21st October 2023 – Home to Holiday Inn Heathrow

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We left home early afternoon and headed to our hotel at Heathrow and we had a good run until we reached the M1 when everything started to slow and our dry day turned to wet. From there it was a pretty slow run but we still made it the hotel before it got dark which was great. This is the same hotel we used in July so we were ready for a slightly lack lustre meal and we got exactly what we expected.

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22nd October 2023 – Heathrow to Istanbul.

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This morning we took what turned out to be a very expensive taxi journey (bearing in mind it is only a few miles) and arrived in plenty of time for our flight so we sat and did a little people watching whilst we waited. We did the usual and had a wheelchair booked which I pushed right the way to the aircraft (with a little help down the very steep slope to the aircraft itself). We had been led to believe that the flight was slightly more than four hours but it turned out to be only three hours twenty so that was a bonus.

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We arrived at Istanbul airport dead on time and had a really good experience there; there was wheelchair and pusher waiting for us and we were whisked to the separate area they have for wheelchair users at passport control and our bags were already there for us to collect, we even found the right driver first time this time!!

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What we hadn’t quite expected was just how bad the traffic into the city would be, it was absolutely awful and it seemed to be a very circuitous route to get to where we needed to be. We finally arrived at our hotel at around 19:30 and a very nice 5-star hotel it is too (I hate to think how much extra this cost us but hey ho!). Unbeknownst to us the hotel had been forewarned of Graham’s disability and had allocated us a room close to reception but they said they were a little concerned that it might not be suitable as it only had a bathtub so they had a further two rooms lined up for us to see so that we could choose the most appropriate one for us which was great. The room we chose is huge and has a slipper bath tub and a walk-in shower the only slight issue is that the floor is marble so pretty slippery when wet so they also provided us with a shower stool. It was still fairly difficult for Graham to shower safely but we managed.

As by now it was getting quite late, we ate in the hotel restaurant on the top floor which has great views of the Bosphorus. It wasn’t a cheap meal but it was very, very good and we had some very nice Turkish wine too.

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23rd October 2023 – Istanbul

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Before we left home Graham had done quite a bit of research regarding tours that might be suitable for us which didn’t include too much walking and it turns out that most of the major sites need to be accessed on foot. Whilst looking on-line he contacted a guy called Amer through the website “With Locals” which does exactly what it says on the tin, it puts you in touch with guides who are locals. Having explained our situation to Amer he said he could provide exactly what we needed i.e. a car to take us around and a hired wheelchair.

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Amer arrived to collect us just after 09:00 this morning and we have just arrived back (at 18:00) from an excellent tour which was tailored to our preferences. We visited the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia where Graham was able to enter in the wheelchair once they had put tape around all of the wheels. We then took a tram to the Grand Bazaar (we can now see why people get lost in there) before visiting the Egyptian or Spice Bazaar. As we had asked to have lunch in a proper locals restaurant we drove a little way away from the tourist sites to a very friendly restaurant called Lale Lokantasi where we met up with a friend of Amers who joined us for lunch. We left Amer to choose the food for us and, as a result, we ate far too much but it was absolutely lovely and it seems that the owners were very happy that we had decided to visit them.

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We later visited St Georges church which was very ornate, the waterfront, and then finished off with a locally famous Baklava café (more food!) which was really lovely. All in all we’ve had a great day and if anyone is coming to Istanbul I would highly recommend using Amer as a guide, it isn’t the cheapest way to see the city but it was worth every penny.

This evening was slightly blighted by our need to contact the company scheduled to pick us up tomorrow, this proved to be very difficult despite the technology available to us but we got there eventually.

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24th October 2023 – Istanbul hotel to cruise ship

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Despite last night’s confusion regarding our pick up we were collected at midday as scheduled; we were however dropped at the wrong entrance of the cruise terminal which meant we had something of a route march to get to where we needed to be. Things didn’t improve much then either as we joined a very long queue just to drop off our bags and then another queue to check-in. Another route march followed before we boarded. Once on board we found, for the first time on a cruise, that there was no welcome drink which seemed a bit stingy on their part.

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Our cabin was as we expected but with slightly larger balcony as we were right at the back of the ship which was fine with us.

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We went along to the “Grand Dining Room” for dinner this evening and having asked to share a table we were paired with two very nice guys (Clark & Keith) who were originally from the U.S. but now live in France. The food was pretty good but the service wasn’t quite what we would have expected.

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After dinner we went along to see what the entertainments team had to offer. The show was largely based around Rat Pack style songs and the singers were pretty good so, fingers crossed that will continue.

