Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[Host Sharon]

These Greek drivers must be better than Greek captains, because I have never heard of a bus disaster on either Santorini or Cephalonia.

 

Donald.

 

Well, as the guide said at the time - they are in the front seat so will suffer first!!

 

I was somewhat worried in Piraeus too, when Artemis berthed right next to Aquamarine - a Louis Line ship. Louis Line were last in the news for hitting another ship in Piraeus Harbour!

[sagavista]

Thank you for your wonderful review of your cruise on the Artemis. I sailed on her twice as the Royal Princess and found her to be the best of the Princess fleet. I am glad that she is still being given the royal treatment by P&O, the parent company of Princess. Come to think of it does Princess oversee P&O or is it the other way? They certainly have their hand in Cunard's operations. It too complex to untangle. Again, thanks for your review.

[Druke I]

The Princess/P&O relationship is more complicated now than before.

 

Yes, P&O was at one time the parent of Princess, but with the Carnival take-over of P&O/Princess, the parent became the step-sister. (Sounds incestuous!)

 

There is some cross-deck inter-operability between the three (P&O, Princess, & Cunard), particularly in staff officers.

 

The current Captain of QM2, Chris Rynd, was for years with the Princess side of the operation.

 

To satisfy the regulators, the stocks are listed both on the American Stock Exchange and the UK equivalent.

 

When you throw P&O (Aus) into the mix, it becomes even more convoluted. Then throw in Aida, the German off-shoot, and everyone is lost.

[Saga Ruby]

What a great travelogue! I so much enjoyed perusing your vivid impressions of the countries plus so much helpful information about the ports and Artemis.

 

The main direction for my Black Sea cruise next May was the ship, Prinsendam. Now I’m looking forward to Sevastopol and the general experience of sailing the Bosporus. Your point about sailing in that area in the daytime is well-taken. I looked up my itinerary and, sadly, will not see what you enjoyed in views of the Bosporus. I will be disembarking in Kusadasi and rejoin the ship when she lands in Istanbul, then we depart at 11:00pm the next day so your "daytime" reports were most appreciated.

 

A question: Your narrative talks about Yalta and Sevastopol. You said, " . . . then for some free time in the town - a very beautiful place of white limestone buildings, parks, fountains and waterfront." Was that the town of Sevastopol or Balaklava? If the latter, what were your impressions of the former? Is Sevastopol neat and clean and pretty, or still suffering from the Soviet occupation? Was the "secret submarine base" tour interesting or just another stop on the tour?

 

By the bye, thanks for taking the time to divide your report into nice, readable sections with titles. So many members start typing and don’t stop until their report is finished. So we wind up with one paragraph which is 3 pages long. Your fine report was quite informative and legible - quite a treat.

 

Ruby

[Druke I]

I don't remember if this has been mentioned or not - but for you Maxim Gorky fans - on http://www.maritimematters.com Peter Knego has a blog running on the ship, with photos.

 

I've only glanced at it, so not sure if it will cover what you might want - but Knego is usually very good at these things.

 

It is in the news section at maritimematters.

[franu]

Thank you Michael. On Sept. 29/08 I posted links to the photos on Maritime matters as well as Ship Parade. These are on the Orient boards. Please understand that I really appreciate information regarding Orient Lines, the ship or any other information.

 

I also know that others on this board are interested.

Fran

[MMDown Under]

Your review of a wonderful cruise was so enjoyable, you should be on commission!

[franu]

ships cat, Your wonderful review has whet my appetite for your incredible photos. I wait with bated breath to enjoy the fruits of your talent.

Fran

[Kapricorn]

ships cat, Your wonderful review has whet my appetite for your incredible photos. I wait with bated breath to enjoy the fruits of your talent.

Fran

 

Me, too! I love scenic photographs ... can't wait!

 

Donald.

[Host Sharon]

Ok - Black Sea photos Part 1. Southampton to Yalta.

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sharonp40/CruiseOnArtemisToTheBlackSea#

 

I haven't had time yet to sort the rest, but I will try over the next few days as I want to see them properly too!

