Heathrow to Istanbul

Saturday 1st August

David and I both love cruising, but cruising alone is very expensive. We agreed that we could happily share a room for a couple of weeks and booked a cruise on Queen Victoria around the Mediterranean. David would get sunshine and a tan. I would get David's company on the dance floor. I imagined waltzing around the ballroom in silk and sequins, gliding effortlessly in a fantasy of movement and music. What could be better than dancing with one's good friend and dance teacher? Fantasy or reality?

As the cruise progressed, this fantasy became far less important than the reality of the good company and the laughter that David and I shared. I think this was definitely the best cruise I have been on. I was challenged to do different things. I laughed more than usual. I spoke to many people all around the ship. I visited wine bars on shore. I sat on my balcony at midnight. I even got a suntan.

Our first day

We were due to fly out at 7:10, which meant getting to the airport shortly after 4am. As David did not finish work until 10pm, and still had to finalise packing, there was no convenient time to sleep! We both struggled to keep our luggage down to the correct weight limit for flying. It’s hard to look fabulous and still keep to weight restrictions! We both had to discard a few things from our suitcases.

We started the drive to Heathrow about 2:30am, which was good as we encountered a 15-mile detour on the way, trying to get on the M25. At one point we were taken in the opposite direction, ready to turn around at the next roundabout!

The flight was nearly 4 hours long. David managed to sleep on and off, but I stayed awake for the whole time. After a long 90-minute drive to the ship, it was a relief to board and be welcomed by the staff.

We had booked a balcony stateroom and were given an ‘accessible’ stateroom for wheelchair users. It is much larger than a normal stateroom, with loads of room to walk around and a lovely big shower. Hanging space in the wardrobes was a bit tight but we were given more hangers than I usually have in 3 wardrobes when I travel alone, so all my clothes could fit.

The room was a different shape from a normal stateroom, more square than oblong. This meant the balcony was twice as long as usual, and because of the position of the ship we also had extra depth for half of the balcony. Bliss!

 Although we had flown into Istanbul, all we saw of it were the edges as we drove from the airport, and a view from the balcony.

We got through the usual first-day routine of unpacking and attending the safety drill. On arrival in the dining room quarter of an hour late, we found that we were on a table for six near the window. I’ve never had a window table for dinner before! We soon found that our tablemates had been on the ship for a week and had agreed to arrive at 6:30 instead. That’s much better.

We went to the 9:15 dance session and I was surprised to discover that it was not well attended. Perhaps people were tired from a full day in Istanbul, or from flying in from the UK with no sleep the night before. The lack of sleep certainly had an effect on my dancing. I could not seem to follow David, and my balance was not good. We spent a lot of time laughing at my mistakes.

We gave up around 10:30 and sat on the balcony for over an hour, watching the ship pull out of Istanbul. The warmth of the weather and the lapping of the sea made for a very pleasant time.

At sea - cruising past Gallipoli

Monday 2nd

David and I managed well sharing a room without waking each other up. I had taken a sleeping tablet and David generally sleeps well anyway. I was disappointed to be wide awake by 7am. I knew I needed more sleep. We were both ready to get up by 8:30.

Breakfast in the dining room is something I rarely manage. I’m normally asleep. It was a pleasant change, as was lunch later on. The waiting staff are all pleasant and friendly and food is served with a smile. I could get used to this!

We had nothing planned for the rest of the day. David wanted sunshine and hunted for a sunbed with no luck in the morning. He ended up on our balcony instead. In the afternoon, after the sun had left our balcony, he managed to find a seat in the sun. I did odds and ends like connecting to the internet. He came and fetched me for an hour in the sun after it had cooled down, plus a taste of his strawberry daiquiri.

The Black and White Ball was scheduled for that evening, which meant we had to be looking fabulous by 6.20pm. Of course we managed it! I wish I’d taken photos. I was in a long black dress with gold beading at the midriff; David was in a black Armani suit with a mandarin collar plus a silk scarf.

We were meant to go to a cocktail party before dinner but did not want to get ready that early. Instead we sneaked into the after-dinner one, which was supposed to be for people who have late dinner. No one knew the difference. We started off with champagne but then saw people ordering strawberry daiquiris. That suited David! We both ordered one but finished it too late to order a second one for David, as the speeches were about to start. I think we’ll attend all the cocktail parties in future.

The show was a singing and dancing one and was worth watching. I think we managed to get the last two seats in the theatre, so we could watch in comfort.

The room was packed for the Black and White Ball, as was the dance floor. David navigated well around people who suddenly changed direction. We varied between our usual long, gliding steps, and sudden stops to dance on the spot until someone moved on. I managed to follow a bit better but I’m still not up to standard. It’s puzzling. I can follow David in my lessons much better than this. Perhaps I only dance well in a deserted room! Despite that, we had people coming up and asking if we were professional. One lady who can only manage one dance per evening decided she wanted it to be a good one and asked David for a quickstep. One of the Dance Hosts asked if he could have a dance with me one evening. On some cruises I feel like a wallflower; on this cruise I feel like the Belle of the Ball! Many thanks to David. I also think that we spend so much time laughing together at my mistakes that people know we are approachable.

