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Day 3 at sea

After our lovely day at Princess Cays, we went back to the ship, enjoying a great meal in the Michelangelo dining room, and going to the Princess Theater for a great show. As night fell, however, the seas got really rough, and our sleep was serenaded by huge groaning sounds below our cabin. The ship rocked and rolled and groaned all night and into the next day. All day Tuesday the skies were stormy and we watched waves that were classified as “rough seas” according to the ship log on the tv in our cabin. In fact, the seas were so rough that all the water sloshed out of the swimming pools and they closed them down. The photo on the left here shows what a fully booked cruise ship can look like on a rough sea day. Not a soul in sight! Everyone was inside, enjoying spa treatments, shopping, eating, and casino fun. We had most of the outside decks completely to ourselves.

By evening, when it didn’t get any better,they canceled the show that involved dancing by the Princess Dancers and substituted a comedy show instead. Turned out great, actually, because the comedian was hysterical. It felt great to laugh so hard that my cheeks hurt. He was truly funny, and without being one bit dirty either. It was so much fun.

As any cruiser knows, it takes almost the entire length of the cruise just to find your way around the ship. On this day we discovered that the hallway outside our stateroom led to one of our favorite little places to hang out on the ship, the International Cafe on the edge of the central part of the ship called the Piazza. Our cabin was on deck 5, toward midship, and that turned out to be really handy. Lots of activity centers around this area, and the spiral staircases wind up 2 more floors to the Promenade deck 7 where there are more shops and bars and restaurants.

This little cafe, however, was a nice place to be, especially since the seas outside were so rough. I’m glad I finally decided to put on my patch. Last night I tried half and this morning I added the second half. Now I don’t have to fight that seasick thing all the time. I had a great cappuccino, a pretty one with lovely swirls in the foam, and some kind of delectable chocolate dessert. Across from our little table, the chefs did some demonstrations of ice and vegetable carving. Hmmm, so when I get home I will create cute monkeys from pineapples? Maybe not. LOL.

We spent a few minutes on the internet, which isn’t cheap on board, and not always a reliable connection. They have packages, and I settled for one that gave me 100 minutes for 55 bucks, but it was amazing how fast that went. Not sure it is really worth it, but having my own laptop was much nicer than trying to use the Internet Cafe across the piazza which was almost always very busy.

All in all, it was a nice day,with time to actually relax a bit and explore the ship. The Crown Princess is huge, and has many levels, and we discovered, many steps and hidden nooks. It isn’t quite as straightforward as the RC ships we have been on in the past. In order to really get around, you have to be willing to do a lot of climbing. Especially when my favorite place on board was usually the very top of the ship on the Sun Deck number 19 I think. It was fine for us, but we thought about people we know who might not like all that stair climbing.

Day 2 Princess Cays

Princess has their very own private beach here on this island in the Bahamas. The water really is truly turquoise and crystal clear. Amazing. We anchored at 9 am and were on the beach before 10 for a perfect clear day, 80 degrees or so and gorgeous.

I can’t believe I actually bought this thing, but it really did the trick. A perfect, icy pina colada that stayed cold for at least a couple of hours on the hot beach. It was great down time, and I didn’t even get a sunburn.

Perfect water, perfect sand, perfect weather. My first Caribbean beach day was perfect.

Day 1 Cruising the Caribbean

Mo and I decided that waiting around at my house in Jamestown wasn’t much different than waiting around in San Francisco so we left home around noon for the bay area. The weather was nice in California, sunny and partly cloudy with no smog anywhere thanks to the lovely rain from the day before. We traveled west on 120, our usual route to SF and then crossed the San Mateo bridge. Mo thought it would be fun to have dinner at very well known Italian restaurant she and her friends would visit back in the days when she lived in Montara. Bertolucci’s has been around since 1928.

We managed to find the restaurant, found the hotel park and fly lot, checked in, and then decided to go to the City for some entertainment. Strybing Arboretum is one of my favorite places, so we headed for Golden Gate Park.