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25th October 2023 – Mitilini (Lesbos), Greece

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The ship didn’t dock until around 10:30 so we had plenty of time for a lazy breakfast. We had no excursion booked for today so Graham and I took a walk into the town which turned out not to have too much to see so after a walk and a short stop for coffee we returned to the ship. Once back on board we had a light lunch sitting by the pool and then sat out on sun loungers reading for a while before making use of our balcony for the same purpose.

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As today was our Silver Wedding Anniversary we had booked a meal in one of the specialty restaurants i.e. the Tuscan Steakhouse. The food was good (not quite as good as the Steakhouse on the Azamara) and we ate far too much as they waited until after we’d eaten dessert before they turned up with a small celebratory cake for us!

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After dinner we sat and listened to a very, very good string quartet before heading to the bar to listen to the resident pianist Mark play and sing Elton John numbers.

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26th October 2023 – Kusadasi for Ephasus, Turkey

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We had a fairly early start for a booked excursion this morning. The trip we had booked took us through some of the local countryside passing Ephasus on the way. The first stop was at what is said to be the house of the Virgin Mary and it was fairly busy when we arrived so the bus had to stop a little way away from the site. Graham was just deciding how he would tackle to walk (it was down quite a slope) when one of the soldiers on guard duty approached the tour guide, pointed at Graham and said they would drive him down so that’s what they did. One of the soldiers fetched his own car and drove us down which was great.

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Once we’d finished the visit there (the coach came down to pick us up) we went to the village of Sinnice where, after a drink stop we had a look around a very pretty village. It was then back to the ship for a late lunch which we took poolside again. Another few hours were then spent reading by the pool before getting ourselves ready for a visit to the other specialty restaurant The Red Ginger (Asian). This time we said we’d share a table and did so with a couple from Canada and two ladies from the U.S. and a very pleasant evening it was too.

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From there we went along to the show lounge to see what was on offer and after another fairly good show we retired to our cabin.

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27th October 2023 – Rhodes, Greece

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Unfortunately, Graham wasn’t feeling too well this morning having picked up a bit of a cold (it definitely wasn’t COVID as we tested) so he stayed in bed whilst I went for breakfast on my own. After breakfast I went for a walk in to Rhodes Old Town which was very nice and really quite quiet as most of the shops and cafes had yet to open. I spent a very pleasant hour or so wandering around the streets before returning to the ship and another read by the pool.

By late morning Graham was feeling somewhat better so we both went for a light lunch on the open deck before both walking in to the town which, by now, was much busier but still a very pleasant visit. Once back we spent another few hours reading by the pool before readying ourselves for dinner.

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As Graham didn’t want to chance passing his cold on, we ate on our own in the Grand Dining Room this evening. After dinner we went along to listen to the string quartet (excellent) and then on to the show lounge where they had a visiting comedian. Unfortunately, we decided pretty quickly that it really wasn’t our cup of tea so we called it a night after around 10 minutes.

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28th October 2023 – Alanya, Turkey

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We arrived in Alanya this morning with no trips organized. We had originally booked ourselves on a excursion but some updated information had been provided which stated that there were some uneven, steep and slippery surfaces involved so, on the advice of the excursions team we cancelled it.

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After breakfast we walked to the dockside which wasn’t too far but still a bit of a walk for Graham particularly as it was very warm today (28c). As we approached the promenade, we noticed a Noddy Train which we were told provided at 45-minute tour around the town so we decided to take advantage of that. It did indeed take us along the promenade past all of the tacky tourist boats which offered the Captain Barbosa experience (from Pirates of the Caribbean) or a Foam party, it then took us through the town where there were more tattoo parlours than we’ve ever seen in one place before. It’s definitely not somewhere we’d bother to go back to but it looks like an ideal spot for a club 18-30 holiday – yuk. That said, there is a castle somewhere above town but we decided against visiting and from the reports we heard we didn’t miss too much.

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Once back on the ship we went for another light lunch on the open deck where I unfortunately made something of a mistake by eating a dish which had quite a lot of garlic in it. I was fine during the afternoon but it certainly caught up with me that evening and for much of the following day!! After lunch I decided to take a dip in the pool which was okay but even though it was very warm outside the unheated seawater pool didn’t do a lot for me.

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We went back to the Grand dining room for dinner this evening and decided to share which was fine but it took a little while before another couple who wanted to share arrived. After dinner we went along to see the show but were not convinced we’d stay as it was billed as being a take on Britain’s Got Talent and other such shows which are really not our thing. As it turned out it wasn’t too bad and it was, after all, only 45 minutes out of our lives!

