This trip was a long time coming. I originally started planning this trip in the fall of 2019 as a 10th birthday gift to my son (referred to as “J” in this post) in July of 2020. And, well, we all know what happened to those plans.
I have always wanted to show my kids the world. I did not take my first trip out of the country until I was in college and it was just such a life changing experience, I wanted to give my kids that experience at a much younger age. I felt this even more urgently when Notre Dame caught fire and I hadn’t gotten to visit with my son yet.
So, as my son’s 10th birthday approached I told him I wanted to take him to Europe for his birthday. I told him we could go pretty much anywhere he wanted. In the past, he had expressed interest in going to Paris, so I thought that was a possibility. He was also learning Spanish, so I thought he may want to go to Spain. But at the time he was extremely into Greek mythology (thanks Percy Jackson!) and so he wanted to see Athens and the Acropolis most of all.
I had never been to Greece before, so I went into research mode. I am a fairly fearless traveler, especially when traveling to cities, but traveling on my own, with a 10 year old, to a place I had never been before, I felt that I wanted some kind of tour or structure. After looking at several different tour companies and cruise lines I zeroed in on Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean is very family/kid friendly and had an amazing itinerary that included Athens and sailed in and out of Venice, Italy. Venice is one of my favorite places in the world, so to get Athens and Venice in one trip was perfect. It was also in my budget.
After the pandemic shut-down, Venice took a series of actions to try to protect the city as it began to reopen to tourists. One of those actions was prohibiting cruise ships from docking in Venice. So, when I decided to rebook the trip, our original itinerary was no longer an option. I essentially looked at every itinerary that included Athens and that worked with our other summer plans and ultimately landed on an itinerary that started in Athens and ended in Ravenna, Italy (not too far from Venice).
Once we finally had our itinerary nailed down, I gave J a list of our ports and asked him to do some research on his own and tell me what he wanted to do at each port. He did an amazing job and came back to me with lots of great suggestions most of which we were able to actually do.
Day 1 – Athens, Greece
We took a red-eye flight from Newark and arrived in Athens just before noon. We were able to collect our luggage, clear customs and take a taxi to our hotel in about an hour. A room was not available yet, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch overlooking the Acropolis at the roof-top restaurant in our hotel.
I am by no means a “points” guru, but I do pay attention to the various benefits of my credit cards. I have used an American Express Platinum card for nearly 20 years. This card has numerous travel benefits, one of which is an annual $200 statement credit for hotels booked through their travel portal. I used this benefit to book the Hotel King George for one night. Booking with American Express also gave me other benefits like a late check-out, complimentary breakfast, $100 resort credit, and a room category upgrade.
When we arrived the the Hotel King George, it was going to be awhile before they had a room ready for us, so they actually moved us to their sister hotel, the Hotel Bretagne Athens next door. We ended up in a beautiful room overlooking the Athenian Parliament. This is definitely a splurge hotel, but with the statement credit, resort credit, and free breakfast it ended up being pretty affordable and was in a fantastic location.
After we got settled in our room and got changed and cleaned up a bit we headed out to the Acropolis. It was over 100 degrees, even at 5:00 pm, so it actually worked out well for us to head out later in the day. We took our time walking through the site and then grabbed a snack for our leisurely walk back to the hotel. We did some shopping and picked up a few things for our family back home and then got to bed!
Day 2 – Athens, Greece, Embark Rhapsody of the Seas
This was probably the most stressful day of our trip. Between the time I booked this trip and the day we embarked the COVID testing rules changed 3 times. Ultimately, we were required to have an in-person test done within 24 hours of embarking. I was able to schedule a service that comes to the hotel to conduct the test, but it took hours for the nurse to visit us and additional hours and a lot of follow-up to get the documentation we needed to board. The concierge at the Hotel Bretagne was incredibly helpful in getting this done.
In between all of this, however, we enjoyed an extensive buffet breakfast, again in the rooftop restaurant overlooking the Acropolis, watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from our balconette and took a walk to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. We also stopped quickly at the Athens National Garden.
