Chefestelle and DD cruise the Med

[Keroppi2011]

I'm sure you packed your "shoes just made for walking" (sing along now) - not to mention a few other pairs. Have a wonderful time. Such a special trip to enjoy with your DD.

[chefestelle]

Oh, we have LOTS of shoes!

 

 

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[chefestelle]

Thanks everyone! Here is today's report:

 

July 17: today was Embarkation day. We overnight in Venice but who can complain?!

I suspect it's to accommodate an overnight for people doing the back to back. It turned out great for us because... more time in Venice!

 

We had the included breakfast at our hotel. DD is used to this experience from her recent trip but I must say it was a bit of a jolt to my system. I'm not much of a breakfast person but I understand its important role in fuelling me for the day. I like fresh juice, fresh fruit and, on holidays, probably bacon and eggs. Coffee is the most essential item. So European hotel breakfasts are buffet style. The fruit is fresh but the juice is a nasty concoction in a machine. The eggs are all omelette style triangles and the bacon is soggy fried. I opted for cold cuts and Swiss cheese with a small serving of fruit. DD actually likes this style of breakfast so she was content with cold cuts, juice and machine made cappuccino. I went with black coffee. It's actually just like Keurig coffee. It was alright.

 

We left soon after, having the wisdom to book a porter. We were a bit sore from struggling with our bags the day before. He was amazing. He loaded our cases and one heavy bag onto his industrial dolly and roared through the crowds at speeds we could barely keep up to. I also realized that the locals were drafting behind him making their passage much faster through the congested masses. It's amazing how many people just stopped and stared instead of moving as he yelled attenzione! He took the bags right to the alilaguna boarding area while we lined up for our tickets. Now this is a really organized process I urge you to use. It is a little slower than a water taxi but very efficient. You cannot possibly buy the wrong ticket or get in the wrong lineup. They also help you heave your bags on board. Had I known that, I would definitely have gone with alilaguna and not the water taxi from the airport. I don't begrudge the lovely experience, though, of our own small boat. The whole cost of porter and alilaguna was 50€ and it got us right to the main terminal. The porter is 15€ for the first bag and 5€ each bag after. He didn't charge for the carry on he popped on top. The alilaguna was 8€ each and the rest was for the baggage at 3€ for each suitcase. Well worth it! Especially when I consider a taxi from my home to airport is about $60. Puts it in perspective. The only thing that would put a damper on it would be crowding. There was a very large crowd embarking it at the airport yesterday and disembarking it at San Marco this morning. That might make it less joyful.

 

Once at the main terminal, HAL people were greeting us to ensure we headed to the correct terminal. They were dotted along the way and signs were clearly posted as well. Very little chance of going the wrong way! We were processed quickly at the tagging area - I don't think I'd bother printing the tags from home since they didn't use them and were quicker fixing their own, more durable ones on. The rest of the boarding process for check in was super quick and efficient. Partly this was because we got priority boarding but also partly this was because there just weren't that many people waiting! Whisked through embarkation, we quickly found our way to our stateroom. I am proud to announce that we took the stairs from deck 2 to 6. Just getting ready to wear off the meals we will eat!

 

We have the navigator app on this ship. I'm hoping it gets updated as it currently has the old excursions attached to the new ports. We had another cancellation, this one of Kusadasi. We are going to Saranda, Albania instead and it is our first stop. I can't presently think of what to do there, but I've never been to Albania. The excursion guide in the room has our updated itinerary but none of the excursions in the new ports look like our thing. Hopefully we will find something on the inet we want to do.

 

For the HAL regulars, our captain is Werner Timmers, Charles Vanderwaal is our hotel director, Joanne Valerio is the Guest Relations manager, Simon is the Cruise Director, Sam is the Culinary Arts cooking show host, Isolda is the show host, Tom is the location guide, Tonya and Danny are in the Billboard, and Debra is the cruise consultant. There does not appear to be a designated non-denominational pastor and the Catholic priest is not named.

 

We were originally booked in verandah 7024 but got an upgrade to a signature suite, the total cost being roughly the same as the per person cost difference would have been had we booked it in the first place. We are now in 6090 and it is spacious, well appointed and lovely. We want only for more drawer space for clothes but I am using the shelves and DD is using all the little drawers around the room. We will manage.

 

We have purchased 1000 inet minutes which should last. DD has roam like home which she can use in every port. I'll use free wifi where I can find it. Unfortunately, ship inet is super slow so I doubt I will be loading pictures or on locations til I get home!

 

Our two stewards are Asep and Esha. They introduced themselves while delivering luggage. They could not seem to offer enough help or encourage us enough to use their assistance.

 

We had lunch in the main dining room which thrilled me because I do not care to eat in the Lido. DD had a mini pulled pork sandwich and really delicious broccoli soup. I had an odd buttermilk chicken breast. Very crunchy and lightly seasoned. The wilted greens with it were divine.

