March 26, 2012:
This morning we got up around 6:00 a.m. After getting ready for the day, we went down to breakfast in the hotel dining room. It was a wonderful buffet breakfast: all types of eggs, meats, vegetables, mushrooms, potato patties, different breads, cheeses, coldcuts, smoked salmon, coffee, tea, and several juices! The peach juice was fabulous!!! After breakfast we milled around outside for a few minutes before boarding the bus and heading to the Port of Piraeus to board the cruise ship.
There was a lot of graffitti in Athens:
Here was our hotel: The Radisson Park Hotel
The lounge in the hotel
After standing in line for quite awhile to get checked in, we were able to board the Louis Cristal (cruise line out of Malta) for our 4 night Greek Isle cruise.
We were pleasantly surprised at how large our cabin was! Our luggage was already in our room by the time we got there. After settling into our rooms, we met with Bianca, our personal guide on the ship, to go over things we will be doing and seeing.
We had a lifeboat drill shortly after boarding; yeah, that was fun...
Port of Piraeus
The ship started cruising around 11:00 a.m. Brenda and I ate lunch just before noon. It was quite yummy - a buffet.
Brenda and myself ready for a fun cruise!
Photos of our ship, the Louis Cristal. It was a small cruise ship:
the pool (uh, yeah, not very big)
The Traviata Casual Dining room where we ate most of our meals:
After lunch, we took a short nap. Then it was time for a meeting with the cruise director who told us how everything works on a cruise ship. We also heard a bit about the excursions that were available. We also met with Brother David (the leader of our tour group) and he talked about how all we are going to see relates to the travels of Saint Paul.
View from the large window in our cabin:
I was very excited - I did not seem to be getting seasick at all!!! That was something I was a bit worried about. It did not bother me at all!
Pool Deck:
We enjoyed afternoon tea with a couple of ladies in our group as we sailed to the island of Mykonos:
Mykonos is a Greek Island that spans an area of 33 square miles and has a population of 9,300. All the buildings are whitewashed which they redo 3 times a year!
In Greek Mythology, Mykonos was the location of the battle between Zeus and the Titans.
There are cats all over the place. The Greeks do not like them in their houses but have no problem feeding them outside. I do believe they have an over-population of cats!
There are 365 churches on the island! All but one are Greek Orthodox.
The famous Mykonos windmills from the 16 century:
This is called the Little Venice of Mykonos:
"Petros" the pelican has been the official mascot of Mykonos for over 50 years. Of course, it is likely these are the descendents of Petros. Everyone feeds them. They know when the fishermen bring their catch in. They were the biggest pelicans I have ever seen!!
Mykonos was an absolutely gorgeous and charming Greek island. It was a good introduction to our trip! After sunset, we took a shuttle bus back to the ship. Glen and Marsha, a couple in our group, asked us to eat dinner with them. We ate at one of the nice restaurants onboard. They pulled out our chairs and put our napkins in our lap -hmmmm..... Dinner started with a variety of appetizers followed by the main course (I ordered fish). It was very good. Then they brought out to each of us small servings of 3 different desserts. Man, we were full by the end of that meal!
After dinner, we went to the Metropolitan Lounge for a show. It was actually quite awful and we left early. At 10:30 p.m., our ship set sail for the next island. And we headed to bed.
Here is our "puppy" the stewards crafted for us!
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