Athens – Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Our arrival was a little later than usual since the ferries have priority for berthing in the harbor in Piraeus.  We got tied up at the dock about 9:15 so it gave us a little breathing room this morning! 

We were off the ship by 9:30 and met our guide, Rania, who whisked Betty, Don, the Commodore and I to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.  It was about an hour drive along the beautiful Greek coastline which at times reminded me of the Pacific Coast and the Amalfi road.  Simply beautiful and, gratefully, the weather was again ideal.  Clear blue skies and temperatures in the middle 70’s with a nice breeze.  Couldn’t have been more perfect!

Michele and Tom had a Princess Tour to the city of Athens and got to climb the Acropolis and spend time at the Parthenon (with a few hundred school children on field trips!).  They also had time to visit and shop in the Plaka.  Traffic was bad and they were glad to be on a Princess tour since their bus arrived “late”!  Whew!

So, other than our last day in Venice and a sea day tomorrow this cruise is coming to an end!  It’s been nice to be on a brand new ship but I won’t be in a hurry to book this size ship again.  There are 3500+ passengers and at least 1500 crew aboard.  Even though the ship is well designed and you never feel the crowds in the public spaces, it just feels overwhelmingly large.  I like the center Piazza and all the room there, though.  The lack of a central staircase has a huge impact on the central bank of elevators because they are always busy.  You can spend 10 minutes waiting for an elevator and the people who insist on riding up or down one floor don’t help!  Don’t know how or if they’ll ever be able to make that better.  If I do end up on one of these ships again you can be sure I’ll be near the front or back stairways.

We’re going to miss our waiter, Luis!  He has been such a delight and is going to “fix us up” with a friend of his on the Emerald!  Maybe that will work out….

A bit of excitement on the pier today!  Witnessed a screaming match between a couple!  Delightfully funny!  Lots of  yelling! Heehee!  On a sad note someone was taken off in an ambulance followed by a car with all their luggage.  Hope the Greek hospitals are good!

All for tonight! 

XOXOXO

M