The sun was nice, and walking in the park was a fairly popular thing to do on this Saturday afternoon, even though the air was still a bit chilly. The tulip trees are in bloom right now, and some camellias, but most of the gardens were fairly subdued at this time of year. Sadly, I didn’t take the camera, so no photos of all the loveliness.

We headed back through town to our restaurant for an early dinner. The food was really wonderful, and the ambiance of the restaurant was old school in a way, but totally casual as well. You could tell that many of the diners were people who came often. Interesting that even in this very fine restaurant, people were still dressed casually in jeans and such. Mo had some sole with a great dill sauce and I had osso bucco, both with polenta,which neither of us had tried before and both of us really liked. I’ll have to find a recipe and make some.

We took our leftovers, which eventually died a sad death in our stateroom fridge, and parked the car, deciding again that waiting at the airport wasn’t much different than waiting in the parking lot, took the 7 pm shuttle and only had 4hours to wait for boarding. It all gets a bit convoluted for these red-eye flights. Where do you wait? When do you drive there? So we took little naps hidden in the corner on the floor of the gate area, I knitted a bit on my shawl rather than my sweater, and finally boarded at 11:30 or so. Amazingly I slept through the entire flight, only waking up just as the plane was beginning to descend into Miami. Ahh. Plane pillow, cozy socks, no bra, and Ambien. LOL

Miami was another long wait, arriving at 8am and having to wait for the shuttle to Fort Lauderdale at 11. The shuttle service was with Princess, and was definitely a bit convoluted. They didn’t have enough shuttles,there were too many Carnival shuttles getting in the way, and we ended up with people going to two different ships on the same bus, which was crazy. We finally were dropped off at pier 2, where the huge ship awaited. Huge it is, and even though we have been on huge ships before, this one looks pretty impressive sitting there at the pier.

Boarding was amazingly efficient and simple, again a good check mark for Princess, and our stateroom was ready when we got there. This is the largest stateroom so far, even though it was just a simple outside view room, no balcony or anything, but there was lots of room, a huge closet, a nice bathroom, and a ton of storage. We didn’t have to do that thing with shoving the suitcase under the bed which is often the case on these ships.
We toured the ship a bit, searched out the Lido deck and the lunch buffet in the Horizon café and waited for our sailing time at 5. The food was fine, not particularly fancy,but adequate, and everything on the ship was really nice. The ship itself isn’t quite as dramatic in the Atrium area as our Royal Caribbean ship was, but it was still lovely. Probably a bit more classy, with lots of dark wood, and lovely art everywhere. The service was excellent throughout the cruise; in spite of some of the reviews I read saying it wasn’t that great, I was impressed.
Fort Lauderdale is a huge cruise port, and there were 5 big ships leaving on this Sunday evening,heading for various parts of the Caribbean. The parade of ships was fun, and people in their condos along the water stand in their balconies and wave at the ships leaving port. Thinking about how many people were on the sea that evening was impressive, considering there are about3000 to 5000 people on each one of them. It’s really interesting to think of what a huge industry this cruising thing has become, with so many people and cities almost completely dependent on these ships and people coming into their ports.

We had a nice supper in the dining room, appreciating our Anytime Dining option since we didn’t have to make small talk with a bunch of strangers, went to the evening show in the Princess theater, before we settled in to our cabin and looked forward to the coming days with a lot of anticipation.

Less than a week!

I am excited, to say the least. This weekend I am finalizing my packing, making sure bills are paid, details taken care of. I will work the first of the week, Mo will arrive Wednesday from Oregon, and we leave for San Francisco on Thursday evening so we can be ready for our 6am flight to Chicago, and then on to Istanbul by way of Frankfurt. We are traveling with Go-Ahead Tours, a first for us, since past international travels have been mostly with Grand Circle. It’s a chance to compare. I am taking the laptop, and plan to write daily and upload photos as well. My last two international trips were journaled sporadically with pen and paper, so hopefully this time I will actually keep better track of everything. This trip has a fairly ambitious schedule, so it might be even more important to keep good track of things since it really can all run together after a few days.

