Day 41 - Venice again

No rush to get up again as we weren't due to dock until 2pm.  Some people were camped out on the starboard side quite early, some were really excited (see pic 1)  but we just had a leisurely breakfast and even managed to lose at morning trivia before a light lunch, prior to meeting Sandie and Dave at 2:15pm, ready for a 5 hour Princess tour.  We'd arranged to meet them, as according to the tour itinerary, the first item was a gondola ride and they seat six people.

Yes, a Vodafone signal and not that it means much, but we were berthed on the starboard side this time, alongside a large terminal building.

Down to deck 3 to board the 'Michael d' Angelo' which carried groups 3 & 4 and our first stop wasn't the gondola at all, but the tiny island of St George where we had half an hour to wander the impressive San Giorgio church, where they also had a sculpture exhibition, the first being a massive head made out of wire.  In a long gallery behind the church was a display of about six heads, probably sculpted out of marble.  There wasn't really enough time to climb the belfry (€6).

On then to the island of Murano, world famous for its glass.

We were warned not to use the toilets until after the glass blowing demonstration.  We now know why as by the time you'd washed your hands, it would have finished.

We stood in a gallery overlooking the lone artist with one glass furnace who simply blew one plain bowl (about 60 seconds) then formed another blob of molten glass into a prancing horse – about 90 seconds.  And that was it!  On then into the inevitable grossly overpriced showroom, which was massive and although there was a stunning range of items, it would have been far more interesting to have seen more manufacturing, particularly as they may have only made one or two sales.  Finding a way out to the street wasn't so easy, but we managed it and with only about 20 minutes to spare, we didn't walk far.  We did walk into one small shop where one artist was just finishing hand painting a set of about 5 different pieces with the same basic design.  On the other side of the shop was a small work bench where presumably, another artist made the small figures out of sticks of different coloured glass.

We had already heard that buying outside of the factory was much cheaper – and from what we saw, maybe there were far more interesting places to visit.  Back onto the boat for the ride back to town and to form a Disneyesque queue for the gondola ride.  We shared with Dave and Sandie plus Danny and Wolfgang and it was a bit of a squeeze for Dave and Sandie, as they had to sit knees to knees.  Very cosy – yet not so romantic!

Our gondolier didn't sing – nor did any of the others – and spent most of the 30 minutes bantering with the boatmen in front and behind, as he steered us through some of the minor canals.  We looked in vain for our singer Martin, so we had to make do with the six of us singing instead.  Not quite the same somehow.

We were first gondola back and our guide said that our boat would be '3 bridges along', so along we went, with time to look at one or two stalls and also to chat to some cruise beer samplers on the way.

As it turned out, it was the usual chaotic traffic jam on the water and our boat came in after bridge number two!  A few stayed in town, using their Princess ($29) shuttle ticket to get back later, but the majority hopped aboard and instead of going back to deck 3 and the ship, we had to go to the very end of the pier and walk all the way back to the ship – probably about 500m.

In the terminal building, in addition to the bag scan, we also had to show not only the cruise card, but also a tamper proof Government photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport (no photocopies).  Stronger security than at any port so far and the staff were being very thorough.  The ever present illegal immigrant threat is taken very seriously by Italy, so although this was a minor inconvenience, you had to admire their dedication.  We can expect the same at other Italian ports.

Although there appeared to be a small duty free shop in the terminal, at that time of night (7:45pm) it was closed.  Back on board and the first call was to the cabin for a quick wash and then Italian night in the buffet (open dining in the restaurants).  Eggplant parmigiana (sp?), pasta and a hunk of roast beef from the carvery plus a few other bits and pieces of course.

Although there was local  group playing later, we watched the old James Bond movie, "From Russia With Love", before a latish hot chocolate and coffee down on deck 5.

We had a good day yet the weakest part was the one part I was really looking forward to, the glass factory.  It would have been nice to have seen exactly how they made some of the colourful items they had in their extensive showroom.  Would we recommend this tour to others?  Not really.

Tomorrow, we leave at 12:30pm, so for us, with no second tour booked, we'll just relax aboard and enjoy the sail-away, maybe even from our cabin.  We may even call at the gym, to see if the scales are still reading high…  

Day 40 - Back at sea

Another decent sleep and with the balcony door open.  Absolutely no rush at all and the deck 14 outdoor area starboard side outside the Horizon Court was once again, fairly quiet.  All the extra tables and chairs on decks 12 and 14 have certainly made it easy to get a seat almost anytime.

I opted for the sweeter option today – two waffles (different machine – these were much thinner than usual) topped with apricots and peaches plus a squirt of maple syrup – and of course, a blob of cream.  An apricot Danish must surely have added yet another part of the five servings of fruit and vegetables for the day, but they’d run out of V8 vegetable juice.

Down to morning trivia and Jill was proudly wearing a Tee shirt, bought for her by one of the regular groups.  Just in case the pic isn’t too clear, lettered with ‘CAN’T SPELL AND PROUD OF IT’.  Her last day today and she is really going to be missed.  She has given us lots of laughs and has a great personality.  She was tough again today though, as we only got 5/20.   She volunteered to do the afternoon trivia even though it wasn’t on her schedule and just for a change, she asked for submitted questions and answers.

