Monthly Archives: September 2019

Today was our mid-cruise break. The ship docked in Crete for 5 whole hours between 7am and noon. We decided early on that there can’t be anything that unusual on this particular Greek island that would be worth setting an alarm so we opted to stay onboard for today. Our plans? A couples bamboo massage and then hanging out by the pool.

Just like we did on our honeymoon cruise 30 years ago, we spent some time having complete strangers beat us with sticks… literally. Okay, we didn’t have quite the same experience on our honeymoon but this time we were looking for some serious deep tissue work. And wow, did we get that. For 75 minutes, two lovely women used their hands, elbows, arms, and warm bamboo sticks to try to get all the knots out of the various places on the body. It was very nice although the two knots in my trapezius muscles that refused to release are now just plain sore. And when all was said and done, we got the typcial hard sell: $400 worth of recommended products for us to use at home. Thanks, but no thanks.

Travel tip #15: Like many other retail operations, much of the cruise extras are based on upselling. Be prepared to be asked to buy, book, and spend over and above what you’ve already paid. If you are ready for it, you can act appropriately but we notice people who, like us in the past, were really buying into everything they were told they “needed.”

Suitably relaxed, we headed to the pool deck to find that many of our fellow passengers had also opted to hang out on board and it took some time to find empty deck chairs. But we eventually managed and then spent the next 5 or so hours lounging, reading, drinking fruity drinks, listening to music, and not much else. We took a break to go for lunch in the dining room which most people don’t bother with. The buffet is a much more popular daytime option as people can eat their lunch on their deck chairs.

Travel tip #16: Embrace hand sanitizer. Cruise ships take the threat of illness like the noro virus very seriously and disinfectant is everywhere. Whenever you come aboard the ship or enter the dining room, you will be met with a spray bottle of hand sanitizer and a smiling face asking you to “washy, washy” so we can be “happy, happy”.

We instead head down to the Grand Pacific dining room where their isn’t quite the same focus on disinfectant since patrons don’t actually touch the food. We were joined by a small number of others which means that we get personally cooked food and excellent service. Today that service included an entire bottle of wine! We had a drink package that allows us to have unlimited drinks in a certain category including some wines. We both had a glass of pinot grigio with lunch and the waiter just kept filling our glasses until the bottle was gone. Oops?

We were so exhausted from doing nothing that a nap was required before dinner. Tonight’s culinary adventure was a specialty meal in the Italian restaurant. It was fine but really nothing special – Frank had veal scallopini and I had sea bass. And then cannoli and panna cotta for desert. The evenings entertainment was a Cuban themed variety show which was also mildly entertaining. All in all a good way to say good bye to Greece and the first part of the cruise. Tomorrow we are headed to Malta and the final days at sea.

Dubious data:
6,029 steps and 20 floors
Photographs taken: 1
Ships in port: 2

Unfortunately today had a bit of an inauspicious start as we awoke to the strong smell of diesel in the cabin. We were in the process of docking in Rhodes and the stench of fuel was overwhelming. It was odd that we needed to open the door to the balcony to let in fresh air to help dispel the fumes. Standing on the balcony while we docked, we were struck by the seeming un-Greekness of the city before us. After 3 days of white washed buildings and picturesque blue domes, Rhodes had none of that. There is certainly more green given the abundance of cypress trees but the major buildings were sandstone or at least sandstone colored and the wall around the old town had turrets in various spaces. This was the easternmost island we would visit and is closer to Turkey than mainland Greece. But the day was sunny and warm and new adventures awaited.

And so we prepared to take on the day. This was another stop with no real plans so we hoped to find a beach to plop down on for a few hours like we did in Mykonos. We breakfasted and headed out into the old town early, before the crowds descended and even before many of the shops were open. We were looking to get hour history lessons in so the first stop was the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, where the the head of the Knights order stayed during the Knights Hostiliers occupation of Rhodes. One thing we learned was that there were lots of people who occupied (or tried to occupy Rhodes) including the Italians under Mussolini. One thing that the Italian occupation accomplished was to bring mosaics from the island of Cos to the palace and they were very impressive to see. Next, we visited a church which had been a pre-catholic Greek church, a Roman Catholic church, and even a mosque. And finally, we spent some time at the Archeological museum which reminded me of a scaled down version of the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain. It was very interesting but we were pretty much antinquitied out by the time we were through there.

