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Itinerary
It’s no wonder that all roads lead to the fascinating and maddening metropolis of Athens. Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, its honey-color marble columns rising from a massive limestone base, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years. But, today, this shrine of classical form dominates a 21st-century boomtown. To experience Athens—Athína in Greek—fully is to understand the essence of Greece: ancient monuments surviving in a sea of cement, startling beauty amid the squalor, tradition juxtaposed with modernity. Locals depend on humor and flexibility to deal with the chaos; you should do the same. The rewards are immense. Although Athens covers a huge area, the major landmarks of the ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods are close to the modern city center. You can easily walk from the Acropolis to many other key sites, taking time to browse in shops and relax in cafés and tavernas along the way. From many quarters of the city you can glimpse “the glory that was Greece” in the form of the Acropolis looming above the horizon, but only by actually climbing that rocky precipice can you feel the impact of the ancient settlement. The Acropolis and Filopappou, two craggy hills sitting side by side; the ancient Agora (marketplace); and Kerameikos, the first cemetery, form the core of ancient and Roman Athens. Along the Unification of Archaeological Sites promenade, you can follow stone-paved, tree-lined walkways from site to site, undisturbed by traffic. Cars have also been banned or reduced in other streets in the historical center. In the National Archaeological Museum, vast numbers of artifacts illustrate the many millennia of Greek civilization; smaller museums such as the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum illuminate the history of particular regions or periods. Athens may seem like one huge city, but it is really a conglomeration of neighborhoods with distinctive characters. The Eastern influences that prevailed during the 400-year rule of the Ottoman Empire are still evident in Monastiraki, the bazaar area near the foot of the Acropolis. On the northern slope of the Acropolis, stroll through Plaka (if possible by moonlight), an area of tranquil streets lined with renovated mansions, to get the flavor of the 19th-century’s gracious lifestyle. The narrow lanes of Anafiotika, a section of Plaka, thread past tiny churches and small, color-washed houses with wooden upper stories, recalling a Cycladic island village. In this maze of winding streets, vestiges of the older city are everywhere: crumbling stairways lined with festive tavernas; dank cellars filled with wine vats; occasionally a court or diminutive garden, enclosed within high walls and filled with magnolia trees and the flaming trumpet-shaped flowers of hibiscus bushes. Formerly run-down old quarters, such as Thission, Gazi and Psirri, popular nightlife areas filled with bars and mezedopoleia (similar to tapas bars), are now in the process of gentrification, although they still retain much of their original charm, as does the colorful produce and meat market on Athinas. The area around Syntagma Square, the tourist hub, and Omonia Square, the commercial heart of the city about 1 km (½ mi) northwest, is distinctly European, having been designed by the court architects of King Otho, a Bavarian, in the 19th century. The chic shops and bistros of ritzy Kolonaki nestle at the foot of Mt. Lycabettus, Athens’s highest hill (909 feet). Each of Athens’s outlying suburbs has a distinctive character: in the north is wealthy, tree-lined Kifissia, once a summer resort for aristocratic Athenians, and in the south and southeast lie Glyfada, Voula, and Vouliagmeni, with their sandy beaches, seaside bars, and lively summer nightlife. Just beyond the city’s southern fringes is Piraeus, a bustling port city of waterside fish tavernas and Saronic Gulf views.
Early travelers described Rhodes as a town of two parts: a castle or high town (Collachium) and a lower city. Today Rhodes town—sometimes referred to as Ródos town—is still a city of two parts: the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site that incorporates the high town and lower city, and the modern metropolis, or New Town, spreading away from the walls that encircle the Old Town. The narrow streets of the Old Town are for the most part closed to cars and are lined with Orthodox and Catholic churches, Turkish houses (some of which follow the ancient orthogonal plan), and medieval public buildings with exterior staircases and facades elegantly constructed of well-cut limestone from Lindos. Careful reconstruction in recent years has enhanced the harmonious effect.
