PRE-CRUISE: Our trip included 4 days in Athens before departure with an included tour of the Acropolis and Parthenon. We felt that the paid tour of Sounion was not really worth the cost and we didn't go on the paid tour of Delphi because of the long bus ride required. We very much enjoyed exploring the City of Athens on our own. OK, the shopping was truly the fun part for me and I think my husband enjoyed some of it as well. We also saw the Acropolis museum and ate twice at a small street-side eatery with a view of the Parthenon.

We were met by David Price, our excellent tour director from Trafalgar/Insight, on Friday afternoon before the cruise. He rounded up the rest of our relatively small group at other area hotels and escorted us to the ship. The ship left Lavrion port rather than Pireaus and we were told that this is standard, unlike what was in the Trafalgar write up. (Turned out that this worked very well for the return airport trip --via Mercedes-- as it was closer. First class, Trafalgar!)

OK, back to the cruise -- our cabin was small, but adequate and we didn't spend much time peering out the two portholes on the 3rd level. We had room for to unpack and hand most of our clothes. Ester, our cabin steward, was very accommodating and we appreciated the fun towel animals that greeted us each evening. The bathroom was small but there was an in-wall cabinet that was very handy and made up for the limited counter space. (I actually felt that the shower was roomier than the narrow tub at the hotel we stayed at in Athens before the cruise.) Read more