They were two European cities that had been on my travel “hit list” for far too long: Athens and Venice. I never imagined I’d end up visiting both as part of the same vacation.

It’s hard to say what was more exciting to contemplate: traveling by sea to destinations we’d never seen before – including two stops in Greece, two in Croatia and a day in tiny Montenegro – or deciding what to visit in Athens during our two-day, pre-cruise visit.

We’d never done a “pre” stay while cruising before; this was a chance to have extra time in Athens before sailing from the nearby port city of Piraeus. In between taking in ancient sites like the Acropolis and the Parthenon, we couldn’t help but feel as if we were getting a taste of “dessert” before the main course, a seven-night Viking Adriatic cruise.