This was the third cruise I had been on but this Mediterranean Cruise was all about the destinations for me and this one ticked quite a few boxes for ‘must see’ places to visit!
We joined the cruise half way through, flying into Santorini. But we only had one day to absorb the island before our transfer to the ‘Grandeur of the Seas’. After checking into our hotel and a quick lunch by the pool, we decided to take a bus to Oia to wander around the village and to catch the famous Santorini sunset! The bus took approximately 20 mins from Fira, the capital, and was very busy with tourists. We found a bar at the very top of the island with the view we had been hoping to see, mind you it was quite an expensive view as the drinks came with a price tag!
The next morning we transferred to the ship, the Grandeur of the Seas, one of the Vision class of ships, smaller but which has been refurbished to a high standard.
The next stop was the port of Katakolon, Greece – you can either take a guided tour, or travel independently to the site of Ancient Olympia, or stay in the port and enjoy a meal of fresh fish and seafood in one of the harbour tavernas with a bit of local shopping.
We docked in Venice at dawn the next day and from the port took the water taxi into the city to find a decent cup of coffee – much as I love Greece I’m not fond of their coffee!! Fortified we started to stroll around. Venice does not disappoint it is a beautiful city, very atmospheric. The gondala ride is a must – at around 80 Euros – definitely worth it. We found a lovely restaurant hidden away in a small piazza for lunch, which was a little cheaper than the restaurants near St Mark’s Square. There are plenty of shops for souvenirs although we ran out of time to vist the Murano glass factory, will have to visit again for that! We also enjoyed drinks in Harry’s Bar where we whiled away an hour or two before re-joining the ship! We travelled in September and enjoyed temperatures up to 30 degrees most days apart from the night we were docked in Venice when we had an amazing storm!
Our final port of call was Dubrovnik, Croatia. Having never visited the country before we were keen to explore and as this was our departure port, we decided to stay here a couple of days before returning home. We spent a day walking around the beautiful old town of Dubrovnik and found a lovely restaurant where we enjoyed some of the Dalmation cuisine, fresh fish, cheeses & great local wine and the second day relaxing on the beach and swimming, the perfect end to our holiday!
The full itinerary for this Mediterranean Cruise is Venice, Split, Corfu, Crete, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Katakolon back to Venice on the Grandeur of the Seas 2012 Greece 10 night fly/cruise for more information call 01932 866565 or email cobham@travelprofessionals.co.uk
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