A year ago, 4 couples decided to cruise the Ionian and Adriatic Seas from Athens to Venice on the Star Pride. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate the 60th birthday of one of ladies. The Birthday Girl was familiar with the Wind Star Line, so the rest of us joined in. We arrived in Athens on July 3rd, checking into the St. George Lycabettus Hotel (recommended by Wind Star) at around 3pm. The hotel was in a beautiful neighborhood on the side of Lycabettus Hill. The hotel staff was very accommodating, and without much difficulty we made our way to our rooms. Our room was a little dated, but comfortable. The shower was absolutely horrible, but we managed. Our friends had good showers, so it appeared that we were just unlucky. Any disappointment vanished when we looked out of our window. There is all its glory was the city of Athens including a front row seat of the Acropolis. Wow! The same goes for the restaurant at the top of the hotel. Wind Star was fully represented at the hotel. We registered with one of their representatives, and we simply had to have our luggage ready to go by 9 am on July 6th. Two buses arrived at around noon, picked us up and along with our bags, we headed to the ship.

We arrived at the port after a short drive through Athens. When we arrived, we went through a security check and boarded the Star Pride. We turned over our passports, credit card info, received room keys and made our way to Cabin 219 on Deck 5. Our friends were close by. We had a Balcony Suite. It was absolutely wonderful with King bed, large bathroom with double sinks and full shower/bath, and a very comfortable sitting area with TV. DVD, Boise sound system, and minibar. The cabin had a walk-in closet with plenty of space for clothes. Our suitcases fit under the bed. We toured the ship on our own after a mandatory life boat muster in order to check things out. Before we knew it, we were at sea!

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