Semi-Live Voyager for 33 nights beginning May 1, 2024

[Ocean Boy]

10 hours ago, little britain said:

My handbag (purse) was stolen after we had checked in our cases. We were still land side. - an Algerian youth distracted us whilst his accomplice stole my brand new bag containing both passports, credit cards, cash, spectacles, etc.  So hang on to your possessions- although my friend had her new iPhone stolen in the airport terminal too on another occasion 

Sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine the stress.

[framboesa]

On 5/1/2024 at 2:54 PM, xpcdoojk said:

Our first cruise, and first RCI cruise was the Majesty of the Seas.  Is she still in service as something?  The largest cruise ship in the world in 1996 when we sailed her.  Smaller than anything in the fleet now.  

Our first cruise was also Majesty of the seas 🙂 More than 30 years ago!

[framboesa]

Thnak you for sharing your adventure. We just returned from TA aboard Oasis of the seas and also went to Malaga and Valencia. We also had one medical emergency and had to stop at Azores (I guess they attend lost of TA emergencies). We just booked (two days ago) Voyager September 23rd 🙂 

[xpcdoojk]

O, I am way behind.  

 

Dale won.  Tom didn’t compete, there were a couple of “kids” (anyone under 40) who had just gotten their blue bands one could do a show pony, but they wiped out multiple times (as expected).  70s party after we got back to the room for her to dress for the party, she has been struggling with allergies and she bailed on her favorite cruise activity.  On the upside, we went to bed early!

 

Yesterday was Rhodes, I had forgotten we had been here 24 years ago on the Celebrity Millenium.  We did a tour which mostly consisted of going to Lindos where some climbed to the fort and the acropolis, we found a restaurant with a view of it and had a glass of wine and lunch.  Our tour was thru Viator, and it was well run.  The “kids” who went to the fort and acropolis were struggling to get lunch in as well and were a little beyond the 2 hours allotted, but to their credit they got take away lunch and ran up the hill to the bus.  It was very windy in port, but in Lindos there was no wind as it is sheltered and it was very warm over 30C or 86F.  After the stop there (which is quite nice) we headed back to the medieval city next to the port.  And had a typical wine tasting at a little restaurant.  The wines were forgettable (I need to learn to avoid these things), but we had a nice chat with fellow cruisers.  After we wandered around looking at the Chinese made clothing for 15 euros and the maybe actual Greek clothing for 150 euros.  We didn’t buy anything.  

 

Back on the ship I got dressed for the FlowRider, joined Dale and a “kid” with his wife and baby who were doing boogie board were the only ones there.  The “kid” then tried stand-up at the last moment and got a blue band with only minimal coaching from Dale and I.  After he got the blue band I explained that is now advanced stand-up and he could stay.  His wife was not having that and off they went.  Pretty sure I will not see them again.  🤣  Dale and I continued for about 30 minutes as we sailed from the harbor, I explained to Dale that the Collosus (spelling?) was only mythically believed to span the harbor, in reality it was most likely in the city by the harbor according to historical records, he kept telling me where its feet were located.  😜  Who knows for sure what happened millennia ago.  The winds were ripping and when the ship turned into them, I was on the wave, and at the top as I threw water, I was getting it like I was in a car wash, and it made me cold quickly.  Once Dale and I realized that the ships heading was going to continue in that direction, I bailed and he quickly followed suit.  

 

Dinner was the formal night, and instead of lobster it was grilled “jumbo” prawns on top of mashed potatoes.  I had the NY Strip (medium rare) escargot, Caesar, and shrimp cocktail with baked Alaska.  It was fine.  After dinner and a chat with Kay (pin) and Kathy (who have been with us since Galveston) we learned about their adventure the previous port in Medina, Malta, where they were in a carriage and the carriage ran over a lady by accident. It sounded quite gruesome, and clearly traumatized the two sweet ladies.  Just a reminder that bad things can happen is wonderful places.  

 

We headed to bed.  

