Evening show at Ephesus

[machotspur]

I've very much been enjoying Fletcher's reports of his Sprit Aegean cruise (thank you 👋) and note that the latest post was from Kusadasi for Ephesus. To avoid disrupting such an excellent thread I've begun a separate post on something related to this port of call. 

 

Only today my wife and I have been selecting the Shore Ex's for a similar forthcoming cruise on Muse and are considering booking the evening show at Ephesus. Also - we visited Ephesus probably 15 years ago or so - has much changed since then ?  

 

We'd welcome any insight on this that previous SS cruisers may have (lincslady .. I note you have been to the evening show several times 😉).

 

Thanks very much in anticipation. In the meantime Fletcher - you are an awesome poster - please keep it coming 👍.  

[Balian65]

Today the concert event in Ephesus was cancelled due to three days of national mourning celebrations because of the situation in Gaza. Sorry no reports about that event on this cruise.

[mancunian]

We did the concert in around 2000 on a Marco Polo reunion cruise.  It was a great experience with only our smallish ship passengers there.  Walking from the coach to the  theatre felt slightly eerie but once there we were greeted by men in national costume giving us programmes and later refreshments.  The orchestra was not Royal Philarmonic standard but very enjoyable and sitting in theamphitheatre was a really special experience.  

[mchell810]

I did the evening concert earlier this year.  We had the site to ourselves.  As the sun went down the lights came up and it was just beautiful.  The performance was at the library -- see the photo below.  I would definitely do this again if I had the opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by mchell810

[lincslady]

To avoid confusion - from the smaller ships the concert (essentially a string quartet of talented professional musicians, playing light classical pieces) perform in the library of Celsus, the beautiful small site pictured above.  This is really enchanting.  I believe that it is when groups are larger that the concerts take place in the theatre (?amphitheatre), still lovely but not quite the same effect.  As it happens, I have been to 2 in the library, with Seadream and Seabourn, and one in the amphitheatre, actually on a  larger Silversea ship, some years ago.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, lincslady said:

To avoid confusion - from the smaller ships the concert (essentially a string quartet of talented professional musicians, playing light classical pieces) perform in the library of Celsus, the beautiful small site pictured above.  This is really enchanting.  I believe that it is when groups are larger that the concerts take place in the theatre (?amphitheatre), still lovely but not quite the same effect.  As it happens, I have been to 2 in the library, with Seadream and Seabourn, and one in the amphitheatre, actually on a  larger Silversea ship, some years ago.  

A third scenario:  I was just reading about a Windstar cruise (312 passenger ship) that had a full dinner, serenaded by the chamber group, with Ephesus completely to themselves.  See attached post and the following one:

 

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

A third scenario:  I was just reading about a Windstar cruise (312 passenger ship) that had a full dinner, serenaded by the chamber group, with Ephesus completely to themselves.  See attached post and the following one:

 

 

We were told Windstar is the only company allowed to do the full dinner with concert. The Aegean Chamber Orchestra was magnificent. The food wonderfully prepared and presented. The wine was lovely and flowed freely - at no charge.  It was a complementary 4 hour event and the entire ship went (I heard there were fewer than 10 passengers who could not make it). I’ve run large 3 day conventions for 700-800 people. This event had to cost quite a pretty penny and the logistics were carried out at the highest level. We were very impressed and had no idea that this was going to be included in our cruise fare.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We were told Windstar is the only company allowed to do the full dinner with concert. The Aegean Chamber Orchestra was magnificent. The food wonderfully prepared and presented. The wine was lovely and flowed freely - at no charge.  It was a complementary 4 hour event and the entire ship went (I heard there were fewer than 10 passengers who could not make it). I’ve run large 3 day conventions for 700-800 people. This event had to cost quite a pretty penny and the logistics were carried out at the highest level. We were very impressed and had no idea that this was going to be included in our cruise fare.  

Yes I was quite impressed by your report.  We were scheduled to do something like the Silversea event on a Crystal cruise back in 2014, but it was rained out.  Windstar isn't usually mentioned on the list of 'luxury' cruise lines, but events like this make it really stand out.

[machotspur]

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

To avoid confusion - from the smaller ships the concert (essentially a string quartet of talented professional musicians, playing light classical pieces) perform in the library of Celsus, the beautiful small site pictured above.  This is really enchanting.  I believe that it is when groups are larger that the concerts take place in the theatre (?amphitheatre), still lovely but not quite the same effect.  As it happens, I have been to 2 in the library, with Seadream and Seabourn, and one in the amphitheatre, actually on a  larger Silversea ship, some years ago.  

 

Thank you everyone for the useful insight.

lincslady makes a very good point - one that i'm now wishing for Silversea to clarify.

 

The situation I have is as follows :-

- We are on Silver Muse and the Ephesus evening concert is now a 'pay extra' event - at $299 per person.

- The details contained within the Silversea booking system state clearly that the event will take place at the Library of Celsus - the famous iconic spot within Ephesus.

- HOWEVER - the photographs included on the Silversea system all show a larger location running down to the Theatre - Harbour Street I believe, shown below. (I think this may be the location that is showing in the report by HaveDogWillTravel ?).

 

As this will be a 'pay extra' event I suspect that the number of guests taking it up will be <100%  - maybe 200-300 ? Plus there is no catering provided other than drinks. In this case the Library is likely to be the location, as opposed to the larger Harbour Street/Theatre. 

