Foamer

Okay, this is a little on the late side, but we got to take 3 1/2-day cruise in the Greek Islands (+Kusdasi, Turkey) on the new-to-Celestyal Discovery (formerly AIDAAura). Apparently, it was in drydock or at least some refurbishment from December 2023 through March 2024 - I believe we were told it had been sailing for about 3 weeks prior to our trip. What form that refurbishment took, I'm not sure, although some of it was changing out the signage of some of the clubs, and the theater. It definitely wasn't spent refurbishing our inside cabin, which had some distinctly odd color choices. Boarding was at Lavrio Port/Larium in southern Greece, where the now out-of-service Celestyal Crystal is also docked. Boarding was the usual drop your luggage and wait in line experience, but not terribly onerous. The hike out the ship (since the shuttle bus only took you about halfway) was another story... Our first view of the Discovery, which I believe has a new paint job. They were touching it up at various ports. It was quite the walk out to where she was docked. Docked in Mykonos: The color schemes in the rooms were decidedly odd: The bathroom: And some of the signage betrayed the ship's AIDA heritage: It almost became a game, spotting the untranslated German signage: The elevator displays still were largely in German with the Aida names for the lounges and theater on them. I don't know if this was redone or not, but it was a stark contrast to the rest of the deck's style: There were plenty of open areas on the ship - while I was told that we had nearly the full load of 1,200 passengers, it didn't feel like it at all. Board game area: Muster was muster, although the life "jackets" were interesting. Getting them on was the first thing to figure out. They appear designed to do two things - keep you rotated front up in the water and keep your head above water. Admirable goals at least. There is a bar next to the casino (which was never open that I saw, but the schedule did have limited hours on it). There was a music lounge tucked away behind it to the left rear of the photo. The fitness room is directly to the left, but I didn't actually see how you entered it - that wood wall is slats you could see into it through. I think the board game area was directly to the right of this. I think... The Amphitheatre (I think that's how they spelled it) was reasonably comfy, but due to the timing of the ports, excursions, and dinner hours, we never did make it to any of the shows. We did see some of the acrobats practicing and that looked impressive. We were in here nearly every morning however, as this is where all the shore excursions gathered to get organized and disembark (order for dock ports, get in line for tender ports). This is the Disco-very lounge I think it was named. We didn't go back as it was kind of out of the way from where we were normally headed on the ship. The Star Bar, another music venue directly aft of the Amphitheatre, actually did have a star shaped bar. Coffee bar on the way to the Taverna buffet. The buffet was pretty decent, actually - The Taverna buffet: The view off the back of Deck 11: The pool on Deck 10 (hot tub/Jacuzzi's were also easily accessed from Deck 11). There were two waterfalls into the pool, and a "beach area" at the near end that had small water jets spraying into the pool. Few kids on this cruise, the hot tubs were busier than the pool, which was small and fairly shallow. Both Decks 11 and 12 had a view over the bow. Deck 12 was accessed from one side of Deck 11. This is the Samos Strait. The Body and Soul Spa has a glassed in lounging area on Deck 11 directly ahead of me, I never saw anyone in it, but I didn't go up here that much either. Between Kusadasi and Patmos, some of the crew gathered for demonstrations on the pool deck (and the cruise director futilely attempted to get people to dance - not that type of crowd) In addition to the fruit carvers, jugglers, and the drink of the day; there were towel animals and napkin folding, which I saw a passenger participating in: The fruit and veggie sculptors appeared to be quite competent: Audience participation napkin folding: The Discovery at night in Mykonos - the MDR (Thalassa?) is the tall windows: I hope you enjoyed the tour - we had two port visits a day, except for the first day - from Laurium we traveled to Mykonos the first day, hit Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus) and Patmos (Apostle John of Revelations) the second, Crete and Santorini the third, returning to Laurium on the fourth.

Well, it appears that as part of a larger Mediterranean tour my wife and I will be on the Celestyal Discovery next month. Up to last November it was the Aida Aura. I'll try to post something about traveling on this newly refurbished ship during the trip.

Thank you. Might have to make it there one of the nights.

An Army NCO I once knew had a favorite saying - "Fluid isn't flexible enough, go for the vapor state." It goes well with the traditional Army joke, "Semper Gumby!" (Always Flexible in cracked Latin). It sounds like you are having fun, even with the requirement to be flexible. My wife and I will be on the NA next January in the Caribbean, so I am very interested in your reports about the ship's condition, the staff, and the amenities - thank you for posting this.

We'll be cruising on the Niew Amsterdam for the Country Music Cruise next January and I'm curious how well inside cabins are fitted for electricity? I use a CPAP, so I need an outlet (either 120 or 220) somewhere near the head of the bed, and like any other overequipped American I have devices that need to be charged as well (and likely a small laptop that I'll use to organize my photos and videos during the trip). And my wife has her phone and other stuff too. So I'm naturally curious about how many outlets (120/220/USB), and where in the room they are located, I might expect to find.