Live From the Garden Villa on the Jade

[DonMar]

Cathy,

 

I cannot thank you enough for your "on-site reporting". We will be on the same itinerary, March 28th and are enjoying every word.

 

Thanks!

 

Margaret

[Rodie H]

Cathy, thanks for the reporting. I'm on the Jade on 3/28 along with Jann, John, and Delmar.

 

I really appreciate the info and am feeling the experience alongside of you.

 

The weather is as I expect to have in March. Bundle, bundle right? Oh, as a southener, I agree tea is only iced!!

 

Gilda

[carontori]

Cathy,

Thanks so much for the indepth info on the laundry special!!!! We all truly appreciate all your up to date reports. So glad you are being well looked after.

Caron

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

By the time we docked in Athens we had beautiful blue skies, temp in the mid 70's and a cool breeze. We docked ontime at 10:30 and meandered down to the Star Lounge where Monica whisked several of us down the magic elevator, through the crew quarters and to a brief stop while the authorities cleared the ship. We were the first passengers to walk into Greece. We had a private tour with Athens Taxi with Paul but Paul was otherwise engaged and he sent his friend Nick. Nick was great. First stop was the Acropolis, and because we were first out, we were ahead of the busses. By the time we left there were huge lines.

We learned that Acropolis = Acro (meaning high) and polis (meaning city) - so high city. And was it ever. What a walk UP - I'm proud to say we all made it to the top, some of us a little slower than others. Interestingly, there were sleeping dogs all the way to the top. Nick told us later that the city takes care of the dogs, feeding them and taking them to the vet as needed - but they are pretty much just dogs of the Acropolis which I thought was a great name for a new age band, i.e., Acropolis Dogs. We walked around, took a lot of pictures and were rightly overwhelmed with the 2500 year old structure and the amazing history. There is a lot of scaffolding, with restoration underway. We happily walked back down to Nick and his Mercedes Van, which luxuriously seated 10. By then we were quite warm and asked for a/c! From there we drove to the Olympic Stadium, completely made of marble and built for the Olympics in 1896 and is very well preserved today.

From there it was the National Gardens to see the Temple of Zeus - of the original 104 columns, only 16 remain, and one of those is on the ground. We had lunch near the Agora. Gyros (some with and some without french fries actually on the gyro) and Mythos beer and the best baklava imaginable. From there we went to the New Acropolis Museum which is built over ruins and has glass floors so that you can see the ruins below. It opened in June 2009, and btw, had beautiful bathrooms (ahhhh!).

On the drive back we discussed the haze over the Agean Sea and Nick told us it was sands of the Sahara floating in the atmosphere. He said it isn't a very common occurrence, but it rained red mud a couple of days ago.

And back to the ship. We didn't mind coming back a little early because we wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather on our deck. We highly recommend Athens by Taxi and are grateful to all the posters on Cruise Critic who had posted their experiences. For anyone interested the price was 450 euros for 6 and we purchased our own tickets for the Acropolis, National Gardens, Agora (12 euros each) and the National Museum (5 euros each). nothing but luxury and no lines, no crowds.

Sailing for Turkey in about an hour.

Cathy

[juried]

Wow. Thank you for posting. I'm loving every minute of this dream cruise.

I adore transatlatic cruises, waking every day in a different country, it's surreal.

We leave for our GV Gem cruise on Sunday. Not Greece or Italy, but Bahamas and Florida ... :rolleyes:

Wishing you calm seas and safe travels,

Juried

[Fishbait17]

Hope you are enjoying "our" GV! Have you found the puzzle piece we lost over the holidays in that suite? Imagine, finishing a 1000 piece puzzle, only to find 999 pieces! Hehehe

 

The tea chest makes great iced tea (of many varieties)- I am assuming you found it in the bar cabinet... Just brew some, ask Roland for sugar and lemon, and keep a pitcher in the fridge.

 

Tell Monica and Roland that the Rixon's say hello! We are planning to stay there again soon, just need to find the right dates!