Day 1 Nov 21- Istanbul
Board an overnight flight to Turkey from San Francisco via Chicago and Frankfurt.
Day 2 Nov 22 – Istanbul
Land in Istanbul, the ancient capital of civilization known previously as Byzantium and Constantinople.
Day 3 Nov 23 – Istanbul
On a guided tour of Istanbul, visit 15th-century Topkapi Palace, home of Ottoman sultans; the ancient Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia, illuminated by 30 million gold mosaic tiles; and the stunning Blue Mosque. Pass by the Hippodrome, an elaborate stadium once the site of ancient chariot races.
Day 4 Nov 24 – Istanbul
Free time to explore Istanbul. Plan to visit the Museum of Ancient Civilizations. Possibly join an optional morning cruise among the Bosphorus Straits, the ancient waterway that connects Europe and Asia. View Ottoman palaces and medieval castles during this half-day cruise along the Bosphorus Straits, which separates Europe and Asia.
Day 5 Nov 25 – Canakkale
Stop for a guided tour of Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman empire. Continue to Canakkale, a town coveted in centuries past for its strategic location.
Day 6 Nov 26 – Kusadasi
A local guide leads a tour of Troy, where Homer’s Iliad comes to life. Tour the ruins, where experts have identified the relics of nine civilizations dating back 5,000 years. Then follow the Aegean coast to Pergamon, visit the ancient Greek Acropolis. Continue on to seaside Kusadasi.
Day 7 Nov 27 – Kusadasi
Visit Ephesus, one of the Mediterranean’s best-preserved classical cities. View the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the house where Mary is said to have spent her final days. This afternoon, opt for a journey to the village of Sirince for a firsthand look at Turkish rural life. The peaceful village of Sirince lies in the hills outside of Ephesus. On a walking tour led by tour director, stroll past some of the country’s best-preserved 19th-century architecture.
Day 8  Nov 28 – Pamukkale
Stop today at the ruins of Miletus. Next, visit Didyma’s Temple of Apollo.
Day 9 Nov 29 – Pamukkale
Take a guided tour of Pamukkale’s travertines, a cascade of snowy white calcium terraces formed from hot springs. The tour includes the ruins of Hierapolis, the Roman spa city built around Pamukkale’s calcium rich waters. In the afternoon, opt for an excursion to Aphrodisias, the best-preserved Hellenistic site in all of Turkey, dating back to at least the 1st century B.C. The site includes a temple dedicated to Aphrodite. In Aphrodisias, explore the city that honored Aphrodite, goddess of love. Ancient sculptures made of glowing marble date back to the late 1st century B.C. in this beautiful getaway.
Day 10 Nov 30 – Antalya
Cross the Kale River Delta to Demre. Visit the 4th-century Church of St. Nicholas. Continue to the ruins of Phaselis, an ancient Lycian city. Later reach Antalya, ancient retreat of Antony and Cleopatra.
Day 11 Dec 1 – Antalya
View the Old Town and visit the archaeological museum and Hadrian’s Gate. Later, a trip to Aspendos and Perge. Perge was settled for new Greek colonists and prospered under Alexander the Great. The ancient remains of the city include the Great Theatre, Hellenistic Gates Roman bath houses and a magnificent stadium.
Day 12 Dec 2 – Cappadocia
Stop in Konya. Visit the Mevlana Museum. Continue to Cappadocia. This evening, an optional excursion to see a Whirling Dervishes performance. The Muslim sect known as the Whirling Dervishes was founded in the 13th century by Mevlana Celeldin Rumi. Learn about this fascinating sect and its modern-day practitioners during this special cultural performance of dance, music and tradition.
Day 13 Dec 3 – Cappadocia
Tour the rock churches of Göreme and visit the towns of Pasabag and Avanos. This evening, attend a traditional Turkish Folklore Evening. Taste Turkish wine, snacks and beer at this authentic Cappadocian restaurant, carved out of sheer rock.
Day 14 Dec 4 – Istanbul
Enjoy a free day in Cappadocia or opt to visit the Eskigimus Monastery. After an included dinner this evening, board your return flight to Istanbul, where you’ll spend your last night in Turkey.
Day 15 Dec 5 – Istanbul
Depart for home .