Rumour dies...

Quote of the day: “Well it’s 8 o’clock. Time for my daily bowl of prunes.” Elderly lady to no one in particular, in the Atrium this morning.


Another wonderfully relaxing day at sea, recovering from the aroma of donkey doos from Santorini. In fact it was so laid back that we ended up visiting our favorite coffee place twice today. Conrad, the bright and cheerful waiter there, was very surprised to see us back again… we’re regulars now – he knows our order without us having to ask – just like at certain haunts of ours in Wellington.

Another shipboard rumour was squashed at breakfast. We’d heard that a cabin on our deck was stripped out a few days ago, and the presumption was that someone had died. However we sat with the people from that cabin, and they were very much alive. Seems that they had spilt liquid shoe cleaner everywhere, and the bedding and the carpet had to be replaced… our dinner companion who monitors these things was somewhat disappointed that he had to drop the body count by one!!

Sunshine in Santorini

Quote of the day: “If you see me moving around on deck at all, it’s because of the beer: I’m either heading to the bar to put it in, or I’m heading to the bathroom to let it out.” Another “heavyweight” passenger.

Santorini was amazing. There’s no pier there, so we had to go ashore by tender, which gets you to the bottom of the cliffs. From there it’s either ride the gondola (which they call a cable car), walk up the steps, or take a donkey. Despite S & A’s recommendation we passed on the donkeys (they wouldn’t mind the smell of course – just like being at home in the cow shed!) and opted for the gondola…

Now I can’t stand gondolas, so it was with gritted teeth that I traveled to the top. (Fortunately I was facing the hillside, so I didn’t have to look down.) The town itself was wonderful. A different vista at every turn: narrow, cobblestone streets, cute little shops and views across the harbour to die for… which you could easily do if you leaned over too far!

We did coffee at a very classy café, which was almost deserted. When we saw the prices we understood why, but it was worth it for the ambience and the break from the crowds. We did a bit of shopping, but nothing extravagant, then lunched at another cliff top café… Greek salad and stuffed vine leaves… yum.

We decided to walk down the track, back to the tender to rejoin the ship, and that was a good decision. There was a long queue for the gondola, and many stressed Dawn Princess passengers worrying about meeting the deadline for the last tender. Achievement of the day: JB didn’t fall over on the way down!

ANZAC Cove

Quote of the day: “You need 2 sets of arms, don’t you? Every mother and every waiter needs 2 sets of arms.” Passenger to waiter in the Patisserie.

Today is described as scenic cruising in ANZAC cove, but we spent all morning stationary. There was a 6am service and a longer 11am service… they seem to be making it a mini-ANZAC Day on board. I’m sure it’s very significant for those who lost family members here, but for me it was a bit of artificially generated hype…oh dear, I can see I’ll get into trouble for that comment! Don’t tell JB…

I featured in a shipboard rumour today: apparently someone was telling people that I’m some famous jockey! Well I may be short and lightweight, but the closest to a jockey I ever got was playing the front end of a horse on stage…

Istanbul...what a great place to spend time!

Quote of the day: “Our guide did nothing but talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. So by the end of the tour, there was no time left for shopping!” Another passenger.

Istanbul is such a wonderful place. We did a walking tour through the old city, including 2 mosques (the famous Blue Mosque, plus an older one), a carpet showroom (“No pressure to buy.” Yeah, right!), drinks in a beautiful, shaded café, and the hippodrome (ancient racetrack).

We then left the group, and headed for the underground Cistern, a water reservoir originally built by the Romans, but upgraded several times over the centuries. Fascinating place, and another example of the engineering skills of the ancients… definitely a highlight of my visit to Istanbul.

From there we wandered around the shops, through a park, and ended up dining in a strip of restaurants under the bridge linking the city to the piers. There they did the Turkish version of “would you like fries with that order”, waving plates of tempting starters under your hungry noses while you wait for your food. We resisted and won…
We were so fortunate to get great weather again, rather than the high humidity of our last visit 3 years ago. And being Sunday, the traffic was no problem at all.

So Turkey gets full marks. We will definitely be back!

Turkish delight...

Quote of the day: “I can’t seem to get this key card to work. I’ve tried it 35 times, but it just won’t open the door. I just don’t understand it.” A slightly confused fellow passenger.