Neither of us were ready for a coffee and with not a lot else planned, we went to deck 6 where Paula picked up a chain she had bought yesterday and we bought two or three small items as potential gifts.  Some of the make up on board, Paula tells me, is much cheaper than at home, so time to stock up.

We relaxed and then headed up for the usual late lunch.

A few corrections here.  The great couple from Tasmania we often sit with, are Alex and Eileen, not Alec as I first thought.  I only found that out when we swapped email addresses.

The dance instructor is Indonesian not Japanese - and his wife is Chinese.

He agency that supplied the singers and dancers is Belinda King, not Linda King.

Late lunch was once again, very nice, though those who went to the Italian brunch were also very impressed.  A mix of buffet and table service.

Whilst in the buffet, I met Martin the lead singer and asked him if we paid him $5, would he come along with us and sing for us on the gondola!  He said yes…

I grabbed a coffee from the ice cream outlet and Drazen proved once again to be one of the best coffee makers and to date, has far and away, also been the most pleasant.

The afternoon trivia was as mentioned above, questions from the passengers.  We did better than in the morning, with 8/20.  Not exactly University Challenge level, but we were pretty pleased.

A few laps of the deck, well, two anyway, before getting ready for the early show and dinner.

The Captain made his usual announcement about progress and all seems to be going to plan as we bat on at 20.5 knots.  As some keen cruisers will know, the Sea Princess had some bad press either late last year or early this year but touch wood, all has been pretty good so far.  Hopefully, that will continue.  There have been a couple of minor hiccups apparently, and wherever you go on the ship, they seem to be fixing small internal plumbing or air conditioning system leaks, but nothing to get alarmed about.

The early show was a 50/50 with both comedians, Austin Knight and Gary Thompson.  Gary started it off but I can’t say that we enjoyed Austin Knight’s session at all.  A northern English Working Men’s Club, maybe, but much of his act consisted of acting drunk and with no punchline at the end of it.  On the way out, we had the chance to thank the Captain, who gets off tomorrow for a break and also to Maggie for her show.  Read between the lines…

We had to toss up between the Indian buffet and the dining room and we opted for the dining room.  Good choice, as the rack of lamb was perfectly cooked.

At the theatre, it was vocalist Claude-Eric but on door duty, we had one of the male dancers and his girlfriend, who is along to learn the dances, both from the Ukraine, plus the lovely singer, Lauren, who is a delight to chat to.  She is really looking forward to catching up with her boyfriend in Venice and again in Southampton – plus New York!

We sat at the back of the theatre and only stayed for a couple of numbers then headed out on deck for the Rock ‘n’ Roll party.  The party band are very good but often a bit loud.  Rob Kenney hopped up and sang a couple of numbers and played guitar for one; we did a couple of dances, then at 10:30pm, headed back to the cabin just as the party finished.  It was notable this time that the singles and gays were very much in evidence, dancing away - but not too many others.  No streamers for this one, just the band out on deck.

Looking forward to Venice tomorrow and our 5 hour Princess tour at 2:30pm.  We are due to be docked at 2pm.  Those on the starboard side will get the best view going in and those on the port side, coming out. 

Day 39 - Shopping in sunny Santorini

Leaving the balcony door open again certainly helped as neither of us were disturbed by coughing, but at 6:30am,  people on the next door balcony jabbering, acted as an alarm clock.  We closed the door and almost straightaway, Paula was complaining about a bunged up nose.  It is a pity that we can't totally shut off the cabin air conditioning.

Anyway, we ambled up to the buffet whilst the keen ones queued for the local tender boats and by the time we had finished breakfast, Angus made the call that there was no longer a queue, therefore numbered tickets were no longer required.

As he made the call, the Rhapsody of the Seas was just anchoring so we decided to go ashore before the queue for the cable car wasn't too long, as we didn't fancy either the long walk up the zig-zag path or a donkey ride.  We walked straight onto the tender and were last aboard so a few minutes later, we were ashore.  We had to queue about ten minutes for the cable car which is €5 each way (apparently, the same price as the donkey ride, but less smelly, usually, depending on who else is in the cabin…).

We ambled through the cobbled streets down to the main road.  Four items were on our shopping list.  Most important for me, was sour cherry juice.  For Paula, a pair of Greek ear-rings to match the necklace.  Less important was an English newspaper and a packet of ink cartridges for my fountain pen, probably the only thing I forgot to pack.

I managed the cherry juice – a 1 litre carton of a brand that looks like 'hby' at €2, is a far better bargain than the €3 for a single serve carton of a few days ago. I tried a swig outside the store, as previously, one of the carton's I'd bought wasn't very tasty.  This was fine, so on the way back, I bought another 2! (It flavours the cider nicely and I'll also try it in the Heineken shortly.  Only the Belgians seem to make cherry beer so I'll blend my own.)

