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SD II: May 23 - June 5, 2010


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I think that I am finished with the blog.

 

Here you go for those that are interested: http://dreamingonthesea.blogspot.com/

 

Here is my Website: http://www.pvavalides.com/cruises.htm - lots of reviews ere. Feeel free to send me your comments. It seems I duplicate everything time and time again. Web site is the same as the blog, but you can go from page to page in any order.

 

Thanks for all that everyone has said.

 

Absolutely wonderful zqvol:D

 

Thanks for all the work that you and FT put into this project!!

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Now that ZQ Vol has finished his last blog posting and the pictures are up, deep and painful withdrawal has fully taken over. While I'm eagerly awaiting Commodore' James return of the booking for the summer of 2011, I'm depressed that I have to wait until November to board my beloved SD II again. Sooo jealous of those boarding before me, but at the same time hoping that they post while on board.

 

My office can't believe that we (I) keep returning to SD . . . But since I've never have the "most" nights on board, glad to know I"m not the only one.

 

Much earlier in this thread, there were concerns about the political situation in Athens. We heard over and over again, from taxi drivers, waiters and relatives, that true Athenians were very angry and upset with those who had been violent in the protests. That was counter to more than 300 years of peaceful protest tradition and that the violence had been committed by radicals from neighboring nations (in the interest of not offending someone like I usually do, I won't mention the country). The Athenians were disappointed that the media was focusing on the one violent incident - and in fact the one protest we witnessed was totally peaceful and hoped that tourism would return to peak levels --I know we contributed significantly to the Greek economy on this voyage. Hope to do so again next year on SD II via the Corinth Canal, Patmos, Hydra and a couple of other new islands!

 

FT

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SD must be doing pretty well on 2011 bookings. Dropped the Commodore a e-mail last week asking for a quote on a summer 2011 BtB voyage and got an e-mail back a couple of days later apologizing for the delay and that he hoped to get back to me soon! Guess I won't be holding my breath for a deep discount to pop up on the web anytime in the near future. Glad we made an "open booking" while on board. But I will confirm whether its a target "family sailing" like on the recent blog. Sorry, not our cup of tea.

 

FT

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Just rereading an earlier posting to ease the withdrawal pains. . . really really bad ones today. After unloading the dishwasher at least 3 times this weekend. . . and to unload the dishwasher -- you know what that means, actually had to cook something . . . :eek:and it certainly didn't rise to the level of Chef Josselin's cuisine nor was it served topside to a glorious sunset as we sail through the Dardenelles watching dolphins frisk merrily through the wake (I left that out of the description the first time).

 

Oh Commander, I really need that 2011 BtB to get confirmed please . . . . ;)

 

FT

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hopefully, we will end up in Venice next year at the end of our SD II BtB. Got our booking from the Commodore yesterday. Interesting, this far in advance there is no GTY fare. So the question is -- do we book now and pay the $50 change fee if fares decrease or wait and see if fares go down and save ourselves the $50 change fee. There are less than 30 people on each voyage right now, so I can't see fares jumping up in the near future . . . SD already has our $2500 but needs a bit more to hold the cabin. . ..

ZQ Vol's beautiful sunset above makes me want to say what the heck, book the trip!

FT

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Are the Greeks still fishing with explosives? When I was there in the early 80s there were very few fish to be seen snorkling. A local mentioned that it was a common practice to fish, illegally, with explosives :eek: That method killed all the fish near the explosion, young, old, large, or small. He said it had really depleted the fish stocks, even the non-commercial ones...

 

I assume the EU would be cracking down on that sort of thing nowadays.

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Are the Greeks still fishing with explosives? When I was there in the early 80s there were very few fish to be seen snorkling. A local mentioned that it was a common practice to fish, illegally, with explosives :eek: That method killed all the fish near the explosion, young, old, large, or small. He said it had really depleted the fish stocks, even the non-commercial ones...

 

I assume the EU would be cracking down on that sort of thing nowadays.

 

 

Since the water temperature was freezing:eek: we saw very few brave souls snorkeling. . . however, we didn't hear anything about fishing with explosives. We did see a lot run down/creative "boats," methods of water transportation seized by the Greek Coast Guard in Lesvos. Apparently, that's a huge area for illegal immigration into Greece and the Coast Guard has to be very active. The only illegal activity we actually witnessed (at least recognized) was the crazy ferries cutting across in front of the ship (I wish I could have seen the harbor pilot taking pictures and our captain laughing at the harbor pilot who was supposed to be guiding us). Unless the ten year old drinking beer on the streets in Turkey was illegal - since nobody objected, I assumed that was legal too.

 

 

FT

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Are the Greeks still fishing with explosives? When I was there in the early 80s there were very few fish to be seen snorkling. A local mentioned that it was a common practice to fish, illegally, with explosives :eek: That method killed all the fish near the explosion, young, old, large, or small. He said it had really depleted the fish stocks, even the non-commercial ones...

 

I assume the EU would be cracking down on that sort of thing nowadays.

 

Snorkeling? Ragnar I know you people in So. Cal are used to cold water, but those of us in the S. E. don't get in water that is colder than 75 or so without a wet suit. The Agean never got over 68 while we were there so snorkeling was not in this persons itinerary.

 

As far as fishing with explosives, I have no idea but of course we did not see any evidence of that activity.

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Congratulations to Louie who got Employee of the Month on SD II as announced on today's blog. :D He definitely is one of the best. He made my morning when very very early - while he was setting up for breakfast -he brought me a cappucino and sparkling water on Deck 6. He wasn't our regular breakfast waiter but somehow he knew how I liked to start the day. He didn't have to interrupt his duties on deck 5 to do that - I was just reading the Daily News and enjoying the sunrise, but it was appreciated and just one example of why he deserves the recognition.

 

FT

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Haha, I surf in 56 deg water in the winter in SoCal, but with a 3-2 wetsuit and gloves/booties. This time of year the water is downright hot at 66 F, plus this is Great White shark birthing season here, so the darlings are on the lookout for a quick snack...

 

A few years ago I was out at San Onofre and this Marine Cobra helicopter kept swooping down at the surfers. It was soon joined by a news helicopter. We could not figure out what they were doing, figuring it was some sort of exercise. On the news that evening they showed video of us surfers sitting out there with this GIANT shark, three or four times longer than the longest surfboard, circulating under the surfers :eek:

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