Today we docked in Kusadasi, Turkey, which is a tourist town feeding the amazing ruins in Ephesus (as in Paul’s letters to the Ephesians). Again, we’d done the major tour thing last time round, so we had a leisurely breakfast, then a wander to the fort on Pigeon Island (pictured). We were there fairly early, so it was a lovely peaceful spot.

After that we headed for the bizarre, which claims to be second in size only to the Grand Bizarre in Istanbul (which apparently will be closed when we visit tomorrow). The store people were pushy but friendly. They love to engage you in conversation in the hope of getting you into their shop, where hopefully you will buy their jewelry or carpets or tourist junk…

JB surprised me by checking out several places, and eventually made a purchase – a cotton top. She even coped with the bargaining, probably because by then she had got into the swing of things, having disappointed a number of shop workers by exiting without purchasing. I picked up a gift for WS, but I may yet keep it myself!

Another stunning day on the Aegean. The weather continues to be just perfect…

A blissful day in the Greek Islands

Quote of the day: “Another day, another port, another pile of old rocks…” Another MOB (Miserable Old Bugger) at breakfast.

We’d done the sights of Athens on our last trip, so did our own thing today. The original plan was to go to the island of Hydra, but when we checked out the ferry timetable, that wouldn’t have given us very long there. The very friendly young lady at the ferry ticket office suggested we try Aegina, only 40 minutes away by hydrofoil, so we took her up on that.

What a great choice that was! We had a lovely relaxing time exploring the narrow streets, checking out the small shops, and sipping coffee along the waterfront. For lunch we dined in a café right on the water’s edge, and did the Mediterranean diet thing: Greek salad, sardines, olive oil and red wine. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and a gentle breeze blowing. The setting was idyllic. What a wonderful way to spend the day…so much better than fighting the hoards of tourists in the heat of Athens.

All change... again!

Quote of the day: “Yogurt on the side, sir? Would you like that on the left side or the right side, sir?” Waiter at breakfast this morning.

Stress, stress for those who are into stress. The itinerary for the next five days has been changed. Apparently there is going to be a general strike in Greece on Friday, the day we are due to be there. All the sights will be closed, public transport won’t be running, and there is a possible security risk.

So instead of doing Kusadasi (Fri 25) – Istanbul (Sat 26) – ANZAC Cove (Sun 27) – Santorini (Mon 28) – Athens (Tue 29), we are now doing Athens (Fri 25) – Kusadasi (Sat 26) – Istanbul (Sun 27) – ANZAC Cove (Mon 28) – Santorini (Tue 29). There are a few port time changes as well, but none of this will affect us. It’s another reason though to think twice about booking private tours in advance, especially if paying up front. There’s always the chance that things could change prior to arriving in port.

Busy sea day today. I didn’t have time to post the blog last night, and the internet has been in high demand all day today, so I wasn’t able to connect. Second high demand area today is the laundry, so good job we’re not desperate to get the washing done…

Just one peeve about the trip so far: at breakfast we keep getting stuck on tables with recently retired, miserable Aussie blowhard males, who spend the entire time whinging about everything under the sun. Get a life, guys. You are so lucky to be able to do a wonderful trip like this, so just enjoy it! And stop souring my breakfasts…

Like an Egyptian...

Quote of the day: “I had a hawker at the pyramids ask if he could marry me so he could emigrate to Australia. I told him probably not, as it might upset my husband!”

What an amazing day. It was a 12 hour round trip to Cairo and the pyramids, but certainly worth it. To stand on the plateau at Giza, next to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Cheops, is a memory that will stay with me forever. Sure it was hot - over 40°C on the plateau - and there were hawkers and camel drivers trying to get you to spend money with them, but for me that all added to the experience.

Cairo itself was busy and dirty. The buildings were stained brown as a result of a combination of the sand and the pollution, and there was a lot of rubbish and in the streets and canals. There are mansions and there are slums, and the gap between rich and poor is increasing year by year. Fascinating place to visit, but I’m so glad I wasn’t born there…

Prior to visiting the pyramids, we spent time at the Egyptian Museum. Our Egyptologist guide (he was with us for the whole trip) pointed us in the right direction to see the major pieces in the museum, and explained where these pieces fitted in historically.