Travel tip #13: Know your limits for looking at ancient pottery and don’t be afraid to say “Thanks but no thanks”

So we were off to find a beach. My pre-trip research informed me that there was no simple bus route to a great beach like we had in Mykonos. There is Elia Beach actually in the city but I had read about Anthony Quinn bay – yes, that Anthony Quinn – farther down the coast which sounded much nicer. We set out to find a taxi to take us there only to discover it would be about $25 each way. Since we were unlikely to spend more than 3 hours there, that seemed a steep hourly rate especially since yesterday’s transportation costs were less than $10! So we opted to walk to the beach in town and realized pretty quickly that we weren’t getting a beach day today. The water was gorgeous and much warmer than on Mykonos but the beach was all rocks.

Travel tip #14: don’t be afraid to cut bait when a plan isn’t going to work for you.

This wasn’t our idea of a quiet beach. No sand to be found anywhere. The sunbeds and umbrellas were well used and tattered. It reminded me of a grand seafront town that had seen better days (insert Blackpool joke here). So it was not to be.

Back to the old town for us to explore a different collection of small side street stalls and sidewalk cafes. We found a great lunch place where Frank had lamb souvlaki and I had Kleftiko with feta. Both were awesome and went well with the now obligatory local beer and white wine. After we were fed and watered, we spent some time shopping and even managed to pick up a few more Christmas items. By now we had spent our requisite 6 hours of traipsing about and so it was time to head back to the ship and hit the hot tub.

We soaked and sunned for a while more and watched yet another stunning sunset. Then to dinner where I have to say, things were not quite up to snuff. It was the least appealing meal of the week. It may have been because of our fabulous lunch but I suspect that the kitchen just had a bad night as a couple at a table near us looked even less happy than we were. We decided to call it an early night and start again tomorrow.

Dubious data for today:
21,909 steps and 23 floors
Days in a row where we had fabulous local food and drink: 3
Number of ships in port today: 2

Number of attempts to get this post uploaded: 12

We awoke this morning tendered off the coast of Mykonos as the announcements for which groups got to go first rang through the ship. Frank was deeply asleep and snoring to beat the band to I wandered up to the gym for an erg workout (a Friendly Canadian in case you were interested – 3×10 minutes with 2 minutes rest). then it was a quick shower and down to breakfast as the boarding group numbers continued to ring out. By the time we were finished with our meal and packed up to go ashore, they were giving out tickets for group 16 as the announcement came for group 15 to board. A few short minutes later, we were on the tender heading to shore.

And when we got there it was just like other days: 4 ships in port and 4 ships worth of tourists milling about trying to make the most of their 10 hours on shore. We didn’t book an excursion but we did have a plan: catch a local bus to one of the beaches and chill for a couple ofhours. I had looked up some information on beaches on Mykonos and had decided to head to Platys Gialos instead of Paradise Beach – the famous one where everyone else was headed. We needed to wander through Mykonos Town to get to a different bus stop and it was very fun trying to follow Google maps through another rabbit warren of small streets, through a Greek film crew and several restaurants. By the time we arrived at the bus station and bought our tickets (1.8 euro each, each way) we were melting.

Travel tip #11: no matter what your weather app says that the air temperature is, it doesn’t understand the strength of the Greek sun.

Before we left home, I had obsessive checked the weather forecast for the places we were stopping. I knew that we were going at the end of the season and I wasn’t sure that it would be warm enough to be able to do a beach day in on any of the islands. Frank’s weather app said it was 75 degrees which generally doesn’t scream “beach weather” to me but holy burnt to a crisp batman, was that sun hot!

The bus ride took about 20 minutes and walked onto a beach completely covered with sunbeds and umbrellas. And I mean completely. Nearly every inch of sand was covered with furniture awaiting bodies to occupy it. Every cafe on the beach had their own area and rented out the sunbeds for a variety of prices. We opted for the 10 euro each deal and settled in for a few hours of beach time. Given that we were so hot from walking through town and to the Yialo Yialo cafe where we rented our space, we couldn’t wait to jump into the sea.

And the water was FREEZING! It felt good but the juxtaposition of the sun’s heat and the water’s chill was mind boggling.

Travel tip #12: No matter how hot the sun is, the water will feel cold. And sometimes, it is cold.

We spent the next couple of hours lounging on the beach, mostly in the shade, reading and napping. Even though they would have brought us lunch on the beach, we wandered the few feet to the cafe to sit at a table and eat like real people. Frank opted for the chicken gyro and the local draft beer and I went with the Greek salad and white wine. And yum! Either this restaurant has an odd recipe or Greek salads in Greece don’t have lettuce. It was chunks of tomato, feta, peppers, cucumbers, olives, and capers. Absolutely delish!

When we had been fed and watered and were done napping and swimming, it was time to head back to town. We did the obligatory wander through various markets but nothing took our fancy so we opted to take an early boat back to the ship. We grabbed a drink, showered, and sat on our balcony and broke in the new backgammon board. Then cocktails while we watched the sun set and off to dinner. Tonight we vowed to stay awake long enough to catch the show in the theater and we made it! We enjoyed the aerial acrobatic show – at least until they decided to close the show with “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues, a song I have detested

for decades possibly due to bad memories of it being the theme for my junior prom. But that’s a story for another day.

