Our HAL Westerdam Cruise from Rome

We usually stream unedited copies of our trip in HD from YouTube to the living room TV to bore guests. At least during those exercises in patience, we get to talk through some sections and are able to fast forward. Here's an hour and a half of footage without any of that.



After our 24-night cruise, we have been home for mere two weeks. We will be boarding another Holland America Line Cruise on Sunday at the Vancouver Waterfront.

Civitavecchia to Vancouver

Day 28 - Our stateroom's television screen showed the disembarkation schedule. We didn't want to lug suitcases to Rome and back, the only way to get from the ship port to the airport. We paid for Holland America's service to get us to FCO.



There were at least four other huge cruise ships at Civitavecchia. That meant thousands of others heading to the airport as well. However, it was all well organized and went very smoothly. Rome's airport was beautiful and efficient.



We flew through Toronto in order to get home tonight. The first flight was about nine hours and the second around four and a half. Air Transat was okay but I hated transferring through Toronto Pearson International Airport. It was a zoo and I can picture a lot of people not being able to make connections.



I hate flying and I forget this fact between trips. I kept counting down the minutes until we could get home! I didn't sleep and the food on the domestic segment was of course non-existent. Our bags made the transfer and I should be grateful for that, I guess. I did have to wait a bit at YVR for mine to show up on the carousel.

We SkyTrained back through downtown. It is so nice being home! It was 11:25 when we got in the door.

Naples, Italy

Day 27 - This was my third visit to the city of Naples. Although one of my favourite places in Italy, I was not really looking forward to this port. Jay and I had already done most of the 'touristy' things. We've climbed Mount Vesuvius, taken a hydrofoil to Capri, walked the streets of Pompeii, and visited beautiful Sorento. I was thinking that we'd just take the time to walk around town.





The port is in a premier spot right near downtown. We walked out and then the rain started. It poured for most of the day and not just showers. We spent about an hour in a big church waiting for the rain to let up. It didn't. We saw a lot of folks inside and figured they were doing the same, but after we finally decided to get a little wet, we passed a hearse destined for our place of refuge.

We came back early. This big ship feels as though it is home. After a bit more than three weeks, we will come to miss our time on the MS Westerdam. As the ship slipped out of Naples in the evening, we felt a little sad in knowing it was time to pack our bags. We fly home from Rome tomorrow.





We ate many fine dinners during the second half of our trip with Brian and Val. They are Australians and it was nice to get know them. Tonight was our final dinner with them at the 8:15 sitting on level 3 of the main dining area. It ended with a birthday cake for Jay's birthday. He turns another year older tomorrow and it was nice of Holland America to commemorate that fact.

At Sea IV

Day 26 - We've been sailing back towards Italy all day. We arrive tomorrow in Naples. By the end of our trip, we will have had just four days at sea on this twenty-four night cruise. Today's leisure was a nice 'breather' after hitting all the recent Greek ports.







Of note was the spotting of a whale on the port side. Jay maintains that we have plenty of them as passengers as well. This cruise has been a bit of an eye opener. Of course, nearly non-stop buffets attract copious corpulent guests.

However, I've also noted first hand that I now fit into a second demographic of Holland America Lines customers' profiles. Known for the maturity of its passengers, we now seem to fit right into this overwhelmingly retirement-aged crowd. Of course, one has to keep in mind that we retired early, so we really do not match up exactly with some of these old people! LOL.

Santorini, Greece

Day 25 - With the extra pounds I've put on during this cruise, riding a donkey up to the town of Thira would have been classed as animal cruelty. The cable car wait seemed too long so we walked up.

We didn't celebrate the five month anniversary of Jay's open heart surgery yesterday. So, today marks a new beginning in recovery! My Mi Band has recorded our daily, count between 6 KM on sea days to over 13 KM on several port days. Today, it wasn't the total number as celebration; it was the accomplishment of 900 steps both up and back from the biggest town to the Old Port!

The MS Westerdam dropped anchor inside the water-filled caldera of the ancient volcano. Thira is one of the strips of land that make up a noncontinuous, ring of land.







As soon as we scaled the donkey trail with the multitude of people and animals, we found the public bus station. It cost €1.80 each to ride to Oia (pronounced Eee-ah). It took 35 minutes due to the small, crowded highway. This is the spot that makes all the Greek tourism publications. Two other large cruise ships were at Santorini today and thousands of tourists were swamping the picturesque streets and alleys.







One of my favourite cult movies from the 1980's, featuring Daryl Hannah, was shot in Santorini. Summer Lovers took place here. At last, after thirty years, I got to see the island with my own eyes.

Rhodes, Greece

Day 24 - We seem to be constantly eating on this ship. Today several couples were at one table within earshot by a window. One commented on his fresh tamarind pods on a plate. There is often exotic fruit offered as well as a tremendous variety of fine food. The entertainment on this cruise has been lacking; however, the food simply amazing. The pods were shared and sampled. Later, I found them surprisingly sweet. One of the couples stated, "Thanks for letting us know about these. We like trying new things."

