We proceeded to the 11th floor and the Verandah restaurant for a buffet lunch whilst our rooms were being prepared. We had beautiful harbour views and a gourmet selection of seafood, salads, hot food, breads, cold meats, desserts. 

Attentive waiters filled glasses with iced water and took drinks orders – was that a wine, or beer, or iced tea?

Our room is fantastic. It’s really a suite with a separate lounge area with lounge, bucket chair and table, and flat screen TV from which you can access the SS Mariner channel to find out about daily events. And through sliding doors onto our own private balcony just for two!

We have a king size bed with down quilt and pillows. There’s a walk-in wardrobe so we’ve unpacked our clothes and stowed suitcases out of the way. The separate bathroom is large and well appointed with L’Occitane products and lots of mirrors. There’s even a separate vanity area where I can put on makeup and so many mirrors that you can see yourself from all angles – only marginally more flattering than department store change rooms because of the softer lighting!

We were welcomed with a bottle of French champagne in a silver ice bucket, a single stem of alstomera and fresh fruit. Our maid introduced herself shortly after we accessed our room. Rooms are serviced twice per day but we can call at any time and she’ll be paged to respond to our every whim – was that a bottle of wine, extra towels, extra clothes hangers?

Anthony is like a pig in mud. He loved watching from our balcony as the crew readied the ship for departure and watched excitedly as we cast off. We opened the champagne, sat on our balcony and watched Piraeus fade into the distance.

Our dinner was at the Signatures French restaurant. This is a smaller, more intimate restaurant which you can only book once during the course of the cruise. We showered and dressed up – me in heels and Anthony in trousers and jacket. Lost count of the courses as see ordered everything – appetiser, soup, sorbet, main, petit fours, dessert. I had a seafood salad wrapped in asparagus, then a seafood bisque, followed by halibut whilst Anthony had lobster salad, followed by mushroom soup, then rack of lamb. Anthony finished with a cheese platter of Rochefort, Camembert and a goat’s cheese – the blue cheese was delicious – whilst I had some sort of a dessert with figs which was pretty ordinary. The number of people on your table determine the number of wait staff who bring the mains to your table under silver dishes. They make a big deal of opening all the dishes together and wishing you Bon Appetite. We couldn’t wait for our turn! One of our waiters also loved to use the huge pepper grinder so we had pepper for most courses.

All delicious but far more than we normally eat. So we climbed the stairs and took several turns around the upper deck, almost the only people there. A light breeze, a beautiful night sky, and the gentle lapping of the water against the ship – just incredible!