SD I -July 14, Venice to Athens

[zqvol]

Santorini pictures

 

Since FT was on the ship I did not venture to Oia, so no brilliant blue roofs. I will report on the donkey ride and maybe post the souvenir picture when we get home.

 

[zqvol]

Must compliment the staff. They have pretty much gotten the little ones under control, or at least they are keeping them in areas where they can be children. Kudos to all of them for a job well done.

 

We just sailed from Santorini, on our way to Athens, Due at the pilot station early in the morning and along side before 8:00 Athens times (that is 1:00 a.m. for you east coast people).

 

I did manage to book our next voyage - March 3 SJU roundtrip. Lots of spaces available, come join us.

 

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Hopefully We can sleep between ATH and JFK. More details reviews etc. will appear in the next few weeks.

[frequent traveler]

Feeling better but skipping the 2nd "tasting" menu of the week . Only 4 courses after the caviar surprise but missing the pumpkin bisque I think. I will make ZQVOL weigh in if he has it.

Chef had some of the beef consommé sent for lunch and that was very good. Just going to stick with the basic club sandwich.

Finished packing finally. Took a break as we sailed past Oia. Not as many blue roofs as in the past. We think it must be time to paint again!

Have to get up early and disembark at 8 or 8:30. We made our own taxi arrangements using the same service from last trip. Significantly less costly than SD.

Oh well the wonderful Maribel has just arrived with my dinner.

FT

 

p.s. made a small donation to the crew welfare fund yesterday. Today, for the first time ever, we received a thank you note signed by the Captain and the Chief Purser. That was a very nice touch and we appreciated that note very much.

[DisneyJen]

Glad to hear that you are feeling better!

 

Sad to hear that your journey is just about over.

 

Safe travels!!

[ctbjr1309]

p.s. made a small donation to the crew welfare fund yesterday. Today, for the first time ever, we received a thank you note signed by the Captain and the Chief Purser. That was a very nice touch and we appreciated that note very much.

 

That must be a new thing and it certainly is a good idea to acknowledge these donations. Thanks for letting us know.

[Jim Avery]

Ditto on the safe travels. Re entry will be hard on you both, I know. We are looking forward to the full treatment review/pictures when you get over the trip.:D

[CDreamer]

FT and zqvol, thanks so much for taking all of us along on your b2b SD cruise. Enjoyed the daily reviews and the pics very much.

 

Despite some of the obstacles it still sounded like you enjoyed yourselves and some of the places you visited this time around.

 

Will look fwd to reading more after you both get home and caught up on your daily routines again.

[frequent traveler]

Before I forget ZQVOL says last nights version of the pumpkin soup had fennel and his chateaubriand was about the best beef he's had on board. And that is saying a lot. Which we will say in the wrap up!

Thanks for the good wishes.

FT

[zqvol]

Just now pulling into Pireaus. Time for one last breakfast with Nikola our wonderful waiter, and a chance to say bye to Job the superman of SDI (he is a pool waiter, back wait at night and sets up the deck every day). Many thanks to Maribel and Ruthize our stewardesses these two weeks. There are many more including the girls at the concierge desk and boutique, the spa ladies, the water sports team, Daniel, Kat and all the others.

 

It's of to ATH in a couple of hour and then the long flight home.

[zqvol]

Twenty seven hours later we are home!

[DisneyJen]

Welcome home!

[Jim Avery]

Welcome home. Is it too early for that review summary???:eek::D

[frequent traveler]

Home ... Better late than never. Lucky that our flight was only 3 hrs late, not cancelled, due to weather and all our bags made it. So glad we had driver waiting for us as we made it home at 2 am. 24 hrs of travel and no Nikola to bring me my 1st of 2 morning capuccinos.

While it won't be live I'm sure it will take me several postings to go through final reviews. As I started organizing jottings on the way over, I realized that due to the no of children on bd I was really seriously evaluating a lot of other factors as this could be our last SD voyage for a while. since ZQVOL booked another voyage before we left (I'm still a little nervous) we eventionally got there.

FT

[Jim Avery]

Home ... Better late than never. Lucky that our flight was only 3 hrs late, not cancelled, due to weather and all our bags made it. So glad we had driver waiting for us as we made it home at 2 am. 24 hrs of travel and no Nikola to bring me my 1st of 2 morning capuccinos.

