10-night Mediterranean Cruise

Sailing the Mediterranean has been a dream for the both of us. This year, it happened!

In June, we sailed aboard one of Celebrity’s newest ships, the Beyond. Last year, we sailed the Caribbean on her sister ship, the Edge. Both ships are stunning! These Edge class ships are luxurious and modern.

Our Cruise History

Being on a cruise ship is something that cannot be compared. It is your hotel, transportation, and food all in one. We absolutely love cruises! Maybe that is why we have 2 more booked this year :)

Living in Orlando gave us excellent opportunities for cruises, as we were so close to multiple ports. Between Greg and I, we have sailed on Celebrity, Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, but we have only been on Celebrity and Disney together. Perhaps one day we’ll need to make a post comparing all of these cruise lines, but for now, let’s just leave it at… Celebrity is our favorite!

Knowing that we would be in Europe for most of 2022, we knew we wanted to take a Mediterranean Cruise. Before we knew it, we had a cruise booked with Greg’s parents aboard the Celebrity Beyond. What a dream come true!

The Itinerary

This was a neat itinerary because it started in Italy and ended in Spain, seeing much of Greece along the way. Basically, a dream itinerary! Below you can see the day-to-day details of our 10-night Mediterranean cruise.

Day 1: Board the Celebrity Beyond

Day 2: Day at sea

Day 3: Katakolon, Greece

Day 4: Rhodes, Greece

Day 5: Santorini, Greece

Day 6: Mykonos, Greece

Day 7: Athens, Greece

Day 8: Day at sea

Day 9: Malta

Day `10: Day at sea

Day 11: Disembark at Barcelona

Day 1

Setting foot onto a cruise ship is always a refreshing and exciting feeling! Though, the port itself was not as relaxing. From the parking lot or drop off area, you must take a shuttle to the terminal. It was much more hectic and chaotic than other terminals we have been to.

Once onboard, we got our business out of the way and moved onto relaxation! We immediately booked our specialty dining reservations, ate lunch, did our safety briefing, and checked out our room.

Day 1 Tips

Remember to bring your swimsuit and sunscreen in your carry-on bag.
If bringing an allowance of wine or beer onboard, remember to also put that in your carry-on bag. If it is in your checked bag, it will be removed.
If not booked prior to arrival, book specialty dining as soon as you get onboard. Lines can get long and spots fill up rather quickly.
Don’t forget to find your muster station and do your safety briefing! We like to do ours early so we get it out of the way.
Enjoy a discounted spa service. Day 1 spa services are normally the cheapest! (Days at sea are most expensive)
Relax and put your phone on airplane mode!

Upon arrival to our room, a bottle of bubbly was awaiting us to kickoff our amazing cruise. Celebrity sure knows how to make you feel special!

We lounged at the Retreat Sundeck for the afternoon. Ahh we love this area! The Retreat is an exclusive area and includes its own lounge, pool, hot tubs, bar, and restaurant.

Dinner was at Luminae, the Retreat specialty dining venue. It was very busy this first night! The other nights were not so crowded.

Our Room

Day 2

Day at sea

We love days at sea! There are endless options of how to spend your day: sunbathe at the pool, relax in the spa, take a spin class, play trivia, nap in a nook, drink cocktails, or do it all! The Celebrity app is amazing and has a time list of all activities, shows, and food options available. A favorite feature is the ‘hungry now?’ tab which shows you all of the restaurants and cafes that are currently open.

This day, we opted for sun and relaxation. We all 4 spent the morning in the spa. This was the first of many treatments for Jim! The spa is his second home on cruises.

Passed this volcano on our day at sea! — Volcano Sighting!

Most of the day was spent on the Retreat sundeck. Let’s be honest… that is where Greg and I spent much of our time. From the deck, we watched Captain Kate sail us through the narrow passage between Sicily and Italy.

Fun fact: One of the ship activities was trivia about Captain Kate’s cat… who was also onboard!

