Cartagena, Spain

CARTAGENA, SPAIN, 16 April 11

Well, another lovely day in another lovely port.  Cartagena is on the south coast of Spain, Mediterranean side.  Old is the word here, dating back to the Carthaginians conquest.  But the real joy for me here was the fact that Holland America’s newest build, Nieuw Amsterdam would be sharing the dock with us.  All Amsterdam passengers were allowed to tour the Nieuw Amsterdam in the morning.  An incredibly beautiful ship with all the new ship bells and whistles.  While many of our fellow guests considered her “too big”, it’s obvious that nobody in the mass market cruise lines will be building any 65,000 ton ships like the Amsterdam anytime in the future.  Holland’s fleet is aging, the Prinsendam being the oldest but in a special category.  The Statendam class ships debuted in 1993, making them close to twenty years old.  Holland’s core market is the senior citizen and they don’t like the ships any larger than what they are now accustomed to.  I’m not sure how this is going to play out over the next ten years but Holland has some serious thinking to do regarding their core customers.

Great pleasure was mine when while onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam I ran into an old friend, Mike Feeney.  He was the Royal Caribbean sales rep back in 1989 when I was with Admiral Cruise Center.  After several cruise line changes he became my district sales manager for Holland until he made an extreme career decision and became an onboard future booking consultant.  This means he and his wife live on Holland ships 8 months a year.  They’ve leased their home in New Hampshire and for all intents and purposes are world vagabonds.  He looks hale and fit and seems to be enjoying his new life style.  

Cartagena itself is a tourist’s dream.  Traffic-free streets, plenty of shopping, sidewalk cafes and street performers.  The streets are paved in marble, the buildings look like a set for some movie about the crusades and prices are affordable.  We went off the beaten track a little bit, as we are wont to do, and found a small grocery store where we purchased a 2 litre bottle of Cola light without caffeine for .40 Euro.  A 750 ml bottle of red table wine, not too bad either, was 1 Euro.  A great day in a very enjoyable port.

Joe Wagg

Port for Rome

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy  14 April 11

Here in this summer resort for the Romans, street life is very active in the mornings before the 2 PM siesta so common throughout the Latin countries.  A huge open air market dominates the upper portion of the main pedestrian street and it was surprising how busy it was there at 11 AM.  Fresh fish, cheeses, cold cuts, bread and really good looking produce, not to mention the adjacent flea market selling K-Mart like quality clothing, hardware, etc.  The thought occurred to buy some bread, cold cuts and cheese along with a small bottle of wine and bring them back to the ship for lunch but the overwhelming attraction of another real pizza was the deciding lunch factor.

Probably 60% of the ship went to Rome for the day.  How can you not like Rome?  The ship offered outrageously priced tours plus a transfer only for $94.00.  Some people opted to take the train for 13 Euro round trip which is what we would have done had we been so inclined.  We’d never seen Civitavecchia before so the time was spent here wandering the streets and finding a lunch spot.  One huge problem here and probably throughout Italy is that EVERYONE smokes.  We went into one cafe where the proprietor was concurrently making a cappuccino and lighting his cigarette.  Sidewalks are littered with cigarette butts and, quite frankly, at close proximation, these folks stink of old smoke in their clothes.

The town itself is pleasant enough even though the season has yet to begin.  There is a lovely promenade walk along the oceanfront that is currently under construction (although nobody was constructing on a Thursday), a pedestrian zone/shopping area with some upscale and not so upscale shops but a minimal amount of outdoor, sit-down cafes so common in other parts of Italy.  We could not find a place to have coffee on our second trip to town in the afternoon, other than sitting next to chain smokers.  Lunch consisted of a pizza at double the cost of the Herculaneum pizzas, a very fine tossed salad and local beer and wine.

Gina and I were discussing this morning our favorite parts of this odyssey.  We both came to the conclusion that eating the local foods in a local setting tops the list.  It doesn’t matter if it’s Sydney, Papua New Guinea or Safaga, Egypt.  You can only see so many ruins, cathedrals and botanical gardens before they all run together.  People and food give the best flavor even if they smoke.

They’ve just announced the 2013 World Cruise and it looks like something I’d be interested in doing.  Anyone want to come along????

