Saturday, May 20
Here we are on the Celestyal Crystal, a relatively small cruise ship of a very small Greek cruise line. As we sailed out of Athens’ port of Piraeus, we went up on deck, where the house band, which included a bouzouki, was playing Greek music. It’s festive and exciting to be heading out to sea, passing other ships, looking up at an enormous Princess floating hotel.
Our room is comfortable, with a couch and desk, more than we could say for some of our hotels. It’s nice to be able to unpack. The ship is a scaled-down version of an American cruise ship, with dining rooms, lounges, and a theater, but no water slides or climbing walls. It isn’t a trek to walk to the dining room. Tonight we’ll head north through the Aegean to Thessaloniki.