We managed a Daily Express only to read more of the horrors in Tunisia.  We realised then, if we hadn't before, that no matter where you are, you can never guarantee 100% that you'll be safe from extremist nutters.   We can only live for today.  Sadly, the shop had plenty of stationery items, but no ink.  Our last shopping purchases were a scarf and then the ear-rings that Paula wanted, so overall, a successful trip.

On the way back down in the cable car, the other passengers were from the Rhapsody, but not the Rhapsody of the Seas.  There was another smaller cruise ship, with 150 passengers, just called Rhapsody!  They were doing a 14 day round trip from Istanbul, and were staggered that anyone would be spending over 100 days on a cruise.

Back on the ship quite early, about midday in fact. Too early to eat, so an Atrium coffee.

Later, yet another nice lunch upstairs.  Neither Dave & Sandie's team nor our team had the remainder present for afternoon trivia, so we joined them.  It didn't help too much as we still didn't win.

The early show was one of the few repeats we really don't mind.  Maggies 'Life is a Lemon'.  She dedicated her last song to the new love of her life, who is 'quite high up'.  Good on her.

Dinner was fine with probably the best roast veal we have ever had. 

The late show was another act we had seen before.  Comedy impressionist Gary T Thompson.  The audience were a bit slow warming to him, but when he did an impromptu impression of Cruise Director, Peter "Rabbit" Tredgett, it brought the house down!  He sings well and his Freddie Mercury and Tom Jones were very good.  I like his show a lot but I think he is a bit quick for some people.  When CD Peter closed the show, he got his own back and thanked Gary for his final performance – ever…  For those who haven't cruised with Peter before, we call him Peter Rabbit as he always uses 15 words when 3 will do nicely.  Very effusive, bowing and scraping, ('Nice to see you, to see you, nice' – with a real touch of the Bruce Forsyths, who must be his role model.)

Clocks back an hour again tonight and another relaxing sea day before our overnight stopover in Venice.  We arrive 2pm and leave 12:30pm the following day, so it isn't easy to make the most of it.  We have all been deducted $29 from our accounts, to cover for the water taxi over both days from the port to St Mark's Square.  If you don't use the ticket, you can hand it in for a refund.  Day 2, we may just wander from the dock and either call at the market at the bus station, or catch the monorail towards town.

Tomorrow, a new innovation.  Italian brunch in the dining room at 10:30am, but no normal breakfast!  That will upset one or two, but the brunch may well be very popular.  In the evening, in the Horizon Court, an Indian buffet, so we may well be torn.  In the past, we can't remember speciality buffets, other than at lunch time, so this may be a change of structure on this cruise, which means that we'll have to swot up on the dining room menu first and make a choice.

Day 38 - Scenic Cruising - a special day for the ANZACs.

Paula had a terrible night, coughing and wheezing, so no surprise that we missed the ANZAC service at 8:30am.

Eventually, suitably dosed up again, a light breakfast, before taking a drink back to the cabin, where Paula rested.  I went down for the morning trivia and added absolutely nothing to the lowest score yet.  Just 5/20.  Jill is getting off in a couple of days and apparently, as the crew are now charged by the megabyte, she obviously spent a fortune on this one!  Expecting the crew to keep coming up with trivia questions and not giving them any free internet time is  a bit tough on them.  As we won’t use all our minutes, or anywhere near it, I think we’ll gift Paula’s remaining minutes to Jill and Sarah.  I hope others will do the same for their favourite staff members later in the voyage.

A day at sea means the opportunity to recover, rest and relax so that is what we did between us.

We only have 17 days left on this cruise and we still have two or three Princess tours planned, for Venice, Livorno and Le Havre.  We stepped down from using Sylvie de Christo in Cannes, as she had a US family wanting to use her as their guide for the day.

Paula sensibly rested all day but we did nip up for a late lunch.  Just as a change from an Indian curry, today was a very nice Thai pork curry and rice of course, plus a slice from the carvery of the day – turkey.  Quite why NZ has never really embraced turkey other than at Christmas is a bit of a mystery, when the USA and the UK for example, always seem to have it either in the shops or at any carvery meal.  Certainly, there is plenty of it on the ship in various forms.

Paula skipped afternoon trivia and once again, Kelly had several very obscure Australian questions.  If they are obscure even for Australians, what chance the rest of us?  It is not what trivia is supposed to be about.  Not my favourite trivia presenter.

The early show was another British comedian, Austin Knight from Manchester and not a patch on Ivor Richards and once again, too many old jokes.  Yet another comedian who got his shoes from outside a mosque.  I think I’m being generous with a 7/10.  Mind you, he did have one good joke about the overweight – and a couple of whales left the vista lounge soon after…

As Paula wasn’t too hungry and we thought the dining room might not be the best place for someone with a bit of a cough, needing fresh air, so we ate outside the buffet on deck 14.  Perfect.  It was quiet and the food in the buffet once again was very good.  However, we both missed the chefs cooking a prawn a vegetable stir-fry just past the exit to the buffet area!

