Review of Mediterranean Cruise and Tour -- Celebrity Galaxy (July, 2006)

[LrdNorman]

I've done a faceplant before as well, however, what made this one remarkable is that this elderly lady (must have been about 75-80) got right back up, looked around and said, "What happened? What are these lights for?"

 

It was all I could do to keep from laughing...

[kiwisdocruise]

Thanks again LrdNorman. You hav e a real gift for writing. I just can't wait for the next installment.

[cruisersnorkler]

We are waiting for the next chapter. We are doing this cruise in July. We can still back out. It is so expensive but we are just going to make it. We have been debating if it will be worth it or should we put the money toward det and house repairs. Our son, 15 really wants to go and is very interested in roman history, the Vatican, and the museums. I think we will go because you only live once and all that is left is the memories.

[LrdNorman]

You definitely should go.

 

It is a once in a lifetime trip.

 

Be aware, though, that Italy is expensive. The dollar is weak against the Euro and food is more expensive than expected.

 

I wish you luck on your decision...

[cruisersnorkler]

thanks for your reply. We have been saving for the trip for quite a while. Then--about a month ago, the care facility where I work announced they would close. 60 some people are unexpectently out of a job. My last day to work was 4/26/07. I said we would not go on the trip, unless I found another job. Tomorrow, I start my new job in another facility and they ok'd the time off. Everyone says we should go because our family vacations are almost over. Our son is the youngest of three. my daughter has her own family now and my middle son will begin student teaching in the fall. He is married and they have a new baby. There are a few things I want to buy in Italy. I really want a beautiful cameo and an inexpensive jewlery item from Florence and something glass from venice. My son will want a few t-shirts and momentos.We obtained drivers for Rome, Florence, and Naples. I fiqured we will eat on the ship except for ice cream. The cost of the drivers are killing me--but since this is a once in a life time trip--we want to see as much as possible. My son wants to go so much as he has intensively studied Roman history. Since, only a very few of us have a job, I feel God has a hand in this. After everything that has happened, I hope this will truely be the trip of a life time.My husband wants to go--for me I think. thats why i hope it is worth it.

[SheilaNC]

Agree...most definitely it's a trip of a lifetime AND especially given your son's excitement. You will all love it and take home a lifetime of memories. What drivers are you using? We found that ours were wonderful and made a big difference in how we spent the tiring hours exploring. You will be exhausted and exhilirated at the same time. Do post your experiences when you return. I'd be happy to answer questions offline...just email.

[cruisersnorkler]

if by chance we eat in Venice, what was the name of the place where you ate next to the canel watching the gondelas?

[travelingmcmahans]

Thanks for the lastest installment. Too bad the 7 wonders installment wasn't good - I'd hoped to learn some history on the ship about the places we're visiting.

Looking forward to more!

[krennen]

Waiting for the next installment! WE won't go away until you give us the complete story.

[Monterey Girl]

Hi again,

I just returned from a seven day West Coast Wine cruise from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC, on Celebrity's Mercury.It was tons O'fun and I recommend this cruise to everyone ! I think they only offer it a couple times a year since they are repositioning the ship from Mexico ports up to Vancouver/Seattle for Alaska for the summer. BTW, if I am allowed to say so, I used an on line cruise agency called CRUCON that beat all other prices AND had the best customer service I have ever experienced. I intend to use them again and I hope they get tons of business. They worked very hard to earn my business and I appreciate it.

 

I had to break down and do a search by your poster name since I was gone so long to find you this time. I am SO glad to see YOU are back as well. :D We are taking a Med. cruise in October and I am so enjoying hearing about all your experiences and learning a few tips a long the way.

 

Looking forward to the next installment! MG

[dbarlag2]

We need more, more, more...

[LrdNorman]

...you got it.

 

Chapter Ten

We were to arrive in Mykonos around noon, so Ashley and I weren’t in any rush to wake up. However, Ashley really wanted to go and hear the lecture on “The Greek Island Empire,” so I headed down around eight to have breakfast while she stayed in the room and got ready.

As I went through the line, I discovered a new section of the ship’s breakfast area, the back (“aft” if you are acquainted with ships, or are a pirate). I had seen others walk in from the back with waffles and pancakes, but never put the idea in my head that I, too, could get food from back there. Food truly was everywhere! Unfortunately, I already had a plateful of sausage, an everything omelet, potatoes, fruit and two glasses of lowfat milk. There’s always tomorrow – gluttony lives in the penthouse of a cruise ship.

