Suez Canal 25th May 2017

The ship anchored up near Port Said in readiness to join the convoy of 25/26 ships. We had a war ship in the lead, I suppose to protect the following 'chicks'.

Our traverse of the Suez started an early 3am, so we missed our entry into the canal. Our day whilst we sailed through was relaxed whist we checked out the scenery and took the occasional photos.

                                 
                          Mosque and Greek Orthadox side by side on the Suez Canal

                           Bridge built by Jananese in 2003

                            Little fishing boats, buildings and mosque in background

                            Transportable sections of bridge to span the Suez if needed

                            Ferry loaded with vehicals

                            Lookout tower on eastern (Asian) side of Suez

Santorini 25th May 2017

Located in the Aegean Sea, about 120 miles from the mainland, Greece. Santorini was formed by an intense volcanic eruption over 3,000 years ago.

Low cloud cover this morning obscured the tops of this island and it wasn't until mid afternoon that the sun's heat burnt off the cloud to expose the dramatic cliff. Now visable were the white washed buildings perched on the edge of the steep sides of the water filled volcano.

Earlier this morning I joined the group for my tour early, so ended up being the first to leave the ship. In hintsight it was most opportune as we were not caught up in the traffic snarls plagued by the later tours. We tended across to Athinios where the buses were parked in readiness to take us on our tour. The road zig-zagged numerous times to the top. Once at the top it wasn't long before we arrived at the winery for a wine tasting  from some of the world's oldest vineyards whilst enjoying some pretty spectacular jaw-dropping views.

Then we were off to Oia, situated on the northern tip of Santorini where we spent 90 mins exploring the charming, tourist packed village of blue-domed churches. A quick escape out of the town before the later usual traffic jam on this narrow road, to Fira, the island,s capital.

Fira is where the cable car is positioned and the famous alternative, zig-zagging, donkey crowded and donkey pooed steps from the town to the old port. I wandered around cobblestone lanes. lined with a host of shops and cafes before checking the line-up for the cable-car but considered the line up was too long. Instead of joining the line I decided to stop for a Greek Coffee then join what I thought would be a shorter queue. Ha. Not to be. A hour later the line was a least 5 times longer and as I found out later, an hour and 1/4 wait! Instead I decided to wak down the steps which took me about 35 minutes, for most fitter walkers it probably took about 20 minutes. The area smelt of donkey poo and when I was in the lift on board the ship on return, all I could smell was donkey poo! There were several other people in the lift, so I don't know if it was from my shoes or theirs but when I got back to the cabin, the soles of my shoes were clean. I hope the carpets in the corridores were vaccumed well that night!

                                        Cable cars leaving the peak

Alternative route, with donkeys and donkey poo!

Photo from our ship of cable car and the steps

Watch out for Donkeys!

                                                       Fira, the capital of Santorini

                    Blue domed churches in Oia, the northern-most town on Santorini

                                            

                                                                 northern tip at Oia

 
                                                    laneways in Oia
                   

                                        at the winery, note the early morning haze

                                        road up from where we tendered off

                                          Majestic Princess, shot taken from Fira

Athens 24th May 2017

Early start again today, awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed to see our arrival into Piraeus, the port for Athens. As I have been to Athens, thogh 6 years ago, I have decided to visit the Corinth Canal.

This engineering marvel, built to cut sailing distance and time from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic Seas in 1882 by the same engineers who constructed the Suez Canal.

As the bus left the port I could see the effects of Greece's economic downturn of the early 2000's. There were a considerable number of empty buildings empty and some damaged through neglect. My tour took us past the once vibrant industrial area where now only oil refineries, cement works and another industry operate. We continued on to the canal where we boarded a small cruise ship to sail through the canal.

A most enjoyable day, returning back to the ship mid-afternoon.

                             On board the cruise boat which took us through the canal

                                         
                                             View from bridge overlooking canal

                                     View from boat whilst traversing Corinth Canal

                                            The boat which took us through canal

                                         Early morning arrival in Piraeus, Greece

                                             Majestic Princess at wharf in Piraeus

Naples

Sailng from Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, to Naples overnight we had the balcony door partly adjar to enable us to enjoy the gentle sound of the water as the ship sailed on the Mediterranean Sea. our balcony, with the obstructed view of life boat hydraulic mechanisms was sheltered from any breezes the ship may have experienced. Unfortunately our body clocks are still on Australian time, so staying asleep, or going back to sleep after 3am is almost impossible, but our adrenaline of arriving on this beautiful, big and newest ship is still evident.

My day in Naples is to trek through the older part of the city, past Castle Nuovo, Opera House and Piazza Plebisclto to Borbonico Tunnel, several meters under the city buildings. the steps heading down were reasonable easy to use, however I proceeded with care for fear of falling. The tunnel was orginally constructed as a military passage from the castle, in a time when the king was faced with possible revolution but never used. This tunnel and the nearby disused cistern was opened up during WW11 to be used as a bomb shelter, then in the 50's as a storage area for illegally modified vehicals confiscated by authorities and later forgotten untl 2000's when it was opened up as a tourist attraction.

We emerged from the other side to the Bay of naples to walk along the esplande to the Castle of the Egg in Santa Lucia, a fortified castle perched on an island in the bay. Part of this tour inclded lunch of margarita pizza and local wine at one of the restaurants on this esplanade. Naples is noted as the birthplace of the pizza.

