Da Honeymoon (around the Greek Isles)

Saturday 02 May 2009 - Venice

Once on board we headed to our Cabin 2041 on the Splendour of the Seas.  The same ship that Ray proposed to me on a few years ago.  We were kinda hoping for an upgrade due to the fact that it was our honeymoon but was not meant to be, never mind.  It turns out there was loads of honeymooners on board so obviously they could not cater for everyone.  First thing we did was sort out our seating arrangements for dinner.  Making our way down to the restaurant the Maitre d' turned out to be Hans or Heir Flick as my dad called him.  He didn't remember us of course (from the first cruise) but was very accommodating and managed to get us a table for two down the back of the restaurant.  He was saying that he was pretty much a part of the furniture at this stage.  Table sorted the next thing is to sort out treatments as they are booked up quickly.  The ONLY problem we had with our room was the air conditioning which we could not turn off which caused problems with Ray's coughing but didn't ruin the holiday.  Next time though we will get a room with window.  A walk around the ship brought back familiar feelings and i vowed (again) to do the rock climbing wall.   At 4.30pm there is the compulsory drill which was a bit fuzzy due to drinks already consumed at the Solarium bar.  You could really look after yourself on this ship as they have great gyms, pools and foot but everyone seems to indulge big time and that is what holidays are for really.  We hit dinner in the restaurant at 6.30pm and loved it.  One thing I will say about the restaurant is that we ALWAYS left there feeling very very full no matter what we ate.  The meals are always coated in heavy sauces and the food very rich and it does play havoc with your digestive system.  The times we ate in The Windjammer was lovely.  Food was gorgeous (the food on the ship is always top notch) and we came away feeling full but not lethargic.   After dinner we hit the Casino.  Ray always plays the tables and I always play the machines.  We played into the night after an interval at the Champagne Bar.

Sunday 03 May 2009 - Split, Croatia

We slept late this morning.  The ship had docked in Split, Croatia but for once we decided not to get off the ship and instead enjoy all the amenities the ship has to offer.  We had brunch in the Windjammer, great selection of food and after that we chilled out in the Solarium.  The Solarium was different on the Legend of the Seas and that was the one I was looking forward to complete with sounds and trees.  This one was more basic but a good place to read a book.  We were both booked into the spa for later on so a day of chill out was on the cards.  We both parted ways later to get pampered and when I got back to the stateroom waiting for me was a gorgeous satin evening bag with a note "For my new wife".  I was chuffed.  My new drink for getting ready to go out was a white chocolate martini and it was just gorgeous.  Tonight was formal night and we headed for meal in The King and I.  Ray was in his tux and looking sharp.  We headed then afterwards to the Captain's Welcome Reception.  Only purely for the free champagne.  Aftewards we hit the Casino again and followed it with a movie.  When we got back to the stateroom there was a note that had been slipped under our door inviting us to a Honeymooner's welcome in the Viking Crown on the Monday.  Nice one!

Monday 04 May 2009 - Corfu, Greece

Again we decided to stay on board.  The sun was screaming sunshine and the places we docked looked gorgeous from the ship but this was about relaxation for the first few days.  Another day of reading and chilling. Later we got ready and went to the Viking Lounge.   Yep, loads of honeymoon couples on board.  Some free champagne was offered.  We didn't really want to get chatting to anyone (as we always seem to when we are away) so we legged it early.  We had dinner in The King and I and as usual felt very full aftewards.  We headed to the theatre aftewards which was short lived as Ray had a poker tournament in the Casino.  The drinks and cocktails on the ships are amazing.  They have ingredients I have never even heard of.  The food is included in the price of your ticket but not the drinks and our bill always seems to be quite high.  Think an oul bottle slipped in might be next on the cards.

Tuesday 05 May 2009 - Pireaus (Athens)

Ok, today we decided to head off the ship and see some sights.  We had landed in Pireaus in Athens.  We didn't book a trip as we have learned that it is better to book them yourself with the locals (way way cheaper!) so we headed off ourselves.  There was about 20 people outside waiting to bring us by taxi to the Acropolis.  They couldn't understand why we weren't going to see the main sight but we had seen it before and we wanted to see what Pireaus itself was about.  We had a bit of lunch and then headed deep into the heart of the city.  We headed towards the pier and this place was gorgeous.  The yachts and boats on the pier rivalled those we saw in Ibiza.  The place was oozing with cash and gorgeous little cafe's dotted the pier.  The locals in the town were saying that there was nothing to see here but I beg to differ.  I wouldn't stay here for very long now but it's worth a peek.  We saw an Irish bar on the way down and you hafta, we stopped in, threw a drink into us and went about our way.  Pireas is the main port of Athens and the biggest in Greece.  One of the books we happened to bring with us was about a big drug dealer who used Pireaus as a port of call.  How unusual!  We headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner.  We decided the Windjammer was on the cards tonight and felt great afterwards.  There is no shortage of movies on the ship but they were showing Vicky Christina Barcelona on the big screen with great shots of Barcelona included.   Ray left half way through as the Champions League Football (Arsenal V Manchest United) was showing in the Viking Crown Lounge.  After the movie was the Love and Marriage gameshow which I was sure we would be contestants on but I wasn't willing to do the whole audition process which was basicaly taking the utter mick out of yourself which I don't mind doing normally but this was not one of those times.  Plus was half pissed.  The Casino was visited again for a little while followed by the Champagne Lounge.

