Greek Isles- NCL Jade 7/13/2012 review

[tiggerman101]

Izmir, Turkey

 

As I said before, this Greek Isles cruise was different then the usual run. We had an extra sea day and went to Izmir, Turkey instead of Katakolon, Greece. I was fine with this. We have been to Izmir before on our last Jade cruise. Now the main draw here is Ephesus, the amazing archeological site from circa 500 BC. Izmir lies close in proximity to the site and it is where almost everyone from the ship goes. We went there last time and it is an amazing place, however we did not feel the need to go back especially in the middle of summer. We knew how hot it would be out there. Still, if you get a chance and are even remotely interested in old ruins, then by all means head out there.

 

With that in mind, I looked for alternatives for the day. Izmir is actually the third biggest city in Turkey and it is pretty modern. We have been to Istanbul and there you see a nice mix of old and new. In Izmir, it is mainly new. It is the site of a lot of ancient territories, but the city pretty much built over most of it. Looking into the city online, I realized there was not too much there. It does have a rather large traditional bazaar that is not far from the port. Wade and I love outdoor markets and such and look for them in many places. I thought this could be fun.

 

So we left the ship and went out the port building and headed to the right down the Promenade along the sea.

 

 

I knew the Bazaar was a straight shot and easily walkable in about 45 minutes or so. I could have grabbed a cab, but we love to walk. Plus, the sea side area was nice. It is basically one long row of all sorts of restaurants. They all had outdoor seating. You could also look out at the sea and the rest of Izmir

 

 

Izmir is huge. It is a major city that spreads out all over. We walked and came across this statue. I have no idea what it was, but it was neat:

 

 

Occasionally we would pass a square and they were nice:

 

[tiggerman101]

We walked along and decided after awhile to go one block away from the sea side. It was getting scorching hot out there and we thought the shade of buildings would be better

 

 

We were headed to Konack Square. There is the center of Izmir with its beautiful clocktower. The Kemeralti Bazaar is located all over the streets behind it. We came upon this walkway that went over the street. It had a sign leading to the square

 

 

At the bottom of the square I found a money exchange place. I decided to change some Euros into Turkish Lira for the bazaar. I had no idea what I was getting and to be honest, I didn't care if it was a good rate or not. I was only exchanging like 60 Euro anyway. Next to it was another interesting site

 

Konak square is not too big. The center is the clocktower that dates back to 1901. It is a bit smaller then I thought it would be, but it is very ornate and absolutely beautiful up close

 

Edited August 20, 2012 by tiggerman101

[sns1009]

Thank you for the great review and beautiful picutres! This is my dream cruise - someday...

[tiggerman101]

So the bazaar is behind this area somewhere. We first went way off on one side and back a little. It seemed we were headed into some dark and narrow alley. I don't think so. So we turned around and came upon a corner. This seemed to be heading in the right direction:

 

 

On the outskirts it is pretty wide and cars can actually go through. However, we just walked right into it

 

 

I should note that in Turkey there are feet washing stations all over. These are usually near mosques and lots of people do use them. Interesting:

 

 

We started to get farther into the bazaar and it became more and more interesting:

 

 

There was all sorts of stuff in there. I think you could find almost anything imaginable there. Here is Wade looking a bit baffled:

 

[tiggerman101]

After awhile we were really in the heart of it all

 

 

It just went on and on

 

 

 

There were so many ways to go. It was fascinating. We have been to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, but I liked this much better. It just seemed a lot more authentic. There were local people everywhere buying everything imaginable. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is also amazing, but it seems like it is a lot more for tourists.

 

 

Working in a seafood restaurant that cuts all its own fish, the market here intrigued me:

 

Edited August 20, 2012 by tiggerman101

[tiggerman101]

It wasn't all pretty. There were lots of "pet" stalls. They were not nice looking. Basically small cages filled with puppies, chickens, mice, etc. There were a lot of caged birds everywhere. I didn't take any pictures because honestly, the men who worked there frowned at my camera.

