SD I 3-17 Oct Athens-Istanbul-Athens

Quick report -- overnight and day in Istanbul. Said goodbye to everyone last night and, as Christophe told us this morning, the ship was ours for the day. We wanted to get out of everyone's hair, so walked to the Dolmabahce Palace -- actually past it and had lunch at the Shangri La Hotel (very nice) and then walked back to the palace. Very nice tour except for the people talking over the guide and trying to take pictures when they had been told REPEATEDLY that no photographs were allowed! Grrrrrr. On our way out, Mikee (who has now left for home) and Brian were talking to a group. Turns out the Azamara Journey, a Windstar and the huge Queen Victoria (right at our stern!) were in. The guys were talking to Robert, Executive Chef, who used to be on SD! Was able to say hello and tell him Azamara is in the running for a British Isles cruise in the next year or two. And, of course, it is Johannes' boat!

Took a cab back to SD and am sure we were ripped off, but my feet didn't care. We have a new group on board and either 3 or 6 couples are repeaters, so it may be a very small Club party! A group of Australians which will make the trip to Gallipoli very special tomorrow. Substituting Mykonos for Bodrum again, but will have Kepez, Kusadasi, Patmos and Santorini. Next Saturday, we will be the sad ones as we will have to disembark :( Then there is a charter from Athens to Rome -- a 9 day cruise and then the crossing!

Another season draws to a close.

Vandrefalk

Vandrefalk, we had a similar Ephesus evening with Seaborne, so I can visualize he scene :D But ours was with 400 other passengers, so not as intimate as yours must have been.

"Now is when I wish I had the talent of HH or Ragnar" -- I can retire my keyboard now, having reached the pinnacle of writing achievement.

Been a busy couple of days! By the time we got back to SD on Saturday, many of the new folks had boarded. Apparently, there are only 12 repeaters this week and we are 80 total. Some 20 Aussies in a group and some others on their own.

Saturday was our anniversary -- we had planned to eat on deck, but it was cool and windy so we were in the dining room at a table for two. Tomacz and I had worked out a special menu -- a combination of degustation and the embarkation dinner -- caviar surprise, lobster/crab salad, white tomato cappocino, sorbet, filet of beef and Bailey's souffle. They presented the menus to us (rolled into scrolls) and at the end presented us with a highly sweet and yummy cake (in addition to the dessert!). We also had a card signed by the Captain, Gareth, and Christophe! Upon return to our cabin, we had the usual balloons, rose petals and towel swans. Made for a very festive evening!

We were supposed to sleep under the stars last week but it was so windy that we opted not. When I tried to book for this week, the front bed was already taken for the entire trip! That's ok, we'll do it in January.

Kepez was quite cool, rainy and very windy. We did Gallipoli and, again, it was very special seeing what it meant to the Australians. As one of them told me, it is still a huge part of their history and they all seem to know quite a bit about it. We had dinner with the Captain as well as SixtiesTraveler (who is quite delightful, as is her DH) and a young lady writing an article for a British mag who also does a blog. We regaled her with many (mostly) positive stories and the Captain had to assure her that he had not paid us! Will be interesting to see what she has to say!

Then back to Kusadasi. Many did the Ephesus tour, but we did "in the footsteps of Alexander." Three cities I can't pronounce -- all of which were fascinating. It was a treat to see some of the villages and countryside but it was a long day. Our belly dancer returned last night and cocktails and dinner were outside -- first time in the last two weeks!

Today is Patmos -- lovely island and much greener than most Greek islands. We went to the cave where St John supposedly wrote the Book of Revelations and to the monastery at the very top of the island. I have done so much walking the last two weeks that my legs are in full revolt -- and the elevator on board isn't working! The weather is absolutely beautiful today -- glassy seas (so they did water sports) and clear skies. Cocktails and dinner will be outside again tonight.

Tomorrow is Mykonos -- then Rhodes and Santorini. On Saturday, they will kick us off and I'm not ready! If I don't do another report before we disembark, I'll do some final thoughts when we get home.

Vandrefalk

Happy Belated Anniversary Karen and Bob!

Sounds absolutely delightful!

Enjoy!!

Happy Anniversary, Karen and Bob.

Looking forward to seeing you in San Juan. As for sleeping on deck, because of your disappointment on this cruise, I will convince Zimmy that you deserve the bed more than we do. There's an elevator on the ship?

Zimmy's DH

Happy anniversary!

If you haven't already done it, check out the tour to Delos from Mykanos. Very interesting ruins. A lot of walking, but no hills. And if prone to seasickness, head to the the top of the boat and stand at the front rail for the short ride over, and "surf the boat". The waters between the islands are quite choppy, due to the wind tunnel effect from the two islands. Very worth the short, bouncy boat ride.

