Tuesday – Early Start

It’s been a long day today. At 5am, the alarm on my phone went off, and we were up, dressed and standing on the pavement outside the Mercure Hotel, Heathrow, by 5:30am, ready to catch the Hoppa bus to the airport. I don’t do mornings…

Fly-cruises are complex operations. I view them as a task list in which each stage has to be completed and a huge green tick placed in the appropriate box; it’s the only way I can get through it without becoming completely stressed. The operation requires every stage to run, if not necessarily smoothly, then at least efficiently; I mentally tick each part off as it happens, knowing that a massive percentage of it all is way outside my control.

We drove down to London yesterday afternoon; a journey that went as smoothly as expected considering the time of day we were arriving at Heathrow (TICK). Time wasn’t such a major factor, since we were to be spending a night in a hotel close to the airport, on account of our Tuesday flight being so early in the morning.

The alarm went off okay (TICK) and we caught the Hoppa Bus on time (TICK).

Checking-in went smoothly, with all our luggage weighing-in at under the maximium permitted level (TICK).

The flight left on time (TICK) and landed in Athens also on time – local time 1:30pm, with the two-hour adjustment (TICK). This being British Airways and not EasyLingusJet meant we were treated to a rather surprisingly good in-flight cooked breakfast.

Swan Hellenic representatives on the ground, in Athens, were right on the ball; luggage was whisked away efficiently, and passengers bound for the Minerva were herded expertly onto three waiting coaches (TICK).

The journey from Athens International Airport to the Port of Piraeus took roughly one hour, most of which was a pleasant enough drive along the coast road; the final leg, battling through the manic traffic of Piraeus was chaotic but entertaining, to say the least. We arrived at the port at around 4pm (TICK).

The terminal was busy; ridiculously so. It may have been due to the fact that there were several other (much larger) ships in port, and everyone seemed to be arriving back at the same time. Whatever the reason, everyone had to pass through security screening, which meant several very long queues. Being British, we know what it is to queue; we understand the protocol, and, even though we may hate queuing, we stick to the rules and do it well. Several people openly defied such protocols and just pushed ahead, weaving through the queues in a blatantly, un-British-way (outrageous).

Finally, however, we arrived at our destination. By 5:30pm, we were in the cabin that will be our home for the next two weeks (BIG TICK). Welcome back to The Minerva!