JohnandGwyn

Seabourn Encore, Athens to Singapore October 21st to November 27th, 2019

We had signed up for back-to-back cruises, leaving Athens on Oct 31st arriving in Dubai on November 9th, then on to Singapore arriving November 27th, 37 days in all. It was the first time we had done a back-to-back & quite possibly the last! Maybe it was the itinerary, maybe it was the number of sea days, maybe it was the changeover of passengers in Dubai, and our not feeling the same bond towards them as with those that embarked with us in Athens, but it was not a cruise I want to repeat. This is not at all a reflection on the Captains, Officers and crew - they were all excellent throughout. Although service was noticeably slower as several crew went down with flu and/or stomach problems - as did quite a few passengers (ourselves included).

The trip got off to a good start, after a smooth overnight flight from Bermuda to LGW and connecting through Heathrow to Athens, we spent a night at the airport Sofitel. The taxi next morning to the cruise terminal in Piraeus was without incident, although the cruise terminal numbering is a little confusing. Taxi fare is flat fee 54 euro.

Day 1. October 21st. Embarkation went smoothly, and our suite was ready immediately (sadly no upgrade), so after dropping our bags we had lunch in the Colonnade, acquainted ourselves with the ship, signed-up for internet before the mandatory safety briefing and sail-away.  We had a reservation at Thomas Keller (only night available when booking online in advance) and having met Pat & Keith, friends from Bermuda who happened to be on for the first leg, for a drink in the Thomas Keller bar before hand, we managed to change the reservation for four.  

Day 2. October 22nd. Agios Nikolaos, Crete. Having been here just last year we decided to rent a scooter & ride around a bit.  The company I’d ‘booked’ a scooter with turned out to be shut for the season, however just down the sea front was another scooter rental & with little ado & Euro20 we were off. We were in truth a little ambitious in heading for the Lasithi Plateau, it was a steep, windy road but we found a nice taverna for lunch & had a great day, the only ’scare’ being the scooter took some coaxing to start after lunch!

Day 3. October 23rd. First Sea Day & the first formal night of the cruise, so, of course, Gwyn had her ‘hair done’. Had dinner with Pat & Keith in Thomas Keller.

Day 4. October 24th. Haifa, Israel.  ‘Swimming’ in the Dead Sea was on Gwyn’s bucket list so we signed up for the ship’s excursion to Masada & the Dead Sea. It was a 12+ hour day comprising a 4+ hour bus ride each way, a hurried tour of Masada (because of time constraints we skipped a lot), a quick lunch & ½ hour in the Dead Sea! I wish I could say it was worth it, but at least it is ticked-off the list!  The guide did her best to make the time pass quickly but there was a ‘lot of nothing’ en-route.  I guess I should have known, but I never realized that Israel was so mountainous.  Turned out all the tours that day were longer than advertised & we at least got back to the ship in time for last call at the Colonnade, which is more than could be said for those that chose to go to Jerusalem.  

Day 5. October 25th. Ashdod, Israel, 116km down the coast from Haifa, but a bit closer to Jerusalem, our  ships’ tour destination that day.  It was an interesting drive through the mountains to Jerusalem, but for me the city was a little disappointing.  After a picture stop to view the Old City from above, we were led on foot through the Dung Gate (so called because from 2nd C the city’s waste was removed via this gate)  to the Temple Mount & the Western/Wailing Wall. Divided into male & female sections, it is smaller than I had pictured, & frankly, a bit of a let down. It is in fact not part of the City walls but part of the western wall of the Temple Mount.  After the Wall & a quick rest room break, we were led through the various sections of the city, before the mandatory stop at an ‘honest’ souvenir shop, then a hurried lunch at an Armenian restaurant, which appeared to have the market cornered in providing lunch to bus tours!  The tour guide was informative, quite entertaining & had an interesting way of counting heads by making each of us high five her as she counted, having ‘lost‘ a person the previous day! Being the designated rear-enders we could see how easy it could be to lose someone in the narrow winding alleyways.
Day 6. October 26th. Traversing the Suez Canal. I wish I could say this was a highlight, but putting aside it’s history & construction/engineering, it was not particularly exciting. Connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea from Port Said in the north to Suez in the south, it stretches 120 miles through the Isthmus of Suez. There are no locks and there is an awful lot of ’nothing’ on either side.

Day 7. October 27th. At Sea in the Gulf of Suez.