 

Today we are in Kusadasi, we have a 12:30 tour thru Viator to visit Ephesus and Sirence Village and a temple there. I am off to the 8AM 30 minute AS and probably the 90 minute mixed wave to follow.  

 

Ciao

 

jc

 

 

[mil76]

I was expecting that part of the world to be a bit warmer by now, but it sounds like it's still a bit chilly for riding.  I'm already bringing my neoprene for the fjords, but it may come in handy for the Canaries part as well.  Checked the 10-day forecast and it's not getting out of the 60s.

[framboesa]

29 minutes ago, mil76 said:

I was expecting that part of the world to be a bit warmer by now, but it sounds like it's still a bit chilly for riding.  I'm already bringing my neoprene for the fjords, but it may come in handy for the Canaries part as well.  Checked the 10-day forecast and it's not getting out of the 60s.

It was really hot two weeks ago and then sundelly cold again...and getting hotter again 🙂

[mil76]

53 minutes ago, framboesa said:

It was really hot two weeks ago and then sundelly cold again...and getting hotter again 🙂

Really looking forward to Lisbon.  Our son was there last summer and said it was his favorite city he has ever visited.

[xpcdoojk]

12 hours ago, mil76 said:

I was expecting that part of the world to be a bit warmer by now, but it sounds like it's still a bit chilly for riding.  I'm already bringing my neoprene for the fjords, but it may come in handy for the Canaries part as well.  Checked the 10-day forecast and it's not getting out of the 60s.

So, it was very warm in Ephesus yesterday.  That said in port for surfing, I wore my 2mm jacket, top only.  It was 70F.  It was just me on the wave along with staff, Bradley and Anna.  Bradley surfed and tried my board.  Anna didn’t want to get cold and wet, although about 9 she finally surfed and promptly fell and got wet.🤣  

 

Went to WJ after had an omelet, nice with no crowd.  Then we wandered into town.  I had forgotten somewhat how pushy the vendors are.  Beautiful wife needs a fur coat, real fake watch, purse (fake), scarf, and so on.  Every shop every block.  We finally found a pharmacy, and we bought some (real) Nivea face wipes.  Back thru the vendor gauntlet.  Freshen up and head to the pier again to meet our guide Cetin.  We had a private Mercedes Van.  He begins to tell me the history of Ephesus with details that were a bit hard to understand thru his not perfect English (not bad just a bit hard to understand at times).  Took us first to the river that used to take ships to the port at Ephesus, then back on the main road to a rug shop supported / operated by the Turkish government according to the rug sales guy.  I had forgotten, too, how every tour leads to a rug shop.  Even though my mother bought one the last time we were here in 2000.  We had lunch prior to the rug demos, it was included.  Chicken kebabs, bread, 3 dipping sauces, water, meat balls and salad.  It was not good or bad, but sort of food.  

 

I am pretty sure that the last thing in the world I need is a $30,000 silk Turkish rug. That said, some of them are beautiful.  We watched them take silk off the cocoon, watched a few knots on the loom and then watched dozens of giant rugs rolled out for us.  We were told about the investment qualities of the rugs.  The free shipping, etc.  We never talked individual pricing, but if you really want to buy a rug, I would think hours of negotiation would be in order.  After I asked the guide what percentage of people who go to the rug shop actually buy a rug and he said, 50-60%.  I am such a loser.  No rug.😂

 

After we went to Ephesus, where I spent 80 euro for K and I to enter, the private tour was $119 for both.  I am not going to bore you with descriptions of a place you either already know about or don’t care about.  It is an amazing ruin.  He made all of the same jokes I remember from 24 years ago, about Elvis, and Elton John.  It was very sunny at this point of the day and Krystal was melting in the heat.  So, we didn’t spend as much time as he intended at the sight.  The bathroom facilities in 2000 were a disaster at Ephesus.  That has been resolved and they are quite nice now.  After we headed to Sirince village, and since we were not interested in shopping or having Turkish Coffee or fruit wine, we didn’t stay too long.  I think our guide was worried we weren’t happy, but really, after 20 plus days of seeing this stuff and doing this kind of shopping and drinking, we really just wanted to see it all and not do more.  

