Santorini

Day 12 October 11th Santorini Greek Island (Sunny and 25C)

An easy nights steam of 182 nautical miles at a speed of 14 knots sees us enter the circular archipelago of Santorini and is the remains of a volcanic caldera. Again we can see our approach from the balcony and we pass the pretty village of Oia at daybreak, and pass around the central island to moor off the main island. The boat moors to allow passengers on tour to get to their coaches before moving nearer the main town of Fira which is either reached by steps or a cable car. Enjoy the morning watching the scenery change as the ship floats around whilst passengers are tendered ashore by local boats. We seem to be in a controlled drift with no anchor down! Watch the queue for the cable car seem to grow and grow as we are one of three large and some smaller ships all at Santorini today!

Queen Elizabeth and Wind Star in front of Fira

Early lunch before we are tendered across the bay back to where the coaches can get to the waterside for our tour, easy Santorini. Off to the Port by tender then by coach up the hairpin bends winding road to the a viewpoint where we had spectacular views of the caldera.

Santorini Caldara

Then on to a wine shop where we tasted the vile wine but the views were worth the stop. Up to 560 meter Prophet Elias mountain ( not volcanic we were told) for yet more views and back via a church and black sand (more pebbles) beach through the capital Fira to the Athinos Port.

Last dinner and show before we go to Athens tomorrow for our flight home. Its a late flight and we don't leave the ship until just before 1pm, at least we are not been thrown off the ship early and being made to wait hours at Athens airport!

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Izmir

Day 11 October 10th Izmir Turkey (Asia) (Sunny intervals and 25C)

We arrived in Izmir as the sun was rising. Most folk go off to Ephesus from here but as we have already done that we decided just to look around the city. Izmir is a large metropolis and the third most populated city in Turkey so we were never going to do it in a day. This was especially so as the cruise terminal is some three miles from the centre and dear old Cunard decided not to give us a shuttle bus and we did not fancy the taxis. So we just strolled along the wide and surprisingly fine promenade.

This decision was made easier as IB has a bit of a cold (Asian man flu!!!?).

So we had today the relaxing day at sea we wanted yesterday and recharge our batteries for our last port tomorrow, Santorini. We are doing our second and last organised tour called easy Santorini: hope the label on the tin is correct!

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Passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles

Nessabur after note:

At dinner we find out that after we went ashore in Nessabur the tenders had to stop whilst the ship repositioned due to the gale force winds! If we had known this we might have been a bit concerned about getting back to the ship. Fortunately the winds were very short lived and had all but dropped by lunch time: we should have visited in the afternoon but the town would have been considerably more crowded.

Day 10 October 9th  At Sea (Sunny intervals and 25C)

From Nessabur to our next port of Izmir is 422.1 nautical mile so it is fairly relaxed to do it over two nights and one day. Normally a day at sea is that: all day with no land in sight. This is different as we see land all day long and on both sides of the ship!

We arrive at the entrance to the Bosphorous at dawn: ships are only allowed to pass through in daylight and there is a one way convoy system for large ships. Commodore Rynd gives an excellent commentary from the bridge. One anecdote is that the Turkish authorities are allowed to board ships to check if we are carrying the plague: we are not boarded but the tanker behind was! Very interesting seeing Asia on our left and Europe on our right as we sail up the straight, under the two suspension bridges( 10 meters and 6 meters clearance) and into the Golden Horn of Istanbul at around 08 30.

Golden Horn busy with morning ferries

Hagia Sophia Mosque, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

The weather could not be better, warm, sunny and very clear. Past Istanbul we enter the sea of Marmara which is much wider but we can still see land on both sides and there are some islands to see as well. Time for a couple of swims, IB did a galley tour and IG listened to a talk on the Crimean war before lunch.

Then we passed through the Dardanelles and saw the Gallipoli monuments and beaches.

Gallipoli, with the British, French and Turkish War memorials

This took rather longer than anticipated as we had to manoeuvre very slowly past a tanker carrying LPG, The Commodore of the ship opened all the bow areas that are normally crew areas so we all had a great view of all the sights. The ship went north after leaving the Dardanelles so we could see the Gallipoli beaches and by now the sun was low and it was time for our last formal evening with a show of dancing in the theatre, which left us a bit disappointed yet again. With all shows it has been the content rather than the actual performance: it must be difficult to please such a varied audience.

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Nessabur

Day 9 Nessebur, Bulgaria Monday 8th October , Dry with sunny intervals, 23C, but very windy!