While it won't be live I'm sure it will take me several postings to go through final reviews. As I started organizing jottings on the way over, I realized that due to the no of children on bd I was really seriously evaluating a lot of other factors as this could be our last SD voyage for a while. since ZQVOL booked another voyage before we left (I'm still a little nervous) we eventionally got there.

FT

 

I think it is the pursuit of that near perfect cruise (we have had 2 that were as perfect as is probably possible) that keeps us coming back in the face of the recurring kiddie issues. By your count, you have been on board with 41 children in just 2 of your cruises.:eek: We shared the joy of the 30 kid cruise from h*** with you.:eek: I imagine there have been other little ones on your other cruises. I have to say, Yall were good company when it came to circling the wagons against the little terrors.:D

[frequent traveler]

I think it is the pursuit of that near perfect cruise (we have had 2 that were as perfect as is probably possible) that keeps us coming back in the face of the recurring kiddie issues. By your count, you have been on board with 41 children in just 2 of your cruises.:eek: We shared the joy of the 30 kid cruise from h*** with you.:eek: I imagine there have been other little ones on your other cruises. I have to say, Yall were good company when it came to circling the wagons against the little terrors.:D

 

With the exception of crossings there have always been a few children on each voyage. After SD changed its 3rd person in the cabin pricing policy in its early days this was the 1st voyage where it was an issue. It was also first Med in July plus 1st for Private sale and last minute discount bookings. Most of the children have been extremely well behaved and parents have supervised appropriately, however if SD is going to allow that many on board they need to be better prepared to step in and handle the exceptions. And not wait until other guests are ready to mutiny before stepping up (which they did in this case- swimming in hot tub ended). Trip was very good, certain aspects exceptional, some of the best ever on SD - more to follow.

FT

[mimito4]

Welcome home FT & Z!

 

Can't wait for the in depth reporting. In the meantime, grab a soft pillow, crawl under the bed, and wait for the post SD blues to pass. They will eventually. Forget the laundry, or pass it on to one of your "adult" kids. I joke. I joke. :p

[frequent traveler]

Welcome home FT & Z!

 

Can't wait for the in depth reporting. In the meantime, grab a soft pillow, crawl under the bed, and wait for the post SD blues to pass. They will eventually. Forget the laundry, or pass it on to one of your "adult" kids. I joke. I joke. :p

 

Withdrawal has been bad - yet again. I don't know why I keep expecting it to change. No capucchino & sparkling water arriving for me shortly after I sit down at the breakfast table. In fact nothing arrives . . . . Where are my clean towels? And why are no chocolate covered marshmallows waiting for me before I retire at night?

 

As I walked out the door to work this ZQ Vol was muttering "took too many picutures in Venice, taking days to edit." I'll admit, I'm caught up in the Olympics, so text review will wait until this weekend. Since we arrived to

2nd story malfunction of air conditioning (which hopefully will be fixed this am), my brain has been even more scrambled than usual.

FT

[whatnot]

This horrid NC heat has taken it's toll on upstairs air conditioners! We returned from Alaska in late June to the same problem! Looking forward to your additional comments and pictures.

[Jim Avery]

Happy Friday FT and ZQVOL. You know what your weekend assignment is.:eek::D

[frequent traveler]

Just got home from having both knees scoped . Went through Croatia with a partial tear of a meniscus so let the pain meds kick in and I promise to tackle tomorrow

FT

[frequent traveler]

Final Review – A Tale of Two Voyages, So Similiar and So Different.

 

I have really struggled with the format of this review. Summarizing those 14 days on SD where I’ve done daily posts without duplicating those earlier entries may be difficult, so please bear with me. ZQ Vol will be or may have already posted a link to all of his pictures. We hope you enjoy. I decided to follow the format of the SD Guest Voyage Review (without the numbers rating).

So here goes - and I don’t have a clue how many postings this will take me to get through, depends on the Olympics and the difficulty of working from a laptop with knees being iced down (constantly) but at least 2nd story air conditioning is fully functional .

 

Disclaimers and Apologies – for not always using correct titles and spellings. For SD repeat guests, a lot will be repetitive, but for newbies, perhaps we will provide some helpful information.

