Last summer, we took our first cruise outside of the Caribbean. It was a bucket list destination to visit Greece and Italy. It was on the Disney Dream, starting in Rome, with the 8-night cruise having ports of call in Naples (Pompeii), Mykonos, Athens, Santorini, and Chania before returning to Rome. How did it go? We wish could say it was a trip we’ll never forget, and we can’t wait to go back… but while it was unforgettable, it was not necessarily for good reasons.
Rome
We arrived in Rome 2 days prior to the cruise because we didn’t want to risk missing the ship’s departure. It turned out that one of our flights WAS canceled, but thankfully, we made all our connections and arrived in Rome, tired, but on schedule.
Two days was all the time we needed in Rome… We spent a day at the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, and another day walking the ancient Appian way (an ancient Roman road). We skipped a lot of stuff like the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and a lot of museums. While we loved what we saw, there were times the crowds were a bit overwhelming, and unfortunately, this was a portent of things to come on the cruise. And while we would have loved to do this vacation during the “off-season,” there were no itineraries offered outside of June and July, so if we wanted to do a Disney cruise to the ports of call we wanted… we had no choice about the timing.
Day 1 – Embarkation Day
We took the shuttle from the airport to the port. When we arrived in Civitavecchia (about an hour outside Rome), check-in was a bit more chaotic than what we’ve experienced in Port Canaveral. The shuttle busses unloaded us and our luggage and left, and we milled around the entrance for about 30 minutes, wondering which doors to line up at. Eventually, some cast members started building roped-off lines and yelling for people to have their “port arrival forms ready.” However, most people didn’t know when to line up, so it was pretty hectic as people tried to figure out where they should be. Once we were actually allowed inside the building, it was straightforward. But we have to say, Port Canaveral is a much better experience.
We finally got on board and headed to Cabanas for lunch, followed by the muster drill and the sail away party. Does everybody cry when the sail away party starts?… No?… Just us? OK. Dinner was at Animator’s Palate. After dinner we ended up going to 3 different trivia sessions (TV theme songs, Disney trivia, and Disney tunes trivia). Then it was time for bed. We were feeling a little nauseous, and since we both suffer from seasickness, we were trying everything we could think of… getting cabins in the middle of the ship, getting prescription patches ahead of time, taking ginger pills… we even bought some of those “pressure bracelets.” The seasickness isn’t so bad that we’re laid low in our cabin, but enough to make us feel “off” and “tipsy.” We hoped it would go away after a day or two.
Day 2 – Naples/Pompeii
We got up early and had breakfast at Cabanas, both of us feeling a bit out of it, and again, slightly nauseous. We forced ourselves to eat since we knew we’d probably be doing a lot of walking today. We then caught our bus to Pompeii. However, before going there, our excursion bus stopped at a cameo factory where they made cameos and all sorts of other jewelry. It was fine, but nothing special and we thought the factory probably gave a kick-back to any tour groups that brought tourists in. Then we were on to Pompeii! But while the tour was okay, it didn’t knock our socks off. There were WAY too many people, and it was really hot. We kept having to wait for other groups to move through a site before we could see it. We probably could have seen the ruins in half the time if we had come earlier, and didn’t have to wait for the other groups ahead of us. We were glad we saw it, but never need to see it again. At the end of the tour, Julia got a piece of pizza. Naples apparently invented it, and cast members on the ship said the pizza was “really good.” We didn’t see it as much better than the pizza we had in Rome or on the ship. But at least we can say we ate pizza at its birthplace!
Back on board we went to Cabanas again for lunch. We then did another trivia contest (Marvel), then tried our hand at Origami (Tracy is REALLY bad at that). Then it was on to another trivia contest (TV quotes) and pictures with Chip & Dale (very fun) before relaxing in our room before dinner (at Enchanted Garden). After dinner, we had movie quotes trivia, which was PACKED, so we were glad we got there early to get seats. Then we called it a night and went to bed. Side note… it is always fun to get back to your room and try and figure out what the towel figure is. We love them!