I sat down facing the ocean (I always tried to get a window seat), and couldn’t help but overhear an older man who was with his wife abusing the staff. His voice easily carried over the other couples who were talking to themselves.

I’m sure he didn’t try to be rude – he was just naturally born rude. I can tell when one is trying to be rude versus just naturally obnoxious. After all, I am a public school teacher.

He didn’t look around as he spoke, try to conceal his inconsiderate behavior in any way, or even appear to be concerned with what he was saying. Instead, he seemed at home bossing people around, bullying others into succumbing to his whims and demands. Moreover, he didn’t even follow through. I hate it when people think they are better than everyone else.

I for one, have always been taught to be grateful for others helping you. My parents always insisted that I say thank you and acknowledge people who go out of their way to help. It’s just being considerate. So, as I sat down to tackle my very large breakfast (and thank the gentleman who insisted on carrying my tray while I carried my milk), I overheard the Beast next to me say to the same gentleman who put down my tray, “Excuse me. Yes, you. You can take away our plates now. We are finished. But, we are still here. I’m just going to go get more coffee,” and marched off leaving the poor staff member in the dust. His wife, who evidently was used to his belligerent behavior, did not say a word and followed the Beast over toward the beverage station.

I sat dumbfounded that anyone would be treated this way. It doesn’t matter who they are, everyone should be treated equally.

The poor staff member hung his head and began to dutifully clean off the table. I felt sorry for him. While it was his job, he didn’t need to be spoken to in that tone of voice. He carried away the dishes and came back to wipe off the table.

I purposefully sat at the table and waited for the Beast to come back so I could give him a piece of my mind. I was furious! I truly felt sorry for the poor staff member. As he carried the stuff away, I wanted to stick up for his rights because I knew he couldn’t.

I waited and waited, not even eating because I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the Beast’s return. He never showed! I sat for a good fifteen minutes, pretending to look over the list of activities provided by Celebrity the night before, but the bastard never showed up. Just as well for his sake because I was ready to start on him. Sadly, I never saw him again throughout the cruise, but I definitely looked for him.

I ate half of my breakfast (sorry, Mom – I know I’m not supposed to waste food), got an omelet and potatoes for Ashley and we walked down to the lecture. There appeared to be less people than the last lecture (no doubt because the Activities staff was hosting a game of “Horse” on the basketball court upstairs) so Ashley and I chose a seat on the aisle.

We sat back and listened to the lecturer (not speaker, but a true lecturer) and immediately I knew it wasn’t going to be any better than the last lecture. I felt like I was back in school, but at least it gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep.

I couldn’t take any more so I left Ashley and sat in a lounge chair on the starboard side (right side of a ship for all you landlubbers) to see the some of the Greek Isle coasts approaching and write in my journal. The isles were cool to see – there were miles of them and each one had white buildings with blue roofs on them. Actually, we were too far away to see them, but I noted that since Mykonos and Santorini both had white buildings with blue roofs on them, naturally all of the Greek Isles must have the same thing. I have no idea if they did, but they must since these two did.

Before the trip, we decided to do Mykonos on our own as opposed to taking an excursion to Delos. It was a way for us to save money and besides, we like to travel and discover things on our own when we can.

The history of Mykonos is actually very fascinating. I wish I had paid more attention during middle school Language Arts when the teacher talked about Greek Mythology. I still don’t know the difference between the Greek and Roman gods. I know Hercules, Zeus, Athena, and that’s about it. Oh, and Poseidon.

Allegedly,

Ashley came outside to where I was and so we headed back up to the room to get ready and grab my backpack. Since we docked right in Mykonos, we didn’t need to get a tender and instead could get right on the bus.

“Hey, Kevin! Look at the buildings! They look like sugar cubes!” Ashley exclaimed as we pulled into port. She was right. The buildings look just like sugar cubes, square and white. I wondered how the residents found their home. Every single one of them looked exactly alike.

One of the things Ashley really wanted to do was to go to the beach. I have no idea why since we live very close to a beach and she has never once wanted to go there during the day. Personally, I never have liked the beach. I’ve always been a pool man. O me, sand is an invasive creature that manages to congregate in places I don’t want it to go, namely the crotch area of my bathing suit. Didn’t mean to get personal, but I’m sure there are other men out there who would agree with me.

The only thing I wanted to do in Mykonos was to have a real Greek meal. Sure, we could have gone back to the ship and had lunch to save money, but when in Greece, why not have spanakopita, baklava and a real Greek salad?

