LIVE from Celebrity Infinity: Best of Greece August 17, 2024

[love2crews.]

August 17, 2024 (Part 1)

 

I was up early before my mom and sister, so I decided to get dressed and grab some pastries.  Most of the streets were empty and serene, except for the main street facing the port.  VERY crowded at 8:15 in the morning and there was a line for the bakery I went to.

 

 

The line moved very quick and lots of options to choose from.  I got a chocolate croissant for my sister, Greek yogurt parfait for our mom (the birthday girl), and a spanakopita for myself.

 

 

My pastry was delicious and very big.  My mom enjoyed her parfait and loved the yogurt.  My sister has yet to try her croissant (she just woke up).

 

 

[chemmo]

8 hours ago, peanut head said:

 

 

Oh my goodness.  So sorry...it was in Santorini.  We would definitely go again--it tasted like it was just pulled out of the ocean--so flavorful and delicious.  One of the best meals we ever had.  Oh, btw, the 1 platter could easily serve 4.

The best way to choose a fish restaurant in the Med is to see the number of cats loitering with intent!

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, love2crews. said:

August 17, 2024 (Part 1)

 

I was up early before my mom and sister, so I decided to get dressed and grab some pastries.  Most of the streets were empty and serene, except for the main street facing the port.  VERY crowded at 8:15 in the morning and there was a line for the bakery I went to.

 

 

The line moved very quick and lots of options to choose from.  I got a chocolate croissant for my sister, Greek yogurt parfait for our mom (the birthday girl), and a spanakopita for myself.

 

 

My pastry was delicious and very big.  My mom enjoyed her parfait and loved the yogurt.  My sister has yet to try her croissant (she just woke up).

 

 

What a wonderful start to your holiday! We love Greek food, just need to remember that they don’t serve it red hot! Looking forward to the rest of your posts.

[Lena11033]

7 hours ago, love2crews. said:

Side note: no one accepts American Express here…. We haven’t had any issues with Visa though. 

 

Unfortunately not just a Greece thing - its not widely accepted. When I was in Belgium a woman paying for chocolate her card was declined 3 times in front of me, I had to ask her card type then tell her if her or her husband had a visa card to use that. Poor husband had to run back from another store to pay 😅

[love2crews.]

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

The best way to choose a fish restaurant in the Med is to see the number of cats loitering with intent!

This is great advice!!!

[love2crews.]

August 17, 2024 (Part 2)

 

We checked out of our hotel around 10:30am and took a taxi to the cruise port.  Again, I used FreeNow to order the taxi and the wait was less than 5 mins for a vehicle with a large trunk.  We had 3 carry-ons and one large duffel bag and filled trunk completely.  It wasn’t as large of a trunk as I had envisioned.  So if you have checked bags AND carry ons, this may not be the best bet.

 

In about 10 minutes time, we arrived at Terminal C.  Before we could even get out of the car, a port agent whisked away our (one) duffel bag to take onboard the ship.  We decided to carry on our carry ons ourselves.  

 

The porter grabbed another woman at the port and she brought us inside the terminal to the Retreat Lounge.  We didn’t even have time to sit down before Marlene brought us through security and on to the ship.  They did have some nice snacks and drinks though.

 

 

 

We walked onboard around 11am.  We had chosen the first embarkation time which was 11:30.  There were many other people on board by the time we boarded.  It literally took us 10 mins from the moment we stepped out of the taxi to the moment they scanned our sea passes on board (I looked at the time stamps from my photos).

 

 

 

*If you followed our last live, this embarkation experience was 1000X better than our last Celebrity experience on the Apex.  100/10 for today’s embarkation 🤩

 

Marlene then escorted us to our room or as she put it, the “party” lol.  I had worked with Rachel, the shoreside concierge, to coordinate a few birthday surprises for our mom.  And Rachel coordinated with Marlene onboard to make the magic happen. 