 

After awhile we came to a nice opening in the middle. There was a nice foot washing station here:

 

 

The area had some greenery and was like a little oasis in the middle of chaos.

 

 

We walked around a little more and Wade decided to bargain for a belt. he needed a new dress belt for work so we ducked into a suit stall. The boy in there was very friendly and and he went through a lot of boxes to find a black leather belt for us. I asked how much, then offered about half and we made a deal. Oh yea, they would have taken Euros in there no problem. In fact everywhere we went had Euro prices, as well as, Lira prices. We also picked up some little magnets, etc from a couple other stores.

 

After that we ran into the cafe district of the bazaar. Think Hookah pipes and Turkish Coffee. I personally love Turkish Coffee so we sat down at one of the places.

 

 

[tiggerman101]

After that we just wondered around a bit more

 

 

We looked in a shop and Wade saw a whole bunch of Russian nesting dolls. His secretary had wanted some really bad so we stopped in and got a set. There was some amazing things in there. Nice lamps and statues. I really hate airline restrictions. Then again, they are probably a good thing for me....

 

We asked the guy just how the heck did we get out of the bazaar and he just laughed. He said something like go left, right, left, left, then right again. We just walked in the general direction he told us to go. After a bit we could see up to the hills

 

 

At the outskirts we decided to try a juice stand. They had a few of these around and they were pretty neat. They had a couple different kinds of fruit that they squeezed right there. They would give it to you in an actual glass. You would just drink it fast on the spot and give the glass back. Wade tried the Mulberry one first, then he went back to try the apricot one (I think). We started leaving again and he decided he wanted another Mulberry. The little kid working there was so proud to sell three glasses to this one guy. The men there were laughing at us and the boy. I had to take a picture:

 

[searoses]

you are helping me so much and i laughed out loud at the whales. spent 10 hrs on a plane with an itchy 5yo recently. only pg movie available.....so glad to get off those planes and away from those whales!! lol

[Yankee123]

I should note that in Turkey there are feet washing stations all over. These are usually near mosques and lots of people do use them. Interesting:

 

 

 

Loving your review. We have this itinerary on our to do list, hopefully one day.

 

I wanted to comment on the "feet washing stations", these are actually called ablution stations. Muslims have to cleanse or wash themselves before they pray, and the last body part they wash are the feet. That's why you always located them next to a mosque.

 

Keep the review coming, and the pictures came out great. Thanks for the review.

[tiggerman101]

So we headed out of the bazaar and trekked back towards the ship. I loved the experience there. It was fascinating and very fun. Wade and I both agreed it was yet another highlight in our travels. We walked back, but I still had a lot of Lira to get rid of. We kept a look out for a place to eat. Sure we probably needed real substance, but hey, Turkey has some awesome bakeries and such!. So we stopped at a cafe place. They sent out a waiter that spoke English and he was very nice. He offered to take our picture:

 

 

We ordered some pastries and drinks. I has some incredible Green Apple Lemonade made with fresh apple. It was very good.

 

 

After that we headed on down the street and took in the sites

 

 

We got close to the ship and there was a little park there. We played around on the toys and sat there looking out to sea

 

[ibcnusoon]

Wow, an outdoor market in Izmir, I love your excursions! Since there aren't that many tourists, do you feel it would be safe for women alone? Also, was there a language barrier in Turkey and how did you handle the currency exchange, do they take american dollars??

Edited August 20, 2012 by ibcnusoon

[tiggerman101]

So we headed back onto the ship. Wade decided to walk around and I went up to the pool deck for a bit. I wanted to get up there before everyone got back from Ephesus. It was very hot out there and the pool felt great. The view was nice from the Lido Deck as well:

 

 

Later on I met Wade at our cabin for sail away. I made my coffee and sat out on the balcony.

 

 

The city just goes on and on. It is huge and spreads out all along the coast line.