Once again we ended the evening sitting out on our balcony with a drink, relaxing in the balmy air and listening to the sea.

Kusadasi

Monday 3rd

I take a sleeping tablet each night when I'm on holiday and sleep well. However, I was a bit frustrated that both mornings I’d woken before David. He generally only has 6 hours sleep while I have 9. Why was I waking first? I lay in bed feeling frustrated because I hadn’t heard an announcement from the Captain that we had arrived in port, so it must be before 8am. Definitely not enough sleep! Eventually I looked at my iPod to find it was after 11am! We must both have needed sleep after missing out on some on Friday night.

After breakfast we set out for Kusadasi. We explored the bazaars, fending off all the questions from the storekeepers and their comments (tactics to get us into their shops to buy). I quite enjoy answering one or two questions politely but still giving a definite ‘No’ when they want me to go into the shop. It’s all a lot of fun. However, my favourite conversation was one of David’s:

Shopkeeper: Can I ask you a question?

David: Yes.

Shopkeeper: Are you well?

David: Yes, I’m fine.

Shopkeeper: Where are you from?

David: You wanted to ask me one question. You’ve asked it. I’ve answered. Goodbye.

We finally found a bar with wifi and free internet and sat down to check our emails and Facebook, then visited a local supermarket as the price of drinks on the ship is horrendous. We bought some wine and a bottle of raki (thinking it was vodka - a big mistake).

David worked on his tan for the rest of the afternoon while I pottered around until it was time to make ourselves look fabulous again for the evening. 

The early dancing session was Sequence Dancing. We followed that with the show and then some more dancing. At midnight we grabbed some food from the Lido buffet to take back to our balcony and sat chatting.

Santorini

Tuesday 4th August

We knew that Santorini would be the highlight of the cruise. I had been there before but David had only seen photos on the internet. Everyone had told him what a special place it is. We therefore actually set the alarm for 8am, hoping to be off the ship by 9:30. We didn’t make it. We stayed in bed for an extra 20 minutes and took our time.

Santorini is a tender port, which meant going to the Queen’s Room to get a ticket and waiting in line. We waited about 15 minutes, and almost missed our turn as David went back to the room to get my sunglasses! It was fortunate he did get them, as I had terrible trouble with my eyes all day. I worked out that my sunscreen lotion was trickling into my eyes along with my sweat and causing an irritation that made it difficult to keep my eyes open.

Santorini is a volcanic caldera. The white houses look spectacular on top of the stark volcanic layers.

We saw a very long queue on the dock and discovered it was for the cable car up the mountain. Luckily I had worked out an alternative way of getting to Oia. We walked along until we found the speed boats. There was a choice of a boat for €10 and one for €15. The more expensive one had a boat actually loading, and I hoped the service was better. The boat ride was lovely. However, there was little communication once we got off the boat. There was supposed to be a coach waiting to take us up the cliff. We ended up having to walk some distance uphill to find it! We could see other minivans backing down the hill with passengers, so we did not know what was going on. Eventually we were taken to Oia.

We wandered around, looking at all the lovely views as seen on postcards. 

We looked in the shops and David chose a bracelet for me to buy, rather like one I had seen on the Swarovski site. (The photos were taken later, back at the ship.)

Then, of course, we sat in a bar and drank wine and water with a lovely view over the sea and a sea breeze and free wifi. It was a lovely day.

Then came the horrendous part! I had hoped to take the speed boat back to the ship but was told that the port would not allow it. I wonder if it could have been arranged if we'd paid another €10 each? The last bus back to Thira was 2pm. We went back to the car park and waited. Eventually a bus came along and we lined up, only to be turned back at the door because it was with a different company! The driver called across ‘Hey Giorgio!Wait!’ to the driver of a mini van and we got aboard that. It was crowded. A man stood up to give me a seat but David had to stand for the  20-minute winding drive back.

We walked towards the cable car and found that the queue for it must have been around a kilometre long, and we later found that the wait for the cable car was about 2 hours. We could not see how we would catch it in time for our 4:30 last tender so we decided to walk down the steps, as did just about everyone else we spoke to from the ship. It was terrible. The steps are used by the donkeys, so were covered in donkey shit. The stones were slippery and I don’t think my sandals had a good enough grip. It was a long way down, worrying about each step. David managed better than I did. The description of it goes something like this:

Donkey shit, donkey shit, donkey shit, slide.

Move to the side to avoid a passing donkey.

Donkey shit, donkey shit, donkey shit, slide.

David moves to the side to wait for Diane.

I was exhausted by the time we got down, only to find a queue for the tender back to the ship! David stood in the queue while I sat in a café topping up with salt and water.

We decided not to dance that night. It was a party night with Nexus, the Cuban band. We enjoyed the music and chatted with some friends we’d made on board ship, Nikki, Chris and Julia. Afterwards, of course, we sat on the balcony and relaxed.