OH MY GOODNESS. This is high living indeed, like a five-star hotel suite but on a boat! The closet, drawer and cabinet space was amazing. The bath was lovely with a regular shower and a Swedish shower head. Unlike all other cruise cabins, this had no jarring metal curbs at each door upon which you would stub your toes or the harsh door latches for stability. 

Plus you get a birds-eye view of the horizon--you see what the captain sees and you get to watch the workers put down anchor and set off to sea. 

The negative is that it is very noisy when they do release the anchor first thing in the morning upon docking. And it can be pretty bumpy up front when the seas are rough.

It's hard to imagine paying full price for this but I would return in a heartbeat for the right price!

Love this living-history city. Best view of the Acropolis is from Filopapou Hill. Do take an "underground" tour of the Colosseum--not only do you skip the massive lines, but you get to three areas that are not open to the public.

Athens (Piraeus)

It was a nice scenic hour-long drive to a wonderful acropolis set against the sea. You walk down from the parking lot, then up to the site, which has a number of ruins both original and restored.They added a stop at a ceramic shop, which we dreaded but was fairly short and sweet. The founder, now 81, is still working at hand inscribing images into the damp clay. 

The boat docks right outside the lovely medieval walled town, known for the occupation of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem for 200 years, and its beautifully preserved wall. . 

After the half-day excursion, we had plenty of time to roam the town and the palace of the grand master, which was originally a Byzantine fortress, then the administrative center of the order. Only the basement is original but the rest was very nicely restored in 1936 after a massive fire.

This would have been great except our guide had a shrill voice and spoke incessantly: without personal "whisper" mikes, so she kept herding people around her, not grasping that some of us didn’t WANT to be near her.

We stopped at the Petra tou Romiou, the rock where Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea. Then Pafos, to the House of Dionysos featuring numerous pretty mosaics: greek legends, hunting, geometric patterns (the excavated part is only ¼ of the original size). Next to a beach-side inn at Kourion for lunch around 2, having driven through the 99 square miles still occupied by the British. Finally another mosaic house of Eustolios, and  a Greco-roman theater built in the 2nd century BC still being used.

We had a very long day that included the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the site where Jesus was born, then to Jerusalem to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (where Jesus was crucified and resurrected), the Church of all nations (built on the rock upon which Jesus prayed his last night), the Wailing or Western wall, and the overview of the city.

It's a lot to cram into one day, with many crowds and lines and confusing jumble of history, religions and cultures. 

We were fascinating by the long drive, admiring the ingenious agriculture throughout the largely arid country. We hadn't realized that Bethlehem was contained within the Palestinian zone, which means it's partitioned off by barbed wire and walls and guarded at checkpoints by soldiers with serious guns. What would our Lord have thought of that?

A joint excursion with the Dead Sea and Masada. Both were fascinating. Got about an hour to float in the Dead Sea--some folks got the mud treatment but it wasn't obvious to us how to do that.

Masada is massive with remarkable construction that included plentiful water up to this outcrop in the middle of nowhere that became King Herod's winter palace. Alas, the heroic tale of this being the last bastion of the Jewish freedom fighters who ended their own lives rather than become enslaved by the Romans is not supported by archaeological evidence.

This is the excursion that put our health in jeopardy due to the poor condition of the bus including no air conditioning as we drove back to the port. We endured one hour 45 minutes of stress and dehydration before being switched to another bus. We were disappointed by Oceania's lukewarm and belated response to a near-catastrophe with a tour company that obviously has issues.

Nice little town to walk about. Not much to it. We've been here before and drove around and were not impressed then, either.

Crete (Heraklion)

First we’re taken by small bus up a very steep narrow road to a bus depot and transferred to our tour bus for Herculaneum and Pompeii.

The drive is so pretty with many views (though too fast) of the famed Amalfi coast. And then we’re at the astoundingly preserved Herculaneum!
Wow! 
The Mt Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD destroyed the coastline and covered the area under 13-20 feet of ash and pumice, basically preserving everything due to lack of air and moisture.

Herculaneum was a smaller village, with 4000 people on 49 acres. Only a quarter is open. Pompeii was a prosperous port town with 11,000 people on 163 acres, most of which has been excavated. 

The structures, mosaics, sense of life frozen in place, the casts of bodies and skeletons are astonishing. 

We went quickly through most of Herculaneum but only had time to do a portion of two sections of Pompeii. Loved seeing both in the shadow of Mt Vesuvius still.

Well worthwhile to skip the line and get into exclusive areas!

There’s some waiting around before we get going and the group is pretty big: 24, which is the max they claim.

First we go to the main level surface, which is just above the underground; then go underground where the slaves handled the animals and the gladiators got ready, and finally up to the terrace for a wonderful overview. All these areas are off limits to regular guests and it was especially fun to see the guide take out keys and unlock gates to allow us in.

One such excursion to Masada and the Dead Sea in Israel put the entire bus at risk.We were extremely fortunate no one suffered a catastrophic health issue before we were finally transferred to another bus.

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Athens (Piraeus)

Crete (Heraklion)

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