If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Instagram or YouTube you’ll know I spent an amazing week sailing around Greece with Medsailors last year. The concept of Medsailors caught my eye when I subscribed to BroganTateXO who’s been on multiple trips, with a bit of research and incentive by my friend Natasha Atlas I booked on to the Saronic Route during the January sale and snagged a place on one of the Premier boats, luckily for us they upgraded us to the Premier Plus without charging us more!
In this ULTIMATE GUIDE of everything you need to know about MedSailors, I want to let you know some tips and tricks that I learned during my week sailing around the beautiful Saronic islands in Greece and perhaps a few things you never thought about! This is also a follow up to my video I made of my Pre-Medsailors thoughts.
Packing
If this is your first time you might be wondering "what should I pack for MedSailors?" Well, as an avid watcher of packing videos and love to see what others pack, I made a video myself of what I brought with me on my Medsailors holiday. My #1 tip is to bring half of what you had planned. Most of the days you’ll spend half the day on the boat, either swimming or sunbathing and the afternoon/evening exploring the towns. I had packed both day and evening outfits but most days I didn’t have time to get changed and ended up not wearing most of my eveningwear.
Another thing you really don’t need to pack is socks, this coming from the person who packed SEVEN pairs. I do think I did well on my packing and would recommend you watching my video to see what you need to pack for Medsailors.
Arrival
I would recommend for any type of group tour to arrive the day before. Your flight might end up delayed or there’s some other issue that puts you behind schedule so it’s good to be on site a day in advance so there’s no need to stress. Plus, you get to explore the departure city as well which is always a bonus!
Check-In
For our route check-in was at 1 pm and departure was at 3 pm, we arrived just after 1 pm and most people had already checked in and snagged all the good floaties! If you’re already in town I’d recommend being there before check-in opens as they’ll be able to check you in straight away. This also allows you to be first on the boat to choose your room as we were the last ones and ended up with the smallest cabin. There’s also supermarkets and restaurants for you to pick up snacks and any alcohol you’d need.
The Toilet Situation
In my pre-travel thoughts video, I talked about going to the toilet on the boat. It’s actually a lot easier than I thought it’d be! It’s a pump toilet situation but it’s super simple and you get a hang of it straight away. It did take me to the last morning to actually do more than a wee and that’s only because there was a storm and we weren’t stopping until we got back to Athens! But trust me it all worked out fine!
Charging Electronics
As a vlogger and social media addict (tbh Medsailors helped me stop caring about social media!) I was worried how I would charge all of my electronics on Medsailors and there wasn’t really any information out there. I had a small portable charger that would only charge my phone to 69% *wink wink nudge nudge* so I knew it would only be for emergencies. Luckily there were two USB ports on the radio on the boat so we could charge our phones and portable chargers.
However, even though there were multiple plug sockets on the boat we only had access to them on ONE night. So, if you are bringing cameras make sure you have multiple batteries or that you can charge them via USB. I also wouldn’t recommend bringing any computers as you’ll not be using them and won’t be able to charge them up.
Budgeting
I probably shouldn’t tell you about budgeting as I went WAAAAY over what I had set out to spend, but I was enjoying myself, and all of a sudden I had gone £200 over my budget. Whoops! For the Greek routes I would say budget €20-40 for food and drinks per day, food usually ended up being €15-20 with a starter, main and drink, and then beers and cocktails after were €5-10.
I barely did any shopping and spent most of my money on food and also €40 on parasailing which was AMAZING. Most of the activities that are available were €15-20 and we did one of these per day.
Overall I’d say for Medsailors you should budget at least €400 for a week on the Greek routes and I’ve heard Croatia is more expensive so you’d want to budget more for these!
The Crew
Whether you’re a solo traveler, couple, or just friends you can choose the type of crew you want. When booking you can state if you want a quieter boat or if you’re fine with a little bit of party on the boat. Medsailors try to pair you with people who want the same type of experience so you shouldn’t end up on the PARTAAAY ALL NIGHT boat unless you really want to! Besides, it’s a curfew at 10pm as you don’t want to disturb other boats.
We had a great crew on our boat and our skipper Alistair was amazing! I would love to have him as my skipper again if I did another route!
What’s on the boat
There are tonnes of water to drink as well as breakfast and lunch provided on all Medsailors routes. There are also snorkels, goggles, and flippers available and paddleboards on all boats for some water fun! Blankets and sheets are provided as well as two towels, but it’s recommended to bring a beach towel. An AUX cord is there for you to play your good tunes. There’s no WIFI but the UK is still in the EU (for now) there are no roaming charges so you can use your 4G as normal.
Quick tips
Defo bring sunscreen and aftersun! I brought both 50+ and 30 but think 30 would’ve been enough.
Pack a hat or cap as the sun on your head all day can get to you.
A refillable water bottle is a must.
Get cash out as it’s easier to pay and the Greeks like to walk away with your card!
Bring a pack of cards or download Heads Up! on your phone!
Multiple pairs of swimwear are advisable.
Earplugs are recommended for light sleepers.
Don’t bring any hair electronics as you won’t be able to use them.
And lastly, HAVE FUN! It’ll be the greatest week of your summer so enjoy it!