 

Background: We chose this back to back itinerary last Christmas while on SD II heavily under the influence of Christophe(the Executive Hotel Manager, ) and Elena (then head concierge, now a Chief Purser). We had almost booked a cruise on another line beginning in Stockholm and ending in Amsterdam with stops in St. Petersburg, Germany, Denmark, etc. However, the Corinth Canal and Croatia have always been on my “bucket list” but I was very nervous about crowds in July in Croatia. What I should have remembered was all of Europe goes on holiday during July. And this year – they did not head to the Olympics but half seemed to be instead in Venice so this gets us to Item 1 on the Guest Voyage Review –

 

Yacht Embarkation: We began in Venice, Saturday, July 16. As compared to some other ports, there was a great deal of space in the terminal and plenty of seats. It was an open air room – so be prepared for humidity and the craziness of waiting with some local ferry passengers, but it was a very easy experience. Private water taxi from the hotel was definitely the way to go. Worth every Euro. You don’t touch your luggage from the time it leaves the hotel until the time it arrives in your cabin. A port worker is there to meet the taxi and then take your luggage. Cat (title is “Activities Staff” in the Daily Program) met us, gave luggage tags (none in our original docs), and told us about boarding. We arrived half an hour before scheduled boarding time of 2 pm since water congestion was much less than we expected. SD provided a shuttle (think airport-rental car in the US) to take us from terminal to yacht. Security was easy to clear – just put all bags through the screener and go. Maybe 1/8th a mile on the shuttle then up the gangway. We were greeted by the Captain, Bjarne Smorawki; the Hotel Manager, Pierre van der Merwe; and the Club Director, Daniel Bester. I don’t remember any of them introducing themselves, but then I broke out of line to give Daniel a hug. I’ve sailed with Daniel since he was a waiter on II, turns out one of my crossings was his first contract and his first trip ever with SD. Of course, we were then greeted with cool cloths and glasses of champagne before being escorted into the lounge. Check in was so efficient that we barely had time to pick a table and sit before we then headed to the concierge area, had our pictures taken, handed over the credit card, signed our contract and obtained our room key/boarding card. I then moved to the spa table set up and made a few appointments. One difference from prior voyages – none of the spa therapists were there to provide neck or hand massages. In the past, those have been very welcome.

 

One of the Chefs, and I can not remember which one on this leg, was serving caviar at the light buffet set up in the lounge. Check in was so efficient that I did not have time to sample before getting shown to cabin but I did go back later.

 

After making spa appointments, Rutzie showed us to our cabin where we were quickly able to get to our unpacking.

 

This was a btb cruise for us, so on leg 2, all we did when returning from Dubrovnik was scoot up the gangway – a bit before official check in time. On turn around day, continuing guests get to skip all the first day stuff.

 

Summary: This is one of the most efficient and smoothest embarkations we have ever experienced from start to finish – arrival at port to delivery of luggage. Considering how crowded Venice was and our experience with Venetian “efficiency,” the SD boarding experience was easy and relaxing – a perfect start to our 14 days.

 

Next – Stateroom Appointments – to come.

[Jim Avery]

Great start FT! You write as if you were still on board.:D Have to say both times we boarded (one SeaDream, one Seabourn) in Italy (both at Civitivecchia) the experience with the baggage was the same as yours. The Italian dock workers seem to have the "be nice to passengers" thing down pat. (unless they are on strike). A few Euros consideration and the bags disappear to be next seen on the bed in the cabin.:D

[frequent traveler]

Thanks, before ZQVOL can correct me, we boarded SD on July 14, not 16. Not sure date matters but this was Saturday to Saturday voyage which is great if you need to go back to work on Monday (I did) and can get back on from Europe on Saturday (which we only missed by a couple of hours due to weather). Currently watching delay of Serena's gold medal match but want to get a couple of more installments up today.

[DisneyJen]

Great format and start of the "formal" review FT ... even with your knees on rocks:p

 

Cat was on our January charter on SD1 and he was wonderful!

 

Looking forward to more ...

 

P.S. - Glad the upstairs a/c is working!

[Jim Avery]

even with your knees on rocks:p

 

Some visual, DJ.:eek::D