Day 101, Civitavecchia, Italy
Civitavecchia, Italy is the cruise port closest to Rome, about 50 miles to the southeast. It is a huge port that has at least six major cruise ships present today with room for more. Many cruises originate and end here and others, like us, spend the day to allow...
Day 100, Sailing toward Civitavecchia, Italy
Today was a day for some scenic cruising, although it wasn’t really advertised as such. We would be cruising thru the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily from the rest of Italy. Good Morning Amsterdam didn’t have a guest due to some miscommunication so Gene and...
Day 99, Katakolon, Greece
Our day in Piraeus/Athens was amazing and we were looking forward to visiting Katakolon. The main reason for this port is to provide a jumping off point for tours to Olympia, about 20 miles to the east. We enjoyed our later than normal arrival time, 10 am, giving us a...
Day 98, Piraeus (Athens,) Greece
Today would be our first time to Greece and we were looking forward to seeing the Acropolis that we have heard so much about. We arrived in Piraeus right on time and the weather was near perfect with beautiful blue skies, a few puffy clouds and temperatures forecast...
Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece
Partly cloudy skies greeted us this morning as we headed north toward Greece and our visit to Piraeus tomorrow. Francisco Yglesia was the guest of Good Morning Amsterdam. He was the guest entertainer last night and per custom the previous evenings entertainer is...
Day 96, Ashdod, Israel
We left Haifa late, after 11:30 pm and traveled the short distance down the Israel Coast to Ashdod, arriving the next morning around 7AM. Ashdod is another commercial port where there isn’t much available nearby. But since we were on another all day tour it didn’t...
Day 95, Haifa, Israel
We arrived in Haifa early this morning, but before we could go ashore we would have to go thru a face to face immigration check with Israeli officials. The check would take place on Deck 5 in one corner of the dining room. The day before we received letters assigning...
Day 94, Transiting the Suez Canal
Today will be my 5th Suez Canal Transit, but my first on something other than an US Navy Aircraft Carrier when we went back and forth between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean 30 years ago aboard the USS Saratoga (CV 60). As you would imagine, security for an...
Day 93, Sailing toward the Suez Canal
We continue our trek north today thru the Red Sea heading for the Suez Canal. The weather is pretty nice with clear, but hazy skies and smooth seas. Petra was a long day and we are enjoying the chance to relax. Today we had a very special guest on Good Morning...