The narrow passage between Italy and Sicily

CHIC NIGHT: dinner, a show, and silent disco

Celebrity’s formal night is called chic night. Before dinner, we watched a Broadway show, which was inspired by art masterpieces. We had dinner reservations for Le Petit Chef, which is a very unique dining service you don’t want to miss! There are only 2 seatings per night (6 and 830pm), as the dinner is coordinated with a one-of-a-kind show. Projections are shown onto your table, describing a story on how your food was prepared by…. the petit chef. This is something that is worth the splurge!

Afterwards, we enjoyed a silent disco in the lobby. Have you been to one? They are so much fun!

Day 3

Katakolon, Greece

We did not have any planned excursions for this port. Right from the dock, we took a taxi to Skafidia Beach. This was much cheaper than booking a guided beach trip for the 4 of us. (Although, I would not recommend that for a novice traveler) This beach was a great find! It had free umbrellas and chairs, and even had beach service with cheap beers! The water was crystal clear and safe for swimming.

Dinner was at Fine Cut Steakhouse- one of Janie’s favorite dinners. Our table was right next to the window, which made for a fabulous ambience. Of course, the steak was delicious!

Tip: Check the dress code before dinner. Greg initially had shorts on, but was not allowed to enter. Whoops!

Eden has the best specialty cocktails; after dinner, Greg and I went there for a fancy drink and stumbled across a Chandelier Show! We got there early enough to watch the pre-show which included one of our favorite duet musicians and a live painting experience. This onboard entertainment is something you don’t want to miss!

Day 4

Rhodes, Greece

We arrived to Rhodes at 2pm, got off the ship and walked around the medieval town. There were streets upon streets of vendors selling the same souvenir products. I had a mission to find some cheap sunglasses (and I did).

We drank cocktails at a rooftop bar where Janie’s pina colada was served in a gold pineapple. A woman actually fainted due to the heat. Be sure to drink lots of water!

Cats were everywhere! Find the cat below…

Dinner was at Le Voyage. This was impeccable service! The entire staff worked as a team, giving you endless amounts of attention (which can be a little overwhelming, but overall, nice). Each plate was placed at the exact same time- we essentially each had our own server. When I went to the bathroom, a waiter opened the door for me while another brought a new folded napkin to my seat. This is the type of impeccable service they provide.

Le Voyage offers a tasting menu which is an extra $125 per person- we did not do that. It really isn’t needed! Many of the items were the same as the a la carte menu. There are already multiple courses, plus they encouraged us to each order two appetizers… which we did!

Day 5

Santorini, Greece

From 9am-9pm, this was a jam-packed day exploring the island! We had 2 excursions booked: a private island tour and a sunset wine tour. Santorini had always been a dream destination for me, but ultimately, it is overrated. It is WAY too touristy.

Those beautiful pictures you see on Instagram of dresses blowing in the wind on the white buildings of Oia? There are lines of women to get those pictures. Our guide told us you can rent the dresses and book a photoshoot.

The best part was exploring the wineries and getting away from the main areas.

Look out for a future blog post to dive into the details of our 12-hour day exploring Santorini

After the taking the cable car back down to the dock, we took a tender to the boat. It was beautiful seeing the ship lit up at nighttime! We boarded onto the Magic Carpet. The Magic Carpet is a bar that cantilevers on the side of the ship, and moves to different decks throughout the day. But for tonight, it was being used as a boarding platform.

Day 6

Mykonos, Greece

Sadly, our catamaran excursion was canceled due to high winds. This was such a bummer! Our strong desire to be in the Greek water led us to a kiosk near the port, which had a sailboat leaving in just 15 minutes. It was perfect timing!

This particular boat advertised “we sail in all weather.” Once we started sailing, we realized why all of the other boat excursions had been canceled. Besides cruise ship tenders, it was the only boat we ever saw on the water. The boat was a tank and crashed through the high waves. The horizon appeared to be dancing up and down while water was thrown onto us. Like a few others, Janie couldn’t wait until we got off the boat!