Today’s dubious data: 12,182 steps and 23 floors climbed. At least 7 glasses of white wine consumed. 1 Backgammon win and 1 loss.

We awoke too early to the voice of the cruise director informing us that due to a recent strike at Pireaus, the port for Athens, our docking would be delayed. It was 7:15 am and apparently we were due to dock at 7:00 but now we would be late. Given that we had NO plans that required us to be off the ship at this ungodly hour, we didn’t really appreciate the early morning wake up call but I’m sure others who were antsy to run ashore and join the tourist throngs appreciated the update.

Since we were so rudely awakened, we decided to get up and prepare for the day. We dressed and went down to breakfast where I had preordered eggs Benedict! Woo hoo! I never get that and I enjoyed it immensely. We eventually were cleared to dock and the captain extended our time on shore by an hour – I suspect it was due to the number of shore excursions that were affected by the delay and not out of the goodness of his heart but that’s the cynic in me that doesn’t’ take a vacation!

We had prebooked a taxi to take us from the port to the Acropolis and he picked us up a few minutes before arranged time of 9:30 – I’m on vacation and I’m not getting up before 7am for no tourist attraction! He was a very nice young guy who was happy to do a little side hustle and drive us around a few of the sites. Then it was time to battle the crowds at the Acropolis. With our prebooked tickets, we skirted at least one of the lines and then spent the next two hours standing in a dozen more lines. I had read that it was best to arrive before 10 am to avoid the crowd but that would have required an alarm clock and missing eggs benedict and that wasn’t happening. The price we paid was milling around with all of humanity on the top of a large rock where selfie sticks captured sweaty, smiling faces in front of antiquities that the subject rarely understood.

Travel tip #9: Have the patience of a saint when touring the “must see” sights of the world.

While we were able to marvel at the accomplishments of our ancestors, I was a bit ashamed of my contemporaries. First, bad bathroom line etiquette. Because it was a day that ends in Y, there was a queue for the ladies toilet. While standing in said queue, a gentleman came out of the men’s toilet and tried to convince us to use that. The few ladies in front of me declined and he proceeded to collect several female companions and bring them straight to the gents. By this time, the men’s room was fully occupied and a small fracas ensued with both women and men battling for the stalls in the men’s room while the women stood by and proceeded to the ladies in an orderly fashion.

The second time where civility died at the birthplace of civilization was in the process of trying to exit. Because the flow of people in both directions is directed through the narrow entry way that is part of the Propylaea, there is quite a crush getting through. Site officials shouted at people not to stop and take pictures but you can guess how that was received. We were standing in yet another line getting ready to go through the gates when a tour guide in front of us got fed up with people by passing the crowd waiting to leave and tried to head straight to the front. In Britain, this is jumping the queue and is punishable by death. Here, there was one woman who took it upon herself to herd the masses of tourist cats and send people back to the end of the line, arguing with various people about her right to do so in the processes. While that chaos was ensuing, several individuals started having a showing match about who-knows-what but it involved a black woman and a white man slinging insults at each other. All of these vocalizations were in English although it wasn’t clear that it was anyone’s native tounge.

Finally cleared of the crowd and the crowing, we headed out to explore other ancient sites including the Roman Market, the Tower of the Winds, and the Ancient Agora. This involved negotiating unnamed streets when Google maps couldn’t find us and fending off a small gang of Gambian peaceniks who just wanted to give us bracelets to show their devotion for peace and harmony but could we spare a few coins for their effort?
Historied out, we headed to the Plaka, an area in the shadow of the Acropolis full of shops and cafes. I’d liken it to the Latin Quarter in Paris crossed with Canal Street in NYC. And there we lunched. I’d like to claim we were dining with the locals but I know everyone in the place was a tourist. But they understood gluten free, walked me through the menu to show what I could have and served a very respectable house white wine so the lack of Greek speakers in the place didn’t worry me. Lunch was delicious and apprpriatly fueled, we headed out into the streets to contribute to Greek GDP.

Travel tip #10: do what you want to do regardless of what the guide books say.

We could (should?) have gone to the Acropolis Museum where the artifacts recovered from the Acropolis were housed. But we didn’t’. It’s supposed to be one of the best museums in Europe but we just didn’t feel like doing a museum today. So we didn’t. Instead we wandered the rabbit warren streets that were still wider and less crowded than Santorini yesterday. We made several purchases including shirts for Frank, jewelry for me, an olive wood backgammon board which we can’t wait to break in, and a football jersey from the local Athens club for my nephew for Christmas. Yup, I started my Christmas shopping today.

