Overview
The name of the Celestyal Cruises ship we had the chance to cruise the Greek islands on for a week in September 2023.
Since this was our first cruise experience, I've compiled my thoughts on both cruising in general and this ship in particular.
The cruise concept that sounds so logical in theory turns out to be genuinely that logical in practice. Traveling between destinations overnight while you sleep, without wasting any daylight hours, is a brilliant setup. It saves you a ton of time. The big downside, though, is that you can only spend one day max at each stop, and the ports of call are usually places that deserve more than a single day.
Food & Drink
Our package was all-inclusive for food, and the meals were genuinely delicious. This is great, but it creates an unexpected downside: since the onboard food is so good, you don't want to spend money eating out, which means you miss out on local flavors at the places you visit.
The buffet food was superb but the drinks they served alongside were mediocre. Beer and coffee were bad, and don't even get me started on the wine.
One catch: everything is all-inclusive except bottled water, which they charge for. Bring a large water bottle with you, you'll need it for drinking water in your cabin.
What to See
The shows initially looked cheesy but they got better as the week went on. Every single performer was genuinely talented.
The extra excursions were all nonsensical. They start them at the crack of dawn and design them as 2-3 hour trips that get you back for lunch. I have no idea what the point is.
We had a complimentary bonus tour that came with our package, which we used for Athens. They gathered us at 7:15 AM, we waited around like idiots for ages, then they wrapped up the tour at 9 AM and said "okay, free time until noon," supposedly a 75-euro tour. If we'd actually paid for it, there would have been a scene.
Tips & Advice
The ship was absolutely freezing because of the air conditioning. Fine, cool things down since it's hot outside, but set it to 22-23 degrees at least. They had it cranked down to 18 and we froze for an entire week. Definitely bring a cardigan on a cruise, even in summer.
People dress up ridiculously fancy for dinner. I hadn't even packed pants since it was a summer holiday. Without pants, you can't eat at any of the a la carte restaurants except the casual dining one. Packing one pair of pants and a couple of shirts is a smart move.
The cabins on Celestyal Journey were a bit dated but clean. There was a general smell issue in the ship and cabin bathrooms that would hit you from time to time. After a while, the dated vibe started to feel nostalgic, like traveling in the 1980s.
Budget
On the return trip, we were thrilled to be arriving early, only to learn the ship has to enter port at its scheduled time or pay extra for early docking. So we spent the last 2 hours crawling along at a snail's pace. We would've gladly paid whatever it cost to get off earlier.
Overall, a cruise holiday is very enjoyable if you pick a good route. I was generally happy with Celestyal Journey and would definitely do it again.