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.
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