 

Any further comments would be welcome please. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by machotspur

[machotspur]

I’ve just had a look on the ‘other place’ and all posts from Silversea guests indicate that the evening concerts they attended always took place in front of the Celsus Library.

(This was the case on ships similar in size to Silver Muse).

 

[lincslady]

I had read a while ago that there was a third site, which that photo suggests, actually on a street.  I would not feel like paying extra if that is the case, so if you can find out it would help.  I would go if it was included!  It has always been said that it depended on numbers attending, but who knows.

[sail1658]

We did this Ephesus evening concert excursion on a Seabourn Sojourn cruise in 2013 which was included free of charge then. It was held in the street location in front of the amphitheatre and the Aegean Chamber Orchestra gave an excellent classical concert. It was a magical experience on a beautiful evening as the sun was setting..We had an early dinner on the ship and then had wine and light refreshments served at the concert.

 

I posted a video on Youtube of the call at Kusadasi. and the Ephesus concert begins at 8.50, as the first 8 minutes is Kusadasi and Seabourn Sojourn lunch.

 

** - Sorry but the link starts near the end of the tour as we return to the ship, but the concert is from 8.50 to 21.50

 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by sail1658

[machotspur]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

I had read a while ago that there was a third site, which that photo suggests, actually on a street.  I would not feel like paying extra if that is the case, so if you can find out it would help.  I would go if it was included!  It has always been said that it depended on numbers attending, but who knows.

 

The plot thickens !

Having examined two separate areas of the Silversea excursion booking system within My Silversea both locations are stated - Celsus Library & Harbour Street !!

 

I await a response from Silversea but to be honest rarely do I have confidence in their responses to queries such as this.   

 

[lincslady]

I would guess that the only venue suitable for serving a meal would be the 'street', and if it did include dinner might be worth paying for.  That  is what is in the Windstar photos.  The other two venues do serve wine - and come back to pour again - and nibbles.  At the theatre you sit on the regular steps, and the library is pretty small but with tables for four, as I recall, and stray cats wandering round looking for bits!  Nice, unless you hate cats.

[mchell810]

16 hours ago, lincslady said:

To avoid confusion - from the smaller ships the concert (essentially a string quartet of talented professional musicians, playing light classical pieces) perform in the library of Celsus, the beautiful small site pictured above.  This is really enchanting.  I believe that it is when groups are larger that the concerts take place in the theatre (?amphitheatre), still lovely but not quite the same effect.  As it happens, I have been to 2 in the library, with Seadream and Seabourn, and one in the amphitheatre, actually on a  larger Silversea ship, some years ago.  

 

My evening was just as you describe and I was on the Spirit in April.  The ship was nearly full but only about 100 passengers attended the concert.  I had assumed it would be at the larger theater site so was happy to be at the library instead.

 

[mchell810]

12 hours ago, machotspur said:

 

Thank you everyone for the useful insight.

lincslady makes a very good point - one that i'm now wishing for Silversea to clarify.

 

The situation I have is as follows :-

- We are on Silver Muse and the Ephesus evening concert is now a 'pay extra' event - at $299 per person.

- The details contained within the Silversea booking system state clearly that the event will take place at the Library of Celsus - the famous iconic spot within Ephesus.

- HOWEVER - the photographs included on the Silversea system all show a larger location running down to the Theatre - Harbour Street I believe, shown below. (I think this may be the location that is showing in the report by HaveDogWillTravel ?).

 

As this will be a 'pay extra' event I suspect that the number of guests taking it up will be <100%  - maybe 200-300 ? Plus there is no catering provided other than drinks. In this case the Library is likely to be the location, as opposed to the larger Harbour Street/Theatre. 

 

Any further comments would be welcome please. 

 

 

 

 

 

I just posted above I was on the Spirit and we did have our event at the library.  The ship was nearly full but only about 100 passengers attended the concert. I paid $229. We didn't have a dinner but there were nibbles provided -- olives, chips and something else I cannot recall (and of course wine!). 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by mchell810

[machotspur]

51 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

 

I just posted above I was on the Spirit and we did have our event at the library.  The ship was nearly full but only about 100 passengers attended the concert. I paid $229. We didn't have a dinner but there were nibbles provided -- olives, chips and something else I cannot recall (and of course wine!). 

 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience mchell810 - and of course lincslady.

 

I am thinking that the actual location is not finalised until the number of guests attending is confirmed.

Your info that there was around 100 from the Spirit - not that different in size from Muse class - is at the number that would probably be accommodated at the Library. Maybe 200 or so the group gets shifted to Harbour Road (doesn't sound too exotic does it !).  

 

We will check the situation out on embarkation. Kusadasi is on Day 6. If it is confirmed that the performance is at Celsus Library we will stick with the booking, otherwise cancel.

 

In the meantime we are heading for Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica next week on Silver Endeavour. Couldn't be more different from Kusadasi - unless of course Silversea have arranged for the clever penguins to do a classical performance for us on Elephant Island😉😂       

Edited October 20, 2023 by machotspur

[mchell810]

I think you are correct; it makes sense to finalize the location based on numbers as 200 would not fit directly in front of the library.  I hope you get lucky with that. 

 

Enjoy your cruise on Endeavour.