 

I have to say, Rachel and Marlene (and the rest of the crew) DELIVERED!!!! When our mom opened the cabin door, she was greeted by balloons, streamers, personalized banners, a custom flower arrangement I had sent a photo of, a birthday cake, and my favorite part, a carved birthday watermelon!!!  Our mom was shocked and it took her a while to notice all the surprises scattered throughout the room.  I’m glad we were able to do something special for her and that the concierge team made it happen!  The staff are truly amazing! 🤗

 

 

 

Side note: the reason we chose this sailing is because embarkation day (today) is actually our mom’s 65th birthday.  And being that these are all new ports for us, this was the perfect sailing. 🙂 

Edited August 17 by love2crews.

[Stem to Stern]

Loving your report along with all of your pics.  
I will probably track down your previous reports and read them on a rainy day.🤓

The trip to Aegina looked incredible.  

Evidently pistachio lattes are a thing on board.  

Enjoy your cruise!😀

 

 

 

Edited August 17 by Stem to Stern

[love2crews.]

August 17, 2024 (Part 3)
 

After dropping our luggage in our room, we headed to our muster station. We did most of it in the app, so this took 30 seconds. ✅

 

Then it was time for lunch-we decided to go to Oceanview buffet.  It wasn’t crowded yet since it was still pretty early.  There were lots of Greek dips to choose from-labneh, hummus, babaganoush, spicy hummus; and all the fixings, too (olives, pita, peppers, etc.) YUM!

 

 

 

From there, it was time for dessert, so we made a stop at the gelateria.  The waffle cones were really good and super fresh.

 

 

Well, the martini bar was pretty empty too, so we grabbed some non-alcoholic concoctions in martini glasses that the bartender came up with.  As always, the bartenders were very entertaining.  One bartender even placed the martini glass on his forehead, poured some of the drink, WALKED while balancing it on his forehead, and brought it around the counter to the woman who ordered it.  WOW!

 

 

 

We also made a quick stop to Michael’s Club to ask about tenders for tomorrow morning (Santorini).  They had a small selection of canapés to choose from-probably because it was too early.

 

 

Our room steward Rochelle and butler Regine also stopped by and introduced themselves and told us important info about the room-like how to work the AC so we can stay cool!  LOL.  

 

We’re headed to dinner at Tuscan Grille shortly.  Not sure I will post another update tonight since we have an early morning tomorrow, but I will definitely share our Tuscan experience at some point.

 

I also owe you our hotel info and photos, so those will be coming later as well. 🙂 

 

As I sit here and type this, we are pulling out of port.  This is the signal that the cruise has officially begun! Woo hoo! 🛥️

 

Edited August 17 by love2crews.

[love2crews.]

19 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

Loving your report along with all of your pics.  
I will probably track down your previous reports and read them on a rainy day.🤓

The trip to Aegina looked incredible.  

Evidently pistachio lattes are a thing on board.  

Enjoy your cruise!😀

 

 

 

Glad you are enjoying!  And adding pistachio lattes to the list for Al Bacio!  😋

[love2crews.]

On 8/13/2024 at 4:31 AM, GotMINI said:

Can you share who the captain and the cruise directors are on the ship right now?  

Here you go! 🙂

[budmeister]

We did a similar trip last year in the Infinity. It was one of our best trips. Every time I see pictures on my rotating picture thing on my desk, I see the Greece ones and think I want to go there again. Then I remember that place was in Greece. One in a lifetime trip for us. Enjoy!

[Traveling Fools]

12 hours ago, love2crews. said:

Remember how I said this trip was meant to be relaxing?  Well, today was supposed to be one of those relaxing days…until I heard about pistachio island (Aegina Island).  My mom is a huge pistachio lover, so off to researching I went!

 

12 hours ago, love2crews. said:

I had also arranged for a private pistachio farm and factory tour with Aegina Transfers and Tours.  Pandelis was our guide and driver and was already waiting for us at the por

 

Sounds very interesting.  We are the 9 night itinerary departing Sept 19th.  We will arrive in Athens on the 9th and go on a 4-5 DIY road trip to many historical sites, returning to Athens on the 13th.  So, we will have time to fit an excursion like this into our time in Athens.  Can you share the cost for this adventure? 

