Part II of the Mediterrean Cruise Trip Report

This is Part II of our Mediterrean Cruise trip report. Click here to start at Part I.

 

 

 

Kusadasi

One of our favorite ports was Kusadasi. Kusadasi is near the ancient city of Ephesus and that was the highlight of our cruise. We did not use a ship tour, but rather used a private company that was wonderful. Ekol Travel provided us with a very good English speaking guide and a private tour of all of the sights. And this ended up costing less than the busy cruise tours.
We were the first people to arrive at Ephesus so we initially had the place to ourselves. This was very key because within a short 15 mintues the place was overrun with cruise ship tourists.
The picture to the right shows the public toliets. I guess they hadn't yet invented "the stall".
	The place is full of history. These ruins were far superior to anything else we saw on the cruise.
The stadium held 25,000 people. This is where Paul preached about abolishing idol worship.
	We also toured the Terrace Houses. (This is not available on the cruise ship tours) These are restored houses of the rich. They were very beautiful and full of awesome tile work.
Our next stop was St. John's Basilica. Very interesting site that is not too far from Ephesus.
The picture to the right shows where people would walk down into the water to be babtized.
	Our next stop was the House of Virgin Mary. This is where Mary spent the last years of her life. The house is located far up on a hill, away from the city.
Our last stop was the Temple of Artemis. This is all but destroyed. All that is left are two standing columns. you can see St. John's basilica up on the hill in the background.
	Next, it was into town from some lunch. We ate at great little place called Avlu Restaurant. We had the Gyro lunch and some water and it was good. Very inexpensive also. I believe the entire meal was only 9 Euros.
After lunch we decided to do a little shopping. We couldn't go all the way to Turkey without visiting the "Grand Bazar".
	The town of Kusadasi is filled with numerous shops. Some of the shopkeepers are a little "aggresive" but it was no worse then the hawkers in Mexico. We just said no thank you and things were fine. The items in Turkey were much cheaper than anywhere else we cruised, so this is your shopping port!
After all of that shopping we had to stop for a giant beer. The local beer is Efes and it was very good. Then it was back to the ship for some rest and relaxation.

Santorini

Santorini is part of a volcanic crater that is still somewhat active. The towns are perched high above the cliffs of the sea below.
	All cruise ships are tendered in Santorini because they do not have a large cruise pier. But the tendering here goes very fast because Santorini has their own tender boats which are very large.
Once you tender to shore you will need to decide on how you are going to get "up the mountain" to the city of Thira. There are three modes of transportation; walking, riding a donkey, or a cable car. We chose the later. The donkeys looked fun but they were very smelly.
	The main town is very scenic but it is also very crowded. At about 11:00 we decided to catch a bus to the town of Oia. Oia is a picturesque town that is located at the northern end of Santorini.
The bus stop is located at the end of "Gold Street". This isn't marked so the easiest way to get there is to make a right at the top of the hill and follow the road by the cliff until you dead end at the church. Then turn left down the hill and you should see a large parking lot full of buses.
	We waited until they announced a bus to Oia and then he hopped aboard. The fare was 1,40 Euros and the bus was very nice. The bus makes stops between the cities about every 20 minutes.
The town of Oia was absolutely stunning.
	The colors were magnificent.
We stopped and had lunch at Lotza. The food was good and the view was fantastic. We each had salads and a glass of wine.
There are churches everywhere.
Santorini is probably best appreciated if you venture out of the main city of Thira.

Athens

Athens was probably our least favorite port. It didn't seem to be the cleanest city and it had a very big and crowded feel. We took the "Taste of Athens" tour on the ship. The tour consisted of a brief tour of the Acropolis and then some free time for lunch and shopping.
	The Acropolis was nothing spectacular after visiting Ephesus. The tour was decent enough, but the buildings were all under repair and they didn't have the "wow" factor that Ephesus had.
	There were people everywhere! The picture to the left doesn't even illustrate how crowded it felt.
Our next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was pretty cool.
Later they stopped at the Olympic Stadium.
	At about noon we were dropped off at the Plaka. This is the main tourist area of Athens. It is full of shops and restaurants. We had lunch with our friends "Patsy and OffSpring" and then did some shopping on our own.
Later we discovered the Temple of Zeus on our own. This was included in the admission to the Acropolis. This actually was a pretty impressive structure. We would not tour the Acropolis again. It probably would have been a more enjoyable day if we headed to some Greek beach!