To me, that sums up the people we rub shoulders with when travelling. Well, I guess there are numerous others, but today's are the type whom I admire most.







I really didn't quite knew what to expect from Rhodes. I know we were more than two millennium too late to see the Collossus straddling the harbour, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I was surprised we parked nearly beside a very medieval, fortified city. We spent a good part of the day just walking around the streets. Lots of friendly cats were on the streets but no vehicles are ever allowed inside the walls.









The MS Westerdam was docked just about 10 miles from the country of Turkey. That proximity was evident in the architecture, people, and even the souvenirs on offer. We liked it and could've spent more time here.

Mykonos, Greece

Day 23 - I always wanted to visit this rock in the Mediterranean. It seemed a hot rock today. There's now a pier and the MS Westerdam anchored at it. The ship ran a shuttle service the mere 15-minute ride into town. Or we could have taken a boat into the old harbour. The winding streets are better than any we've visited so far on this cruise and things are much more optimistic when covered with white paint. More rainbows were visible even though the sky had not a single cloud.













This is a place I could easily hang out for months on end. Yet the food and drink prices would keep me far too sober.

The Acropolis, Greece

Day 22 - Our schedule puts us in Athens for just two days. So, today was the time to 'Just Do It'. Greece is the first country Jay visited, other than Saudi Arabia where he was working in 1983 at the time. I went to work at his company in 1985 and I first came to this city in 1986. So, neither of us had been on top of the Acropolis for more than thirty years and we'd never done so together.



We learned from yesterday's scouting trip that things might get hot and busy. So, we ate breakfast and went our front to get a taxi to the Acropolis. We knew that a flat rate for the half hour trip should be around €15.00 per cab. We decided that €10.00 each would be fine for the sheer convenience of being dropped right off at the ticket entrance.

I swiped the credit card to the tune of €20.00 each. I guess we need to help the poor Greek economy somehow! We now have photographic proof of time together next to the Parthenon a whole third of a century after each seeing it alone.







After several hours, we were about to head back to the port by using the bus we had yesterday. When waiting at the stop, the same taxi driver who'd brought us to Athens saw us waiting. He stopped to give us ride as he lives in Piraeus and didn't want to go back empty. It took about 20 minutes.



We got to say bye bye, Athens this evening as the MS Westerdam sailed towards our next destination!

Piraeus / Athens, Greece

Day 21 - We docked in the middle of the night. We knew it'd not really be far from Náfplion to Athens if locals can manage in a few hours by car. We always attend the programs offered by the EXC and learned of some transport options to get us from the main port of downtown Athens.



Today, we made use of the public bus. A special route named X80 is exactly designed for cruise passengers. We were a bit slow in getting ready today and didn't get out to the bus stop near this terminal until about 9:40 am. One bus had just left with standing room only. Fortunately, there was a ticket booth selling the €4.50 day passes, so we found seats on the next bus which arrived twenty minutes later.



In a bit more than a half hour, we were in Athens. The route offered just two stops in Athens: near the Acropolis and Syntagma (Constitution) Square. We disembarked at the first but mistakenly walked in the wrong direction to the site of the Olympian Zeus Temple. We saw pricing but rather than directly buying the €30 combo ticket, we walked towards the famous hill.



We entered the theatre side of the area and wandered hither and dither for a few hours. It was hot by 11:15. In fact, it was too hot and too crowded to attempt the top of the Acropolis. We decided to return to the ship for the afternoon and take another trip out towards evening.

Our day passes worked just great on the evening bus downtown too. This time we went to Syntagma Square directly. We were in time for the changing of the guard at the Parliament. The square and pedestrian-only streets were packed with colour and people. We spent quite a lot of time seeing the sites and watching the people. We noted the rail station near Monastiraki and came back to Piraeus by Metro. Of course, that meant a fair bit of walking on the port end. The MS Westerdam was in Port area A. We walked nearly a half hour to get back to our floating hotel, walking more than 13.4 kilometers today.

Náfplion, Greece

Day 20 - This morning we headed out into a new town. I've really come to appreciate cruising as our hotel room repositions while we're safely asleep. We can often wake up in a completely new destination with little personal effort.





It was a pleasure visiting a city not overwhelmed with tourists. There were indeed plenty of tourists in town, but most of them were Athenians on vacation. Náfplion was a nice place to visit. In fact, I can see why the local Greek like the clean, well-laid-out city. It has a whole lot of history, of course, starting with the Mycenaens and through the list of nation states of the last few millennia. Yet, it was also the first capital of modern Greece.

We headed right out of the ship and over the hills separating the city from its beaches. We walked around a point back into the cute pedestrian-friendly streets.







I can assuredly see why many Greeks head here to relax. I could picture spending summers here.