We had been in cruise denial for 25 years and didn’t know it. The occasion of our epiphany was stepping aboard the Oceania Marina, docked in Athens, Greece (Piraeus) and ready for cruising with us and 1200+ of our soon-to-be nearest and dearest friends aboard.
We were scheduled to fetch up at the docks of Barcelona, Spain ten days later. In the meantime, we would be on the cruise line’s Historic Reflections Cruise, visiting sites as varied as Ephesus and Monte Carlo. But on first impression, looking at our lovely surroundings as we boarded, we realized we weren’t, so to speak, in Kansas any more. And we were glad. Our only previous cruise experience had been 25 years before aboard a boat designed for families and sailing from the east coast of Florida to an island and back again. There’s nothing wrong with ships designed with families in mind and it was what we needed at the time, but three days in bunk beds at the porthole level accompanied by a bathroom whose floor was never dry, sons who wouldn’t take part in the children’s programs, and a fixed dinner schedule with a family who didn’t seem to care for ours… it’s no wonder we had shunned cruising for a quarter century.
Not that we had chosen the Oceania Marina for its itinerary. It had, instead, chosen us. Our favorite winery is Napa’s Robert Biale Vineyards and for the second time in three years, they were sponsoring a wine cruise for 100 devotees. We’d signed on a year earlier for a trip which included vineyard tours and meals in Turkey, Tuscany and Provence; wine tastings aboard ship; meeting people with very similar interests; and as an aside, taking the 10-day Historic Reflections Cruise.
We might have been cruise novices, but we were ready to plunge in. But first, we had to get there.
Going the long way round - We have English in-laws.
For our son Matt, one of the by-products of an MBA summer internship abroad, was meeting his future wife. Among the by-products of that union are, for us, grandchildren and English in-laws. We hadn’t visited the latter in several years. As we were heading in that general direction, we decided to detour Dallas-Athens via London. My “opposite number” Chris met us at Heathrow. A bouquet of spring flowers in hand, she ushered us to the car park (I am so going to get this vocabulary down) and we squeezed ourselves, 2 large suitcases, and 4 carry-ons into the family vehicle. We spent most of that Friday trying to stay awake by walking and visiting. She let us have a brief nap in the afternoon, dinner out, play some more with the aging golden retriever, and off to bed.
Saturday was adventure day. An hour from London is Waddesdon Manor. A gift to the National Trust in 1957 from the Rothschilds, it was constructed between 1874-89 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. Its 45 rooms and gardens are jaw-dropping for their art and opulence. If you’ve been to the Biltmore in Ashville, NC, think “Biltmore on steroids.”
The china room alone was worth the price of admission: sets were displayed in glass-fronted cases which stretched well above my head. The cases were lettered and there were notebooks detailing each piece’s purpose. The fun part was guessing, often incorrectly, that purpose.
Saturday night we ate at a pub which served “Longhorn” steaks. After being assured they were of the Scottish variety and not the Texas (that would be like eating kinfolk, you know), we ordered.
Sunday came all too soon and we waved good-bye as we were left off at Heathrow. Athens awaited.
The adventure begins: Athens
You wait for a year for something and then it arrives and then--do you know this feeling?--it is over so soon. I say this now because when we arrived in Athens and had our full 10 days ahead of us, it was hard to imagine that it would ever seem like a dream. I think part of that is because sea travel is like an RV on water: you unpack and never have to repack until it’s all over. There’s no breakfast by seven and having your luggage out the night before. No constantly changing rooms and water and hotel keys. Each day’s a new stop and you didn’t have to do a thing!
In Athens, our hotel was in the district known as the Plaka. The Acropolis was “up the hill” and the streets were narrow and basically impassable but by one little car going in one direction at a time. And there were cats everywhere: scavenging the garbage dump at the foot of the Acropolis, weaving their way down the streets, begging politely at the open air restaurant. Dana kept saying, “Don’t make eye contact!” Like I was going to share… I was hungry! (I would have, but the pickings at the next table were so good, they never ventured our way.) We wandered around some more the next morning, had a bit of a problem with an ATM--the instructions were all in Greek!--but eventually conquered it. Going into a bank to change dollars into Euros involved ringing a door bell, being let into a clear cylinder where I was scanned?, having the cylinder open and let me out into the bank and then reversing the process on the way out. But I got my Euros.
The Ship: Oceania’s newest baby, the Marina
We knew we didn’t want to restart our cruise experience onboard a three or four thousand passenger ship. One in the category of 600 passengers might be okay, except one member of my party (not me) is prone to motion sickness. So, the 1260-passenger Marina seemed to be, like everything Baby Bear, the perfect size. And indeed she was.
Calm waters didn’t hurt and while I can’t say we couldn’t feel the motion of the ship while underway, it was never bothersome. Perhaps we were just fortunate with the weather. Marina was new, having been christened in January in Miami. What’s better than a new ship? She was still squeaky clean.
We had a Veranda Suite with a balcony and two comfy chairs on the port side, near the aft. We were on the 11th level and my goal after a shore excursion was to climb the stairs from the 4th level at the front of the ship and have my breath back (what’s with my lungs, I wondered, we were at sea level!) by the time I made it to the room. If we were going to dine at the four specialty restaurants, plus the buffet, grill, and dining room, there would be no elevators. Given our shore excursion schedule, I only made it to the walking path on the ship once (level 15) and the fitness center not at all. (It’s a vacation and we were walking everywhere.)
I did manage to find time to plop myself in front of a computer in the computer lounge (Oceania@Sea, Level 14, between the coffee bar and the game room) and check my email and post to the loop I created to keep friends and family (“Call your Grandmother!”) informed of our whereabouts. Internet was a bit pricey, but I bought 200 minutes of time and used all but 8 of it. There were laptops in each room, but the lounge had a surer connection.
What else did Marina have? An extensive library with big leather chairs; a pool and hot tubs; attentive staff; food too tempting for any waistline; satellite TV service which caused great worry for us when we watched the tornadoes at home; a professional photographer who gave workshops; a Bon Appetit kitchen (wish I’d had time for that); sharing tables at dinner where we learned we were really on a SKI vacation (Spending Kids’ Inheritance); a casino; organization; and… the ability to adapt if something went awry or the situation changed.
Twice we were met with transportation strikes, one known, one unpredicted; Oceania moved to protect her passengers promptly. Before we left home, I’d added text message and international cell phone packages to my phone. So it was interesting to watch the service change from country to country. As we were usually close to a coastline, most often we had Greek or Italian phone service, only rarely having “cellular at sea” scroll across the top of the phone.
However, the automatic time feature had a mind of its own and I learned to set the alarm clock in the room. Until I looked at my watch, I was never sure what time it really was.
Here are some of our Marina photos. Tomorrow, we really, really start our cruise by visiting Ephesus through the port of Kusadasi in Turkey.
