September 27, 2014

Today the sky is cloudy, temperature about18 C with 1 1/2 meter swells in the sea. Up on deck 11, the deck was wet from overnight rain. The first 20 minutes of walking, there was no rain, but it looked that as we travelled west, we would be sailing into rain before the ship turned south into the Bosphorus Strait. Once the rain started most of the walkers moved to deck 10 which is partially covered.  7,963 steps on pedometer before breakfast. We went for breakfast to the Dining Room, and sat with two French speaking couples.  During breakfast, the pilot came aboard for the Bosphorus Strait transit which took about 80 minutes.  The ship’s speed was slower through the strait, which is just over 700 feet wide at its narrowest point. We passed under Istanbul’s two suspension bridges.  After breakfast, we found seats on deck 4 in the Rendez-vous lounge, until we reached the Sea of Marmara and decided to go for cappuccinos at the Al Bacio café.

We had lunch in the Dining Room where we sat with a couple from Dallas, Texas and an English couple. Due to the popularity of the dining room on this rainy day, we had a leisurely 90 minute lunch.  Our choices were beef & chicken satay or mushroom soup for the appetizer, then seafood kebob on saffron rice and to finish banana crème brulée for dessert.  Then we hurried to the 2 p.m. wine and food pairing in the San Marco restaurant where we sampled combination of five wines with meats, fruits and vegetables with about 37 other passengers.  It was a nice way to pass 50 minutes.

The shops and casino are open all day since we are not in port.  There are features of Greek souvenirs including ouzo.  We went back to the stateroom to read and compose the blog.  The sea was a bit rough going through the Sea of Marmara, but was calmer in the Dardanelles Strait. 

Dress code for tonight is formal. The photographers are at different areas on decks 4 & 5 to take passenger photos from 5:30 to 9. We danced to the Big Band with Celebrity Orchestra before dinner and the house band, Emily and the Nightcaps after dinner.  Sophia was not at dinner this evening. During dinner we were cruising the Dardanelles Strait along the Gallipoli Peninsula, where the Turks defeated the Allies during the Great War, a major victory for the Turks. Our choices for dinner tonight were sea scallops for the appetizer, then a mixed & spinach salad or tomato bisque soup, followed by the entrée choice of beef wellington or haddock and there was also lobster tail. For the final formal night of the cruise the main dessert was baked Alaska, as well as citrus roulade (a jellyroll) The Nightcaps band even played a Samba, Quick Step and a Viennese Waltz in the set before the 9 p.m. song and dance show, The Land of Make Believe. The ship was sailing in the Aegean Sea by the time the show started.  The rain should end by tomorrow when we have a tour to ancient ruins at Ephesus, Turkey.