The Moment Has Arrived

The Moment has Arrived - Turn your Vacation Dreams into a Dream Vacation

Your long-awaited escape begins in Celebrity Cruises new homeport of St. Maarten and includes three more sparkling islands in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

Featured Destinations

Celebrity Millennium Sailing from St. Maarten - Summer 2021

Flyer (PDF)                   View Sailings

We’re excited to offer new 7-night sailings starting this June to some of the most sought-after islands in the Caribbean, from St. Lucia to Aruba. You’ll island-hop in style aboard the stunningly revolutionized Celebrity Millennium®, sailing round-trip from St. Maarten. Set sail without a care, because your drinks, Wi-Fi, and tips are Always IncludedSM.* 

As your professional travel advisor, we have all the details you'll need to know for a safe and healthy cruise experience. Some protocols are still not finalized.

Celebrity Millennium® is the first ship to be modernized in The Celebrity Revolution®. It will transport you in reimagined spaces, redesigned suites, updated staterooms, eXhale® bedding, and CashmereTM mattresses. Of course, your drinks, Wi-Fi, and tips are Always IncludedSM. 

Flyer (PDF)

OPEN FOR BOOKING ON 3/30/2021

Celebrity Apex Sailing from Athens, Greece - Summer 2021

Celebrity Apex℠, the second stunning ship in the brand’s transformational, multi-award-winning Edge Series, will make its long-awaited world debut in Greece this summer beginning June 19. With luxurious seven-night sailings roundtrip from Athens through September 2021, Celebrity Apex℠ will visit some of the most idyllic destinations in the Mediterranean, including Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; and Haifa and Jerusalem, Israel. 

The sailings will open for booking on March 30. 

Celebrity Apex℠ will sail with all crew and guests above the age of 18 vaccinated against COVID-19, and those under the age of 18 with negative PCR test results. 

With an innovative outward-facing design and visionary spaces that stand apart from anything else at sea (with the exception of her equally stunning sister, Celebrity Edge®, of course), Celebrity Apex will revolutionize the way you experience the world. Discover the unparalleled luxury of The Retreat®, exclusively for guests of The Retreat. Unwind in transformational accommodations that blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor living. Soar above the sea on the Magic Carpet®. Surrender to the carefree pleasures of the Rooftop Garden. And embark on a culinary journey through an unrivaled collection of restaurants, bars, and lounges.

Note:  Information about protocols and requirements to sail are subject to change.  Information was current as of the date of this publication.      As your professional travel advisor, we take the worry out of planning your vacation.  We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they occur.

Don't Delay - Book Promptly - Risk Free

We look forward to helping you plan your next Dream Vacation onboard one of these magnificent ships.  Please note that ships will be sailing at approximately 40-50% capacity, so don't delay if these itineraries interest you.  Celebrity Millennium bookings are brisk and we envision Celebrity Apex will also have huge interest.

Connect With Us On

       

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

6 Examples of Texture in Travel Pictures

#TRAVELPICS 
the travel photography chat/share on Twitter

Monday we joined #TRAVELPICS chat on Twitter for a fun packed hour exchanging ideas and travel photos with like-minded posters. The theme was “texture” and participants shared their own travel pics about the theme and answered pre-arranged questions. Here are our replies.

Follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC
 

Q1: What are elements that add texture to make your travel photos stand out?

A1: @AntiTourist #travelpics Cloud sky waves color water rocks buildings streets mountains are all elements that add texture #Mykonos #Greece #ttot

These first two images were captured during our 12-Night Mediterranean & Greek Isles Cruise

Q2: Whether it’s snow in a forest or tiles on a home, show us a travel photo that’s all about texture.

A2: @AntiTourist #travelpics   Acropolis a Journey Into Antiquity  http://bit.ly/1zBWs8Y #Athens #Greece #cruise #ttot

Q3: Share a photo of yours that shows off texture in a unusual fashion: shadows, birds, abstract patterns…

A3: #travelpics Glacier ice flowing in #Hubbard Bay #Alaska has interesting patterns #ttot #cruise

Photography opportunities abound in Alaska. As our ship cruised through Hubbard Bay, we emerged from our balcony cabin to capture floating chunks of glacier ice like this.

Q4: Interesting people lead texture to photos, stories, & experiences. Share a photo or tale of a bizarre or memorable encounter!

A4: #travelpics A Man & His Donkey http://bit.ly/1oY2adZ shores #Mykonos #Greece #ttot #cruise #photography

Click on the link above to learn more about this experience in Mykonos.  If you click on these images, you'll see larger versions of them which will help show the #textures we captured.

Q5: Specific or general, what’s something that has added texture to your travels? Get creative!

A5: @AntiTourist #travelpics Add special effects in the digital dark room to enhance your travel #photography http://bit.ly/1mOQjQY #ttot

The instructions were to be creative, so we dug into our archives and selected an image where we'd taken one of our photos and using a photo editor turned it into an entirely different image.   Click on the link to learn more about how this and other examples shared in that post could become a part of your travel portfolio.

 

Q6: Textures add interest to landscapes near and far. From your backyard to travels abroad, share a “colorful” photo!