Undoubtedly the most extraordinary island in the Aegean, crescent-shape Santorini remains a mandatory stop on the Cycladic tourist route—even if it’s necessary to enjoy the sensational sunsets from Ia, the fascinating excavations, and the dazzling white towns with a million other travelers. Called Kállisti (the “Loveliest”) when first settled, the island has now reverted to its subsequent name of Thira, after the 9th-century-BC Dorian colonizer Thiras. The place is better known, however, these days as Santorini, a name derived from its patroness, St. Irene of Thessaloniki, the Byzantine empress who restored icons to Orthodoxy and died in 802. You can fly conveniently to Santorini, but to enjoy a true Santorini rite of passage, opt instead for the boat trip here, which provides a spectacular introduction. After the boat sails between Sikinos and Ios, your deck-side perch approaches two close islands with a passage between them. The bigger one on the left is Santorini, and the smaller on the right is Thirassia. Passing between them, you see the village of Ia adorning Santorini’s northernmost cliff like a white geometric beehive. You are in the caldera (volcanic crater), one of the world’s truly breathtaking sights: a demilune of cliffs rising 1,100 feet, with the white clusters of the towns of Fira and Ia perched along the top. The bay, once the high center of the island, is 1,300 feet in some places, so deep that when boats dock in Santorini’s shabby little port of Athinios, they do not drop anchor. The encircling cliffs are the ancient rim of a still-active volcano, and you are sailing east across its flooded caldera. On your right are the Burnt isles, the White isle, and other volcanic remnants, all lined up as if some outsize display in a geology museum. Hephaestus’s subterranean fires smolder still—the volcano erupted in 198 BC, about 735, and there was an earthquake in 1956. Indeed, Santorini and its four neighboring islets are the fragmentary remains of a larger landmass that exploded about 1600 BC: the volcano’s core blew sky high, and the sea rushed into the abyss to create the great bay, which measures 10 km by 7 km (6 mi by 4½ mi) and is 1,292 feet deep. The other pieces of the rim, which broke off in later eruptions, are Thirassia, where a few hundred people live, and deserted little Aspronissi (“White isle”). In the center of the bay, black and uninhabited, two cones, the Burnt Isles of Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni, appeared between 1573 and 1925. There has been too much speculation about the identification of Santorini with the mythical Atlantis, mentioned in Egyptian papyri and by Plato (who says it’s in the Atlantic), but myths are hard to pin down. This is not true of old arguments about whether tidal waves from Santorini’s cataclysmic explosion destroyed Minoan civilization on Crete, 113 km (70 mi) away. The latest carbon-dating evidence, which points to a few years before 1600 BC for the eruption, clearly indicates that the Minoans outlasted the eruption by a couple of hundred years, but most probably in a weakened state. In fact, the island still endures hardships: since antiquity, Santorini has depended on rain collected in cisterns for drinking and irrigating—the well water is often brackish—and the serious shortage is alleviated by the importation of water. However, the volcanic soil also yields riches: small, intense tomatoes with tough skins used for tomato paste (good restaurants here serve them); the famous Santorini fava beans, which have a light, fresh taste; barley; wheat; and white-skin eggplants.
Milos or Melos is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The Venus de Milo and the Asclepius of Milos were both found on the island, as were a Poseidon and an archaic Apollo now in Athens.
It’s no wonder that all roads lead to the fascinating and maddening metropolis of Athens. Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, its honey-color marble columns rising from a massive limestone base, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years. But, today, this shrine of classical form dominates a 21st-century boomtown. To experience Athens—Athína in Greek—fully is to understand the essence of Greece: ancient monuments surviving in a sea of cement, startling beauty amid the squalor, tradition juxtaposed with modernity. Locals depend on humor and flexibility to deal with the chaos; you should do the same. The rewards are immense. Although Athens covers a huge area, the major landmarks of the ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods are close to the modern city center. You can easily walk from the Acropolis to many other key sites, taking time to browse in shops and relax in cafés and tavernas along the way. From many quarters of the city you can glimpse “the glory that was Greece” in the form of the Acropolis looming above the horizon, but only by actually climbing that rocky precipice can you feel the impact of the ancient settlement. The Acropolis and Filopappou, two craggy hills sitting side by side; the ancient Agora (marketplace); and Kerameikos, the first cemetery, form the core of ancient and Roman Athens. Along the Unification of Archaeological Sites promenade, you can follow stone-paved, tree-lined walkways from site to site, undisturbed by traffic. Cars have also been banned or reduced in other streets in the historical center. In the National Archaeological Museum, vast numbers of artifacts illustrate the many millennia of Greek civilization; smaller museums such as the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum illuminate the history of particular regions or periods. Athens may seem like one huge city, but it is really a conglomeration of neighborhoods with distinctive characters. The Eastern influences that prevailed during the 400-year rule of the Ottoman Empire are still evident in Monastiraki, the bazaar area near the foot of the Acropolis. On the northern slope of the Acropolis, stroll through Plaka (if possible by moonlight), an area of tranquil streets lined with renovated mansions, to get the flavor of the 19th-century’s gracious lifestyle. The narrow lanes of Anafiotika, a section of Plaka, thread past tiny churches and small, color-washed houses with wooden upper stories, recalling a Cycladic island village. In this maze of winding streets, vestiges of the older city are everywhere: crumbling stairways lined with festive tavernas; dank cellars filled with wine vats; occasionally a court or diminutive garden, enclosed within high walls and filled with magnolia trees and the flaming trumpet-shaped flowers of hibiscus bushes. Formerly run-down old quarters, such as Thission, Gazi and Psirri, popular nightlife areas filled with bars and mezedopoleia (similar to tapas bars), are now in the process of gentrification, although they still retain much of their original charm, as does the colorful produce and meat market on Athinas. The area around Syntagma Square, the tourist hub, and Omonia Square, the commercial heart of the city about 1 km (½ mi) northwest, is distinctly European, having been designed by the court architects of King Otho, a Bavarian, in the 19th century. The chic shops and bistros of ritzy Kolonaki nestle at the foot of Mt. Lycabettus, Athens’s highest hill (909 feet). Each of Athens’s outlying suburbs has a distinctive character: in the north is wealthy, tree-lined Kifissia, once a summer resort for aristocratic Athenians, and in the south and southeast lie Glyfada, Voula, and Vouliagmeni, with their sandy beaches, seaside bars, and lively summer nightlife. Just beyond the city’s southern fringes is Piraeus, a bustling port city of waterside fish tavernas and Saronic Gulf views.