Day 3 – Day at Sea
We started the day again feeling a little queasy, but made ourselves go to breakfast at Cabanas. Then it was a full day of trivia and a non-trivia session learning how the chef makes lobster ravioli for everyone on the ship. This was fun because we all got a sample to eat. We had also just had it the night before, and it was really good!
Dinner was followed by our final trivia of the day, which was also the most fun. It was “movie tunes trivia,” where they played music from movies, and you guessed the movie. It turned into a big sing-a-long, especially when they played Don’t Forget About Me from The Breakfast Club and Hooked on a Feeling from Guardians of the Galaxy. By the end of the day, we’d done 7 games of trivia and one cooking demonstration. And by the way? We hadn’t come close to winning a single trivia since there are just too many Disney experts on a Disney cruise!
One good thing about all the trivia was it kept our minds off of our queasy stomachs. The sea is absolutely calm, but we can still feel it. We finished the day watching the Golden Mickeys on our TV. It’s a live show in the ship’s theater, but we’d rather watch from the comfort of our own room. All in all it was a nice relaxing day. One funny experience at dinner was when one of our servers saw us finishing our main course and coming over and COMMANDING us to “NOT MOVE!” The last 2 nights we’d skipped out without ordering dessert, and he wanted to make sure we didn’t do it again. We “stayed put” as ordered, and dutifully ordered 2 desserts, an opera cake, and crème brule. Yum!
Day 4 – Mykonos
We woke up and, you guessed it, both of us were still nauseous. Went to breakfast and then started our port excursions on Mykonos by taking a ferry taxi to Delos Island. We had a 2-hour tour of the ruins that were a lot of temples to various gods, and saw the “Avenue of the Lions” where there is a line of lion statues. The remains reminded us a lot of Pompeii. This tour wasn’t as crowded, but there were still a lot of people. Also, while on Delos, we saw LOTS of cats. Apparently, cats were originally brought in to control the mice population, and they are still there today.
When we got back to the boat, we went to Cabanas for lunch, then went back to the room and promptly fell asleep for a 2-hour nap. One of the nice things about Disney ships? They have the BEST beds! For dinner, we were supposed to be at Animator’s Palate, but it was with “Crush talk” which we hate (too loud and having to interact with a turtle), so we opted for the “fast food” options and got pizza and cheeseburgers to bring back to our room. We then headed back to Pub 687 for “TV quotes trivia.” Did we win? Of course not.
Day 5 – Athens
Our port “excursion” was “Athens on Your Own” which meant Disney shuttled us to the city center, and would take us back 4 hours later. We had tried to get into the “Best of Athens” tour but it was sold out. We got off the bus and headed to the Panathenaic Stadium, the first to hold the modern Olympic games. It was AMAZING!!! Definitely the highlight of our trip. And it turns out, if we’d gotten onto the “Best of Athens” tour, we would only have stopped OUTSIDE the stadium for a photo opportunity. It was sooo much better being able to go INSIDE. There was an audio tour, and a tunnel leading from the stadium to another room with all the Olympic torches. It was weird thinking of how athletes would enter the stadium through that same tunnel. And the best part? NO CROWDS! It was amazing how so many people just stood outside, but didn’t go in.
After the stadium, we headed to the Acropolis and ran into our first difficulty, and probably the worst experience we had on the entire cruise. There were 2 paths up to the top, and we mistakenly chose one with a lot of switchbacks. Unfortunately, this triggered our fear of heights. We debated how far we’d go, but kept going. We were doing okay until we hit a spot where there were a LOT of people and tour groups just PACKED in one area. You literally could not move. Between our fear of heights, and sensory overload, and too many people, we had to sit down to try to get acclimated. We THOUGHT where we stopped was the actual Parthenon… so took a picture, and opted to go back down. Then we got down, and realized we had NOT reached the Parthenon, and if we had been able to get through that one pinch-point/bottleneck, it would have been easier at the top. Oh well. Note: when we got home, we watched a “point of view hike to the Parthenon” and realized if we had reversed our itinerary and done the Acropolis first, and the stadium second, there would have been a lot less people, and we might have made it to the top… but also, that we were okay with what we missed.
