As much as I love traveling, I have never done a cruise! The lack of freedom in choosing my own itinerary and traveling with thousands of other passengers sound like a nightmare. I finally had my first cruise experience in Greece, and it wasn't half bad.
Sights visits: the Celestyal Olympia ship
Greece has many islands with varying level of tourism infrastructure, and each of them with its own supporters. It was difficult to narrow down to a few. I wanted to at least independently travel to one popular and one unpopular island. Santorini got the first spot, and after a lot of research, Milos got the second.
However, my dad really wanted to visit Patmos to see the Apocalypse Grotto, and I couldn't visit Greece without seeing Knossos on Crete. First-time visitor to Greece often make the mistake of thinking island hopping would be easy, and soon realized the ferry connections don't always cater to such plans. Air travel is cheap and fast, but every flight goes through Athens and not really suitable for between islands.
Then I found Celestyal Cruise's "4 Day Iconic Aegean" that seemed like the perfect solution. It even stops at Mykonos which I originally gave up for the lack of time! It also let passengers disembark at each port of call, so we arranged to start at Athens and end at Santorini.
After comparing different quotes from different travel agencies and also Celestyal Cruises's official website, I chose Atlantis Travel Agency as they offered the cheapest rate, included one night hotel stay and transfer to Athen's Piraeus port. As described in the last trip report, I would not recommend them. Their communication, after all the payments were made, wanes and often would not answer to my emails. Even though the cruise turned out fine, the money was not worth the stress.
I was not pleased with the hotel they chose with the cruise package either. The breakfast at President Hotel was pretty nasty in addition to all the other disappointments.
It was a huge relieve when our transfer driver did show up in the morning. The relieve didn't last for long though, as I got my cruise tickets from the driver and saw that our names were incorrect. My mom's name became "S.Choi", which sounds Korean and not at all similar to hers. I don't understand how they could have screwed up something so straight forward.
We were driven to Piraeus, Athen's main port where most of ferries and cruises depart and checked in at Celestyal Cruises's desk. The name discrepancy didn't cause too many problems, except I had to go to the reception on the ship to change rooms so my parents stay in one room and I stay in another (yes, Atlantis Travel also messed that up). My mom also was not impressed that she had to be "S.Choi" for four days.
We received our cruise card with name, room number, and port of embarkation/disembarkation. A photo was taken at check-in and stored on the card to ensure identity of the card holder every time we entered the ship.
The ship, called "Olympia", was built in the 80's and had 9 decks, each deck named after a Greek mythological figure. It was bought by Celestyal Cruise (formerly Louis Cruises) and refurbished. It couldn't compare to the luxury gigantic cruises today, but its small size enables it to be docked at tiny Greek Isles ports.
The reception desk deals with embarkation, balances, and general inquiries. September and October were peak cruising seasons and this cruise was full, so the queue could get annoyingly long.
Next to it was the shore excursions desk. I already bought the excursions along with the cruise tickets, but one could also purchase after boarding. While I am not a fan of guided tours, participants do get priority getting off the ship and also have the insurance of getting back on the ship in time.
I preferred the suite-type staterooms located on the top deck of the ship, but they were sold out months prior. I ended up booking an inside stateroom (no windows) at deck 4.
The stateroom was better than I thought. It was small, but sufficient for 1-2 people. The layout of the room made full use of the space.
The room could actually fit 4 people in total by adding top bunks, but I wouldn't recommend such arrangement. When I sleep I could feel the ship's movement a little bit and hear a bit of the anchor noise.
The ship was just revamped in 2013, so everything still looked sparkling new. I became quite fond of my cozy little room.
The program for the next day would be distributed on the pillow the night before, which outlined the port of call, excursions, and recreational activities available on the day.
The embarkation process started at 9:00 AM, and we finally departed Athens at 11:00 AM.
The pool was located at the top deck, with a stage next to it where rumba classes took place.
There were plenty of open deck space at the top three floors to look at the passing scenery.
Each passenger were obligated to participate in the safety drill on the first day. For English speaking guests, we mostly used this "Muses Lounge" as the meeting place. Guests speaking other languages gather in other lounges, so the explanation time could be cut down. The PA system still had to repeat every announcements in six languages though.
As far as dining goes, this cruise was satisfactory. Don't expect the overflowing luxury of all-you-can-eat gourmet, but at least there were enough variety and I had a few very good dishes. The first choice for lunch and dinner would be the main a la carte "Aegean Restaurant".
The server decided where we sit and we always had to combine tables with other guests.
The restaurant would only be open during eating hours, which conveniently worked with the docking time at each port. We had chances to eat on land, but ended up just eating on the ship for all our meals.
Water, coffee/tea were included in the cruise ticket but any other drink cost extra. The menu was basically a three course meal, but not mandatory. We could order however number of each course as we wanted.
I was the most impressed with the appetizers, as I pretty much liked everything I tried.
As for the entrees, I actually enjoyed all the vegetarian dishes. The fishes were a hit-and-miss, and the steak that didn't cost extra was not good. The food served were mostly Greek (and sometimes Turkish?).
The cruise ticket wasn't the most expensive, which translated into a lot of things on board being extra. Menu items like lobster and T-bone steak were extra, but we decided to splurge a bit for one dinner.
The desserts were also very nice, so do save some stomach space for them! Ice cream was a standard item on the menu, and the meringue biscuit at the bottom was great.
I avoid the super sweet traditional Greek desserts, but the best dessert I've had on the ship was this rosewater infused pudding that was not sweet at all.
While looking very similar, this was panna cotta with berry jam and custard.
Buffet style breakfast took place in the same restaurant. Food choices were decent.
If the Aegean Restaurant got full, the guests had the option to go to "Lido Cafe".
Lido Cafe served lunch and dinner, but only in buffet style. The food were not as good, so we always ate at the Aegean Restaurant.
Lido Cafe also had afternoon tea.
We didn't take advantage of the different activities and amenities on the ship as the itinerary was very port-intensive. There were fitness classes, language classes, crafting sessions, and dance parties with themes. A small sized casino and an indoor gym were available for use. The down times that we got we mostly spent on afternoon naps, shopping, and spa. My dad and I playing table tennis on the deck was a fond memory from this cruise experience.
Drinking water was extra on the cruise, and refill at the restaurants were forbidden. We found water fountains at basketball court and also at the gym, so that was pretty handy.
Wi-fi was also extra, and I recommend to buy the 6-hour Wi-fi for best value. The time could be used separately and not in one shot.
The ship had a pianist, Yuri, playing usually at night hours.
Vegetable carving and towel art were showcased to keep the passengers entertained.
My expectations were kept low, knowing that this was an old ship and not a modern cruise. People who had been on luxury cruises might be disappointed, but since this was my first cruise I didn't know any better. I was happy with the cruise as it allowed me to briefly visit some islands, and save the time to explore other islands in more depth.
So, the "Olympia" would be our place to stay for the next four days, stopping at five different ports. Our short stay at each port will be in the next two posts.
