Spirit-ing Istanbul to Athens

[duct tape]

Another turnover day accomplished. All debarking guests were off by 9:30 AM. Pretty early. It may be a quieter segment as the ship is not full. 31 in-transit, 296 boarding including 103 Venetians. Already have seen some friendly, familiar faces. Cruising friends from the past. Great to see them again. Drill @ 5, followed by A Taste of... @ 5:45, the in-transit party @ 6...dinner in Stars. Tired already!

[Emtbsam]

Bon Voyage Duct Tape and Wellseasoned. Wish we were there. Only a month or so until we board in Barcelona.

[duct tape]

We will toast you! Not such a great day in the northern Aegean. Chilly, damp, high winds, rockin' & rollin'. Will arrive Kavala soon (about 12 N). John Fleming is our destination lecturer so there is mucho to be learned and viewed from Tracy's photos. Welcome Reception this evening.

[Cardinal Gal]

S:

It was great to meet you and your husband. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Safe travels home before your next adventure!

S

[WesW]

Echo Emtbsam's Bon Voyage well wishes for Mr. dt and you as well as BV for Wellseasoned (Dieter & Debbie). Look forward to reading more about Spiriting Ist to Athens, thank you dt. Hopefully we will hear from Dieter too.

[duct tape]

Thessaloniki. The historical ruins are in the middle of nowhere, under a mound. Similar to the Chinese. The museum has been built into the mound and roofed. Clever. Beautiful stuff.

[dougburns]

Duct Tape; Please pass my and Lynn's best wishes for a speedy recovery to Dieter Bloser. I sent him an e-mail, but don't know if he's watching it from his wheel chair. Have his butler bring him a good bottle of single malt scotch. That will certainly help with the pain. Thanks!

[duct tape]

Done, dougburns. He got your e-mail.

Yesterday, Volos. Home of Jason and the Argonauts at Lolkos. We were to dock. The Capt. tried but was defeated by the wind. Anchors dropped, tenders lowered, long rocky ride. Established in the 14th C. This island has been inhabited since the Neolithic Era. The excursion to the monasteries of Meteora was very popular but the weather did not cooperate, visibility was poor. The pictures I have seen, from another time, are breathtaking. Tall crags of rock with extensive monasteries mounted on top! Too much of a climb for me.

[duct tape]

Busted! I will redo the post but later. Mykonos.

Edited October 12, 2015 by duct tape

[gismo1554]

Afternoon. Just wanted to interrupt to ask who the Captain, Food & Beverage and Entertainment Managers are at the moment. We are coming on in November and were just curious. How have they been?

[spinnaker2]

Hope Mykonos was wonderful.

Keep enjoying.

[duct tape]

Gismo1554, Capt Pontillo, GRM Tim, HD Flávio, CD Moss, Maitre'd Jorge. I think they will all still be aboard for the crossing.

Back to Mykonos! We made it this time. We docked at the New Port. It has been given a lot of attention and added a small marina as well as additional ship slips, paving, landscaping, etc.

The shuttle bus still goes to the same parking lot and it is still a bit of a hike, but do-able. Better idea...there is now a water taxi that runs between the New Port, the parking lot and downtown. The dock in town is behind the boat to Delos, near the street chapel. It docks directly across the street from the ship. 2 euros RT!! Plus you get another boat ride.

As for my mission to the Pure and White shop, it did not disappoint. I think it changed hands but they still carry fine linen and cotton clothing. They are now open all year, not just in season. So, no End Of Season Sale but we did get a volume discount!

Since I had been giving the Capt. A bad time about the missed visit, he did mention at the Venetian Party that he was glad and relieved that S got to go shopping! Funny

107 Venetians aboard, 2 complimentary weeks to a British couple to mark 500 days and a few 250 day-ers as well as a few getting free laundry!

Edited October 16, 2015 by duct tape
Additional info

[duct tape]

Rhodes, overnight, but sailed at 6 AM so not much liberty for the crew. The dockage has been expanded and there were 2 other big ships in. Obviously crowded! This is a favorite of mine since I am a big fan of the Knights Hospitalier. Fostered the first hospices along the trails of the Crusade. Nice walk around the town with a stop for ouzo and yogurt at the cafe on the Fountain Square. We had dinner outside on the Terrazza veranda with some friends. A lovely evening watching the lights in town, on the water and watching passing yachts.

Edited October 16, 2015 by duct tape

[duct tape]

Marmaris, another fave! I obviously enjoy Turkey. Always wanted to ride in a galette but the excursions in the past have been exorbitant. This trip, there was a reasonable rate offered. Beautiful ship, high gloss, sparkling wood with lots of spots to lie in the sun, sit in the sun or do both in the shade. Very comfortable cushions and furniture. They served lots of local fresh fruit and assorted beverages, adult beverages included. 1st world problem...they ran out of beer. A few of the guests made such a big deal of it, they demanded their money back! Bull

The weather was glorious, the water was clear all the way to the bottom and 3 stops were made for swimming, very nice ladder. I do believe most of us (14) really enjoyed it. I would do it again in a minute. Too bad The Hub was under the covers and missed it. A great day!

[duct tape]

Returned to Kusadasi. Since The Hub is unwell, my mission to get a new Kilim is on hold until next time! Hung around the ship, had the pool to myself. Large group to Ephesus for the evening concert. Folks raving about the tour to the Terrace Houses. Much has been excavated since our last visit. Another pleasant dinner with a friend.

[duct tape]

Finally, Patmos. High on my list but too much to do with The Hub not well. All of the info describes an interesting, livable, up-coming island with great ruins and monasteries. You can see old structures atop the hills. Some day.

Back to Athens today. Late debark after lunch on the pool deck. Farewell show early last evening, well attended and entertaining. CD Moss has a really good time on stage.

Final dinner with some cruising friends and then rounds about the ship for farewell hugs.

It was a very nice cruise with great weather. As mentioned earlier, the Spirit appears to be growing on me!

At the airport. Paris here we come for a few days!

Talk to you in 10 days from the Whisper! Be well, all.

[Emtbsam]

DT - Bon sejour a Paris!

[WesW]

bravo dt, wonderful posts--makes us feel as we are there (swimming but not the shopping :)) with you--thank you for posting.

[brimary]

DT many thanks for your great reports from this beautiful area.Hope J recovers quickly (give him our best wishes) and you enjoy your Whisper cruise.

[Silver Spectre]

Have a safe trip to Paris and hope you are both well enough to enjoy it. Wrap up warm!

[gismo1554]

Great trip report and thank you so much for answering my question!

[Wellseasoned]

I thought I'd continue duct tape's thread a little bit since we have been aboard the Spirit since Istanbul and are now continuing, Athens to Athens. I have not been very active on this cruise since falling in Istanbul the day before boarding and aggravating a knee injury. (No fewer than five people tried to sell us a rug as we hobbled back to the hotel!) The Four Seasons Sultanahmet is a wonderful hotel adjacent to Hagia Sophia. Great rooftop bar. We recommend it highly.

 

Living on the ship as if it were a crossing during a port-intensive cruise is strange, but it really showed me what a well-oiled machine the Spirit is. The crew has been outstanding, and this is what really keeps us coming back. Their happiness and cameraderie are contageous. The butler and steward service have been superb.

 

The food has been excellent, reflecting the skills and care of wonderful executive chef Anne-Mari Cornelius. By the way, she does great cooking demos. The gourmet burgers now featured on the MDR dinner menus are indeed a bizarre idea. I haven't seen any ordered. The previous always available items are still always available, even though not listed on the daily menu. Another curious feature on the menus is that each choice now lists every ingredient it contains. I suppose that this is to alert anyone with a potential allergy or intolerance. The pool deck menu has changed, and the burgers there are much improved. The La Terrazza menu has been very good, and it is run very well by Donato. We have had no trouble getting reservations there and at STARS with same day requests. Of course, the ship is not full, which helps.

 

We much enjoyed sailing with the duct tapes again and had a nice dinner together their last night aboard. The passenger mix has been pleasant and people seem to be happy. On this current Athens to Athens leg, the average age seems distinctly lower, with many more younger passengers than before. I think that the average age is probably about 10 years younger, maybe more. An active group!

 

There were ten people signed up for the meet and mingle on this leg, but I don't know if it happened. We never received an invitation, so I think not. Don't know why.

 

The Cruise Director, Moss Hills, is simply terrific. Very competent, very pleasant and personable, a delight to know, and a talented musician.

 

Our itinerary has been changed due to the Israel troubles. Ashdod port was cancelled, as well as all of the ship's tours to Jerusalem. We are now at Haifa overnight, with tours today and tomorrow, including very long ones to Masada and to Nazareth, etc. Rhodes has been added to the port stops.

 

Enough for now. Must go to team trivia. We had eight straight wins until losing yesterday. Oh, well.

[mysty]

Thank you Wellseasoned for your updates! Enjoy the rest of your travels!

[Fab22]

Hi Wellseasoned,

Thank you for continuing the dialogue from the Spirit.

We will be joining the ship in Rome on 2 Nov..... Can hardly wait.

I hope a question is not out of order? Is Somollier Darwin on board the Spirit ?

Fab22

[WesW]

Thanks for continuing dt's wonderful Spirit thread Dieter (and Debbie). Very happy to hear you're mending from your unfortunate fall. Good work on Team Trivia, now begin a new winning streak.