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Writer's pictureMylene Hollick, CTA

Cruise along the Greek Isles Part 1. Cruising with your travel agent

This past May I escorted a group of 32 people to the Greek Isles. Most were empty n

esters. Some brought their kids and were celebrating graduations. Some were celebrating milestone anniversaries. Some cruisers knew each other and came from across the nation. We all had one thing in common. Our love of cruising.

I’m not gonna lie. It was a little stressful for me. I want to do a good job and I want to make sure everyone has fun. COVID restrictions were complicated. It varied from nation to nation. Even the cruise lines can be different. Booking with a good travel agent is KEY! I was able to navigate and inform my clients to any changes. Anything that can derail FUN. Heck, even the night before we were all supposed to sail we found out that there was a transportation strike the next day. We didn’t hear about it until past 10pm. Most everyone was already asleep. My husband and I set an alarm and made sure we didn’t miss the train. The railways were only going to guarantee service until 9:00am and the last train out of Venice to Trieste was at 7:30am. We set the alarm for 6am and I knocked on everyone’s door by 6:15am. We all had to be at the train station by 7am. Thankfully everyone understood. Got ready and we all made it to the port. Only a couple of mishaps like a train cancellation and trying to get our luggage on the full trains. But we survived.


The 9-night Greek Isles cruise was with Norwegian Cruise line. We sailed on the GEM, a midsize ship. It’s beautifully laid out and the service and food was wonderful. We sailed out of Trieste. It was supposed to be Venice but had to change due do the city of Venice not allowing ships over a certain size. It’s fair considering the layout and how Venice was built.

But let’s get back to the cruise. I choose this particular cruise because of the milder weather in May as Greece and Italy can get into the 90s. And I loved that school was still in session, so the ship wasn’t overrun with kids. I also love Norwegian’s motto of Free at Sea. You can choose the time you want to eat. There’s no set dining schedule. If you want to eat 2 dinners and different restaurants, then you do you. I’m not going to say we did that but the nighttime buffet at the Great Outdoors had some wonderful burritos, chips and cheese sauce and sandwiches. If you were a little hungry.

We visited a port every day. Montenegro, Santorini, Athens, Corfu, Mykonos, Argostoli, Dubrovnik and Split. It was all so beautiful. And the May weather was perfect. Only sunny days. Except the last which was fittingly cold and rainy. It was a sad day to have to leave that beautiful ship.

We had an optional excursion each day which I escorted and private just to our group.

We had plenty of free time on the ship. The Gem offered nightly entertainment which included art shows, bingo and trivia games. The nightclubs had dancing. It felt like it was 2019 again. Except for the buffets. They still required masks which I think we were all thankful for. No one wants to get sick.

Should we talk about the food? YES! The food was spectacular! I don’t think I had a bad meal at all. I only gained 5 lbs. Thankfully we walked a lot. Each day was about 5 miles. Athens and Santorini was more. But I’d do anything to keep eating like that. With our package we all got to choose 3 specialty dining meals. We chose Cagney’s Steakhouse, Le Bistro French restaurant and Moderno Brazilian steakhouse. Each meal was delicious.


I loved that cruise so much I’m doing it again. May 2023 on the NCL Breakaway. We are visiting both Italy and Greece.

If you’d like to join me on this exciting ship please contact me directly. Mylene@JetsetDestinations.com

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