Last month my husband and I took a cruise with a few of our friends. Traveling with friends is so enjoyable. You have people to hang out with, have meals with and play cards with at night. We sailed out of Trieste which is 90 mins northeast of Venice. It's a beautiful and historic city but we spent the 3 days prior in Venice. I could spend a month in Venice and still not see everything.
The cruise itself was wonderful. We booked a balcony cabin then upgraded to a club balcony because of the bigger bathroom. We bid to upgrade to the Haven suites and the aft Penthouse suite and won! It's our 25th anniversary and it was a 9 night cruise. So worth it!
The itinerary started in Trieste then went to Montenegro, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Argostoli, then Dubrovik and Split. We visited a new port every day. While it was exhausting we covered alot of islands and sites.
In Kotor Montenegro we visited Lady of the Lake. An island completely built by hand when a couple of
brothers found a painting of the virgin Mary and on that site built a platform then through the years the townspeople enlarged it and now it has a beautiful church and many things that are brought over by locals.
Corfu was a beautiful island that is still trying to recover from the downturn of tourism. We took a private tour of 2 of the most beautiful waters and beaches in the world.
Santorini I did a hotel site visit because I still have to work. I'll show that in another article. Santorini has a magical vibe. It wants you to sit and just watch the beautiful scenery. The food and shopping was awesome! I had fried calamari and anchovies for dinner as well as a nice spritz. I swear we walked 5 miles that day. The island has so many stairs. We did end up walking down the hill to get back on the ship. Beware of the donkey poop. On a hot day it can get a little ripe.
Athens was extremely hot. Mid May and already 94 degrees. We took a private group day tour. Saw the Acropolis as well as the museum, the changing of the guards and the place where the first marathon was held. It was all so surreal. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and a PhD graduate of ancient antiquities. I had to concentrate hard to understand her. I swear it was the heat!
Our tours of Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia had a Game of Thrones theme. We are all big fans and loved to be able to visit. Again it was hot. We took time to have lunch and another spritz. I think that was the theme of the whole cruise, tasty local food and spritz.
We were sad to see the cruise end. I loved sailing with NCL. The service was outstanding and we didn't have a bad meal ever. We ate at 3 of the specialty restaurants. Cagney's steakhouse, Le Bistro and Moderno. I rarely eat beef so when I do it has to be worth it. And it was!
We loved it so much we are doing it again next year. This time the focus is Italy and Greece. I'd love for you to join us!
Contact me for more info.
Here's some photos from our trip.
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