Another day and another new country for us, Bulgaria. The longest distance between two ports without a day at sea, 329.3 nautical miles so we have been steaming at over 21 knots all night, The distance means we don't reach the bay, we drop anchor and tender to the town, until 9am so plenty of time for breakfast before we even see land. We love to watch, and photograph' the views as we approach each port, especially the new ones. It is amazing how few people are on deck to watch each sail in!

Nessebur is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, located in the Burgas Province. The ancient part of the town is on a peninsular, formerly an island, connected to the mainland by a narrow man-made isthmus. Nessebur was made a world heritage site in 1983 because of the abundance of historic buildings.

The main square, Nessabur

Off as usual on first tender to find that it might be dry and warm, but very windy. Sea is calm so tender ride relatively smooth. Nessebur has narrow cobbled streets with old buildings and churches wherever you go. Most of the buildings have been turned into shops for the cruise market and the place is NOT the better for this. We explored most of the 'island' and looked at the man made causeway which links the old island to the mainland. The seafront areas showed that it was now off season and the wind made them even less welcoming. There were some pretty areas but generally we felt it lacked a something, don't know what but it just did not seem to do what it should have. It could have been the wind. Back on an empty tender to the ship for a swim before lunch and yet another lazy afternoon: we are on holiday!

One of the many churches

Afternoon weather much less windy and some late sunshine. When the wind dropped the ship swung around to give us a wonderful panoramic view, from our balcony of the Bulgarian coast line, bathed in bright sunshine! When the wind was at its strongest, about gale force, the ship had to use its thrusters both aft and bow as well as the front anchor to keep position.

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Yalta

Day 8 Yalta, Ukraine , Sunday 7th October , Clear and sunny, 23C

Yalta is a resort city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea. It is situated on a deep bay facing South towards the Black Sea surrounded by wooded mountains. This is now the furthest east we have ever been. It is famous for the Yalta conference held in 1945 to discuss the post war reorganisation of Europe. It was held at the Livadia Palace which we are going to visit on a organised tour.

Awake at dawn to see us sail round the southern tip of the Crimea, seeing Sevastopol and Balaclava from our balcony. Yet again we are on the right side of the ship for view from our cabin, sorry STATEROOM! Have breakfast while we very cautiously enter the very small harbour and moor with our cabin having views over the pretty holiday resort town of Yalta.

Off by coach through the narrow streets of Yalta to the village of Livadia, some two miles away. Here we visit the Italian Renaissance style palace, the former summer palace of the last Tsar, and see where the future of post war Europe was decided! After tea in the courtyard we return to the ship for lunch.

Livadia Palace

Then a chance to explore Yalta on our own. We really liked the small holiday resort. The wide promenade is traffic free and on a hot Sunday afternoon was being enjoyed by tourists and locals.

Lenin Embankment, Yalta

Walked up to the impressive Alexander Nevsky cathedral, built in 1902.

Still time for a swim before our third formal night and a show called Hotel Royal in the Theatre. We have been a little disappointed with the dirgy songs in previous shows but will still go and hope it improves.

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Odessa

Day 7 Odessa, Ukraine , Saturday 6th October , Clear and sunny, 22C

Another new port and country for us. Furthest east we have ever been and a new sea: the Black Sea. It is also Queen Elizabeth's first visit to the Black Sea. Odessa is the largest port on the Black Sea and Ukraine's fifth largest city. It is situated on the north-western shore of the Black Sea.

Our port order has been changed due to a conference in Yalta today and we had had a longer sail overnight (345 nautical miles from Istanbul) than planned and we have been travelling at over 21 knots all night and at times we felt it!

Up well in time to see us sail up the coast of Ukraine in clear sunshine from our balcony – yet again our cabin is on the better side of the ship – well chosen! Leisurely breakfast before we watch the sail in from the top at the front. Very tight entrance to harbour and an even tighter manoeuvre to spin the ship around before berthing. Very little space at the bow or stern as we pirouette in the confined space of the harbour. As we dock we are greeted with very jolly and rousing band music and of course we moor with our cabin facing the dock!

Off ship as soon as we are allowed and walk up the 'famous' Potemkin Steps to the city.

Potemkin Steps

Walk though the wide boulevards and see the main sites like the Cathedral, Opera House

Opera House – with wedding photos being taken!

and Archaeological Museum. Really like the city which is clean and spacious. Odd mix of old Volga and :Lada cars, archaic public transport of trams, trolley buses and buses contrasting with flash Mercs, Range Rovers and Porsches. Also the grand and ornate buildings are interspersed with wonderful modern architecture.