 

It is 7AM and I am going to go to the 8AM AS and following Mixed wave then we will see about the challenge of getting a tender and up the cable car into Oia Santorini, Greece.  

 

Ciao

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

It is 66 putting on wetsuit

[xpcdoojk]

It got warmer quick was 73 by 9:30am

[Buccaneergirl]

Told Dh that we need to do a TA so he can have lots of flowrider time!

He retires next year, so it’s a possibility. His cruise schedule revolves around the flowrider. We will be on Allure in July which is his fave ship since it has 2 flowriders and he doesn’t have to share with the boogie boarders.

I told him he isn’t getting any younger, so we better go on a TA in the next couple years!

 

This cruise you’re on really sounds amazing.
Please be careful since you already knocked your head once while surfing!

Have fun and stay safe.🏄🏻‍♂️

[xpcdoojk]

Short update, Mykonos was cold and windy.  60s with 30 mph winds most of the day.  Did 8AM stand-up for an hour in my wet suit.  Just me and staff for the hour.  We originally had a Viator tour booked but cancelled on the advice of the Pins saying that there wasn’t that much to see that you couldn’t just do on your own.  So, we went to town on the water taxi 2 euro pp each way.  Shopping was exactly like everywhere else, except the purses said, Mykonos instead of Santorini, Rhodes etc.  The little streets were crowded.  We eventually worked thru the old town and got to the historic windmills took some shots and returned to the tender line beating the big rush to get back to the ship.  Pretty uneventful.  Krystal doesn’t want to go ashore again today as we return to Mykonos.  

 

Yesterday was Piraeus (Athens) we walked into town after getting our new sea pass cards, about 12,000 steps round trip.  It was a bit better than we expected.  I put the Zara store near the city center in my map, and we shopped along the way, but didn’t buy anything.  The Zara store apparently was scheduled to open on May 19, 2024 according to the shop window, but they missed that deadline.  So no Zara.  After we found a little grocery store and bought our two bottles of wine got back in time for lunch in the MDR.  Turns out B2B cruisers get the Key Lunch on deck 3.  Which confused the man with the list of key people for a second since we were not on his Key list.  

 

After lunch, I went up to the FlowRider expecting a crowd.  It was about 1:15PM about 15 minutes after the mixed wave started.  I was about 10th in line, that has not happened one time in the previous 26 days.  All but one of those had a blue band.  Another first had happened.  I am guessing that there will be 20+ blue bands on this sailing.  I made about 3 runs before the real line started, and went back to the cabin, to watch the Indy 500 a day late.  Apparently, my local NBC affiliate dumped the race about half way in to go to wall to wall coverage of local thunderstorms and potential tornados.  Which did not make me happy.  So, I had to switch to Peacock, since I don’t have the premium package, every so often I had to watch some silly ad for a minute.  Continued the race after dinner in Giovanni’s made it to the Will Power crash before turning it off.  

 

Went to the crown lounge for a coffee this morning, and just now finished the race, and now updating you on the cruise.  Congrats to Joseph Newgarden, h*ll of a pass.  I, also watched the Monaco GP prior to the 500 and it was a snooze fest.  I love the history, but it is not really a race track, just a qualifying track which is spectacular to watch.

 

Anyway ciao till later

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

So, we didn’t get off the ship in Mykonos part two.  They had no surfing at all in the morning, and Advanced stand-up for 9PM.  There is no way I am sober or awake enough to surf at 9PM.  I went up when boogie board was almost over and mixed wave starting around 6PM and the line was 20 deep.  I turned around and headed back to the cabin.  Last of our 6 BOGO nights in Giovanni’s last night.  It is good, but definitely not worth full price.  My steak was medium when I ordered medium rare.  So, tonight back to the MDR.  Giovani’s has been like a ghost town most nights.