Day 8. October 28th. Al Aqabah (Petra), Jordan. Time to tick off one of my Bucket List items. We had signed up for the ships excursion to Petra, approximately 2 hours away by coach, including the mandatory ‘rest-stop’ at a tourist shop en-route.  Again, it hadn’t registered with me how mountainous these countries are, with huge rift-valleys rivaling any in the World. Petra lies on a sandstone terrace split from east to west by the Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses), from which the adjacent town takes it’s name.  Once you get past the donkey and horse handlers pestering you to take a ride, and look past the proliferation of trinket stalls, it truly is a remarkable place and too much to take in, in a single visit. Armed with sandwiches & cookies from Seabourn Square we had determined to skip lunch, telling our guide that we would ‘do our own thing’ and meet up back at the coach at the designated departure time, even so we could only scratch the surface.  On the journey back we stopped again at the rest stop to be surprised by Ross (appropriately robed) & the bar/catering staff serving cold (non-alcoholic) drinks & caviar, which was welcome because Gwyn had given our cookies to two small boys on a donkey!  It was another long hot day but memorable.
 
Day 9 Oct 29th, 2019. A day of firsts. 1st of 5 sea days, 1st Seabourn signature massage, 1st Pina Colada. Feeling rough from previous night & losing an hour, but made yoga at 8:30. Trivia at 12 - came second. Quick lunch & massages at 1:45, yoga again at 3. Pina Colada on deck. Very nice dinner with Jinny & Remo in Restaurant, nice interesting couple from Austria & Venice. Show ‘Jack Pack’, bit boring.

Day 10 Oct 30th. Day 2 at sea. Michael Howard talk on Brexit - stirred emotions amongst Brexiteers & Remoaners. Strangely most emotional seemed to be the Europeans who while calling the decision to leave as crazy, really don’t want the UK to stay!  Team Trivia tough but we came out on top on the day & won a Seabourn Mug for our efforts. Yoga at 3:00, followed by Pina Colada on deck, Seabourn Club reception at 6, & dinner in the Colonnade with Ross, and Dennis & Christine Jaggar from Auckland. Early show ‘The Quartet’ was petty good.  The Club was quiet.

Day 11 Oct 31st. Halloween. Another warm & humid day. Sunbathers out early establishing their loungers/positions. Coffee from the Square, read the paper & prepared for Trivia.  Did poorly at trivia, yoga at 3. Indian Market in Colonade for dinner followed by Halloween Party in the Club. Had our faces painted & it was a lot of fun. Closed the Club at 12:45.

Day 12, Nov 1st.  Another sunny day with calm seas - could almost expect to see the Ancient Mariner drifting by. Despite the late night up early for 7:30 yoga! Followed by coffee & a nap. Trivia a noon. Did poorly - Alan Shephard incident. Yoga at 3.  Trivia versus Officers at 6 - & as ‘7 Pillars of Seabourn’ we took first place.  Dinner with Pat & Kieth at Earth & Ocean - Brexit discussion between me & Pat got a bit heated. Nightcap in Observation Bar.

Day 13, Nov 2nd - Rugby Final. Lost an hour last night & couldn’t raise our heads for Yoga at 8:30. Coffee for breakfast at 11. Overcast skies, but not discouraging die hard sunbathers, & Seas starting to get a bit choppy. Forecast for afternoon & night not very promising.  Trivia at 12 - we came dead last. Watched rugby final S.Africa trounced England 32-12.  Yoga at 3. Port talk at 5, Ros show at 6:15 - he is a good entertainer. Early dinner on Patio - my Wagyu beef cheek inedible, but fig dessert excellent. Watched seabourn singers/dancers in It Takes Two - very good. Nightcap in Obs. Bar.

Day 14, Nov 3rd - Salalah, Oman. After 5 sea days we should have been desperate to get off, but as we hadn’t signed up for a Seabourn excursion, the logistics were too much to contemplate. The port is over 20 kms from town. Getting into town would involve a 20 minute shuttle ride to the port gate, followed by a 20 minute taxi ride into town.  Allowing for waiting times figured it would be a 2 hour round trip, and as all-aboard is at 1:30 it would have been a rush - in 92 degree heat. Did yoga at 8 o’clock, & got some laundry done. Planning lunch on deck followed by Classical Sail-away party - and Yoga at 3.

