Onward (and, hopefully, upward) 21st - 28th May

[mjwaruba]

14 hours ago, Noggins said:

White Night (deck BBQ / party) was done very well indeed. You felt everyone through everything into it. And for the first time the ship felt busy with more people than we've seen anywhere - and lots of people we've never seen before.

Was there lobster? Yes, seemingly unlimited quantities (although seeing one or two plates loaded with 6 tails or more doesn't feel great to me). 

Was there Chablis? Well no - but the wait staff were rushed off their feet and we had no intention of giving them extra hassle. We're we left thirsty? Erm, no.

We also had quite a long chat with the Captain. More on that later 

Last day today - we've just arrived in Santorini. A 'strenuous' excursion for us....

 

A

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your vacation to share with all of us.  I have so enjoyed your posts.  Safe travels and if you are bored in October would love to have you on our cruise on the Onward I'll bring you your Chablis!!!!!

Mary-Jo 

[Noggins]

Life is like a box of chocolates when it comes to shore excursions - will it fit the description or not. Well, this one did - it was strenuous, partly because of the rock cliff top path and partly because it was HOT! The 8 of us managed to survive intact and felt vaguely virtuous for our exertions. Santorini is very commercialised and other than the fine views there didn't feel to be much to linger over. We took the cable car back to the tender point - not entertaining for a moment using one of the wretched donkeys. Time for Greece to wake up on that point.

A couple of hours at the pool bar preceded final night in Prime C where the service was exceptional as we're several but not all of the dishes. VC champagne still being served - a little reluctantly but served nevertheless.

The big news was that we had apparently finished up all of the Chablis. That's the bad news, the good news is the wine cellar is being restocked today!

One more summary / wash up post to come and then we're done.

A

[cruisinclined]

Excellent and balanced report. Trust you are noting the large price difference between this voyage and your experience of Crystal cruising? Would be interested in a final comparison assessment in terms of value for money?

Could you confirm that your OBC took care of the covid testing charge you incurred at boarding?

David

Edited May 28, 2022 by cruisinclined

[Noggins]

15 hours ago, cruisinclined said:

Excellent and balanced report. Trust you are noting the large price difference between this voyage and your experience of Crystal cruising? Would be interested in a final comparison assessment in terms of value for money?

Could you confirm that your OBC took care of the covid testing charge you incurred at boarding?

David

Sorry, David - had typed a reply yesterday and CC 'lost it' - and then I nearly did.....

 

Thanks - and, yes, the covid test was paid for by OBC. If we had had the opportunity to find a cheap local test with no inconvenience then we would have. Remember that only a week or so back the advice from these boards was that OBC could not be used so we were certainly pleased with the result. 

As for Crystal - more in the next post!

Adrian 

[Noggins]

Disembarkation was very straightforward and, helped by the low occupancy, largely crowd free except at the gangway. Dockside was well organised too. I was slightly disappointed that Discoveries was not open for breakfast but there again we had to get away early.

Our SunTransfers van was waiting for us and clear roads meant we were at the airport early. All smooth with Ryanair - and we flew home on a brand new 737-Max (that they are careful not to call a Max).

 

So - that just leaves a bit of housekeeping and some summary comments - incorporating my chat with the Captain.

 

~Host Jazzbeau - thanks for sorting out the picture muddle the other day!

~MayB - yes, Elaine was there too - but I would have been in trouble using 'we'.... Something along the lines of 'don't draw me into that!'. No one in our group - including Elaine knew I was posting - so I'm solely responsible for views expressed!

~Apologies for the various typos etc - and yes, I do know my Threw from my Through and my Were from my We're. I guess I just didn't read what I had quickly typed....

~Mary-Jo - your offer to ply me with Chablis is very much appreciated - I'll check my diary!

~I had fed back to me a fellow guest had seen this thread on CC and thought the author was so critical of Azamara he declined to follow it. Really? Have I been critical? Just goes to show even the wonderful English language can fail to accurately convey a users intentions! There again I have noticed that Az regular posters have been notable by their absence here. Perhaps that has been a reluctance to see 'infiltration'?

 

I think I have already explained how we ended up on this cruise - sort of accidental. However, Azamara has been on my radar for quite a while. We have always liked the R ships although, as the week progressed, we came to the conclusion that we might never have had a standard room before - so snug is the bathroom, in particular. Inevitably the shower curtain edged closer to us as the week progressed and our girths expanded but we were never enveloped in the cold nylon 👀.

