The Cruise began here

We arranged to fly into Athens a day before ship embarked.  We had arranged, over the internet, to be picked up at the airport and brought to our hotel.  We also purchased a private tour, again on the internet, to take full advantage of our one day in this city.  We arrived in mid afternoon, took a brief nap (which we find helps rejuvenate us in these severe jet lag situations), and explored the Plaka on our own that evening.  We ate at a small restaurant that had been recommended to us by a friend.  The meal (grilled fresh sardines, greek salad, grilled shrimp, local beer) was satisfying, and we went on to see the acropolis by night, returning to our room only to find out we had a spectacular view of it from our own balcony! Our tour the next day was fantastic.  Niko, the tour guide, using a local cab, covered, in four and a half hours, all of the highlights of the city, giving us incredible in depth introductions to the history and significance of all we saw.  He then dropped us at the port, where we began our voyage by going aboard the M/S Nautica.