Norwaylady

Today’s plan is a tour by shore excursion. Meeting time 09.00 in the theatre.

Good morning!

Cruise compass and paperwork Zakynthos

Tonight’s show is Broken Strings, so we don’t attend. We walked downstairs to Al Bacio for some coffee and enjoying the Dj downstairs in the Martini Bar. Just an observation from Al Bacio if your seated by the window….. Do you think this qualifies as a bad day at work? Tonight they had a pop- up from NYC3. It’s the singer’s in tomorrow’s show. Well the idea is good…. But compared to last weeks guests entertainment it was underwhelming😝 Dinner was good. Service is good, food tasted excellent and everything is working well. (I have a small feeling they think the inquisition is seated😂😂😂) We had: shrimp cocktail, etrevisio salad and cobia fish (we changed the sides to vegetables) Dessert was ice cream🙃 after eight

We attended the captain’s club party⚓️ The full list of senior officers were represented and the executive committee. Again, Captain Kirk is a fun man😂👌🏻🇬🇷 All lead by cruise director Brittany. They served canapés, drinks and sweets. Same as last weeks senior officers party. Music was by the acoustic due. They are good👌🏻 They had added some entertainment, a pop-up performance from the acrobatic team. This sailing it was more “into” the usual deal. The captain presented the couple onboard by most points. 11 years as X cruisers and 1100 points. (No number of total captains club members onboard) All in-all well attended and arranged.

This day is a floating day😎 I have answered emails and talked on the phone to solve some issues at work🤓🤓 Thank you Captain Kirk for keeping us in Greece phone coverage☺️🇬🇷 At 15.30 the Queen had coffee stars in her eyes😂🤩🤩🤩 So we went down to Al Bacio. It was live music by the acoustic duo. 😋😋🍋🍋🍋🍋 I spy-in my little 👁️ Lemon 🍋 Tart👌🏻 Ice Tea Raspberry & lemon tart delivered. The Queen wanted the non-sugar added cake. It was a Amaretto and blue berry cake😌 Hmm, have they changed pastries chef? 🤔🤭 they looked a bit off. Ohh….🥺 this was the day not to have 🍋 tart. Sorry in advance🙄 (the previous I had during this sailing has tasted excellent 👌🏻) The Queen said the blueberry cake was very tasty 😋 today’s canapés had arrived:

let’s just say that the “lovely” captain’s club hostess was very unpleasant and made me extremely uncomfortable in her behaviour of body language and way of answering me when I tried to ask. She had really boxed me, before I opened my mouth…. I asked on Sil about this in April, and they said it’s in the discretion of the captain’s club host to decide. So they said, just ask politely when you arrive and it will probably not be a problem at all. Since it’s not a big group of family, just my travel partner. So I was really not happy when it started off on the wrong foot. on this sailing they have only 1 event party. They have the captain’s club party+senior party as one. It’s today, in the afternoon 17.15. So we might attend. They had the wine tasting this morning. I don’t drink wine for breakfast, so I didn’t attend. The mixologist event is later in the week, but we are not big drinkers😂😂😂 So I will skip this event.

So the day started in bed by some emails and messages that needed to be taken care off. We are sailing very close to land. So I was late for my walking tour outside. So only 45.mins on the track…. Lots of people out and a bit hard to walk fast in rhythm. I sent the Queen up to the buffet for breakfast service. (She was too late for mdr breakfast) They took excellent care of her🥰 She reported back to me that they were very friendly helping her out on the hunt of Greek yoghurt and grapefruit❤️ After my walking tour it was a Clark Kent into relaxing sun lounger clothing😎 I went by Al Bacio to get some coffee for breakfast. Great service from Melissa. On the way up to the deck I walked by the emporium area, the Jewel shop had a raffle and a diamond seminar💍 Guess who was there? The Queen👑 She had just had some coffee before I arrived downstairs☺️ So we decided to be in it, to win it🎟️ Unfortunately no price for us🙃 (but we tried) Then we went upstairs to find a sun bed. Lots of people outside. So crowded, but you can always find a bed or two if you take a round….. The view is really lovely🤩