It seems to me that Azamara have positioned themselves in the Premium sector and, deliberately, a notch down on Oceania (look at the pricing!) to achieve differentiation and their own niche. They set out their offering clearly and they deliver to it. Value for money was amazing - maybe azamazing..... We always thought Crystal fares to be great value - and I am a great believer in judging a product on the basis of the price paid and the delivery of the advertised product. Crystal was always dearer but delivered beyond what you had paid for. Azamara has pulled the same trick and delivered beyond what we paid for. I do hope they can find a way to make money as surely our cruise cost them money....what with the low occupancy and the low low fare. What struck us too was the cohesive feel from the staff - they truly felt like a team working hard to provide a good time for everyone. The one and only time we experienced a bit of service reluctance from a team member was from an over worked sommelier. Crystal used to pride themselves on being a family - and I thought Azamara felt just as 'family'. Would we go again - absolutely. Did we take advantage of the generous onboard booking incentives? No.... Why not? - well, there have been so many extraordinary offers mid and post covid that our cruising diary is full into 2024. Not as full as the diary used to be but then we feel slightly differently about cruising these days. Cruising has an enormous carbon footprint and perpetuates habits that need to change. (it was encouraging to see the plant based menu but it needs to go further) We will try to treat cruising as a bit more of an indulgence rather than take multiple cruises every year as we used to. 

My conversation with Captain Smith revealed a couple of interesting things. Firstly on Onward itself - he confirmed that they had discovered far more maintenance had been needed than they expected - however, as the price paid had been so low the view was still that it had been a good buy. Several items only accessible during dry dock had given clues to what preventive maintenance was needing to be planned for the other ships. He thought that about 80% of the work was now complete.

The investors (Sycamore) had been on board for the launch etc and are delighted to be owners of a cruise line. They have deep pockets and patience. Furthermore Captain Smith confirmed that serious consideration was still being given to bidding for the 2 ocean Crystal ships, Symphony and Serenity. I asked whether he thought a 'sub line' would be necessary but he thought the view was that they could easily be incorporated into the exiting Azamara product. For what it is worth - and what do I know - I do not think it would be at all easy. It would not please ex Crystal cruisers because the 'Luxury' setting of the ex Crystal product would surely be pared back to the 'Premium' setting of the Azamara brand. And it wouldn't necessarily please the Azamara faithful as surely they would be asked for higher fares to recognize the differentiation between the two ship types - with standard cabins on Crystal that are, by comparison, spacious. If the Crystal ships were priced at Azamara levels then surely that would only end in more tears? 

 

I think that is more than enough.

 

Thanks for following along.

 

Adrian

 

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, Noggins said:

Disembarkation was very straightforward and, helped by the low occupancy, largely crowd free except at the gangway. Dockside was well organised too. I was slightly disappointed that Discoveries was not open for breakfast but there again we had to get away early.

Our SunTransfers van was waiting for us and clear roads meant we were at the airport early. All smooth with Ryanair - and we flew home on a brand new 737-Max (that they are careful not to call a Max).

 

So - that just leaves a bit of housekeeping and some summary comments - incorporating my chat with the Captain.

 

~Host Jazzbeau - thanks for sorting out the picture muddle the other day!

~MayB - yes, Elaine was there too - but I would have been in trouble using 'we'.... Something along the lines of 'don't draw me into that!'. No one in our group - including Elaine knew I was posting - so I'm solely responsible for views expressed!

~Apologies for the various typos etc - and yes, I do know my Threw from my Through and my Were from my We're. I guess I just didn't read what I had quickly typed....

~Mary-Jo - your offer to ply me with Chablis is very much appreciated - I'll check my diary!

~I had fed back to me a fellow guest had seen this thread on CC and thought the author was so critical of Azamara he declined to follow it. Really? Have I been critical? Just goes to show even the wonderful English language can fail to accurately convey a users intentions! There again I have noticed that Az regular posters have been notable by their absence here. Perhaps that has been a reluctance to see 'infiltration'?

 

I think I have already explained how we ended up on this cruise - sort of accidental. However, Azamara has been on my radar for quite a while. We have always liked the R ships although, as the week progressed, we came to the conclusion that we might never have had a standard room before - so snug is the bathroom, in particular. Inevitably the shower curtain edged closer to us as the week progressed and our girths expanded but we were never enveloped in the cold nylon 👀.

