To experience the Greek Islands, we chose a tour from Celestyal Cruises, the 7 Night “Idyllic Aegean.” We had looked forward to sharing this cruise experience with Ann and John, but John was not yet cleared of his Covid infection, so they stayed behind in Athens. We would meet them again, after the cruise, to continue our travels together in Spain.
Since Sara and I haven’t really cruised before, this was a new experience. Having little to no internet access for a week had its pros and cons. It made for a relaxing week. Sara even read two books! We enjoyed beautiful weather, explored fascinating Greek islands and were dazzled by many beautiful sunsets.
Our home for the week, the Celestyal Crystal, is a smaller ship with a capacity of 1200, but only 500 guests onboard. It looks rather small when docked alongside those larger ships that carry thousands. Food was generally good and occasionally excellent, while service was great, always pleasant and helpful. Each evening offered a different show combining music, dance and acrobatics. There were plenty of activities on board the ship, three restaurants, five bars to provide your drinks, and a choice of guided excursions in each port.
Our favorite spot was on Deck 5 at the rear of the ship, on the left side, to avoid the smokers on the right. We never used the small hot tub there, but we regularly enjoyed drinks, both alcoholic and not, from the very attentive bar tenders there. It was a great place to relax, read a book, or visit with new friends while appreciating beautiful weather and the gorgeous Aegean Sea.
1st Stop: Thessaloniki – This is a major city at the north end of the Aegean Sea. It’s a major port and the second largest city in Greece, the capital of Macedonia. In recent years it has become a busy tourist destination, noted for its historical features and nightlife. But we had only five hours here, time for a walk up the harbor shore and a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus around town.
2nd Stop: Kuşadası is a large seaside resort town on the Aegean coast of Turkey. It’s a lovely modern resort, with plenty of restaurants, shopping and entertainment, but a major attraction is its proximity to Ephesus. Most of our fellow cruisers gladly joined the excursion, included free with our cruise, to this remarkable archeological site. But Sara and I had seen Ephesus less than two weeks ago (on our fabulous Turkey tour with two great guides), so we chose to sit this stop out in Kuşadası. We walked the market, shopped a bit, found some lunch, and then enjoyed coffee and WIFI at a Starbucks near the port. A pleasant day in port.
3rd Stop: Rhodes One of the larger islands in the Mediterranean, Rhodes sits just eleven miles from the southern shore of Turkey. Not surprisingly, its history is long and complicated. Over the years, it’s been ruled by Mycenaean Greeks, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and the Byzantine empire. During the crusades it was home to the Knights Hospitaller until they were sent packing in 1522 by Suleiman the Magnificent, initiating four centuries of Ottoman rule. In 1912 Italy took Rhodes. After WWII it went briefly to Britain and then finally, in 1947, to an independent Greece.
- From the city of Rhodes, our excursion took us to the village of Lindos. Off the bus we walked through narrow twisting streets and up the paths to higher ground, the Acropolis of Lindos. Above the village are the medieval walls built by the Crusaders in the 14th century. Climbing further up, (we skipped the donkey rides) we find a large terrace with some ancient columns still standing, and up more steps, atop the hill is the Temple of Lindia Athena and remarkable 360 ° views over sea and land.
- After busing back to the city of Rhodes, our guide led us through the well-preserved Medieval Old Town, a World Heritage Site. This was a great excursion through some terrific sights. But this large island has so much more to offer if only we had time to explore. We wish we had a few days here.
4th Stop: Heraklion, a city named for Herakles (Hercules), is the capital of Crete, an even larger island than Rhodes, and a very ancient cradle of Greek civilization. We chose not to join the offered excursions. With only five hours ashore, we walked from the port into the city and found a sidewalk café where we could enjoy breakfast and watch people enjoy a lovely, sunny day. We could have easily spent a week exploring this island. It’s a hard choice when only in a port for 5 hours – get on a bus for a specific excursion or walk through the town. We consider this an exploratory trip of places we’d like to return for a longer visit.