 

Robin

[MRDIAL]

I'm loving the updates, but I'm wondering if all this special treatment is just for GV residents or do those of us who will be cruising in "steerage" be treated just as well? I've never been on an NCL cruise; just RCCL, HAL and Princess.;)

[Stillfloatin']

I'm loving the updates, but I'm wondering if all this special treatment is just for GV residents or do those of us who will be cruising in "steerage" be treated just as well? I've never been on an NCL cruise; just RCCL, HAL and Princess.;)

 

Definitely perks of the "suite" life. Not to say you won't get plenty of smiles and good service from the rest of the crew, but the special service comes with a price. :D

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

We never really had a burning desire to visit Turkey, but we had a fantastic excursion today. We had booked GoEphesus for a full day. Including driver and guide, a beautiful 15 passenger van, lunch (we had to buy our own drinks $13 for all), entrance fees to Mary's House, Ephesus and The Terrace Houses the cost for 6 adults was $480 plus tip. We were picked up as soon as we docked and returned to the ship around 3:30. Our guide, Oya, is 23 and a licensed professional guide. She speaks excellent English (and German and Russian and a couple of other languages) and kept us well informed. The drive from the port (3rd largest in Turkey) in Izmir to Ephesus is about an hour. We visited Mary's House first. Thank goodness for the workout we got in Greece yesterday - it prepared us for all the walking in Turkey. Mary's House is at the top of a what we would call a mountain in Texas, but people in Colorado would probably classify it as a large hill. The house is very small and has been restored. There doesn't seem to be any real proof that this was truly Mary's House during her last years, it's more a "legend". But it was a very serene place.

From there we circled back to Ephesus. Our driver dropped us off at the top of the ancient city and left to pick us up at the bottom. We saw a lot of structures and ruins and were told that everything we saw is only 20% of what the archaeologists think is buried. The trip down starts where the religious people lived, then you pass through gates that separated the rest of the people. It was all very interesting and got crowded quickly. We were the only large ship in port (there was a medium sized French ship) and Oya told us in the summer there are sometimes 4 or 5 ships in port and it is very hot. I can't even imagine. There is a place at the top with souvenirs, bottled water for sale and bathrooms. You have to go all the way to the bottom for your next pit stop or water. You pass a library, a brothel, temples and miscellaneous columns, There were two amphitheaters, one small that seats 2000 people in the religious section and one huge, seating 30,000 people located past the Terrace Houses. There are still live performances every summer, and Oya had been to see Elton John perform there last summer.

While it was all great, the most amazing thing we saw was the Terrace Houses. In my mind we would be passing in front of a row of condo type homes, maybe cordoned off for us to peer in and see some of the things we had heard about. It wasn't anything like that at all. About three of the houses (which are all attached) have been unearthed and are being restored. There were workers there today, restoring marble walls to the dining room of the first house we entered. This dining room was about 3,000 square feet. The Terrace Houses are 3 to 4 stories tall and pathways have been constructed of glass so that you start at ground level of house number one and end up at the very top of house number 3. They all had outdoor patios with fountains, pipes that contained hot water to heat the home, huge baths with water flowing from hot to warm as it tumbled down to the bathing pool and bathrooms. There were frescoes on the walls and original mosaic tile floors with, for example, a huge lion on the kitchen floor. The climb to the top was gradual - you would go up about 8-10 steps and be on a platform with a walkway over a different section. Then up a few more feet and a walkway in another direction. Since the house is built up agains the hill/mountain, when you reach the very top of the house you step outside to a back patio. Then we walked all the way back down a set of outdoor steps to the bottom and back out onto the marble streets of Ephesus. It was a climb for sure. In fact it would be a difficult visit to Ephesus for the handicapped and impossible to visit the Terrace Houses. The Terrace Houses are about half way down the Ephesus main road and require a separate ticket to enter. Because the busses do NOT include the Terrace House, it wasn't crowded at all. Our original tour did not include it, but we requested it.

We left Ephesus in time for a traditional Mediterranean buffet. We asked to see jewelry and leather. The jewelry was housed in, surprise, a carpet company's building. We had to pass by two floors of rugs to get to the jewelry. No real pressure along the way, but the jewelry wasn't anything we couldn't find at home. From there we visited a leather showhouse where we made a few purchases of beautiful leather coats. They also had Genuine Fake signs at several shopping areas for watches, purses and wallets. Traffic was bad getting back to the ship but we made it with about an hour to spare.

Back on board and looking forward to a day at sea tomorrow where we have booked reservations for a special brunch at Le Bistro. Dinner tonight in the Grand Pacific dining room - no jeans.

Thanks for all your posts!

Cathy

[Turtles06]

Cathy,

 

Glad to read you enjoyed Ephesus. Our tour there (with Ekol Tours) was the single most enjoyable day of our cruise last month. And yes, the Terrace Houses are not to be missed.

 

BTW -- in terms of jeans and the Grand Pacific MDR: one evening, we were having drinks and then decided to go eat in the Grand Pacific. I wasn't even focused on the fact that I was wearing blue jeans. They let me in without comment. I don't think they really care.

