I found this Saint John "day pass" absolutely by chance. Shortly after we booked our Mediterranean cruise, I joined the Cruise Critic forums (also known as the most helpful time suck I've ever experienced). I added myself to our sailing's Roll Call forum and started chatting with other people who were going to be on our ship. We exchanged info about ourselves, passed around the research we'd done on our ports, and shared tours we were doing while in said ports. We saved so much money and met so many nice people via these forums...but I'll save that humble brag-fest for another post. Long story short, this is where I stumbled across the glorious resort day pass. Saint John doesn't advertise it anywhere on their website...it's kind of just become this "cruise insider excursion." I emailed the hotel and they sent over the day pass info and reservation request. €30 later, BOOM...we were in. D and I now like to think we're part of some elite group of fortunate souls. The Greek gods smiled upon us there on that tiny island. And now if you lucky ducks ever find yourself in Mykonos, you're also in the know. You're welcome.
Upon arriving to Saint John (via our air conditioned shuttle bus that conveniently picked us up at the cruise port...sa-weet!), we checked in for our day pass and were promptly handed chilled glasses of champagne. Right then I knew we were in for a treat. The concierge gave us a map of the property, a brief synopsis of what facilities we could use (which was basically all of them...spa, pool, private beach, restaurants, etc.), and pointed us in the direction of paradise. You couldn't get me out that patio door fast enough! I was giddy as a school girl walking down the long, tree-lined walkway (or the stairway to heaven as I affectionally dubbed it) to the pool. When I first laid eyes on our tropical oasis for the day, I almost died. Too stunning for words! From then on, this is pretty much how our day went:
Lounge around, read a book, and tan.
Order a drink.
Snap some photos.
Order another drink.
Dip our feet in the Mediterranean (was still a little too chilly for swimming).
Order homemade tzatziki sauce and pita bread. YUM.
Take a dip in the pool.
Gratuitous infinity pool ledge photos.
Munch on free pistachios.
Annnnd order one last drink.
Sounds like a pretty amazing day pass, doesn't it? Good Lord, it was. Beyond amazing.
True story. A PREGNANT woman walked across the ledge of the infinity pool and took some pretty stunning photos of her and her cute bikini clad bump. She took full advantage of the gorgeous locale the seriously cool infinity pool. Genius, right? D and I thought we'd be awesome too and get a few of us out there. If a pregnant woman can do it, we surely could! Nope. Bad idea. I was shaking like a leaf the entire time. The drop on the other side of the pool ledge was much steeper than one would think, and all I could think about while I baby stepped across the pool was broken bones and a ruined vacation. We only made it a few steps further before I declared that was good enough! Snap the friggin' picture already so I can get the heck off of here!! I'm only a little afraid of heights...but I look 70 different kinds of uncomfortable in this photo. I HAD to show you, though.
I mean, I risked my life for it, after all. ;)
D, on the other hand, HAMMED IT UP on that infinity pool ledge. I think he thought he would "show me how it's done," so to speak. Little did he know that the photos I took of him strutting his stuff would eventually end up circling their way around the ENTIRE squadron (big wigs included) while we were still cruising. I may or may not have uploaded one to Facebook (oops). They subsequently showed up in the Monday morning briefing slides upon his return back to work. OH and that's not even the best part. Let's just say that the guys at work decided to take a few liberties with one of the photos. Photoshop is a dangerous thing. Serves you right, show off! Everyone got a good laugh out of it...including D. All in good fun. :)
I feel a "Hunks of Mykonos" calendar coming on.
Ahem...back to our relaxing day.
Dear Lord, take me back! After lounging and soaking up the sun all day, the nice people of Saint John kindly loaded us up in their shuttle bus and dropped us off in the heart of Mykonos (per my request) so we could do a little sight-seeing. We got our relaxing pool day AND our sight-seeing all rolled into one great excursion. It's the vacationer's dream, right?! More of our afternoon exploring the lovely town of Mykonos--coming soon!