Every time I visit Europe I am struck by just how much older everything is and Athens takes that to just a whole other level. As we made our way back the hotel we came upon a section of sidewalk that had a plexiglass box around it. It was an archaeological site of an ancient Roman bath – just there in the middle of the sidewalk, in what was otherwise just a business district.
After we finally got our test results, we took a quick taxi ride to the port and boarded the ship without issue. As we had a slightly later boarding time, we were able to go straight to our room to drop our bags and grab some lunch.
We were still pretty tired and jet-lagged so after dinner we got unpacked and relaxed in our cabin before heading to sleep.
Day 3 – Mykonos, Greece
This was our favorite day. We had booked the “Cruise to Rhenia Island” excursion through Royal Caribbean – an excursion J found while doing his research. This excursion left a little later in the day, so we were able to wake up a little later, have breakfast on the ship and wander around Mykonos a bit before meeting our group for the excursion.
Mykonos is a place that you have likely seen a million pictures of and wondered if it could possibly look that perfect in person. And here’s the thing…. it does. It’s like a fairytale.
We boarded a “pirate ship” for a cruise through the Aegean sea, out past Mykonos and Delos (birthplace of Apollo and Artemis). We then anchored in a cove and were able to jump off the ship and swim in the Aegean sea. I had always assumed that the Dead Sea was the saltiest, most buoyant body of water, but that is not true! The Aegean, Ionian and Adriatic (all three we would swim in on this trip) are saltier! It was so cool to be able to float in this beautiful body of water!
After swimming we were treated to a light snack and a glass of wine (soda for J) before sailing back to town. It was quite windy this day and the sea was quite choppy. J and I do not suffer from motion sickness and so we had great fun sitting at the front of the boat bouncing with the waves and periodically getting splashed. Some of the guests on our cruise, however, were not so lucky. The crew of our ship (a husband and wife team) were so sweet and ready to cater to everyone’s needs. We found this of pretty much everyone we encountered – the locals were truly happy to have us there, always greeting you with a smile and willing to help however they could.
Day 4 – Crete, Greece
We did a lot of back-and-forth deciding what to do this day. Crete has beautiful beaches, olive oil factories, wineries, more sailing, hiking and so much history. We ultimately decided on a tour to Knossos Palace and Old Town Heraklion. Knossos has been called Europe’s oldest city. The town was first settled around 7000 B.C. and the palace dates to about 1900 B.C. The palace ultimately became the center of Minoan civilization.
Knossos and Heraklion are about an hour or so from the port. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgable and kept us quite entertained on the bus ride. She was also sure to regale us with stories of the mythologically important sites on Crete, like Mount Ida, birthplace of Zeus, and Mount Yuchtas, where Zeus is buried, both of which we were able to see along the way. She also provided a great tour of Knossos and the history of its use and then its discovery by archaeologists in the late 1800s.
We then had some time to wander Heraklion and had lunch at a cafe overlooking the sea before getting on the bus back to the port.
Once on board, J retreated to our cabin to rest, while I took my book up to the pool deck to read and watch as we sailed out of port.
Day 5 – Zakynthos, Greece
On day 5 we arrived in Zakynthos. This wasn’t a place I had ever heard of before, but J discovered in his research that it is a refuge for loggerhead turtles.
We again booked an excursion through Royal Caribbean, which had us board a bus from the port that took us across the island to the beaches where the turtles nest. The bus ride again felt like we were traveling on a movie set as we passed hundreds and hundreds of olive trees.
Once we reached our destination we again boarded another boat. This time we slowly sailed through the inlet looking for turtles. After a bit of unsuccessful searching, we sailed out past Marathonisi (Turtle Island) and the famous Shipwreck Beach.
Again, we dropped anchor allowing us to swim in the Ionian Sea and in the sulphur springs (this is supposed to be amazing for your skin) before returning to the inlet to search for turtles again. We were able to get a small glimpse of one from afar!
After debarking this boat we wandered around Zante town, a lovely little beach town, had some lunch and did one of my favorite things whenever I’m in a new country – went shopping in a local grocery store!