Seeing King Tut’s treasures was a major. Pictures and models don’t do justice to the richness of the real thing. His mummy (not on display) had the famous facemask on, and was then placed in a golden sarcophagus, which in turn was placed inside another golden sarcophagus. This was then placed inside a “shrine”, which was like a gold plated wooden crate, the size of a small room. This was then placed inside another shrine, then another, so the whole thing was like a Russian doll.

The room containing the facemask, the sarcophagi, and the body jewelry found on the mummy, was quite small, and jam-packed with people when we arrived there. However, I hung around for a while, as a couple of tour groups moved on, and ended up spending about 15 minutes in there almost by myself. Brilliant!

Most people went to Cairo today, so it was an exhausted lot around the ship this evening. I checked out the movie, and found there were only about 10 people there. The band was playing as usual in the Wheelhouse bar, but the bar was deserted. Most people had an early night to recover from the day.

My recommendation to next year’s cruisers: cough up and take a ship excursion. Cairo is too difficult to do by yourself. We saw many traffic holdups caused by accidents (not surprising seeing the locals drive like maniacs). The ship won’t leave without you if you take one of their excursions, but won’t hang around if you do a private trip…

No crisis in Suez!

Quote of the day: “Children are a waste of time. I never knew my children. They weren’t awake when I went to work in the morning, and they were in bed by the time I got home at night. I built an empire – I was a workaholic – the only way to succeed is to take the lion by the tail.” Australian on our table at breakfast.

Today was spent traversing the Suez Canal. I’d read about it and heard about it, but it wasn’t until I’d seen the real thing that I realized just what a great engineering feat it is. About 100 miles long, it’s a huge water-filled ditch linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. No locks needed as there is no difference in water level between the two ends. Many small towns and settlements along the way, which are more affluent than I would have expected, with long stretches of desert in between.

We started the traverse about 6am and will reach Port Said by 4pm this afternoon. This is earlier than was originally planned, so we get the chance to go ashore this evening. That will be the first time off the ship in 8 days, so a lot of people are looking forward to that!

Tomorrow is our visit to Cairo – Pyramids, Sphinx and King Tut’s loot in the Cairo Museum. Downside is that we have to be ready to leave by 6.30am, and it’s a 3 hour bus trip to get there. Still, this port is probably the biggest highlight of the entire cruise for me, so I’m thrilled to be here…

Still getting to the gym daily. JB has discovered the cross trainer, and is churning out her time on that and the cycle. I can do most of the things I want to with a bit of lateral thinking. Have to be careful not to bump into slow moving OAPs though!

North end of the Red Sea...

Quote of the day: “When you’re visiting the Pyramids and you get hassled by a camel driver, don’t smile when you tell him to go away, or him and his camel will follow you all the way back to Sydney!” Dawn Princess Tour Directo

Home is where you sip your coffee…

The Red Sea shuffle

Quote of the day: “I know there have been a lot of rumours going around about the technical problems with the ship and the possible effect of these on the cruise. None of these is true. The cruise will continue as scheduled. Only believe what you hear from the bridge.” Captain of the Dawn Princess

The captain broke his silence today with the above, thereby slowing the wonderful rumour mill that has been flourishing since Dubai. We’ve heard some great theories, ranging from technical experts joining the ship in Port Said, to the whole cruise being abandoned, and everyone being flown back home… we continue to sip our lattes and nod sympathetically.

It’s been a great topic of conversation, especially with the worrywarts amongst us – and believe me, there are a lot of those. I shall miss the rumours… but there is hope, as one of the people on our dinner table has promised to start some new ones...

We continue our trek through the Red Sea. Temperatures have dropped, so it was a lovely balmy evening watching the movie on the big screen out on the deck. The entertainment is flagging a little though, as the new entertainers due to board at Safaga now won’t join the ship until Port Said, which is still 3 days away.

JB has been pounding the decks in the early mornings, but I just haven’t got the energy first thing…I’ve settled into a pattern of hitting the gym mid-afternoon, which works up an appetite for dinner… ah, that wonderful food again!

So what’s red about the Red Sea?

Quote of the day: “I used my American Express card in Mumbai to get money out of an ATM, and by the time I checked my balance that night, it had been skimmed and there was $6000 worth of travel on it.” Overheard conversation during coffee.

It’s smooth sailing, but the sea isn’t anything red to be seen, despite the name… Relaxing day today for us. Lots of passengers have got themselves wound up because they won’t be getting to the Valley of the Kings. For many, the excursions in Egypt were a major factor for choosing this cruise.

