Cruse to the Greek Islands

Our latest excursion took us aboard a Norwegian Cruse Line vessel the Norwegian Gem. If you care to check out the ship information you can look here.
We were not sure how the kids would take to a cruse - but simply said I think we will be going on more soon... This trip was to the Greek Islands and I can tell you it was fantastic to see. The beauty, the history the people - even among the Economic turmoil - it was fantastic.
In keeping with tradition, here is a quick route map of our tour.


We flew Ryanair to Venice from Brussels and the ship departed Saturday at 5:00 PM. I was asleep but Pam and the kids tell me the trip out of Venice was beautiful. The sea was glass and the sun was shining so all in all the trip start out great.

Day 1
The first stop was to Split, Croatia. If you've opened the route map from the link above - you can hover over the link under the Itinerary and see some photos and info about Split. You're going to hear me say this a lot - so just be ready- this little city on the sea was beautiful.  We actually took a guided tour and of course the main attraction was the Diocletain's palace.  Tons of history. The photo's of our trip are set to some traditional music from that part of the world.  You can see some pictures here: We thought Europe proper had history you could touch but this is crazy. This palace was for the Roman Emperor Diocletian and was constructed around the fourth century AD. That was cool for a first stop - but it would only get better as we moved on to other islands in Greece. I've never been much of a guided tour person - but I would recommend it here. The history is overwhelming and you would have to do a ton of homework to understand it all as you took it in - but our guide did a great job and the visit was very informative.

Day 2
We woke up the second day at see anchored off the island of Corfu. Frankly, we did not see a lot of the island - because we had set up a little excursion on the north side of the island. Horseback ridding. We drove from the port to a small sea side community and spent the day on the back of horses. Actually it was a nice afternoon. The horses behaved, for the most part, so it was not as painful as Austin and I had imagined. :) When the riding day was over, it was back to this ship in a hurry so that Austin could continue to compete in his Free Throw competition and so the rest of us could relax on deck. The Gem departed at around 6PM that night and we would be at sea for nearly another 24 hours. I must say that we all had good fun while we were aboard. The food was good, the service was nice and there was plenty for us to do. Pam, Alex and I spent some time in the SPA and Austin got some quality time on the B-Ball court. And then the fun of shipboard BINGO would begin - for the rest of the cruse...

Day 3
One of my favorite stops of the trip. At 4:00PM we were aboard tenders again off to see the island of Santorini. What a beautiful place. This little island is fantastic and worth a weekend stay for sure. You can see details in the photos and video - but the highlight of this trip is how you choose to get "up" to the city from the Old Port. You have three choices. #1 - Walk - and it's a long way up. #2 You can take a "ski lift" and #3 - you can ride the Donkeys up the hill. Guess which one we chose? Of course... Donkeys it was. It's simple, you wait in a long line board the Donkey and sit back and hope he makes it up the hill. Alex and Austin were on one together - Pam and I went solo. I feel for those animals, it's a long way up the hill alone not to mention with people on your back..Back to the ship for dinner and a show and we were setting sail for Mykonos.

Day 4
Today we woke up in the port of Mykonos. Another great spot in Greece. The kids had enough of getting up early so they stayed in bed. Pam and I boarded a tender to look around the sea side town. We did not stay long. The town is a maze of streets that bend all over town. It's quite a tourist spot. We avoided a guided so I suspect we missed anything of real interest on the island. This was a bit of an unwind day for us. Mostly some shopping and we were back on board by around noon. The rest of the day was up on deck soaking up the sun, playing basketball, reading and lounging around.

Day 5
We woke up at 7:00AM docked in Irakilon, Crete. We had a guided tour planned of the Palace of Knossos. You can see information about the city here . Let me just say that during our stay we have seen some awesome historical sites, but for me, and I believe Alex, this site has been on top. We are talking about visiting an archeological find from a place that was first built in 1900 B.C. - Yea B.C. It would be spectacular to just visit and see, but we had the treat of a fantastic tour guide. Like very few, as she took us through time - she weaved a perfect story that culminated in an understanding of the possible reality behind the myth of the Minotaur. She was just incredible.  I believe her style was unique because you could tell she had spent years studying the history of the site, the people and the myths and not only could articulate the 'official" version - she perfectly layered in her own conclusions, was sure to make us understand that this was her view, and tied the story together like so very few guides can do. For sure  you can do some of your own research. Look here for starters.  But this is a must see - for sure.  Plan of 3-4 hours at least. I wish I could find the details of the tour guide. If I do I will update the post. Regardless, if you are at all interested in history and specifically Greek history this is a must do. Don't be cheep here. Pay for a guide and soak it up. It was great.

Day 6
This was a long awaited sea day. No ports - no stops, just one full day at sea. We had a good time here too. The best part of a cruse is just doing whatever you want. Sleep in, go eat, workout, walk around the deck, sit high on deck and just take in the sea around you, play cards, visit the SPA, climb the rock wall.... whatever. The day went by pleasantly slow and I think everyone had a great time. It was almost sad when the evening fell. We enjoyed our last dinner on board, said goodbye to all the folks that had taken such good care of us on the journey, visited the card room for our last evening of Cribbage, had a final drink and headed back to the State room to pack. By 8:00AM he next morning we were in port in Venice again ready to jump back to normal life....

Pam and I were not sure how the family would feel about the cruse when we started, but by now we are planning our next one on the Med and potentially a Baltic trip. It's a great way to take in a lot in one week -frankly. We were surprised.  A big thank you to NCL - they did an great job, we are sure to return.

A quick movie of the Donkey ride and some photos, as usual, follow.