About 3 months ago the climbing wall on the Splendour caught fire and damaged 5 of the panels on the wall. Kevin and I traveled to Venice to board the ship for 4 nights in order to be able to complete all of the work necessary to replace the wall. Here is the re-cap of the trip!
We arrived in Venice around 1pm on Friday, October 15. We went straight to the hotel and slept for about 5 hours! Around 7pm, we went onto the island to meet up with Eli and Naomi (another couple who do the same work we do) to deliver some climbing harnesses to them for another ship they were working on. We ended up walking past the Rialto Bridge and through St. Marc’s Square to this wonderful restaurant we stumbled upon on one of the previous trips to Venice. Kevin and I each had gnocchi pasta with a Gorgonzola cream sauce and some fine white Italian wine. Eli and Naomi joined us for wine, and then we went our separate ways for the remainder of the evening. We walked back to Piazza le Roma, and got on the bus at 11pm. It was a great way to spend our few hours in Venice!
SORRY, NO PHOTOS FROM VENICE THIS TIME!
We left the hotel and went into the city to board the ship around 11am. When we got to the port we didn’t have bag tags for our luggage, because we didn’t have a cabin number yet, so we went upstairs towards check-in. We had to fill out a health sheet (which I was forced to lie on – I was experiencing symptoms such as sore throat and runny nose, but Kevin instructed me to check the “NO” box) and then we were sent to the check-in line. Once we spoke with a port agent, they sent us over to the port supervisor, who thankfully knew exactly what we needed to do and who he needed to contact so all of Kevin’s tools made it on board. We had our sea pass cards and were on the ship around 1pm and went straight up to the Windjammer for a buffet lunch! The whole process was much smoother than either of us expected! We had to meet at our Muster Station at 4:15 so we explored the ship up to that point. Fortunately, we were able to go to our guest rooms (yes, ROOMS – each of us was assigned our own room, which was actually quite convenient to store luggage in one room and sleep in the other room) and drop off our extra luggage before the scheduled drill. After the drill we went up to the climbing wall to assess the damage and figure out a plan for the rest of the cruise. We were unable to do any work on Saturday, because of rain and scheduled climbing, so we enjoyed some of the perks of cruising. First we went to the Schooner Bar and had a few drinks, and then we went to the show for the evening – a magician! After the show we went to our sit down dinner in the King and I Dinning Room and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of Prime Rib! It was wonderful! After dinner we went straight to bed!
Our stateroom! It was pitch black at all times of the day!
Preparing for our muster drill - we didn't actually have to wear our life jackets, but I wanted to try it on for size!
The view of St. Marc's Square from the ship.
And again!
First night at the Schooner Bar on the ship. Drink of the day today - Margarita!
On Sunday morning we woke up around 8:30 am – we had an interior cabin, so it was pitch black and I really had no idea what time it was. We went upstairs for a breakfast buffet in the Windjammer, and then went straight to the wall. We started working around 10:00am and didn’t finish until we were forced to stop when it started raining at 5pm. The ship was docked in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which seemed to be a beautiful city, although we weren't able to get off the ship! We were able to replace all four panels, although the last panel was not fully tightened. We were unable to finish our work because of the poor weather, so we showered (since we got soaking wet in the rain) and went upstairs to play cards in the library. We only played for about 20 minutes, and then decided to change into nicer clothes so we could go to the evening show and sit down dinner again! The show tonight was a Motown group similar to the Temptations. They were fantastic! We had about a half hour between the show and dinner so we played Movie Trivia, and unfortunately failed miserably! Dinner was fantastic again, this time including Roasted Garlic Soup and Lamb for me! Kevin enjoyed the Caprese Salad, Caesar Salad, Shrimp Cocktail, and Chicken Marsala! We enjoyed every minute of it! Again we ended up going straight to bed after dinner!
Pretty self-explanatory!
The back of the wall. You can see the difference between the bottom panel and the very top panel. The fiberglass didn't fare well!
Work in progress! Kevin was such a good worker!
The view of Dubrovnik from the ship. It looked very nice!
We came back to the room after dinner to this friendly towel hippo! It was a great surprise!
We woke up around 7:30 on Monday and had breakfast before going back up to the wall. We worked for about 2 hours to finish tightening all of the bolts on the back of the wall, and putting all the holds back on the new panels. It started to rain again, just as we finished up most of the work, so we went back inside and decided to finish our card game from the day before. The ship was at sea all day so it was much more crowded in all the guest areas. We ate lunch in the Windjammer again and then took an afternoon nap! Kevin got up at 3pm to go back to the wall to finish the actual wall inspection (this is what we do on all of our other trips), and I continued napping – I was having a really hard time sleeping well on the ship in the evenings. Kevin and I met up around 4, did a little shopping on the ship, and then picked out a shore excursion to go on in Kusadasi, Turkey. We booked our excursion, and then got dressed for the formal evening on the ship. Neither of us packed anything that came close to “formal” so we just put on nice clothes and had dinner in the Windjammer instead of the King and I Dinning Room. After dinner we went to the Captain’s Ball and enjoyed the complimentary champagne, the fancy attire, and the music! We made a pit stop at the Schooner Bar for a drink and some trivia before going the show featuring the Splendour of the Seas performers. Their show was fun, but definitely not as fun as the Motown group! We called it a night relatively early again, since we had to be ready to get off the ship by 8am!
Kevin putting the final touches on the wall.
At the Captain's Ball - we were definitely under dressed!
The Splendour of the Seas Performers.