 

 

That night we decided to try something new. The Main Dining Room! Wow, it only took us six days to go there. We went down to Alizar because it is always less crowded. I am not sure what all we had but it was pretty good. I have never had a problem with the MDR food on any line. I don't expect to be blown away by it, but it is usually pretty good.

 

We walked around the bar area some and Wade talked to his bartender and stocked up on Mt Dew.

 

 

I am a coffee fiend, but Wade loves his Mt Dew.He would buy a few cans every night at the bar and take it back to our cabin fridge. One of the bartenders in 'Bar City" was really nice and always stopped to talk to us. We sat around that area for awhile

 

 

We also walked along the promenade outside as the sun was going down. It was a beautiful night

 

 

Soon after we went to bed. I was so glad to have two sea days before we were back in Venice. I wanted nothing but to lay out and relax.

 

I will do more in awhile. I decided to also tack on our last day in Venice since it is a port in itself. Thanks for all that are reading.

[boopsahoy]

Loving your review and pictures! Thanks for posting!

[tiggerman101]

Wow, an outdoor market in Izmir, I love your excursions! Since there aren't that many tourists, do you feel it would be safe for women alone? Also, was there a language barrier in Turkey and how did you handle the currency exchange, do they take american dollars??

 

There were tourist around all right. Just not in the droves you see in other areas. Wade and I used to try to blend in when we went to Europe, but we finally just gave up. They can spot an American from a mile away. So we just put on our white sneakers and go with it....

 

I think that a woman would be fine. There is a little language barrier in Turkey, but you will usually find those that speak a little English. The main things are easy to communicate at the very least. I have never really had a problem there. I know some that don't care much for Turkey, but we have enjoyed all our visits there. The world is a big place. Not everyone has the same views. I might not agree with some cultures per say, but they are fascinating none the less.

[jem57]

i have really enjoyed your review,we are on the same cruise oct 6th,after reading about your trip i cant wait.thanks for sharing your experiences:)

[tiggerman101]

The next day was the first of two sea days heading back to Venice. We woke up and had coffee and a couple muffins. Wade headed off to do his thing and I went up to the pool deck. When I went up to get our muffins I scoped out the chair hog scene. Chair Hogs bug the H#LL out of me to be blunt. So walking around the deck above the pools I saw most were already "taken" (with towels, etc). In fact most were not filled with people yet. There was a group of three that had a towel across all three chairs and a banana on each one.

 

So after I went and got our breakfast, headed back down to the room, ate, got ready and headed back out it had been a good hour or so. Of course, there wasn't a chair available. I did see the banana chairs sitting there still unattended so I just went over, threw the banana and towel off the chair, picked it up and moved it down the way into the sun. Nobody said anything, but honestly it wouldn't have phased me in the slightest if they did.

 

I sat out and got to talking to a couple girls from canada, they were fun and I enjoyed their company. We noticed the pool attendants going by with the Yellow dots. They put them on all the "saved" chairs with the time marked on them. I did notice them walk by a couple times with people's things in their arms. I was more then thrilled to see this.

 

I later met Wade for lunch in the MDR again. It was nice as always.

 

 

From their we did our laps around the Promenade Deck:

 

 

I think I headed back to the pool again later on. Luckily it was late afternoon and there were a few open loungers. Tonight we had dinner reservations at Moderno, but they also had the Chocolate Buffet in the evening. We went up to look around and take some back to the cabin for later

 

 

 

[tiggerman101]

We got ready and headed out to Moderno for our 8 PM reservation. I knew the concept, but have never actually been to a Churrascaria before. They sat us next to the railing looking down at the lobby where a piano player was banging out some Beatles toon. I am a huge Beatles fan so I was very happy. Now with Moderno you have the salad bar to start and then flip your card over for all the meat. I have to say, the salad bar was great. It was small, but it had good stuff on it. I reminded Wade that we were about to be buried in meat so we should tone down on the veggies.