Day 16, November 5th, Muscat. After a sea day we arrived in Muscat, Oman. We had booked the ship highlights tour to the Souk, Palace & Mosque. It was a 45 minute drive to get to the mosque and as we couldn’t go in it was a bit of a disappointment. Arabian nights themed party on deck.

Day 18. November 7th. After another day at sea we anchored off Sir Bani Yas Island, UAE, for a beach barbeque and caviar in the surf.  The tender ride was a bit bumpy but nice set-up on the beach. The island is man-made & owned by Etihad. Had a nice day on the beach.  

Day 19, Friday November 8th - Abu Dhabi, UAE.  In morning took shuttle bus to a mall for a quick look around. Afternoon tour ‘architectural highlights’ of the Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum & the Mosque. First part of tour went along the Corniche for photo ops but waste of time. The Louvre was very impressive with a guided tour, but insufficient time allowed so tour cut short. The Mosque was packed, it didn’t open until 4:30 allowing a short window for the thousands of visitors. Thank goodness we were in a group as we by-passed the long line of individual visitors. Even-so we only had an hour to make the 1km walk to/from the mosque & try to see all that we could.  It was a madhouse.

Day 20, November 9th Dubai.  The final stop on the first leg of our cruise.  We took Hop on Hop off bus. Did all 3 routes (red, green & blue) as wanted to see as much as possible.  Only got off at spice/gold souk. A bit ambitious, it was a long, hot day - would not recommend doing all 3 in one day. The red route took in the old city & was most interesting with live commentary. Green & Blue routes took in the beach & marina areas with no commentary.  

Day 21 (or Day 1 of the second leg). November 10th Return to Sir Bani Yan Island - seas, winds too strong for tendering so beach barbeque abandoned.  Replaced by Caviar in the Pool & barbequed lobster on deck/in the Colonnade. Hastily reworked schedule included an early start to Team Trivia. Did OK but need to be more assertive.

Day 22, November 11th - Doha, Qatar. Tour Highlights of Doha, taking in the Souk, Pearl Island & the Islamic Museum. Doha has a much different feel to previous destinations, seemed less hurried, cleaner, altogether seemed a better planned city.  No buildings above 300mts tall so no sense of claustrophobia.

Day 23, Nov 12th At sea.

Day 24, Nov 13th Muscat. Walked along the Corniche to ‘incense burner’. Couldn’t climb up so walked back & explored the souks before getting shuttle back to the ship. Dinner with Gordon & Val in T.K. Grill. Saw Michael (of Michael & Jeffrey) in Club who put us on to a guide in Phuket - ‘Ronny’. Managed to whatsapp him & looks like we have  a tour booked. Clocks forward 1 ½ hrs tonight.

Day 25, Nov 14th - at sea.  Getting up for yoga at 8:30 was hard - spent rest of day ‘relaxing’. Struggling at trivia but managed to pull ourselves out of a hole by getting the bonus question! Dinner on deck. Nightcap ob bar, Early night.

Day 26, Nov 15th - at sea. Yoga at 7:30 - had to drag ourselves out of bed! But worth it. Yoga is getting too popular.

Day 27, Nov 16th, Mumbai (Bombay), India. Not feeling brave enough to venture out on our own, we signed up for the ship “Mumbai, off the beaten track” tour. It was expensive but looked ‘different’. Aside from a short ride on a train, I’m not sure we experienced anything more or different from less expensive options. Our tour guide was very good, but maybe, given the difficulty in maneuvering the bus through the busy streets the tour was just too ambitious in scope.  We spent way too much time waiting for the bus to return to collect us from the various stops, and the stop at an up-market souvenir shop was both unwelcome & unnecessary.   The lunch buffet at the Taj Palace Hotel was good but only served to reinforce the separation of the ‘haves from the have-nots’ in Mumbai society.   The heat, noise, dirt, and hustle & bustle of a huge mass of humanity going about their daily business, overwhelmed the senses. The tour did not leave me with a sense of wanting to experience more and I was very glad to return to the ship.  The Bollywood show by local dancers was very entertaining.

Days 28 & 29, Nov 17/18th. After an overnight in Mumbai, we left port mid-afternoon and had a sea day before our next port of call, Cochin.

Day 30, Nov 19th, Cochin, India. After the day in Mumbai, we felt a bit more comfortable and so changed some US$ for Rupees at the dock and took a tuk-tuk tour of Cochin highlights.  Our driver was very nice, even inviting us to his house for tea, which we politely declined, and we did visit the highlights, but he also insisted we visit 6 tourist shops & a spice shop en-route - the kicker being he received petrol coupons from each shop!  Still it was a fun, if frustrating, day.  In sum, Cochin does not have a lot to recommend.

