SD 1 Athens to Rome

[TrapperZimmy]

Arrived in Athens on Thursday after nonstop flight from Chicago. Scheduled to arrive at noon, but landed at 10:45 am. Must have been one hell of a tail wind. Only problem was our driver hadn’t gotten the message. He showed up, but it was an anxious twenty minutes or so. 

 

Checked into the Hilton with a great view of the Parthenon from our balcony. It is still really hot here with temperatures 90+. But dinner last night on the roof was delightful. 

 

We board tomorrow (Saturday). Can’t wait. It has been a few years since we have been on the 1, but I have been told we will still recognize the crew. 

[Jim Avery]

Looking forward to y’all’s posts.🍸

[JSADesigns]

Me too! Have fun. 

[Tiki_Man]

Cheers, can't wait to read about the adventures.

[TrapperZimmy]

Just finished lifeboat drill and sitting at the TOY waiting to cast off. A very full ship, but not a single child. Should have joined us, Jim. 

 

A lot of crew members we haven’t seen for a while. Captain Bjarne joined the ship today. We with Robin when he first came on board several years ago, and now he’s Maitre d’.  Others include Mikes, Brian, Jose, Rose and Frude. Gareth is Club Director. Ship looks great, and we booked dinner on deck tonight. Tomorrow is Mykonos. Stay tuned. 

[Jim Avery]

Haha, that's nice no kids.  We are guaranteed no kids on Viking Sun.🍸 Sounds like a great start to your trip.

[vandrefalk]

Enjoy every minute — wish we were there!  Please say hi to all the crew, especially Brian, Mikee and Rose and Frud!  And Capt Bjarne!  Miss them all!

vandrefalk

[ctbjr1309]

Thanks for checking in.  We board August 31 in Civitavecchia and appreciate the crew updates.  Look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.  Hope its a great one! 

[TrapperZimmy]

Mykonos is lovely. Low 70s and we are the only ship in port. Hope that will be the case in Santorini. 

 

Dinner on deck 4 last night. Ship was moving and we had the windiest table. A whole different concept of holding your food down. Had to keep the wine glass filled to keep it from toppling over. A real dining adventure. 

[TrapperZimmy]

5 hours ago, ctbjr1309 said:

Thanks for checking in.  We board August 31 in Civitavecchia and appreciate the crew updates.  Look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.  Hope its a great one! 

Are you on SD2?  It was in Rome yesterday. We get to Rome on the 27th. 

[ctbjr1309]

4 hours ago, TrapperZimmy said:

Are you on SD2?  It was in Rome yesterday. We get to Rome on the 27th. 

Nope. We are on SD1 departing Civitavecchia August 31. 

[TrapperZimmy]

5 hours ago, ctbjr1309 said:

Nope. We are on SD1 departing Civitavecchia August 31. 

Hmm, wonder if they have a short charter. 

 

Captain’s cocktail hour tonight. 102 passengers. 62 repeats. 64 Americans. 

 

High winds tonight. They were planning dinner on deck, but moved it to the dining room. We took Robin’s advice and ate indoors, too. It was the Confluence dinner, which they prefer to serve in the dining room anyway. Well, there will be plenty of other nights. 

[TrapperZimmy]

Today is Patmos. The primary excursion was to the monastery where the Book of Revelation was written. We, however, booked a six hour boat trip that included beaches, snorkeling and lunch. After packing towels, masks, snorkels, etc and riding the life boat to the dock, we were told that the tour was cancelled due to rough seas. Big disappointment. Have no quarrel with safety being primary, but sure would have been nice to know before leaving the ship. Spent some time in the town and on a small beach, and then returned to the ship for lunch. 

 

Like yesterday, perfectly blue sky but strong wind. Still better than being at home. 

 

By by the way, Exec Chef Tomasz is wearing the toque this trip. He’s the greatest. 

[Jim Avery]

Patmos looks lovely in the travel mags.  A good place to be when you don't go out in boats in strong winds.  I agree with y'all.  We would be checking out the cafes and other sites too.🍸

[ctbjr1309]

5 hours ago, TrapperZimmy said:

By the way, Exec Chef Tomasz is wearing the toque this trip. He’s the greatest. 

 

Thanks for today’s update.  If you don’t mind, please ask Tomasz how much longer he’ll be on board.  Would be great to see him on the 31st!

[TrapperZimmy]

From what I gather, Tomasz will be aboard until 9/5. Then Alistair returns. 

 

Today was Santorini. So glad we have been here before because it was a  nightmare. Problem with vacationing in August is that all of Europe is doing it, too. All tendering is on the port’s boats and they come by every half hour. Our entire ship can get on one boat, but there is only one dock. So you wait your turn. Once at the port we elected to take the “speed” boat to Oia rather than take the cable car right up to Fira. It sounded good. For 15 Euros you get on the boat, then a nice bus takes you up to Oia. When you are ready to leave, your ticket entitles you to the bus to Fira, which leaves every hour. So, we catch the first tender at 9:00 and then pay for the trip to Oia. Now we wait a few minutes for the boat and it is a short ride to where we get the bus. But we have to wait to dock because there is one dock and several boats. By the time we get up to Oia it is now 10:30. And it is so jammed with people that you can barely move. After 15 minutes we decided to catch the 11:00 bus to Fira. It, too, was very crowded, but we managed to find a nice place to get a light lunch. We then got into the long line for the cable car down to the port. So disappointing. Sitting by the pool, though, you can really admire the white buildings on top of the cliff with the bluest sky you have ever seen. 