5th Stop: Santorini seems to be THE best known and most popular Greek island. On tourist advertising, Santori’s whitewashed houses and bright blue domes compete with the Athenian Acropolis for the attention. It truly is beautiful and amazing! The port sits at the bottom of a very steep climb, 600+ steps to reach the village of Fira at the top. We wimped out on the climb, thanks to the cable car! With a good eight hours through the evening, we had time to explore Fira’s lovely, tourist-oriented shops.
All the Greek islands enjoy amazing sunsets, and we’ve enjoyed them every day. We decided to “pair” our Santorini sunset with a wine tasting. We reserved a table at Santo Winery – considered one of the best sunset spots – and sampled 10 Greek wines. The wine, the tasty meat and cheese board, and the gorgeous setting, enhanced by another fantastic sunset: in Greece, life is good.
6th Stop: Mykonos. We enjoyed walking this lovely town’s beautiful beaches and whitewashed buildings, so picturesque against the beautiful blue sky. We stopped for a drink at “Little Venice” where the buildings — including homes, shops, and restaurants – all rise right out of the blue Mediterranean waters. Mykonos is also known for its picturesque windmills, originally built by the Venetians in the 16th century. Four such windmills stand in a row along a hill just up from the beach and the village.
7th Stop: Milos, where the famous Venus de Milo was discovered (it’s now in the Louvre) was our last island stop. And this was our favorite, largely because our ten hours onshore allowed time to explore on our own. Along with another couple from South America (Argentina?) we took an Uber up the hill to Plaka, the island’s capital. From there we hiked further up to find the 13th century fortress built by the Venetians. From this viewpoint, we enjoyed a 360° around the entire island. At the peak we met another couple, hikers from England. Walking back down, we shared travels stories and then stopped for coffee & tea in Plaka. Heading back down to the harbor, we found a great seaside restaurant for a lovely meal before returning to the ship. This is our idea of a great travel day.
Is Cruising the way we want to travel: Our first real cruise, sampling Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. What could be better? So how did we like it?
What’s great about a Cruise? You sign up, pay all-inclusive cost, and they take care of you. No need to plan or worry about anything else. You have a choice of onboard restaurants where meals are provided, and many offer a package providing unlimited drinks. The ships are lovely, with lots of activities, pools, games, bars, a shop, and lectures, plus amenities like massage parlors and workout gyms. You make friends sharing meals in the restaurants. And each evening there is live entertainment in a theater/lounge. We can even understand why some cruisers don’t even go ashore: they’re perfectly happy with the “all inclusive” cruise. At ports along the way, you can go it alone or join a planned excursion with a bus and a guide to help you see the most in your few hours ashore. Excursions usually cost, but in our cruise two great excursions were included at no extra charge. Your ship is like a hotel and your room is yours for the whole trip; no luggage and transfers, no buses, trains or planes from place to place, even though you hit many ports and see fantastic sights. For many tourists, a cruise provides everything they want at a great price.
So what’s not to like? We’ve enjoyed lots of travel prior to this trip. And we’ve come to appreciate having time to stay in a spot, to eat in their restaurants and sample real local food, to meet and talk with the locals. We want to see the usual tourist sites, for sure, but we also want to also sample the local culture. We love to walk the European “Old Town” sections, to learn about their history, to get lost in the narrow winding streets. Ten hours in port doesn’t allow for this. It’s designed for those who are glad to see the famous sites, take their selfies, drink the coffee or wine, and get back on board for dinner and a show at night. Our most disappointing day on this cruise was in Heraklion, Crete. With only five hours ashore we couldn’t explore and tap into the culture or history of this island. Quick tourist sights and selfies don’t satisfy what we want out of our travel. We enjoyed the cruise, but it’s not what we most want from our travel. To put it briefly, too much time onboard, too little time in destination. We’ve talked about revisiting the Greek Islands, but when we do, we’ll select our islands, take the ferries from one to another, and stay on each island for at least three nights, giving us a few full days to expore.
