Deciding to go on the cruise
My parents had been talking about a Mediterranean cruise for years, and the Greek Islands were somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. They finally booked their tickets, and I was determined to go. I began my quest to find someone to accompany me so I could actually afford it. My good friend from college ending up being the lucky duck, so started planning for the trip to make place at the end of May. The route was Venice, Italy → Dubrovnik, Croatia → Kusadasi, Turkey → Santorini, Greece → Katakolon, Greece → Venice, Italy. We decided to fly into Rome, explore for 2 days, and then train up to Venice to depart on the ship.
About the ship
Upon arriving on the ship, one thing was obvious – there are not a lot of twenty or thirty somethings that go on Mediterranean cruises. The majority of people were probably in their fifties (along with my parents). We anticipated it being a relatively calm, relaxing vacay. My dad, Ryan, and myself ended up purchasing an all you can drink package for the entire week. It turned out to be a fantastic idea! My dad isn’t even a big drinker, but it really helped him relax and enjoy a bloody mary whenever he wanted one. There were two days at sea, those were the days the drink packages paid off the most. You could just sit by the pool, read a book, casually sipping on pina coladas and Miami vices.
Every other day we would get off the ship around 7 or 8 am, explore a new city, and get back on the boat around 5 pm. The whole experience was so relaxing – all of your accommodations are already taken care of. You don’t have to unpack and repack at every destination, and the boat is just as fun as the destinations. Basically, I thought of the cruise as a sampler pack. All of the destinations peaked my interest, and this gave me a taste test if I wanted to go back for a lengthier visit. Now onto the destinations:
Colosseum in Rome, Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Absolutely stunning. I wished I had more time here and am absolutely planning to return at some point. This is where the King’s Landing scenes are filmed for Game of Thrones, and that’s what it feels like inside the confines of old town. There were so many hidden alleyways, coastal bars, nooks & crannies, and fantastic cafes scattered throughout the city. And let me just say, Croatians are beautiful. We hiked around the coastline for a bit and spent some time at a mini beach. We had a few beers at the coastal bar and ate amazing food at a café inside old town.
Cliffside Bar in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kusadasi, Turkey
As soon as we got off the ship, dozens of men were pushing people to take a taxi ride. There were a few sites to see right off the ship, but the main attraction is Ephesus – which is a 15 minute drive from the dock. The men were very pushy about taking people to Ephesus and back, the first people we saw said they would take us there and back for 100 euros. We weren’t exactly sure what our game plan was, so we (tried to) politely decline, but the men wouldn’t take no for an answer, they would follow us for 20-30 yards before giving up.
This kept happening with about 5 or 6 men, each time the price went down, before we found a little peace down the road from the ship at a coastline attraction. We were approached again, but this time the man was relatively quiet, not aggressive, and offered the ride for 40 euros. We finally agreed, figuring we should head over there at some point in the day.
Exploring Ephesus
We drove to Ephesus, he asked how long we would be, and told us he would be waiting by the exit when we were finished. Unfortunately, we told him an hour, but we easily could’ve spent 3-4. We found him when we were finished, and he said lunch was included in our taxi ride (what?!), so we took us to a restaurant in downtown Ephesus. There was no menu, we all sat down (including our driver) and ate delicious Turkish food. We ordered beers and paid for those, but didn’t pay for the lunch as he said. After lunch, he said he would give us a Turkish rug making tour, also included in our taxi fare.
This is starting to sound too good to be true. We get to the Turkish rug store/factory, and get a tour from the owner. He speaks excellent English and is generally very charismatic, so we listen with respect and genuine interest. We definitely should’ve seen this coming, but he brought us up to a large room on the top level and shut all of the doors – so it was only us, the owner, and hundreds of Turkish rugs.
He begins unrolling all of the rugs and asking which one we want to buy – the uncomfort radiating from us was palpable. Each of us were trying to steer the conversation to a close but the owner was persistent. Eventually we said we were not buying anything but we appreciated his time, and his demeanor immediately changed. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation, and I would definitely recommend being very upfront when walking into a rug shop.
Overlooking Kusadasi, Turkey
Santorini, Greece
It’s even better than how you imagine it. The landscape is so magnificent, I felt like it wasn’t real life. We pulled up in a massive cruise ship – which cannot be accommodated in a small island like Santorini. We were shuttled via smaller boats to and from the island. There were three options to get from the Cliffside up to the city of Oia. 1) walk (nope), 2) take a donkey ride, 3) ride the lifts. We opted for option three – which was slightly terrifying. Ryan and I are both engineers, and we couldn’t help but think of all the ways it could fail us. However, it operated as it should and was clearly designed efficiently, because we got up and down safely!
The streets of Santorini are unique and breathtaking – we spent the day walking around Oia, took a (also slightly terrifying) bus ride down to the black sand beach, took in some sun, and eventually made our way back to the ship.
Oia, Santorini, Greece
Katakolon, Greece
This was a completely different feel of Greece than Santorini. Katakolon is home to Olympia, where the first Olympic games were held. Olympia was about an hour bus ride from where the cruise dropped us off, so we got to see some of the Greek countryside. It wasn’t a great time in Greece when we were there, the trash pick up companies were on strike. There were massive piles of garbage all along the roads. We toured Olympia for awhile, it was interesting but not someplace I consider a ‘must-see.’ We went to a winery close by Olympia, it had amazing views and the people were lovely, but again – not a ‘must-see.’