 

So with the plates cleared we flipped the card and began

 

 

We started with bacon wrapped chickedn that was very, very good. From there we hit all sorts of meat. I loved the fillet and the beef roast (the only one that didn't come on a skewer). The only thing we did not like was the ribs. They were very tough. This was a big disappointment as we both love ribs. The rest was all good. Oh yea, I LOVED the pinapple. I need to grill that at home....

 

One of the gouchos was a lady named Venus. She was absolutely outstanding. She made sure we got everything we wanted. She even went over each meat in the list to make sure we tried all of them. She went back and got stuff for us many times. It was great service and we made sure to tell the manager and also fill out a card on her.

 

 

After dinner, we waddled out to go walk some more. Tonight was the White Hot party so we decided to stop in for a bit. It was well attended and fun to watch. Many of the staff came up to say hello to Wade because they all knew the "Bingo Queen".

 

 

 

One weird thing about Spinaker's. Whenever we went in there and wanted a drink (Bingo, etc) we would go to the bar. The bartender always seemed irritated and pushed us off on a server. She would actually call one of them over there to take our order. I just didn't understand the concept behind that. Why would she not be able to help us directly? Anyway, we just though it was odd and it happened more then once (we figured the first time it was just a fluke).

 

With that we went to bed.

[fabnfortysomething]

yes also noted on our recent trip on NCL spirit that bananas seem to be the latest chair reserving items!!

 

mind you mother nature intervened on 1 day of our trip where the winds picked up-only a human body on the lounge chairs stood any chance of staying in place!!!

[tiggerman101]

Well, the last day was here. We awoke and did the usual routine. I had coffee and then went to grab some muffins. The pool deck was crazy at before 9 AM. There were still saved chairs everywhere, but now many of them had one person watching them. Sigh.

 

So when I went back up to the deck, there was nothing at all left. There were chairs with the stickers on them and I stood and waited by a few of them. The stickers indicated it had been over an hour since they were marked. I was hoping the attendant would come up and take care of them. After awhile I went over to the security card and explained that the chairs had been empty for well over an hour according to the tag. Did she want me to remove the stuff or did she want to do it herself? She looked a little taken aback and told me she would take me to see the attendant. We went to the booth and the attendant told me he would meet me up by the chairs.

 

There I waited. By then people had gathered around and everyone wanted a chair. The attendant never showed up. After about 20 minutes I went back to the security guard and she told me she would go get him. Honestly, I was getting really irritated. He finally shows up and mumbles something about having a "meeting" which is why he never came up. By then there were about 10 people standing there with me. We all pointed out numerous chairs that had old dots on them. Many however, had one person sitting there. He proceeded to ask one lady about the FIVE chairs she was saving "Oh, they just went away for a second?" I pointed out the dot that had a time of over an hour on the back of the chairs (she didn't know they were even on there). She just glared at me. We then went down to three chairs with nothing bu ta towel on them. There a lady screamed at us that all those chairs were saved for her children. Really lady? More people stated to follow us and the attendant did not know what to do. He kept trying to tell the people to wait and hold back, that he would help me first then get to the others. Honestly, if he had just been firm with these people it would have worked out. He was scared to implement the new policy.

 

Finally, he just threw a towel off a chair and told me "Hurry! Take it!" So Idid. I moved it into the sun. A few minutes later another couple that was following us around came by with chairs. We all agreed it was ridiculous and way out of hand. This ship had the worst case of chair hogging I have ever seen. I respect they are trying to do something about it, however, it will never work if all employees are not willing to implement it.

 

Anyway, end of rant...

[tiggerman101]

Later in the afternoon I headed off to the Medusa Lounge to watch "The Hunger Games". I read all three books on my Hawaii cruise so they were a guilty pleasure. I had not see the movie so I figured why not. They played movies there in the afternoon a lot and this was the first one I went to see. It was packed.

 

 

So it was the last night and we decided to go back to Jasmine Garden. I got dressed and hung out on the balcony with my coffee.