 

As soon as we were back in our stateroom, I checked our excursion and dinner reservations. There were some dinner reservations missing but a quick call to 88 reassured me that we were reserved and would get our confirmations the day of.

 

Thanks to Ruth C and Globaliser, I knew before we got to the port that we would be able to wander off again as we pleased and return whenever. Great to have the option whether you choose to use it or not. In our case, we decided to wander our ship, indulge in some lazy time on our marvellous deck and enjoy a very relaxed afternoon. Good thing because when we tried to leave after dinner the scanner broke down and caused the poor security officer so much consternation we just left. I think DD is still signed off the ship though he insisted she was not.

 

My TA gifted us dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. We were well served by our stewards, Remli and Irwan. Darwin (?) is the wine steward and he steered me well. We had a really delicious dinner of planked halibut and scampi (DD) and crab with 5 oz lobster (me).

 

We stopped in to listen at the Adagio. I was really pleased to see signs asking people,to be quiet during the performance. This did not happen on the Veendam and people were quite disrespectful. We also stopped in at BB King's All stars who were wonderful.

 

Now we are relaxing on our verandah, digesting before our early bed for our early morning excursion to Murano and Burano.

 

 

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[VennDiagram]

Thanks for taking the time to do this :) I'll be following along!

[cat shepard]

So happy embarkation went smoothly! You are bringing back great memories of my May trip. I will be interested to hear about your visit to Albania. I admire your "roll with the changes" attitude. Makes for a much more enjoyable trip.

[SilvertoGold]

Great post, makes me feel as if I were right there with you!

 

You are having an good start, except for the breakfast, which sounds really subpar and unusual for Europe in general.

 

On the ship you will love breakfast. In the MDR ask for any combination of fruit you want: watermelon, blueberries, strawberries and pineapple are my go-to!

 

Enjoy and I will, too.

[chefestelle]

I do believe that breakfast was subpar as you say. It's very much like the super budget hotels the students stayed at during their budget trip and was not at all what I expected from this much better hotel. I have already enjoyed one much better breakfast on Eurodam now!

 

 

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[chefestelle]

July 18 Day 2: After a restless night (just me, nothing wrong with the bed, the a/c or really anything!) we woke early to room service. The bacon was crispy, everything was hot that should be and we were suitably fed to face the day.

 

I really wanted to see Murano. I love the glass and I wanted to see if I could find some jewellery for upcoming birthday gifts. You can buy this glass anywhere but I thought it would be lovely to have something direct from the source. DD had been awed by the glass blowing process she saw here in March and urged me to take in a demonstration. We have seen this before in Halifax, Nova Scotia right at the harbour, but this impressed her more.

 

I had priced out some Murano glass in the square and in a shop down a side street just off the Hotel Noemi down the lane opposite 913. The same small disc pendant of mosaic glass was 15€ in the square and 9€ in the lane shop. Earring baubles were 110€ in the square and a matching necklace was 55€. I couldn't see the prices in the lane shop and it was closed though I suspect there is a similar difference in prices. But this gives me a baseline for whether I buy my treasures on Murano or wait til I'm back on the 29th to revisit the shop. Those discs were 6€ in Burano. The earrings were all over the map with a lot more variety starting at 35€ and the necklaces were also all over the map, with more than one bauble and the attendant higher prices. I saw some gorgeous strands for 80€.

 

We also collect cuff links, beach towels and Christmas baubles from our travels. I don't expect to find beach towels on this trip, but you never know! Christmas baubles might be a challenge too! And cuff links are always tough if you're looking for ones that are representative of the place you are visiting. Murano glass cuff links are a thing, though, so that's what I was after. I failed in that quest so I'll have to look in the lane shop when we are back. I have to go back to the neighbouring shop for a tattoo mask.

 

Anyway, part of my research had been to find excursions to Murano and Burano. I know you can do this on the vaporetto but a friend who went last year said it is very crowded and hot for this trip of 45 minutes. Hot and crowded transport is really not my thing and I wanted to hear a bit about the location as well. It is, however, the cheapest way to go if you are up for it. Also, with a Rick Steves guide, you could do without the tour guide too. If you don't want your nose in the guide book, I believe he has audio tours you can download. We usually study the guides in advance and then keep our heads up and eyes open. I did pack his little pocket guide along anyway. Haven't looked at it yet...

 

The HAL excursion is $70US per person. It is a half day and takes you to Murano and Burano. I found other options online which were cheaper. One did Murano, Burano and Torcello in the same amount of time for only $30 CDN each plus the cost of getting to the pickup point. That one seemed too rushed, though the reviews were very good. I'm glad, in retrospect, that we did not take this option as it would have been far too rushed. Reviews of the HAL Murano and Burano excursion were good except they noted not enough time to actually explore shops after the glass blowing demonstration in Murano. Dilemma. Take the nice comfy trip with HAL but no exploring, or take the hot and crowded trip with time to explore on our own?