The bus ride was packed, but efficient. Celebrity does a fantastic job of making sure that there isn’t any crowding on transportation into the ports. As we rode into Mykonos, people were walking on the road up and down the hill as there were no sidewalks. One lady, who was doing the right thing and walking against the traffic, wasn’t paying attention and wandered out into the middle of our lane! Everyone on the bus gasped at the same time – literally – and the bus driver actually said, “Get out of the way, lady! Hold on!”

I knew we were going to nail her and it was not going to be a pretty way to enter Greece. We were so close that I saw her life flash before my eyes. Her friend, who was a half step behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her back just before we barreled through, narrowly missing her by inches. The rest of the people behind her (I’m assuming they all traveled together) all put their hands over their mouths and jumped out of the way as far over as they could go.

She was only about ten feet away from being a speed bump.

I looked through the window behind us to see if the lady was okay and she looked like she was ready to puke right there in the road she was so scared. At least she was okay.

We got off the bus and immediately headed for the windmills as they were one of the suggestions of places to go to in our itinerary. When in Mykonos, you need to see the windmills, “Little Venice,” Petros the Pelican (the mascot), and Paraportiani. We headed off to check all of these things off of our list.

We walked along the coast and Ashley took several pictures of boats and white buildings with blue roofs. When we got back, I couldn’t tell you the difference between any of them. We wandered around, looking for someone to take our picture together. No such luck.

Mykonos is an island full of narrow alleyways. The buildings were built so close together so that the narrow alleys would confuse pirates. The general idea was to have narrow paths which the citizens could easily escape pirates who would often land on the island in order to plunder the booty (I’ve always wanted to say that).

The alleyways must have worked because Ashley and I accidentally ended up at the Hermes Art Gallery several times.

Since we landed at lunchtime, we were both starving and headed to find a real Greek meal. The place we happened upon was on the verge of being packed. We looked at the menu and saw lots of typical Greek food names on the outside menu, so we sat down. Since I had been dying to try a real Greek salad, I ordered that and a small moussaka, which is like Greek lasagna. Ashley had the dolmades (stuffed grape leaves with rice) and some of the moussaka.

Absolutely delicious! We knew it catered to tourists, especially cruise ship ones, but we didn’t care. We were tourists and by now, used to being catered to. We finished the meal with baklava (a perfect ending) and then headed off toward the windmills again.

I thought about trying some uzo, but for someone who rarely has a drink, I knew it would knock me out. I wanted to make it back to the cruise ship without having to post bail in a Greek prison.

The hike to the windmills was a long one up a steep hill, compounded by a full stomach we had to carry around. Ashley took pictures of anything and everything and we eventually made it.

Far away they were large – close up too. It looked exactly like Man of La Mancha and Don Quixote. The area around the windmills was very rocky and they were on the cliffs, but the background was beautiful with the sea and crystal blue water.

We continued on and Ashley wanted to find Paradise Beach. We backtracked past Little Venice (not impressive) and found a small beach that looked like the only beach on the island. We have no idea if it was Paradise Beach or not, but it’s certainly not the Caribbean.

The “beach” was about twelve feet in width and maybe eighty feet long. It would barely hold the cast of Real World, Mykonos. It had a natural small pier made out of rocks not a grain of sand in sight. The entire beach was covered in small rocks and I think all of them had pointed edges on them.

We ventured over as far as our feet would let us (I brought my nastiest shoes from home with the sole purpose of leaving them in Europe), walked past the old, weathered, hairiest man on the planet (he looked like a lumpy bear-skinned rug on the beach) and put down our very thin cruise towels on the rocks. I felt like one of those guys from India who lies on a bed of nails. The only thing I needed now was a bad of coals to walk over and I would be initiated into the “My Feet are Going to Sue Me for Malpractice” club. I’d hate to see what the dues are.

We took our shirts and shorts off (this ain’t Cancun on Spring Break so don’t get too excited) and proceeded to go into the water. It might as well have been a sea of Hydrogen Peroxide.

Unexpectedly, the water was bitter cold and it shot pains through my enflamed feet. Since we were near the equator in my mind (I am bad at geography), I fully expected the water to be a like a Jacuzzi. This wasn’t the case. Like Greenland and Iceland, Paradise Beach was grossly mis-named.

I don’t know if The Rug next to us was a tourist, but he was very tan and did not seem to be bothered by our yelping, “Holy crap! This water’s cold!” shouts. I notice he was not wet and stayed as far away from the water as was humanly possible.

