Spirit-ing Istanbul R/T

Left a chilly, damp Istanbul day before yesterday. As anticipated, the sail away was spectacular as we passed the historical architecture of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. When visiting those structures the previous day, it never ceases to amaze how such a massive structure appears to levitate! Spice Market closed for a holiday. There are 420 people on board, 18 In-Transit, 107 Venetians. The guest list was short so SS filled her up with Travel Agents from the Frankfurt office and folks from Ft. l. I thought we had a quorum for a CC M&M but evidently not. WHERE are you. Wellseasoned? Concerned that you and your wife did not board. Or so I told. I will attempt to track down the others.

Yesterday, Lemnos again. Much nicer weather with calmer seas last week! Tenders were rockin' & Rollin'.

This is one of the ... if not THE ... best itinerary ... enjoy and do keep a daily blog.

:)

Jeff

We were to be in Mykonos today but the port was cancelled due to high winds, no pier parking available and tendering too dangerous. I imagine lots of folks are disappointed, as am I. BUT the Captain was informed that this cancelled port is a real problem for me. There is the End of Season Sale at the white store!!!! He still decided that the safety of the guests and crew were more important than me going shopping. Oh well. Next time [emoji3].

We are in Piraeus and will spend the night. SS is running a shuttle bus to the train station.

Shame about missing Mykonos. Lovely walks and good food .....

Enjoy your cruise!

:)

Jeff

We were to be in Mykonos today but the port was cancelled due to high winds, no pier parking available and tendering too dangerous. I imagine lots of folks are disappointed, as am I. BUT the Captain was informed that this cancelled port is a real problem for me. There is the End of Season Sale at the white store!!!! He still decided that the safety of the guests and crew were more important than me going shopping. Oh well. Next time [emoji3].

We are in Piraeus and will spend the night. SS is running a shuttle bus to the train station.

Super to have met you on the last voyage, Duct Tape and interested to see that you are having more of a lumpy sail this time. You missed an absolute deluge in Istanbul on Monday evening, glorious lightening but we could have done without the biblical flood bit then and again yesterday.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and hope your shopping opportunities are not further curtailed - maybe it was a ploy but the on board boutiques to increase their turnover??

Rp

We were to be in Mykonos today but the port was cancelled due to high winds, no pier parking available and tendering too dangerous. I imagine lots of folks are disappointed, as am I.

So sorry to hear that Mykonos was missed. On our first cruise in 2006, that port was one of our super top favorites. Loved their twisting, interesting downtown, plus going out to the beach areas and seeing wind surfing action, etc. Appreciate these updates and details. Keep 'em coming!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 186,480 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

. WHERE are you. Wellseasoned? Concerned that you and your wife did not board. Or so I told. I will attempt to track down the others.

.

Duct tape, I think you confused our dates. We are boarding in Istanbul next Wednesday, Oct 7, doing back to back until Oct 26. We fly to Istanbul this Sunday. I think that you and we are the only ones currently registered for the M&M next cruise. Very much looking forward to getting together again!

We're here! Cabin 822. Perhaps we can meet in the bar tomorrow evening.

So far, everything is great. Disappointed we missed Mykonos, but found myself at a lovely fur shop today in Athens and drowned in my sorrows!

RosePark, it was my pleasure. We will spend more time, next time. Glad we missed that awful weather. Wellseasoned, thanx. Sorry about that. I posted on the Roll Call. Cardinal Gal, will catch up with you and scorpiony. Have you found her yet?

Another beautiful day in Piraeus.

CardinalGal, we will be in the Main Bar about 7 PM. Just ask the bar staff for the Bs.

Nafphalion, such a nice little port. Lots of access to historical sites and the Corinth Canal. Many cafes and tavernas along the waterfront. No huge crowds. Weather lovely. Rockin' and Rollin' on the Aegean I hear. Crete tomorrow. We'll see.

Well we made Crete but not without an interesting passage. At 4.05 this morning the announcement from the Captain of a fire on board on deck 3 with the request that all passengers remain in their cabins. After a number of announcements keeping us abreast of developments all was well about half an hour later.

There had been a fire in the laundry aircon unit that produced a large amount of smoke. Many thanks for the prompt actions of the fire crew who extinguished the fire promptly and enabled further investigation to get under way. There was a loss of power in some cabins for a short while but most were unaffected.

The final result was that the laundry area is now without aircon which is extreemly unfortumate for the poor guys in there but thankfully nothing more serious than that.

Once again many thanks to the crew for their prompt and good work.

WOW! So glad that fire wasn't worse than it was! Hope the poor staff in the laundry area get some relief if the aircon is not working.

The crew was admirable, as usual. Some of them had smoke in their rooms but they got up, reported to their stations and did their jobs. Thank you all. Being good sailors, we got up and got dressed in warm clothes, waiting to be told to report to the muster station. I did consider emptying the safe into my pockets, but...we just went back to bed fully clothed. Beautiful day in Agios Nicolas. Good food, as usual, in the garden of Pelagos. Venetian tonight. I would rather put the crew to bed!

Thanks for the update DT. Hope it is all smooth sailing into the future! Once again SS staff save the day!

Great crew work again! Makes me really appreciate those routine fire drills they hold during cruises. Look forward to joining you on the Spirit in four days!

eastwoodboy, thanks for the fire update--glad to hear the Spirit crew/pax are safe with minimum ship damage. fyi..below are two pix of the Spirit laundry crew hard at work this past March. All of the Laundry crew were from Bali--some of them posted on Facebook about the Spirit fire alarm.

eastwoodboy, thanks for the fire update--glad to hear the Spirit crew/pax are safe with minimum ship damage. fyi..below are two pix of the Spirit laundry crew hard at work this past March. All of the Laundry crew were from Bali--some of them posted on Facebook about the Spirit fire alarm.

Appreciate, Wes, your posting of these two staff pictures. It is always great to recognize the hard-work and effort the staff puts in to make our sailings work well. Glad that things on the ship worked out well in dealing the the fire, recovering and getting back to mostly a near normal situation.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

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

Now at 29,393 views for these postings.

Last evening at the Venetian party, CD, Moss, praised the Capt and crew for their efficiency and grace under pressure. Having been through a maritime disaster himself, he knows of which he speaks. The laundry guys now have AC.

Santorini today. Overcast and cooler but so what?[emoji5]️

Yes - Moss Hills is a true hero and I'm looking forward to meeting him!

Wow, so happy all are well and did the job they were trained and drill so frequently for.

Praise for the crew and captain.

It has been a good trip. Yes, there was a fire problem but all is well. The fire site is being inspected today for permitting. A temporary permit is issued by whomever to state that the ship is safe and will be OK until the cause of the problem is repaired/replaced. Nice weather continues even tho' a nip of fall may be in the air. All debarking guests were off by 9:30, pretty early. Last night was Informal, odd for the evening before departure, but most people observed the code. Well done. I think there was lots of late packing! Will start a new thread.