Wide tree lined Street typical of Odessa

Back to ship for a very quick swim before lunch and more pool time. After such an energetic day allow ourselves the luxury of afternoon tea before watching our sailaway with many local folk waving from the quayside, clapping, cheering and the ship blowing its whistle and horn - LOUDLY!

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Istanbul

Day 5 Istanbul, Turkey , Thursday 4th October , hot and sunny, 30C

Disappointed that we passed through the Dardanelles in the early hours on our way from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara on which Istanbul sits. We passed Gallipoli and its memorials which we were told would have be illuminated and easy to view: sleep was more important! We are told our return through the Dardanelles will be in daylight. The straight is 38 miles long and at its widest 3.7 miles and only 0.75 at its narrowest.

Morning spent relaxing on ship before our early afternoon arrival. Wonderful views from the ship of Istanbul, the largest city in Europe. It also spans two continents being partially in Asia as well. We pass the impressive Mosques

                                                 Blue Mosque

and Topkapi Palace before mooring at the mouth of the Golden Horn with three other cruise ships.

MSC Opera, Queen Elizabeth, Ruby Princess and Costa Favolosa in Istanbul

We are lucky that out cabin is on the sea side overlooking the Golden Horn with the old city in the distance. It is an amazing place with ferries passing across the Bosphorus between Europe where we are and Asia.

Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn – restaurants underneath the road and tram way above

Decide to walk across the Golden Horn, on the Galata Bridge and then through the Old City to the Blue Mosque ( Sultan Ahmet Mosque) and after a short queue and taking off our shoes and putting them in a plastic bag we go inside the huge Mosque. No shorts for IB and IG had to wear a shawl to cover her arms.

Back to the ship for dinner through the Topkapi Palace Gardens

Topkapi Palace Gardens

and seeing Istanbul by night. The Bosphorus suspension bridge is impressive with an ever changing lights show in many colours. We also listen to the wailing calls to prayer at the mosques all over Istanbul – we count 10 large mosques that we can see from the ship. Great idea to have two half days rather than a whole day as there is time to recover!

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Day 6 Istanbul, Turkey , Friday 5th October , Warm and a little overcast, 25C

This morning we count 11 ferries from our balcony going between Europe and Asia. Just about recovered from our exertions yesterday and off before the heat of the day and the crowds to visit the Grand Bazaar, the largest covered market in the world – if you belive such boasts! Across the Galata Bridge again and up through the amazing narrow bustling shopping streets of the Old City to the Grand Bazaar which was mass of shops and stalls selling every imaginable product! Jack was fascinated by dozens of shops selling elaborate wedding dresses.

Grand Bazaar

Back to the ship for a relaxing swim, lunch and siesta before our departure and sail into the Black Sea through the Bosphorus. This takes two hours and it is closed to all other shipping whilst we proceed at 11.8 Knots. Under two suspension bridges, just with 12 metres to spare.

Great views in the clear sunshine with a commentary from dear old Amanda, our Entertainment Director. Spent all afternoon on our balcony watching the views pass and with the bends we can see both banks.

Time for afternoon tea, and a relax in the cabin before dinner and the second Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers Show called Jazz, Blues and Rock & Roll.

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Mykonos

Day 4 Mykonos (Town) , Greek Islands Wednesday 3^rd October – Hot and sunny, no wind 30C – and it's October!

Mykonos Town from Queen Elizabeth

Light breakfast as all this food is catching up with us – Jack thinks she's had too many chocolate puddings - then on the very first tender ashore with the shore crew and equipment!

One of the narrow shopping streets

Mykonos Town is a very quaint and pretty town, or even village. Nice to be in early as there are two (QE moored and Ruby Princess docked) large cruise ships in port,so it gets crowded very quickly.

Café with colourful Bougainvillea

Walk the clean and narrow streets, view the famous windmills and explore the beach and harbour before returning to the ship for a much needed swim and cup of tea.

IB and IG by one of the windmills with Queen Elizabeth moored in the bay – taken by a kind America as IG would not let IB put his tripod on the bonnet of a car in the car park! IB is wearing his flamingo shirt (pink ducks to Andy) and it has had many positive remarks on board ship!

IG is congratulating herself for moderating her food input today. NO chocolate puds for lunch or dinner but IB could not resist the fruit crumble and custard! However he insists that the all fruit, well apart from the waffle, breakfast allowed a little naughtiness at lunch! After our obligatory siesta – well we are on holiday – afternoon spent relaxing as usual, before dinner (semi formal tonight so need jacket and tie) and missing the Multi Instrumentalist Mark Donoghue in the theatre. Need all our energy for Istanbul tomorrow and Friday.