[hcat]

4 hours ago, love2crews. said:

August 17, 2024 (Part 2)

 

We checked out of our hotel around 10:30am and took a taxi to the cruise port.  Again, I used FreeNow to order the taxi and the wait was less than 5 mins for a vehicle with a large trunk.  We had 3 carry-ons and one large duffel bag and filled trunk completely.  It wasn’t as large of a trunk as I had envisioned.  So if you have checked bags AND carry ons, this may not be the best bet.

 

In about 10 minutes time, we arrived at Terminal C.  Before we could even get out of the car, a port agent whisked away our (one) duffel bag to take onboard the ship.  We decided to carry on our carry ons ourselves.  

 

The porter grabbed another woman at the port and she brought us inside the terminal to the Retreat Lounge.  We didn’t even have time to sit down before Marlene brought us through security and on to the ship.  They did have some nice snacks and drinks though.

 

 

 

We walked onboard around 11am.  We had chosen the first embarkation time which was 11:30.  There were many other people on board by the time we boarded.  It literally took us 10 mins from the moment we stepped out of the taxi to the moment they scanned our sea passes on board (I looked at the time stamps from my photos).

 

 

 

*If you followed our last live, this embarkation experience was 1000X better than our last Celebrity experience on the Apex.  100/10 for today’s embarkation 🤩

 

Marlene then escorted us to our room or as she put it, the “party” lol.  I had worked with Rachel, the shoreside concierge, to coordinate a few birthday surprises for our mom.  And Rachel coordinated with Marlene onboard to make the magic happen. 

 

I have to say, Rachel and Marlene (and the rest of the crew) DELIVERED!!!! When our mom opened the cabin door, she was greeted by balloons, streamers, personalized banners, a custom flower arrangement I had sent a photo of, a birthday cake, and my favorite part, a carved birthday watermelon!!!  Our mom was shocked and it took her a while to notice all the surprises scattered throughout the room.  I’m glad we were able to do something special for her and that the concierge team made it happen!  The staff are truly amazing! 🤗

 

 

 

Side note: the reason we chose this sailing is because embarkation day (today) is actually our mom’s 65th birthday.  And being that these are all new ports for us, this was the perfect sailing. 🙂 

lovely  b day decor.. Were the roses  part of a  Celebration package?  Have not been able to order flowes for the cabin in a long time

[scrapcreator]

Your trip and your trip report are off to a great start. Bon voyage! Happy birthday to your mom!

[Lastdance]

What a great celebration with all the trimmings too.  Hope you all have a wonderful and meaningful cruise🛳️.

[luvsun22]

On 8/14/2024 at 5:03 PM, love2crews. said:

We’re getting closer!  Currently sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to LHR.  Unfortunately, there aren’t any nonstop flights from us to Athens (we’re in California), so we have a quick layover.

 

If anyone wants to know our flight/connection experience, please let me know.  We are connecting in Heathrow (LHR) and I’m understanding we will have to go through security even though we are already airside.  It’s going to be a learning experience for us.  We shall see how it goes. 🙃

There will be lots of content and updates coming from us starting now!  The trip has officially begun! ☺️

 

Thank you all for coming along with us!  Buckle up, we’re cleared for departure! ✈️

 

We connect at LHR, so I would love to hear about your experience. 

[maggieq]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:59 AM, love2crews. said:

August 15, 2024 (cont)

 

We landed at ATH around 7:30pm.  No signs of the fire anywhere.

 

Immigration was super duper quick and easy, and they even stamped our passports.  Bonus!  Customs was closed.

 

We did not check any luggage, so I cannot speak to that.

 

I had arranged a pick-up with Magini Transfers and George was right at the exit waiting for us.

 

The car was clean and cool (both temperature and aesthetic wise).  He also had some bottled water for us, as well as a case of water I had asked him to pick up.  This was to bring back to the hotel-much easier than finding a store and lugging the case back to the hotel.

 

We asked George to stop at a takeaway gyro place on the way to the hotel.  He managed to find one that was open (it was a holiday) and we went with George’s recommendation: pork souvlaki with everything.  What we call gyros, the locals call souvlaki.   The place was called Hammam.  We took everything back to the hotel to enjoy.  Very yummy.

 

 

 

I will share hotel info once we are checked out.  I will say, however, that we are staying in Piraeus.