 

One insight into our planning decisions: I need options that would take the stress out of timing. I'm happier taking my time and dawdling where I want or zipping along when I choose (unlike the schedules of an excursion) without having deadlines (like all aboard). With deadlines, I stress about timing, traffic, etc and cut myself short just to make sure I'm not late. In that sense, cruise travel is not the best fit for me. It also takes away from DD's enjoyment if I'm distracted by these things. I know excursion companies often come with worry free guarantees but it is cold comfort to be left behind even if I am flown to the next port. It's a very short holiday and I don't want to spend any part of it flying to catch up. Or waste valuable gawking time fiddling with my watch and chewing my lips with worry. This is one of the factors, therefore, that went into our selections. I am happy to pay more to eliminate this factor. I'm glad we did. While the boat trip was long and the tour guide talked all the way, I could see the public transport and it was crammed!

 

Embarkation for the excursion was quick and easy. As always, some people were late for the meeting time, holding up their party, their excursion and all the rest of us. Because the excursion was tendered in a sense, boats were swirling around in the harbour waiting to come alongside. Honestly, some people are so precious! I did notice a couple of older ladies who were both hard of hearing who were sitting in front of us struggling to hear what was going on. One had forgotten her hearing aids and the other didn't have any. The excursion guy was not terribly helpful and was soft spoken. So I told them what he had told us. They were lovely ladies but they had been through an ordeal. Their luggage had been left behind in Philadelphia and they had been living in the same clothes for four days. Hope it catches up to them! Their excursion had also been cancelled and they had been told to just show up to the excursion cattle call to rebook another. That's pretty outrageous and I think when they are less discombobulated they will take on HAL for dealing with the many other excursions we have now had cancelled.

 

Speaking of which, we are now going to Saranda, Albania and I have looked over HAL's excursions there. Nothing appeals. I've searched what's in port and nothing appeals. I'll search toms port guides next.

 

Once on board our vessel to Murano and Burano, the tour guide gave a lively and detailed account of everything we passed. I'm sure it's an excellent rendition but it was 8:30 am and I would have appreciated a breather or two in there to gather my thoughts. He was very knowledgeable, though, if a bit dry.

 

Murano was a too-brief stop. Once there, you traipse in to the furnace room. I thought the display of changing melted sand into vases and horses was fascinating but DD said their school visit to a different factory was better. Afterward, we had too little time to take In the glass room presentation (very interesting!) and browse this and other shops. I did get some of my list acquired, though.

 

We sat up on the open deck on the way to Burano. It's quite exposed and you don't move fast enough for a good breeze but the view is much more expansive. In Burano, you walk to the town square, see a brief demonstration of lace making (which has its own wow! factor) and then have a bit too much time to explore the shops filled with lace items. There are some quite expensive, authentic items but many more manufactured lace clothes, table cloths and the like. They are made in Italy but are not quite as exquisite. There are also lots of tourist trinkets and masks for purchase. We opted for a refreshing soda and Brie and crudo pizza in a little cafe off the canal. I may never eat pizza again but at least it was a refreshing meal. The trip back seemed very long and I'm glad we didn't spend it on crowded transit. We were let off right at the main terminal and walked back to our ship.

 

Not long after we re-boarded, we had the muster drill. It would have been efficient but for the precious people who waited til the very last minute to show up so they didn't have to join the rest of us standing in the baking sun, and for the people we could see sauntering back onto the ship indifferent to the discomfort of the rest of us. And yes, those who were on the back to back were required to repeat the drill.

 

Sail away was on our verandah. We went up to the Lido for my regular and DDs mock Bellinis, the sail away special. They were more like warm mimosas out there! I prefer the crushed ice Bellinis... There was music being set up and a festive atmosphere was building. There was a fellow at the other bar in a row with the bartender about how many drinks could be served at once on the special beverage card. He ended up calling guest services and then demanding the bartender come to the phone to speak to the person on the other end. The bar was understaffed and Henri was getting flustered. The policy, however, was clearly noted on the handout sheet and he stuck to it.

 

Once we got moving, it was quite splendid watching as we drifted by Venice. It's such a lovely city with so many fascinating adaptations for their life on the water!

 

Dinner tonight was booked in the Pinnacle. I had the yummy lobster bisque and superb lamb chops. DD had the lemongrass chicken soup - which she pronounced just pleasantly spicy - followed by the chicken dish. We had the Brussels sprouts with pancetta and Parmesan as well as the creamed spinach. It was all too much! The creamed spinach was more puréed than creamed and not to my liking. The Brussels are worth trying again. Neither of us were up to dessert so Irwan brought fresh berries for us to share while I had my coffee and brandy. We were well served by Irwan and Remli who made the evening quite pleasant.

 

We spent the evening reading on our deck. It was a great way to end the day, drifting out to sea and feeling the gentle breeze.