After a rocky sail, we lounged at a small beach, drinking free beers and wine. Greg and I floated in the water with noodles, provided from the boat. The water was stunning! Aside from this windy ride, we wish we would have spent more time in the water on this Mediterranean cruise.

This tour spent the afternoon at Delos: an archaeological site very important to Greek mythology. It is thought to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. It was neat exploring these ancient ruins.

Even back onboard the Beyond, many could tell that the water was rocky. The ship had emesis bags available in the bathrooms. Fortunately, we don’t suffer from seasickness, unlike Janie who did have to spend most of the night resting.
Greg and I had a date night at Luminae, starting with delicious French onion soup. We had a late night, exploring many of the fun activities onboard. Some of the entertainment included a saxophonist in the lobby, a rock show in the club, and a juggling show at the martini bar.

Day 7

Athens, Greece

We took a private bike tour seeing the highlights of Athens. It was great! A taxi picked us up from the cruise and took us to the start of the bike tour. We were really glad that this fell on a Sunday- per our guide, the crowds were significantly smaller compared to other days of the week. It could have been pretty hard to bike around if it was busier!

Aside from the historic stops, we also tasted gyros and greek donuts!

Tip: Every Sunday at 11am is the marching of 100 soldiers

Dinner was at the Rooftop Garden, right during sunset. Watching sunsets on cruises is one of my favorite things to do. This is actually how Greg proposed to me 8 years ago! The Rooftop Garden is a lovely setting. The food was great, but the service was slow. We’d go back though!

For night entertainment, Greg and I watched the jazz show in the club. This was the best dance performance of the trip!

Day 8

Day at sea

We love having multiple days at sea, because it really does give you more time to relax and take advantage of all of the onboard offerings. I spent the morning in the spa’s thermal suite before heading off to the pool. The day started with light rain, but luckily did not last too long. Greg and I were able to get one of the canopy beds in the sun, and shaded loungers for Jim and Janie.

Janie still had not explored much of the ship, so we took an afternoon walk and I showed her some of my favorite areas, including the chair nooks of Eden. The Edge class ships are very artsy and have a wild assortment of unique chairs. I have so much fun finding them all! On the Edge last year, one of the mid-day games was a chair scavenger hunt! I participated (did not win, though). This ship probably had a similar hunt.

The last picture? That was me acting as a ghost in a movie soundtrack trivia game. I was voluntold by the host to help with “Ghost” and “Ghostbusters.” Greg and I like taking breaks from the sun to enjoy some indoor fun.

After dinner at Blu, we enjoyed a game show in the club and a Broadway style show in the theater.

Day 9

This was my favorite day! It will actually get its’ own blog post, so let’s just talk about the quick highlights:

Malta

Having a private guide and driver for the day made for a flexible, fun-filled day exploring Malta. The day started with us seeing the highest point of the island, making videos with an owl, and drinking cliffside coffee.

This next stop was our absolute favorite… The Blue Grotto! On a colorful wooden fishing boat, we were transported through the arches and caves of the grotto. This is one of those places you cannot miss!

We explored Malta’s ancient history visiting caves and ruins. Want to see something that is even older than the pyramids? Visit the Hagar Qim!

For lunch, we ate along the water in one of Malta’s vibrant fishing villages. Malta is the only place I have ever seen such colorful boats. Our lunch was tasty and fresh, but had painfully slow service. Jim and I shared a grilled barracuda!

Once back on the ship, the fun continued! We relaxed in the pool and hot tub, before getting ready for dinner. At Raw on 5, the four of us ordered the max amount of dishes allowed and shared amongst us. This was a fun way to try different rolls and entrees.

Entertainment at Eden never disappoints! A mad show, based on Alice in Wonderland, involved aerial dancing and what I call… the 2 strong guys. They are so impressive!

Day 10

Day at sea

…. The last chance to do anything that you didn’t do earlier in the trip. For me, this meant starting my day with a smoothie from the spa cafe. This is located in the solarium, which is an adult’s only area with an indoor pool and 2 hot tubs. After a cloudy morning, we moved up to the Retreat sundeck.