Joe Wagg  

Naples,Italy

Naples, Italy    12-13 April 2011

In the words of the immortal Victor Herbert’s (?) Italian Street Song -” Ah my heart belongs in Napoli” -  As a cruise port, there are so many things to do here that even two days, as we had, only touches the surface.  Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Ischia, Pompeii, Herculaneum, museums, pizza and more pizza.  I think this is our third trip here and on the other two trips we did not really see the city proper, venturing out to the tourist areas of Amalfi Coast, Positano, Ischia and Pompeii.  This time we decided to stay closer to the city.

Day one was sunny and bright, an ideal day for visiting Herculaneum, along with Pompeii a victim of the 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption.  At Pompeii, people were buried in the ash and really didn’t have a chance.  At Herculaneum, the city was buried in a slow moving mud, allowing residents the opportunity to flee.  As a result, structures are in a much better state of preservation at Herculaneum.  Some of the frescoes still remain on the walls of the homes and their colors are amazing.  Excavation here was first begun in 1736 and continues to this date.  While Pompeii is certainly better known, I enjoyed Herculaneum better and would recommend it over Pompeii if you could only do one.  On the way back to the train station to return to Naples, we stopped for a very enjoyable pizza at a tiny cafe.  Since the pizza was only 3 Euros, we figured they would be individual sized and so ordered two.  Big mistake!  Two full size (12”?) pizzas arrived which we knew we could not finish.  Wrong again!  Ate them both along with two beers and a jug of wine for 15 Euros.

Day two dawned overcast with spotty rain showers.  Undaunted, we put on our rain gear and commenced the 45 minute walk to the Archaeological Museum.  Just a few sprinkles along the way to the museum which was free for some unknown reason (as was Herculaneum).  The rooms we visited were artifacts that had been removed from Pompeii and Herculaneum plus some statues from the Farnese Palace.  A poorly organized museum with very little security and no air quality.  Reminded me of St. Petersburg.  We got drenched on the walk back which meant no second pizzas.

Off to Civitavecchia for Rome tomorrow.

Joe Wagg

Kusadasi, Turkey

KUSADASI, TURKEY      09 APR 11

Two days in Kusadasi, home of arguably the best preserved ruins around, Ephesus.  This is definitely the thing to do in this port, but having been there before we opted for two lazy days around the town itself which is really an enjoyable tourist destination in itself.  Pedestrian friendly main drag with all kinds of interesting alleys, each lined with non-aggressive and playful vendors.  We’ve “run the gauntlet” in various tourist shopping areas throughout the world but this was actually fun, even though the only things we bought were honey, cheese, beer and a couple of scarves.  The shopkeepers try to engage you in conversation with excellent English, French, German, Italian or whatever language they thought you might speak judging by your appearance only.  Many are actually quite funny and the experience was positive.  Even the signage on the shops was comical.   

We had lunch both days at the same restaurant, Kings Place, a waterfront view with very few customers.  Excellent food, freshly prepared at about 1/2 the price of a lunch in Boston.  To be fair, it is not “season” yet and most places are just opening up and doing the painting and repairing necessary for the upcoming summer.  

On day 1 we walked along the waterfront for about twenty minutes to Pigeon Island, which was actually a peninsular.  A fort commands the harbor from here but it was not open to the public and looked like it hadn’t been used in a hundred years.  There was a very picturesque circumferential walk around the fort which was enjoyable in the lovely weather, low 70’s.  Day 2 found us riding the local jitney or minibus to  Ladies Beach, a rather forlorn and actually quite dirty beach of about 200 yards in length located about twenty feet below the street level which was lined with restaurants.  Again, it is early times seasonally here, so I’m sure if it were July it would have been more customer friendly.

This was my fourth time in Turkey and I always come away with positive feelings.  Lots of history, scenery and, once again, friendly people.  Should the opportunity arise to visit Turkey, do not hesitate to avail yourself.

Joe Wagg

Athens, Greece

Piraeus, Greece

April 10,2011

Piraeus is the busy port for Athens, about 7 miles away. This was the last of the four escorted tours we were responsible for and it lasted more than 7 hours. Again, we had three busses and we decided to put the vision and mobility impaired guests on our bus to assist them without burdening the other guests. The tour was called the best of Athens, and if you have been here, you know about the difficult and slippery surfaces at the Acropolis. People could not stay on the bus, so Joe took a couple of them to a cafe and I went up to the Acropolis. It has been 10 years since we have been here.The view from the top is amazing. Even in early April it is very crowded. The city looks a lot cleaner and there is a new metro. This came about for the 2004 Olympics.