 

Italy is definitely on the return list. DD loves Venice and would come to study if she could identify a university. She'd better find a way to learn Italian first! I would definitely go back to Murano for more glass!

 

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful reports.

[borasue]

SO enjoying your reports! Your optimism is quite refreshing! :D I'm already making notes for my next time around, so thank you for that! Smooth sailing to your next adventure!

[cruisemom42]

 

Speaking of which, we are now going to Saranda, Albania and I have looked over HAL's excursions there. Nothing appeals. I've searched what's in port and nothing appeals. I'll search toms port guides next.

 

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There is not very much in Sarande itself. (Not a pretty place with all the cheap ongoing construction....)

 

If HAL offers it, I suggest you book the tour to Butrint. Even if you aren't a "ruins" person, it gives you a chance to see some of the Albanian countryside along the way and the site itself is very atmospheric -- e.g., good photo ops -- and has an interesting history.

[SilvertoGold]

What a treat, reading this thread!!

 

A great day! I love reading about prices: quite a spread on the Murano items.

 

Welcome to some pax's standard take on how to behave at shorex meetings and muster drill. One of the reasons I avoid HAL's shorex.

 

Glad you are enjoying the Pinnacle. Try it for lunch, too, my fav!

 

By the way, your DD is one lucky lady!

Edited July 19, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[chefestelle]

Thanks everyone! I am going to try a pinnacle lunch. It's on my bucket

 

July 19 Day 3: We are at sea. My only rules for DD on sea days are that she have breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner with me; she tell me where she's going to be; and she check in if she's changing location. While there do seem to be many young families on board, there are not that many teens. And the Loft didn't hold the meet and greet like they did at Xmas. There was only the open house and no one was there when we went by. Consequently, DD and I spent most of the day together.

 

I'm a reader so I enjoy a rest in the sun with a good brain candy book. Of course, I'm also open to a friendly chin wag. I don't care if I take in activities or entertainment but I'm also curious enough to participate if the mood takes me. It's a holiday. I play it by ear.

 

We ordered room service breakfast for much later than we usually eat, thinking we would sleep later. Well, we did sleep a little later but not as late as we thought. We were good and hungry by the time breakfast arrived! Unfortunately, in DD's words, breakfast disappointed. It came at the late end of our requested time. The coffee and tea were good and hot. DD ordered eggs Benedict which came for both of us, were hard and were not hot. The bacon was nice and crispy but my milk for my cereal was warm from being on the delivery cart so long. She got her orange juice (warm) but my grapefruit juice was replaced with a grapefruit. Now I wouldn't have minded that except the fruit wasn't well cut. I don't care for being sprayed in the face, chest and hair by recalcitrant fruit just because I don't have the right tools to extract its flesh! Never mind, as DD also said, at least we are not starving children from anywhere.

 

There were a number of activities lined up in the On Location for our sea day. I will be scanning it in once home so I won't list it all here. It includes drink events, dance lessons, spa specials, specialty group meetings, computer and digital photography workshops, cooking things, scavenger hunts, gambling things and trivia. Nothing grabbed my attention except I decided to go to the port information session at 11:00. I deposited DD on the seaview pool deck where all loungers were claimed though a good third of them were 'vacant'. We set her up on the pool side decking and I headed off to wait for the port lecture. I only stayed long enough to hear that there is a lovely sea walk in Saranda lined with cafes and shops, the latter selling hand made linens and trinkets like fridge magnets. It is a tender port. I learned later that they picked Saranda because the people on the first leg had already done Kotor and Montenegro. Based on cruisemom42's advice, wish I had checked here earlier because I think there is an excursion to Butrint! It leaves early, though so I'm not sure I can persuade DD to change plans now...

 

When I got back up to the seaview pool area, DD was already ready to go back and sit on our verandah. In the time I had been gone, all the claimed loungers had filled. I was ok with reclining in privacy though we had no sun shining on our deck.

 

Lunch was in the MDR (yay!) and was a small but delicious serving of cheddar soup and the luau platter. The latter was a little less pleasing because the pieces were all more bone than flesh. It was still tasty. We were joined by an American fellow named Bill (from Chicago) and a Dutch family Core, Yvonne and their daughter whose name I never learned. It was an entertaining and enjoyable lunch.

 

We spent a really pleasant afternoon napping and reading. Then it was time to get ready for our first gala night. We decided on long but subtle. That worked fine as we had an MDR reservation for 6:00. There were lots of very well dressed children and many women in sparkles both long and short. But I would have to say most people just dressed nicely but not fancy. It wasn't until we were getting ready to clear out that we saw more gowns, some tuxes and some very fancy suits. Even later, we slipped out for cookies and cheese at the Lido which was supposed to be open til 10. By 9:00 only cookies and cheese as well as the coffee station were still open. However, there were many very nicely dressed people in the Canaletto, even a couple of tuxes, and some gowned people swept by on their way to somewhere else. So it looks like the fanciest crowd comes out later.