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29th October 2023 – Limassol, Cyprus.

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Unfortunately, this morning didn’t start off too well for me with the after effects of the garlic really showing themselves, I was awake from around 04:30 and still pretty uncomfortable after breakfast but fortunately things did improve as the day went on.

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Once again we had no tour booked so we took advantage of the shuttle bus that the port authority provided to take us in the town. As it turned out there wasn’t a great deal to see so after a decent wander around, we headed back to the ship where we had yet another lunch on the open deck but this time we were joined by a couple, Gill & Paul, who we’ve chatted to on a number of occasions throughout the trip.

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After lunch it was back to the sun loungers for some more reading although I decided to give up with the book I’d borrowed from the ship’s library. As we had time to spare this afternoon we decided to take afternoon tea in the Horizon’s lounge. In our experience these can differ greatly between cruise lines and today’s, in our opinion, really wasn’t one of the best. We were offered a pot of water and a tea bag and someone came around with a trolley which included some pretty dried out sandwiches and some quite nice cakes but somehow the whole thing felt a bit stingy again. Also, we didn’t feel particularly welcome there, it was as if we were a bit of an inconvenience particularly when they started clearing up around us even though there was another 40 minutes or so before it was supposed to finish.

Dinner was, once again, taken in the Grand Dining room where we were joined by two pretty untypical Americans. They were both extremely well-travelled and had visited some fascinating places so it turned into a very enjoyable evening.

By the time we’d finished chatting we’d missed the string quartet (which in our view is the best entertainment on board) but decided to go along to listen to Mark sing and play. We ended up not staying too long as Graham had a rather sore leg.

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30th October 2023 – Antalya, Turkey.

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For a change today we had a tour booked although we can’t really remember why we booked a tour which included lunch when we’ve got all the food we can possibly need on board!  As the tour didn’t start until late morning, we had a lazy start and sorted out some clothing to have laundered (our package includes three lots of laundry so I figure we may as well take clean clothes home!!).

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It turns out that Antalya is a fairly big city and we saw a fair bit of it as we drove to the old town area. We were dropped off at one of the old city gates and had a very brief tour before heading to the taverna for lunch. The lunch turned out to be very good and far bigger than we either expected or needed but it was very pleasant chatting to another group of people we’d not come across before.

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Once back on board we took up residence by the pool again for a bit more reading before getting ourselves ready for our second visit to The Red Ginger restaurant. We shared a table again this evening with a couple who seemed very pleasant although the gentleman kept wanting to talk politics which wasn’t particularly helpful for a jolly evening.

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We decided not to bother with the theatre this evening as the visiting comedian was on again. Instead, we sat and listened to the string quartet before moving into the lounge to listen to Mark singing and playing.

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31st October 2023 – Agios Nikolaos, Crete

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We were late docking this morning with a 12-noon scheduled arrival so we had a fairly lazy morning. The restaurant was busier than usual at breakfast as everyone was still on board but we had nowhere we needed to be so that was fine. After reading for a while by the pool it was time for a light lunch on the open deck before getting ourselves ready for the afternoon tour we’d booked.

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This tour gave us the opportunity to see some of the very pretty, although fairly barren, countryside. We took some very nice, twisty roads up to a nunnery which had great views over the surrounding countryside. From there we were taken to yet another taverna where we were fed with a sensible sized meze and a glass of wine. From there it was back to the ship once again.

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Another dinner in the Grand Dining room with two people we’d not previously met provided our early evening entertainment and that was followed by a visit to listen to the string quartet who had taken the trouble to dress for Halloween. Mark on the piano had also made an effort with his piano decorated with small pumpkin lights so we finished off our evening listening to him too.

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1st November 2023 – Patmos, Greece

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As the tour options for today’s port were very limited (there was really only one trip to the local monastery available) we had decided not to book anything but to try to visit the old town of Hora on our own. Our earlier research had suggested that there were taxi’s and/or buses that could take us where we wanted to go so we decided to take the local bus in the hope it might take a more circuitous route and show us more of the island. Our plan didn’t really work on that front but it did prove that taking the local option can be a really good idea as we paid 3.60 Euros for us both to get to the town and people were paying 20 Euros for a taxi!!

