Live from Celebrity Infinity (Greece)

[cavaaller]

 

 

 

 

 

[cavaaller]

 

At the end of the tour, which lasted a little more than 1.5 hours, we walked along the beach promenade to the harbor entrance where the Colossus of Rhodes is said to have stood, but where only two puny deer live now.

 

 

 

Here we marveled at the yachts and were enchanted by the crystal clear water. You could also swim in this bay - not only locals took advantage of this opportunity.

A short distance back towards the ship you could walk on a small tongue to a tower-shaped fortification. From here we had a beautiful view of our ship and the old town. Unfortunately we couldn't climb the tower.

[cavaaller]

[cavaaller]

Back on the ship, we recovered from our long walk and then enjoyed a little tea time in the Michael’s Club Lounge, which was almost empty as usual.

 

 

 

Afterwards it was time for our dinner at Luminae:

 

Ravioli:

 

Veal:

 

Venison:

 

 

Crème brûlée

 

after which we watched the magician's show in the theater.

 

 

 

I'm not a fan of magic shows - but I'm sure this one was comparatively well done.
At least the theater was well filled and the applause was correspondingly loud.

[TraderSam]

Thank you @cavaaller for taking the time to do this review and also @Pack Leader for your input. 

We are boarding in a couple of weeks and this will be our first time on an M-class ship so we are relieved to hear it has been spruced up a little. Not so good news on the food though. 😕

[cavaaller]

@Shimsdan This is the current Staff:

 

Edited April 2 by cavaaller

[cavaaller]

The sun was shining on us today again.

 

I think it is really remarkable that Celebrity provides a free shuttle at every port where it is “necessary”.

 

Here in Heraklion we were driven to the old town again.
We could have easily explored Heraklion here, but reading the travel reports and looking at the travel logs got the impression that it wasn't really worth it. That's why we asked one of the taxi drivers standing by if he could take us to the mountains. He was happy to do it for 40 E an hour. So we got a little history lesson and got to know the hinterland. The 80 (100 with tip) euros were very well spent.

 

 

 

 

[cavaaller]

We drove through wine yards, olive farms, saw an original cretan village.

 

And our driver taught us a little greek history. The story that I loved most was the one about the Island Dio.

 

 

He told us:

The island represents a crocodile (you don't need too much imagination to recognize one in the outline of the island...) that is hunting a turtle (the "knubbel" = turtle shell).

 

 

And then Zeus intervened and warned the crocodile: leave the poor turtle alone, she is just as much a creature created by me as you are.

But the crocodile didn't want to listen - it was probably more hungry - and kept on pursuing. Whereupon God, Zeus, or whoever, got really angry and - boom... sent lightning down to earth, turning both crocodile and turtle into stone.

 

And since then there have been these two islands north of Heraklion, kept at a safe distance for eternity.

 

Love the story 😄

 

 

[cavaaller]

 

We then continued on to see the Venetian aquaduct near the palace of Knossos.

 

 

It supplied water to the city from the mountains from the 17th century until the early 20th century. The monument has a lot of holes in it - our guide told us that they are meant as an entry-way for the crows who eat all the animals that died in the water so that these don't rot and don't pollute the water.

 

 

 

[cavaaller]

 

This (blue dot) is the location the shuttle bus dropped us off.
There were plenty of taxis waiting for tours and/or trips to Knossos (fixed price)

Our taxi took us back to the port entry, where the Inter-Port-Shuttle took us back to the ship.

Edited April 2 by cavaaller

[cavaaller]

We used the afternoon for a trip to the gym and then headed to Luminae again.

 

Roasted Carrot Salad (which I did not really care for: The Carrots were dry, the pickled veggies were much too sour)

 

Smoked Potato Soup (was really good)

 

Grilled Veal Chop (a huuuuuuuuge serving - suitable for 2 people)

 

The Chocolate Pill (Daniel Bouloud)

 

and Banana Foster (Main Dining Room)

 

and the chocolate soufflé

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cavaaller]

Forgot to add: taxi prices in heraklion

[SunandShade]

Thank you so much for sharing all your experiences.  Your pictures (sights and food) are inspiring and makes us dream of our next trip.

[cavaaller]

Nafplio

The tender process in Nafplio started at 7 a.m. this morning. An escort was organized for retreat guests for that you had to report to Michael’s Club.

 

It went absolutely smoothly.

 

The tenders anchored directly opposite the old town of Nafplio.

 

 

Taxi and HoHo tours were offered here:

 

 

and you can also explore the city very easily on foot. We walked up to the fort (white arrow)

 

 

we also wandered around the old town a bit. 

 

we saw the Venetian lion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3 by cavaaller
added pics

[hcat]

On 4/1/2024 at 11:35 PM, cavaaller said:

 

Rhodes was by far my favourite port so far. I will continue my review later today.

 

 

We really enjoyed Rhodes..so much to offer there..Wished it was an overnight port!  Excellent photos and review of all the ports, so far.  Thank you!

Edited April 3 by hcat

[cavaaller]

 

We particularly enjoyed the detour to the city beach. The water was 22°C (at least that's what a nice Greek guy told us who told us his life story on the beach). It's a shame that we didn't have any bathing suits with us, it would have been really great to swim here.

 

 

 

 

[cavaaller]

On the way back, we wandered through the narrow streets again. Nafplio is really lovely.

[cavaaller]

Some random photos showing the beauty of Nafplio

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

love the wavy water and mini video!

This is a great itin!

[Cruising89143]

Stumbled upon this review and am absolutely enjoying it. It’s refreshing to read a review where even though everything might not be perfect, you’re able to overlook the little things and enjoy your cruise. The photos are beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to share. 

[CardowMD]

The streets in Nafplio are pristine! They must clean them every night. What a beautiful town. Thanks for sharing!

[Jim_Iain]

Wow... not sure how I missed your excellent Live Post until this morning.  Really enjoying your report and the stunning pictures.  

[cavaaller]

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and reactions.

I really appreciate every single one of them!

[Rina155]

Loving your live review!  The pictures are amazing.  I have been looking at this itinerary for 2025 and your candid review is enlightening.  Thanks for bringing us all along your amazing journey!

[cavaaller]

We had big plans for the evening: The Show Ensemble was going to perform the Broadway Show. (I have a problem with the lighting every time they don't have the lights on (only outside light) due to the thermal insulation glass.

 

So we went to dinner quite early and had:

 

Pigs Foot Carpaccio (ok)

 

 

Creamy Tuscan Kale Soup (wonderful, the soups have been consistently good)

 

Yellow Beet Risotto (delicious)

As Mains we had the Scallops to share (suggestion of our wonderful head waiter)

 

Poached Cold Water Lobster

 

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb (very good)

 

followed by baked alaska

 

and my beloved cheese cake