On Wednesday, October 12 we began our second journey to the Brilliance of the Seas. Getting back to the ship was much more difficult than anyone expected. It was one problem after another trying to get the paint shipped and attempting to get staterooms. After cancelling 2 separate trips back to the ship (the company loosing 2 separate sets of airfares and hotel rates), we finally had this trip booked. Unfortunately, 2 days before we were scheduled to leave, we found out that the paint would not actually be on the ship until 2 days after we were scheduled to sign off. Instead of cancelling the trip again and the company loosing more money, we were told to go on an all-expenses (not including alcohol) paid late honeymoon! We spent 5 days on the ship and thoroughly enjoyed our time! Here is a re-cap of our trip!
Wednesday, October 12 - We flew to Newark, New Jersey for a quick inspection before flying back to Europe. We arrived in Newark around 8pm and ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's right next door to the hotel. We crashed pretty early.
Thursday, October 13 - We went to the ship at 9am and had a quick inspection, because the ship had just been inspected 3 weeks prior to our arrival. We got back to the hotel around noon and had a chance to shower before we checked out and went back to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. Our flight left at 6pm and we flew through Frankfurt on our way to Istanbul, Turkey! This was our first visit to Istanbul so we were pretty excited to explore.
Friday, October 14 - Istanbul, Turkey. Our flight from Frankfurt landed at 1pm but by the time we got through the visa line, passport control, luggage collection, and travel time to the hotel it was already about 3:30pm. we checked-in to the hotel and immediately took a nap. We slept until about 8pm and then ventured out for dinner. We ended up in a local restaurant and decided to try the sampler platter. We had Turkish pizza, beef, chicken, lamb, and some of the best bread I have ever had/seen. The bread was so fluffy! The meal was such a treat and a great cultural experience. We went back to the hotel, took some NyQuil and went back to sleep.
Saturday, October 15 - Istanbul, Turkey. We woke up around 9am and went down for breakfast. We showered and packed our bags and then took a taxi to the ship. We got to the port around 11am and our names were not on the boarding list. We contacted to port agent (Turkish) who contacted the ship and we were on board within and hour and a half. Apparently someone else was already staying in our assigned cabin, so we go a "rental" cabin for the day and moved into our official room later in the evening. We dropped our bags off in the rental room and then met Richard (Sports Supervisor) for coffee at the Windjammer. We talked to Richard about the paint situation and made sure that the paint was in fact not on board and then we decided to go explore Istanbul. We took the Tram to the Grand Bazaar and did some shopping. The Grand Bazaar was massive!! It is a fully covered market with over 4,600 shops/stalls. It was extremely convenient that the market was closed because the weather was awful! I was in a shopper's paradise. It was impossible to see everything, but most of it started to look the same over time anyway. We shopped for about and hour (I bought a beautiful Pashmina-come to find out later I got totally ripped off) and then we made our way to the Spice Bazaar. This was much more Kevin's speed! The spices were awesome! Kevin was in heaven! We went into one of the many shops and after our purchase, we were offered some Turkish tea. It was another great cultural experience. We went to the back of the Bazaar and saw the same Pashmina's I had just purchased for 1/5 of the price I paid. I was totally bummed!! With our hands full of goodies, we decided to walk back to the ship to change and go to dinner. The seating for dinner this evening was open seating so we ate around 6:30pm. We were done with dinner around 8 and went to guest relations to check on our room situation. We were told our room would be ready within 45 minutes so we went back to the "rental" and waited. We got the call that our room was ready and were moved by 9pm. We were exhausted so we crashed early. We both woke up around 3am and couldn't got back to sleep so we popped some NyQuil and crashed again.