Gossip is rife – there’s talk of the entire cruise having to be abandoned if they can’t fix the engine problems. Apparently it’s something to do with the software that keeps the two engines synchronized. Without that working properly, the ship vibrates too much when both engines are operating, so that’s why we’re running on just the one engine. Experts are meeting us at Port Said, so hopefully it will be sorted out there. In the meantime, even the old freighters are passing us…

My big achievement for the day: I got the washing done!

Another hot day at sea

Quote of the day: “You can go to the Purser’s desk anytime and they’ll give you a printout of your onboard account. Then they’ll pick you up off the floor and call the nurse. She’s a very busy person.” Fellow passenger, a cynical Pom of course!

Another lazy day on the floating retirement village! Rumour has it that 8 people have passed away since the cruise left Sydney, but that is just a rumour… one of our dinner table buddies delights in keeping us up to date with the score. I feel he’s tempting fate though, seeing he’s hitting 80 himself…

The lectures over the last few days have been very good. There’s an Egyptologist on board from Dubai to Port Said, and he’s quite passionate about his subject. We’ve attended a couple, but if we miss them they are replayed on TV.

Technical problems are ongoing. Definitely no stop at Safaga, but the hope is we will still be able to hit our allocated slot to go through the Suez Canal. We’re just chilling on it all and watching the sea roll past… Still in the Gulf of Aden today, but should hit the Red Sea tomorrow.

On a slow boat to Suez...

Quote of the day: “Happy inside… keep it that way!” Permanent sign on the door of a cabin down the corridor from us.

Engine problems still plague the Dawn Princess, so we’re ambling along on one engine, at about half speed. The ship stopped completely a couple of times overnight, and apparently there were a couple of NATO frigates near by looking after us. Nice to know…

The slow speed means we can kiss Safaga, and our trip to the Valley of the Kings and Karnak, goodbye… I have mixed feelings about that. On the on hand they are places it would be great to visit. On the other, it’s 3.5 hours each way by bus, which I won’t miss at all. Looks like we’ll now have to add a Nile river cruise to our wish list. Here’s hoping we manage to get to Cairo on time to do the pyramids trip.

Caught the first show at the 900 seat Princess Theatre today. Latin American themed song and dance show – fairly predictable (Ricky Martin to Evita – you get the picture), but well done. I was particularly impressed with the dancers. Their timing was spot on despite the roll of the ship.

Finished off with a dollop of string quartet, and a nice chat with a security officer who was on pirate watch at the blunt end of the ship. Nice to know they are on the lookout for any suspicious activity…

Almost over the jet lag so might be able to stay awake until a reasonable hour tonight!

Was that an earthquake? No, just the sea again...

Quote of the day: “I just love cruising. In fact except for about a month, I’ll be on a cruise ship the whole time between now and the end of September 2011.” Lovely lady from QLD

Currently off the coast of Oman, sailing into the Gulf of Aden. Man, is my geography ever improving – all these names I’d heard of are now starting to actually mean something.

Lower temperatures today – cooled down enough to be able to sit out on the deck off our stateroom, and enjoy the sound of the ocean. Very nice. And enough movement to let us know we’re at sea… Hit the gym for the first time. It’s quite small, but has a wonderful outlook over the blunt end of the ship. Lovely to exercise while watching the wake trailing into the distance.

JB even joined me. The pair of us in a gym together is something I never thought I’d see! Friends and family will be shocked, but I can assure you it did actually happen. But was it just a flash in the pan???

Weird experience using the treadmill on a moving ship. Moves side to side, and up and down so you keep going slightly off balance. The bike is ok. The rowing machine is all over the place, and makes you feel sea sick even if the swell isn’t that bad…

Had the first formal night tonight. Glad I brought the tuxedo and did it properly. Great meal, but another early night, as we’re still fighting off the jet lag. Didn’t help that the clocks on board went back an hour last night, so that’s another hour we’ve got to make up.

Oh, and the clock I bought for the trip with the large illuminated digits turned out to be a fizzer: it gains 10 minutes every hour, which means by morning it’s out by about an hour and a half! Thank you Noel Leemings…

Stationary at sea...