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Once we arrived at the edge of Hora, we were dropped off in exactly the same place as the tour buses as, unbeknown to us, the Monastery is part of the old town. We took a short walk up a very steep slope to the town walls and Graham took a seat whilst I went to do a recce. It turns out that the whole of the old town is built on the side of a very steep hill and the very narrow lanes are all built of large cobbles so I reported back to Graham and we decided it was prudent for him to stay where he was looking at a very, very nice view whilst I had a quick walk round. Once I’d managed to get myself back to Graham (there were lots of very narrow lanes to get lost in) we made our way down another steep slope to a taverna where we had a drink before taking the return bus back.

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After a light lunch back of the ship we took another short trip out to visit the port town of Skala which was just across the road. Once again there were quite a lot of narrow streets filled with cafes and shops so we had a good look around and had a drink in one of the cafes before Graham headed back to the ship for a rest. I then went for a walk along the promenade on my own as I wanted to investigate the local beach and harbour area. As it turned out the beach was very small and right next to the main road with just a couple of bars close by. The harbour was a little more interesting with a mix of yachts and small fishing boats where elderly fishermen could be seen mending their nets.

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Later this afternoon we had a few rain showers so rather than sit our getting wet we returned to our cabin and I started to make some attempt at packing.

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We shared our dinner this evening with a very pleasant Canadian couple before heading off to the theatre to see the entertainment team’s Acoustic show which was pretty good. We then finished our evening by sitting listening to Mark tinkle the ivories whilst we had a last drink.

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2nd November 2023 – Mykonos, Greece

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This morning we shared a breakfast table with two fellow brits who we’d previously not met. We had a very interesting conversation as it seems they were similar to us in respect of their previous travels and their views on travel generally.

Once again we had no tour booked (there weren’t many on offer again) so took the port’s shuttle bus to the edge of the bay which houses Mykonos town. We spent a happy few hours wandering the lanes and sitting at the cafes before taking the water taxi back from the other side of the bay.

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After a short spell reading by the pool it was time to head back to the cabin where the rest of the packing was awaiting me, lovely! This particular exercise wasn’t helped by the fact that both of our suitcases had suffered some damage on the way out; one was missing a foot and had a small split and the other a further small split.

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For our last night on board we had pre-booked the Tuscan Steakhouse but this time had said we were happy to share. It turned out that the two guys we’d spent our first evening with were two of those we shared our last evening with, we were also joined by another couple so we had quite a lively last evening which we rounded off listening to Mark for a short while before calling it a night.

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3rd November 2023 – Athens to home.

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We had an early start this morning as, as is typical, we had to be out of our cabin by 08:00 and off of the ship by 09:00. Following a fairly quick breakfast we collected together the rest of our belongings and left the ship where we waited for an age for our transfer to turn up. It was definitely our fault but there had been some confusion over our pick up and flight time and it took a few ‘phone calls to get things sorted. By the time our driver arrived we were “Billy no mates” sitting on the dockside but, fortunately, we had plenty of time to get to the airport.

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Once at the airport we found that there was a special assistance lounge so we checked in there and were fairly quickly whisked away and to the front of the airline check-in queue. Once at the desk we were informed that the British Airways flight was actually being operated by Finnair and we would have to check in our hand baggage. As our carry-ons contained Graham’s crutches, leg charger etc. etc. we were particularly unhappy with this prospect so we had a “discussion” with a few BA staff and we were finally allowed to take our bags with us.

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The flight home was uneventful if not particularly comfortable (very limited leg room). Our arrival at Heathrow went rather more smoothly than we had feared and we were out of the airport fairly quickly which was great except it meant we were just in time to hit the Friday afternoon rush hour on the M25. Rather than sit in traffic we decided to go and eat before driving home and we found there was Beefeater with parking just a few miles away so that’s where we went. It certainly wasn’t the best we’ve been to with slightly sticky tables, menus etc. but it served a purpose and we left towards the end of the rush hour which helped to some extent but we still got caught in the aftermath of a collision which meant we weren’t home until very late.

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Summary:

All in all, we’ve enjoyed our trip but we’ve also agreed with a number of the other passengers, that it wasn’t the best. Part of the issue was that it generally felt that Oceania were being a tad stingy on a number of fronts and the service wasn’t really what we would expect from a so-called luxury cruise. It wasn’t helped either that the vast majority of the passengers were American’s who were there as part of their college Alumni groups and stuck together like glue they even felt it necessary to decorate their cabin doors with college stickers. One of our fellow passengers also described them as “generally really scruffy”.

 

We were extremely lucky with the weather having had sunshine most days and temperatures in the mid to high 20’s for the entire time so we certainly can’t complain about that.