Day 6 – At Sea
I booked this cruise based almost entirely based on the itinerary, knowing that we were going to be spending most of our time off of the ship. I was not very concerned that we would be on one of Royal Caribbean’s smallest, older ships. For the most part, this was fine for us, for this trip. We were very busy on port days so we were exhausted by the time we got back to the ship and so dinner and bed were more than enough for us. On the few nights we managed to make it to one of the shows, we found that while the performers themselves were wonderful, the actual shows and costumes were extremely dated and cheesy. I joked more than once that it seemed that these were the same shows they’ve been doing since the 1970s!
On our sea day, I found myself wishing there were more to do. This was also J’s actual 12th birthday and I think it ended up being a little anti-climactic for him.
We both slept in quite late as we had never completely gotten over our jet lag and had been quite active the previous 5 days. I enjoyed a cup of coffee up on the pool deck while waiting for J to wake up and get moving and then we managed to make it to brunch in the main dining room towards the end of service. After that, we split up for a couple of hours – J to retreat to the cabin with his iPad and I back to the pool deck with my book. We met up again in the afternoon for Bingo, which J was skeptical about but ended up enjoying a lot.
After Bingo we did a lot more lounging before getting ready for dinner. This night was formal night, so we took our time getting dressed up.
By this time, our servers in the main dining room had gotten to know us quite well. Each night J had ordered shrimp cocktail as his appetizer, so this night they immediately brought 2 out to him when we sat down. They also brought him a piece of cake with a candle and joined in singing Happy Birthday to him with our tablemates.
After dinner, we went to check out the show in the main theater – a Celine Dion impersonator. Terribly cheesy, but the vocalist was really good!
We ended our night with a walk on deck – being out at sea, late at night, you will see more stars than you will ever see anywhere else!
Day 7 – Kotor, Montenegro
I had low expectations for this port. J’s research had suggested a visit to the Cat Museum, described as a quirky museum of the type often found in Eastern European cities. So, our plan was just to get off the ship, wander a bit, and head over to the museum. One of our table mates had actually visited this port before and suggested that we climb the Kotor City Walls to the San Giovanni Fortress. This ended up being the best suggestion.
Kotor is an old port city, which is still surrounded by the fortifications built by the Venetians in the 1400s. You enter the city through a gate in the city walls and it feels as though you have entered a Venetian town.
From there it is quite easy to make your way to the official entrance to the fortifications and begin to climb. After a bit of climbing you reach the Church of Our Lady of Remedy and think, “wow, that was easier than I thought.”
But you’ve barely begun. To reach the top is about 4,000 feet up via 1,350 very uneven, steep, slippery steps. J asked more than once to be done and turn around but we persevered and made it to the top. The views were 1000% worth it. I could not get over how absolutely stunning the city and bay were.
After taking the requisite pictures of our triumph and the gorgeous bay surrounding us we made our way back down to sea level and to the Cat Museum.
The Cat Museum was a truly strange place – definitely worth experiencing! It was full of any item you can think of with a cat on it. Cat artwork, cat coins, cat currency, cat magazines, cat books, cat medals, cat newspaper clippings… you get the idea.
Once again, when we got back on board J retreated to the cabin and and I headed to the pool deck with my book. The captain made a point of telling us that our sail out of the bay would be particularly picturesque and not to miss it. He was not exaggerating. It was incredible.
Day 8 – Split, Croatia
J had hoped to go zip lining at this port, but in order to get to Ravenna we had an early all aboard time, making a trip to Mt. Kozjak, where there is zip lining, impossible. Instead, we decided to explore the city a bit on our own before heading over to a local beach.
Once off the ship we headed towards the Diocletian’s Palace and Cathedral of St. Domnius. “Diocletian’s Palace” is not a palace as you might think of a palace, but is actually about half of the Old Town of Split. The “Palace” dates back to the 4th century and much of it is still occupied by apartments, coffee shops, boutiques, and markets alongside museums, ruins and an ancient cathedral – a true “living museum”.
We enjoyed exploring a bit and ended up deciding to tour the subterranean chambers of the palace – for my Game of Thrones fans, this is where Daenerys trains her dragons!