No matter, we ate well enough and this time I had a couple of escalopes of - turkey!  With some nice red cabbage cooked with apple, mashed potatoes, a little pasta and some lamb knuckle gravy, it was a tasty meal.  To finish off, not only a few cheeses and raw vegetables, walnuts and dried apricots, but a fruit slice for dessert.

It was so pleasant out and the temperature very comfortable, we decided to skip the late show, another vocalist we hadn’t seen before.  Just for a change, we not only walked the deck, but called at the gym, where we both spent a few minutes cycling.  As if that wasn’t enough of a shock to the system, we then headed upstairs to deck 15, the sports court.  Paula practiced her dance routines and I lobbed a basketball around.  I wanted to kick a football or a volley ball around, but there weren’t any.  A basketball is just too heavy to kick.  I’ll have to wait until we get to the UK and see if either brother Dave or my son Stewart has a ball to kick.

We retired fairly early and as Paula was feeling so much better, we opted to sleep with the ranch-slider door open, though with a 6am sunrise, we know that it will wake us early.

The ship is scheduled to float around Santorini harbour tomorrow and as a tender port, there will be a mad rush at 7am to get ashore.  I think this may be our third visit so no need to rush.  All aboard at 3:15pm so not a long day ashore anyway.

Day 37 - Big city, Big Bus - and two continents in a day.

A 10am arrival into Istanbul doesn't quite have the magic of a dawn arrival or a dusk departure, but it is still an impressive sight. When Paula woke, she really didn't feel well, with a cough and blocked nose but once dosed up, we did head up to the buffet as we approached land.  Eating outside in the fresh air was a good move and the ship was berthed on the port side, slotting in just behind the MSC ship, but pushing us further from the actual terminal building.  We were nearer the city, but it is a much longer walk to the port gate exit.

The Coldral kicked in, so we elected to walk off the ship.  For the first time (that we are aware of), they have turnstiles and your cruise card is scanned in the building and also shown again at the port gate exit.

We'd decided that if we could get a HoHo bus easily, we would do so.  The 'Big Bus' was parked just to the left of the exit.  Not happy with the €35 fee each (that is a bit steep) but they soon came down to €30 each, but they would only take cash.  We paid and were first on this bus so grabbed the upstairs front seats.  He assured us we were on the RED route.

At this point, I started to go off this particularly company and it didn't get much better.

What he failed to explain, was that they were hanging around until they had a decent load and they would only shuttle us from stop #3 where we got on, back across the bridge into town and up to stop #1, Sultanahmet Square.  That meant we sat around there for about 15 minutes then again at the square, where we had to change to another bus anyway, finally returning to where we started 75 minutes later.  Not impressed at all.  As far as we were concerned that was 75 minutes totally wasted.

By the time we got to stop #10, the City side of the Galata Bridge and the entrance to the spice market, we'd been on the bus for two and a half hours.

En route though, it was an enjoyable enough drive, including crossing the Bosphorous Bridge into the Asian side of Istanbul and back again.  One of the things I noticed in Istanbul, was the sheer number of coaches and minivans (usually white) parked almost everywhere.  The number of yellow taxis who seemed to stop and park almost anywhere and death defying motorcyclists were also highly visible.

We got off at stop #10, and strolled into the spice market.  Much as I love this place, the prices have rocketed in the last 4 years.  Unlike Kusadasi yesterday, nothing was priced in Euros at all.  Everything was in Turkish Lira.  The prices were also significantly higher than in Kusadasi, so our tip to future cruisers is to do your shopping in Kusadasi. 

I asked one stallholder how much the pistachio and grape Turkish delight was, (it was in oblong blocks).  He simply beckoned me inside, grabbed a piece with his tongs and once again, I asked how much in Euro.   He put the slab into a plastic bag and on the scales and then asked the lady behind the counter for the price in Euro.  At €7 it was way overpriced, so we left him to it.

Read any cookery book and they tell you to use fresh spices whenever possible, but judging by the sheer number of stalls, the incredible variety of spices and the lack of obvious sales, I wonder just how fresh it actually is, compared to what we can buy in a sealed packet back home?  We know that frozen vegetables are often fresher than what we buy in a supermarket, so maybe the same applies to packet spices?

We only walked half way through the market as by this time, we were getting a bit weary and Paula was ready for an afternoon nod, so we went back, under the road tunnel (which incidentally is a fair place to shop if you like cheap) and on to bust stop #2 on the red route.  We just missed one and the next was the Blue route so we eventually got back to the port gates about three and a half hours after we'd left.

The terminal building had a tiny Duty Free shop and the queue to pay was quite long, so we walked past.  Our bags were scanned ashore again – which meant no scan on the ship.  But, for the first time ever, we were both subjected to a random, quick pat down search (or light massage according to the person who searched Paula!) and then, the inside of my backpack was swabbed, presumably for drugs and/or explosive residue.  They wrote down our cabin number and yes, of course we were all clear.

