Day 50 - Mykonos - our last Greek port

I stirred at about 6:15am as we were berthing in Mykonos.  Once again, no real urgency to get ashore, even though this was a short stop, with the all aboard time set for 1:30pm.

We walked off OK after picking up our €7 each return tickets for the coach, from the Florentine dining room.  Now several people decided to walk into town, which isn't too far away, but the road is twisty, very narrow and there are no footpaths.

We piled on the coach OK and the first thing we saw was a notice at the port gate, 40 metres away "local bus to town, €1.60, water taxi, €2…"  No comment required, but it is a constant frustration that the information on the various options isn't always disclosed.  We had only gone about 100m when a senior lady flagged down the coach, claiming her (somewhat eccentric!) husband had just walked off to town and she wanted to taxi in – but there weren't any taxis.  The coach driver let her on and there was a degree of sympathy from the other passengers.

Six minutes later, after a sedate, slow, ride, we were at the entrance to Mykonos, alongside what looks to be a very nice marina complex, still under construction.

We had been here before in 2011 and nothing much had changed other than some prices seemed higher.  My only purchase was another two cartons of Greek cherry juice – not sour cherry, sadly, but still cherry.  We wandered around the town, but didn't venture across to little Venice, where there are more bars and nightclubs, as the wind was quite fierce and the cold wind is still a problem for Paula.  According to those who did venture that far, they were less than impressed this time with a mix of probable drunks and Romanian gypsies, sleeping on various benches, and a lot of litter.  Add to that, Romanian's begging via their children (one young girl just batting a drum with no rhythm at all) or just holding out a paper cup for money and the less affluent side of Mykonos is on show.  A sharp contrast to all the classy jewellery shops.

As always, plenty of photo opportunities but as we expected massive queues for the 44 seat shuttle buses we were determined not to leave it late.  We couldn't resist the little boulangerie (bakery/café) at the marina entrance though and I really enjoyed my €3 ham and cheese pasty.  Paula is still drooling over her mini vanilla cream croissant at €1…

The queue for the shuttle was growing rapidly and we seemed to wait for ages, then, as usual, three buses arrived at once.  We just managed to get on bus number three, but the queue behind us by then, was half way to town.

Back on board, after a coffee from the deck 5 atrium bar, we opted for a steady afternoon - and totally missed the sail-away!

The afternoon quiz had been set by passenger Tom, who managed to overlook that it was supposed to be Trivia, not a university entrance exam. We managed just 8 points but finished 3^rd.

After dinner, which we managed to get through quite quickly for a change, we headed to the theatre for one of the best acts on the Princess circuit.  (I believe they were nominated for the best cruise ship act and certainly made the final – possibly even runners up).  This was the Beatles tribute band from Liverpool.  As this was the late show and they are repeating the act tomorrow, the theatre wasn't 100% full, as many would have retired early.  A brilliant act and the guy who plays George Harrison, almost looks like him!  This is without a doubt, a 10/10 act every time they perform, even if we have seen them before.

Bedtime a more realistic 23:30, with Istanbul our port of call tomorrow and that means an early start for the sail-in. Many will be up early for that.

Day 49 - At sea - August 29th

A leisurely wake up, but apparently I was snoring a bit last night, so the swig of port didn’t send me into a deep sleep at all…

As the first sea day after a load of Dawn Nomads joined us in Venice, a meet and greet was on the cards.  With an early lunch at 12:00 also planned, there was no point in overdoing breakfast.  We spent a bit of time on deck with Garry and Joanne, discussing our plans for 2014. 

We dived into trivia – and out again without winning, then straight to the meet and greet at 11:00am, which was very successful, with about 88 attending.  Ros presented Sharon and David with a bouquet to celebrate their 50 years of marriage on Saturday.  The standing joke is – if they make it that long…

Straight after, the lunch, with 92 people, 4 having either been at choir practice or skipped the meet.