One of the coolest things about the beach (besides the icebergs floating by) was the sea-glass we found. Before that day, I never knew such a phenomenon existed, but Ashley explained that the glass only washes onshore in a few places in the world. It is smoothed by years of Mother Nature’s waves polishing it. E found green and clear glass, enough to have Ashley collect and call the day a success. Who knows, I might have been walking on glass the whole time, except they were shaped like rocks.

We laid out for about two hours and the warm Mediterranean sun beat down on us enough to make us lobsters. Being from Florida, we usually know enough to get out of the sun and we didn’t get sun burnt, but after seeing the pictures from that night, you could definitely tell we were a catnap away from looking like toast.

After having our fill of Paradise Beach, we gathered up our belongings (The Rug left an hour ago), stuffed everything into the backpack, and meandered off to head back to the ship. First, we needed to find a Post Office.

Ashley needed to get some postcards for the scrapbook (and see what she missed) while we both wanted to send our parents a postcard. And Ashley as well.

One of the things I like to do is to send Ashley a postcard to her work for three reasons: 1) to let her know that I love her; 2) so when she goes back to work, she has a visual reminder of our trip together; 3) to give her co-workers something to do. I know they must read her mail and so I usually write something that may raise their eyebrows and make their imagination race.

We found postcards we like (I send Ashley’s secretly so she doesn’t know if she will have one when she gets back), filled them out, and I walked up to the counter to pay for the cards.

“I need to send these to the US please,” I say to the young girl behind the counter. “Can you tell me where the post office is so I can purchase some stamps?”

“Post office is closed – we sell stamps here,” she said in a very loud, gruff voice, no doubt damaged by years of smoking three packs a day even though she looks all of sixteen. Maybe she was a member of the Godfather’s Mafia back in Capri. “How many do you need?”

“I need to send these six.” I said the word six in a hushed tone so that Ashley wouldn’t hear that I was sending her two postcards.

“Six?” the sales clerk asked loudly. Quickly hushed her and looked over in Ashley’s direction, but luckily she had already moved and was taking pictures of something. Probably a Greek anthill.

“Yes, six,” I continued in a hushed tone which surprised her. She was obviously expecting me to be a loud and obnoxious American tourist like we had seen all day.

“That will be twelve and a half Euros,” she said either matching my quiet volume or mocking me, I wasn’t sure which. It was my turn to raise my voice.

“Twelve and a half Euros?!” I said loudly and then looked again in Ashley’s direction. The lady behind the counter must have thought I was a nutcase because I was always checking over my shoulder as if I was paranoid.

“Listen,” I continued in a softer voice, “I don’t want them to fly first class on the Concorde. I just want them to get to the US.”

“If you want them to get to the US, you must pay me twelve and a half Euros.” I felt like a school kid handing over his lunch money to the bully. She handed me the stamps (for that money, I expected the King of Mykonos or someone of royalty to lick them for me) and I headed out to find the post office. She didn’t even mail them for me!

We saw the box for outgoing mail outside of the post office. As we headed back to the port and bus stop, we saw a horde of people with cameras flashing, hurrying around a corner and then disappear.

“Kevin, did you see that? I bet it’s someone famous,” and then Ashley shot toward the crowd.

“Who could it be?” I asked while trying to catch up to her. She’s fast when she’s curious.

”I don’t know. Maybe Tom Cruise, or Nicole Kidman!”

“I doubt they would be here together,” I muttered. I fell back further behind Ashley.

To the right, we heard voices saying, “There he is!” and “Over here!” We moved down a narrow alley to the right and saw no crowd or famous celebrity. All we saw was a man walking next to some pelican.

“Oh, Kevin! Look! Isn’t he cute?” Ashley said and began (what else?) to take a picture of the pelican who was grooming himself.

And then the crowd appeared out of nowhere.

When I saw “crowd,” it’s because I don’t know of any other word to describe the enormity of the amount of people. Mob, maybe? There were what looked like zillions of people all crowded around the pelican and snapping pictures like crazy.

The pelican had his own paparazzi, and he loved it.

While everyone was taking pictures (I can only assume Ashley was because she was lost in a sea of flashing cameras), the pelican was grooming himself, stopping for poses, and then grooming himself again. It was as if he knew that the people were there to see him and he was giving them a show. Like a good assistant or handler, the man who was previously walking with him had moved a few steps away to let people take pictures of him.