Naples

On our stop in Naple we decided to spend the day at the neighboring island of Capri. We walked off the ship at 7:15 AM and walked over to the ferry station. The ferries to Capri take off directly in front of a large castle. (You can't miss it) The fee was 16 Euros each way.
	When we arrived at Capri our first task was to get tickets to the cable car ride up the mountain. (Just like Santorini) The ticket office is to the right of the pier.
When we arrived at the top of the hill the view was amazing.
We walked through town and found the gardens. They are perched on the side of a cliff and are a sight to see.
	In the middle of town is a huge cactus that is said to be over 100 years old.
We stopped for lunch at a pizzeria by the bus station. The views were fantastic. The food was just OK. The price? VERY expensive. You don't want to know what we paid for a salad, a pizza and two glasses of wine.....
	On the way back we had a mix up with our ferry. The person at the ticket office told us to go to dock #8. After waiting there in line with thousands of other cruise tour passengers, we discovered that we were in the wrong line and that our ferry had already left. So they ended up putting on another ferry a few minutes later. Moral to the story is make sure you stand in line for the right ferry. There are something like 12 docks and it is easy to get on the wrong boat.

Thursday, July 10, 2008 (Kusadasi, Turkey)

We awoke early so we could eat a quick breakfast and meet our tour guide with Ekol Tours.  At 7:15 am we were the first off of the ship.  Once through the nonexistent passport check we met up with Tuba a delightful Turkish woman who spoke very good English.   We walked just a short distance more to meet up with our driver.  We got in our VW van and were quickly on our way to Ephasus.

We arrived just before the ticket office opened and just ahead of the first tour group from Royal Caribbean.  We were fortunate to stay just ahead of them for most of the way so our pictures were free of other people.

Ephasus is one on the most well preserved ancient cities in the world.  At one time it was a major trading port and was an important political and economic center.  Paul and John, the Apostles, were influential in bringing Christianity to the region.  This was quite a feat since paganism was widely practiced at the time.

We were able to tour the Terrace Houses which was also quite impressive.  These were the houses where some of the wealthiest citizens of Ephasus would have lived.  Much of the mosaic floors are still in place and perfectly preserved.  In addition many of the frescoes are also intact.

The House of the Virgin Mary was our next stop.  This house is believed to be the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus.  John supposedly brought Mary to Ephasus four to six years after the death of Christ.  Many Catholics make the pilgrimage to Mary’s house in search of miracles.

We then made our way back down the hill and to St. John’s Basilica.  It is said that after Paul was executed, John took over the leadership of the church in Ephasus.  He also wrote his gospel and letters at this time.  He was buried in the spot that forms the center of the church.  Tuba also explained how the early followers of Christ would write secret symbols to let others know they were believers. 

We stopped at a rug factory on the way back to town.  The process was fascinating and the rugs were beautiful but we didn’t buy one. (We liked the one for $3300 dollars but didn’t think that cat puke, administered by Opus, would do anything to enhance the appearance of a beautiful Turkish rug.)

We also saw what was left of the Temple of Artemis.  The Christians destroyed this pagan temple and spread the parts all over the region so it could not be rebuilt.

After our tour we ate lunch at Avlu Restaurant.  We had a simple plate of shaved meat, pita, rice and salad.  The cost was a reasonable 9 Euros for two.  We shopped the streets of Kusadasi for a while and then headed back to the ship.

Dinner was formal and it was fun to compare experiences with our tablemates.  I think the whole group was truly impressed with the port we all expected the least of.

Friday, July 11, 2008 (Santorini, Greece)

Santorini, Greece was the port we woke up to today.  Our ship was anchored in the protective caldera of this ancient volcano.  Since we didn’t have a tour booked we were in no hurry to catch an early tender.  When we did decide to go ashore, catching a tender was no problem.  We then rode the cable car up the hill to Thira.