Quote of the day: “Ladies and gentleman, this is the ship’s captain. You may have noticed that we have stopped. The reason is that we have developed a mechanical problem with the engines. We will try to resolve the problem as soon as possible.”

We are currently stationary somewhere near the Gulf of Oman. Hmmm – fortunately not yet into the pirate zone, so hopefully nobody will tip off the pirates where we are, and that we’re sitting ducks… Had the drill this morning though so we know what to do when they attack!

First day at sea. Met up with some of the people I’d been chatting to on the Cruise Critic message boards. Very interesting to put faces to names…

We were awake far too early of course, so it was buffet breakfast in the area referred to by some of those on board as “the trough” – once we’re waking up at normal times, we’ll be breakfasting in the dining room, but that opens later. Much more likely to be up to our usual Wellington café breakfast standard…

I’m relieved to find that the coffee is drinkable. We already have our favorite coffee bar, in the area called the Patisserie – misleading really as they don’t serve any food at all, but at least it removes the temptation to pig out…

Dubai

This town is hot, hot, hot! And I mean temperature-wise. We flew in at 3am and it was 33°C…and by mid-afternoon it had hit 44°C, which is hotter than the sauna at the gym. We spoke to a lady who had done a trip out into the desert, where it was 54°C. I can’t understand why anyone would choose to live here.

We grabbed a few hours sleep, then did a taxi tour around the city (genuine Pakistani imported driver, insisted on naming every hotel we passed and giving us its star rating.) Fantastic architecture – JB picked up a few new ideas for the Vic. campus (yeah right!). Managed to dodge security at some 6-star hotel, thanks to the driver’s cunning, and got to check out the stunning foyer. Two coffees and a muffin stung us $40 – no wonder the waiters were so happy we dropped in!

Boarded the Dawn Princess with no queues – wonderful. My bag went AWOL somewhere between the dock and the ship, but we were reunited several hours later. Had a wine in one of the bars, then hit the jet-lag wall… amazing what an 8 hour time difference does to the body. I nearly fell asleep over my ragout, and had to pass on dessert, dammit. JB was asleep by 8pm, and I followed shortly after. Apparently we have to watch out for pirates for the next couple of days… or did I just dream that?



Quote of the day: “They have sound cannons on this ship which permanently deafen any pirates that get too close.”

Singapore - but no sling

We are currently in transit in the Singapore Airlines lounge in Singapore. Had a great flight here from NZ - good food and wine, with very friendly service. There was the obligatiory screaming kid of course, but that didn't last more than about 3 hours! I got about 5 hours sleep. Wonderful.

JB has hit the ground running and is off looking for shoes in the airport shops. My wishes are more modest, and I'll be taking advantage of the shower facilities and a little more food... I can see the diet is under threat even before we get to the ship!

The flight to Dubai is 7 hours... we arrive at 3am and stagger to a hotel at the airport. Let's hope they haven't shut up shop for the night. We'll try to have a bit of a look around Dubai before boarding the ship mid-afternoon. Exciting!!

Is there still room at the inn (so to speak...)?

I had a call from our travel agent today. Apparently Princess have overbooked the sector from Dubai to Southampton, and are looking for people willing to ditch their booking. In return they are offering a full refund plus a free cruise next year!

Tempting - for about five seconds - but after all the effort of getting organized I WANT MY HOLIDAY!!

I said that if they are short of cabins, we'd be prepared to upgrade to a suite (yeah, fat chance), but we weren't prepared to slum it in the crew quarters... so here's hoping there's still a cabin available for us when we roll up at the pier in Dubai on Monday. Just one more thing to STRESS ME OUT, dammit :-)

Just 3 more sleeps to go...

Who's the village idiot then?

It's 8C here in Wellington right now, and I'm wandering around town looking for shorts??? Got some strange looks from shop assistants but hey, it's 39C in Cairo... could fry the brain!

JUST 5 SLEEPS TO GO...

Yiks - only 7 days to go...

Just 7 more sleeps before we leave Wellington!

Cold, wet and miserable here today, so hard to believe that we're going to be in 30C+ heat next week. Big note to self: "NO, YOU DON'T NEED ALL THOSE WINTER CLOTHES."

"To do" list still getting longer - Doh! Out for farewell drinks tonight, so that should dull the pain. Current mantra, repeated hourly, is: Yes, this will be worth all the effort...