 

Hotel check in was quick and easy.  After a looooong day of traveling, we ate our 1st gyros in Greece, showered, and hit the hay.

 

 

Airport Transfer: Magini Transfers (George)

https://magini.gr

*Great communication-would highly recommend.

@love2crews. thank you for posting as we might reach out for a pick up at cruise port and then hotel to airport for our silhouette cruise.  Did you fin him to be pretty reasonable cost wise?  Thanks!

[love2crews.]

21 hours ago, Traveling Fools said:

 

 

Sounds very interesting.  We are the 9 night itinerary departing Sept 19th.  We will arrive in Athens on the 9th and go on a 4-5 DIY road trip to many historical sites, returning to Athens on the 13th.  So, we will have time to fit an excursion like this into our time in Athens.  Can you share the cost for this adventure? 

 

The pistachio farm/factory tour was 150 euros and lasted approx. 2 hours.

 

This was separate from the boat ride from Piraeus to Aegina.  Since it sounds like you may be renting a car, it might be fun to take the car over to Aegina on a ferry and explore more of what the island has to offer.  I hear there is a beautiful town on the other side of Aegina called Perdika.  

[love2crews.]

19 hours ago, hcat said:

lovely  b day decor.. Were the roses  part of a  Celebration package?  Have not been able to order flowes for the cabin in a long time

 

They are not part of the celebration package.  It took me about 4 months of back and forth emails to make the arrangement happen, lol.  

 

I really wish they offered more flower arrangement options.  I’m sure many guests would order them!

[love2crews.]

1 hour ago, luvsun22 said:

We connect at LHR, so I would love to hear about your experience. 

 

I ended up posting a brief overview of our connecting experience, but I will say that if you are flying British Airways, their app is awful.  It doesn’t even show the gate number or boarding time.

 

LHR announces gates 1 hour prior to departure.  So if you depart at 11:00, the gate will be announced at 10:00, but boarding may start at 10:15 and doors close at 10:40 (just made up timeline, not real, but you get the point). I really don’t know how such a large airport functions like this, but it does!  Both our arrival and connecting flights were in Terminal 5 which sounds like it’s in the same place, but there are actually 3 buildings in Terminal 5, some of which require a shuttle to get to.

 

You will also need to pass through security, even if you are connecting.  ALL flights departing from LHR are required to go through security.  Very easy to follow the “Connections” signs.  The real struggle is the line for security, and perhaps one of the more strict airport securities to exist (IMO).  They are VERY strict about your clear liquids bag, both in size and volume.  They have some bags for you if you need.  All tablets must be removed from bags as well.  We took out everything they told us to: liquid bags and large electronic devices (like iPads).  However, we had two trays get stopped and inspected.  We had 3 liquids bags (1 for each of us) and they took a random bottle out of each one and tested them.  (They did not open the bottles, they put them in a machine that somehow knew what was in the bottles?  I don’t understand how it works, but it does!).  They also questioned our flat irons/hair straighteners (which they did not tell us to take out), as well as our phone chargers (the battery kind).  Our mom also set off the machine you walk through due to her ALL PLASTIC money belt.  She wears this through every airport we go through and has never been stopped.  But they somehow knew she had a belt and said it is considered a bag, so must go through the scanner.

 

Security itself only took about 15 mins for us, BUT, the carry-on inspection took a good 20 minutes.  Some people in line behind us waiting for their bags to be questioned had 10 minutes to make a flight and the security officer would not let them skip ahead, EVEN THOUGH the other people in line told them (and the security offer) that they could skip ahead.  

 

I also saw a woman who had taken a jar off jam off the plane (one of the small ones they serve with breakfast).  The security officer told her this is not considered a liquid.  It’s really crazy that so much stuff is up to the officer’s discretion.  I would have thought jam needs to go in a liquids bag (because it is spreadable, but perhaps I am wrong here).

 

My sister also had a liquid hand sanitizer spray and bottle of lotion in her handbag that she forgot about.  They didn’t even notice it. 

 

Let me be clear, we are not upset about security stopping us-it is for our own good, but just surprising they don’t tell you to take out flat irons, etc, and that they can be so strict, yet miss random liquids in a purse. 