No prizes for guessing that by this time, the Horizon Court buffet was our first stop – and very nice too.  Paula has avoided all curries since her tummy upset but I bravely chanced the beef and potato curry – and the Hungarian beef goulash.  Excellent.  Washed down with the usual lemon squash and finally to the cabin to relax.

The early show was Princess favourite – Maggie Scott, with a good show consisting mainly of singing and piano, including once again, a good boogie-woogie piece and some of her trademark comedy.  Her 'Life is  Lemon' show is in a day or two's time.  We believe that Maggie is in fact in a relationship with a very senior ship's officer - who is quite smitten by all accounts.

Open dining so we opted for the buffet again and weren't disappointed.  Some nice pasta, roast chicken and roast pork after a golden beet cream soup with toasted pumpkin seeds.  Ces and Kevin joined us for dessert/cheese and biscuits.  Kev had joined Maggie on stage for a dance and as one of our better dancers, acquitted himself very well.

Paula wasn't feeling very warm so we headed to deck 5 for a hot chocolate.  Very quiet at 10:15pm!  Only about four of us in total down there.

ANZAC Cove cruising and an 8:30am service tomorrow, but Paula still coughing and struggling.  She is missing her wheatie-bag…  If we wake in time, we'll probably go to the service, but we feel it is more relevant to the Kiwis and Aussies and as seating is very limited and as Paula is coughing, it may be better to catch up on sleep instead.

After our day at sea - where no doubt, internet access will be either slow or impossible, it is the popular, picturesque tender port of Santorini.

 

Day 36 - Turkish delight - Kusadasi, June 24th

With the alarm set for 6am, it was a shock to the system when it actually went off!  Whilst a 6am wake up was normal when working, and may still be normal for the occasional race meeting in NZ, when travelling, it is a change from the normal, very  relaxed start to the day.

So an early stroll to the buffet as the ship approached Kusadasi.  It might well be somewhere that non-cruisers are unaware of, but it is the one of the busiest cruise ports in Turkey and therefore geared very much toward tourism, not just cruise ships either.  It has grown spectacularly over recent years with many new buildings, hotels and even a large aquatic park.

Yes, the Imodium still appears to be working…  I'm, sure that when my car popped a core plug and let the water out, a couple of Imodiums might just have been a temporary solution.

Our assembly time was 7:25 in the Vista lounge and we were there a few minutes early for bus #9, but almost as soon as we sat down, they called  bus #8, so all was going well.  Sure enough, we didn't have to wait long before we were called – and we were first out.  Brilliant – until we got to deck 4 and then they stopped processing people as the Norwegian Jade was reversing in, docking just across the very narrow quay so until the lines were attached, it was deemed unsafe for us to walk along the quay. 

We were in bow first and berthed on the port side. Yes, there was a Vodafone signal.

No sign of any HoHo buses as this is probably too small, yet within minutes, the Rhapsody of the Seas also docked, making it three cruise ships – and we were the smallest with 1850 passengers. 

We walked off, through the terminal  building, still at the front of our group,  through to bus #9 only to find six smug, grinning passengers already ensconced – none in the seats reserved for disabled passengers either… With a fair bit of walking on this tour, none were expected either.

Our guide, Rose (not her real name, but I can neither pronounce nor spell her real name) was very good and knowledgeable, but as always, a 3 hour history lesson was way over my head!  The first stop was the Virgin Mary's house where we had about 20 minutes after the spoken part, to pay a visit to the temple of comfort or for those desperate for a fag or a tiny cup of Turkish coffee.  We had been issued with the personal receivers and ear pieces so we could at least wander and listen.

On then to Ephesus.  No history lesson from me here (you know that) but quite interesting.  To be honest, in many respects, we preferred this to Petra and there was in fact a distinct similarity between the Petra treasury building and the library here.  The walk was all downhill on the old marble streets and so far, they have only unearthed about 15% of the potential site.

The lavatorium was apparently a meeting place for the men whilst they went about their business, assuming they weren't dosed with Imodium that is, and if you know the structure and you are familiar with one of the Rowan Atkinson 'Johnny English' movies, you half expected Rowan to pop up!

We also learned that being a prostitute was a sought after profession, as the ladies were in fact more highly schooled and educated than most.  The mind boggles at what was on the curriculum.

As always with these tours, the history lesson was a bit too long and drawn out and at least 20 or 30 minutes could have been knocked off and the time better spent back at Kusadasi itself.

We were given 35 minutes at the end of the commentary to make our way to the exit where there were stalls galore just outside the gates.  A can of Coke at €2 was the usual overpriced option but a small punnet of excellent cherries at €2 were delicious.

The car/coach park was amazing, as there must have been at least 60 coaches there and we needed the Princess rep to tell us where to find our coach, which was two rows back and out of sight from the main drag.

An easy run back and the coach dropped us in the street, just outside the port shopping area.  We really didn't have time to go anywhere else at all.  Once again, the scanning was ashore so the (dis)honesty system for booze prevailed.  Needless to say we were squeaky clean.  If we knew anyone who actually liked Turkish Delight, we could have got 3 boxes for €5, but we don't!