It seems to me that Azamara have positioned themselves in the Premium sector and, deliberately, a notch down on Oceania (look at the pricing!) to achieve differentiation and their own niche. They set out their offering clearly and they deliver to it. Value for money was amazing - maybe azamazing..... We always thought Crystal fares to be great value - and I am a great believer in judging a product on the basis of the price paid and the delivery of the advertised product. Crystal was always dearer but delivered beyond what you had paid for. Azamara has pulled the same trick and delivered beyond what we paid for. I do hope they can find a way to make money as surely our cruise cost them money....what with the low occupancy and the low low fare. What struck us too was the cohesive feel from the staff - they truly felt like a team working hard to provide a good time for everyone. The one and only time we experienced a bit of service reluctance from a team member was from an over worked sommelier. Crystal used to pride themselves on being a family - and I thought Azamara felt just as 'family'. Would we go again - absolutely. Did we take advantage of the generous onboard booking incentives? No.... Why not? - well, there have been so many extraordinary offers mid and post covid that our cruising diary is full into 2024. Not as full as the diary used to be but then we feel slightly differently about cruising these days. Cruising has an enormous carbon footprint and perpetuates habits that need to change. (it was encouraging to see the plant based menu but it needs to go further) We will try to treat cruising as a bit more of an indulgence rather than take multiple cruises every year as we used to. 

My conversation with Captain Smith revealed a couple of interesting things. Firstly on Onward itself - he confirmed that they had discovered far more maintenance had been needed than they expected - however, as the price paid had been so low the view was still that it had been a good buy. Several items only accessible during dry dock had given clues to what preventive maintenance was needing to be planned for the other ships. He thought that about 80% of the work was now complete.

The investors (Sycamore) had been on board for the launch etc and are delighted to be owners of a cruise line. They have deep pockets and patience. Furthermore Captain Smith confirmed that serious consideration was still being given to bidding for the 2 ocean Crystal ships, Symphony and Serenity. I asked whether he thought a 'sub line' would be necessary but he thought the view was that they could easily be incorporated into the exiting Azamara product. For what it is worth - and what do I know - I do not think it would be at all easy. It would not please ex Crystal cruisers because the 'Luxury' setting of the ex Crystal product would surely be pared back to the 'Premium' setting of the Azamara brand. And it wouldn't necessarily please the Azamara faithful as surely they would be asked for higher fares to recognize the differentiation between the two ship types - with standard cabins on Crystal that are, by comparison, spacious. If the Crystal ships were priced at Azamara levels then surely that would only end in more tears? 

 

I think that is more than enough.

 

Thanks for following along.

 

Adrian

 

Thanks a lot for your blog and for your summary Adrian. I have enjoyed reading your posts. I am glad you and your party have had a good cruise. Keep well and safe travels. 
 

Ivi

[RedBlu]

Thank you for your entertaining posts Adrian, I have thoroughly enjoyed following along especially as we are due to board the Onward next Saturday for B2B cruises🤞. You certainly appeared to have had a good time, I hope your future travels are just as enjoyable.

Pat & Tony

[Keith1010]

Adrian,

 

It is always a treat for me to follow your live reports and very much appreciate you taking the time to post and share lots of thoughts and photos.  Your experience is very similar to what friends of us have said about Azamara and I think you have nailed it.

 

Best to you.

 

Keith

[lisiamc]

5 hours ago, Noggins said:

Disembarkation was very straightforward and, helped by the low occupancy, largely crowd free except at the gangway. Dockside was well organised too. I was slightly disappointed that Discoveries was not open for breakfast but there again we had to get away early.

Our SunTransfers van was waiting for us and clear roads meant we were at the airport early. All smooth with Ryanair - and we flew home on a brand new 737-Max (that they are careful not to call a Max).

 

So - that just leaves a bit of housekeeping and some summary comments - incorporating my chat with the Captain. […]

 

I had fed back to me a fellow guest had seen this thread on CC and thought the author was so critical of Azamara he declined to follow it. Really? Have I been critical? Just goes to show even the wonderful English language can fail to accurately convey a users intentions! There again I have noticed that Az regular posters have been notable by their absence here. Perhaps that has been a reluctance to see 'infiltration'?

 

Adrian, I am a faithful Azamara cruiser and poster, and I have been following your posts with great enjoyment.  I think your commentary has been very balanced, and it is interesting hearing your views as a previous Crystal passenger, as well as the information from Capt Carl. I’m glad you had a good time!  