The rest of our tour was a stop at the new archaeologic museum, a lunch and a little panoramic city tour. The restaurant  waiters was like watching the three stooges in action. It was so understaffed and disorganized, some tables got service twice, while others got none. I got up twice to ask for the promised beer and wine with no luck, while Joe was enjoying his beer at a different table. Finally at my insistence Joe went into the kitchen to get more service. 

After our lunch, we needed to walk uphill for about 15 mins to get back to the bus. We knew this would take forever with these folks, so with no help from the guide, we took matters into our own hands and got a taxi to take them back to the bus. So, that my day in Athens.

I find the tours stressful when there is a lot of walking for the elderly, probably more so than Joe as I can see the potential for falls from all my years of being a nurse.

Gina Wagg

ASHDOD

ASHDOD, ISRAEL      6 Apr 11

Ashdod is Israel’s #1 port and the gateway to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, not to mention Massada and the Dead Sea.  Having been to all the aforementioned in November, we opted for a ship’s tour to Jaffa and Tel Aviv.  Jaffa is an old city and Tel Aviv is a big city.  Neither offers anything of real interest unless the tour skipped all the good stuff.  Our tour guide appeared to me to be an elderly homeless person although she did have quite a sense of humor and wit.  Her walking pace on the tour was glacial.  And still, other passengers were always way behind.

O.K., time to talk about ship’s tours.  We generally try to avoid them like the plague.  They are overpriced by 100% and attract the least adventurous of the passengers, many of whom opt to stay on the bus rather than exert  themselves by walking anywhere!  They whine if there are stairs to climb, distances to walk, no restrooms available, no time to shop for junk souvenirs and postcards, can never get back to the bus by the assigned time and always talk over the guide who is giving meeting times and then want to know what time to be back.  Not that they will be on time.

Back to Ashdod.  Unfortunately, all the must see sights of Israel are a minimum two hour bus ride and that’s without traffic, of which there is plenty.  But to be able to visit Jerusalem, see how it works and watch the interaction (or lack thereof) between the people is well worth the ride.  Likewise Mossada, located on top of a mountain overlooking Jordan and the Dead Sea and on the ride, passing by the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found is pretty nice stuff.  We just did the wrong thing this time.  I would not advise attempting to arrange your own tour on the pier with the cab drivers, which is a common method of avoiding ship’s tours.  The distances are too great and traffic can be unbelievable, jeopardizing your chances of getting back before the ship sails.

An intriguing destination with a very high hassle factor.

SUEZ CANAL

SUEZ CANAL    5 APR 11

This being a two-canal trip, comparisons are in order.  The lush green of Panama as opposed to the dusty brown of Egypt; No locks in Suez, ocean to ocean; both have lakes for holding areas and both are one way at a time.  Here, the ships go through as a convoy, 10-4 rubber ducky style.  Also here people can be found anywhere along the way, usually smiling and waving.  In Panama, there are “viewing stands” at several locations. 

I don’t know what the Egyptian defense budget is but again, 20’ towers with armed guards all along.  There are military bases everywhere along the route.  The west bank of the canal is green and fertile, a result of Nile River irrigation.  The east bank is barren desert.  The majority of homes seen in this area are in a state of construction.  No home seems to be complete and there is a reason for this.  Once the home is complete it is subject to taxes.  By living in an unfinished home, these taxes are avoided.  This should be an insight to how government hasn’t worked.

Towards the northern end of the canal looms a huge, newly built bridge, connecting Africa with Asia, built by the Japanese for Egypt in a token of friendship.  This obviously prior to the economic slowdown.  Has this new bridge affected the ferry traffic at this location?  NO WAY!  As we watched for traffic on the bridge, little could be observed.  A couple of trucks and the occasional car traversing from the populous west side to the barren east side.  Right next to the bridge was a ferry serving the same purpose of getting from one side to the other.  The vehicle lineup for the ferry was at least a mile long with truck after truck bumper to bumper waiting.  I might add that this ferry could only handle one truck at a time so the wait had to be several hours for those in the back of the line.  Obviously the charge for using the bridge is so overbearing that a two hour wait is still economically worthwhile.  Either that or the vehicles are seriously overloaded and unable to meet weight restrictions.

Ashdod tomorrow!