Athens to Celestyal Journey Cruise

This morning we had an easy morning in the apartment getting packed up and ready to head to our cruise aboard the Celestyal Journey to begin our 7 day adventure. A Greek Island cruise was on mom’s bucket list which led us to taking this family trip.

Christof picked us up for the 30 minute ride to the port. There were several larger cruise ships docked along with two very large sailboats.

Boarding process was very quick and we made it to our suites very quickly. The suites are very nice and roomy with a large balcony. Mom and Dad are next door to Pam and I. The Journot’s and Hapner’s are on the opposite side of us. We split them up that way so that we’d always have a view of land no matter which side we docked on.

We settled in quickly and went to the Smoked Olive for lunch. This restaurant is reserved for suite guests. The food selection was varied and quite good. I had an avocado salad, lasagna and a cake dessert with raspberry sauce.

Afterwards David, Janet and I decided to walk the ship. We have a sun deck at the highest level of the ship that is reserved for suite guests. There’s a pickleball and basketball court on the same deck. At the spa, they gave us a tour….very nice. We have access to an area that has mosaic tiled heated chairs with a jacuzzi and steam room. The chairs look hard but they fit my back well and felt really good. I will be trying these out later for sure!

At 4:00 we had to don our life vests and go to our muster station. After a lot of standing around we headed back to our rooms to return the life vests. Mike, Diane, David, Janet and I went to the Sail Away Party on Deck 12 in the Disco. It had advertised a free drink for everyone but instead was free flowing with the waiters coming by our tables quite frequently! Diane took one for the team and left early to go listen to the presentation on what the ship had to offer and excursions while we watched the ship leave port.

We all went to dinner. Afterwards Mike, Diane and I went to the amphitheater for the ABBA show. The singing was good but the dancing was a bit stiff.

Thankfully the beds in our rooms are quite comfy compared to the ones that were in our Athens apartment. Time for bed!Read more