We were so excited to be on the ship. We were doing all the cruise ship things to do, including what became our staple, the quizzes. It was Jade's first time on a cruise so I was hoping it would be a good one for her and it was a good start.
Our first port of call was Sicily. Sicily has been taken over so many times throughout history by so many peoples, Sicilians have learnt to roll with the punches. When the Carthaginians came in, they yelled 'yay', when the Romans kicked out the Carthaginians they yelled "yay", when the fascist came to power "yay", when the fascists were kisked out "yay".
When asked about this and old man replied "it's survival, Sicilians are in the crossfire always so it is necessary for us to not take too much of a side, one way or the other". Sicily is famous for the mafia, which only trusts the family and this may be a reason for that. One other consequesnce is the mix of cultures evident in Sicily. Many different types of building and statue, including one who looks like he is giving the finger, to who I dont know but maybe to all those past invaders. As with a vast majority of western Europe, there are some wonderful markets in Sicily, not only for food but clothes, nic nacs and other things you dont need.
But on this occassion, not having any luggage, some of us did need them and so my Uncle bought himself some clothes since the airline could not say when his luggage would be returned, code for 'oops'. The food markets, as always, were awash with colour and adventurous organisation. They are almost like a work of art, designed to entice you to buy their wares. I particularly like the use of a Swordfish as a pole for a price list.
Next stop on the cruise was Athens. The minute we stepped off the ship we were inundated with touters, mostly for a taxi. They followed us for almost 10 minutes, right up the street. All I can say is they are persistant and must be hard up for a fare. We caught the bus in to the centre, heading for the Acropolis. Considering it is only 6 years since the Olympics in Athens, you would have thought there would be some evidence of it.
I didnt see any, apart from a subway stop called Olympus, but that could be something to do with the mountain or the ancient Greek gods. We arrived at the Acropolis which has undergone restoration for at least 30 years, but this is Greece so it looks like they are still on their first coffee break. Having been through Turkey and seen so much of antiquity, the Acropolis was just another ruin to us, and not a great one at that. Turkey has much better ruins, in much better condition. So there's a tip, if you are after ancient Greek ruins, go to Turkey. The view of the modern Athens, from the top of the Acroplis, was pretty good though.
Its unfortunate that the inventors of democracy should have turned into a huge sprawling metropolis with only a few pockets of its former glory left. I say give up the SUV and go back to the chariot, who needs a computer when you have an abacus. Progress, pfft.
Rhodes was the next port. Another ancient Greek city and home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes. A giant bronze statue that straddled the harbour entrance and looked somewhat like the statue of liberty, holding a flame aloft (doubling as a lighthouse).
Rhodes is similar to Sicily in that it has been taken over afe times. This is evident by the mosque built next to a church. There really wasnt too much to Rhodes. Obviously the Colossus was gone, and the memorative statue to say where it was, was very hard to find, so much so that we didnt find it.
There was a curious looking sculpture of some dolphins though. The best thing about Rhodes was the street Souvlakis. They were the best ever and really cheap. Ignore the restaurants lining the main streets touting you to come in (this is still Greece and what would it be without a few touts), go for the hole in the wall street vendors, the small shops that only sell Souvlaki or Yiros. You wont be disappointed.
So, this is where the fun began. As the day went on in Rhodes, the sky began to grey over and then the rain came. It wasnt heavy, although there was some lightning but we didnt give it much mind. Our next stop was to be Alexandria in Egypt, home to another wonder of the ancient world, the Great Lighthouse, and since we were there overnight we had a trip to Cairo planned, to see the Pyramids which is the only wonder of the ancient world left standing.