Mid-afternoon, we attacked the atrium for a coffee and a mango juice.  Paula definitely on the mend now – unless climbing stairs, so we chickened out and used the lifts again today.

Afternoon quiz was 14 – not enough to win.

We returned to the Vista for the 6:15pm show, featuring Mel Mellers, comedy magician, then singer Paul Emmanuel, (from Nottingham?). The comedy magic was quite good and he had a good line in put down patter with the audience, which I like.  Probably a respectable 7/10.  It is difficult for me to rate singers but Paul seemed OK to me, so again, a 7/10.

We stayed on for a James Bond quiz. A bit tough and we managed 7.5 – but the winners didn’t get many more.

At dinner, there was another round of hilarity as Megan hadn’t seen Jude’s “beach boy” picture.  It is not likely to be shown on a blog either…

We skipped the late show and bed was a respectable time, ready for Mykonos tomorrow, our last Greek stop.  Since 2011, they have built up a cruise terminal so it is no longer a tender port.  Princess have arranged a bus to town (at a cost of course).

Day 48 - Split - back in Croatia

We were awake anyway, but the noisy lifeboat tender drop is always a reminder that we have arrived at our anchorage point.

As usual, we didn’t rush to be first off the ship as there was no point as we had nothing planned anyway other than our usual amble.  By the time we’d had a light snack, got ourselves organised, then headed downstairs, the Elite preferential tender boarding was closing and so we just tagged on to the end, as the others moved down stairs and we were on the tender before they let those with paler cards aboard. 

A reasonable run to shore where there is a vast concourse between the water’s edge and the shops and cafes.  On this wide concourse, are 100’s of café/restaurant seats and this makes a very attractive setting, with the building facades forming the outer edge of the old town once again.

Like several other recent stops, this is a pleasant place to meander through, with every street and alley a photo opportunity and in the centre, it opens out to a cathedral entrance and also some well-preserved ruins.

We couldn’t help thinking that back in NZ, Christchurch would be far better just making the iconic cathedral safe and making it a tourist attraction of its own, rather than trying to rebuild or restore, and therefore losing many of the reasons for visiting it. Wherever we have been, there are stories of the various ruins and this is fodder for the tourist industry, or even its very lifeblood.

Split is another pleasant stop but having now been to Koper in Slovenia, we realise now just what good value it was, as prices in Split were higher.  More to the point, although some places accepted Euros, the most attractive café/bakery wouldn’t, and that seemed a shame - and a missed opportunity for the locals.  Far better to accept the Euro and make sure you do OK on the exchange rate and grab the cash, than miss out altogether.  Isn’t that what successful tourism is all about?

Paula started to fade again and it started to spit with rain, so we headed back to the dock, where the wind got up and the black clouds rolled in, so we were fortunate to get on the first tender boat.  By the time we got back to the ship, the rain had gone.  Those out on more distant tours weren’t quite so lucky.

As you will by now have realised, Koper was our Slovakian/Croatian highlight and not Split nor Dubrovnik, though all were good stops.

Our six Kiwi travelling friends (now in Paris) are due to do a 7 day boat/yacht trip in the area, so I am sure we will be comparing notes and photographs in October, but I sent them a quick email anyway before doing this blog.

Back on board, a coffee, a spa and a late call on the buffet for a quick bite.  Soup plus a bit of chicken and rice.

Sail-away was pleasant, but it was getting cooler so we headed indoors before Paula started a coughing fit!

Our table of ten is a little bit over formal nights and formal photographs, so we headed for the pizzeria for 7pm, along with Deb and Bob (Dawn Nomads – of course) and leaned on the manager to push three tables together.  He seemed a bit reluctant as it means the waiters have to lean over, but that was of no concern at all.

As usual, antipasto galore with pizza bread, then I had the baked cheesy/spinach/white sauce pasta which isn’t really a main at all, plus a nice pizza.

A very pleasant evening indeed, but Arnold decided to have a formal night photograph taken, even though he was in shorts and jandals/flip-flops/thongs.  (Depends where you live.)

