Aegean Cruise Day 1

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Today we leave for our 7 day cruise. Up at 7:30 for another hearty breakfast. Our bags out the door at 8:00 for a 8:45 departure. Well almost. We needded our passports today since we were actually leaving Greece for an overnight trip to Turkey. I usually keep the family passports, but today we each had our own. After breakfast, our bags in the bus, Cathy remembers her passport was packed in her bag! No big deal. They unpack the bus and pull out her bag. Now comes the fun part. She has no idea where in the bag is the passport. Unfortunately, she had to unpack the entire bag to find the passport burried in the bottom of the bag. So there she sat, on the suidewalk, clothes everywhere, can you imgine the wrinkles? After a few minutes she was repacked and back on the bus and off to the port of Eouvvla. The port was about 45 minutes away. The four of us joined another tour, operated by Insight a sister company to Trafalgar, so we were now 20 people. After a very pleasant ride we were at the MS Cristal a 96 meter vessel with 10 decks. After a short embarkation prodedure to get our boarding card and drink tickets, we were released to board. It was about noon so we were a little hungry and ready for the next adventure. The vessel was nearby, so we walked to the gangplank, handed in our newly minted boarding cards and we were ready for a week of sailing. But first some food! We hit the steps up to deck 4 room 4014 to drop our carry on, then up to deck 8 for a buffet lunch. Apparently everyone had the same idea as the buffet line was rather long. We waited and soon three more lines were opened allowing us to pass through the hot and cold options. We filled our plates with several treats and found our seats. The food was good and we rested a little before we headed out to explore the ship. Cathy and I walked all the decks fron 4 - 10 to get our bearings. There was a pool, a hot tub, several bars (of course) three dining rooms, a stage and open deck space everywhere. We went to the casino to meet with our tour director Demetrios. He had told us on the bus to the port about the most suggested shore excursions. Of course we bought all of the suggested trips, as usual. After spending 784 euro, we headed out. We sat on the bow of the boat to watch the departure from port, enjoyed an adult beverage and read our books...like a real vacation. Then back to the room for a much needed nap. Soon it was dinner time. Back to deck 8 and our assigned dining spot for our first full meal onboard. If you have never cruised before you are in for a treat. There is a menu with options. An expeerience cruiser knows that you can have anything on the menu, like you can combine several plates and have your own special meal. So I had the stuffed pepper and added the pork strips. For dessert I combined the ice cream with fresh fruit. Wine flowed freely, I bought the all you can drink package. When dinner was done we headed to the stage for the 8:30 show. We arrived early at 8:00, so we had the pick of the best seats. A few more beverages later we were joined by Noel and Susie. We enjoyed a wonderful variety show including songs from all over the world. The captain stopped by our table and introduced himself to us. He and I chatted a bit and after the show we were off to browse the ship. Tonight we were goining to pass through the Dardenells, the entrance to the Marmarsa sea. At this juncture on our right was Europe and on our left was Asia. As we passed the Dardenells, we also passed the WW1 memorial where the Austrailans defended the strait againse the enemy. Most died for our freedom. At this point our ship was traveling at full cruising speed, about 35 knots. Now I have no idea how fast this is but I can tell you at this speed there was a hell of alot of wind. So much that standing was nearly impossible. Wind whipped us around, skirts flying about, paper sailing over the side and hair blowing in the wind. We had a blast. We stayed on deck for a little while longer but at midnight we were pooped and ready for bed. Our next wake up call was 7:30 and our tour of Istanbul.

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