[Druke I]

I think that might be a bad link.

 

It keeps telling me that it "can't be found".

[Host Sharon]

Oh dear. This one should work.

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sharonp40/BlackSeaCruiseOnArtemis#

[Kapricorn]

Ships Cat - these breathtakingly beautiful photographs would look great on postcards! Thanks for sharing these.

 

Donald.

[Druke I]

Much better.

 

Great photos - thanks.

[Host Sharon]

What a great travelogue! I so much enjoyed perusing your vivid impressions of the countries plus so much helpful information about the ports and Artemis.

 

The main direction for my Black Sea cruise next May was the ship, Prinsendam. Now I’m looking forward to Sevastopol and the general experience of sailing the Bosporus. Your point about sailing in that area in the daytime is well-taken. I looked up my itinerary and, sadly, will not see what you enjoyed in views of the Bosporus. I will be disembarking in Kusadasi and rejoin the ship when she lands in Istanbul, then we depart at 11:00pm the next day so your "daytime" reports were most appreciated.

 

A question: Your narrative talks about Yalta and Sevastopol. You said, " . . . then for some free time in the town - a very beautiful place of white limestone buildings, parks, fountains and waterfront." Was that the town of Sevastopol or Balaklava? If the latter, what were your impressions of the former? Is Sevastopol neat and clean and pretty, or still suffering from the Soviet occupation? Was the "secret submarine base" tour interesting or just another stop on the tour?

 

By the bye, thanks for taking the time to divide your report into nice, readable sections with titles. So many members start typing and don’t stop until their report is finished. So we wind up with one paragraph which is 3 pages long. Your fine report was quite informative and legible - quite a treat.

 

Ruby

 

Hi Ruby. I am very sorry you will miss seeing the Bosphorus as, although it is not long, it is interesting, with castles dotted among the towns and villages and is very much like river cruising. Sevastopol was exceptionally clean and pretty with no sign at all of the Russian occupation. It is still a naval base so there were lots of conscripted naval cadets around. Balaklava on the other hand is much smaller than I imagined and is definately suffering the effects of the occupation. The submarine base however, I found really interesting, even though it was only built in the 1950s at the height of the cold war. Glad you found the report easy to read. I was trying to do just the one report for this site and another UK cruise site so it was a bit difficult making it meaningful for those who knew P&O and the ship, and others who were not familiar with it.

[Saga Ruby]

From back in the day, in the 50s, I have a vague memory of stepping over our cabin threshold, perhaps on Empress of Britain or Yarmouth Castle. Does anyone remember thresholds? When did they drop out of use? I assume our cabins had raised thresholds to keep out water?

 

And I remember in 1981 the ship (RVL) was having a fire drill for crew only. I was on my way down the corridor, saw a crew member standing there, and he informed me that the fire (watertight?) doors were closing and, sure enough, a big solid door was coming out of the wall. I could either step in time and proceed briskly to get out of the corridor or return to my cabin. Big mistake - I picked "cabin." In those days, I didn't realize that I would be a prisoner in a cabin whose corridor's solid doors were closed. It lasted about 15 mins. and I was super-bored. Lesson learned.

 

Do the apartment barges practice closing the watertight doors? I haven't seen that done in dogs'-body years. I still find it amusing to sail on a modern ship (Nautica) where the bathroom is raised off the floor and yet, on the Saga Sisters, we walk straight in thru the door. Modular construction and all that.

 

And why do we call them "cabins" nowadays? I was taught to say "stateroom."

 

Ruby

[franu]

And why do we call them "cabins" nowadays? I was taught to say "stateroom."

 

I looked up the definition of a stateroom and found the following

 

A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed to impress. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in the house and contained the finest works of art. State rooms are usually only found in the houses of the upper echelons of the aristocracy, those who were likely to entertain a head of state.

 

Perhaps the difference between the staterooms and the basic cabin that I sail in is the difference between a luxurious room and a cabinet.

