Then temptation came calling in the guise of my friend Marlene. “This cruise is different,’’ she said. “It’s a Greek-owned line, and it’s small.’’
Small is a relative term when it comes to cruises. The Louis Cruise Lines’ Louis Cristal accommodates up to 1,200 guests, which is larger than my college graduating class. However, most of the megaships I see departing from the Port of Miami host upwards of 2,600 passengers per voyage, not to mention the newest mega-megaship, Oasis of the Seas, with a capacity of 5,400 guests, or the entire population of Boxborough.
“It’s less about onboard activities and more about the culture and historic sights at each destination,’’ said Marlene of the seven-night cruise. “We board in Athens, and stop in Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, and Patmos.’’
Having never been to Greece, I warmed up to the itinerary. But would I have to do the limbo? Emphatically not, I was assured. Marlene then added the magic words: “We’ll also spend a day and a half in Istanbul, and stop in Kusadasi for a tour of Ephesus.’’
Here’s where I admit to being an Istanbul junkie. I’ll do almost anything for a chance to visit that minaret-strewn city that scrawls magnificently across two continents. And so, one week in May, I boarded my first cruise ship, and found my assumptions debunked one by one.
First, our cabin looked nothing like the visions of my imagination: a tiny room with narrow beds, sink, and forlorn porthole offering a glimpse of the endless and roiling sea. On the contrary, our cabin had a bed large enough to comfortably share, bathroom with separate shower and toilet, and a sitting area that mimicked a Holiday Inn lounge with almost floor-to-ceiling windows spanning the width of the room. And the Aegean Sea was calm, not turbulent, its horizon punctuated by dusky islands resembling soft woven scarves casually tossed across a table. I never felt seasick or queasy.
