July 2024. Steve and I are cruising on the Norwegian Getaway, a Breakaway class ship by Norwegian Cruise Line or NCL. Interestingly, our stay on board happened shortly after the Getaway paid a visit to the dry dock for some refurbishments. The route? Piraeus, which is the port of Athens in Greece; followed by Mykonos; two days in Istanbul in Turkey or Türkiye; then Kusadasi or Kuşadası for Ephesus; Rhodes; Santorini (Thira or Thera) and back to Piraeus. Oddly enough, the itinerary offered no sea days.  

Every cruise comes to an end, including this ‘7-Day Greek Isles Round-trip Athens: Santorini, Rhodes & Istanbul‘. This means being confronted with the disembarkation procedure.

Disembarkation Day actually starts the day before. You will have received information on the procedure. It’s not rocket science. You need to settle you bill. If you haven’t linked a credit card to your NCL account at check in, you’ll need to pay physically at the reception. 

Then you need to pick a time slot to disembark. With Norwegiabn, time slots were assigned a colour. You then pick bag tags of that colour. Later in the day you need to pack your luggage and leave it outside, with said coloured tag attached. 

We had to leave our luggage outside our cabin before 10PM. Which is late enough and enabled us to even pack our evening outfits. We were tired that evening, even if it had been a very relaxed day. 

Obviously this means you need an overnight bag or an equivalent. 

Disembarkation Day… day (?)

On the day itself you get up early. We had to vacate the stateroom by 8.30 AM. We could have stayed longer in one or other lounge, but what’s the point? Steve was staying a week extra in Athens and we could go to his hotel, Fresh Hotel Athens. 

So we had breakfast, brushed our teeth and waited for our colour and tile slot to be announced. If I remember well, the crew was ahead on schedule. 

Leaving the ship

And just like that, we left the ship. A last check out, a last use of the cruise card.

We were directed to the cruise terminal, where attendants pointed us to the right colours. We grabbed our bags and that was it.

So?

Disembarkation was as smooth as embarkation. 

2024 Athens – Mykonos – Istanbul – Kusadasi – Rhodes – Santorini – Athens Cruise on the Norwegian Getaway

1. Flying Airbus A320neo with Aegean Airlines from Brussels to Athens return.
2. REVIEW | Athenarum Portus Life & Style Hotel in Piraeus.
3. GREECE | A modest exploration of Piraeus.
4. NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE | Before you sail, online check-in and Embarkation Day.
5. GREECE | Mykonos ft Archaeological Museum, the Windmills and massive crowds.
6. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Balcony Stateroom with included access to the Thermal Spa.
7. ISTANBUL | Beylerbeyi Palace – Blue Mosque – Grand Bazaar.
8. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Activities – sports – entertainment – common areas.
9. ISTANBUL | Galataport – Sirkeci Railway Station – Hagia Sophia – Topkapi Park.
10. Bars & Lounges on Norwegian Getaway.
11. Ephesus.
12. Restaurants and food on Norwegian Getaway.
13. RHODES | Lindos and its acropolis.
14. Rhodes.
15. NORWEGIAN GETAWAY | Skipping Santorini to make it a Sea Day.