IntrepidFromDC

Your words are wise, I think.

Sushi for dinner was better than I remembered. But nowhere near as good as the fresh octopus salad I had in Plaka for lunch.

The foothills of the Acropolis are called Plaka, a nice shopping area filled with cafes and the ancient Greek shopping mall that was adopted and used by the Romans during their rule. Many years later the Ottomans defeated the Greeks again and the Greeks lost independence for another 400 years.

Parthenon and Erechtheion

Atop the Athens Acropolis at last. It's a bucket list item for me, so despite the tour guideless experience, I'm both grateful and thrilled to see these icons of the birthplace of democracy and western civilization we enjoy today.

After going through the turnstiles there's another very long line to go through the ancient gateway to the Acropolis, which has several structures of architectural and historical importance. All three structures are in honor of various aspects of Athena. I estimate total line time about 1.25 hours, although the second line was better because as I slowly ascended the huge marble steps to the ancient gateway there were nice views of Athens, below.

The steps up to the long line to enter the Acropolis were very slippery! Water and marble, nice combination for decor, not flooring.

The bus ride to Athens was good. We passed two smaller ports with yachts, a the narrative offered was "this is where foreign wealthy persons rent space to dock their yachts and now the price is too rich for Greeks to rent space." Athens/Piraeus is like a bit of a megalopolis, I couldn't tell where one city started and the other ended, and if there were signs I missed them. The modern part of Athens was not impressive, albeit we saw a tiny bit of it.

With excursion experience of four Carnival excursions and over 30 independent excursions I already knew Carnival excursions have the disappointment of a "dumbed down" experience but this was a new low.

The tour guide led us on a focused shopping expedition through her selected coffeehouse, souvenir shop, insisting there wasn't time for everyone to go about shopping on their own, yet after that was over she cheerfully said "you now have free time to explore the churches and square". At the Acropolis entrance she handed us tickets to wait in a long line without shade, disappearing now and then, unable to answer any questions about anything interesting, then reappeared as we finally got to the entrance. By that time we lost 4 elderly people. She spoke softly on purpose so only 5 or so people (me included) heard her instructions to meet at the exit in 40 minutes, then she disappeared again. Everyone was a sweaty heap of a range of negative emotions and nobody learned anything from the tour guide. By the last hour of the 5.5 hour excursion about a third of our group of 30 were yelling at her. In the end she lost two of us when we boarded the bus back to Piraeus.

I chose the Carnival excursion to Athens Acropolis and Plaka (foothills of Acropolis) because I hadn't been to Athens before and didn't want to miss "back-on-board" time (didn't know how far Athens was from Piraeus, Athens traffic, etc) but wanted to be sure I got a thorough history of Ancient Greece and not a combination Acropolis/shopping trip. The tour description at carnival.com says it includes a guided tour, including headphones. Neither is true and the tour operator blamed Carnival...

Carnival excursion to Acropolis was a trainwreck. But the octopus salad in Plaka is fantastic!

Just hop on the bus, Gus.... actually I must be Rodney cuz I must be in the front row!

Taj Mahal is the excursion meeting place this morning. Acropolis here I come!

Bacation Day. 🤔😬😡

My newlywed friends from the train, Preston and Ashton on the left. Funny show!

I had lentil soup and caesar salad in MDR before heading to Love And Marriage. Both were yummy.

I was still a little hungry after Seafood Corner so I had lentil soup and a caesar salad in MDR before heading to see the newlywed couple I met on the train from Rome to Civitavecchia. Both were yummy.

Off to the casino to return some of the money they so generously lent me so far. Two of the regulars at our Hold'em table have hit quads twice and one is me.😁 🏴‍☠️ Then onto Love And Marriage where I'll be cheering for Preston and Ashton, a fun newlywed couple on their honeymoon who I sat with on the train from Rome. Sometimes you meet the nicest, fun people while traveling!

I was surprised to encounter a line at Seafood Corner, and even more surprised that the line persisted the entire time I ate my disappointing lobster rolls and oily no-potato tasting fries. Even Old Bay couldn't rescue them. The lobster rolls lacked lobster meat quantity and quality, see pics...

Pride

Sailaway

I went to Iriana because it's rated #1 in Santorini on TripAdvisor. After my rare disappointment with one top TA restaurant the other day, I went to the host to ask to look at the menu but actually was more focused on looking at the food on the tables. What I mostly saw was doughy-looking pizza, and there was no fresh octopus or gyros on the menu despite the waterfront venue. So I opted for lobster roll back on the ship. The $30 ticket included speedboat to Oia, bus to top, then you walk the town at leisure, then a "private van" takes you to the top of Thira where you have more time to explore/ shop before heading back down the switchbacks or tram. I will definitely do that next time Carnival drops me off at the port. Santorini is right up there with my favorite Caribbean islands, St Maarten, St. Kitts and Curacao.

The bottom of the switchbacks empties right to the Carnival tent so you know you are at the right place to catch the water taxi back to ship. It was a fun day although I didn't find my lamb gyro, Oia next time.