Talking of photographs.  Up until recently, there was a booth on deck 12, geared up for electronic golf.  Those who read my 2011 blog will remember that the $25 charge for 30 minutes, made it more expensive than a real game of golf at any and every NZ municipal golf course and more than the visitor fees at many smaller courses.   With that in mind, no wonder that it was little used by pensioner passengers.  So now it has been scrapped and turned into a photographic studio where you can have a 30 minute sitting at no charge or compulsion to purchase.  I sometimes wonder if Princess really understands its passenger dynamics. 

We often have an announcement at the dinner table and this time, it was Malcolm.  Apparently whilst in town today, he was gazing around, aimlessly and then put his arms around a lady and gave her an intimate hug, whilst staring at the (building!) architecture, thinking it was wife Meg.  It wasn’t.

Clocks forward an hour tonight so although it was quite an early night, it wasn’t…  Paula definitely on the mend, albeit slowly.   Just for a change, a day at sea tomorrow.  Conversations and speculations about the forthcoming ports, (after Malta) continue to provide ammunition for the ever present rumour mill.

 

Day 47 - Koper, Slovenia. What a jewel of a stop.

After my best sleep in ages – swig of port and a late night helped, we woke nearer 9am than 8am! No matter, we were alongside Koper in Slovenia.  I had no expectations whatever of this stop and we were berthed almost alongside the town - though we couldn't really see much of it - and the port secure area was no more than a row of hurriedly erected barrier fences and a small cabin for immigration.

Not knowing what to expect throughout the day, I opted for a filling breakfast.  We walked off the ship and onto the harbour/marina road and we were initially heading across the road and up the steps into town, but spied one of the 'little trains' that are so popular in many ports.  At a very modest €2 a ticket we hopped on, not having the faintest idea where it was going.

We headed away from the marina and the old town and soon found ourselves in the sort of area most of us would recognise as a modern retail/commercial development.  Spying a McDonalds McCafe, a Spar supermarket and a Harvey Normans will give you some idea.  The little train stopped two or three times for people to hop off (a lot of these little trains don't) and about three quarters of the way around, on the far side of the Old Town, we hopped off and headed into town.

Wow!  What an absolute delight this turned out to be.

It was extremely clean, the streets narrow and interesting, the people in the shops friendly and no hassles with street traders.  A little too much graffiti, sadly, though not as bad as many places, but otherwise, very attractive.  Best of all, the prices of both manufactured goods and also food and drink, particularly the bakery items, was very good indeed.  I managed a decent pair of lace up casual shoes, similar to the ones I usually wear anyway, for less than €50 and Paula added to her shoe collection with two more pairs.

At a local bakery, we bumped into Alex, one of the Atrium waiters (very tall and friendly) and as a local (almost) he explained the various pastries.   I bought a quarter of what looks like a pizza sized pie, made out of something between flaky and filo pastry, still warm, and filled with a mildly flavoured mince for €2.  Delicious. I think it was called borek, but I am not so good on the memory front, other than the taste sensations.  A bottle of ice cold Schweppes bitter lemon at €1.20 to wash it down was perfect, even though Alex tried to persuade me to take a liquid yoghurt drink instead.

We ambled through the town and out towards the ship, but as Paula was still feeling OK (a very positive sign – maybe due to the anti-histamine she had taken earlier?) we turned left and went down towards the marina, then skirting the Old Town again via a small market, before once more, heading up through the Old Town.  We bumped into John and Anne Dormer, plus Bev and Ed who joined in Venice, plus David and Joan who have been on all the way.  They were enjoying a drink of beer (men) and wine with chopped peaches in it (ladies) and were just awaiting their plate of cheese, ham, olives and a massive basket of bread.

We went through the centre of town again and I succumbed to an excellent cherry ice cream at €1 and Paula had a Nutella flavoured scoop.