[May B]

Adrian,

 

Great summary with fascinating updates! Bigosh, how somebody could label you as critical of Azamara defies explanation. 
 

Mr B and I will try to take your place on Azamara in 2023. So far, we have nothing booked that year or after.
 

Regards to Elaine. 😃

 

—May B Muriel

[aliaschief]

Thank you for your excellent cruise reporting.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

6 hours ago, Noggins said:

Disembarkation was very straightforward and, helped by the low occupancy, largely crowd free except at the gangway. Dockside was well organised too. I was slightly disappointed that Discoveries was not open for breakfast but there again we had to get away early.

Our SunTransfers van was waiting for us and clear roads meant we were at the airport early. All smooth with Ryanair - and we flew home on a brand new 737-Max (that they are careful not to call a Max).

 

So - that just leaves a bit of housekeeping and some summary comments - incorporating my chat with the Captain.

 

~Host Jazzbeau - thanks for sorting out the picture muddle the other day!

~MayB - yes, Elaine was there too - but I would have been in trouble using 'we'.... Something along the lines of 'don't draw me into that!'. No one in our group - including Elaine knew I was posting - so I'm solely responsible for views expressed!

~Apologies for the various typos etc - and yes, I do know my Threw from my Through and my Were from my We're. I guess I just didn't read what I had quickly typed....

~Mary-Jo - your offer to ply me with Chablis is very much appreciated - I'll check my diary!

~I had fed back to me a fellow guest had seen this thread on CC and thought the author was so critical of Azamara he declined to follow it. Really? Have I been critical? Just goes to show even the wonderful English language can fail to accurately convey a users intentions! There again I have noticed that Az regular posters have been notable by their absence here. Perhaps that has been a reluctance to see 'infiltration'?

 

I think I have already explained how we ended up on this cruise - sort of accidental. However, Azamara has been on my radar for quite a while. We have always liked the R ships although, as the week progressed, we came to the conclusion that we might never have had a standard room before - so snug is the bathroom, in particular. Inevitably the shower curtain edged closer to us as the week progressed and our girths expanded but we were never enveloped in the cold nylon 👀.

It seems to me that Azamara have positioned themselves in the Premium sector and, deliberately, a notch down on Oceania (look at the pricing!) to achieve differentiation and their own niche. They set out their offering clearly and they deliver to it. Value for money was amazing - maybe azamazing..... We always thought Crystal fares to be great value - and I am a great believer in judging a product on the basis of the price paid and the delivery of the advertised product. Crystal was always dearer but delivered beyond what you had paid for. Azamara has pulled the same trick and delivered beyond what we paid for. I do hope they can find a way to make money as surely our cruise cost them money....what with the low occupancy and the low low fare. What struck us too was the cohesive feel from the staff - they truly felt like a team working hard to provide a good time for everyone. The one and only time we experienced a bit of service reluctance from a team member was from an over worked sommelier. Crystal used to pride themselves on being a family - and I thought Azamara felt just as 'family'. Would we go again - absolutely. Did we take advantage of the generous onboard booking incentives? No.... Why not? - well, there have been so many extraordinary offers mid and post covid that our cruising diary is full into 2024. Not as full as the diary used to be but then we feel slightly differently about cruising these days. Cruising has an enormous carbon footprint and perpetuates habits that need to change. (it was encouraging to see the plant based menu but it needs to go further) We will try to treat cruising as a bit more of an indulgence rather than take multiple cruises every year as we used to. 

My conversation with Captain Smith revealed a couple of interesting things. Firstly on Onward itself - he confirmed that they had discovered far more maintenance had been needed than they expected - however, as the price paid had been so low the view was still that it had been a good buy. Several items only accessible during dry dock had given clues to what preventive maintenance was needing to be planned for the other ships. He thought that about 80% of the work was now complete.

The investors (Sycamore) had been on board for the launch etc and are delighted to be owners of a cruise line. They have deep pockets and patience. Furthermore Captain Smith confirmed that serious consideration was still being given to bidding for the 2 ocean Crystal ships, Symphony and Serenity. I asked whether he thought a 'sub line' would be necessary but he thought the view was that they could easily be incorporated into the exiting Azamara product. For what it is worth - and what do I know - I do not think it would be at all easy. It would not please ex Crystal cruisers because the 'Luxury' setting of the ex Crystal product would surely be pared back to the 'Premium' setting of the Azamara brand. And it wouldn't necessarily please the Azamara faithful as surely they would be asked for higher fares to recognize the differentiation between the two ship types - with standard cabins on Crystal that are, by comparison, spacious. If the Crystal ships were priced at Azamara levels then surely that would only end in more tears? 