 

We had dolphins entertaining us at dinner and a gorgeous sunset to toast once in our room. All in all, it was a most satisfying sea day!

 

 

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Edited July 19, 2016 by chefestelle

[SLOTheta]

Thanks everyone! I am going to try a pinnacle lunch. It's on my bucket

 

Unfortunately, in DD's words, breakfast disappointed. It came at the late end of our requested time. The coffee and tea were good and hot. DD ordered eggs Benedict which came for both of us, were hard and were not hot. The bacon was nice and crispy but my milk for my cereal was warm from being on the delivery cart so long. She got her orange juice (warm) but my grapefruit juice was replaced with a grapefruit. Now I wouldn't have minded that except the fruit wasn't well cut. I don't care for being sprayed in the face, chest and hair by recalcitrant fruit just because I don't have the right tools to extract its flesh! Never mind, as DD also said, at least we are not starving children from anywhere.

 

That worked fine as we had an MDR reservation for 6:00. There were lots of very well dressed children and many women in sparkles both long and short. But I would have to say most people just dressed nicely but not fancy. It wasn't until we were getting ready to clear out that we saw more gowns, some tuxes and some very fancy suits. Even later, we slipped out for cookies and cheese at the Lido which was supposed to be open til 10. By 9:00 only cookies and cheese as well as the coffee station were still open. However, there were many very nicely dressed people in the Canaletto, even a couple of tuxes, and some gowned people swept by on their way to somewhere else. So it looks like the fanciest crowd comes out later.

 

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Sad to hear they haven't fixed the breakfast issue. My husband picked up breakfast every morning in the Lido, but I preferred ordering room service. It was hit and miss. My grapefruit also attacked me one day! Most of the time, the food came cold or the order was wrong. [emoji107]🏼

 

We weren't on the ship early enough to catch the 6pm MDR diners, so I never saw what people were wearing. I would say our 8:15am seating was a pretty well dressed group. Many long gowns, dark suits and tuxes. After dinner, many would go to dance at BB King to dance it up. Hope you get to dance a bit, they are a great band!

 

Looking forward to reading more. I'm still behind on sifting through my notes!

 

 

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[chefestelle]

July 20 - today, we arrived in Saranda, Albania. You can tell that it is not a wealthy region despite being the perfect resort location. We had to anchor offshore and take the tender in. The tenders are our own lifeboats. It's a quick and easy way to access ports where the docks are too small or the water too shallow. Once on the pier, we simply walked up a steep cobble road to the waterfront road. There was a customs booth but it seemed to be only for the people coming from Corfu on the Corfu-Saranda ferry.

 

DD and I wandered down some stone steps to dip our toes in the sea. The water was surprisingly cold but we found it refreshing. It is extremely hot out. The beach is comprised of rocks bigger than pea gravel but smaller than the decorative rock used in xeriscaping. It is hard on the feet so we kept our shoes on til we were close to the water. There is a narrow strip of sand making the ankle deep wading more comfortable. The water is cold and clear, with tiny, unimpressive fish swimming by.

 

After that refreshment, we stopped at the beach stand to purchase sodas. I didn't have a small enough bill (4€ for two sodas) so one of the servers had to run off for change. No one really speaks English and I cannot even say thank you in Albanian so we did our discussions in monosyllables and gestures. It worked well enough. This includes shopping in the little stores lining the streets. I did find an Albania beach towel for 5€ to add to our collection. At another store, we bought crisps for our room: tzatsiki and oregano. I'm happy to report that the flavours are stunningly accurate!

 

After this, we pretty much saw what was to be seen. If you find yourself in Saranda on a cruise, you could spend a pleasant enough day if you brought sunscreen, a towel, reading material, water and some euros to rent a sun bed/umbrella combo and to buy lunch. We hopped the tender back to the ship and grabbed a couple of loungers by the pool instead. It was quiet and even slightly breezy up there.

 

While DD was resting inside later, I was reading outside. I watched some guys who were obviously inexperienced yahooing around on jet skis. They were having fun til one fell off. They disappeared soon after. Not long after that, I heard five distinct gunshots. I leaped to my feet just as the last couple were sounding and saw a flash. Though it did not sound like it, it may have been five distinct one-pop fireworks. I heard nothing after. The flash was about three streets up from the shore. I am unlikely to ever know if it was benign or more dangerous. Perhaps it was even just a power box shorting out. There were no sounds of alarm from shore so I returned to my relaxation.

 

Saranda turned out to be a pleasant diversion but it is not likely a place I would return to very soon. I expect it will one day develop into a lovely seaside resort but I believe that is at least a decade away. I am not disappointed that we came and the day was rewardingly restful. DD, on the other hand, would like very much to go back for a visit.

