Lacourageuse

Hi Mitsugirly,

Thank you again for your detailed and helpful review! My husband and I are taking our kids on their first cruise in about one week. It's a surprise for them. It will be our first cruise to the caribbean (he and I just went on our first cruise EVER last summer in the Mediterranean, and he and I have both been in the caribbean, just not on a CRUISE). He is an avid snorkeler, and I have been snorkeling just one time.

I have read through just a handful of your reviews, just enough to know that you are an avid cruiser, and that your daughter has grown up cruising. Your daughter is close in age to mine (age 10). We also have a 4-yr-old son. We bought snorkel gear for them this summer and they've practiced in our pool, so we plan to bring all our snorkel gear on this cruise. Both our kids are decent swimmers, and my 10-yr-old daughter is a particularly strong swimmer (she even has a mermaid tail like your daughter does!). However, neither of our kids have been snorkeling "for real." We are really looking forward to taking them. We'll be on a guided snorkel trip in Roatan, and we will snorkel at Chankanaab in Cozumel (among other things), and we plan to spend a day at the beach at in Blue Kay (at your recommendation), and we plan to do some snorkeling there. I looked through your many pictures and saw that the water seems fairly shallow at Blue Kay for snorkeling.

We're trying to decide if we should bring life jackets for our kids to use while snorkeling at Blue Kay and/or Chankanaab. Is the water shallow enough for a child to safely snorkel without a vest? I know that vests can prohibit being able to go deeper under the water, but I just want to pack accordingly, and I thought you'd be the perfect person to ask, since you are an experienced snorkeler AND since you've observed/taught your daughter how to safely snorkel.

I'd appreciate your thoughtful response, when you get a chance. We'll be leaving this weekend out of Galveston, and we're so excited!

And to others on this forum: PLEASE feel free to input! Thank you!

Leah

Hi Mitsugirly,

Thank you for your thorough reviews! Our family will be taking our two kids on their first cruise in just a few weeks, and we will be stopping in Costa Maya. We'll plan to go to Blue Kay at your recommendation. I'm looking forward to seeing your most recent photos of that particular port day. I had a few questions for you (or other seasoned cruisers) -- when you get the time.

Does the port at Costa Maya take USD or pesos? (taxi, Blue Kay, shopping, etc.) I'm wondering if we should take the time to get local currency or not...

Also, do you know if Blue Kay has the Hobie sailboat that they feature on the website? I've emailed them a horde of questions but have not heard back... I was wondering if they have sand toys for kids or if we should plan to bring our own. (We have a 10 year old and a 4 year old). Thank you!!

Leah

I would make good use of sat morning and not get to the ship until mid afternoon around 2:30 to 3:00 pm. We sailed on the Royal out of Athens last May and extended our pre cruise day touring while leaving our luggage at the hotel. Told the desk clerk when we would return and he had a cab waiting for us as we came back. Check in at that time was a breeze and took about 5 minutes. Remember that this is an open cruise so that not all of your shipmates will be checking in as they do for a closed loop out of the states. 1/2 to 2/3 will be people who are continuing on, having come aboard in Rome or Barcelona. Given how warm it will be in July, I would do the museum in the afternoon on Fri and then get an early AM start at theAcropolis before the crowds grow and the heat rises. Also do some homework and look for one of the many recommended rooftop restaurants for dinner Friday night. Go late and enjoy the view of the Acropolis as the sun sets. We really enjoyed this ship and cruise. My only complaint was that the Greeks and romans always seemed to put their temples and monuments on the top of hills. LOL

Thank you! Excellent suggestions. I did not consider that it is an open cruise for many passengers - thank you for making that point. Rooftop dining with a view sounds lovely! I will look into that definitely!

Wow, all excellent suggestions! Just reading through your ideas makes me feel so much less stressed. This is our first cruise and our first time to Athens or any of our ports of call. It's overwhelming to say the least. THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to reply!

The port of Piraeus is only about 20 minutes from central Athens. There's no real reason to head to your ship as soon as it's available, especially with such limited time in Athens.

 

The Acropolis is going to be very crowded unless you go first thing in the morning or late afternoon (and in late afternoon it will be VERY hot in July). So for that reason alone, I would recommend doing it in the morning before you leave. You could do the Acropolis museum also before you go to the port, if you wish. It's nice to do both together, but if you want to do the museum on the preceding day, that's also fine -- it will "set the stage" for the Acropolis.

 

Given that, I think you can fit in the other things you want to do, within reason... (I'll put in a plug for seeing the ancient Greek Agora rather than hiking one of the hills, but that's just me. I find the Temple of Hephaestion in the Agora to be fascinating and much better preserved than the Parthenon. Also, the little onsite museum there is charming and has some very interesting "finds" related to the birth of democracy.

Thank you for this good insight! About how long does it take to tour the Acropolis and also the Acropolis museum?

Our flight arrives from USA to Athens on Friday July 14th (9:10am), and our cruise leaves the next day on Saturday July 15th (we can begin boarding as early as noon on cruise departure day). The ship leaves at 7:00pm on Saturday the 15th.

I realize our time in Athens is limited, but we really wanted to do the following before getting on the cruise ship:

Acropolis

Acropolis museum

Hike Philoppapos Hill and/or Lycabettus Hill (which one is better?)

and maybe... explore Plaka district or Ancient Agora (time-permitting and energy-permitting)

We plan to sleep on the plane en route to Athens. My husband is very resilient when it comes to sleep deprivation. I am hopeful, and I tend to fall asleep easily. We are both in our mid-30s and very active/fit, so physical ability is not the problem, if anything it will be the fatigue and possible energy depletion from the flight.

Is it too ambitious to think we can tackle the Acropolis and/or museum the same day that our intn'l flight arrives in Athens? I figured that since our plane arrives in the morning on the 14th, we'd give ourselves a few hours to get from the airport to our hotel, drop our luggage off at the hotel, and then (since we plan to stay awake all day anyway), to go visit some sites before heading back to the hotel for an early bedtime.

Our other option is to try to tackle the Acropolis very early Saturday morning before we need to check out of our hotel and go to Piraeus to get to the ship.