 

We did a tour today to Kournas Lake, Arkadi Monastery and Rethymnon old town.  It departed at 7:30AM, another reason for no 9pm stand-up!😜  The tour was pretty straight forward, went to the largest fresh water lake, I didn’t know they had mountains with snow on Crete.  Then the monastery, and finally the town for shopping and lunch on our own.  Lots of bus time, but we really liked Crete, would happily spend some time there.  

 

This afternoon, they have mixed wave for an hour at 5PM and AS for 30 minutes at 6PM.  I guess I will try to see what happens at 5:30PM.  Tonight is formal night.

 

jc

 

 

 

[mil76]

Mixed wave is pure evil.

[xpcdoojk]

12 hours ago, mil76 said:

Mixed wave is pure evil.

Totally agree, although if it follows AS and is followed by Boogie it is not horrible, but the other way around it is a complete cluster.  Example yesterday.  Show up at 4:50PM for 5PM mixed wave.  There is a dozen plus people in line and then some not actually in line, but in line with their spouse (hard to tell when you show up).  So  it is hard to figure out for both the sports staff and those in line the actual count.  So mixed wave starts, and most are trying to get the blue band.  Because most of them can’t surf, they fail instantly on their two tries, but because the staff wants a 10 on the survey they give them each 3 tries and not 2.  Which means when AS starts at 6pm for 30 minutes, the last of the triers is on the wave at 6:11PM.  Which means I was the last on the wave at 6:29PM doing a 3 minute ride.  I got in 5 rides with just 3 of us in line for the last 18 minutes.  That is evil.

 

Something weird on this cruise.  All of the bar staff have moved around.  So my favorite bartenders are at bars I don’t go to.  Which sucks.  Plus on the 15 night, they never gave me a ticket for the diamond drinks.  They started to at the end of the 11 night, and now they give me one for every drink.  For example, I had no drinks used on my card, so I got a glass of Gran Marnier with 5 shots at the bar at deck 4.  No problem except, I also got 5 tickets to sign and to tip on.  They have always had to run the card each time separately for each drink, but 5 tickets is nuts.  Whomever is their process guru is a complete idiot.  The patrons are waiting for an extra minute or two while the staff slides card punches multiple screens and tabs on screens 5 times, when they should easily be able to change from 1 to 5.  Not a problem if you are the only one there but when I am doing it, there are usually 5 people standing there all of them wanting a drink. I think giving the tickets increases the tips (i know it does for me, as I don’t carry money around, I give my favorites a 20 at some point and now I don’t even know where they are).  That is all the bean counters care about, because who knows if those $ tips on the sheets ever get in the bartenders hands.  I bet the $ bills do.  

 

Today we have the best of Cephalonia tour.  No AS until 9AM which is when we are to meet our tour in the theatre.

 

JMHO and YMMV

 

jc

[dani negreanu]

Hi JC, and thank you for this "semi-live" 😁,

 

I would be grateful if you could find me any info re: transfers from Ravenna to Bologna train station (that is -- if you cruise ends in Ravenna), especially hours of depart.

 

There are no direct flights from Bologna or Venice to Israel, our only option is Milan. Plan to spend the debarkation day in a B&B in Bologna, and then take the train to Milan airport. Check in at the B&B is at 3PM, aiming to leave the ship as later as possible....

 

Thanks in advance 🌺, Dani

 

[xpcdoojk]

I like traveling to Greece, but we had not been to Agrostoli (celphalania) or to Chaina (Crete) before.  I really liked both islands way more than Santorini or Mykonos or even Rhodes.  I really want to come back and visit these places on a land trip.  They are so much less over crowded and more beautiful (IMHO and YMMV).  Sitting in the little harbor at Fiskardo, and looking at the Lagoon catamaran, failing at backing in to the harbor it a spot about 1 foot too small for it, and my yearning to do a charter was pretty high too.  Although, it was a laugh watching them try to wedge it in, with boats on both side loading fenders which of course makes the hole smaller.  There is no chance the lovely Krystal will let me fulfill that fantasy though.  