We then got back on our shuttle bus, and got back on the ship in time to catch the Cabanas buffet, and then went to guest services and told them we were NOT going on the tour the following day. We did not get a refund, but we really didn’t want to do another crowded tour on cobblestones. We were hoping if we stayed on the ship, it would be nice and quiet. We then got a text about the excursion we had scheduled for the next day, which said it was a popular site to visit. It also mentioned 1 ½ miles of uneven surface, so we were VERY happy with our decision to skip it! Since it was “Pirate Night,” we opted to watch Pirates of the Caribbean in our room in the evening. Then called it a night.
Day 6 – Santorini
We woke up early and watched our arrival into Santorini. Last night the captain said it might be too windy to take “tenders” ashore, and he would refund everyone with excursions, but it was absolutely calm, so we thought the excursion would probably go on. We had breakfast at Cabanas, took a picture of the port, and went back to our room. Both of us are AGAIN feeling a little nauseous, even with all our seasickness tricks. We talked about how the trip was going, and both of us feeling a little disappointed. Partly because we haven’t able to cure the seasickness, and partly because of the CROWDS while on shore! It’s not bad on the ship, but the excursions have been crazy. Between the crowds and the seasickness, we’re thinking we probably won’t go on another cruise. We’ll put a deposit on a “placeholder” cruise while on board, but seriously doubt we’ll use it.
Since we were skipping our excursion today, we decided to try one of the “detective agency” mysteries on board. This one was the Muppet one, which we did on an earlier cruise, and got wrong. We’ll, we’re now 0-2 since we got this one wrong as well! We think we misinterpreted the clues (ruling out Muppet characters, when the clue was supposed to “implicate” the characters). Also, while in the middle of our search, the activity director made the announcement that most shore excursions had to be canceled, so we would be getting a refund on our excursion after all! Sweet! We heard several people who decided to go ashore later (once the tenders were working), and it was crowded, with 2-hour waits for the “vernicular” up the side of the port. It did not sound fun.
We decided to hang out in the adults-only section and do some trivia/puzzles from our puzzle book. But after a while, the seats weren’t that comfortable, so we went and got some hot dogs and fries, followed by ice cream, and then went back to our room to relax. Does anyone else think the chairs on deck are not really that comfortable? Are we complaining too much? We’re just trying to point out why we prefer our room to some other areas of the ship. We read a little, then took a nap before heading to lunch and more trivia sessions. The trivia sessions seem to be getting harder, and we’re doing worse and worse each time.
We decided to skip dinner tonight, and watch Guardians of the Galaxy 3 in the theater. So, we went to the fast-food stations to get some chicken wraps, fruit, and salads we can store in the fridge until after the movie. We saw the movie (Tracy bought popcorn), and thought it was HORRIBLE! It was one of the worst Marvel movies (right down there with Thor, Love and Thunder). Sorry for those of you who loved either of those movies. After the movie, we went to club 687 for a “movie quotes” trivia. It was PACKED! And very loud. We had to stand the entire time, and it was really too loud to be fun. We ate dinner in our room after that, and watched Frozen II before calling it a night.
Day 7 – Chania
We woke up as we were arriving in Chania, where we did NOT have an excursion planned (they were all sold out before we thought about booking). We had breakfast at Royal Table… our first sit-down breakfast (not a buffet), followed by another crack at the “Detective Agency” mystery. This time, actually doing what the clues told us. We were able to figure out the Muppet mystery (the answer was different from yesterday!), and the “missing puppies” mystery, which was a LOT easier! The ship was nice and quiet since everyone was on shore excursions. After solving the mysteries, we changed into swimsuits, and headed to the adult only area to relax on a big chair and do puzzles, followed by a swim. We then went back to the room to change, and then a round of mini-golf (how many golf balls end up in the ocean? We then headed to table service lunch at the Royal Palace. After lunch we had 2 more trivia sessions, and one we got 23 out of 25, the closest we’ve ever come to winning… but one team got a perfect score… so no joy there. We spent the evening after dinner just reading, and went to bed early.