 

Obviously this system works for them and people fly in and out of here all the time, but being mentally prepared and knowing what you’re in for makes a big difference-at least for me! LOL.

[love2crews.]

1 hour ago, maggieq said:

@love2crews. thank you for posting as we might reach out for a pick up at cruise port and then hotel to airport for our silhouette cruise.  Did you fin him to be pretty reasonable cost wise?  Thanks!

 

Yes!  He was very reasonable and super easy to work with.  I also have Magini booked for after our cruise and found all his pricing to be very fair.

Edited August 18 by love2crews.

[luvsun22]

7 minutes ago, love2crews. said:

 

I ended up posting a brief overview of our connecting experience, but I will say that if you are flying British Airways, their app is awful.  It doesn’t even show the gate number or boarding time.

 

LHR announces gates 1 hour prior to departure.  So if you depart at 11:00, the gate will be announced at 10:00, but boarding may start at 10:15 and doors close at 10:40 (just made up timeline, not real, but you get the point). I really don’t know how such a large airport functions like this, but it does!  Both our arrival and connecting flights were in Terminal 5 which sounds like it’s in the same place, but there are actually 3 buildings in Terminal 5, some of which require a shuttle to get to.

 

You will also need to pass through security, even if you are connecting.  ALL flights departing from LHR are required to go through security.  Very easy to follow the “Connections” signs.  The real struggle is the line for security, and perhaps one of the more strict airport securities to exist (IMO).  They are VERY strict about your clear liquids bag, both in size and volume.  They have some bags for you if you need.  All tablets must be removed from bags as well.  We took out everything they told us to: liquid bags and large electronic devices (like iPads).  However, we had two trays get stopped and inspected.  We had 3 liquids bags (1 for each of us) and they took a random bottle out of each one and tested them.  (They did not open the bottles, they put them in a machine that somehow knew what was in the bottles?  I don’t understand how it works, but it does!).  They also questioned our flat irons/hair straighteners (which they did not tell us to take out), as well as our phone chargers (the battery kind).  Our mom also set off the machine you walk through due to her ALL PLASTIC money belt.  She wears this through every airport we go through and has never been stopped.  But they somehow knew she had a belt and said it is considered a bag, so must go through the scanner.

 

Security itself only took about 15 mins for us, BUT, the carry-on inspection took a good 20 minutes.  Some people in line behind us waiting for their bags to be questioned had 10 minutes to make a flight and the security officer would not let them skip ahead, EVEN THOUGH the other people in line told them (and the security offer) that they could skip ahead.  

 

I also saw a woman who had taken a jar off jam off the plane (one of the small ones they serve with breakfast).  The security officer told her this is not considered a liquid.  It’s really crazy that so much stuff is up to the officer’s discretion.  I would have thought jam needs to go in a liquids bag (because it is spreadable, but perhaps I am wrong here).

 

My sister also had a liquid hand sanitizer spray and bottle of lotion in her handbag that she forgot about.  They didn’t even notice it. 

 

Let me be clear, we are not upset about security stopping us-it is for our own good, but just surprising they don’t tell you to take out flat irons, etc, and that they can be so strict, yet miss random liquids in a purse. 

 

Obviously this system works for them and people fly in and out of here all the time, but being mentally prepared and knowing what you’re in for makes a big difference-at least for me! LOL.

Thank you, this is very helpful! 

[love2crews.]

23 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

 

Evidently pistachio lattes are a thing on board.  

 

pistachio latte ✔️

 

Edited August 18 by love2crews.

[Stem to Stern]

2 minutes ago, love2crews. said:

pistachio latte

How was it?  

There is a discussion elsewhere on here about the brand of the syrup used, so this could be recreated at home.😉

Any intel you might gather would be lauded.

[love2crews.]

Just now, Stem to Stern said:

How was it?  

There is a discussion elsewhere on here about the brand of the syrup used, so this could be recreated at home.😉

Any intel you might gather would be lauded.

 

It was ok-not great not horrible.

 

I believe it was Monin, but I will double check next time we’re there! 🙂