 

 

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[chefestelle]

July 21 Day 5: first I want to tell you about dinner in the Tamarind. DD pronounced it the best place she has eaten on this trip and I wholeheartedly agree. She started with some salmon sushi that she said was awesome. I had the soup with quail eggs that was also remarkable. I also had the satay sampler which was frankly big enough and delicious enough to be a meal in itself. She had the duck and I had the wasabi tenderloin. Heavenly! I don't usually go for dessert but the Tamarind chocolate sounded too good to pass up. DD had the ginger bread pudding. It was all so good and we were very full when we left.

 

Anyway, today we were in Katakolon and Olympia. I'm not much of a person for ruins and I had heard a number of reports from land travellers that this really is just a pile of rubble and some pillars. However, it is Olympia and we are in an Olympic Summer games year, so I did want to see it. In my youth, I was in track so I wanted to have at least the ubiquitous starter block photo. Besides, some helpful CC members chimed in to say that the magic of history did indeed linger at this site. With my equivocal impression of the stop, I wasn't that interested in trains, public transit or other independent means of reaching this site.

 

On that point, there are lots of ways to get to Olympia which can be very expensive for private tours or very crowded and slow for big tours. There are also many options in between, including local transportation. CC has lots of helpful hints for those who want to do this on their own. Just check the port boards and you will see! We opted for an excursion to the site and Olympic village. It was on a motor coach with about 50 people. The tour guide was excellent, the fellow passengers did not keep us waiting (nor we, them) and the bus was nicely air conditioned.

 

The site is well laid out but this is not a location for the mobility challenged! The path from the point where buses and taxis must drop everyone off is not terribly long but it is uneven gravel. The loo is down some steep steps to the right and there was the perpetual lineup at the ladies. The tickets, if you are not on a tour that includes them, are sold at a kiosk just opposite the path to the loo. Again, a lineup. Not terrible, though. Once inside, there is plenty of shade afforded by the many trees. It made for a comfortable paths inside are uneven and there is not really anywhere to sit without sitting on monuments. I do not recommend this as it seems disrespectful. Thousands of crickets sound endlessly. Some Americans said they call them cicadas. I'm not sure they were talking about the same insect but they didn't sound like crickets from home. It was more buzz-like.

 

I'm not regretting I went. I saw what I expected and I got some lovely photos of what remains. However, you must come with a good imagination because time, thievery, and war have destroyed most of what must have once been quite spectacular. Our very well informed guide painted the missing visuals in a half hour tour then left us to explore for another half hour. It was enough. Then we walked through the cafe and shop area where we had twenty minutes to shop our hearts out. DD and I just got sodas and sat in the shade after exploring the goodies.

 

Once back on the bus, it was a short trip to the centre of the Olympic village. Evidently it is only alive in tourist season and it exists to sell us Greek wares. We had an enjoyable hour to shop for jewellery, clothes and shoes. Then it was back on the bus to head back to Katakolon. Our guide gave us some good information about things to see and do in Athens on the mostly quiet trip back. Those who wanted to were able to disembark the bus in town to wander some more. The rest of us stayed on the bus for the ride to the port. It is completely walkable from the ship to the town of you find yourself in Katakolon and not wanting to trek to Olympia or the neighbouring wineries. There seem to be lots of shops and cafes waiting to cater to tourists.

 

Would I go back? Perhaps if I was travelling with someone really keen on Greek history or mythology. I could see myself staying a day or two in Katakolon or Olympia village so long as there was a pool and the hotel was nice. It does get very hot in the afternoon!

 

On that note, I remembered to pack our Icy Cool Towels. I may never go anywhere without one again in summer or hot climates! It was a godsend and kept me very cool and comfortable. A CC member recommended them and I'm so grateful!

 

Dinner was again in the Tamarind and was again awesome. I had the wonton soup and DD had the chicken and rice soup. I had the duck and she had the red curry chicken. They were so incredibly tasty. I recommend the oyster and shiitake mushroom side. We both broke our decision not to have dessert. Yes, we were too full but the descriptions were yummy. Mine was the mango cloud and it was ok. Not something I would repeat. She had the donuts and said they were lovely and light rather than heavy.

 

So now we are watching a very red sun fall below the horizon. Tomorrow is Athens and is another early day...

 

 

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[chefestelle]

July 22: Athens. This was a destination I really wanted to do by HOHO. I try to take these buses in any new city we visit to get an idea of what the city has to offer tourists. Then I either go back on the HOHO or wander back on my own. These are land trips, though, where time is my own. I then read a lot of negative reviews on various sites (not all related to cruises) about the HOHO in Athens being too full and travellers not being able to get on at each stop for several buses. I didn't want to spend my day waiting at bus stops, so we opted for a tour. To complicate matters, the port strike was still ongoing when all our pre booking was done. There seemed to be some port diversions. Even if that didn't impact matters, the trains and trams were also doing rolling strikes. That was just too much potential aggravation for a one day visit. So we decided on the Best of Athens excursion to see as much as we could, not worry about delays due to traffic or strikes and to be sure we wouldn't have to wrangle for refunds if we had to miss the port.

