Cruising with Celestyal
Idyllic Aegean
Five course dinners with double-starters and delicious deserts, all-inclusive drinks, fabulously friendly staff and tomorrow morning we sail into Santorini! Idyllic Aegean indeed as I’m on a seven day cruise around theGreek islandswithCelestyalCruises on their yacht-like ship Celestyal Crystal.
People are up on deck early this Thursday as we slowly sail into Santorini which curves round a giant lagoon formed from the rim of an ancient sunken volcano that exploded in about 1628 BC. Thanks to that fateful day the island is considered by many to be one of, if not themost, spectacular sights inGreece. In fact mention Santorini to most people and you will find that if they haven’t already visited, it’s high on their ‘bucket list’. Multi coloured cliffs soaring out of the sea with tiny whitewashed buildings at the top look spectacular from our ship.
Celestyal Cruises is the main home-porting cruise operator in Greece and is becoming more and more popular with UK travellers. If you’re thinking of visiting a Greek island then why visit just one when Celestyal can take you to all the famous islands in complete comfort on an all inclusive basis with shore excursions included at a really great price!
My wife and I chose the 7 night Idyllic Aegean cruise departing and returning to the Greek port of Piraeus which is about 50 minutes drive from Athens airport depending on traffic. As you can see from the picture Celestyal Crystal is a fantastic looking ship and her size is perfect for cruising the islands. As soon as we arrived at the port our luggage was checked in (soon to be in our stateroom) and after a welcome drink and formalities done we make our way onboard. With yacht inspired design, classic teak decks and a very warm welcome from the staff we immediately felt right at home keen to explore the ship and looking forward to the weeks itinerary.
Unbeknown to us then we were soon to be captivated by the romance of the area visiting enchanting Greek islands dotted around the Aegean Sea where culture, history, pristine beaches and fishing villages, seemingly suspended in time, await. There’s no time for long sea days on this cruise and at 9.00pm during dinner we set sail for Mykonos; Milos, Santorini, Heraklion (Crete) and Kusadasi (Turkey) were to follow.
PAGE 62 THE ADVERTISER Regional papers across Kent
Mykonos windmills
David visits the idyllic Greek islands ... on cruise ship
Celestyal Crystal
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