We hopped a bit, took lots of photographs, and then caught a bus to Oia for 1,40 Euros per person.   The small town is very picturesque with the white buildings set against the blues of the Aegean Sea and the bright sky.  We had a wonderful lunch of salad and Mythos beer for 26 Euros.

The time was ticking and it was starting to heat up so we took a few more pictures and then caught the bas back to Thira.  By the time we arrived in Thira at around 2:15 we realized the town was much more crowded than in the morning.  We decided to go back to our ship so we got in the line to go back down the hill on the cable car.  Even with our early arrival to the line it still took about a half an hour to get down the hill.

We ate dinner at Chops tonight.  Chops is the steak house on the Brilliance.  You can make reservations in advance but be forewarned that it costs $25 per person.   Our meals were excellent.  I had the petite filet mignon and Dave had the New York strip.  Both cuts of meat were cooked perfectly.  The sides were also very good and we had ample choices.  This was by far the best meal we had on the ship.

Saturday, July 12, 2008 (Athens, Greece)

We arrived in Athens early and were off of the ship by 8:30 for our “Taste of Athens” tour.   We ride by coach from the port to the Acropolis.  We then walked up the hill to view the Parthenon.  There were way too many people and it was way too hot to say that we really enjoyed it.  We then drove around the city, while the guide told us about some of the churches and architecture.  We had a few hours on our own at the Placa which is one of the main shopping areas of Athens.

We ate lunch with a couple of our cruise mates and had a fun time sharing stories and adventures of the cruise.  Patsy and I had a lot in common (even down to driving the same car!) so this made for a memorable lunch.

We met up with our bus at 3:15 and were back to the ship in a short time.  We relaxed in our stateroom until time to dress for dinner which was smart casual.

Tonight was the Welcome Back Party so we went to that before making our way to dinner.  They served champagne, wine and hors d'oeuvres.  We then went to dinner and were fairly disappointed again with the choices.  After dinner we went to the Colony Club to watch the Quest game.  It was amusing because some of our table mates were on one of the teams.  The game provided some great laughs.  Thanks Rob and Mark for being such good sports!

Sunday, July 13, 2008 (Day at Sea)

Today was another day at sea which was well needed to just relax.  We pretty much sat by the pool in the Solarium with Mark and Sarah from the UK from 10 to 4.  We read, relaxed and swam a bit but not much else.

Dinner was our last formal night.  We had a few pictures taken hoping they would come out better than the last ones.  We then had a before dinner drink at the Schooner Bar.  We both had a Pomegranate Martini which was very yummy.

Monday, July 14, 2008 (Naples, Italy)

We woke up early this morning so we could get off of the ship before the rush.  We ate a quick breakfast and then waited for the okay to disembark.  We then walked over to the ferry port to catch a ferry to Capri.  By 8:15 we were on our way.

Once on Capri we purchased funicular tickets to ride to town.  Capri is a very picturesque and expensive town.  After walking around a while we sat in the town square and enjoyed a glass of local wine.  The waiter said the grapes came from the side of Mt. Vesuvius. Although it was expensive (16 Euros) it was a nice experience.

We also ate lunch overlooking the port.  We split a Caprese Pizza and a salad of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  We also each had a glass of wine…all this for only 52 Euros.  This was probably the most expensive lunch we had all trip.

We took the funicular back down to the port and inquired about where to catch our 2:10 ferry back to Naples.  The agent told us to meet at #8 so we walked over there and waited.  Once we started to board we were told that we couldn’t because it was private and only for tours.  We went back to the agent and he told us to go to another gate so we did and they took us.  Even though we missed our originally intended ferry and we were briefly panic-stricken it all worked out.

We were back to our ship by 4:00 pm.  We went to the Windjammer and got some iced tea and water to rehydrate.

We went to the evening show since it was before dinner.  He was a violinist who hailed from Great Britain.  He was surprisingly very good.

Dinner again was fun because we got to compare stories with everyone.  We all had very different experiences so it was fun to see what you did or didn’t miss.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (Day at Sea)

Another day at sea and today is the dreaded packing day.  We slept in and had preordered room service so we could have coffee and a small bite to tide us over.  After relaxing awhile we got our butts in gear and started the packing process…it is an art to make sure the big suitcase is not overweight these days!