A6: #travelpics Buildings & Streets of #Bergen #Norway composed of many colors & textures #ttot #photography

Our final example has a mixture of color and textures along with people to make a very appealing image.  Bergen is one of our favorite ports in Norway.  It can easily be explored on your own and there are plenty of photo spots to add to your enjoyment.

We only had an hour to share some of our #texture images.  The time passes so quickly during the chat.  Hunting through our archives to prepare for the chat brings back memories of our trips.

We hope that this has sparked your interest in taking your photography to a new level.  Follow the weekly #travelpics chat on Twitter for more ideas on this and other travel topics.   We'd love to hear your ideas as well, or better yet, join us for the next chat.

Thank you to this week's co-hosts: @AntiTourist, @TheTravelCamel, @Sihpromatum, @VibrantIreland, and @travellingmolly.

Have you seen the  #travelpics recap? http://bit.ly/17RRaFq

Join us for #travelpics on Monday's at 3 PM ET every week for a fun-filled hour related to travel and photography. 

All Eyes on London Summer 2012

Olympians of the World

Assemble in London

Olympic Games 27 July - 12 August 

With just 70 days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, a major milestone has been reached.  As is tradition,The Olympic Flame has been handed over to the London 2012 delegation, headed by President of the British Olympic Association HRH the Princess Royal, in a Ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Greece.

Torch Handover

The ceremony was attended by President of the Hellenic Republic Mr Karolos Papoulias.  During the Ceremony there were addresses by President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos and Chair of the London 2012 Organizing Committee (LOCOG) Seb Coe, before the Olympic Flame was handed over to Her Royal Highness.

Panathenaic Stadium - Athens, Greece

‘The Handover of the Olympic Flame is a key milestone for each Olympic Games as the Torch Relay rallies the world’s athletes to make their final preparations.

'After a fantastic eight-day Torch Relay around Greece we wish London and the whole of the UK well for a successful 70-day Torch Relay and Olympic Games.’

~ Spyros Capralos

Olympic Torch Relay

The Flame will be leaving Athens on Friday 18 May to arrive into the UK at RNAS Culdrose, near Helston, Cornwall at approximately 7.30pm.

On the morning of 19 May the Olympic Flame will travel to Land’s End ready for the start of the 70-day London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. It will travel 8,000 miles across the UK to within 10 miles of 95% of the population before reaching the Olympic Stadium on 27 July.

The Olympic Torch Relay will be covered on the London 2012 site in multi-media.   Complete with maps, photos, videos, and even its own Facebook Page, visitors will be able to trace the relay across the UK.

Tomorrow We Begin a Special Series on London

Here and on our Facebook Page

Temple of Poseidon Overlooks Aegean Sea

High atop a cliff ...

Temple of Poseidon

Departing from Central Athens, we journeyed by motorcoach Along The Attica Coast to Cape Sounion at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula. Sit back and relax as we take you on a virtual tour.

According to legend, Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea.

The temple of Poseidon, god of the sea, was constructed circa 440 BC.  It stands over the ruins of another temple dating from the Archaic Period. Perched above the sea at a height of almost 60 m, the temple has served as a landmark for sailors from ancient times through the present.  If you are awake as the ship approaches Athens, this is the first sight you'll see.

Local marble was used for the Temple of Poseidon's Doric columns.  During your visit you will be able to see 15 of the original 34 which survive today.

Doric columns stood directly on the flat pavement (the stylobate) of a temple without a base; their vertical shafts were fluted with 20 parallel concave grooves; and they were topped by a smooth capital that flared from the column to meet a square abacus at the intersection with the horizontal beam (entablature) that they carried.

The columns of the Temple of Poseidon were cut with only 16 flutings instead of the usual 20, which reduced the surface area exposed to the wind and sea water.

The setting is known to have inspired poet Lord Byron and if you look carefully at the columns, you will find his name chiseled into the marble, dating back to his first visit to Greece.  We weren't inspired to write any poems, but we were inspired to take photos, which can be seen in our album, Temple of Poseidon.

Returning to Star Princess, following our exploration of Cape Sounion, we ended our visit to Athens. Our next port of call was Katakolon (Olympia), Greece. Visit our blog post, Diary of Cruise with Chris to Greek Isles, for the entire virtual tour. There you will find links to our other blog posts as well as links to the photos.

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers


Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

Along The Attica Coast

Scenic Athens 

The Acropolis, Plaka & Temple of Poseidon shore excursion provides a glimpse at the many facets of Athens, Greece. 

The Acropolis and Temple of Poseidon are the bookends with ancient columns standing tall having withstood the test of time.  Plaka and Central Athens show the modern cosmopolitan Greece.  While the Attica Coast exposes the great beauty of the sea and the surrounding countryside.

Leaving Central Athens, we embarked on the scenic one-hour drive down Attica's rugged western coast, taking in views of rocky coves and the deep-blue Saronic Gulf as we made our way to Cape Sounion.  Our driver skillfully navigated the winding coastal road where every turn revealed another view of the coast with its main shades of blue waters and rocky cliffs.  

Since we had a schedule to maintain, we made no stops along the way, but our driver did slow down from time to time to allow us to take photos from the motorcoach.   It became a challenge to try to capture the coast line in all its glory as we headed to our final attraction for the day.

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, so view our Scenic Attica Coast photo album on our Facebook Fan Page.   We invite you to sign up so that you'll receive updates when new material is posted.

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers


Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat