Live from the Whisper: Venice to Athens

[RachelG]

Love Santorini. What a great day!

[CruiseCat99]

Good morning from Mykonos, Greece.

We are tendered with 3 large ships in port. An early morning announcement was made that due to “deteriorating weather conditions” we will be leaving at 6:00pm instead of 10:00pm. No specific information was given.

It is sunny and warm here.

We did not have much planned for today. Kind of a built in rest day before our two tours tomorrow.

We will get off the ship in a little bit and wonder the old town and maybe Little Venice a bit. No real agenda or rush today.

 

We received some sad news in the night, as our pet sitter called to tell us one of our elderly cats was having trouble breathing. Being that she is quite old for a cat, we are having our vet come to the house to do an assessment today. We don’t want to put her through a lot of stress, nor do we want her in pain. This is very difficult for my husband as he has bonded so much with her since his retirement. We are hoping for the best, but planning for the potential of her not being there when we get home late next week.

We know she is in good hands with our trusted people back home. We also know that from 9000 miles away, there is absolutely nothing we can do. Hopefully this won’t weigh heavily on us for the remainer of the vacation.

[CruiseCat99]

Mykonos, Greece

 

After a leisurely morning, we went to tender ashore. It was a bit choppy on the way over, with some people in the tenders getting wet! We tendered to the old town, and it was packed, wall to wall people.

We explored the narrow streets, found the old bakery and had a snack, and walked up to the Windmills. It was so windy that the sand was painful when it hit you. Many people lost their hats.

After winding through Little Venice we decided to go back to the ship. There were just too many people and too much wind to be enjoyable.

Many others must have felt the same way, as our tender back was full. We had a difficult time coming to the ship and were turned away twice while the ship was repositioned. The seas started rolling.

We had lunch on the pool deck, then headed back to nap and relax in the cabin. We heard from our vet and had to make the difficult but wise decision to end the suffering of our little girl cat. :loudcry: She was in heart failure. It was the kind thing to do. We had a toast of Scotch in her honor, shed some tears, and watched a movie. Sad moment for us.

As the afternoon went on, the seas churned more and more. We set sail at 6:00 on the dot! The Captain explained that we will probably have a rough time getting to Turkey tonight, and he wanted to give us as much time as possible to make it there smoothly. I took a motion sickness medication just in case.

We have dinner in La Terraza tonight. We have already decided to skip the show, a tribute to Andrea Bocelli. I love Andrea Bocelli, and cannot bear to hear a subpar rendition... so rather than be disappointed, we are opting for movie night in the suite. Anyone know if we can order popcorn???

[jpalbny]

Our sympathies for the loss of your dear cat. We had a similar situation years back and we had to decide what to do from Hawaii. So sorry that this happened.

 

In the end we made the same decision you did, and felt terrible for not being there. I hope you find some comfort in your surroundings and it eases your pain just a little bit.

 

Enjoying your report otherwise - following along from Silver Wind here in the North Sea. The one time we visited Mykonos, we went to Delos and walked through the ruins.

 

Enjoy LT - we ate there 2 nights ago and it was great.

 

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[SLSD]

CruiseCat99, Sending condolences on the death of your cat. We do get so close to our furry family members.

 

Interested to hear how crowded Mykonos has become. We were there 13 years ago and it was not crowded at all. Too many cruise ships?

[CruiseCat99]

CruiseCat99, Sending condolences on the death of your cat. We do get so close to our furry family members.

 

Interested to hear how crowded Mykonos has become. We were there 13 years ago and it was not crowded at all. Too many cruise ships?

Thank you for the condolences. She had been a member of my family for 19 years.

 

There were 3 large ships in port, 2 Royal Caribbean and a Costa ship, and then us.... plus all the ferries. Packed!

[CruiseCat99]

Our sympathies for the loss of your dear cat. We had a similar situation years back and we had to decide what to do from Hawaii. So sorry that this happened.

 

In the end we made the same decision you did, and felt terrible for not being there. I hope you find some comfort in your surroundings and it eases your pain just a little bit.

 

Enjoying your report otherwise - following along from Silver Wind here in the North Sea. The one time we visited Mykonos, we went to Delos and walked through the ruins.

 

Enjoy LT - we ate there 2 nights ago and it was great.

 

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Thank you for the sympathies. She will be so missed. We do regret not being there, but our kind vet assured us that she was probably unaware of her surroundings anyway...

 

We wanted to go to Delos, but between the delays due to the rough seas and our continued lack of energy (probably enhanced by our grief), we just were not up for it today.

[CruiseCat99]

Kusadasi, Turkey

 

We were loudly awoken this morning by our Butler bringing breakfast! Apparently we were asleep harder than expected. We ate a hearty breakfast as we had an all day tour of Ephesus. Our bus left at 8:45am and our first stop was to the Ephesus Museum. The statues and artifacts here are quite breathtaking. We had two guides with us, one was an actual archaeologist who has worked on the site. From there, we went to Ephesus. The tour was amazing and informative, however a bit long. My feet were already tired and the explanations and all the standing was draining. The hubby and I have studied Ephesus from home with The Great Courses as well as books and genuine interest. Perhaps because of this we felt the tour moved too slow for our pace. It was also hot, very hot.

About halfway through the tour, we entered the Terrace Houses. Beautiful and well worth the extra time. Most of our tour did not complete the climb inside due to fatigue.

Finally we had about 10 minutes to take photos of the library and walk to the amphitheater, which I felt was not enough time when we had spent so much time at the other places.

When I booked the tour, I remembered it being 5.5 hours and no lunch. However, we were already 5 plus hours in, and our guide announced he was going to take us for a traditional Turkish lunch. We went to a “local” place for a delicious lunch of starters, kebob, and local beer or wine. The food was delicious and we were all starving. After lunch, we drove back to the ship where we could opt for a carpet demonstration (sales pitch) if we wanted. We opted not to, as did most others. The tour ended for us at 4:00pm. That is way more than 5.5 hours, but a good tour none the less.

I am resting my feet as we have the concert in Ephesus tonight booked as well.

[Unibok]

Your experience in Kusadasi sounds amazing, CruiseCat. For once, it was a nice surprise when the excursion was a bit different than advertised.

 

Good thing you slept in, so you had the extra energy! And, oh, do I want to go there some day.

 

Thanks for bringing us along on your cruise,

[Emtbsam]

CruiseCat99

 

I echo the condolences offered by your friends here on cc.com. 19 years is a wonderful life, and I am sure she knew she was greatly loved. We leave home in 10 days and will have the same concerns about our 18+ year old girl. She will be with a wonderful cat sitter, and we have even built a special set of stairs so she will be able to see out windows and socialize if she cares to. None the less, it is a difficult decision to make and I hope that the remainder of your cruise will give you some peace.

[RachelG]

So sorry to hear about your cat! We love our animals. I have decided that when Missy, Our Maine coon, passes, I am not going to get any more animals as it is just too difficult when we travel.

 

We have done that same tour in Ephasus and I can’t believe they listed it at 5.5 hours. It is a great tour though.

[CruiseCat99]

I tried to post a review of the concert last night, but it didn’t seem to take.

Since our tour provided a late lunch, we skipped dinner. Dinner was offered at 5:30pm in The Restaurant for those people who want to dinner but had the early concert. We boarded the bus at 7:00 PM and headed back to Ephesus. When we arrived there was no one there lovely tables were set up with candles and we were served red and white wine with a mix of nuts. When the concert was ready to begin we were escorted to the theater. It was not the large amp a theater but the small theater that was used for Parliament. Cushions were provided and we were enchanted with that wonderful location and beautiful classical music for around an hour. Refills on our drinks were served at intermission. This tour was worth every penny as it truly was magical listening to music in an ancient location.

I would not hesitate to book this tour again.

[Tothesunset]

I tried to post a review of the concert last night, but it didn’t seem to take.

Since our tour provided a late lunch, we skipped dinner. Dinner was offered at 5:30pm in The Restaurant for those people who want to dinner but had the early concert. We boarded the bus at 7:00 PM and headed back to Ephesus. When we arrived there was no one there lovely tables were set up with candles and we were served red and white wine with a mix of nuts. When the concert was ready to begin we were escorted to the theater. It was not the large amp a theater but the small theater that was used for Parliament. Cushions were provided and we were enchanted with that wonderful location and beautiful classical music for around an hour. Refills on our drinks were served at intermission. This tour was worth every penny as it truly was magical listening to music in an ancient location.

I would not hesitate to book this tour again.

I think that adds one extra item to my bucket list! So many things, so little time...

[CruiseCat99]

Chios, Greece.

 

We were up early again this morning for the Chios panorama tour. We were only in port until 1:00pm, so it was hard to fit in the many options. The tour description stated we would be visiting the Homer stone where are the poet Homer taught and passed on his famous stories that turned into the Iliad and the Odyssey. The tour also stated we would visit a citrus plantation and end at a library that was famous for its collection of books and art.

In reality, the Homer stone is a big rock up a few stairs with absolutely no mention of Homer anywhere. There used to be a temple to the goddess Artemis in the same location.

The citrus plantation was also a disappointment. We were taken to a beautiful location, herdedinside to watch a 20 minute video, and left to buy things in the gift shop. The video had its charm, but spent a good deal of time lamenting the loss of the old ways of harvesting citrus. There was so much potential here! They could have provided fruit to taste, walked us through the rows of citrus fruits, and talked to us instead of the video.

We waited and waited, and waited for our guide back at the bus. She finally came with an explanation that it takes a lot of time to make the Greek coffee she had ordered back at the shop.

Our final stop ended back by the ship where we had to navigate a very busy road up a hill to the library.

It was a dangerous walk, and we did not feel safe with the scooters wizzing by.

Here the library was small. They wanted us to store our bags in a staff room, and rather than do that, we opted to leave. I have no idea why this place is on a tour stop. The ladies at the library didn’t seem to know we were even coming!

We turned in our audio devices and made our way through town and back to the ship. We decided $99 each was way too much money for what we were offered here. We would have had a lovely time on the Chips Highlights tour or just on our own wondering the local shops.

Lesson learned.

Back on board I have scheduled a massage for later, mostly to help my aching feet! The hubby decided to do laundry before we pack up tomorrow.

We will have almost all clean clothes before our stop in Athens!!

[wripro]

I tried to post a review of the concert last night, but it didn’t seem to take.

Since our tour provided a late lunch, we skipped dinner. Dinner was offered at 5:30pm in The Restaurant for those people who want to dinner but had the early concert. We boarded the bus at 7:00 PM and headed back to Ephesus. When we arrived there was no one there lovely tables were set up with candles and we were served red and white wine with a mix of nuts. When the concert was ready to begin we were escorted to the theater. It was not the large amp a theater but the small theater that was used for Parliament. Cushions were provided and we were enchanted with that wonderful location and beautiful classical music for around an hour. Refills on our drinks were served at intermission. This tour was worth every penny as it truly was magical listening to music in an ancient location.

I would not hesitate to book this tour again.

 

Remember the good old days when they didn't charge for the evening concert at Ephesus?

[CruiseCat99]

Remember the good old days when they didn't charge for the evening concert at Ephesus?

I don’t, but at $249 a pop, they are making bank on it!!!

[CruiseCat99]

Nafpilon, Greece

 

Today was another early start. We were tendered, and met for our tour in the show lounge. We boarded the bus to the Theater of Epidurious. This was a spectacular theater to see. Then we went in to the citidal of Mycenaean, and under the famous Lions Gate. Again, too much time standing, listening to the guide, and not enough time to actually enjoy the sites. If we ever come back, we will book private tours or go on our own. Again, we had taken extensive courses to study the history and information of each site we visited on this cruise, so we may be biased by this. In Mycenae, we ditched the guide halfway and went to the top on our own. We wouldn’t have been able to do that if we had stayed with the tour. We did make it back down and rejoin the tour without being disruptive or late, as we were the first back on the bus! We just didn’t need to stand at one spot for 20 minutes in the sun to hear infomation we had studied extensively.

The tour also stopped at the dome tomb which is impressive. On the way back, we had a 30 minute stop at a lovely hotel for drinks.

The port town is beautiful. We enjoyed the shops and beautiful streets. We had an authentic Greek lunch with the locals. The man seemed surprised I didn’t speak Greek! We found an Ozuo shop and bought a small bottle that we enjoyed back at the ship.

We slowly made our way back to the ship, and made the sad effort to pack.

Our vacation doesn’t end, as we have 4 days in Athens. However, it is always sad when the cruise ends.

[jpalbny]

Loved Nafplion. But we rented a car and went to Mycenae and Epidaurus theater independently. But because we were on our own, we did a bunch of other stuff too - Acrocorinth, and ancient Corinth, plus a stop at the canal. And a stop in Tiryns. And we had time to climb the fort in Nafplion too.

 

You sound like the types who would enjoy going off on your own, as you do the research and know what you want. We prefer that too. It's hard work but usually worth it.

 

Enjoyed your report lots. Have a great time in Athens! Four days will give you a lot of time to see most everything.

 

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[CruiseCat99]

Thanks JP! Enjoying your report as well. We are usually very independent and book our own tours, but this was the first time in Europe, so we felt a little out of our league. Now that we are more experienced, we will know for next time.