 

No surfing yesterday since Advanced was later as well as my excursion later, they really needed to switch those around.  When we returned to the ship it was pretty late, and they had the boogie, then mixed then AS starting at our dinner time.  Today could easily be my last surfing day.  AS at 10AM for 30 whole minutes then 90 minute mixed wave.  Haven’t looked at the afternoon schedule, but trends indicate it is not optimal.  🤣  We have tours tomorrow in Kotor and again the next day in Split.  Then the whole flying home thing kicks in.  K, bought at dress at Fiskardo and wore it to dinner.  

 

Ciao

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

The beach in Mythos bay is now on my must do things before I die list.  I will post pictures later of the beach from way up on the cliff road.  Beautiful

 

JC

Edited May 31 by xpcdoojk

[xpcdoojk]

AS this morning from 10-10:30 I got one ride, MW from 10:30 to 11:30 again one ride.  Probably the last surfing on this definite non unicorn cruise.  There were at least 30 people in the MW/boogie boarding session.  I said goodbye to as many of the sports staff that I could find.  

 

Tomorrow Kotor, then Split we will visit the next day.  I had to give guest relations our passports since we have never been stamped entering the EU.  The clueless lady a guest services didn’t seem to understand what we were doing, so, we have a receipt for our passports, but not sure when we get them back.  

 

jc

 

[xpcdoojk]

It is raining as we pull into Kotor.  I haven’t really been outside, but it looks like we could be pulling into a fjord in Norway, Alaska or Chile?  Except I can see cypress trees.🤣

 

Yesterday was a bit of a mess, personally, as Krystal and I were sitting on our balcony drinking Prosecco (bought in Piraeus) playing travel sequence and listening to a playlist called boat music (ie my standard playlist for when we are at the lake on the boat).  I got a text from a former co-worker, that my best friend from my life in business had passed away.  He was 66.  We had talked a couple of months ago, while we were still in our Airstream, about getting together this summer for dinner or maybe he and the wife would come down to our lake house for a weekend.  I had promised to get back in touch to make arrangements after we got home from this trip.  I suspect he already knew he was in bad shape now that I think back on that phone call.  People when you want to say something to someone close to you say it.  I wish he would have said what was going on.  Not that it would have changed anything, but… sigh.

 

Needless to say, with this news and the regular news I am a bit down today.

 

As Evita Peron would say, don’t cry for me.

 

I am fine, we will have a nice day mucking about in Kotor in the rain today.

 

ciao

 

jc

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

People when you want to say something to someone close to you say it.  I wish he would have said what was going on.  Not that it would have changed anything, but… sigh.

 

ciao

 

jc

A lesson best learned sooner than later.😑 Sorry.

[RFerrington]

@xpcdoojk, very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

[barbeyg]

8 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Yesterday was a bit of a mess, personally, as Krystal and I were sitting on our balcony drinking Prosecco (bought in Piraeus) playing travel sequence and listening to a playlist called boat music (ie my standard playlist for when we are at the lake on the boat).  I got a text from a former co-worker, that my best friend from my life in business had passed away.  He was 66.  We had talked a couple of months ago, while we were still in our Airstream, about getting together this summer for dinner or maybe he and the wife would come down to our lake house for a weekend.  I had promised to get back in touch to make arrangements after we got home from this trip.  I suspect he already knew he was in bad shape now that I think back on that phone call.  People when you want to say something to someone close to you say it.  I wish he would have said what was going on.  Not that it would have changed anything, but… sigh.

 

jc

I’m sorry, JC.  And I agree. Say what needs saying. No one is promised another chance to do that. 

[Luckynana]

@xpcdoojk  JC, I am so sorry for your loss of your dear friend. 💔  May he Rest in Peace.🙏

[perfect match]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your friend 🫂.