Sunday, October 16 - Istanbul, Turkey. The ship had an overnight in Istanbul so we got one more day of exploring in (well really half of a day considering we didn't wake up until 1:30pm). It was rainy and cold again, but we decided to go out anyway. This time we went to the Blue Mosque. We took the tram again and got there right during the afternoon prayer time. We got to hear the Call to Prayer from right inside the corridor of the Mosque. It was awesome! We took some photos from outside, but were not allowed to go inside during the prayer. While we were waiting to go inside, we go an invitation to go to a lecture about Muslims and Islam. The lecture was advertised as being in a heated room with snacks and refreshments, so we decided to check it out. Did I mention it was also free? It was incredibly informative and none of the view or beliefs were pushed on us. It was strictly an informative lecture. Kevin and I really enjoyed it! After the lecture we were able to go inside the Mosque but opted out because we didn't want to take our shoes off in the rain (you have to take your shoes off in order to enter the Mosque). We walked around a little more and got a beautiful view of the Hagia Sophia, but quickly decided to go because we were so cold and wet. We made a pit stop at the Spice Bazaar and bought some gifts (more pashmina's and a few Fez's) before making our last stop of the day at the hookah bar. Smoking the hookah is a huge social thing in Turkey, so Kevin was excited to partake in the culture. We, well mostly Kevin, had apple flavored shisha and played checkers. We got back to the ship around 8pm and then went out to take some photos of the Istanbul "skyline" in the dark. We had some drinks and listened to piano sing-a-longs at the Schooner Bar and then went to the comedy show in the theater. The performer was Dave Deeble who had been featured on America's Got Talent and he was a hoot! Unfortunately, not everyone in the theater enjoyed him, but he went with it. Because we skipped dinner, we were pretty hungry after the show so we went to the Seaview Cafe for a late night snack. This was a new discovery for us and boy were we pleased! They have pasta, pizza, and panini's that are made to order and for no extra cost! It is really more of a meal than a snack. We met Dave up there and had a great conversation with him! We went back to our cabin around 1am and fell asleep around 3am.
Tuesday, October 18 - Athens, Greece. We got up around 9am and made it to our first breakfast on the ship. We left the ship around 11:15 and walked 40 minutes to the metro station (it was much further than we thought). We took the train to Thisso Station and explored the Agora for a while. Then we did some shopping at the flea market and decided to go back to the Acropolis. The tickets that we bought in June were still good at all the attractions so all we had to pay for was our ticket into town. We went back to the ship around 3:30 and were on board at 4:30. We changed clothes and went to the Schooner bar to pass some time before our dinner date. Most of the Royal Caribbean ships have specialty restaurants that have a cover charge for all food and then alcohol is sold separately, so we decided to have a fancy meal during our "all expenses paid" late honeymoon. We ate at Chops Grille and it was worth every penny! The service and food was comparable to that of the Broadmoor! We had onion & cheese soup, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, oysters, and spicy tuna as appetizers. Our main course consisted of fillet Mignon and strip steak with peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes, roasted cheese and garlic potatoes, and steamed asparagus. And dessert was Creme Brule and red velvet cake. We were totally spoiled! I would recommend the experience to anyone that goes on an RCCL ship! We finished dinner just in time for the magic show in the theater. The performance was incredible! Their tricks were seemingly impossible and spectacular! Kevin even got to go on stage and help with a trick. He LOVES magic! The night ended with a trip to white party in the Colony Club and a pit stop to hear Paul O'Shea at the piano bar. It was an absolutely wonderful day and evening!
Wednesday, October 19 - Another Sea Day. We woke up around 11:30am and went up to the rock wall to do our normal inspection. It was a relatively easy inspection and we were done by 2pm for the wall to re-open for guests. We ate lunch at the Seaview Cafe while we completed our paperwork and then went went back up to the wall to watch the guests climb. Kevin even climbed a bit before we went to the cabin to freshen up for formal night. We ate dinner at 6pm and then went to the show Center Stage featuring the Brilliance of the Seas singers and dancers. It was a great show featuring popular rock and pop songs from over the years. The show also featured some of the guest entertainers from the ship. We made one last trip to the Schooner Bar before calling is a night and getting ready to sign-off the ship the following day.
Thursday, October 20 - Palermo, Sicily. We woke up at 10am and went to the Windjammer for breakfast. We collected our passports from guest relations and then packed our bags so we could move on to our next destination. We got off the ship with no problems around 1pm and took a taxi to the airport. Sicily was absolutely beautiful and a place Kevin and I hope to return to - aside from the fact that we got totally ripped off. Our taxi driver charged us 130 Euros from the port to the airport - a fare that should have only been 60 Euros!! Lesson learned to always make a deal before traveling somewhere!! We traveled 24 hours to Hong Kong and arrived around 3pm on Friday, October 21.
Wednesday, October 12 - We flew to Newark, New Jersey for a quick inspection before flying back to Europe. We arrived in Newark around 8pm and ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's right next door to the hotel. We crashed pretty early.
Thursday, October 13 - We went to the ship at 9am and had a quick inspection, because the ship had just been inspected 3 weeks prior to our arrival. We got back to the hotel around noon and had a chance to shower before we checked out and went back to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. Our flight left at 6pm and we flew through Frankfurt on our way to Istanbul, Turkey! This was our first visit to Istanbul so we were pretty excited to explore.