Days 31-33, Nov 20 -22nd, were spent at sea.  On the 21st we were invited to a champagne tasting and dinner in the Thomas Keller Grill hosted by Colin and Lisa. I had not been feeling well all day and had to leave early but it was a nice evening & very kind of Colin & Lisa to have included us in their group.  On the 22nd, Captain Kreso Volaric invited us onto the Bridge for a private tour with Mark & Bonnie (from Arizona) with whom we had enjoyed a dinner with the Captain earlier in the week.

Day 34, November 23rd, Sabang Pulau Weh, Indonesia. A small volcanic island in the Andaman Sea, Sabang is the northernmost outpost of Indonesia, 2 hours by ferry from mainland Banda Aceh. At first glance it was a ‘what the heck are we doing here’ sort of place, but it was easy to walk around, the people, especially the schoolchildren, were very welcoming.  We are used to taking pictures of local peoples but one mother turned the tables on us by asking if she could take a picture of her two daughters with Gwyn.  After all said & done we had a nice day in Sabang.

Day 35, November 24th, Phuket, Thailand.  We met Ronny as planned for our tour of Phuket. Gordon joined us and wanted to go to a nice beach-hotel for lunch & a swim. Val had given him the name of a hotel so, after visiting the The Wat Chalong Temple & the Big Buddha, we headed to the beach. Sadly hotels in Phuket do not allow non-residents to use their facilities, so we ended-up in a beach side restaurant that only accepted local currency.  Luckily Gordon had enough for us to have a beer and share a pizza! The beach was very nice but lacked changing facilities so we never did get our swim. Michael had told us about a Gibbon Rehabilitation Project so we headed there after lunch. It was along drive & despite the merits of the project, not worth the journey.  After that we headed back to Phuket town to visit Karon Overlook, Monkey Hill and a drive through Old Phuket - which looked really interesting - on the way back to the ship.  It was a long tiring day and I think we were a bit ambitious with the itinerary. It is easy to see why Phuket is popular with both large resort style beach-hotel clientele, and back-packers alike.

Day 36, November 25th, Porto Malai, Langkawi, Malaysia. This was our last stop before Singapore and sadly Gwyn was stricken with a stomach bug which seemed to be going around the ship. After calling the nurse for medication, Gwyn was confined to the room for 24 hours.  I ventured ashore on the shuttle bus for an hour or two which, in all honesty was more than enough for me. The town had little to recommend it but the beach was really nice with plenty of water sport activities on offer. Several guests and crew took advantage and spent a nice day at the beach, and so, another ‘what are we doing here’ sort of place turned out to be fun for those looking for a day of sea and sand.

Day 37, November 26th, at sea in Strait of Malacca, before arriving in Singapore on the 27th.

November 27th, Singapore.  Disembarkation was quite smooth. As we had private arrangements we could wait until the rush to get off was over. Anyone with alcohol or tobacco had to declare it & pay duty (because our last stop was in Malaysia we didn’t receive a duty free allowance) but duty on wine was less than $10 & so it was worth ‘smuggling’ a bottle or two off the ship to enjoy in our hotel room (drinks in Singapore being expensive).  We ignored the ‘taxi touts’ in the airport & caught a taxi at the rank outside - there was no queue - to our hotel. We stayed at the Fairmont for 4 nights and had a great time walking the streets of Singapore, visiting the Botanical Gardens, China Town, and the Arabian & Indian Districts. The hotel opened into the Raffles Mall and in the food court beneath we found for breakfast the best almond croissants ever!  There was also an official money exchange which gave a better rate than the banks and much better than the hotel. Probably the first time in my life that I haven’t felt ripped off exchanging money!  We really enjoyed Singapore, it is clean, safe & easy to walk around. Although, when I was off photographing a temple, I was asked by a nice young lady if I was traveling alone!  A quick glance over my shoulder towards Gwyn prompted me to reply ‘No’!

After 3 days in Singapore we flew back to Athens on Qatar via Doha and spent 2 nights at the Athens Airport Sofitel before returning home.  As our flight was at 8 am, it was much more convenient to stay at the airport & take the train from the airport into Athens for the day. We wandered around, enjoyed a nice lunch & visited the Acropolis Museum.