As we left Rhodes, it was clear we were in for some rough weather and the seas were getting big. We were to arrive at Alexandria in the early morning. So, very early in the morning, for some reason I was awake. It was roughly 3am when the ship started to roll quite a bit and then it rolled a lot. The whole room was moving and anything not bolted down was trying to escape. After the first roll, hanging on to the bed with one hand and Tanya with the other, I could see that everyone was ok and there was no danger. Then the second roll came which was to our side of the ship and since we had the balcony I opened the curtain to have a look. All I could see was water, from top to bottom and when the ship rolled back the other way I saw the water disappear to be replaced by stars. I thought that was actually kind of fun, something you dont see everyday. The ship went through at least five rolls before she righted herself. Apparently what happened was when the ship tried to turn to enter the harbour, she turned beam on to the waves, so that they were hitting the side of the ship instead of the front. This is not good, especially in 70 knot winds. The ship took 16 degree rolls which doesnt sound like much but in a ship that size, it was enough. The next day, we saw some of the damage, broken windows, chairs and tables. The gym was out of action, the video arcade, one of the dining rooms, the casino and the shops. Given that most of the passengers were American, you would have thought this was the end of the world. I heard a number of people talking about near derath experiences and post-traumatic stress already.
We werent in any danger really, the ship can handle over 45 degrees before tipping over, but people do like to dramatise. Withing hours, people were contacting newspapers and then it became apparent that some people nearly died, there were many cases of extreme injuries and the ship was extensively damaged and taking on water. Like I said, dramatise. It wasnt really that bad. I think three people had some cuts and all the damage was superficial. The TV in mums rooms landed on her bed, which was typical of the damage. The worst result was that we were now not going to Egypt as the storm did not suside for two days. I saw on the news that much of the eastern Mediterranean coast was battered by the storm and there were huge sand storms in Egypt that blotted out the Pyramids, so even if we did get there we wouldnt have seen much. You cant control the weather, which caused the problems on the ship. You can cotrol how you deal with it though and it has to be said, they didnt deal with it well. A day after the rolling, everyone received a letter saying that we would receive $200 shipboard credit. Someone found out that the people in the suites were receiving $400 and this didnt go down well. Cruise passengers at the best of times will try to get things for free, anything really, so when they actually have a case for compensation, they did everything except stamp their feet. In the main central area of the ship, about 1000 people had gathered to 'demand' to see the captain, the boss, THE PRESIDENT!!! It was a mob and was not too far from a riot. After much 'debate' and poor handling by the ships hierachy, and a day of consultation with the head office, it was announced that all passengers would recieve a full refund. That made people happy and so back to the buffet they went. We would also stay in Malta overnight as a 'replacement' for Egypt. Malta is actually quite a nice place and I would like to go there for a week. Valetta is the capital and the place we docked. It is another old town made of stone. Narrow streets and since it is built on hills, lots of steps are the norm. 
Being an island in the Mediterranean it has that island feel to it, like everyday is a holiday, and it runs on island time. Even though there was a lot to see here, in terms of architecture and culture, after the events of the last few days on board, we walked around almost in a daze. We covered the whole city and we were going to catch one of the ancient looking yellow buses to a town on the outskirts, if it hadnt gotten dark, clouds yet again coming over.
This time is was only a rain shower and not a full blown storm, but it did put us off going on the bus. The clouds started to evapourate and a magnificent sunset replaced them. Most people in Malta are used to tourists and the first question they ask is where are you from. When you reply Australia, they always comment "oh, are do you have family here". After WWII, a lot of Maltese emmigrated to Australia and so there is a string link between the two.
So, people were always somewhat more friendly to us than to others, which maybe only extended to not getting upset when we didnt give them money or buy their wares.
After being in Malta for two days, we headed back to Barcelona. The day before we arrived, we foud out that because we were on stand by and because they could, we would not get the $200 shipboard credit and we would not get the full refund, or any refund for that matter.
Because we were 'family and friends' of an employee, they felt that they could, no they had the right and obligation, to screw us over. So they did. Given that we didnt get to do to the same places everyone else didnt, and didnt get to use the ships facilities that the others didnt, we think this was poor form on Royal Caribbean's part. It wouldnt have cost them much more in the scheme of things and it has cost them in bad word of mouth and PR. So, we arrived in Barcelona and would spend one night there before we headed to Dublin.