Since we had Blu first part, we had breakfast there every morning, except the day we had a tour departure time before they opened😌 We will probably try the captain’s club breakfast this sailing. (My mothers card is showing preview, points has not arrived, so she’s “preview” 2 sailings😂) And I can’t send her down to Tuscan alone…. They will not accept her. I needed to do some work this morning a minor fire to take care off at the office🤪 otherwise we would have tried. As mentioned in earlier posts, the captain’s club rep and concierge’s has been rather pale compared to what we have seen on the last 2 cruises/b2b. And my only 2 words by the captains club hostess was rather not “happy service minded” It was more the type: I don’t care, you are not a frequent cruiser, it’s not my responsibility to answer you…… ( boxing people just by the look, is very dangerous) So I just don’t bother to go downstairs to be shuffled away as an irritating teenager to get the Queen a new card, showing her own classic status. And to politely ask if she can be my 1+ one for breakfast…. I took the Queen to the Captain’s Club event for all members, so she could see how it’s working. But I didn’t dare to bring her to the senior party. (It would be very nice, but if they had checked cards on all guests, it would be embarrassing 😳 for her and me…. I don’t like to stretch rules of break rules) If the captain’s club hostess and I had a better start, it would probably be easier.

Sea day⭐️ (WiFi is not my best friend for uploading) Today’s cruise compass and paperwork. Ravenna arrival (they still have infrastructure problems moving port from Venice)

The officers are out and about tonight. I had a chat by Troy, It-manager. He said that the WiFi will improve during the year. They are working on it and upgrading the system onboard. So it will be more functional. Just please be patient until it’s upgraded in hardware🙃 Dinner was good. We had the Waldorf salad, it’s a BIG portion for starter. For main it was the mahi mahi and ragout-gnocchi (from the starters menus) I know how big the salad is and the gnocchi is perfect in size as a main course for me🙃 Coffee came perfectly made and delivered from Alex in Blu💙 We had lava cake and panna Cotta (I don’t know whose decision it was but I can definitely say, it’s not a ship thing…. It’s definitely fleet wide. Before covid the lava cake was a lava. It was a small cake, around same size as the coconut macarons tops, served hot and had a small lava stream inside. YES a LAVA CAKE🔥 On all cruises after 2019 the cake has been cold, the cake is growing bigger and it’s definitely not a lava cake….. I miss the real lava cake, that’s a winner dessert)

After some work emails taken care of, it was time to freshen up and call Mr🥰 He is on technical duty 24/7 this week. (To make sure all prisons, hospitals, elderly homes etc are working and functional) It’s been a rather long week for him. (Sometimes he can solve the problem remotely from home/office. Other times he needs to physically visit the location) This week the phone has been calling a lot🤪🤪🤪 So it hasn’t been easy to reach him by phone. Just a text💙 So it was nice to have a talk live on FaceTime🥰 Tonight’s show is stand-up by Phil Melbourne. The man is funny 😆 not everyone’s cup of tea🙃

Elia beach is ranked as a very posh beach. It’s lovely there. The beach break is a decent tour. Good beds and good quality umbrella. Toilet facilities are good, clean, paper, soap etc. Upscale restaurant on site and a store selling quality beach wear and sunglasses (brand’s only, no el cheapo products). The service from the crew was good. Drinks looked very tempting 🍹 (I didn’t try them) We had sparkling water in the sun😎 I think food from the restaurant menu was good/more tempting than our plate of club sandwich. It was no choice for us. It just arrived on our table😅 The club sandwich was very tasty and fresh, but the fries was not my cup of tea😝 If you want to be el-cheapo (just like I do from time to time🤣🤣🤣) There is a beautiful beach at Megali Ammos Beach. You can see it from the windmills. (If you are sporty, it’s a good walk)

