* Pictures notes are bottom to top - Manic Monday! First time in our travels we overslept - neither of us heard the 2 alarms set for our 4 am wake up. Thank goodness Richard woke up at 4.25 am and we miraculously were out the door to meet our taxi at 5 am. Good thing we showeredand packed the night before! Besides this mishap, the rest of our 7.30 am flight from Barcelona to Venice was uneventful.
Upon arrival we were able to get 2 seats with Costa Cruise Line for the next scheduled bus transfer to the embarkation terminal. After going through some tedious waiting and check in process we arrived on board in time for lunch and a much welcomed bottle of chilled white wine. Once lunch was completed we gratefully headed to our cabin where our luggage awaited us. Very comfortable bed, good light and nice sized living quarters with window - we were happy to finally take our hiking boots off and enjoy the 'down time' alone.
Costa Fortuna is a very large boat (over 3,000 passengers) (pictures 1,2, 3) with many overly energetic children (we since found out Costa let Italian children travel free during July which accounted unfortunately to the large number of them). Other than that we found time for ourselves, enjoyed the fun, great people we met especially Ann Marie and Ed during our one excursion in Santorini (picture 4) and newlyweds Rachel and David from Providence, Rhode Island, Viktorija from Macedonia and Andraz from Slavinia at our 9.15 pm dinner table in the Raeffello Dining Room (picture 5).
First stop for 4 hours was in Bari, Italy which looked pretty enough, but not worth the effort for us to cue up in big lines getting off/on the ship so we stayed on board and enjoyed having the pool and dining facilities to ourselves. Next day we stopped for 4 hours in Katakolon, Greece (famous as the home of Ancient Olympia) - again we chose to stay on board to enjoy the peace and quiet of the deserted pool and decks as temperatures on land soared to the high 90's.
Third day we stopped in Santorini, Greece where the white structures along the mountainous coast seemed too beautiful to miss. Since we only had 4 hours and needed to take tenders (local boats) to shore we decided to try their most 'fun' excursion - the 4x4 Santorini Excursion - where we squeezed into a very small, 2-door 'Jimmy' with a fun couple from New Jersey, Ann Marie and Ed. With the girls in the back, the guys took turns driving to Akirotiri on the northern end of the island to see a lunar-like landscape created by an ancient volcano eruption; passed a number of black sand beaches; stopped in the village of Magalorchori for a traditional snack (picture 6); took in amazing views of the Aegean Sea and Santorini from the highest point of the island (550 meters), Profits Elias; ending up in Thira, capital of the island. Once we left the jeeps we wandered through the lovely white washed town but since we needed to return to the ship we unfortunately didn't have time to linger. So instead of the donkey ride down (not to mention the heat and smell) we waited on a long line for the fast cable car (while calming Ann Marie down since she was petrified of heights) back down to the port of Thira to wait for our return by tender to the ship.
That night the ship stopped at the island of Mykonos for a few hours. With so many people getting disembarking at the same time we decided not to fight the crowds trying to eat at the island restaurants near the pier and stayed on board for a more relaxing evening by ourselves.
Fourth day we stopped in the beautiful island of Rhodes, Greece. With extensive family research information from Susan's sister's prior to our departure for the cruise we were excited to experience the home of her ancestral roots - where her grandmother and family lived, great grandfather died, etc. We negotiated with an English-speaking taxi driver to take us through the new town, stopped at a few ancient ruin sites and on to picturesque Lindos (about 38 kms away). While it was hot (about 96 degrees) there was a breeze from the amazing sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Once at Lindos we took a donkey ride up to the Acropolis (picture 7), home of the Temple of Athena (picture 8). While much was in ruins, there were
still many structures in good condition (from extensive restoration projects) and the views of the city of Lindos and the Sea were just breathtaking. We walked down to return to the taxi and drove back to spend some time behind the wall of the fabulous old town (picture 9). We found a terrific local tavern and enjoyed a delicious authentic Greek lunch before returning to the ship by our 5.30 pm embarkation deadline. Just a beautiful place and a great day!
Fifth day we were at sea so we enjoyed some reading and relaxing in spite of the full capacity ship. On the sixth and last full day we docked in Dubrovnik, Croatia - just a jewel of a place (picture 10)! After waiting to board a tender to the port we had 4 hours to wander the quaint cobblestone streets, walked the fort walls surrounding the old city and just totally enjoyed the
beauty of this wonderful fishing village. Another magical day with warm balmy breezes, crystal clear skies and sparkling deep blue waters....we couldn't ask for better. After waiting on a long line which moved quickly we boarded another tender to return to the ship for our last night at sea.
On our seventh day we returned to original port (Venice) (picture 11) and the start of our next stop - 3 nights in Venice.
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