Like Sean Penn or Lindsay Lohan, the pelican would move in to attack people if they got too close. My wife and I watch a lot of movies but we could not place what movies this pelican had starred in.

After a few minutes of watching this bizarre scene, I sauntered over to the pelican’s assistant. “Excuse me,” I said to him. “Is this pelican famous?”

The assistant looked at me as if I should know who the pelican was. “Yes,” the assistant said. “This is Petros the Pelican. He’s Mykonos’ mascot.” The assistant then went back to yelling at people to not crowd Petros.

“Ohhhhhh,” I said, still not knowing what the assistant was talking about. He wasn’t even listed on Celebrity Today’s newsletter.

We had our fill of Petros and so we headed to the bus stop. The ride was efficient as usual and we didn’t have anyone jump in front of the bus this time.

We got back on the ship around 5:00 p.m. and proceeded to take a shower. Ashley wanted to go see The War of the Worlds at 6:00 and I trotted off to check out the Greek dinner buffet by the pool. The staff was in the process of setting up the party and so I got up close to the carvings and ice sculptures. There was only one ice sculpture and it was probably melted before an hour had passed. I sampled some of the foods, but didn’t have much as I wanted to make sure I saved room for dinner in the Orion.

Since I wanted to rest up for the show later that night and the Greek party after dinner, I went back to the room and relaxed to the soothing sounds of CNN.

Ashley came back around 8:00 and she quickly got changed into her casual outfit for dinner. We dined in sheer delight (I stayed away from anything heavy as I also wanted to sample the fine Greek delicacies later that night) and watched others around us. The Englishman next to us noticed that we were bright red, but he was sitting alone. The boys did not come with him and we inquired why.

“Well, they meet some friends on the ship and decided to eat with them,” he said in his thick accent.

“That’s good for them at least,” Ashley said. “Did they go with their friends into Mykonos?”

“No, they stayed on the ship,” he muttered. I felt sorry for him. His son wasn’t even eating with his father nor going off the ship and seeing the sights. If my parents paid for something this expensive and wonderful, whether they had the money or not, I sure would go and do every event and see every excursion that was humanly possible. Even if I’m not having a good time (which I cannot imagine not happening), I would at least make it seem like I was.

Hearing the Englishman speak about his son and how he wished his son would at least go and see some of the sights broke my heart. This was a very nice trip! Here, the Englishman wanted to just bond with his son and the son wasn’t even having dinner with his own dad. I was appalled at the boy’s manners. I thought the English were supposed to be proper. I really wanted to take the boy by the ear behind to the top deck and kick his ass.

“Will you adopt me?” I asked the Englishman to which he laughed.

“Yeah, me too,” Ashley chimed in. “Would you like to sit with us?”

“No,” the Englishman politely declined. “I’m not that hungry tonight anyway. I might go up and play a little poker.”

“So,” Ashley continued to change the subject, “Kevin and I went to England in 1997 and we got to see the Queen Mother during her birthday. They had a parade for her and everything. Have you ever met her?”

“No, but I’ve met the Queen. My company was having a dinner at Windsor Castle and the Queen was the host. Very charming lady. She gets quite a bad rap in England.”

“Really?” Ashley asked. “We’ve only heard about her and how she doesn’t like Princess Diana or Camilla Parker Bowles. I guess meeting the Queen is about as rare as meeting the President.”

The Englishman had a wily smile creep across his face. “Yes, but at least the English would like to meet our leader, which is more than I can say for yours.” He then let out a little laugh that wasn’t threatening at all.

We were both taken aback that someone from another country would recognize this. He was right! While meeting the President would be cool, I can’t say that it would be more fun than meeting the Queen.

We both laughed at his statement. Ashley and the Englishman became best of friends and talked politics for the rest of the dinner. The Englishman finished off his wine and headed up to the casino. Ashley and I both finished our meal talking about the Englishman and his son and then headed off upstairs to the cabin. Since she was tired, she headed off to bed while I went to enjoy “Greece Under the Stars.”

The ship set sail at 11:00 p.m. for Santorini. As we were sailing, it was fascinating to look out and see lights coming from the little blue houses. I drifted off to sleep under the stars to the sounds of the Caribbean band playing Greek music. It was a little chilly with the wind, but very soothing.

I got up and headed to bed because Santorini would be bright and early and I needed my strength to avoid the pirates that would fall asleep on the job and one of the passenger’s brush with stardom.