 

We're enjoying your posts; they mirror our wonderful experiences last month. Hope you have a great rest of the trip!

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for the wonderful description of the Terrace Houses. We are going there. I do have one question: did you need lira to buy the drinks or for the entrance fees? I'm trying to decide whether or not to get some. Also, how did the prices of the leather coats compare to the US? Thanks

[Turtles06]

Thanks for the wonderful description of the Terrace Houses. We are going there. I do have one question: did you need lira to buy the drinks or for the entrance fees? I'm trying to decide whether or not to get some. Also, how did the prices of the leather coats compare to the US? Thanks

 

Sunshine, we got Turkish Lira in advance and it was totally unnecessary (we did a private tour to Ephesus). The vendors at the "tourist sites" quoted all prices in Euros and dollars and were happy to accept either. [i can't say for sure about the entrance fees to Ephesus, as our guide handled this as part of the cost of our tour. But everyone else we dealt with was taking dollars and Euros.]

 

(Making matters worse, it turned out the lira we'd been sold in the U.S. by Travelex had been taken out of circulation on Jan. 1 and were worthless. See my separate post here about to watch out for in terms of the paper currency if you do intend to buy lira before your trip:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1146416 )

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Thanks for the wonderful description of the Terrace Houses. We are going there. I do have one question: did you need lira to buy the drinks or for the entrance fees? I'm trying to decide whether or not to get some. Also, how did the prices of the leather coats compare to the US? Thanks

 

I wouldn't consider getting Turkish Lira. We used US $$ everywhere and they were happy to take them. Not sure about the prices, but we found a very light weight coat we liked and negotiated the heck out of the price they offered originally - so we are happy we got something we like at a price we through was fair. We were at Naturel on the highway to Ephesus.

[sunshine nana]

Thanks to you both for the heads up on the lira. As for the leather coats, my little sister was in Italy years ago( they were teachers chaperoning a school trip) and wanted a green leather jacket, but with kids in college etc. she couldn't buy it. I want to get her one if I can. Maybe I'll get one too!

[Terginq]

Thank you so much for this awesome thread WhenIsOurNextCruise. I am sailing on the March 7th Jade with my daughter and sister. Great information. We are booked with several of the same tours you mention and can hardly wait! Please keep the info coming. Are you doing an overnight trip in Egypt? Looking forward to your next post.... !

THANKS!

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Beautiful day on our way to Cairo. 68 degrees and rising. Seas are classified as "rough" at 5-12 feet but the sailing really is smooth!

As requested earlier....

• Captain - Harvard Ramsey (in his 30's - young, visible, competent)
  
• Staff Captain - Steven Tepper (also in his 30's, friendly, from the U.S.)
  
• Hotel Director - Armando Da Silva
  
• Assistant Hotel Director - Dallas Easterly (from Texas - y'all)
  
• Guest Relations Manager - Sonja Sommeregger
  
• Cruise Director - Jill Tasher
  
• Food and Beverage Director - Musad Bucuk
  
• Casino Manager - Terrence Keenan
  
• Restaurant Manager - Aydin Kaya
  
• Concierge - Monica Fotache
  

And now a few words about Monica. She has been a very pleasant surprise. Since we're coming into baseball season, let's just say that she stepped up the plate and hit one out of the park. Alex Forbes set a high standard from our previous cruise and Monica has gained just as much respect and appreciation. I know that she knows we are in the GV, and we probably do receive special attention as a result,. But just about everytime we enter the Star Bar or the forward side of Cagney's she is working with someone at her desk.

• In port, Monica meets us in our room and escorts us to the gangway, which makes is so easy to leave the ship.
  
• When we go to the main dining room, she meets us in the area in front of the entry and escorts us to a lovely table with a view.
  
• She has gotten us reservations in the spa, at the brunch, in the restaurants and dining room.
  
• She is personally bringing our passports to us, which means we avoid the line which is going to be quite lengthy.
  
• She is very friendly and stops to chat any time we run into her and has actually come by our suite to determine our plans and whether we have any requests.
  
• We mentioned to Monica that the service was slow in the Italian restaurant but that it wasn't a big deal. She contacted the restaurant manager and he was very apologetic and offered us a couple of bottles of wine. We told her it wasn't THAT bad, just not as nice as we had hoped it would be. We declined the wine offer, but iappreciated that she followed up on our remarks.
  

