Hopefully "Live" Ryndam Athens to Tampa 2014

Continuing our tradition, we dined at the Pinnacle Grill on our first night of a cruise. Our first dish consisted of a seared scallop with a pumpkin sauce, which was very good.

DW had the shrimp cocktail and I had the Caesar salad, which was prepared tableside. We both had the halibut and shrimp scampi for our main entree. For dessert, I had the chocolate soufflé and DW had berries with soyaban sauce. Everything was excellent. Here's some photos of our dinner.

Until later.

Here's the first page of the Explorer we received. Our cruise has been sold in three segments, so the Explorer is showing the first 7 days, which is equal to the first segment. As you can see, we have 2 formal nights, which matches up with the 10 formal nights for our entire cruise that was shown in our documents. Unlike other post October 1 cruises, they have not reduced the number of formal nights for our cruise.

Here's the last page of the Explorer sowing the dining venues.

Here's today's program.

We've got to meet at 8:30 for our first excursion. Until later.

Wonderful review.

Pictures are great.

We began today's excursion by riding a bus for 25-30 minutes to Epidauros, which was considered the cradle for the art of medicine. A small museum contains several bronze medical instruments as well as some relics. Here's some photos.

Epidauros is also famous for its theatre, which is known for its excellent acoustics and is, according to our guide, the best preserved theatre in Greece.

Until later.

After a couple of hours of touring Epidauros, we began our bus ride to the fortress of Palamidi, which towers over the city of Nauplion, the original capital of modern Greece. Our guide announced the road was "captured" by the police because of a bicycle race. We were delayed only 5-10 minutes. The fortress was begun by the Venetians, but was conquered by the Turks before the Venetians could finish it. The Turks finished the fortress, using the original Venetian plans. Later the fortress became a prison. Here's some photos.

We could look down on a very small fortress known as the Bourtzi, which was built in 1473 to protect the port. In 1865, it was turned into the residence of executioners for the Palamidi prison. In 1935, it was converted into a hotel.

Until later.

After our tour of the fortress Palamidi, the bus left us off at the tender area. We walked down the street a short distance and found an outdoor cafe with free, but very slow, wi-fi. After our lunch, we waled around the town some. Nauplion has a very pretty waterfront and some very quaint streets. Here's a few things we saw prior to tendering back to the ship.

Tonight is our first formal night. We haven't decided whether to dress up or just go to the Lido for dinner. Until later.

I love following your trips - your photos make me feel as if I was there with you.

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

Looking forward to reading.. Just stepped off the same ship in Athens after an enjoyable cruise..

I'll have to get a TR up at some point; though after the most badly organised last day ever I think I need a few days just lying doing nothing.

Re Formal night - go for it and dress up (though to be honest they seemed really slack last week in enforcing any sort of dress code both nights) made the whole thing feel a bit sloppy

Great pics. Thx.

Hi

Robert

If you read this and get time would you let us know what time trivia is being held..other than pub trivia

It would help in choosing the time for the book group

( all my activities are on sea days )

Thanks for the report, I see that the cruise director has changed.

Glad I board in BCN as that port is incredibly organized!

No really I am jealous and wish I were there

Getting things laid out to pack

.

Bon continuation as the French say.

Susan

Turns out the dress code for tonight was NOT formal. The Explorer, which showed the dress code for the first week, indicated two formal nights, with the first one being tonight. The daily program, however, indicated smart casual. Apparently the Ryndam has adjusted to the new schedule of basically one formal night per week. With such a port intensive schedule, we're glad to see less formal nights. For dinner tonight, I had a pesto pasta with sausage and DW had the Dover sole. She actually liked this dish better than the halibut she had last night at the Pinnacle Grill.

Until later.

I wish they would get the formal thing right on the edocs. More room for outfits I will wear.

Please keep the posts coming. I love the pictures. It's almost like being there. I cannot wait until I retire so that I can take advantage of these trans-Atlantic cruises. I love Europe (did a 14-day cruise in June) but I hate those long flight, especially coming back.

and your pictures are fantastic. Thanks for the time and energy and sharing your trip and talent with us.

Wonderful pics & report we have been following....well done.

Loved the daily ship news.

We leave tomorrow for Kuala Lumpur & overnight before continuing on via Dubai to Istanbul (day flights)

See you on board on Saturday for 29 days!!

Regards

Noel & Pat Bell

We docked in Mykonos this morning, but had to take a water taxi into town (4 Euros round trip). Since we don't have a tour today, we were a little slow in getting going. Here's today's program.

Until later.

Some of the friends DW met in Mykonos.

Until later

Today, we just walked around town and stopped at the Sunset Taverna for lunch Grilled shrimp - 18 Euros). Here's some photos from our day in Mykonos.

Until Later.

More photos from Mykonos.

Little Venice area on Mykonos.

This pelican was inside a store.

Until later.

Having never been to Mykonos, we decided to just walk around town to see what we could. According to mythology, Mykonos was formed from the petrified bodies of giants killed by Hercules and its name comes from the grandson of Apollo. While obviously a tourist town, Mykonos was not overrun by people today. We leisurely wondered among the various small streets, which are lined with a variety of stores. You do, however, have to be alert for an occasional scooter or mini truck. Most of the restaurants are near the water. Just before catching the water taxi back to the Ryndam, we bought six large bottles of water. Turns out, the pick-up spot for the return trip on the water taxi was at a different area than the drop-off, although they are fairly close together. The original spot was overrun with people who had just tendered in from the Costa Deliziosa. Fortunately for us, the Deliziosa didn't arrive until about an hour before we caught the water taxi, so we didn't have to contend with large crowds during our visit.

The town is built around a small harbor.

Our return to the Ryndam was uneventful, which led us to celebrate with our first glass of Greek wine.

Until later.

Hi

Robert

If you read this and get time would you let us know what time trivia is being held..other than pub trivia

It would help in choosing the time for the book group

( all my activities are on sea days )

Thanks for the report, I see that the cruise director has changed.

 

Glad I board in BCN as that port is incredibly organized!

No really I am jealous and wish I were there

 

Getting things laid out to pack

.

Bon continuation as the French say.

 

Susan

So far, trivia with the cruise director has been at 4:00. I don't know if that'll change with a sea day, which we will not have until next week.

Great pics. I especially liked the cat pictures:).

Tonight was our first formal night. Since it took us a little longer to clean up and become presentable after our day on Mykonos, we were glad we had open dining. We arrived for dinner around 6:30 and were able to get a table for two without any wait. In the past, we've generally found you need to get to the dining room by 6:00 to get a table for two unless you're willing to wait. For the most part, people complied with the formal dress code, although I only spotted an occasional tux. In honor of Canada's Thanksgiving Day, turkey was on the menudo. I had the grilled salmon and DW had the steak, both of which are on the everyday menu. The salmon was very good, but the steak had a lot of fat, although the flavor was good.

Tonight's show featured Livewire. This married couple performed for 45 minutes, beginning with traditional Irish music (making you feel you were in a Dublin pub), followed by more contemporary music and ending with music from The Fiddler on the Roof.

Until later.

What is the condition of the ship? We are sailing on her in January/February.

Thanks

D

So far, trivia with the cruise director has been at 4:00. I don't know if that'll change with a sea day, which we will not have until next week.

Thanks, schedule looks good.

Love that emblematic series of Mykanos...timeless. I wonder how old this Petros pelican is now.