Friday, October 14 - Istanbul, Turkey. Our flight from Frankfurt landed at 1pm but by the time we got through the visa line, passport control, luggage collection, and travel time to the hotel it was already about 3:30pm. we checked-in to the hotel and immediately took a nap. We slept until about 8pm and then ventured out for dinner. We ended up in a local restaurant and decided to try the sampler platter. We had Turkish pizza, beef, chicken, lamb, and some of the best bread I have ever had/seen. The bread was so fluffy! The meal was such a treat and a great cultural experience. We went back to the hotel, took some NyQuil and went back to sleep.
Saturday, October 15 - Istanbul, Turkey. We woke up around 9am and went down for breakfast. We showered and packed our bags and then took a taxi to the ship. We got to the port around 11am and our names were not on the boarding list. We contacted to port agent (Turkish) who contacted the ship and we were on board within and hour and a half. Apparently someone else was already staying in our assigned cabin, so we go a "rental" cabin for the day and moved into our official room later in the evening. We dropped our bags off in the rental room and then met Richard (Sports Supervisor) for coffee at the Windjammer. We talked to Richard about the paint situation and made sure that the paint was in fact not on board and then we decided to go explore Istanbul. We took the Tram to the Grand Bazaar and did some shopping. The Grand Bazaar was massive!! It is a fully covered market with over 4,600 shops/stalls. It was extremely convenient that the market was closed because the weather was awful! I was in a shopper's paradise. It was impossible to see everything, but most of it started to look the same over time anyway. We shopped for about and hour (I bought a beautiful Pashmina-come to find out later I got totally ripped off) and then we made our way to the Spice Bazaar. This was much more Kevin's speed! The spices were awesome! Kevin was in heaven! We went into one of the many shops and after our purchase, we were offered some Turkish tea. It was another great cultural experience. We went to the back of the Bazaar and saw the same Pashmina's I had just purchased for 1/5 of the price I paid. I was totally bummed!! With our hands full of goodies, we decided to walk back to the ship to change and go to dinner. The seating for dinner this evening was open seating so we ate around 6:30pm. We were done with dinner around 8 and went to guest relations to check on our room situation. We were told our room would be ready within 45 minutes so we went back to the "rental" and waited. We got the call that our room was ready and were moved by 9pm. We were exhausted so we crashed early. We both woke up around 3am and couldn't got back to sleep so we popped some NyQuil and crashed again.
One of the many hallways in the Grand Bazaar.
Just the two of us at the Grand Bazaar.
So many incredible spices at the Spice Bazaar!
Enjoying some Turkish Tea. Drinking tea while doing business is a huge tradition all over Turkey.
In front of the New Mosque - that really isn't so new. It was complete in 1665.
Modeling my new over-priced Pashmina and our Fez!
Sunday, October 16 - Istanbul, Turkey. The ship had an overnight in Istanbul so we got one more day of exploring in (well really half of a day considering we didn't wake up until 1:30pm). It was rainy and cold again, but we decided to go out anyway. This time we went to the Blue Mosque. We took the tram again and got there right during the afternoon prayer time. We got to hear the Call to Prayer from right inside the corridor of the Mosque. It was awesome! We took some photos from outside, but were not allowed to go inside during the prayer. While we were waiting to go inside, we go an invitation to go to a lecture about Muslims and Islam. The lecture was advertised as being in a heated room with snacks and refreshments, so we decided to check it out. Did I mention it was also free? It was incredibly informative and none of the view or beliefs were pushed on us. It was strictly an informative lecture. Kevin and I really enjoyed it! After the lecture we were able to go inside the Mosque but opted out because we didn't want to take our shoes off in the rain (you have to take your shoes off in order to enter the Mosque). We walked around a little more and got a beautiful view of the Hagia Sophia, but quickly decided to go because we were so cold and wet. We made a pit stop at the Spice Bazaar and bought some gifts (more pashmina's and a few Fez's) before making our last stop of the day at the hookah bar. Smoking the hookah is a huge social thing in Turkey, so Kevin was excited to partake in the culture. We, well mostly Kevin, had apple flavored shisha and played checkers. We got back to the ship around 8pm and then went out to take some photos of the Istanbul "skyline" in the dark. We had some drinks and listened to piano sing-a-longs at the Schooner Bar and then went to the comedy show in the theater. The performer was Dave Deeble who had been featured on America's Got Talent and he was a hoot! Unfortunately, not everyone in the theater enjoyed him, but he went with it. Because we skipped dinner, we were pretty hungry after the show so we went to the Seaview Cafe for a late night snack. This was a new discovery for us and boy were we pleased! They have pasta, pizza, and panini's that are made to order and for no extra cost! It is really more of a meal than a snack. We met Dave up there and had a great conversation with him! We went back to our cabin around 1am and fell asleep around 3am.