We took a break around 11:30 and headed up to have a bite of lunch.  The line for the poolside BBQ was way too long so we settled on the Windjammer.  I’m sure the BBQ was better but who wants to wait in such a long line?

After lunch we went to the internet terminals to print out our boarding passes for tomorrow’s flight.  Even though the connection was slow we were ready to go for our trip from Barcelona to London.

We played cribbage and relaxed in our room and on our deck for the rest of the afternoon.  We felt we really needed to relax on our last few hours on the Brilliance of the Seas.

We attended the last show which was a preview of the cruise DVD.  The acrobats from the first night were back and spectacular as ever.  The show was short but good.  We had a nice last dinner with our tablemates and said our goodbyes.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 (Barcelona)

We woke up early so we could have our last breakfast at the Windjammer.  Our group was called to leave the ship at 7:05 am.  We boarded a bus and were at the airport in no time.  Check in went smoothly and by 11:30 we were on our British Airways flight to London.

Our vacation was winding down.  The almost three weeks flew by.  We saw many wonderful places and met many wonderful people.  Now we can say…”Yes, we have been to Europe!”

Dave's Notes

I have decided that I have a serious problem. I have a love/hate relationship with cruising. This is a condition that has taken a hold of me in the last few years. I'm hoping there is a cure, but I'm not sure if modern science yet has an answer.

Here is what I love about cruising:

• Being able to visit 6 countries in two weeks - This could be done by plane or train but I wouldn't want to try.

• Having an ocean front table at Chops or Portofino - How much better can it get. The meals were awesome. Oceanside table for two.

• Having great dinner cruisemates - I love having dinner each night with our tablemates. It was so interesting to hear everyone's adventures. This is one of the things I really like about cruising.

• Having a relaxing day at sea - Sitting on the balcony and reading a book. Doesn't sound like much, but it provides for a relaxing day.

• Not having to lift a finger for the entire cruise - No cooking, dishes, laundry, etc.

• Being on a ship "makes" you get away from it all - Something about being on a ship physically separates you from the rest of the world. This immediately puts me in a vacation frame of mind.

And here is what I hate about crusing:

• Crowded Ports - The more popular cruising becomes the more people jam the ports. When we were in Santorini there were 5 cruise ships. That means that there were roughly 12,000 people all going ashore one little Greek island. This is crazy. The streets were so crowded with people you really couldn't do any shopping. With the crowds come inflated prices on food and drink. From now on I'm going to check the number of cruise ships visiting a port before I plan a vacation there.

• Tendering - Tendering is a real pain. It was announced that it would take 3 hours to get everyone off the ship. That is crazy! So when you look at the cruise brochure and see that a ship is in port from 10 to 6, you have to almost figure that you'll only have from 1 to 5 at the port.

• Rude People - This has nothing to really do with cruising other than cruising puts a whole bunch of people in one place. I could not believe how many rude people there were on the ship. People cutting in line, pushing you from behind, etc. Not my ideal of a relaxing vacation.

BINGO:

Have you ever wondered how much money the cruise ships make on Bingo? Well I did, so I did a very informal unscientific study while on board. We attended the first round of Bingo. It was mentioned that each round they put $1,000 into the "pot" for the big prize, which typically is during the last Bingo session. Here are the numbers for the first day:

113 people at $31 per person = $3,503

First Bingo was split by 3 people. Each person received $27. (They won and they didn't even get back their initial $31)

Second Bingo paid $95

Third Bingo paid $108

Fourth Bingo paid $143

$3,503 - $428 in Bingos - $1,000 towards the pot = $2,075 in profit. That means that the cruise line keeps roughly 60% of the money collected. And these numbers are for just one session. I believe there were 8 sessions during the cruise. If you like to gamble, the casino will yield you better odds.

Final Notes:

The Brilliance of the Seas has about 2,300 passengers. This is somewhat small for today's big superliners. I see that RCI's new ship, the Oasis, will hold 6,400 people. How are they going to get all of those people off the boat in tenders? Everywhere that ship goes it will be crowded.

But do I want to sail on that ship? Of course, it looks totally cool! Will I keep sailing? Yes, but I will start to look at the busyness of the ports and the number of tendered stops. This will hopefully alleviate my problem with the crowds.

Happy Cruising!