We find her to be friendly, professional, pro-active, accommodating, pleasant, calm, and available. What more cdould we ask? We are very happy with the service she provides and look forward to the second half of our cruise with her. Roland is doing a great job and will post more about him later.

Also, the Garden Buffet is now self serve and we have heard no word of anyone being ill. We are doing the overnight at the Mena House in Cairo and thinking about packing a bag. Also we have a few concerns because Lufthansa is striking until Thursday and we are flying on Friday. And Frankfurt will be a mess again. Oh well, I'm sure we will get home eventually. If we get held up, it is much better AFTER the cruise than before. We heard that several people boarded at our first port in Rome because a flight that wasn't full in Atlanta was cancelled and they had to wait 48 hours to get out of Atlanta. That's awful!

More later. Off to brunch.

Cathy

[Turtles06]

Cathy, I'm happy to see you've been really pleased with Monica. As I've posted before, we thought she was terrific, and indeed she was a big factor in how much we enjoyed our cruise last month. Particularly with some of those late-clearances in port, being escorted quickly off the ship once it was finally cleared was a huge plus in how much time we had ashore.

 

The Mena House is gorgeous. I hope you have more time there than we did just to enjoy it. Have fun in Egypt; it's an adventure.

[sjbdtz]

From there we went to the New Acropolis Museum which is built over ruins and has glass floors so that you can see the ruins below. It opened in June 2009,......we purchased our own tickets for the Acropolis, National Gardens, Agora (12 euros each) and the National Museum (5 euros each).

 

 

 

Were the tickets for the Acropolis Museum 5 euro? They were 1 Euro last year (opening year)and the people working there had no idea what price would be set in the future.....definately worth going to. I loved looking down and seeing the ruins in situ.

[lhall85917]

Great thread, I'm looking forward to hearing more! I really appreciate you sharing each day's activities as many of these are stops we will have this summer on the Gem. I'm also happy that you are enjoying the Jade - we had a fantastic cruise on her last summer!

[jalynn]

Along with several other posters, I'm on the March 7 sailing. Thank you, WhenIsOurNextCruise, for taking the time to write such detailed posts. I am totally enjoying them.

 

The weather sounds warmer than I thought it might be. (Yay!!) Are you wearing slacks and taking a light jacket on tours? Or short sleeves?

 

Your suite sounds wonderful. We will make do with a balcony :-)) and be happy to have it!

 

Can't wait! Less than two weeks 'til our flight! (the number of exclamation points I use increases a the cruise becomes closer!!)

 

Jo Ann

[DonMar]

Cathy,

 

Thanks again for another great report. Enjoy your two days in Egypt. Cannot wait to hear all about it.

 

I am thrilled to hear that people are not sick - as signaled by the self service in the buffet being restored.

 

Margaret

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Were the tickets for the Acropolis Museum 5 euro? They were 1 Euro last year (opening year)and the people working there had no idea what price would be set in the future.....definately worth going to. I loved looking down and seeing the ruins in situ.

 

Yes, 5 euros and a beautiful museum. Really enjoyed the patio view of the Acropolis. No cameras inside the museum.....

Cathy

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Along with several other posters, I'm on the March 7 sailing. Thank you, WhenIsOurNextCruise, for taking the time to write such detailed posts. I am totally enjoying them.

 

The weather sounds warmer than I thought it might be. (Yay!!) Are you wearing slacks and taking a light jacket on tours? Or short sleeves?

 

Your suite sounds wonderful. We will make do with a balcony :-)) and be happy to have it!

 

Can't wait! Less than two weeks 'til our flight! (the number of exclamation points I use increases a the cruise becomes closer!!)

 

Jo Ann

 

Jo Ann,

We are wearing a light jacket and usually shedding mid afternoon (or after a really strenuous uphill trek!). Also, capris or jeans. But in Cairo tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 80's. It will be short sleeves but a light jacket for evening. And we're going to dinner at the Mena House so we will all have to pack something light.

 

I know you will love your cruise....

Cathy

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Great thread, I'm looking forward to hearing more! I really appreciate you sharing each day's activities as many of these are stops we will have this summer on the Gem. I'm also happy that you are enjoying the Jade - we had a fantastic cruise on her last summer!

 

We loved the Gem last year - it is, as I'm sure you know, very similar to the Jade. We are happy to be here when it's a little cooler than it will be this summer. And we heard that Ephesus is VERY crowded in the summer. Enjoy your cruise.

Cathy

[br00ke]

Thank you for the great review. Can you comment on whether or not any of the bathrooms would be suitable for someone who is handicapped?