On Thursday we got up, ate breakfast, and were in the Top Hat Lounge ready to go on our excursion by 8:15. We got our stickers with our bus number and ventured off the ship for the first time since we boarded! As soon as we got off the ship it started to rain and we got very anxious about how the day was going to turn out! The ship docked in Kusadasi, Turkey, but our excursion was to a town called Ephesus, Turkey. It was about a 30 minute drive from the ship so we got so see some of the Turkish countryside! It reminded me a lot of Israel (I promise I will post about my trip to Israel soon)! Our first stop on the tour was the house that is said to have been the last place The Virgin Mary lived. We walked through the house which now consisted of just a memorial, and then collected some Holy Water from the springs under the house. There were 3 different “fountains” each representing health, wealth, and happiness. It was a neat place to see, even though it was pouring rain!!
Again, pretty self-explanatory.
There really was not a good angle of the house, but you can at least get the idea in this photo.
We couldn't take photos inside, so I took this photo of a plaque outside that shows what the shrine looks like.
Collecting the holy water!
We got back on the bus and drove down to the ancient city of Ephesus dating back to 1200 B.C.! Kevin bought a poncho and an umbrella and of course then the rain stopped! Whatever it takes! The ruins were so neat to see and it was also really cool to learn about the archaeological aspect of the city! Our tour guide did a great job explaining how they found the site and what they have done/are doing to preserve it! We spent about 2 hours in Ephesus and then went to a 5-star hotel for a traditional Turkish lunch. Kevin and I ate pita with meat kebab, chicken, rice, and french fries! It was very good and again reminded me of Israel – we were relatively close to Israel which may explain that feeling! We finished the meal off with some Turkish baklava, which was much lighter than the other baklava I have ever had. It was a true Turkish Delight! Before going back to the ship, we went to a presentation about Turkish Rugs. They were incredible!! Most of the rugs take at least 4-6 months to make – the bigger ones can take up to 5+ years! Kevin was served some Turkish coffee and a salesmen did his best to try to sell us a rug….I have to say we were very close to considering buying a rug! Even the small ones were out of our price range though!
Kevin decked out in his rain gear!
In front of the Odeum - the small theatre sitting about 2,000 people. This is where meetings of the municipal council and concerts used to take place.
The sea of umbrellas overlooking the library. Fortunately it wasn't raining too hard!
Kevin in front of the ruins of the Monument of Memmius
There were stray cats everywhere! This one looked like he had been in a few battles!
Kevin and I in front of the Library of Celsus.
He says he doesn't like cats....what do you think?
This is the Arcadiane - this was the main street that lead people from the port (the water used to be at the end of this road) to the theatre. It is also said that Cleopatra and Marc Anthony made their way down this path!
In front of the Grand Theatre where St. Paul preached. It can hold up to 24,000 people!
Kevin devouring the Turkish baklava! So good!
Our ship in Kusadasi, Turkey
Authentic Turkish rugs.
We went back to the ship around 4 and went back up to the wall to finish the scheduled inspection and patch a crack in a panel that will also need to be replaced in the near future. The wall was finally open for guests at 5pm (the weather had been so crummy up to that point, that they couldn’t open the wall for climbing) and they were lined up to climb! It was neat to see how many people actually use the wall during the cruise! It really is a great addition for all passengers! We changed again and went back to the Schooner Bar for our last hurrah before having to disembark the ship! Each day the ship had a “drink of the day” so I decided to try it every day! Saturday was the Margarita, Sunday was the Mai Tai, Monday was the Tequila Sunrise, and Tuesday was the Strawberry Caiproska. It was fun trying them all – and this was the cheapest way to drink on the ship! The show tonight was an acrobatic show with two Guinness World Record holders! They were phenomenal! The evening concluded again with another fantastic dinner in the Dinning Room! The highlight of the meal was Jalapeño Potato Soup and Banana Crème Brule! I will miss the delicious food! We went back to the room around 10:30 packed our things and went to bed – this was the only good night’s sleep I got on the ship!
The incredible acrobatic show. I was pleasantly surprised by the entertainment!
There "stunts' were unreal! I definitely understand why they own two Guinness World Records!
Our last dinner on the ship. The other couples we had dinner with were from Southhampton, England; Guernsey, English Channel Islands; and Dusseldorf, Germany. A very eclectic group of people!
Our last towel friend was an elephant!
Wednesday morning we woke up in Santorini, Greece! The interesting thing about this port is that there is no dock for the ship to pull up to, so instead, the ship was tendered in the middle of the water and passengers had to be shuttled by boat to the island! People started leaving the ship at 7am, whereas we did not leave until about 8:30. We gathered all our luggage and made our way down to deck 2 to get on the shuttle boat! Traveling in Santorini with a tendered boat is really quite difficult with 5 pieces of luggage! The island was different than I expected. It was all the way up on a mesa and we had to take a cable car up to the actual city (we also could have taken a donkey, but not with all the luggage – we will save the donkey ride for next time). There was a very nice Greek man who helped us get our luggage up to the city and call us a taxi! The city was so incredibly beautiful! I was so disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to explore anything! It was such a tease. I cannot wait to come back! We got to the airport – that was less than half the size of the Colorado Springs Airport – around 9:30 and had to sit there until our flight left at 12:20 (another thing that was so disappointing to be sitting at the airport when we could have been exploring the city)! I am so happy I got to briefly see the city and now cannot wait to spend some time here – without all our luggage! We flew from Thira (the city on the island of Santorini) to Athens, Athens to Munich and Munich to Hong Kong – with a 7 hour layover in Athens! It was an extremely long day!!!!
Santorini, Greece! The pictures do not do this city justice! The zig-zag over my left shoulder is the way to walk or take a donkey ride up to the top. Just to the left of that is the cable car - the much quicker route!
Beautiful buildings on the hilltops!
Our ship tendered in the middle of the water.
A donkey!!