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Katakolon

Day 3 Katakolon Mainland Greece Tuesday 2^nd October Sunny and hot 28C

Queen Elizabeth moored in Katakolon Harbour

We thought we were going to Kat a colon, then we were told it was pronounced Ker- tak-alon, however having visited we find it is Ka Tacky alon!Just to confuse a bit more the English alphabet Greek spelling seems to be Katakolo with no final 'N'. We were off early as there were three big ships in a town smaller than Ryde. Most folk go off to Olympia but we decided on a lazy walk around the town before back to the ship for mid morning tea and a swim before lunch. We spent only about an hour looking around the town which had a nice harbour area

Waterfront Cafés and Restaurants, Katakolon

and couple of a dirty beaches one sandy and the other a muddy sand. The main street was all shops and the narrow pavements were full of stalls making walking amongst the hordes of cruise passengers and touting locals quite difficult! It was not too bad as we were off early but we suspect it got a lot worse later on.

Island Girl poses in the Main Street, Katakolon

Finished off the champagne after lunch so needed a siesta before a lazy afternoon by the pool before our second formal night. Decided not to go to the show which is Penny Mathisen, a West End Vocalist – we have never heard of her.

We are getting on well with our dinning companions: as usual we are the youngest couple!

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At Coral Sea

Day 2 October 1^st At Sea (Sunny intervals and 25C)

Up late for us especially as we lost another hour to be 2 hours ahead of BST. Time for a quick swim in the not very warm pool before listening an interesting port presentation on Istanbul. Then a quick coffee before another port presentation on Odessa. Both talks were very interesting and will help us when we go ashore in a few days time.

Today is our Coral wedding (35 years) anniversary so we saved our boarding champagne to drink after lunch and finish off before dinner. Its also our pearl (30^th) anniversary as on that day in 2007 Alan was in St Marys on the island having a naughty lump removed from his thyroid! Now it's five years ago we do not have to declare this on our travel insurance! It is also Pat's 60th birthday so many happies Pat and welcome to free prescriptions and not a lot else!

Walk off champagne around ship and make sure we have explored everywhere on the ship. Then afternoon tea in the ballroom and a swim before our first formal dinner and the show is Vanity Fair in the theatre. We have nice dinner companions and Alan has not been told off too often for eating too fast or talking too often and too loud!

Our cabin – just the right size and very comfortable – plenty of cupboard space

We like Queen Elizabeth, which is very similar to Victoria. Its cabins, theatre, dining room, buffet, and public rooms are up there with the best. However we miss a covered pool and even the open ones just do not have the feel of Celebrity, Queen Mary 2 or even P and O ships.

Royal Court Theatre – could be the best afloat!

Now using Cunard internet which is free for 4 hours ( 2 hours for each of us) as we are now GOLD Cruisers. We had our gold lapel badges delivered to our cabin yesterday – not a lot of gold on them! Needs to be free as it is soooo s l o w!

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Sunday 30th September - Venice

Up early(4 30am!!!!) for the short walk to Terminal 5 to book in for our BA flight to Venice.

Terminal 5 from the air.

 At the western end of the airport. Handy for landing but a long way from thetake of end of the runway! Normally planes land from the east and take of towards the west, as they did today!

                                           Heathrow, Terminal 5

Due to take off at 8 15 but not in the air until 08 40 as we were bussed to a stand - new terminal but not air bridge! Very swift fight and landed at 10 20, or 11 20 local time. As usual rubbish breakfast of something called egg but neither looked or tasted like what we know as egg! Captain gave a humourous description of the air bridge driver trying to connect us with the terminal but the delay did not matter due to the usual carousel nightmare. It seemed like it was coffee break as there was a good 15 minute break in activity after our first case came and whilst waiting for Jack's case. then on to a coach to join one queue to chech in and then another to go through security and board the ship. Late lunch at 2 30pm and then our usual look around the ship, ( here is the ballrom where will have a coral afternoon tea tomorrow!)

 lifeboat drill and dinner. We do not sail out until about 8 30pm so it will be interesting to see Venice by night.

Blog by 3 dongle which has worked in Italy as we have put enough credit on it to pay 3 Italy its extortionate profit

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Off to Heathrow

We are picked up by fbb, AKA Peter for the short trip to Ryde Pier Head

 to catch the Wight Ryder across Spithead to Portsmouth Harbour.