As we walked along the narrow footpaths of Naples we had to watch out for the busy traffic. It was even a risk to life and limb to use the pedestrian crossings! One of our group had a walking metre on her phone which recorded our walk took 4 1/2 miles.

After dinner we just managed to stay awake to hear one one of the cultural performances by the Symphony Orchestra of the Chinese people's Association for friendship with Foreign Countries, giving us a taste of Chinese Heritgae and Culture covering the Maritime Silk Road ( the name of the maiden voyage of this voyage).
Some of the pieces were Myriad of birds hail the phenix, Horse riding and the silk road (my favourite)

                   
                                     Outside Castle Nuovo with its round towers

                         Surprise enterance to Borbonic Tunnel in a very narrow lane.

                          Section of the tunnel where confiscated vehicals were stored.

                                                       Narrow stairway in tunnel.

                                                  Main through way in tunnel.

                                               Street in which we exited tunnel

                 Castle of Egg, built on island of Megaride and connected by causeway.

                                       View of Mt Versuvus on arrival into Naples

   
                                                                     Our cabin

                                                                      Bathroom

Majestic Princess Rome to Dubai May 2017

To get to Rome we flew 22 hours with Qatar Airlines departing Saturday night from Adelaide Airport to Doha, then connected with another plane to Rome. We were fortunate to share a row of three seats between the two of us and these seats were wider and offered more leg room. After our meal I popped a sleeping tablet hoping to achieve a few hours sleep. Well I did manage some snippets when the aircraft's lights were dimmed but not as much as had liked. My new travelling companion, Jillian and I found this sector quite easy but the section from Doha to Rome was in a plane with smaller seats and less room. Oh not so happy Jan! The 5 and half hours draged, I spent most of that time wriggling my toes and feet in cramped conditions. Even the in flight movies had little to distract me!
 
I was so relieved to land at the under re-construction Rome airport and pass through customs and immigration. I didn't mind the waiting in lines, I found it so wonderful to be standing again!.  An hour transit to our ship went quickly enough and we had an easy embarkation onto the biggest ship I have ever travelled on. This ship is on its' maiden voyage through the Med., Indian Ocean to Chine where it will be based at Shanghai. Princess Cruises is calling it 'Maritime Silk Road'.

Once we refreshed ourselves in our semi obstructed balcony cabin we headed up to the 16th level to the buffet section. What a new experience for us. Instead of wiping our hands with a sterilising lotion, the ship had several hand basins at the enterance of each entery for passengers to wash their hands before entering. There were many islands of food collection areas, all offering different foods.  The food offered is also catering for the chinese passengers but there certainly was plenty of choices for us to tempt our paletes. The place also seems quieter than on previous ships, maybe it is due to the seating arrangements are more in sections, I will work it out in time to come.

We managed to stay up for a concert of Chinese Children dancing Traditional Chinese movements. Princess had flown the group out from China for this special sailaway. Staying awake certainly payed off as the performance and the music afterwards got us dancing and pleased we managed to stay awake.

We headed off the bed and welcomed our late hour sleep.

                                   
                                       Skywalk

                                        Seating on side of main pool under cover

                                     
                             View from seating area to Movies under stars screen

                                Traditional Chinese Dancing

                                  View of dancers with mainland of Italy in background

                                   We were treated with 'Time to say goodbye' by Opera Singer

Noumea, New Caledonia 4th May 2017

Patsy and I chose to see the capital of New Caledonia on a Tchou Tchou train. Highlights and Lookouts.

The ship docked at Noumea's container wharf, across from the bay where we could see a major open cut mine, that produced the country's main export, Nickel. The ship ran a free shuttle bus from the ship to the passenger terminal, 10 minutes away. This is due to the fact passengers can't walk through the busy area.

I have been here several times before but had never gone on the Tchou Tchou Train, so decided this would be a good option for our visit. We boarded the train alongside the ship which then made our way through the containers and out the gate. The train drove along several esplanades and marinas. Our guide explained the number of boats in Noumea equals the same number of people living there. a lot of boats. We past Orphelin Bay (Bay of Orphans), Citron Bay (Lemon Bay) where most of the cafes and restaurants are found. We stopped at a hotel for a refreshment of a cordial drink and small (tiny) piece of mango cake. Then travelling past the famous aquarium in Anse Vata Bay and old Club Med before the train drove up one of the peaks on the island. On the way  we passed the island's race course which has an attractive lake in the middle of the course. From the lookout we could see 'Duck' Canard Isl., not far from the coast. There are two huge WW11 guns placed to protect the island from the Germans and Japanese. the lookout, Ouen Toro is perfect to view Noumea, even Amedee Lighthouse could be seen on the horizon.

We then traveled past old colonial homes in one of the city's oldest residential districts to Notre Dame du Pacifique lookout for another perspective of Noumea.

Before returning to the ship the train took us past the coconut square in the centre of town.

                                              Tchou Tchou Train on Ouen Toro

                                                         One of many marina's

                                                     View from Ouen Toro

                                                             'Duck' Island

Race course with lake in the middle

                                         Walking and riding paths alongside road

                                             Open cut Nickel Mine

                  View of Sun Princess from the lookout at Notre Dame du Pacifqiue

                                           Three Stations of the Cross at lookout