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Live from Silver Muse: Voyage #6815; Athens to Rome, Jun 15 – 24, 2018


Stumblefoot
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EMBARKATION DAY – Athens, Greece

In Port

 

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Silver Muse Ship

 

After spending 11-days touring Germany, we arrived into Athens today at midnight (after an 8-hour delay on Lufthansa mind you. Grrr…) and will embark the Silver Muse late this afternoon for a 9-day adventure celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary through the Greek Isles, Malta, and Amalfi Coast. But first, we must walk to and hike the acropolis!

 

Classic Veranda Suite

This is the first time we have ever sailed in a suite that adjoins another suite, as well as being located next to the launderette. We selected deck #6 because it was the least expensive option on the Silver Muse for our party 3 who wished to have a veranda. So, we decided to give it a try this summer before booking any further voyages.

More to Come!

It has been 5-years since my last live thread, so I'm a bit rusty and plead for your patience. I promise to return once we get on board and settled with some initial details of this voyage.

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Welcome on board, I've been here for the past ten days, also on deck 6 near the launderette. I'll try and get to the M&M tomorrow, didn't manage it last leg, it clashed with another cocktail party. Hope to meet everyone there.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Brian (Amy & Taylor);

 

Fair Winds and Following Seas, we hope you have a terrific Muse cruise. Enjoy

Lindos in Rhodos and in Mykonos, if you go to Delos, enjoy the ancient ruins. Am guessing you will enjoy either Capri or Pompei when you visit Sorrento.

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PATMOS, GREECE

Sat., Jun 16 | 8:00a - 10:00p

 

To All: Thank you all for the kind well wishes!

 

To: Jolly Jones: Lucky you to have already been on board for 10-days. Hope to meet you tonight at the Meet & Mingle! But if not, we might meet in the Deck #6 hallway as our room is right next to the Launderette. Maybe we're neighbors?

 

Settling In

We arrived at Piraeus to a virtually empty embarkation lounge and were checked in by the affable Wesley who is a singer on our voyage. In our suite by 4:00p, we immediately went to work on nearly 2-weeks of laundry by commandeering launderettes on four separate decks. By 8:00p all was done and put away in its proper place before heading to dinner in Silver Note.

As I planned to write this blog, I thought I had learned all that was necessary for posting photos, but alas, Silversea blocks access to Shutterfly for some reason. So, I cannot access my photos at this point to share with you. Therefore, I will bore you with copy only. Maybe Dr. Ron, or JP Albany, or Terry from Ohio, or Les can guide me to an onboard solution. It's difficult to begin with since Silversea's internet access is limited to one device and my pics are on my phone and I write the post from my laptop. Oh well, thank you for bearing with me.

Patmos is an island bewitched in spirituality and is known as the ‘Holy Island’. This is where St. John, exiled over 2,000 years ago, envisioned the end of the world in a cave and recorded his account in the Book of Revelation. The Greek myths say that Patmos was a sunken mountain which Artemis “goddess of the hunt” and Poseidon “god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses” persuaded Zeus “god of sky and thunder” to resurface. Zeus obliged and left us mere mortals an island covered in pine, although there isn't much of it as it is so dry here. Our tour guide said that legend says the island has an energy all its own that either embraces or repels one’s soul. I'd say DW and DD seemed to be attracted to the island while I could take it or leave it. You'll have to travel here yourself to discover what will it do for you. :)

 

Tour: St. John’s Patmos & Churches

We departed the pier for a brief drive (not very scenic IMHO) to the Grotto of St. John. This small cave, now converted into a chapel, is where St. John lived, had his revelation, and wrote the Book of the Apocalypse. During our visit we saw the stone orifice St. John is said to have used as a pillow. In addition, an Orthodox Priest was conducting a service of blessing for a recently deceased individual. Our guide said this was only the second time in her 11-years of guiding groups that she had ever seen a service performed. She went on to claim and swore that she saw the ghost of St. John walk across the front of the chapel during our visit. No one else in a group was so lucky.

 

Next, we proceeded to the village of Chora where we began the walk (climb) to the Monastery of St. John. As we entered the courtyard of the structure, we saw the intricate pebbled floor, decorated arches, and the old well at its center that is fed by a water reservoir running beneath it. Through the supporting arches were decorative frescoes that adorned the entrance to the Chapel of Christodoulos. The little ornate chapel housed sacred relics that are stored in a silver-coated chest. The Old Treasury is now a museum displaying a collection of jeweled chalices, crowns, crucifixes, vestments, and old manuscripts dating from the 4th century.

 

Some Initial Thoughts on the Muse:

  1. Appearance
    • Beautiful color scheme that warmly welcomes you aboard.

[*]Size

  • While the suite is nearly one-third larger than the veranda suites on our favorite ship, the Silver Cloud, missing from the Muse are the thoughtful nooks found surrounding the Cloud’s desk and chest of drawers.