[krennen]

Good to have you back writing! I enjoyed the Mykonos review as it is one of the stops on our cruise next July. I guess you didn't make it to the church, Paraportiani? That is my list of places to see too. Was it too far away or did you run out of time. I had to laugh at the pelican story. Most everyone gets a picture of him--I hope to as well.

Keep your story coming as Santorini is next and that is on our itinerary as well.

[lambs2]

That installment was worth waiting for! Thanks so much for such a great narrative. Really brings your trip alive for the reader!

 

When is your Alaskan cruise?

[wegiekat]

This has to be possibly the best travel log that I have read on these boards. Thank you, I cannot wait for more.

 

Mindy

[Deloresgardella]

I enjoy reading your stories so much. We will be in Mykonos this Oct. It is the most interesting review that I have read. Looking foreward to the next installment.

Delores

[LrdNorman]

Yes, we did visit the church, but we didn't know we visited it until we got back home and looked it up on the internet.

 

It is very beautiful and quite different than we expected -- mainly because he didn't know what to expect.

[cruisersnorkler]

Thank you for another chapter. I really enjoyed it. This is what life is about.

[ItaliaBella]

Kevin,

I stumbled upon this thread this morning and had to read through it all! I loved hearing about your adventures through Europe especially Italy. Italy is my home away from home. I went on a Mediterranean cruise in July 2006 on the Millennium and loved every minute of it. My next cruise is to the Baltics on Century and if I can get the courage to do what you did and share my stories with everyone. Come to think of it, something ALWAYS happen when I'm traveling and I think I have enough stories to fill a book!

 

I do however wanted to ask if you ever went to Harry's Bar in Venice because they are famous for their Bellini's. They are so good there. Also, I'm surprised you didn't mention Limoncello because Capri and Sorrento are famous for the Limoncello. Did you try any when you were there? I bought a couple bottles last summer and wished I had shipped some home.

 

Look forward to reading more!

ItaliaBella

[LrdNorman]

Actually, no. We didn't have any limoncellos (too strong for me -- Ashley stuck to the lemon granitas).

 

We also didn't visit Harry's Bar. Everything I researched said it was a tourist haven and we tried to stay away from as much of that as possible. Plus, I never could find it. I figured if we had happened upon it, we'd have to go in, but we didn't. Maybe next time, though!

 

That's cool that we were in the Med the same time as you. Next year, we are hoping to do the Baltics. I'm saving my pennies now... :)

[Jfultz81]

Thank you for the wonderful review! Can't wait to read more!!

[LrdNorman]

Chapter Eleven

Santorini rhymes with martini. That has nothing to do with the trip, but it’s fun to pronounce. The first tender from the ship leaves about 8:00 a.m. and so we wanted to be on that first tender to get the best pictures. Less crowds, better shots.

Ashley went down with me to breakfast and was shocked at the amount of food there was to choose from. I should her all of the choices and her eyes were as big as saucers. As with all passengers who aren’t used to cruising, she had her plate full and spilling over the side.

We chose a small, intimate table (as intimate as it can be with 1800 other passengers) and saw the Galaxy approaching several islands. It was around 7:00 a.m. and there was quite a bit of bustle going on, although less people than normal. I guess the further into the cruise one gets, the less crowds there are in the breakfast area. We weren’t due to leave Santorini until 8:15 p.m., so people could get up later and enjoy their mornings. However, their pictures without crowds would be severely limited.

As Ashley always says, “The early bird gets all of the best pictures.”

We finished our breakfast and waddled back toward the room to get our stuff. Galaxy’s breakfasts are fantastic! Ashley thoroughly enjoyed herself. She and I, like most people, are visual eaters. If there is a bountiful amount of food, we will eat more than we should. If there is little to choose from, we will eat less. If the food looks good, we will choose that dish over something that doesn’t look as good. It’s all about the visuals.

On our way back to the room, we passed by the Online Center on Galaxy. This is where people can use the computers to get on the internet, download pictures, retrieve their e-mail and they even offer classes. The internet is around $4.00 / minute and they nickel and dime you for everything in the Online Center. My opinion is to only use the computers if you absolutely must. The gentleman we passed who was talking on his Blackberry must have had to use them.