Back on board and straight up for something to eat.  Some bok choy with garlic (yes, a vegetable…) crumbed  mustard chicken, pasta and even a couple of chips plus as usual, a couple of glasses of lemon squash.

Afternoon trivia was a case of so near yet so far.  With John's space knowledge and a few of my inspired guesses pushing up the score, then me querying if the giant squid was classed as an animal, we dipped out by just one point as the answer was indeed 'giant squid', so we got a stunning 19/20 – and equal first.  We didn't get exactly how many years Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, but the other team did.   A great result never the less, but the team couldn't really shout at me as I got more guesses right than wrong!  In future, the giant squid is an animal.  Incidentally, John scored us a great point as he correctly stated that the title of top beer drinkers is no longer Germany, but is now the Czech Republic.

Dinner was Oriental, again, so this time six of the eight on the table pitched in with the shared dishes – all of them on the mains, plus 2 extra prawns and 1 extra pork and pineapple. Nine dishes.  However, this seemed to upset the other two and a comment about 'pigs and troughs' was totally uncalled for, and they left straight after their mains.  They were also upset that the extra plates had pushed them off the table…

Unlike the Dawn, the singers and dancers are often on door duty and we had the two singers, Lauren and Emily so as we were early, we had a chat. Apparently, yesterday, Lauren and Dave the trombonist, had cycled in Athens and taken their bikes in by train, but on the return there was a hiccup as the number of bikes was limited or confined to just one carriage an dthey couldn't get on, so had to catch a later train, which delayed them somewhat.  Apparently Lauren then had a real struggle to get changed and made up for the show in time!

The late show was Peter Cutler's second performance and this time, he only sang, but the numbers were pretty good.  Like Philip Browne, he also sang his version of Old Man River, but a white tenor singing it fairly straight, even though it was his closing number, was no match for Philip's bass version.

Istanbul tomorrow, but Paula isn't feeling the best, so both offers tomorrow have been declined.  One from friends on the ship but also another from Debra, who is leading the Cruise Critic group, cruising on the Royal Princess next month.  Debra lives in Istanbul.  Hopefully Paula will be OK to get off the ship tomorrow, but with no tours booked, we'll play it by ear.  With a 10am arrival, no alarm clock required either.

Day 35 - Piraeus and Athens

No rush to either wake up or get up – not that we would have rushed at a 6am arrival anyway, but as expected, the buffet was quite busy.  The Horizon Court hot water/coffee system has been out of action for about a week now, so they fill large pump pots instead.  It is easier to go to the starboard side, particularly if you are making a cup of tea no doubt.

That tiny Imodium pill that Paula gave me yesterday was still working, maybe a bit too well, if you know what I mean.  Certainly a highly recommended product if you are one to suffer in that department.

With a 12 noon arrival, we had time for trivia and Jill was the lucky person to take it.  As mentioned before, as bright as a button (personality wise), and such a shame that all bar Sarah are not in the same league.  No, of course we didn't win, and there was time for an Atrium (proper) coffee before we docked.

There was a Vodafone signal; we berthed on the starboard side and yes, there were HoHo buses – three different companies.

We had to wait a couple of minutes in the queue to get off, but no big deal.  Then it was onto large coaches (optional) to the terminal building.  I say optional, as it is only about a five minute walk and unlike the container ports, you do get the choice.

Straight through the building and 100m along the road (after the taxi rank), all three HoHo buses plus a little motorised train (€5 for the day) were waiting in a car park on the left.

We never bother checking the prices of the other companies, sticking to the red 'City Sightseeing' buses, mainly as we know that they generally have more buses in the system.  I think the blue company were charging €13, but we paid  €20 each.  Apparently, they also had free WiFi on board as did our bus.  This first double decker bus had the canvas roof, so we rode upstairs.

It is a very pleasant run along the cost to the city with several bays and marinas.  Not quite the splendour of Monaco, but very attractive – other than the graffiti, which is a real blight in this part of Europe.  Greece may be struggling financially, but the purveyors of spray paints are either making a small fortune or losing a horrendous amount of stock.

This route was the GREEN route and the changeover point to the RED route, was at the foot of the Acropolis.  Well organised, with a staff member making sure that people were in the correct queue.  Having done the Acropolis before, we transferred, but this time, no canvas roof on the bus.  We stayed on top, suitably covered though it wasn't too hot.  Mind you, overhanging branches were an ever present danger and sadly, the bus never stopped alongside any of the plentiful orange trees.

As we had an abbreviated port stop, we opted to stay on the bus, though we did briefly debate getting off at the Plaka.  A secondhand market area also looked very interesting as I spied a couple of trombones for sale and although Paula hates fish markets, that too looked interesting!

A good tour anyway and it wasn't too hot at any stage, probably about mid 20's.