Our ride home met us on time and took us back to the ship where we had plenty of time to change into swimsuits and hit the hot tub before dinner. Tonight was to be one of the specialty dining room experiences and we had reservations at the steakhouse on board for 9pm. That meant that we could enjoy drinks on the balcony and watch the sunset as the ship slowly pulled out of the harbor.

We got seated early for our dinner at the steakhouse which was nice. This was one of the “freebies” we got when booking this cruise more than 18 months ago: 4 premium meals at the specialty restaurants. Dinner tonight would be the first of those meals. And it was nice. Not worth the amount that we would have paid without the package but very palatable. Frank had ribeye and I had lamb chops with all the trimmings. We left stuffed to the gills and ready for a good nights sleep. We are due to dock in Mykonos at 8am which probably means we’ll be awakened by important announcements long before that. {sigh}

Today’s (semi-trustworthy) iPhone data: 20,082 steps (7.2 miles) covering 34 floors. Apparently the Acropolis isn’t as high as the caldera on Santorini.

We awoke after a good nine hours of sleep but still 5 hours from our first port. This meant I had time for some yoga. I had brought my travel yoga mat and was lucky enough to have room in my cabin to spread it out.

Travel tip #7: Arm balances are harder on a moving ship than on land. Make sure you have room so that when you fall unceremoniously out of crow pose, you don’t simultaneously crack your head on the floor and your butt on the sliding glass door.

We made it to the sit Grand Pacific for breakfast with minutes to spare which saved us from having to battle the buffet. We were sailing very close to several islands at the time and most people seemed to have either already eaten or were elsewhere because the dining room was very quiet. We were due to dock in Fira, Santorini at noon and there were already people lining up to get the first tender tickets. Because Fira is such a small port, ships need to dock off shore and run smaller boats, or tenders, back and forth. There was a huge crush of people desperate to get the first tickets. Since we are on the “chill out” anniversary tour, we refused to line up early – we’d prefer not to line up for anything at all – and instead enjoy our breakfast. Once we were done, we went upstairs and grabbed tickets for group #13 to go ashore.

We actually docked a little before noon and we could see the famous white buildings set into the cliffs. Fira is actually built up on a caldera (a volcanic crater) which meant there is a long way up between the port and the town. There are 3 ways to get there: donkeys (nope, not happening), walking up the donkey path, or cable car. Because we had no desire to battle the crowds that would be lining up for the cable car, we opted for lunch in the dining room before we left. Our group number came and went while we were enjoying our meal and we finished in time to catch the open tender – which just meant no tickets necssary – to shore. We arrived to find an incredibly long line for the cable car so we instead decided to take a speedboat to Oia on the top side of the island and start our day there.

If you’ve ever seen a picture of Santorini, it likely had white washed buildings and churches with blue domes. Yes, it is as stupidly picturesque as the photos would lead you to believe. It is a rabbit warren of small cobbled walkways with shops, galleries, and restaurants. And where there are 4 cruise ships docked, it is a mass of humanity that is quite frightening. Yes, we had read that it was crowded when the ships were it but nothing prepared us for exactly *how* crowded and what that actually meant. We wandered the village for several hours, taking the requisite tourist photos like everyone else (but without being rude or using a stupid selfy stick) before ducking into a taverna for a local beer and glass of rose.

Travel tip #8: drink like and with the locals whenever the opportunity arises. Today we had the opportunity to hear the Greek waiter argue with an Italian couple in English. Most entertaining.

After a few hours of battling the hoards, we caught a bus back to Fira which turns out to be a slightly bigger version of Oia with wider streets and more shops. By this time, clouds had moved in and the wind had picked up. We feared that the promise of the amazing Santorini sunset was not to be. So we did what any intrepid traveler did: we stopped into a local bar for a drink where Frank got the local microbrew, Crazy Donkey IPA, while we figured out what other activities we wanted to experience. Turns out, we were done with scenery and made our way to a local grocery store to pick up a few things that we had forgotten. (Eg conditioner. I *hate* the concept of “conditioning shampoo” that is common now.)

Then back to the ship which meant we needed to make decision we had avoided earlier. The cable car wait was more than an hour and the donkeys were not an option. So walk we did. Down 589 steps that were also used by the donkeys and covered with donkey poo. While our knees were not all that happy with us, we made it with no real issues and just in time for sunset. Clouds or not, the sky outside Santorini was absolutely amazing. The photos don’t do it justice. I could definitely go back just to be able to watch one from a proper vantage point.

We definitely earned our dinner and wine today! If you believe my iPhone, we covered 21,331 steps and 64 floors. My quads agree.