Blog of "Treasures of the Mediterranean" tour/cruise, May 2-11, 2024
Judy and I just finished the Treasures of the Mediterranean tour/cruise. You can see our blog of the trip at
https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2024-2Athens-01.htm
It was a decent trip, but not one of my top-10. Judy was more positive about it.
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Comments
Thank you Mike! I enjoyed your Greek tour with my coffee this morning, a lovely way to start the day and no packing or jet lag. Many thanks.
Mike - I started to read your blog (will return to it shortly) but after just getting into your Athens arrival at the Grand Bretagne hotel I had to come back to the forum with a sense of deja vu.
Mike Furillo was our Tour Director when we took this tour in 2011. There were also demonstrations in front of the hotel during our stay. I think the Greeks must like to demonstrate. During our demonstrations they actually closed the steel shutters over the front windows of the hotel for a period of time. Within a couple of hours things returned to normal.
Here is a picture of our group photo, taken in Istanbul. You can see Mike Furillo front and center. Two rows above Mike and a little to the right (blond hair) is Robin Tauck.
Enough of the deja vu for now, back to the blog.
Mike - Question about Mykonos. During our visit in 2011 there was a well known local, Pete the Pelican. There had been several generations of Pete. Pete just wandered around the town. I was just wondering if there is still a Pete the Pelican in Mykonos.
Mike - After reading through your blog, it definitely makes AlanS's comment in your other thread about this trip vs the older itinerary that included Rhodes, Bodrum, and Istanbul more true. From you blog it seems like you only got 2/3 of the trip that we got on the older itinerary. Besides the three stops mentioned, we did stop and see the Corinth Canal.
Mike - Wonderful blog and pictures, brought back many memories, have to look at my Greece and Turkey photo album now.
@Smiling Sam Let me see if I can cover the points you mentioned.
Your Istanbul group picture did not show up on the thread. I'd like to see that. I think Michael had one or more of the Tauck family on a tour of Egypt that he did. I received a private note from someone that mentioned that (I won't mention the person's name).
I didn't see Pete the Pelican and no one mentioned him. I'm sure I would have taken a picture of him if I came in contact with him.
Yes, I think we missed a few places that earlier versions of the tour got to see. It's not a good commentary when the dinner at Ephasus was the highlight. There just should have been some other really great places to see and visit. I especially would have liked to see the Corinth Canal.
Mike - I edited my above post to include the group photo. I'm two to the left of Robin Tauck in the photo. That's the only time I haven't been in the back row of a group photo. 😂
Here's a picture of the Corinth Canal. We only saw it from the top. We made a bus stop for that purpose.
If you haven't seen Istanbul, I believe it is worth finding another tour that allows you to visit it. You can easily spend three or more days there.
@Smiling Sam Thanks for the clarifications. I've been to Istanbul a couple of times on non-Tauck tours. The most recent was in 2022. I agree there's a lot to see there.
I haven't commented before, but I noticed that in several of the threads, people have lamented the fact that Tauck no longer visits Istanbul. I wanted to point out that on the Tauck website, there is a small ship tour beginning in 2025 called Aegean Voyage: Athens to Istanbul, which includes three nights in Istanbul, and also includes a stop in Bodrum, among other places.
EricNJ - Good point. The tour you cite is much closer to the original tour. It spends a few days in Istanbul. This tour actually transits the Corinth Canal, not just stops at the top of it for a photo op like the original tour. It appears that they swapped the Corinth Canal transit for the stop at Rhodes in the original tour. It's great that Tauck is returning to Istanbul.
That tour/cruise looks like a better itinerary than the cruise we took.
Looks like a nicer ship, also, with larger staterooms.
I guess there are always trade-offs. With the above itinerary they trade Nafplion and Mycenae for a big ditch, but then add Delphi!! How about an itinerary that includes the Aegean Voyage sites plus Rhodes, Crete(?), Nafplion, Mycenae, and Olympia. You could also visit Mycenae and Delphi by bus excursion from Athens. How about swapping Santorini for Naxos in the heavy season? Unfortunately there is too much overlap if you try to cover everything by taking two different cruises.
I have an interest in "big ditches" and would love to sail through the Corinth Canal. That would probably be enough reason for me to take that 2025 cruise. But, as you said, there's too much overlap with what we've already done.