All Our Bags Are Packed!: Cruise: Turkey and Greece, cont. # 16

Cruise: Turkey and Greece, cont. # 16

One of the more interesting aspects of cruising is engaging with the staff. We learn a lot and (from our perspective), the staff feels they are treated by us as human beings, not as servants. Overall, the ship's staff works extremely hard. Time off is rare. Shipboard romances are common. Disappointments occur. Almost everyone is dealing with "issues" back home. One of the entertainers is highly trained in various aspects of theater. He never made it "New York," tried singing on cruise ships and never dreamed he would be on the high seas for eleven years. He is leaving Seabourn and will try "New York" one more time. Our cruising experiences would not be as great without the staff and all their effort to please us.

As part of our conversations, we learned that four of the five Seabourn ships were stationed in Cyprus for about two years. A crew of eighty were "stuck" on each ship. The job was to maintain/ensure that the ship was operating correctly. Depending on different situations, the ship would "sail" in the harbor for a few hours or it would go out to sea for a day or, perhaps, a week. Some other jobs aboard were - checking that the desalinization operation was working properly, engines running correctly, regularly washing the ship as salt is no friend to the ship, toilets flushed properly, painting etc.

The crew was able to stay in the passenger suites, use the facilities (pool, gym, kayak, etc.). They were cross trained, found ways to entertain each other and keep busy. It was both a difficult time as well as an opportunity to bond. To compound the problem, due to passport and visa issues re Covid, when it was time to leave the ship, many of the crew could not fly to their homes due to other country's restrictions.

Our daily "sail away" departures are always fun. Music, singing, drinks and gaiety outside on the pool deck is a big draw.

Sailing away in 1989 in same area. Do you notice any difference?

2022: When this HUGE ship left the port (3700 passengers and 5000 crew), there was a very unusual and loud blast of its horn. The ship played a melody several times on its horn similar to the musical theme, "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind." It was a little weird.

Fort outside Turkey's Kusadasi Harbor

This is our third visit to this area. Each time we see significant changes

Mulberry Tree - used for silk industry. You can also eat the sweet fruit.

Plum Tree

HEADING TOWARD EPHESUS

(One of the Ancient Wonders Of The World)

Roman senators used area for debate and decision-making activities

Brothel Area

There is so much to see and admire

There are "miles" of ruins that have yet to be dug out.

There's probably another 50-100 years of work to be done!

Off in the distance there is a "valley." It used to be underwater. The "harbor" was part of the famous silk road. Products worked their way from China to Turkey. From here, the products would be shipped to Rome. The upper right portion of the picture shows a long, marble road leading to what was the port.

These amazing pillars or columns are very tall

This is a road constructed from marble. It was used for Roman chariots. The marble was very slippery. We had to walk very carefully!

There are amazing statues throughout the area

Carvings are everywhere

Starbuck's Logo

Mark Anthony, Cleopatra and other famous people walked this street

Extensive outdoor mosaic

Beautiful designs

People coming into this "city" had to thoroughly wash themselves because it was thought that the locals were dying from "dirt on the body" rather than the real cause - Malaria!

Public toilets. Besides dealing with "nature," it was also a time for "socialization."

The library

Unfortunately, 12,000 papyrus and leather "books" or documents were destroyed from a fire. It would have been interesting to read about what was going on 2000 years ago.

Recognize anyone? We were here in 1989 - lugging all sorts of camera equipment.

It goes on and on and on...

This was covered with a roof at one time .

Model version of the building

Looking up at the top of a building

We were very fortunate. A recreation of a Mark Anthony and Cleopatra visit happened to take place when we were ready to leave. Lucky us! Roman announces the visitors by blowing a trumpet-like horn.