 

I do wish I had not made that decision. A guide really makes a tour and our guide was not the one we needed. She spent way too much time on minutiae and pedantic detail. DD and I got bored quickly and began to wander off on our own. There was so much to see in such a short time that discussing each crack, calculation and composition was way too much information.

 

The bus stopped for photo ops at the stadium. That was fine. Then we moved on to the Acropolis. I went against my prior decision to wear my skid free sanuks but the Skechers worked fine. The warnings about the path cannot be overstated, however. It's a super easy climb up but the path is polished marble and stone and quite uneven. Slipping would be almost certain (as we saw from our sandalled co-travellers) if you did not have proper walking footwear.

 

The Acropolis is quite exposed but there was a lovely breeze today to break up the 30 degree heat we had in the morning. The views are spectacular. Unfortunately, our guide spent so much time on the tiniest details about the pillars on the Parthenon that she used literally all her time on them. We got very little on the surrounding structures and nothing at all on the Caryatids. DD and I wandered off, as we had headsets. That way we at least got to admire the rest of the site. Without the tour, the admission ticket is 20€.

 

There are refreshing frozen drinks at the exit. 4.50€ and quite satisfying. There is plenty of shade available to enjoy that drink, as well.

 

From there, we went to the National Archeological Museum. 10€ if you're not on the tour. There are evidently 120 museums in Athens. This one is deserving of its own half day at least. DD and I quickly abandoned our guide. She would select one display in each room and spend way too much time discussing it. There was so much to see and so many fascinating things that we just couldn't stand still listening to this. Of course, if you are a Greek historian, this would have been a very pleasurable tour, I'm sure. For us, being drawn to a display and reading about it on the cards was more to our liking.

 

Having enjoyed the museum on our own, we rejoined the tour to head off for a buffet lunch at the Radisson. They served wine, coke and water with a fairly decent hot and cold buffet. We were well satisfied when we reloaded the bus for our last stop - the Plaka.

 

The Plaka is an old town shopping area. Lots of tourist stuff to see. We did not have anywhere near enough time here but managed to do a bit of damage before we left.

 

On board we had a kind of unsatisfactory dinner in the MDR. We should have joined the masses enjoying Greek food on the seaview deck instead. There was a Greek band there and evidently belly dancing had been on the agenda as well. We popped in briefly to soak up the atmosphere and to form the regret over our dining choice. The food looked incredible.

 

We have had another port change that could not have been better! We go to Santorini a day early. There were to be 30,000 passengers descending on Santorini on our original day. Now it will be much quieter. Even better, we will arrive at 7 and depart at 10! Sunset on Santorini...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[SilvertoGold]

Enjoyed the description "just a pile of rubble and some pillars". To get the historical view you really need to see Herculaneum and Pompeii!

 

That is seriously good news about Santorini! Enjoy the shopping at the top of the cliff: some nice stuff!

[chefestelle]

Thanks silvertogold! I'd love to see Pompeii though a big part of me is horrified by the thought of it!

July 23 - Mykonos: this was our first port replacement day. DD and I had the foresight to figure we would be tired of tours by now and we were right. We signed up for a beach transfer and I'm so glad we did. The transfer took us to a resort beach in Elia operated by the Senses Resort. We had to pay extra for the sunbeds 25€ for two) but they were great. Three hours of lounging in the sun and sea! DD, of course, is much darker than she was. I'm a bit darker but stayed in the shade of our umbrella to avoid burning. The prices were crazy there. The cheapest item on the menu was a margareta pizza for 11€! Everything else was 20€ or more. Imagine paying almost $30 CDN for a salad or a clubhouse sandwich. The sodas we had were 4€ each but came in tiny bottles. The sorbeto lemons were the best items at 13€. These are moscato, lemon sorbet, soda and mint. There was so much mint in mine that the combination of mint and lemon tasted like cucumber. It was delicious.

 

DD went waterskiing with a young German fellow beside us. They also offer tube rides and waterskiing. I didn't get the prices on any of these activities. The resort is also fairly isolated. It is part of a town but seems to be on the outskirts. If I could find a way to make the food and beverages work more affordably I would happily stay there a few days on a longer trip to recharge between adventures.

 

To get to and from our tender for our ship from the bus to the beach, you have to walk the entire waterfront of the town of Mykonos. It is full of cafes, tourist shops and the like. You could spend a pleasant day off from the beach there if you were staying in town.

 

Mykonos is one of those two islands that used to have a law that all houses had to be painted blue and white. The blue trim and tops represent the sky, the white bodies represent the sea foam. It looks wonderful from the sea! That law no longer applies but very few people have used any other colours. The buildings are also flat topped rectangles or squares. DD looked up the why of that for us. Turns out the tops are flat to collect water and help keep the structures cool.