As we walked by, we overheard him talking passionately to someone on his Blackberry about work. For me, I am not about to bring any work on vacation with me, simply because that is why I take vacations. Plus, being a teacher, there really isn’t any need for me to do any work over the summer. However, like all teachers, their summers are spent thinking about what to teach in the Fall and gathering materials from their travels to help students gain a better grasp of the world. On this trip alone, I gathered more materials, handouts, brochures and experiences than I needed to in order to help me teach my students other concepts about theatre. Any teacher worth a grain of salt doesn’t stop teaching in the Spring – their lessons continue far into the Summer.

Not to digress, but it always burns me up that some people say teachers shouldn’t be paid more because they get the summers off, two weeks around the Holidays and Spring Break. However, it is usually these same people who like year-round school because they don’t have to spend any time with their kids. Since most of the teachers that I know spend around twelve to fourteen hour days at school and then come home and grade papers into the night, we need the summers to regenerate ourselves and gather materials and information for the Fall. I shouldn’t get mad at them – they are just ignorant.

Sorry about that. Let me get back to this man conducting business. He was calling all of his business associates, I think doing sales calls. His phone was ringing off the hook and he’s e-mailing people like crazy – all in the matter of five minutes – muttering, “I need to call these people, why doesn’t this phone work?”

His wife (I can assume it was his wife because she looked like she was used to this behavior) kept saying to him, “Honey, they are seven hours behind us. They are probably still sleeping back home.”

He stopped for a moment as if the thought smacked him across the face, looked blankly at his Blackberry, and after a few seconds looked at his wife with a straight face and said, “Well, then, let’s wake them up!” and continued punching buttons on his phone.

I’m surprised he didn’t whip out a portable desk out of his pocket complete with an inflatable secretary…wait a minute. That’s not a bad idea…

We got back to our room and grabbed suntan lotion (we should have brought it with us to Mykonos) and headed for deck three where the tender would pick us up. We were on one of the first ones and three pirates met us on the tender, complete with camera. They were obviously staff members dressed up as pirates and so when we arrived at the base of Santorini (it’s on a cliff), they took our picture and we were off to either ride the donkeys up the cliff or take the lift.

Another nugget of information I gleaned from my research is the entrance to Santorini. Santorini is an island and Oia sits on top of a large cliff. There is absolutely nothing at the base of the cliff – everything is at the top. Shops, restaurants and shops are all at the top. There’s not much else to Santorini. The only way to get to the top is by a donkey ride up steep stairs, walking up those steep stairs or by cable car. Since we had plenty of time, we initially thought about riding the donkey, but thought better of it since both of the rides cost €4.00. We took the cable car for two distinct reasons: comfort and smell.

When we stepped off the tender, we could tell that the donkeys were nearby. The scent (to be polite) wafted in the air and there were little donkey presents on the bright white stairs leading up the side of a cliff.

Plus, we were not about to climb up the side of a cliff. We had enough climbing getting to the ship in the beginning. We didn’t want to look like that again.

At the top, we took pictures of more white block houses with blue roofs and stopped in some shops. The views were amazing and we were so high up that our ship looked like a toy boat in the bathtub. Absolutely breathtaking.

We walked by several shops just opening up and the equivalent of Santorini’s rush hour. We must have stumbled into Main Street because mopeds were speeding by and trucks were delivering stuff. I don’t know where the trucks came from or where they get the gas (didn’t see any gas stations) and so the whole commerce thing in the Greek Isles perplexes me.

Either way, the shops were busy with plenty of tourists to choose from. My wife doesn’t like to shop, thank goodness. Since there isn’t much else to do on Santorini, we stopped in plenty of shops along the way, most of them jewelry stores since that’s what Santorini seems to specialize in (as well as every other port we went to).

In one store, Ashley found this beautiful necklace with matching earrings made out of lava rock from Santorini. The necklace had a black, square lava rock as a charm and matching lava rocks as earrings. Since we don’t get many souvenirs, we didn’t mind spending the €60 on them.

After having our fill of Santorini (how many pictures can you take of white houses with blue roofs anyway?), we headed back to the tender to grab a late lunch on the ship. We figured why spend money when we can get great food for free?

We rode the cable car down and there was no line at all for the tender back to the ship. We got on board and the pirates who greeted us so gleefully that morning were now passed out on the benches in the back of the boat. We took a picture of them, plundered their stuff, and they didn’t even move. They must have been partying with Johnny Depp last night.

We got back on the Galaxy and grabbed some lunch and then headed back to the cabin to take a nap. I must have been pretty tired because I woke up two hours later. So, I walked around the ship while Ashley slept.

The one thing about being on the ship while it is still in port is that there is relatively nobody onboard. The place is a ghost town.

