, the archeologists were at work. We walked through the maze of rooms up the steep hill on modern-steel staircases giving us amazing views of the excavation being done. This is where the wealthy lived during the BC and early AD years.

We also saw the Temple of Artemis, Saint John’s Basilica and the Virgin Mary House. There were areas to shop for souvenirs and the store men are very persuasive to get you inside. Our next stop was a school that teaches women the art of making Turkish rugs. The manager gave us a tour and we saw the whole process beginning with the removal of the silk from the cocoons to the actual weaving and trimming. We were given traditional Turkish apple tea and lead to the showroom to view the many finished rugs.

After the tour, we made our way back to the port just in time to watch the port in the distance as we sailed away.

Istanbul, Turkey~ I woke up and saw the sunlight coming through the window, opened the balcony door and stood in amazement as we entered the Istanbul port. I was so excited to explore this bustling city where Europe and Asia meet in the land once known and Constantinople! The waterways surrounding the city were busy like a morning commute on a freeway. My senses were on fire with the scenery, sounds, and smells. Istanbul is a city that you could easily spend a week exploring. We had one day to visit and chose a shore excursion combined with some time on our own.

I chose my company’s Shore Excursions Group because, again, we offer small group tours. The port terminal was nestled downtown in a safe and walkable area. Our tour guides were waiting with a sign so we knew we were in the right place. We were in a small bus and there were about 10 people in our group.

Our guides escorted us to The Hagia Sopia, The Blue Mosque, The Hippodrome, and the Grand Bazaar.

We enjoyed the diversity and uniqueness that comes from feeling so far away from home. I will say that these areas are very busy and the Grand Bazaar is so grand, that even my mother and I had met our match and couldn’t handle the massive nature of this shopping venue.

I left with some pillow covers and knew that if I really wanted to tackle the Grand Bazaar, I would need at least three days to walk through this labyrinth of 60 streets and 5,000 stores. We asked the driver to drop us off at the Spice Market after the tour and we would walk home-aka the ship. The organized tour was fantastic and educational but the Spice Market was my favorite!

It was a little bit easier to explore and each booth was full of Turkish delights, overflowing colorful spices, food and novelties arranged as if the shop owners were all artists. We made some lovely purchases and headed out for more adventure. We were surrounded by mosques and, yet, felt comfortable with the diversity of the people. We stopped and listened to the call to prayer on the speakers. We sat by the water and tasted some local treats while people watching.

We walked across the bridge and back to our ship which was visible in the background. This was the most “foreign” of all our port stops but I felt comfortable walking around the city and would love to go back and explore more of this unique area.

Dubrovnik, Croatia~ This was one of my favorite port stops and could be a tie with Istanbul but they are both very different. Dubrovnik is a sleepy sea side town with Italian/Greek architecture, a medieval walled city, clear and warm inviting water and breathtaking views on the mountain tops. Just looking at the landscapes reminded me a bit of Catalina Island or Sausalito except all the homes are the beautiful white stucco with the red-tiled roofs.

After reading about 40 pages of the Dubrovnik Travel Lady’s forum, we knew we wanted to take a taxi to the Old City and take the cable car up the steep mountain for unbelievable views. There are two gates to enter the Old City; we chose the less popular Ploce gate because it was close to the cable car entrance. My parents went shopping in the Old City and my husband and I headed up the mountain. Afterward, we entered the city gate and explored the town. It reminded me of the walled cities in Tuscany.

The narrow alleys were plentiful but not as busy as the main roads (which seemed like large stone walkways) where all the tourists flocked.

As we wondered the walled city, we found ourselves at the main Pile gate and went outside the walls to walk along the water. The water was clear and inviting. I was truly sad I wasn’t wearing my bathing suit. We walked up a small hill for more breathtaking views and saw that there was a swimming area on the other side. We walked through quiet residential area that was clean and felt almost fairy-tale like. Walking through tiny hallways we finally made it to the swimming area. I wasn’t sure if it was private but there were no signs and I felt as if I was in heaven and decided I would take my chances on getting asked to leave (which never happened!) There were about 10 people swimming and I had to get in that water! Rolling up my pant legs, I made the journey to a rock and it was worth it. Just amazing! I could have spent the entire day here.

Their water was so calm and warm and clean. Oh, but how good things must come to an end. We headed back to the walled city and met my parents for a drink and a snack in one of those alleys and then made our way to the taxi stand to head back to the ship. There were some shops at the terminal and once we made another purchase, we headed to our room to watch the view as we left this amazing sea side town that I promised to return to!

Feel free to email me with questions about the Eastern Mediterranean Ports!