Thoughts On The Cruise

I had been dead set against taking a cruise for many years. This seemed like the right approach -- post-hopping in the Aegean Sea on a small ship that wasn't the typical large cruise ship. And, it turned out to be a good way to go.

The best aspects about it are:

• You don't spend much valuable time getting from one location to the next. Instead, we traveled generally at night. Taking ferries or another way to get there would have chewed up a lot of daylight.
• You don't have to pack and repack for a week. We unpacked in our staterooms when we got on the ship, and then just came and went from island to island/port to port as needed.
• We had friendly relationships with several of the crew members, which was nice.

The weaker aspects about the cruise are:

• There is no choice but to follow the ship's schedule. As noted, we left Santorini mid-afternoon for Rhodes, and we could have spent more time on the former island. There was a bit of a rushed feeling to Santorini.
• That also means there is no ability to be flexible. I would have taken another day on Rhodes, rented a car, and gone to Lindos and some of the other parts of the island.
• The meals are pretty much continental -- no much different than what we might eat at home.

All in all, I'm glad we did the cruise. A 142 person boat is the way to go for us. The stateroom was large enough. We had enough privacy on the day going from Kusadasi to Istanbul that we never felt closed in or crowded.

The largest cruise ship launches from Ft. Lauderdale this December -- 6,000 people, plus 2,200 crew. We won't be on that ship.