[ctbjr1309]

10 hours ago, TrapperZimmy said:

From what I gather, Tomasz will be aboard until 9/5. Then Alistair returns. 

Great.  A Twofer since we're on board until the 11th!  Thanks for checking and letting me know.  Very much appreciated!

[TrapperZimmy]

Today is Hydra. A charming little island, population around 2,000. But more than that many hotel rooms. Only transportation is the four legged kind. Horses, donkeys and mules. Not even bicycles. Did a walking excursion that ended at a beach. After a dip just long enough to refresh us , a boat took us back to port. 

 

Winds have finally died died down enough to permit umbrellas around the pool. And swimming off the marina. Just a perfect SeaDream afternoon. 

[Jim Avery]

Sounds great Trapper.  Hydra must have been a relief after Santorini crowds.  Nothing better than a nice afternoon on the Pool Deck.🍸

[TrapperZimmy]

Yesterday was the highlight day of the cruise. At 0800 we entered the Corinth Canal for a one hour transit. We have done a few canals, but this was one of a kind. 

 

After lunch we we began our tour to Delphi. About 30 passengers, but we had two guides so the numbers worked out well. Awesome tour of the ruins with excellent explanations by our guide. A lot of walking up hill and it was quite hot, but it was very worthwhile. Thermometer on deck when we returned at around 5:30 was over 100. 

 

Today we are at sea on our way to Italy. Sea is very calm and there is talk about stopping for a swim. Caviar extravaganza and picnic lunch today. 😃

 

New things on board since we last sailed. We all received water bottles with personalized sleeves. And there is a bottle filling station by the pool. In the room there is also a glass water bottle that gets refilled. Company’s objective is to phase out the plastic bottles. 

 

Also new is a wash sink as you come out to the topside restaurant.  It seems to be used as frequently as the hand sanitizers. 😉

[TrapperZimmy]

Sicily on Saturday. We took the tour to Mt Etna today. It was a long drive from the port to the volcano, then we took the cable car 🚡 most of the way up. From the top station we took a large 4 wheel drive bus even higher. And then we walked to the top of a crater. All together we were up about 10,000 feet. You could feel the altitude and it was about 40 degrees colder. Had a very good guide who told us everything about the volcano, but also made sure none of us got hurt. Glad we booked this. 

 

And even though we didn’t get back until after 2:00, lunch was still being served. 

 

 

[TrapperZimmy]

Sicily on Saturday. We took the tour to Mt Etna today. It was a long drive from the port to the volcano, then we took the cable car 🚡 most of the way up. From the top station we took a large 4 wheel drive bus even higher. And then we walked to the top of a crater. All together we were up about 10,000 feet. You could feel the altitude and it was about 40 degrees colder. Had a very good guide who told us everything about the volcano, but also made sure none of us got hurt. Glad we booked this. 

 

And even though we didn’t get back until after 2:00, lunch was still being served. 

 

 

[TrapperZimmy]

First, sorry for the duplicate post. I guess that is what happens when you don’t finish your post before you lose cell service. 

 

WOW. After leaving Taormina, we learned of a change in itinerary. Instead of arriving at Amalfi at 11:00 am, we would get there at 9:00 and Tomasz would lead a chef’s walk in the morning. We, however, had a tour to Ravello, that was then moved up to 9:30. But the tour was wonderful with a very good guide who told us a lot that we would not have known had we gone up to Ravello on our own. But the big surprise was that the Captain had heard the volcano at Stombolli was erupting. We sailed by it at around 10:30 pm and it was incredible. Explosions at the top and hot lava going down the side of the mountain. How SeaDream arranged for that is beyond me. 

 

Tonight (Sunday) was the dessert extravaganza. Musical entertainment at the pool, but I didn’t know that Brian sings. A great show.

 

Tomorrow, our last full day aboard, is Capri. 

 

By the way, if you are used to getting a pair of pajamas and a tin of mints, you are going to be surprised. A different gift just about every night, and I’m not talking about chocolate covered strawberries. No more details. I’ll let you find out for yourself. 

[Jim Avery]

Now Trapper, that's just not nice.  We depend on you for all the inside info.  Gifts galore??  Love your posting.  Sounds like a great trip.  Your Stromboli tale reminded me of this one time, on SeaDream when Captain Walter Berg (remember him?) sailed us by Montserrat during an eruption.  Fantastic light show.  I also learned that volcanic ash in a martini tastes a bit peppery.  The outdoor spaces all had to be scrubbed down by breakfast but, as usual, the crew was up to ash detail.  Looking forward to the rest of your voyage.🍸

[Tiki_Man]

Trapper, your trip sounds fantastic.  We want to do a Corinth passage one summer soon.  Thanks for the updates and info and teases.  November can't get here soon enough.