A quick photo-stop thanks to Rock and roll experts from last years' cruise, Graham and Linda (who also left Australia on the first half of the World Cruise) before once more, heading back towards the ship.

As we approached, we heard the sounds of local music and wondered where it was coming from.  We soon found out. Whilst overlooking the marina/main road across the other side alongside and facing the ship and the small market stalls, a local group were really belting out the sounds, so much so, that it sounded much better bounced off the ship than it did when we stood in front of them, where it was a bit too loud.  Two guitars, two accordions and a great selection of local music just capped off a fantastic visit.  Like Venice, we had to take our passports with us, but on our return, carrying EU passports, they didn't need stamping.  In fact, they didn't even open them and we were just waved through.

Although we had to cancel Jo's tour to the capital, the lake and a castle, we really did have a fantastic day locally and this place rocketed straight up our highlights list, overtaking Crete.

Just to cap off the day, we survived sail-away, then welcomed Mal and Megan to table 7, replacing Dennis and Anthea.  To celebrate the occasion, I produced the large box of Thornton's chocolates Stewart and Manu had kindly brought us as a thank you for their trip to Venice.  The table were very restrained and only took one each (that wouldn't have happened at home!) so afterwards, when we bumped into Deputy Cruise Director Bernie, she was tempted (easily…) take one as was Marcus.   As a thank you to Alex, now back down in the Atrium he and Kiwi Barista Andrew also took one.

Paula survived!!!  Hopefully, the anti-histamine has helped.  Still coughing, but not feeling as poorly.

Well done Koper.  Maybe more ships should visit as they only get about one cruise ship a week, as we know that the other passengers also loved it.  They deserve more. 

Back to Croatia tomorrow…       

Day 46 - Venice again and the start of the second half.

After yesterday, it was back to normal and the first priority was to see how Paula was.  A little bit better, but no rush to get moving, so a leisurely breakfast before opting to use the $15 ferry tickets.  These had been charged to our cabin accounts, for both days and I had returned the unused Sunday tickets last night for a refund.  We hopped on a coach immediately outside the terminal building that whisked us around the corner to the next dock, where we caught the exclusive Princess ferry shuttle to a spot close to St Mark’s square.  This was a very steady, leisurely ride of about 20 minutes.

We ran the usual gauntlet of very mobile African street sellers, who seem to spend most of their day, scooping up their carefully laid out (fake) wares in their blankets and relocating before the local police appear, which they do with monotonous regularity.

We didn’t do much more than one block before Paula started to fade again, so we headed back to the boat and then of course, the ship, and a decent coffee before heading to the cabin.

At this point Paula was at an all-time cruise low, physically and emotionally, with the cough and bad chest seemingly not improving.  Just to give you an idea of how low, we even considered going home, but first of all, a trip to the Doctor was on the cards and according to the Princess Patter, the medical centre was open 4:30pm.

When we got there, a notice on the door said that as it was a sector changeover day, the medical centre wouldn’t open until 5pm…

The nurse was very good and ascertained that there was no infection as such, just a virus and it was just a case of being patient and seeing it through.  I’m not sure that Paula felt any better after that, but a spell in the spa pool certainly helped and we were joined by Ros and Arnold, Jo and Garry, dangling their feet in the warm water.

A late lunch/early dinner trip to HC about 5:15pm, then up to deck 12 for the Venice sail-away much later.  It was quite late (after 10pm) and the ship was towed out backwards, then it turned almost into the adjacent dock, before heading out, with a tug literally in tow.

Although the sail-away is attractive at night, there are far fewer lights than at other places and let’s face it, a load of LED lights around Venice wouldn’t be right.  Mind you, the enormous Gucci poster, covering most of  a building almost adjacent to one of the most historic and well known squares in the world, was also deemed out of character.

Photographs were difficult but the low lux setting on the video camera made a huge difference to the detail and the quality and I got some decent footage.

So that is the second half started and one of the major topics of conversation was the sheer number of cruise ships around, particularly in Venice, and the number of tourists they dump onto the streets.