We stood up at the Acropolis, all ready to transfer back to the green route (Paula was already half way downstairs) when they announced that this bus would be going back to the port.  No problem – until we arrived back at the port entrance.  The driver stopped and said quite clearly, only for passengers on the Norwegian Jade, which was berthed just a little closer.  So we, along with all other Sea Princess passengers, stayed on.   He didn't go into the port area, but then went past the Sea Princess, to a distant entrance – for the 'Mein Schiff 3', cruise ship passengers!  No problem.  Once he'd dropped them off, he returned to where he'd stopped the first time.

There are one or two shops in the terminal building and it cost me €3 for a small, single serve carton of cherry juice from the café outlet and it was just €5.50 for six cans of Heineken beer.  (I missed out on getting to a supermarket or grocery shop to stock up with sour cherry juice and peach nectar - €2 a carton last time.)  Lots of naughty, really naughty cruisers, were spied buying bottles of spirits in the Duty Free shop, and as this was after the shore based scanner, they weren't scanned again on the ship. Being the honest lot that they are, I am sure they would all have declared their booty to the totally disinterested staff member sitting as his little table with a notice on it, saying it was where you could hand it over for safe keeping.

Straight up to the buffet of course, for the late lunch, then out to the rear of deck 11 for the sail-away, where there were few smug, smiling faces of people who may not have had their glasses on earlier and possibly couldn't have read that notice on the little table.

As the early production show last night had been cancelled due to technical difficulties, we were determined to catch it, but that meant having to miss eating in the dining room – again.

Great choice as this show was titled "Rock at the Opera".  Once again, the singers were just fantastic with great harmony and a couple of fantastic solos, this time by lead singer Martin.  The pic shows Laura and the other singer, Daniel.  Hard to believe that originally, Martin was in the British Navy, but then switched to entertainment.  He has a massive mop of unruly, dark curly hair, but when performing, it is tied right back.  A very nice guy to talk to.

All six dancers (3 of each) dance well and for the first time, they actually had a (little) bit of scenery.  Two sets of steps which were backlit and a bit of railing.  Wow, what a show.

Afterwards, (about 8:45pm) straight up to the buffet yet again, and a very enjoyable meal. Creamy pasta, rabbit stew(!), Moussaka, okra and ratatouille on my plate.  I'm sure that downstairs in the dining room, I wouldn't have managed such an interesting plateful.

On then to a half and half show in the Vista lounge.  The first half was singer Lisa Lawton then Craig Richard.  Now we know that the Princess orchestra always has excellent musicians, some of them being real stars, but I have noticed that when our favourite, the half pint sized Sarah Dyer is in charge, or maybe a different sound engineer, the trumpet and trombone are often behind reflective screens, to effectively lower the backing volume.  Several people have commented that on this cruise, the backing is  little too loud and we tend to agree. 

When Craig Richard started his set, after just one number, we slid away and the other reason was that the orchestra's sax player is actually better!  A 6am start tomorrow may also have affected that decision.

Out of Greece and into Turkey tomorrow, for Kusadasi.  Sadly, we had to cancel our tour last time as Paula was unwell, so for her, a first time visit, though I did wander ashore for an hour last time.

Neither of us is really into history, but we have heard that of all the ruins, Ephesus is probably one of the best sites to visit, so that is where we are going on a Princess tour.  Only a half day stop, as it is then a bit of a stretch to Istanbul.

Day 34 - At sea with (almost) everyone logged in to the internet...

A great night’s sleep but the first official item on the day’s programme was a 9:45am “General Emergency Stations” passenger drill, for all passengers who had embarked at Fremantle or before.  Yes, a repeat drill, as maritime regulations now demand a drill every month or 30 days.

We grabbed a quick bite before heading back to the cabin to collect the life-jackets and the compulsory trip to the Vista lounge muster station.  It has been so chilly down there (quite why, no-one knows) so we grabbed our trivia ‘Royal Box’ near a window, which is a bit warmer.

No morning trivia.  Paula reminded me of yesterday’s howler.  It wasn’t Jill this time, we think it was Kelly – but it could have been Madison…  To do with diamonds or jewels, instead of “carat”, she had “carrot”, but what was funnier still was that she didn’t realise it was wrong!

Anyway, we were there 10 minutes early to guarantee a seat - and no sign of any crew members!  They all arrived quite late and took the hand held device round to scan everyone in.  Needless to say, this took some time.  By the time the drill was over, it was about 10:45 - but there was no coffee available in the atrium as the crew were still elsewhere on another crew drill, namely, a fire in the engine room, requiring the sealing of the area and then pumping in CO2 until the temperature dropped.

Back to the cabin picking up liquids from the buffet, only to find the replay of the F1 race was on – but lap 65 of 71…

Back for 2pm trivia – but I don’t really know why we bothered…  Tough, really tough.

Onto the  buffet for a late lunch then later, afternoon trivia there were just 5 of us in the team.  It was so cold there that I think it upset my system somewhat so I popped a Lomotil pill.

For some reason, the 6:30pm production show, “Rock at The Opera” was cancelled so as it was formal night, we had arranged a table with Teri and Alex, Laura and John, our afternoon trivia team, but Teri was far from well, so it was just the four of us.  Head Waiter Oana had sorted us a table, now for 4 and we had an extremely pleasant meal.