From here, we walked over to Bacvice Beach. This was quite an experience. On the one hand, we were surrounded by local families enjoying a Sunday afternoon at their local beach. On the other hand, I felt like an extra in EuroTrip – parts of the beach felt like a rave. It was a really jarring dichotomy. But we got to swim in our third sea – the Adriatic (the coldest and least buoyant) and enjoyed our last beach day of the trip.
By now we had our routine down and once we were back on the ship J headed to the cabin. I started out at the pool, but realized that since we were on board early today, I had some time before dinner, so I headed to the spa for a massage. As with the rest of the ship, the spa was pretty dated and underwhelming, but I did enjoy my service.
Before I started cruising, one of the things that most turned me off was the idea of being ‘forced’ to eat dinner each night with strangers. But, honestly, this has now become one of my favorite things about cruising! On this cruise, we were seated with 3 lovely ladies from Ireland on a girls’ trip and a mother and her two (young adult) daughters from Portugal. Sharing a table for dinner each night and sharing about what we had seen and done that day really added to the enjoyment of the trip for me. It was quite sad to say goodbye and realize we wouldn’t be back the next night discussing our adventures!
Day 9 – Disembark Rhapsody of the Seas, Ravenna, Italy and Venice, Italy
Ravenna is approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Venice by car. I had pre-booked transfers from Ravenna to Venice through Royal Caribbean. This was by-far the most economical option as private transfers were around €300-€350 and the Royal Caribbean transfers were $116. We arrived in Ravenna and after disembarking, boarded a bus for the uneventful trip to Venice.
When we arrived at the old cruise terminal in Venice there were a variety of options for making our way into the city center from private boat taxis to the Vaporetto water buses. We chose something in between – a private boat that transferred approximately 25-30 people to a dock near Piazza San Marco. From there we were able to easily walk to our home for the evening – the Hotel Danieli.
This was a bucket list hotel for me. Originally a private palace built in the 14th century, and expanded in the 19th and 20th centuries, the property first opened as an hotel in 1822 and is renowned for its history and elegance. So many incredible people have stayed here, including Charles Dickens, Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo and Aristotle Onassis and it has been featured in many films, including James Bond. I loved being able to stay in such an historically important hotel!
A room wasn’t ready for us when we arrived, so we left our bags and went to explore and have a snack.
Another place that captured my imagination on my first trip to Venice in 2006 was the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). I was so excited to share this with J. More than just the Doge’s residence, it was also the seat of Venetian government and contained spaces for the making and administration of laws, the administration of justice, armories, prisons and the famous Bridge of Sighs.
After we finished at the Palazzo Ducale, we headed towards the Rialto Bridge to do some shopping and of course grab some gelato!
When we were done, we headed back to the hotel to get settled, shower and change for dinner. Again, we just wandered until we found a place that looked inviting and ended up enjoying a wonderful meal. Stuffed full, we made our way back to Piazza San Marco to enjoy the atmosphere and music before heading to bed.
When we returned to the Hotel Danieli, J headed to bed while I took a few minutes to enjoy a cocktail in the gorgeous Bar Dandolo.
The next morning we opted for a private boat taxi to the airport directly from the Hotel Danieli dock, which was well worth the cost (around €120) for the ease of getting to the airport with all of our bags.
This was not an inexpensive trip, but it was not a budget-buster either. The biggest expense was the airfare, which was abnormally high. Had we waited another year or two, this would have likely been a much smaller chunk of our travel budget. The cruise fare itself was extremely reasonable and with the help of credit card rewards and some research I was able to keep the pre- and post-cruise stays affordable.
All-in-all, I thought this was a great introduction to Europe for my tween and a manageable way for me to travel alone with him. I thought this itinerary lent itself well to cruising – the two cities with the most to see were at the beginning and end where we could spend more time and at none of the ports did I feel like we were missing out on seeing important sites because we didn’t have enough time. That being said, I would love to do this itinerary again, or do one with slightly different ports in Greece and Croatia as there is definitely still more to see there!