[CruiseCat99]

We made it off the ship and had no trouble getting a taxi into Athens today. We have rented an apartment looking up to the Acropolis in the Plaka neighborhood. We will be here for 4 nights.

Disembarkation was easy. We had coffee in our room this morning. My only complaint was they turned off the TV at 7:00am and WiFi at 9:00am, but we did not have to leave our rooms until 8:39 am and were not called to exit the ship until 9:3am.

I’ll post over all impressions a little while later. We are just settling into our apartment.

[CruiseCat99]

Overall impressions:

 

The ship has some signs of age, but it is scheduled for dry dock soon. Nothing took away from the experience. We had a vista suite, the first time I have ever cruised without a veranda. Honestly, I didn’t miss it. I wondered if I would, but with the port intensive cruise and not utilizing it at all on my last cruise, our suite was just fine. The money we didn’t spend on the veranda was well spent on the excursions and the experiences we had instead.

Some nice touches to note in the suite: The alarm clock had a wireless charging pad on the top that was compatible with my iPhone 8, and that freed up a plug. Plenty of hangers in the closet. The on demand movies were nice, but there was a distinct lack of television programming unless you wanted news channels. We prefer to unwind with a tv show or comedy at night, so we did miss that a bit.

The Complementary WiFi was sufficient for my needs. Mostly I was posting here, or checking maps and weather.

The entertainment on board was not good. After the first few nights, we stopped staying up for the shows. Even the resident pianists were lacking in talent. Again, I am biased because of my musical training, but there was just no enthusiasm or passion in any of the music on board. Also a lack of depth and phrasing from all the performers. Phrasing is something that makes music tell a story, and it wasn’t present. Anyway, again, not a reason we cruise, so didn’t detract from our enjoyment.

The food was very good. Surprisingly, one of the best meals was in the Restaurant. The 34 day dry aged beef was wonderful when it was offered. My only wish was that the menus changed more frequently in La Terraza.

We never ventured out of the suite for breakfast, having coffee and a light breakfast is preferred for us, especially since we almost always had an early morning tour.

The Spa: I had a massage that was three times as expensive as at home, and not really as well done. You pay for the experience and location. I always am a sucker for this, and always feel let down after. I guess I need to learn this lesson a few times! The hard sell is annoying, even when I made it clear I wasn’t interested.

After the initial bumps and adjustment, service onboard improved dramatically. The CD was Adam, and he was always around and doing a fine job making sure everyone was having a good time.

 

Will we book Silversea again? Most likely. We are not sure when or where, but there are several new itineraries that appeal to us.

 

Any questions, and I will be happy to try to answer.

[Emtbsam]

Thanks for taking us along. We board the Whisper on the 30th and hope to have as enjoyable time as you did.

 

Have a great time in Athens and safe travels.

[TLCOhio]

We made it off the ship and had no trouble getting a taxi into Athens today. We have rented an apartment looking up to the Acropolis in the Plaka neighborhood. We will be here for 4 nights.

 

Appreciate these details, updates and helpful follow-ups. Look forward to any and all suggestions, insights and tips from your four days in Athens. In less than two months, we will return to Athens for the first time since 2006. Will you be visiting the fairly new Acropolis Museum? Tell us about your favorite place to dine in the Plaka. Such a lovely, charming area. Is it still safe, fun, lively and active?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 59,791 views for these postings.

[TLCOhio]

Overall impressions: The ship has some signs of age, but it is scheduled for dry dock soon. Nothing took away from the experience. We had a vista suite, the first time I have ever cruised without a veranda. Honestly, I didn’t miss it. I wondered if I would, but with the port intensive cruise and not utilizing it at all on my last cruise, our suite was just fine. The money we didn’t spend on the veranda was well spent on the excursions and the experiences we had instead.

 

Very solid, realistic and detailed summary for your cruise and Silversea experience. You make an excellent point about when doing a very port-intensive cruise that paying the extra cost for a balcony might not be worth it. Like you, we have done the same strategy of saving with a Vista suite and shifting that money into the excursions. That worked well for us last June when doing the Silver Spirit along the Atlantic coast of Portugal, Spain and France.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Did June 2017 sailing from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Now at 25,170 views. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[dusababy]

Thanks for taking us along. We board the Whisper on the 30th and hope to have as enjoyable time as you did.

 

Have a great time in Athens and safe travels.

 

Emtbsam -- looking forward to meeting up again! See you in Lisboa:D