Day 8 – Day at Sea
After breakfast at Cabanas we collected a plate and bowl of grapes, cheese, and pastries to take back to the room for later. We then relaxed and read until our first trivia of the day. Then we had a “second breakfast” at the buffet… but we both chose the “steak and eggs” which ended up being a hard over egg on top of a thin strip of steak that was VERY hard to cut (they only give out butter knifes and the steak was HAMMERED!).
Then it was on to “Anyone Can Cook – Apple Strudel.” The pastry chef made it look sooo easy! This was followed by another round of trivia (which we didn’t win… again), then off to lunch at Cabanas. The food on this trip has NOT rocked our boat. It’s been okay, but nothing great. Then, yet another round of trivia, which we lost (again). It was Disney tunes trivia, so always fun to sing along as they reveal the answers.
We took a short break in our room with our puzzle book, then went to dinner. Food was “meh” but our server surprised us with a dessert of coconut cream pie! We had missed it at lunch yesterday, but he was able to get us two slices tonight! After dinner we headed straight to Pub 687 for our last trivia of the cruise (TV Tunes trivia), and we didn’t win (again). Then back to our room to start packing (ugh!).
Day 9 – Debarkation/Back to Rome
At 7:00am we headed downstairs to “Enchanted Garden” for our last breakfast on the ship, taking our luggage with us. Once again we forced ourselves to eat, not knowing when we’d eat next. We were STILL feeling “tipsy” after 8 days on the ship! After breakfast we disembarked, bypassing the room FULL of luggage since we kept ours with us.
We hopped on a bus that took us to the airport (we were staying at a hotel connected to the airport). We checked in, but our room wasn’t ready yet (it was only 9:30am), so we claimed some comfy chairs a little bit away from the lobby and settled in to wait. Neither of us had ANY desire to go back into Rome, even though we have a full day. We then just spent the rest of the evening reading and relishing the quiet (we were pretty peopled out).
Final Thoughts of the Greek Isles Cruise
- Book your excursions early… we couldn’t get any for Chania (which ended up being OK since we were tired of crowds at that point), and in Athens the one we wanted was sold out, so we went for “Athens on your own” (which also ended up being OK since we actually got to go INSIDE the Olympic stadium)
- Given a choice, go on an adult only tour. In Pompeii, you’ll get to visit the brothel.
- If you don’t like crowds and want to go on a Greek Cruise at another time? You’ll have to book a different cruise line. Perhaps you could stick with Disney, and try going out on your own, but we didn’t want the stress of worrying about getting back to the ship in time.
- If you stop in Athens, go on the Olympic stadium tour! It was the highlight of our trip, and didn’t have the crowds all the other sights had.
- When in Athens, do the Acropolis first! It WILL be crowded if you wait. While this should have been a highlight, it ended up being one of the worst experiences we had on the cruise due to the heights, and the crowds.
- Be prepared for crowds at Santorini. Although our excursion was canceled, hearing from people who did eventually get off the ship, there was a 2 hour wait for the vernicular up the hill.
- If you like going to trivia, be prepared to arrive early. The venues fill up, and it can get REALLY crowded. Try the music trivia because some of them become sing-alongs, and it’s an added treat.
- If you are flying out of Rome after the cruise, you really have to spend another night in Rome. This is because all of the flights from Rome leave too early in the morning to get to the airport in time after debarkation.
Will We Go on Another Cruise?
We did put a deposit down for a placeholder while on board… and we HAVE booked another cruise! The next one is a Pacific Coast transition cruise from San Diego to Vancouver, BC. We anticipate never getting off the ship (there is only one port of call in Victoria, BC), and assume there won’t be too many people since most would rather take an Alaska cruise. Will we be able to cure our seasickness? Only time will tell, but here’s hoping!
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