[*]Extra Bed

  • My DD loves, loves, loves the sleeper sofa as it is in the style used on the former Silver Spirit. So, on the Muse, you retain full usage of the entire living room space.

[*]Vanity

  • While I personally love the fact that the makeup vanity that was located at the end of the bed on the Silver Spirit has been eliminated from the Muse, I can tell you that my DW and DD are not thrilled there are no proper lights at the desk to assist in the application of war paint, aka makeup.

In Closing:

Tonight is the Meet & Mingle at 6:45p and 10 guests are signed up to attend. This will be the biggest meeting we have been a part of. Dinner is in La Terrazza.

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Stumblefoot, not sure what platform you are using to post, but if you are using a device with Android or IOS, you can use Tapatalk which will allow you to post your photos, or as Spins said, email.... Always good to see photos to accompany.

 

Glad your'e enjoying and no issues.

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Sorry Brian i am not really the person to ask as I use Flickr and have a work around that enables me to post the pics for the 3 sites I post to.They all have different methods of posting but my way works for the 3.I have explained it to a couple of the photo experts on Flyertalk who tell me that it shouldn't work.It has gone through a few minor modifications over the years when a site updates and changes everything.

But have a great trip.

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Thank you, Stumblefoot, for the trip report on Patmos in particular. It is on my list of places to visit in Greece. How interesting that DW and DD felt the vibe. Your report has already whet my appetite for a Med/Greece cruise. Looking forward to hearing more!

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RHODES,GREECE

Sun., Jun 17 | 8:00a – 6:00p

 

Happy 46th Wedding Anniversary to TLCOhio

To: Mysty - Thanks for the well wishes!

 

To: Spins - Appreciate your willingness to help me. I've figured out how to attach the files now, but am trying to determine how to include them inline within the message itself. Waiting on the I.T. Officer (Alexander) now to help me.

 

To: Les - I'm using a Windows laptop unfortunately.

 

To: Dr Ron - Flickr appeared to be working until I tried to upload 6 photos at once then the ship seems to have blocked me as I can no longer access the site.

 

To: Unibok - Glad the initial post whetted your appetite for a Med/Greece cruise.

UPDATE: I learned that the basic wifi package doesn't let one upload photos. So, have upgraded the internet package with Alexander.

Meet & Mingle

The Silver Muse provided a nice spot in the Dolce Vita lounge at 6:45p for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle. 10 passengers participated including Jolly Jones, Raphels, Baybridgedreaming, and Stumblefoot. Hotel Director (Paulo), Cruise Director (Jimmy) and Cruise Consultant (Angel) attended as well. It was a sincere pleasure to meet everyone.

Off to a Good Start

The light was just perfect as we dined in La Terrazza last night @ 8:15p while anchored off Patmos, Greece.

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Silver Princess

 

Rhodes

The fourth largest Greek island and historically the most important of the Dodecanese “Twelve” islands", Rhodes is full of beaches, pretty valleys and plenty of ancient history. The US state of Rhode Island takes its name from this island.

 

Tour: Mt. Philerimos & The Grand Masters

This was an excellent tour as we drove past Old Town along the harbor before heading down the west coast and turning inland to ascend the winding road to the approximately 1,000-foot plateau of Mt. Philerimos. Here, great views were seen over the island, in addition to the restored Church of Our Lady, Monastery, and Church of St.George.

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Calvary Way

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Monastery

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Peacocks Outside St. George Church

 

Next, we headed to Old Town where the town's fascinating past was recounted as we walked within this World Heritage site and along Knights' Road, passing grand medieval structures on our way to the Palace of the Grand Masters. A wartime fortress and a peacetime residence for the Grand Master, it was a meeting place for senior knights.

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Grand Masters Palace

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Knights Road

 

Formal Night

Tonight is always our favorite as we love dressing to the nines and staying up late. So, as it's 10 'til 6:00p now and I'm writing to you from Tor's Oberservation Lounge in t-shirt and gym shorts, it's time that I leave you for the day and head back to the suite to prepare for the festivities.

Best wishes to you all on this Father's Day!

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Beautiful photos! A little disappointing that the free wifi does not allow upload for them! So I am especially thankful for your efforts!

 

Glad you can see them! I just returned to our suite and logged in with my iPhone and for some reason can’t see them on the Tapatalk mobile site. Oh well, at least the can be seen using a computer.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Very, very nice, Stumblefoot! Keep having a great trip!

 

 

I am surprised that the free wifi won't post photos. That is what I used on our recent Cloud cruise, no problem. But I used tapatalk on an I-Pad rather than my laptop for photos, so maybe that makes a difference.

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Beautiful photos, Stumblefoot.

Lovely to have Taylor to still travel with you. I don’t think our kids will ever not want to travel with us if it’s on SilverSea.

Enjoy Formal Night, and Happy Anniversary!

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