Off then to the late show in the Vista lounge; UK singer (from Rochdale), Lisa Lawton.  A pleasant enough show but just like the other female performers, nothing magical.

Our first Greek port tomorrow, Piraeus, for Athens.  Our third visit and our plans are for the HoHo bus – again.  We know we’ll be a bit later than planned, but it won’t really affect us at all.

 

Day 33 - The longest day... June 21st

After a decent sleep, the Captain was on the Tannoy waking up many passengers (and a few crew apparently!) with an update.

In a nutshell, we’d be hanging around awaiting our northbound convoy, whilst a convoy of 36 ships headed south.  We’d be number 6 in the queue north, behind some US navy ships and we’d get a schedule of viewing points later in the morning.

Having been woken early, we lazed around for a while but then had the traditional visit to the buffet before returning to the cabin, to find the printed schedule was already there.

This we knew was subject to change and our transit entrance was down as 14:30pm – so we’d be stationary for half the day, yet this wasn’t really a problem as the northbound convoy was passing and we had land on both sides – and loads of other ships anchored, so it wasn’t as boring as it might seem – until it came to trying to use the internet or watch the TV broadcast channels, as opposed to the ex-hard drive, ship’s channels.

Seems that everyone with an internet device was already logged on, so I couldn’t. There was a Vodafone signal (from Egypt) so Paula had a message or two in and out.  It also meant that as F1 start time rapidly approached, there was no chance of watching it.

Morning trivia was 16/20 - but the resident smart Alec’s got 20.

Coffee in the Atrium was the weakest flat white I have ever had, so I had to ask for another shot – and it still wasn’t very tasty.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t clipped my coffee card – which sometimes they forget to do, but a case of swings and roundabouts so I can’t complain.

I went back to the cabin (to get up to date with the blog of course) whilst Paula stayed chatting to the other members of our afternoon trivia team.

Then came Captain Kent’s next announcement.  Instead of a 14:30 transit start, it would now be 16:00.  Now this obviously means that our next scheduled port arrival in Athens, 6am Tuesday, may be affected, but until we actually exit the Canal, we won’t know by how much.

Up to the buffet (yes, again) for a latish lunch, missing the Arabian buffet, which might well have been interesting, taking a hunk of roasted chicken from the carvery station and a slab of focaccia bread, making a pleasant sandwich, plus a bowl of mushroom soup.  More chatting and a return to the cabin.  Still no internet access possible and no TV programmes so I missed the Austrian GP.

Our afternoon trivia team is going well – but not quite well enough as we are usually just a point or two behind the winners.  Just as trivia finished, most people went out on deck to watch a flotilla (is that the right word?) of 4 US warships who would be into the canal ahead of us, coming up astern.  (That is apparently a nautical term, meaning behind...)  They have priority and finally, about 11 hours later than the original schedule, we finally entered the Canal about 6pm, but somehow or other, a container ship had slotted in ahead of us.

By the time we went for dinner at 7:45, the sun was just setting and many first time passengers elected to stay out on deck.  It was an Oriental menu, so John, Marilyn, Paula and myself opted to do the Oriental thing and ordered ALL the mains between us and just dipped in!  Very successful.  June and Elaine had their own and Sandie and Alan stayed out.  So between us we polished off most of the 4 spare ribs, lemon chicken, spicy noodles with beef (and they were spicy!), a Nasi Goreng, butterfish and spicy prawns.

Paula and I shared her favourite dessert – raspberry crème brulee.  

The early show (Kennedy) had been cancelled due to some rescheduling but the theatre late show was another new (to us) act, 30 year old Craig Richard, from Colorado.

An interesting character who was featured in one of those Discovery Channel features “I should Have Died”.  He was a keen rock climber who had a nasty climbing accident falling probably 1,000ft, and smashed his right leg.   He crawled about 18 hours, lucky to survive.  In a few days’ time, he is doing a lecture about it, but for tonight, he played alto sax, soprano sax and the piano and sang a bit.  Another good show, but talking to a couple who had seen him before, they said the show was identical and thought that he loved himself too much!  Well, we enjoyed it anyway.

By the end of the show, we were at one of the widest points of the canal and we retired for the night – by which time the TV channels were back on again so I caught the result of the GP but obviously missed the actual race broadcast.

A day at sea tomorrow when no doubt the Captain will be giving it some jandal.   (OK, a new NZ/Australian saying, thanks to Kiwi Volvo V8 driver, Scott McLaughlin!)  He’ll be trying to make up for lost time, but as everyone knows, being late is easy.  Being early is often easy (for some), but having lost time, making it up is extremely difficult. The ship normally travels at about 18/19 knots.  If all the air conditioning were switched off and the water temperature was low enough to help cool the engines, then flat out, we could probably do 25 knots given favourable sea conditions and wind speed.

The seas now are smooth and more like what we are used to, so it is difficult to tell that we are in fact moving at all.

 

(Once again, so many people logged on that internet connection is impossible during the day, so this will be uploaded well after it was written.)