This is actually called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque - but everyone calls it the Blue Mosque.
The Call to Prayer! Such a neat experience.
Boo faces because we couldn't go inside :(
In the courtyard of the Blue Mosque. Do you like my babushka/burqa?
You are supposed to only enter the mosque to pray if you are clean, so they have these washing stations for men to wash their feet, hands and faces.
This is the Hagia Sophia. It was a Mosque, but now it is used as a museum.
Kevin really enjoyed the hookah!
I pretended to enjoy the hookah ;)
It is not the best quality photo, but you get the idea. The Hagia Sophia is on the left and the Blue Mosque is on the right.
Our new friend Dave Deeble. His act was very different, but we thought it was very entertaining.
Being crazy at the Seaview Cafe.
Monday, October 17 - Sea Day. We forced ourselves out of bed around noon and grabbed lunch in the Windjammer. This was our first sea day and the weather was awful again, so we spent most of the day in the room. We ate dinner in the dinning room at 6pm and then went to the Love and Marriage Game Show. It was absolutely hilarious! Kevin wanted us to go onstage as the newlywed couple but I quickly nixed that idea. The newlywed couple ended up winning and the whole show was great entertainment. We made another late night stop at the Seaview Cafe before calling it a night.
Tuesday, October 18 - Athens, Greece. We got up around 9am and made it to our first breakfast on the ship. We left the ship around 11:15 and walked 40 minutes to the metro station (it was much further than we thought). We took the train to Thisso Station and explored the Agora for a while. Then we did some shopping at the flea market and decided to go back to the Acropolis. The tickets that we bought in June were still good at all the attractions so all we had to pay for was our ticket into town. We went back to the ship around 3:30 and were on board at 4:30. We changed clothes and went to the Schooner bar to pass some time before our dinner date. Most of the Royal Caribbean ships have specialty restaurants that have a cover charge for all food and then alcohol is sold separately, so we decided to have a fancy meal during our "all expenses paid" late honeymoon. We ate at Chops Grille and it was worth every penny! The service and food was comparable to that of the Broadmoor! We had onion & cheese soup, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, oysters, and spicy tuna as appetizers. Our main course consisted of fillet Mignon and strip steak with peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes, roasted cheese and garlic potatoes, and steamed asparagus. And dessert was Creme Brule and red velvet cake. We were totally spoiled! I would recommend the experience to anyone that goes on an RCCL ship! We finished dinner just in time for the magic show in the theater. The performance was incredible! Their tricks were seemingly impossible and spectacular! Kevin even got to go on stage and help with a trick. He LOVES magic! The night ended with a trip to white party in the Colony Club and a pit stop to hear Paul O'Shea at the piano bar. It was an absolutely wonderful day and evening!
Incredible columns near the Agora Museum.
The Temple of Hephaestus in the Agora is the best preserved ancient Greek Temple still standing today.
I think we are a pretty good looking pair! In front of the Temple of Hephaestus.
The Parthenon!
I sure do treasure the time we get to spend together and the incredible places we get to see together! I wouldn't want to share the experiences with anyone else!
This picture showcases the progress the archaeologist's are making in re-building the Parthenon.
A beautiful sunset from inside the Schooner Bar.
I went to the bathroom during dinner at Chops, and when I came back my napkin was folded so nicely!
Such an incredible dinner!
Delicious red velvet cake and creme brule.
Kevin (on the right) helping to keep the feet tied down while the model is cut in half. He was so excited to help out!
At the white party.
This is just outside the Schooner Bar.
He made it to the top! Smile and wave!!
Formal night outside the Schooner Bar
We had such a great time!
Thursday, October 20 - Palermo, Sicily. We woke up at 10am and went to the Windjammer for breakfast. We collected our passports from guest relations and then packed our bags so we could move on to our next destination. We got off the ship with no problems around 1pm and took a taxi to the airport. Sicily was absolutely beautiful and a place Kevin and I hope to return to - aside from the fact that we got totally ripped off. Our taxi driver charged us 130 Euros from the port to the airport - a fare that should have only been 60 Euros!! Lesson learned to always make a deal before traveling somewhere!! We traveled 24 hours to Hong Kong and arrived around 3pm on Friday, October 21.