My own opinion is that cruising will continue to be popular and wide awake countries will start to take a good look at their facilities, including building quays or docks where they don’t currently exist and putting in an infrastructure to cope, and encourage local tourism development.  Any cruise ship arrival is effectively export dollars earned – and lots of them.  We are not sure what the average spend is from either the ship or the passengers, but pumping 2 or 3 million dollars into the local economy from each cruise ship (including a sizeable VAT/GST tax take in many countries) isn’t to be sniffed at.

And so to bed, a bit later than usual with Koper in Slovenia our next stop.  Another walk off and wander as we reluctantly had to cancel Jo’s tour, but thankfully, Sharon and David have offered to go in our place.

Day 45 - Venice - and a family reunion - eventually...

This was one of the days we were looking forward to more than any other, on two counts.  Firstly, the sail in to Venice is fantastic and meeting son Stewart, Manu and grandson Noah after a year, was also going to be precious.

Things didn’t quite go to plan!

We were awake before the 6:15am alarm and a quick peep out of the cabin and a step onto the balcony ascertained that it was wet!  For once, the weather forecast seemed to be fairly accurate.  It wasn’t too warm either, so I donned a sweat shirt for about the first time since Sydney, plus my rally jacket and we headed up on deck, via the HC for Paula, who grabbed a warming bowl of porridge and a drink of hot water and lemon whilst I tried to capture the cruise in.  Pity there wasn’t much sun, or light, so not really conducive to good photographs, but a long, pleasant sail in anyway.

Afterwards, we returned to the HC and I grabbed a light snack, but was inwardly a bit too excited at meeting the family, so a cooked breakfast was out of the question.  Fortunately, the rain faded and it was just overcast, the sun appearing later.

We knew Stewart and Manu were staying at the island of Lido – which we passed on the way in – on the port side.  Right opposite our cabin, we could see the Lido car/passenger ferry dock, and I assumed that was where they would land.  Wrong – oh so wrong…  We were supposed to meet at 10:30am at Piazzale Roma, the vaporetto and bus station.

Bear in mind that last year, we were in Venice and caught our bus from the quay not far from the ship and where the Lido ferries arrive.  I had originally suggested meeting at the monorail as a defined meeting point.

After a couple of ferries had come and gone and no phone call, we tried to text then call Manu’s mobile.  No luck.  By now it was about 11:15 so we decided we may as well head back to the ship and just as we started walking, we had a phone call to say they were at the monorail station!  Yippee.  They weren’t at the monorail station we were at… (There are only three.)  Manu had managed to borrow a cell phone to make the call.

So, we paid our 1 Euro and boarded the monorail from Tronchetto which where we were, when the penny dropped.  The mid station is the port and the other station (terminus) is Piazzale Roma…

So Paula hopped off at the port station and I said I’d carry on and meet her back there and hopefully we’d somehow catch up with the family at one or other station.

Fortunately, there they were at PR so a quick hug and new tickets and we reboarded the monorail and got off at the port.  Yippee!  All together at last.  Apparently their vaporetto wasn’t the one that arrived where we were, but after a roundabout journey, they hadn’t arrived until 11am anyway.

For future cruisers, if you have your luggage with you, it is NOT a short walk to the terminal building. 

Anyway, we made it to the terminal building and the officials made us wait 5 minutes or so, probably waiting for the scanner operator to return from tea break.  Now of all the ports we have visited so far, I think this is probably only about the second time we needed to show our passports.  Up to now, it was cruise card only.  As this is part of the EU, plus we’d been in Italy earlier, I’m not sure why that was so.
Anyway, we managed to get through eventually, and of course, they had to ring up to see if our visitors were allowed through.

I need to explain here that it is NOT a Princess policy to allow visitors on board and I am not at liberty to say here how we managed to get permission.  But we did – and we are so grateful to those who made it possible.

