Roland4

It turned into an interesting afternoon. About 4:00 we started seeing smoke in the air just above the town. By 5:00 there was a raging inferno burning up into the hills above the town!! Thankfully, the howling winds pushed the flames up into the hills above the town, but it looked pretty scary from the ship! Finally it came time to depart, and nothing happened. And nothing happened. And nothing happened! Apparently the winds and waves were so intense, they could not capture the final tender! It took almost two hours, and multiple attempts. I watched the second last one from Deck 7, and as the tender came alongside, a gust of wind pitched the bow of the tender into the hull and forced it to back off. Finally, it came in. They were able to latch onto the bow davit, and then two crew manhandled the davit into the stern. The moment they got contact, the cables tightened and they pulled it out of the water! The seas are fairly intense, but fortunately are running mostly from behind us as we head west toward Nafplion!

Our first, and hopefully last, itinerary disruption was just announced by the Captain. The forecast for Santorini tomorrow is for 50 knot winds in the anchorage, so our stop has been cancelled. We are instead going to Nafplion, which is certainly not Santorini, but we were there on Esprit in 2017 and quite enjoyed it! And the side benefit is we don't have to get up at 00:Dark-Hundred as we would have had to do for our very early tour departure!!!!! 😁

Sliding back on topic! We were in the Osterria two nights ago and are now firmly on the side of liking it better than Prego. They have made a few changes to the menu since we dined there on Serenity last September, adding a Caprese Salad option and a Filet Steak option that I don't recall being there. We enjoyed it so much, we are going again the last night of the cruise! We did the Vintage Room last night and it was amazing as usual! The room is a little smaller than on Serenity, but we had a full table of 12, with lots of wine and lots of conversation!! A good time was had by all!!

There is a larger table in the centre section that I always thought was the Captain's Table, We had dinner with the Captain after the Society party, but there were only six of us, so we were at the next table. Only time this cruise we have been in the centre section, but then we have only been in Waterside three nights of the first eight! Had a great time tonight in the Vintage Room!!!

Can't say that I did, but pushing 4 two-tops together to create one would not be a problem.

The previous cruise count is honored. We were "recognized" for our 45th cruise on our current cruise. It is these new milestone "benefits" that are effective Jan 1/23.

On the one Formal Optional night on this cruise, the dress ran the gamut from Tuxes and Ball Gowns, through dark suits and dresses all the way down to "Did you look in the mirror before left your suite???" So yes, people are dressing as they wish.

We thought the all day tour was about an hour too long and we personally could have done without the Grand Bazaar as we are not shoppers. Beyond that, we enjoyed both tours, and we certainly learned a lot about the history of Istanbul!

But the fountain in the Cove/Atrium is running again! It seems to me you once commented on that!

Thank you from the bottom of my Digital Klutz heart!!!😁

We did the V-E-R-Y L-O-N-G all day Legacy of The Ottomans yesterday that went to the Sulieman Mosque (Blue Mosque was closed), Top Kapi Palace, lunch at a Michelin Star restaurant, and the Grand Bazaar. Today was Asian Istanbul and Bosphorous Cruise, which had us back on board by 1:30. There is new cruise port facility in Istanbul that makes getting in and out for tours very easy! We depart Istanbul at 8:00 this evening.

It's me Patty!!!!!😮 I am still learning how to use my iPhone and the pictures saved in an HEIC format. Had to figure out how to change them to jpeg. I tried replacing them, but now I am getting download errors. Turkey is partially blocking Starlink, they are still "evaluating it", and I think that may be the problem. Since I have passed the allowed time to edit, I will try reposting the pictures either later this evening or tomorrow. I did discover that if you download the individual HEIC files, you can then open the pictures, or at least I could on my Surface tablet.

Well, after a very busy first six days, I finally have a chance to post a few pictures of the changes to Symphony. Keep in mind that the last time we onboard was September of 2012, so while some things, Starlite, have not changed, others have to us, so if I post something "old" as something "new".........🙂 I stared at front of Deck 6 and worked my way back. The Lounge IMG_0122.HEIC IMG_0123.HEIC I have to admit this space does seem to be any better used than Serenity, and it is also very cool, verging on cold! One advantage it has on Serenity is the windows down both side. The Bistro IMG_0119.HEIC IMG_0120.HEIC IMG_0121.HEIC We have not had a chance to visit The Bistro as yet, but it always seems as busy as we remember it being on Serenity. It does a lot brighter than I remember it, and the tables against the outside railing give the space a bit of "sidewalk cafe" feel! The Shops IMG_0116.HEIC IMG_0117.HEIC IMG_0118.HEIC My wife made a purchase in Apropos the first night, but other than that, we have walked by every evening. Umi Uma and Osterria IMG_0124.HEIC IMG_0125.HEIC We had dinner The Sushi Bar on night one, and again at a table last night, and both meals were great as usual. We are at the Osterria tomorrow night and will report back. After our one experience with it on Serenity last September, we remain firmly "on the fence" about the change. We unfortunately missed the Suite Open House on Tuesday, so I have no pictures. If they offer another one I will make a point of getting some. I know some asked about staff onboard. Remi id the Maitre D', and while we had not met him previously, he has taken good care of us so far. Bruno is The Specialty Maitre D' and we had a nice "catch up" chat with him last night after many years. Society Hosts/Future Cruise are Beate Zaderer and Andrew Triplow, who we have known since Harmony in 2005! While Serenity is usually "home" for us, we have been having a great time on Symphony. We have been welcomed home/welcomed back numerous times by staff we have never met before, and everyone seems to "know our names"!! Any questions, I will try to get answers, but after tomorrow's sea day, it is a post stop a day until next Thursday!!

The person who told me 400 later revised that number down to 380. The ship feels comfortably occupied, and with the reduced number they can accommodate a single show at 9:15. We had forgotten how much "smaller" Symphony is compared to Serenity! We are just finishing up our first (of only two) sea days and will be in Istanbul for the next two days, with a L-O-N-G tour booked for tomorrow. I will try and post some pictures and observations sometime in the next few days.

We have been told something just over 400 guests this cruise, after having only 60 guests for the previous 7 nighter after the Red Sea. The next several cruises after this one are in the 500+ range apparently. We spoke to one of the crew who was onboard for the Red Sea crossing who said it was "interesting". They were part of a convoy escorted by three US Navy ships, and there were armed guards onboard. They were not allowed on any outside deck until they were well out on the Red Sea.