Sounds like a wonderful anniversary dinner! Wish we could have been there with you to celebrate ours too!

Happy Anniversary Karen and Bob! What a great way to celebrate many years together. I second the suggestion to go to Delos. We went a few weeks ago when we were on board and found it very interesting. Stay outside on the ferry ride. We've enjoyed following along with you! Safe travels home.

Cole

Vandrefalk, thanks so much for your trip report - hope the rest of your cruise was just as enjoyable as the first leg and can't wait to read more about it!

Happy belated anniversary and please give our best to Christophe and the rest of the crew!

We are home and I'm still getting over the crud I brought back with me. The last few days were absolutely delightful. We did the winery in Mykonos, which was interesting -- wines weren't bad but not great either! DH had done Delos several years ago and loved it -- I get worn out looking at old stones after a while! Rhodes was delightful! Quaint, winding streets -- and, of course, the usual tourist shops. Santorini was the real treat the last week -- we were the only ship there!! Capt Remi said he'd never been able to go ashore in 15 years because the ships have to run the engines the whole time and the captain and first officer are not allowed to leave the ship. This time we not only had anchorage, but Capt Remi went ashore -- AND they did swimming in the afternoon!! That was a first!

Disembarked in Athens and wandered the Agoura in the afternoon. Hard to believe Greece is in financial crisis, given the hordes of people crowding the cafes and shops! Flight home was fine -- made easier by being able to use lounges at our various stops.

So we lost our minds on board -- we are doing a French river cruise next October, which happens to end three days before SD II's crossing. Yup, we booked it! Had planned to think about it and likely book in January, but it was already filling up and there were no non-commodore cabins left on Deck 2. Apparently, the crossings are getting more popular -- there were already 60-70 signed up for next October! We'll see how all the logistics work.

So -- how was SD? In great shape! There were guys painting, sanding, polishing everywhere -- trying to keep ahead of everything so there's not so much to do in drydock. I heard no reports of non-working toilets, soot in the vents (though I did see one speck in our cabin); water issues, air conditioning issues -- nada. The service was outstanding; food and wine top notch. It felt as though SD had kicked everything up a notch -- maybe because Christophe runs a tight ship!

One thing that could be an issue in the future is the number of groups on board. There seem to be more and more of them. We had cancelled the cruise from Rome-Lisbon because there was a group of 96 on board the first week -- the ship should have been chartered, seems to me. Our first week, we had about 80 in two different groups. It wasn't terrible, but did impact the rest of us a bit. Even so, we had some 30 repeaters at the Club party. The second week, we had a few groups -- one was the Australian "Tupperware Ladies" with spouses -- they had won the trip. They were pretty loud and somewhat annoying at times. The second week, there were only 12 repeaters and we held the Club party in the owner's suite! Quite cozy! So I think if there are three or four smaller groups, it doesn't have as much of an impact. I can remember when our gang of 12 has been on board and, of course, we are very nice and unassuming :D and don't bother anyone! But when you get larger groups, it does have a negative effect.

The cruise staff is also much better. Hayden and Michelle were doing a top-notch job the first week -- and training Travis, who is brand new. We had Gareth the second week, who lived up to his reputation -- including telling us that Dragona (the casino manager) had promised the tonight, and tonight only, she would be giving away THOUSANDS of dollars -- hmmmn, seems to me I heard that every night and the one evening I did play, it took her exactly three minutes to take my stash.

Anyway, I had a very good feeling about SD -- seems to be in good shape -- staff is wonderful, as always and can't really report anything negative! Will be back on SD II for the first time in a few years in January, so hope to have the same experience then!

Vandrefalk

Thanks for the follow up Karen. Hope you are feeling better. Lois and I have both had bouts of the "airplane crud" coming home from Europe over the years. Aint no fun.:eek::D

Wow! A French river cruise followed by a crossing! That sounds like a great trip. I hope you'll write a full report! I'm dying to do both.

Glad to hear the ship is in good shape. Sorry to hear about all the groups. Overall, it sounds like you had a good time!

Glad to hear that you are feeling better Karen!

Sorry to have missed you when we passes through HH last month.

You'll love the crossing!

Glad your trip was very good despite the group issue. Guess there isn't much you can do about that. They are going to book what they can book as we already know!

So glad to hear that there was no soot, no air conditioning or electrical issues, etc on this trip. Maybe there is hope for getting DH back on board after our last cruise!

Also glad the cruise staff seems to have stabilized with competent people. Do love Hayden and Michelle and glad they are still there!

Thanks for your reports! Looking forward to your January cruise!