Wednesday 06 May 2009 - Mykonos, Greece

Today was definitely the most interesting day we had.  We decided to do a tour to Delos which, when it was finished, would leave us onto the island of Mykonos.  The island of Delos is pretty fascinating.  It reminded me very much of Pompei.  The island is steeped in history and mythology and the home of Dionysus and Apollo.  I would have loved to have seen this place when it was in all its glory but you just have to imagine it.  The island is covered in red poppies, its not too big and they sell gorgeous orange juice.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delos After we walked around the island there was a ferry heading over to the island of Mykonos.  This is definitely as island that I would come back and visit again.  The beach was gorgeous and again you are spoilt for choice where to eat.  We had a little walk around and all the buildings were white.  The streets were white, there was flowers in the windows, clothes on lines drapped across ceilngs.  The water was blue and the people bronzed and welcoming.  Very cute.  We stopped at a little place along the sea that had no one sitting in it.  The menu looked nice and we were glad of some seclusion.  The waiter, who looked like a Greek Dave Monaghan, was dead nice and we chatted to him for a little while.  This had to have been the best meal we had all week.  Homegrown olives the size of plums, homemade bread, homemade feta cheese, smoked fish, cool crisp white wine, sweet syrupy dessert and the waiter even gave us some cigarettes out of his own pocket.  People must have seen the food on the table because the place was filling up by the time we had left.  We were sorry to leave this island and made a mentlal note to come back again and spend some time.  Mykonos and Ithaca are now our Greek island destinations.  We headed back to the ship.  Again it was formal night and we got ourselves dressed up.  We were not really that hungry after such a huge lunch so we had just a main course and decided to head to the Viking Crown Lounge as we had not been up there yet for drinks.  We ended up getting chatting to this couple from Croatia.  They were young and crazy and we ended up drinking with them well into the early hours.  I don't know how many jaggerbombs were drank but there was a lot.  All this contributed to us missing the next stop of Katacolon.

Thursday 07 May 2009 - Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

A very eventual morning which will be kept to myself and Ray lol!  Anyways we missed the port of Katacolon and Ancient Olympia due to the whopper hangovers that accompanied us for the day.  It was a pity but necessary to keep the heads together.  We had been here before but we had never realised it.  How weird is that?  We had walked where the Olympic Games had been held and see the Temple of Zeus.  Its a very interesting place and well worth a visit but I dunno, with ruins, once you see something like that once, I don't think another visit is necessary.   The flame is rekindled here every four years.  At this stage we still had no managed to do the rock climbing wall and tried to make a point of doing it on the Friday.  We were going to try to squeeze in as much as we could on the Friday on the ship.  The final of the poker tournament was on tonight and we were delicate as fuck so a night taking it easy, visiting each of the bars, joining the singing in the Schooner Bar with Bill Bailey, taking in a movie and eating quality food was on the cards.

Friday 08 May 2009 - At Sea

Our last day on the ship.  It's always a sad occassion.  I was really really looking forward to hitting Venice though and we still have almost two weeks of a honeymoon left so it definitely took the sting out of it.  I had great plans today of going to the Tango Dance Class and take up the ice sculpting but we snored our heads off until late morning.  We didn't get to do the rock climbing wall, sob!  After packing our clothes which we left out, we went to see Michael Menes tonight who is a performer from the Cirque de Soleil and I so wanted to take up contact juggling after watching him do his stuff.  It's amazing that people can do that with their bodies.  Our final meal was eaten in the The King and I and we said goodbye to the staff.  The staff are always great as they depend on their tips.  You would think that being up so early we would hit the bed early.  Not the case.  We hit a black jack tournament and were drinking until the Casino closed on the ship.  In rag order getting up the next day with only ourselves to blame.

Saturday 09 May 2009 - Ah Venice!!!!

After getting up early with again major heads on us (don't know when we are going to learn) we headed for Venice.