I remember George Orwell's novel "The Road to Wigan Pier" and the small coal loading staithe on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal which the title refers to comes as an underwhelming disappointment to many. By contrast however, the road to Starbuck's on Mykonos does not disappoint in any way. It's via a route which the locals call 'Cardiac Hill' - why I don't know.
Anyway the views from the top are lovely and well worth the journey. And thank goodness for Google Maps and on foot navigation using the mobile!
We had a leisurely start to the day. The ship docked at
about 7.30. It was sunny but a bit on the cool side so we put on reasonably
warm clothes and set off.
There was a shuttle to take us from the port area and we then
set off to walk the little way to the town. We were delighted when the
sun started to strengthen.
The Water Bus. €2 for a single from the old town to the cruise terminal and quite good value
We had muster and then got ready for the evening as we set
sail. The steward had brought us canapés - olives, biscuits and cheese. We
are on My Time (Their Time?!) dining so we're given the mandatory pager and sent
off for a drink whilst we waited for a table to become available. We got a
table by the window (but t was dark by now!) and dinner was up to the usual
standard.
It was Hallowe’en and there was a mini party. Not
the greatest success as no-one had been asked to bring costumes The
competition was won by Mr and Mrs Potato Head so that gives an idea of the
standard. It was nothing like our party on Adventure of the Seas in 2012!
The hotel had told others waiting for the shuttle in the lobby that it was chaos at the port but when we got there all was calm and orderly and we had the smoothest check-in ever. Concierge class passengers pay only a little more for the cruise but get lots of extra perks and priority check-in is one of them! That said, even the plebs check-in was calm and quick, it seems. We were soon on board and were told that cabins would be ready at 1pm. As it was just after midday we decided to go into the restaurant for a spot of lunch - another perk for being Concierge class guests!
When we turend up at Southampton to check in on Celebrity Eclispe in 2012, I looked at the fellow male passengers around me in their open sandals and with their beards and joked about it being the 'Lib Dem Party Conference at Sea' cruise. Well, I soon ate my words when it came to formal nights as they generally scrubbed up very well indeed. This time it seems we're on the Ashley Care Home cruise. Time will tell if I have to eat my words again this time. We're definitely at the younger end of the age profile and the Pied Piper seems to have been at work as we've spotted only one baby, one young lad and a teenager. Many of the excursions in Israel are described as strenuous. We sense that a lot of passengers won't be doing them!
We came out of the terminal building (see top left). Elizabeth was looking at the two fenced off areas. I was looking at those around me. She said: "Are those ancient relics?" I said: "No dear, they're our fellow passengers"
Big makeover here since our previous cruise in 2010
