I'll be honest... August in Greece, much like walking on the surface of the sun barefoot, isn't exactly my idea of a good time, temperature-wise. But, in this industry, an amazing opportunity could come at any time, so you gotta go with the flow (and maybe bring a fan). All joking and sweating aside, this was an amazing trip with my awesome colleague Shera and other travel advisors from across the country and I'm so glad I got to go. Off we go. Fly to Toronto, grab suitcase, wait to check-in again (two tickets, always a good time), bop through security, find iced coffee, and meet the gang. Twelve hours and many movies later (I still cannot sleep on planes), we arrived in Athens. We hit the ground running and immediately headed to the Acropolis for a tour (it was so hot, but still awesome) and the Acropolis Museum (inside, air-conditioned, and thankfully has a cafe - was starving after not eating since Pearson). Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly, but I'm afraid he had a very tired, hot, and hungry audience.
Our hotel for the evening - Titania Hotel in Athens. Room was basic but a good size for the two of us. It's in a decent location for exploring Athens by foot. Had time for a quick shower before a cocktail gathering on the roof (excellent view of the Acropolis) and then a small group of us set off with the amazing Svetlana (from Tour Greece) to Zafiro Farm for olive oil tasting and dinner, along with music, dancing, and plate smashing (this really isn't a thing anymore - it's totally for tourists with very basic plates). This was a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down and the dancing and music was fun.
Athens is a city I absolutely adore and I had the best of intentions to walk around the next morning before we headed to Piraeus to board the ship. I am very much a morning person, but my body, however, decided that sleeping was required. Had a lazy morning chatting with my awesome roommate and then headed down and walked right onto the bus. We didn't even make it to breakfast. Boarding the ship was a breeze - very fast and efficient. We dropped our bags to our cabin, met our fantastic cabin attendant Thais, and were off to the concierge lunch (a perk of staying in a Concierge Class cabin, something we were very lucky to get to do). After lunch, Brenda from Celebrity took us on a ship tour so we got our bearings right away. The ship is gorgeous! You don't have to take my word for it - have a look for yourself.
Port stop #1 - Mykonos. This has been on my radar for a long time and it's been cancelled on me more than once. Eventually I just would have gone directly there, but now I've been and I'd happily go back and stay on the island longer. The tender process was incredibly quick and painless - the Ascent has the best setup I've ever seen on a ship for coming on and off. We walked around Mykonos town a little bit before we had to meet our tour with iTravel Mykonos. Tour stops included Amenities Lighthouse, Kalafatis Beach, and Ano Mera, as well as a walking tour in Mykonos Town to the windmills and Little Venice. After that, we explored some more, found some tasty vegan eats at Rhino (thanks for joining me Shera!), popped into a super old bakery (since 1420), and headed back to the ship. The winding streets and white-washed buildings, with all the flowers and pops of colour - so charming. I loved this stop!
Port stop #2 - Santorini. The tender process was so efficient here that I was off the ship and onto the island much earlier than my tour. It was totally fine though - there's some shops and restaurants along the water. I enjoyed a relaxing start to the day with some iced coffee, a delicious smoothie, chatting with some local guides, and some people watching. I did tour here with Shore Excursions Group - there was only 6 of us. Ideally, the tour would have started earlier because by the time we were ready to take the cable car up to meet the driver, it took two hours. It was incredibly hot and there were tons of people attempting to cut the queue like assholes. We finally made it up to the top and were on the way to Oia. We had less than an hour there given the cable car fiasco (there was no line when I first came to the island, so I should have just done this one on my own, but I wanted to test out that tour). We also did a walk around a bit of Fira and then I explored myself for a few hours after the tour ended. Had a bit to eat and a tasty beverage overlooking the caldera. Then it was more time standing in line for the cable car (again with people cutting the queue) and back to the ship. Your alternative here is a steep and slippery donkey path and I don't recommend it. There was two medium ships and one small ship in port with us, so 8000+ passengers. It's a lot for the Santorini infrastructure to handle. Santorini sunsets - worth the price of admission!
Port stop #3 - Kusadasi. I really love this port. I've been to Ephesus twice already and didn't want to repeat it for this trip, so I opted for a short walking tour over to the castle (visited with all the kitties) and through a bit of the town. Then I did some wandering through market stalls with a couple of iced coffee stops along the way. I spent the afternoon back on the ship catching up on a few things.
Sea days - we had training sessions both sea days. Excellent and helpful for me, not super interesting for the blog. We did have a chance to visit the bridge though - always a neat experience. We had a chance to tour some other ship spaces as well - The Retreat, including its private restaurant - as well as a private rental space for activities. Tina from Air Canada Vacations and Brenda from Celebrity were both a wealth of incredibly helpful knowledge.
Final port stop - Naples. This was a really hot day with a lot of driving, but our driver was super entertaining. We did a small group tour to Positano and Sorrento. In Positano, we did a little walking around and got a cold drink. In Sorrento, some delicious lunch at La Lanterna and a bit of shopping. Then we headed back to Naples and did a quick spin around before getting back on the ship.
Our cabin for the week was a Concierge Class veranda. This was a decent sized room for the size of the ship, plenty of room for everything we needed and we were never tripping over each other. The infinite veranda was something new to me (the top window lowers, there's a blind that can cover the whole thing, and there's a set of inner doors you can close to make it more veranda-like). I really liked the extra space in the room and the natural light.
There's tons of food options on the ship. I especially liked the Spa Cafe for juice and smoothies and a quick bite for breakfast. I'm also a big fan of having a dedicated coffee shop on a ship, so Cafe al Bacio was also a fave. We ate in the main dining room most nights, except that we tried Eden for one meal. It is a beautiful spot - one of my favourites on the ship. The buffet area had a ton of options organized into sections. There's a deli/salad spot at Eden at lunch - very handy. There's plenty of bar options as well. You won't go hungry or thirsty on Ascent.
There's plenty of entertainment on the ship and things to do. We went to a show most nights before dinner. Some of them were excellent and some of them not really my jam - there's no pleasing everyone, but there's plenty of options. If wellness and relaxation is your jam, both the gym and the spa looked great. There's also a great walking/running track with an incline and a pickleball court.
We finished our trip in Civitavecchia and were off to the airport. Rome to Montreal - movies. Then Montreal to Toronto (yes, I know - wrong direction) with a delay long enough to make the next segment interesting since it was on another ticket. In Toronto, managed to collect my bag and recheck-in very quickly and pretty much walked right on to the next flight. Flew to Saint John, circled around in the air as long as fuel allowed until it was decided we couldn't land due to the fog. Flew back to Toronto, got put in a hotel (for less than 4 hours) and then I was back to the airport to fly home.
All in all, this was an excellent adventure! Saw some amazing things, met some amazing people, came back smarter than I left - can't beat that. I'd sail Ascent again without question. Ange out.
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