Ship features
The Owners Suite
SUITE DESCRIPTION
The Owner’s Suite was designed to epitomize the yachting lifestyle, with outsize suite and terrace spaces inviting unparalleled entertaining and ultimate comfort. The suite’s expansive private terrace truly wows with a whirlpool, dedicated outdoor dining table and conversation spaces that blur the lines of indoor-outdoor living, all to the sweeping backdrop of majestic sea views. The suite itself is distinguished by a second full bath with shower, a full bar with seating, two living/conversation areas and a dining table that comfortably seats 6 guests.
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean, with private whirlpool
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom with modern soaking tub and separate shower
- Second bathroom with modern shower system
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean with private whirlpool
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Walk-in wardrobe
- Convertible sleep sofa
Size
- Suite: 1091 SQ FT | 101 SQ M
- Terrace: 635 SQ FT | 59 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
- Set of high-zoom binoculars
The View Suite
The View suite brings the outdoors in with its expansive length of dramatic floor to ceiling glass and private terrace, offering unmatched views and capturing the sea breeze from Juliet balconies in the living, bed and bath areas. These views are meant to be shared, with the large private terrace, living and dining areas allowing guests to entertain out of sight of the suite’s bed and bath area.
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Dramatic floor to ceiling glass throughout
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom with modern soaking tub and separate shower
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
- Convertible sleep sofa
Size
- (Suite 732 & 733)
- Suite: 544 SQ FT | 51 SQ M
- Terrace: 108 SQ FT | 10 SQ M
(Suite 734 & 735)
- Suite: 574 SQ FT | 53 SQ M
- Terrace: 129 SQ FT | 12 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
The 2-Story Loft Suite
The Loft suite is a study in duality: a lower level designed for rest and relaxation, and an upper level perfect for socializing and entertaining. With a powder room and expanded living area upstairs, this space easily converts into a second private sleeping area for guests traveling with children or travelers sleeping separately. The expanded desk and dressing table in the lower level provides uninterrupted views through an oversized picture window.
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean on the upper level
- Picture window on the lower level
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Innovative two story suite with entry from both levels
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area on the upper level
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system on the lower level
- Double vanity bathroom
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Powder room on the upper level
- Double vanity master bathroom with modern soaking tub and separate shower on the lower level
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system on the lower level
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Innovative two story suite with entry from both levels
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean on the upper level
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area on the upper level
- Convertible sleep sofa on the upper level
Size
- Suite: 611 SQ FT | 57 SQ M
- Terrace: 81 SQ FT | 7.5 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
The Grand Suite
The Grand Suite offers a distinctly residential suite experience, allowing guests to feel at home upon the sea. The suite features dual walk-in closets, a dining table that comfortably accommodates 4 guests, plus added space on the private terrace and in living and bath spaces to spread out and relax.
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom with modern soaking tub and separate shower
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Dual walk-in wardrobes
- Convertible sleep sofa
Size
- Suite: 587 SQ FT | 55 SQ M
- Terrace: 108 – 118 SQ FT | 10 – 11 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
The Signature Suite
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom with modern soaking tub and separate shower
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
- Luxurious and modern living and dining area
- Convertible sleep sofa
Size
- Suite: 429 SQ FT | 40 SQ M
- Terrace: 81 – 118 SQ FT | 7.5 – 11 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
The Terrace Suite
The Terrace Suite provides a foundation for the very best amenities enjoyed by all suite categories on board, including a private terrace, king-sized bed and double vanity. Best of all, guests enjoy the superlative service of an assigned suite ambassador.
SUITE HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNIFICENT OCEAN VIEWS
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
SPACIOUS SUITE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom
PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND AMENITIES
- The Personal Concierge is your single onboard touch point to ensure a flawless, seamless journey from beginning to end
- 24-hour in-suite dining, espresso machine, complimentary coffee and teas and a mini-bar provisioned to your preferences, upon request once on board
ACCOMMODATIONS
Bed & Bath
- Luxury custom king bed sleep system
- Double vanity bathroom with modern shower system
- Custom luxury bed and bath linens
Suite Features
- Private, spacious terrace overlooking the ocean
Size
- Suite: 300 SQ FT | 28 SQ M
- Terrace: 54 – 81 SQ FT | 5 – 7.5 SQ M
SERVICES AND AMENITIES
- 24-hour in-suite dining
- Luxury bath amenities & individual robe and slippers
- Premium Wi-Fi, supporting browsing, social media, streaming services, video calls and VPN services
- Complimentary chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival
- Espresso machine with complimentary coffee and teas
- Digital flat screen television
- In-suite safe
- Vanity mirror
- Hair dryer
- Hypoallergenic pillows, upon request
- 230v and 120v outlets, as well as USB charging capabilities
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