Nautica Review

5.0 / 5.0
399 reviews

First-Time Cruisers Excellent Aegean Adventure

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Nautica
User Avatar
CintiPam
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Sep 2008
Cabin: Ocean View (obstructed view)

Personal Background and Travel Interests: Husband Gerry and I both are 57, and began taking annual fall vacations to Europe after our younger child started college. We both are business attorneys (I now am retired, G. remains working full-time), and both are very interested in history and art. G. is a military history enthusiast, with less interest in natural beauty destinations, and he absolutely abhors shopping, which he believes wastes precious touring time. I am a new docent at the Cincinnati Art Museum, so I am eager to visit any art-related sights on our trips. We usually take a fall vacation to Europe (to avoid both the heat and the crowds), and trips in the past few years were all land trips: Spain, England/Belgium/The Netherlands, Italy, and, last year, Normandy/Loire Valley/Paris. All of these trips were done independently, by train and bus, using the wonderful Rick Steves' practical and comprehensive guidebooks for sightseeing advice. (We rented a car for the Normandy/Loire Valley part of last year's trip.) We enjoy staying at small hotels and B&B's in preference to large or chains, and usually rely on the tripadvisor.com website for lodging recommendations when we travel, both in the US and abroad, and it has steered us well. Why Our First Cruise and Why We Chose Oceania: When G. indicated he wanted to visit Istanbul and some Greek islands, he decided we needed to cruise because he simply did not want to lug suitcases on and off ferryboats and worry about their changing schedules. We looked at Windstar, but after a seasickness experience I had last summer with my sister while on a ferry going from Copenhagen to Oslo, I looked around on the tripadvisor website and read about the 684-passenger Oceania ships. We thought the size was terrific, and heard the food was good and beds comfy. When their 2009 catalog arrived at our home in mid-May, G. was impressed with their itinerary for a Greek island cruise, checked weather reports for the fall months, decided on a September cruise and then contacted our long-time travel agent, who also had no familiarity with Oceania. Well, we were lucky to get a cabin at all in late May for a September cruise, but after a week, our lowest waiting listed cabin category became available, and we signed up.

Airlines and Flights: Cincinnati is a Delta hub, which means we have the most expensive airfare in the US, and 95% of the flights are on Delta. Well, after a terrible experience last summer with Delta at JFK while going to and from Stockholm with my sister (delayed flights, cancelled flights, overnight at the airport on the way back, lost luggage both ways, etc.), I will do almost anything to avoid flying overseas through JFK (or any of the three NYC airports for that matter), so we ended up booking at a savings of several hundred dollars each over the Oceania flights, with USAir through Philadelphia both ways. In all fairness, I should point out that some of that considerable airfare savings came because we switched plans in Frankfurt on the way to Istanbul rather than flying directly from the US although the flight back from Athens went directly to Philadelphia. I was pleasantly surprised by our USAir experience both to Istanbul and back from Athens. The seats were more comfortable than on Delta (more padding), the food was edible, and all of our flights (five in all) were on-time.

Vacation Itinerary: Oceania's 12- Day Aegean Adventures voyage: Istanbul, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Rhodes, Delos/Mykonos, Santorini, Katakolon (Olympia), Corfu/Sarande, Dubrovnik, Athens, with two sea days at beginning and end, plus an overnight on the ship at the embarkation and debarkation ports of Istanbul and Athens. Due to rough seas, we were unable to tender at Delos and Mykonos, and instead diverted to Milos, an island further south, which we were told Nautica had never before visited. We spent three extra nights at a hotel before boarding in Istanbul and two extra nights at a hotel after disembarking in Athens. Because I had perused Rick Steves' Istanbul, I knew I wanted at least four days there pre-cruise, and we decided to have three days for Athens, with the first day while still aboard available for a daytrip from Piraeus port to either Mycenae/Epidauros or Aegina if we felt so inclined, not knowing how tired we would be after the end of such a port-intensive cruise. (We ended up spending most of that day at the National Archaeological Museum.)

Cabin Review

Ocean View (obstructed view)

Cabin E

Conveniently near staircase and elevators, but quiet. Very small cabin, yet with a large picture window, excellent storage space and barely obstructed view.

previous reviewnext review

Find a Nautica Cruise from $1,399

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.