So we left 09.00 from the ship. It’s 35.minutes drive from port to Elia beach. The excursion includes a sun bed, umbrella, a drink and a sandwich. ( choice of beer, wine, water and soft drink) They have toilets and a larger restaurant area on top of the beach. They also have a swimwear shop. Hats, sunscreen, bathing attire, flip flops etc. IMG_7468.mov Pick up time from the beach club is 12.40. At this time of the year, the ocean is not super warm. (It’s Norwegian summer temperature🏖️😆) So some 🥶😱😵‍💫 face’s when people entered the water😂😂😂😂😂🤣 Temperature around 21c and a light breeze. It was a nice beach and club. The bus took us back to the ship. We jumped straight onto the shuttle bus to Mykonos town. So we had a little walk in town on a sunny day😎👌🏻 Had a coffee and some ice cream. The wind 💨 has starting to get stronger. It’s small white tops on the ocean. According to Windy (app) this was as scheduled. At 16.00 we decided to go back onboard. The Queen is safely parked in Al Bacio for some coffee🥰 I stopped by guests service to pick up our cruise cards from last week…. (It was stated in the b2b paperwork that WE needed to pick them up) They could find it🤪 So hopefully they will end up on my door during the cruise🙃 We collect the cruise card’s. It’s something that goes into the picture scrap book of the year. (I make a new for each year) So it’s like a year book. I headed upstairs to fix a work thing🤓 Today’s canapés had arrived: Speaking off the devil….. When I’m sitting on my computer writing email and this, guess what knocked on our door? A reprint of last week’s cruise card… (they smell brand new and haven’t the wear and tear after use) Thank you Sunny!

Yep, we arrived back 15.45. so after lunch hour…..

We are booked on a beach break, Elia Beach. Meeting 09.00 in the theatre. We had breakfast downstairs in mdr. Coffee, Greek yoghurt, berries and grapefruit. All good 👍🏻 We are ready for a beach trip😎

Cruise Compass Mykonos

So, The ladies was not ready until 19.45 to go downstairs. We were racing against Connie, she left Athens port before us🏎️🚢🏎️ IMG_7451.mov We attended the effy raffle before dinner😅 you have to be in it, to win it😆 No prizes for us😜 We went to dinner in Mdr. We have a lovely table for 2 by the window. Our waiter and assistant seemed okay. A few first-nigh bumps, but it will probably be fine. (The typical half crazy evening, run for your life waitstaff🤪😝) We had quinoa salad, goat cheese salad and the fish. For dessert ice cream and banana foster. After dinner it was bed time 🥱

After unpacking our things, the Queen needed more coffee🙃 So we went downstairs to Al Bacio. Some coffee and ice tea helped on the tour-out blues….😆 My cup of tea are definitely not Hop-on Hop-off bus rides. I’m a walker and public transport person. But for the Queen it was a perfect time. She could see the big things and be seated. Tonight’s show is the broadway show from last night. So we are taking a shower and power rest before dinner instead. We have a table on deck 5, fixed seating 20.30. Fingers crossed for a nice location and a great server team💙

Oh my…. We walked to the bus 14.17 and it was full, we got the last 2 seats upstairs. The rest was stuffed downstairs standing as herring😰😰😰 Those people were not going on a cruise, just the sightseeing tour…. We were the same people getting off as we boarded the bus this morning🙃 We arrived at the port, they drop you of at B/C cruise terminal. So you must walk from the car check point. About 650m. We arrived at 15.15 We said, we are in transit and had the transit pass in hand. -Go to the general boarding area and please be seated until we call the area😖 What is wrong by transit pass??? Again, wait in the check-in line🥵😳🤯🤬 Hello, why can’t they have this under control???? So we waited and then called, the lady upfront looked at us and sent us back to the Suite area, then our new cards arrived asap. We walked onward, passed security and re-boarded the ship🥳🥳 We went straight to our Muster station to get registered. Then it was up to our new stateroom. Suitcases waited inside and all hanging clothes was in the closet🤩 Dennis, our new housekeeper was stopping by. A little snack was delivered to our room from the hotel manager🥰😋 (But are we sailing transatlantic?🤔🤔🤔🤣🤣) We had a check of the phone in our room, it has a tone😅👍🏻 (so we will probably be easier to get in touch off😆) Time to empty the suitcases and get settled. Paperwork on arrival:

So there are a few ships in port today… It’s turnaround day on the majority😅👌🏻 It’s us-infinity, Connie, Azamara, Regent, Celestial cruises, Sea Dream, Windstar and another smaller vessel. So we picked up 4 guests from Celestial cruises and then we left into Athens (they were also b2b). Our bus was going in to the interchange point and then converted into the Athens route. So we could just stay on. This interchange point is at Akropolis. We took the full ➰ loop. Going back to Acropolis, we went off at the stop Plaka. Perfect for a little walk and shopping of souvenirs. There are a million stores selling all Greek effects and souvenirs. (Prices are cheaper then in Santorini & Mykonos, type 50% less for almost everything) We stopped for some coffee and ice cream in Plaka. The bus to Pireus runs on a scheduled time from the Acropolis stop. So check the time table. So we took the bus from the Plaka stop to Acropolis 13.45. ( don’t want to miss the connection 14.35) We could have walked up from the Plaka, but the Queen said bus please☺️ So now we are waiting on a bench in the shade. It’s the warmest day so far on the cruise.

We were ready for breakfast service around 07.15. We had a look in the hallway to look for our stateroom attended. No Angelo visible…. (Last night we had a chat about the moving process and agreed that we would notify him when we were ready for breakfast and he would take care of the rest;) So we found his card and picked up the phone……. Well, guess what? The phone was all dead. It shows the date and time in the display but it’s no connection/tone😝😂😂😂😂 So if someone tried to call or leave a message for us, good luck 😂😂 We only accept real letters😆🤪 So a new walk around and Angelo detect👌🏻 We went downstairs for breakfast in Blu. The usual menu, Greek yoghurt, avocado toast, coffee and grape fruit. Blu was rather busy today. After breakfast we walked downstairs, pinging our cards, the ping said: wrong ping/the happy ping for staying b2b🤩🥳😁 So our security officers looked surprised😅 I was ready to give him my card and said see you later😆 So off we went! Our plan for today is hop-on hop-off bus. According to the schedule online it says departure every 15.min….. (They didn’t expect b2b guests today) so they only had departure 08.30-09.30 in the morning🤥 So we arrived outside 08.37😐 So then we needed to wait…. The ticket lady said they were informed from the port that there were nobody coming b2b. It was as all changing/turnaround day today. So that’s why they didn’t run as often…. 09.05 they arrived by a bus, please step on😅 We hoped on, and off we went!

Good morning from Athens /Pireus Port We have docked but are not cleared by local authorities yet. Estimated time for clearance is around 07.15.

So tonight’s dinner in Blu is the last😔 Let me just start to say, the food has tasted excellent and our crew has done an outstanding job🫶🏻❤️💙🙌🏻 They have worked hard and delivered every night💙 Alex has worked his socks off and Marco has never let us down. The Queen has really got blown away by the level of service and taste of the menu. Tonight’s menu was blue cheese soufflé, mozzarella tomato salad and filet mignon. For dessert we had the apple pie👌🏻 It tasted delicious and nothing was left on the plates👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Service has been superb from everyone in Blu. Irwin has guaranteed that we will have a nice table for dinner in MDR. (I truly trust that he has fixed us a good team💙)

there were only 2 swans yesterday in Mykonos town beach. But tomorrow we will be back, and fingers crossed it’s sun and perfect weather for Ellia Beach 🏖️