But, every deck chair by the pool still has a towel on it. I don’t get it.

I wrote a little bit and then went back to wake Ashley for the buffet on deck. After we both showered, we got dressed and took pictures of the ice sculptures and fruit carvings from the Mediterranean buffet. Ashley and I sampled some of the cuisine. It was the first one she had gone to (out of four) and she thoroughly enjoyed the carvings, muttering with each one, “I wish I could do that.”

What is very cool about the buffets is that you get to sample dishes you would not normally get to try. Fortunately, in Central Florida we get to try some Mediterranean dishes, but you have to find them (not that easy) and I am scared to try them because I don’t know what the cleanliness factor is back in the kitchen.

I would be scared to find out the cleanliness factor of my favorite restaurants’ kitchens back home, let alone a cuisine I’ve never tried.

We were almost too full to go to the Orion, but we went anyway. On our way to dinner, we saw Kay Ray and her friend (remember the wild women from Capri?) with the two male dancers who were brought on as ringers for the older ladies having the times of their lives in the bar with drinks.

“Kevin! Ashley!” Kay Ray called out, her voice echoing through the bar. “How are you guys doing?” she asked. I couldn’t tell if her slurring was because of her hearing impediment or her large wine glass in her hand.

“Great,” I said, looking over the two gentlemen who obviously were eyeing me up and down. I tried to figure out if they thought I was a threat or an informant on their wives back home. Either way, I didn’t see a wedding ring on their finger, but I don’t think it would have mattered to the ladies.

“I see you found some tablemates,” Ashley said, being as polite as she could.

Kay Ray and Sheila were hanging all over the dancers like a cheap suit. It was actually embarrassing, mainly because these women were older and acting like teenagers at the Prom. Sad, very sad.

We bid them goodbye (as if they could see us anyway with beer goggles on) and headed to dinner.

After dinner, I went to go see Jack Walker while Ashley went to see the movie Batman Begins. I really enjoy going to see live shows over movies. Something about the glitz and glam of it all, with the lights and bright sets and the connection I feel with the performers. Maybe it’s because I am a performer myself. It’s hard to explain, but I feel removed from the action taking place on the screen. With a live performance, I am there experiencing everything with the performers.

Jack Walker had an incredible voice – a true performer. I found out later that solo musical performers have to bring in their own instrumentation and they rehearse with the Celebrity Band in one afternoon. The performers must clear the rights on their own, compose their hour or 1 ½ hour show, and then perform that night.

Jack Walker took my breath away. The other shows I had seen on the ship were average with average singers, but his voice was unmatched. I definitely could see him performing on Broadway or as a solo act.

The entire audience gave him a standing ovation (something that seems ALL too common today for mediocre performances) and it was well deserved. I stood as well as I believe his performance was far above anything I had seen, no matter where I was. I almost bought his CD that he was hawking afterward with an autograph, but I needed to save the money.

I think he should have given the Celebrity dancers some pointers.

After the show, I headed back to the room and Ashley came back shortly thereafter. We stayed up, talking about the movie and the performance.

The next day was a Sea Day and, looking over the itinerary on the ship, five things caught my attention as must sees: The Cruise Critic Roll Call, The Food, Wine and Cooking Demo class, the Photoshop class in the computer room, the High Tea in the Orion, and the Fruit and Vegetable carving Demo. A busy day indeed – especially when gambling’s involved.

[SheilaNC]

Norman,

Lovely addition...sorry you didn't get to Oia (I couldn't really tell from your description of shops if you ever got out of the main town to see another party of the island. Our taxi ride, shared with another couple from the ship, led us to a lovely town with amazing views, pistachios on the trees (and sold by vendors) and a beautiful church - took pictures that still take my breath away.

 

But my writing skills aren't as good as yours and you brought back lots of memories for me. Thanks

[Robin G]

Norman, I love your flair for writing - extremely enjoyable. I still haven't gotten through it all but I had to post. I'm a freak with a camera and a scrapbooker, too. I know all about the disease. My wonderful husband has also learned to just "go with it" rather than fight it -- it's a no-win situation for him. I must also say I was absolutley mortified when I was reading about the lost camera business -- just awlful. A nightmare for ANY scrapbooker! ;)

 

Thanks and keep writing.

 

Robin

[krennen]

Dear LrdNorman,

I do hope that you will give us the "rest of the story". As many of us have read each chapter, we have become hooked--waiting for each addition. I hope you will take the time to finish it for us!! Thanks