Once at the gangway, the visitors exchanged their passports for a visitor’s pass.  Noah loved that!!!  We took it off him and supplied him with a Dawn Nomad’s badge instead and then put the official pass aside for safe keeping.

First stop was the atrium for a welcome coffee and a warm greeting from bar supervisor Melldon and his great staff.  Amazing.  Carry a three year old around and everyone makes even more of a fuss than usual!  Manu was a bit slower than I was with the coffee, so whilst she finished her coffee with Paula, I took Stewart for a mini ship’s tour, via deck 6 to the main deck, 7.  We went up to the theatre at one end, right through to the Vista lounge at the other, then up to the cabin.  We used the lift…

Paula and Manu joined us a few minutes later and Stewart handed over the goodies I’d requested, including a pack of dried peas (to make decent, genuine, authentic, real, mushy peas.  I just hope neither Aussie nor NZ agriculture departments ban them.  A risk we’ll just have to take), a copy of the Nottingham Post newspaper and some stuff requested by Jo and Ros.  They also handed over a gift of their own that we’ll share with our table in a couple of days’ time.  In return, I passed over my previous laptop, so weight for weight, I think I have a tiny bit of room left.

A visit to the Horizon Court was top of Stewart’s list (I really don’t know where he gets that from…) and Noah was also impressed – especially when he spied the cake selection.  I wasn’t really too hungry (maintaining a tight control of my intake – much to Manu’s surprise) so it was just soup for me.

Suitable fed, we headed back to the cabin and it was time for Noah’s afternoon nap.  Not so easy.  The only way we could manage it was for Paula and Manu to sit out on the balcony, whilst two generations of Greens sandwiched generation three, feigning sleep, hoping he’d get the hint.  He did - eventually, then Stewart and I sneaked out to the deck 15 sports court for a kick-about.  Unfortunately, there were no footballs, just basket balls (they weigh too much to kick) and so after a few abortive potentially ankle wrecking kicks, we picked up the wooden paddles and whacked a tennis ball around instead.

It was at this point that I realised just how weak my wrists, arms and shoulders were, after the torn shoulder tendon of 2011 and the limited exercise since.  When we return, I think I’ll have to get back to badminton, as my feet seemed somewhat reluctant to move too!

When Noah woke and with the sun shining, it was swim time for him and Stewart. After a few minutes and a dropping temperature, Paula crashed!  There was no option other than bed rest.  Whilst Stewart and Noah changed, I took Paula a bowl of soup, then the rest of us headed back to the Horizon Court for more fuel.

It goes without saying that they were suitably impressed and made the most of it – and Noah obviously likes cakes… I just had some pasta with a mix of tomato sauce and what was supposed to be a ‘vol au vent’ filling of chicken and mushroom in a cream sauce.

Rather reluctantly I escorted our visitors out about 8pm and made sure they had their passports.  Noah’s parting words were I think, to the effect that he wanted to come to our house!

As soon as the family had gone, there was thunder, lightning and rain…      

A mixed day obviously, but having missed out on Stewart growing up, I am very conscious that I am also now missing out on my grandson, so the joy of seeing the family for a few hours, was tinged with a lot of sadness when they left, that I can’t see them very often, hug them, help them with the house and be a major factor in Noah’s life. My own grandparents were all dead by the time I was 7 and going through all the family photographs (and there 1000’s), there are just a few of me with my paternal Grandmother, who died when I was 5, none of me with my maternal Grandmother who died when I was 4, and surprisingly, none with my paternal Grandfather, who died when I was 7.  Thankfully, the digital age should at least capture a lot more of family life than had been possible before, especially as capturing it is now free and includes movies and sound.

Paula managed a jelly and we watched Tim Allen’s “Space Galaxy”, which was very light viewing and we crashed about 10:30pm.

An overnighter in Venice tonight, but with Paula needing to get well, we opted early to not go over to Lido to see the family before they returned to England, just in case we had problems and had no communications.  Let’s see how things are tomorrow for Venice, day 2.