 

 

We wanted to go see "Elements" again because we thought it was great on our first Jade cruise. We got there early and took the seats in the back with the bar and stools. The show was as good as before and we really enjoyed it. The crew came out to say goodbye.

 

 

So we hit up Jasmine right after the show and had a nice chat with the hostess again. For dinner Wade ate off the menu and I went for sushi. I had my rolls come out, but one was not what I ordered at all. So the waiter apologized and took it away. No big deal. The Nigiri and roll that I had left on the plate was pretty good. Again, I work in a nice seafood restaurant and we have amazing sushi. This wasn't as good (nor did I expect it to be), but it was just fine. The otherroll I ordered was supposed to be flash fried to make the outside rice crispy. When I got it it had been fried way too long and the salmon inside was completely cooked. It was pretty bad. I didn't say anything, but I didn't eat it. When he came with our bill he had taken all my food off because of his mistake. I felt really bad about that as it was not what I wanted. I tried to insist on paying for it, but he wouldn't let me. I left the cost of it as an additional tip and complemented him to the manager as we left.

 

After that we walked around a bit and then had a final snack out at the Great Outdoors.

 

 

We had to go back and get our luggage put out. We always do self debarkation, but the port of Venice does not allow it. So everyone has to put their luggage out the last night. It wasn't a big deal as we were staying another night in Venice. Plus we had grabbed the first tags as soon as they put them out.

 

With that we went to bed. I hoped to wake up early enough to see the sail back into Venice.

[tiggerman101]

So I was happy to wake up and see that we were just pulling into the lagoon. We had not even sailed into Venice proper yet. I made coffee (again, LOVE the in-room coffee maker) and sat out on the balcony.

 

 

I noticed the clouds immediately. As I said before, we had no clouds on this entire cruise once we left Venice.

 

We were coming up on St Mark's so I tried to grab a shot of the Bridge of Sighs

 

 

 

 

I stayed out till we got near the dock and snapped a few more pics.

 

 

We docked at a different place then we left at. This time we were way up and a lot closer to the people mover. We got ready and headed out. Debarkation was alright. Of course, everyone was trying to get off regard less of tag numbers. We waited a bit but it wasn't bad. From there we collected out luggage and headed out. The line for the people Mover was really long so we just hit the sidewalk and walked. It isn't far at all, but you have to go up an hill and around. Soon we were back at our hotel again.

 

So that is the end of the cruise, but we still have a day in Venice. We decided to go out to Murano and Burano for the afternoon. I will fill that part in soon.

[SallyStrawberry]

What a great review! Makes me want to book a cruise to the Greek islands ...

[tiggerman101]

David,

I am loving your pictures and your comments. Looks like a wonderful trip. Two questions: (1) since I do not speak another language, can I manage both on and off ship? (2) I am a 66 year old widow not in good physical condition- how easy would this cruise be to do?

 

I just saw this, sorry. I wouldn't worry about the language. English is the main language on the ship although they did announcements in a lot of other as well. In port, you can always understand what you need to.

 

As for the physical condition parts...it just depends on how limited you are. In Venice you will do a lot of walking and a lot of going up and down bridges, etc. All the other ports require a lot of foot work as well. It just depends what you are comfortable with.

[www3traveler]

Thank you very much for your review and thank you for the picture of the Farewell Show. I saw a friend of mine ( the Hotel Director Denis Prguda). Are you a professional photographer ?

 

Mandy

[tiggerman101]

Thank you very much for your review and thank you for the picture of the Farewell Show. I saw a friend of mine ( the Hotel Director Denis Prguda). Are you a professional photographer ?

 

Mandy

 

Your welcome. I enjoy doing them, they just take a lot of time. I just like to take pictures. Everything was taken with a Panansonic Lumic DMC- DZ8. This is the second Lumix camera I have owned and I love them. They are just a great Point and Shoot camera and they fit perfectly in my front pocket.