Pre-Cruise in Athens (and flight during Covid)

This journey, our first since the pandemic, begins with 13 hours of flying from DFW to Atlanta then on to Athens, Greece. Silversea has recently entered into a partnership with Blacklane ground transportation services to offer guests complimentary airport transfers beginning in 2022. We thought we would book our own transfer with Blacklane just to check out the service. Their website was very easy to navigate and a Business Class (Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Cadillac XTS or similar) one-way ride was available for a cost of about $88.

Blacklane Suburban SUV

The Blacklane Suburban SUV was very comfortable and the driver extremely professional. He arrived a few minutes early and texted me to let me know he was in our driveway. Blacklane should be a great addition to the long list of Silversea Cruises amenities!

Our Delta flight from DFW to Atlanta was uneventful, and on time. This is the first time we have flown Delta in three or four years and it appears that they have upgraded their service over what we are used to on American Airlines. The flight (222) from Atlanta to Athens was aboard an Airbus A330-300, which was not equipped with a Premium Economy cabin.

Delta Airbus A330-300

Business Class was completely sold out; therefore, we were left with Economy Class on this 10.5 hour flight. We were able to obtain exit row seats ($168 pp) which gave us extensive legroom

Our exit row seats 27H and 27J

One thing to note is what was required to board this flight. Gate agents required every passenger to show their passport (which, by the way MUST be signed!), a Covid-19 vaccination certificate (or recent negative Covid test result), the Greek Passenger Locator Form with QR code and, of course, the boarding pass. This slowed down the boarding process considerably.

We landed in Athens on time at about 10:30am. Of course, we were shattered from the overnight flight with virtually no sleep. We breezed through Greek Immigration. And, by the way, all that fuss over the Greek Passenger Locator Form resulted in a mere glance by police as we entered immigration. Nobody ever scanned the QR code! When we arrived at the baggage claim area, we realized how fortunate we were to have shipped our luggage directly to Silver Moon with Luggage Forward. We strolled right past the other passengers waiting for their luggage and out to the main terminal area where Silversea transfer reps were waiting for us with signs.

Silversea transfer representatives meet us in Athens

The drive to our hotel, The InterContinental Athens, took about 20 minutes and check-in was a breeze. Silversea Cruises had a service desk in the lobby of the hotel with a very nice lady who gave us a couple of forms to fill out and some labels for our hand luggage, which would be collected the following morning for transfer to the ship. She is also on hand to help guests with local activities or directions.

When we got to our room, which was quite large and very nicely furnished, we received a text from our Silversea host that we were invited to a dinner with other media folks at 7pm. That gave us plenty of time for a much needed nap.

Silversea service desk at InterContinental Hotel

At 7:00pm, we joined our host and a few other media guests at Premiere, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.

An intimate dinner with other members of the meda

The weather was perfect as the sun was just going down and we had the most amazing view of the Acropolis in the distance.

The Acropolis view from Premiere Restaurant

We had a great time meeting the other media representatives and re-acquainting ourselves with our Silversea Host, whom we have not seen for many years. It was a wonderful evening of good food, good conversation and an amazing atmosphere. It should be a preview of things to come aboard Silver Moon. After 16 months of no travel, it sure feels good to be back!

Chris Dikmen and Rickee Richardson, CruiseReport.com