 

I think that is more than enough.

 

Thanks for following along.

 

Adrian

 

I was able to get a GREAT deal on a trans canal on the Crystal Harmony because we were willing to disembark in Acapulco, instead of LA.  They were embarking TA's in Acapulco to show off the new ship.  Due to their screw up, we were further upgraded to a suite that had a shell shaped bathtub.  I have been sailing since 1970.  Never experienced anything like it.

[willco]

Great and balanced reporting. Thank you. We hope to enjoy our Onward cruise in September.

[radarcruiser]

We board in a few weeks.  Your posts have been very helpful for us.  You gave honest and thorough descriptions.  You answered several questions that AZ customer service was unaware of.  Thanks!

[suewheldon]

Joining June 4 with B2B June 11. We’ve been on the other three ships so interested to see the refurb. 

[oddjob16]

Thank you for a great travel log. Well balanced and IMO always fair to what Azamara  delivers. Never read this thread as critical in any negative way. We have a few cruises left for 2022 so looking forward to more nights in able hands of the caring Azamara crew.

[Kari and David]

I was on the cruise before this and when enjoying Atlas, every night, the big TV showed a fire place which provided a warm and cozy feeling.  Our bartender was Artem, he shared that for your cruise there would be a swap in bartenders to cross train the team.  We had no TVs working and in my N1 room we had no cold water which was fine since we had our ice bucket filled daily.  Onward has more suites than any other ship in the family and we were lucky that our bid was accepted, so for only $100 per night we got upgraded from Balcony to Club Continental Suite.  Walking around the ship it always looked like it was pretty empty however on White Night that will all change and you will see some crowds. 

[Kari and David]

And the jewelry maker was on my voyage also, appears with the closing of Crystal her goods are now being sold in less places.  

[Penton]

Adrian, we were on the cruise with you so I have really enjoyed reading your entertaining posts and thoughts about the voyage. It was my second  and my friend’s first Azamara cruise and we had a fabulous time and agree with your observations.
 

You describe your evening dining at the Sunset Veranda and I think we were sat at the table next to you because I noticed the Chablis arriving and thinking that would go down well! However we were quite happy with the included wines so I didn’t feel too hard done by. As the weather was so fabulous we ate outside most of the time, venturing to the Discoveries restaurant only for the brunch and the British themed evening when the choices of food at the Windows Cafe were dismal.
 

Having had some frustrating and poor pre-cruise communications with Azamara I was feeling unsure of how our onboard experience would work out. Thankfully we found nearly everything to be very good indeed. We took advantage of the free transfer from Venice airport and found it well organised and comfortable.  We also paid for an Azamara transfer at the end of the cruise to Athens airport, again well organised and easy.

 

What really stood out us was the consistently good service provided by all the crew we met,  they worked relentlessly to make our time onboard happy and relaxed. The organisation and teamwork needed to put on the brunch, the Duo Violins entertainment and the White Night was impressive, especially as this was only their third full itinerary. 

We liked Korcula where we wandered around the old town. In Kotor we did a shore excursion where we had an excellent guide. In Corfu we made the mistake of paying for the hop-on-hop-off bus through the shore excursion desk and found it cost 39USD rather than 21 Euros direct, purely for the convenience of a very short ride from the ship to the port gates! Fancying time on the beach in Argostoli and Gytheion we walked from the ship to the beach and enjoyed Greek salads and local beer along the way. In Santorini we took the cable car up to Fira and then took a three hour long walk to Oia along the coastal path. It was very hot and in places treacherous underfoot but the views were spectacular and we enjoyed the peace and quiet and the gentle breeze along the way.

 

So overall a most enjoyable and successful cruise, looking forward to the next one in September. 

 

 

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for this well written, objective thread. We were supposed to be sailing with you, as well as the previous itinerary, but had to cancel due to medical issues at home. This gives me the impetus to look at Azamara again. 
 

I was very concerned for a bit with a lot of the posts that were occurring. I then realized that the types of issues reported were happening on the other two lines I am following to book next year. It seems as if this Spring multiple premium lines have had more hiccups in service, ports, food, etc than in the past. Hopefully as more sailings occur there will be smoother sailings. Having been on a maiden voyage, I can attest to the experience of the settling in that has to occur, with the newest twist in that also involved supply chain issues with Onward. 
 

I appreciate the time you have taken to provide us all with updates throughout your holiday. And I have to admit, your reports of VC being poured had me quite a bit envious!! 

[kool kruiser]

I hope soon to post my personal thoughts . For now, lovely to meet Adrian, Elaine and his friends, who were, unsurprisingly, great company.

I do wish to take a little of the credit on the champers front but also some blame regarding the Chablis !! Clearly, Adrian had been drinking far too much when describing me ( spot on about Steph though !!).

We had a great time, notwithstanding the few issues that remain to be sorted, not unexpected for second and third sailings. If you approach with a glass half full mentality, you will not go far wrong.

[Noggins]

14 hours ago, kool kruiser said:

I hope soon to post my personal thoughts . For now, lovely to meet Adrian, Elaine and his friends, who were, unsurprisingly, great company.

I do wish to take a little of the credit on the champers front but also some blame regarding the Chablis !! Clearly, Adrian had been drinking far too much when describing me ( spot on about Steph though !!).

We had a great time, notwithstanding the few issues that remain to be sorted, not unexpected for second and third sailings. If you approach with a glass half full mentality, you will not go far wrong.

Thanks, Colin

We certainly all enjoyed the company of you both and our only regret was that we managed to miss you right at the end to say farewell. However, the way these things seem to work I reckon we'll bump into each other on another cruise sometime soon! 

Looking forward to reading what will doubtless be a more learned, thoughtful review than mine was ever going to be......

Best to you both.

Adrian

[kool kruiser]

6 hours ago, Noggins said:

Thanks, Colin

We certainly all enjoyed the company of you both and our only regret was that we managed to miss you right at the end to say farewell. However, the way these things seem to work I reckon we'll bump into each other on another cruise sometime soon! 

Looking forward to reading what will doubtless be a more learned, thoughtful review than mine was ever going to be......

Best to you both.

Adrian

Won't have your wit though !!

hope those newbies are now converted. Love to all six of you, we really enjoyed meeting with you. Definitely hope our paths meet again real soon.

Colin

 

[aussie travel bird]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:55 AM, Noggins said:

Apparently it was a first for Azamara in Argostoli too. A pleasant enough town - likely so many, longing for a return of tourists. They seem optimistic about the summer season and I hope they are right to be.

 

Breakfast in Discoveries did happen. It was very quiet in there and our waiter only had us to worry about (and in fairness, that's quite a lot of worry....). The extensive menu was excellent and, with the exception of bread, items lived up to description. (Bread generally has been a bit disappointing - some lines do fantastic bread)

 

We tried for a last minute specialty tonight - and had our first service slip / service recovery. Bottom line is we are going to Aqualina again at 9pm. I won't bother you with the saga - especially as the Head Waiter realised a mistake need correcting. (Whether there is any food left for us remains to be seen!) It's British night tonight in the dining rooms - and somehow the menu held little appeal....

 

Hoping to be off on an excursion tomorrow on mainland Greece. We need to burn a few calories instead of just burning shoulders and necks.

 

A

We were on this cruise too (b2b2b from the Christening Voyage) and my favourite port would have to be Argostoli where we did an amazing ship's excursion for USD$79 to the northern villages. Loved it so much that when I spoke with Captain Carl he was going to talk to Captain Giomario to extend the time in port for their next visit so that this excursion could be offered to guests.  Certainly hope it happens for that.  Such an unspoilt gem of a place. Give me that to Santorini any day.

Edited June 6, 2022 by aussie travel bird

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, aussie travel bird said:

We were on this cruis too (b2b2b from the Christening Voyage) and my favourite port would have to be Argostoli where we did an amazing ship's excursion for USD$79 to the northern villages. Loved it so much that when I spoke with Captain Carl he was going to talk to Captain Giomario to extend the time in port for their next visit so that this excursion could be offered to guests.  Certainly hope it happens for that.  Such an unspoilt gem of a place. Give me that to Santorini any day.

Can you describe this tour in more detail?  I will be in Argostoli on Journey on Oct. 15 (8:00 am to 10:00 pm), and we only have 2 excursion choices:

008L	Folkloric Museum, Melissani Lake & Sami Village	Moderate	N/A	Oct 15, 8:30am	4 hrs 45 mins	69.00 USD	39.00 USD
006L	Drogarati Cave & Melissani Lake	Moderate	N/A	Oct 15, 8:45am	3 hrs 30 mins	64.00 USD	39.00 USD