 

Not surprisingly, we waited til we were back on the ship to eat. We were late for lunch and didn't want to go to the buffet, so we took afternoon tea. This was very civilized if not considerably different from any tea I ever took in Victoria! There was a good variety of little sandwiches and cream puffs, rocky road squares and other delicacies to please the palate. But they only come around twice so be sure to take what you need if tea is replacing lunch!

 

The rest of our afternoon was spent on our fabulous verandah where nature was treating us to the famous Mykonos winds. Others who took the last few tenders back were less fortunate with those winds. The last tender particularly had to back off from the ship so it could pull anchor and turn 180 degrees to make it safe to board. Using its engines to hold itself in place the ship then had the tender come alongside and board the last few people that way. We were at dinner during this exercise and could see the tender tossing and thrashing around in the waves. Could not have been fun.

 

I would go back to Mykonos. It would be part of a wander, though. You can't really take in much of the area late in the afternoon despite the refreshing breeze. Exploration would best be done in the morning. We did not explore the shops either though they were right there. The port was teeming with passengers from two large ships and there was barely moving room on the streets for the curious vehicles to pass through us. They kindly wended their way around sun dazed tourists and beeped politely to get through, though it must drive them crazy to do so. The streets are mostly cobbled in port but are paved and wider once you leave town. Traffic is thick and would be unpleasant to navigate without air conditioning. If I were to return, I would check the cruise ship port schedule before booking time in the port town. The resort seemed quiet though. It is built on a hill like everything there near the sea. You would get your daily quota of exercise just walking to and from the beach!

 

Our dinner was spent with two delightful ladies from Adelaide. These two ladies traveled 36 hours, including time between flights, to join the ship on its first leg of the back to back in Barcelona. I would rather stick hot pins in my eyes! My hat is off to them.

 

The dinner was delicious. I had the smoked fish sampler followed by veal tenderloin. Very moist and perfectly prepared. DD had a chorizo pastry followed by spicy vegetarian chow mein. She is struggling with the lack of spice in the food. We have jars and canisters of various peppers, chilli oils and the like at home which she uses liberally. I've urged her to ask for chilli oil or sambal oelek for the table but she feels like she is imposing. I may have to take charge. One of our dinner companions had the beef bourgignon and pronounced it delicious. But the chicken dish of our other companion was too dry.

 

There was a fabulous sunset which we enjoyed very much from our deck as we read quietly. DD wants to have a reading day tomorrow to rest her skin...

 

 

 

 

 

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[tcmagnum]

I am enjoying your recap very much.

 

My sister and cousin and dear friend and myself will be on Holland cruise June 2017 in the Med. Your recap is giving us a lot of info.

 

Thank you!

[chefestelle]

Oh how wonderful TcMagnum! You will love it. I'm sure Turkey will be back on the agenda by then!

 

July 24 - Rhodes was our next replacement port. We had resolved to rest our skin and to have a reading day. It was already quite hot by the time we got up around 7:30. The sun was directly on our deck for the first time this trip. Looking out, we could tell there was not much to access easily from walking off the ship. The fortress walls are in good shape and are interesting to look at. We did this from deck 10 after breakfast.

 

Breakfast was the best to date because we had it in the MDR. The food was hot, made to order and came relatively quickly. Definitely the way to go if you are not on a schedule!

 

DD decided to try out the ship gym. she says it's fine. I packed a bit, booked her a manicure for sea day and then retired to a shaded lounge chair on the lido to write my updates and drink English breakfast tea in the sultry breeze. The whole day was spent reading, dozing, dining (breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner) and resting some more. We could see as we sailed away from Rhodes that there are many coastal communities along the shore that look like they have hotels to offer those staying longer. They would be fabulous places to launch daily jaunts or trips to the beach. I can't say that Rhodes is on our return list because we didn't explore any of it. But it sure isn't on our no way list. Perhaps it would be part of that Greek saunter I foresee.

 

We had a fabulous dinner at the Tamarind again. We have our last night there tomorrow night. It's our favourite spot on board. DD had the spring rolls and udon stir fry. I had the short ribs and lamb. It was superb. For dessert, we both ordered the chocolate fortune cookie. Omigosh! It is HUGE, sweet and impossible...

 

Back to the deck to enjoy some green tea and watch the seabirds, the sunset and the sea. Sadly, the family next door was having a bit of a family issue so we were driven inside. I'll go back out once it's had time to run its course.

 

 

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[VennDiagram]

Thank you again for taking the time to do this. Your thread is wonderful!

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading your great review, thank you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Catching up with this thread.

Wonderful reports.

[cat shepard]

Thank you for your "travelogue". I feel as if I am traveling with a friend. You are not just reporting on your trip. Sadly, no matter how I try to change up my writing style it resembles a report of facts. Ok, if one is answering questions, but not a a great way to capture memories.

 

Thank you again. Enjoy the rest of your trip.