Decide to go by taxi (nice clean Ford Galaxy) up to the Sofitel as there is no direct train service and we have heavy bags - all those frocks - to cart along with us. Driver has intelligent Sat Nav which told him M25 was closed at Guildford so we use A31 to use M3 rather than A3 and arrive in good time for a look around and dinner.


Sofitel, Terminal 5 Heathrow

Hotel could be very noisy as it's at the end of the runway but rooms are arranged in wings which look over an enclosed courtyard.

                                       Terminal 5, Heathrow, Hotel is off shot just to bottom left of picture

Blog by 3 dongle with left over data from Welsh holiday: Sofitel want £15.00 for stay!

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Queen Elizabeth Pearls of the Black Sea cruise

We are off on our travels again with a Black Sea cruise on Queen Elizabeth. We fly out from Heathrow to Venice on Sunday 30th September. As it is an early BA flight from Terminal 5, we are staying the Saturday night at the Sofitel Hotel.

our itinerary is:

Having already been on Mary 2 and Victoria this will mean we will have been on the entire Cunard fleet! We are interested to see how Elizabeth varies from its sister ship Victoria.

Queen Elizabeth off Seaview leaving for its Autumn Fly Voyage season

Last Blog

Day 12 June 10^th Messina (Sicily) Very hot, sunny and clear, windy.

As we sailed between the mainland and Sicily we could see the summit of Etna but it was a bit misty so did not photograph at all well.

We had originally intended to go to a beach in Sicily, but the trip was cancelled due to lack of numbers. We decided to just look around Messina rather than do another tour which would have been a bit too long for our liking.

As we have climbed up to the Church on the hill we decided to explore the shopping areas and then have a look at the Railway Station. We noticed that a Rome train was due so waited for that. After it arrived the engine was uncoupled and we realised that a diesel engine was going to shunt the carriages onto a ferry for a 35 minute crossing to mainland Italy.

This picture shows the rail tracks for loading through the open bow door, the car loading ramp raised on the left of the upper deck (passengers also use this ramp, mixing it with the cars, and Silhouette in the background. Great pic. Alan if he says so himself!

We then spent some time watching the carriages loaded on the ferry: it looked like they were all put on and then taken off but it might have been that they were shunted onto different tracks within the ferry.

Carriages just visible entering ferry – it was difficult to get this picture as Alan had to lean out of a window with Jack saying ' don't lean too far'!

We then enjoyed watching the various ferries come and go from the comfort of the ship. We were a little disappointed to visit Messina for the third time but having discovered the loading of carriages onto and off the ferries it certainly made the visit more interesting than we expected: yes we are sad train and ferry junkies!

Car only ferry enters the docks to join the four rail ferries

Final Silhouette cast show which we enjoyed, with acrobatics and jugling, but we found the music a bit durgy!

Day 13 June 11^th Naples Very hot, sunny and clear.

Our last visit to Naples was on a Sunday and we found the city a little intimidating and not very nice. However we decided to look around again and this time we found the main shopping and old town area. We even managed to go up to the fort overlooking the harbour on the funicular. Could not quite see the ship but the view over the city was worth the effort.

We really enjoyed Naples this time with its grand architecture and many ornate and imposing churches.

Piazza Plebiscito with St Francesco church

Inside one of the many amazing churches – this one is:

St Maria La Nova

There was a particularly fine 19^th century shopping mall called Galleria Umberto I, with its amazing high glass roof.

Galleria Umberto I

Exhausted we returned to the ship for lunch and a very lazy afternoon and evening. Have decided to miss show which is the magician that we walked out of last time.

So time for packing and up early tomorrow for our flight from Rome to Gatwick. We are ready to come home and will not miss drivers who chase you across pedestrian crossings, scooters on pavements, and the general hustle of Italian cities. Maybe the IOW weather will improve a bit!

Valletta - Malta

Day 11 June 9^th Valletta (Malta) Very hot, sunny and clear,no wind.

Clear and sunny as we watched the ship manoeuvre into the large natural harbour at Valletta, through the fairly narrow entrance. Valletta is a well fortified walled city on a hill with a harbour on each side.

Off ship early to miss the heat and crowds for a long walk around the city, with its Cathedrals and Palace of the Grand Masters.

St. John's Co-Cathedral known as the Church of the Knights of the Order of St. John

The shops are mostly familiar with Marks and Spencer, BHS, Accessorise, Dorothy Perkins and even Millies Cookies. The post boxes are red but with the Royal crest filed off and the telephone boxes are old style red.

 

Merchant Street (main shopping street)

Returned to the ship for a much needed swim and less needed lunch.