Fran

[Host Sharon]

From back in the day, in the 50s, I have a vague memory of stepping over our cabin threshold, perhaps on Empress of Britain or Yarmouth Castle. Does anyone remember thresholds? When did they drop out of use? I assume our cabins had raised thresholds to keep out water?

 

And I remember in 1981 the ship (RVL) was having a fire drill for crew only. I was on my way down the corridor, saw a crew member standing there, and he informed me that the fire (watertight?) doors were closing and, sure enough, a big solid door was coming out of the wall. I could either step in time and proceed briskly to get out of the corridor or return to my cabin. Big mistake - I picked "cabin." In those days, I didn't realize that I would be a prisoner in a cabin whose corridor's solid doors were closed. It lasted about 15 mins. and I was super-bored. Lesson learned.

 

Do the apartment barges practice closing the watertight doors? I haven't seen that done in dogs'-body years. I still find it amusing to sail on a modern ship (Nautica) where the bathroom is raised off the floor and yet, on the Saga Sisters, we walk straight in thru the door. Modular construction and all that.

 

And why do we call them "cabins" nowadays? I was taught to say "stateroom."

 

Ruby

 

On QE2 last May, the watertight doors were shut on five deck, which was where my cabin was. Fortunately I was on deck at the time of the announcement and I think it only lasted about 5 minutes. It was a remote closure from the bridge to test the mechanisms. They also did it on Artemis last month, but it only applied to the crew deck that time.

 

BTW I am happy with either stateroom or cabin. What I loathe is "room"!

[Druke I]

I've been on several Princess ships, and HAL's also, where the fire doors have been closed, as part of a crew's fire drill.

 

The drills were announced ahead of time, so you could get where you were going, and not panic when you heard the alarm bells.

 

I have always thought of the term stateroom being interchangeable with cabin.

 

Perhaps an urban legend, but I have been told (and have read it also) that the term stateroom started on American paddle boats, with the rooms having various state names on them, much like suites on some ships (Princess and P&O come to mind) have names in addition to numbers.

[Kapricorn]

Rummaging through my closet, I discovered a pile of matchbooks which I used to collect during the 1970s and 1980s. These included one from Victoria in 1972 and another from Song of Norway in 1982. I would think that these may be rare items nowadays. Unfortunately years ago I had used half of the matches in the Incres Line matchbook to light coffee table candles, but the Royal Caribbean one is pristine.

 

Donald.

[Druke I]

You don't see matches much anymore on ships, what with the cutback in smoking areas.

 

I have some from P&O (UK), not paper, but wood. The old P&O was a class act!

 

Back then, P&O was mainly doing line voyages, down to the Antipodes and back to the UK.

[Host Sharon]

No you don't see matches any more do you? I have a few matchbooks in my liner collection - Adriatica, Canberra, NAL and some Union Castle ones - some pristine, some part used. It hadn't registered that they don't provide them any more.

[Kapricorn]

I'm now booked on Galaxy's mid-January 10-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, joining my friend Lois with whom I had a great time on the same ship and cruise last March. This time I'm flying non-stop between Seattle and Miami, so hopefully there'll be less chances of flight disruptions due to weather (unless there is a snowstorm in Seattle!). There's a short hop between Miami and San Juan, where the cruise will originate.

 

My travel agent told me that there are sales galore on many cruises because during the current economic meltdown the cruise lines are scrambling to fill up the cabins.

 

Donald.

[Saga Ruby]

Ross (CGTNORMANDIE) and I were talking about the current financial crises and he mentioned that his annual Jewel of the Seas cruise which comes up around this Halloween may be a bit subdued. I thought that was well-put.

 

No doubt there will be "bargains galore" in the travel industry in 2009 and probably in 2010. For those who can afford it, now is the time to go cruising.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

I'll be on Vision of the Seas during Hallowe'en, so I'll let you know afterwards what the atmosphere was like. I would think that people who still went on the cruise are able to afford doing so. Maybe for costumes some of the passengers will dress up as Wall Street brokers or bankers with their pockets hanging out empty?

 

The Canadian dollar has plummeted, so vacations will become expensive for me, but so far I have no plans to make any cancellations.

 

Donald.