2011 Vision Med & Holy Land

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Trip start
September 28, 2011
2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
4 Weeks to go
September 28, 2011 in England ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Well it's just four weeks till our next cruise, it's going to be a good one as we've not been to some of the places.
We're travelling with our friends Ken and Denise, which will also be great as it's a while since we've travelled together.
Only one problem as far as i'm concerned.....got to fly to pick up the ship and I bloody hate flying :-(
Anyway it will still be a good trip i'm sure :-)
We're picking up the ship (Vision of the Seas) in Istanbul and it's stopping overnight so hopefully we can see a bit of the city, I'll keep you postedRead more
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Hoping to get to Jerusalem
October 18, 2011 in England ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
Well just ten days to go... Sheila really wants to go to Jerusalem while we're in Israel.
So I'm busy checking out costs of the various ways to get there.
Bus seems to be the cheapest way but then you've got to find your own way around the city. Could do the city tour bus I suppose.
Taxi to take us there and stay with us would cost $600-$800.
I've got the email of a private driver who will do it for $250 for all day, I'll let you know what we decide.Read more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Jerusalem update
October 25, 2011 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We've decided to book the private driver, I've sorted it all by email.
He comes recommended, and he has been very helpful in sorting things.
Obviously I''ll let you know how it all goes on the day.
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Istanbul
November 1, 2011 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Ugggh!! The coffee is horrible.
First morning, 6am and the coffee is horrible.
I think I may have to break a habit of a lifetime and start paying for it...LOL.
Anyway, as I said it's the first morning and I'm still drunk from last night....
The trip here was great, I can definitely recommend Swiss Air, two brilliant flights...although the food was only average.
We just made boarding the ship in time for the last hour of the free drinks for diamond members....phew!
When we arrived at Istanbul Attaturk airport the taxi I'd booked online was waiting for us with my name in lights.....well if I'm honest, it was hand written on a piece of paper, when all the other names of people being picked up by various transport firms were computer printed...
It made me feel very special....or am I just kidding myself....LOL.
I think today is just going to be a chill out day, because yesterday's mixture of a long journey and free wine will have us old farts to tired to move far :-) I''ll keep you informed...TTFN.Read more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
We have the Norovirus on board
November 1, 2011 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Just found out that the Norovirus is on board and guess what?
It looks like Sheila has come down with it, but her illness could be down to the excessive quantity of white wine she consumed last night ;-) we'll know later.
We are sailing out of Istanbul as I write, the weather is cloudy and most of the American's and Europeans are dressed for the Arctic lol.
Sheila is still not well, but we're certain it's just alcoholic poisoning, not the Norovirus.
So we should see her surface tomorrow morning, again I''ll keep you informed.Read more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
First problem
November 2, 2011, Aegean Sea ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We have just been informed that we are not docking in Ashdod.
Apparently it's due to a car bomb exploding in the town, or in Jerusalem, not got the details yet. All we do know is that Ashdod port is closed to cruise ships.
I've had to email Moshe the Israeli driver I'd booked, and cancel the Jerusalem trip.
We are now stopping three days in HaifaRead more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Kusadasi Turkey
November 3, 2011 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
First stop was Kusadasi, we went on a trip to Ephesus
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Haifa
November 5, 2011 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
First day in Haifa I went for a walk around the town on my own, not a lot to see, except maybe the Baha'i temple and gardens.
I'm still not sure if they're worth the hike?
Haifa you see is built into the side of Mount Carmel, and the Baha'i temple is about 3/4 of the way up... Apparently there are 378 steps up and there ...Read more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Haifa Baha'i Temple
November 6, 2011 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Well I actually did the walk up to see the Baha'i temple and gardens, and I must say it was well worth it
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Nazareth, Israel
November 8, 2011 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
We decided to go to Nazareth by local bus it cost 28 Shekels each return, that's about £5.
So, the busses are great value and comfortable.
The journey took about 1 hour each way so we got to see quite a lot of the countryside.
Btw the busses are every 10 minutes, we could learn a lesson from the Israelies.
I can definitely recommend it as a way to visit Nazareth from Haifa.
Just in case anyone actually reads this, the bus is the number 331 and you get it at the little bus terminus right outside the port, and the port entrance is 4 to 5 minutes stroll from the ship.
If you want to get a taxi instead the ones outside the port entrance are cheaper than the ones right by the ship.Read more
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Athens Greece
November 10, 2011 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Jumped the bus to Athens with Ken and Denise, surprised with the poverty we saw.
Saw the Acropolis but didn't go right up to it.
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
The Quest
November 11, 2011, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We all took part in the Quest last night.
For those who don't know it's a crazy game show where a lot of drunks do strange things such as men wearing women's underwear etc.
We won...woo hoo.
It was a great laugh (at the time) lol.
It was all filmed and will be shown on the cruise video, so I may regret taking my trousers off and wearing Drena's bra, which she took off at the table.
Later in the contest one woman from each team had to show the host her bra and as I was wearing Drena's as I said, she promptly lifted her blouse up to show him her bare boob's... As Kenny Everett would of said " It was all in the best possible taste " yeah right..... LOLRead more
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The Lost Day
November 12, 2011, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
It all started two day's ago.
We went to the theatre with John and Drena to see the Rat Pack tribute group.
Sheila and I had seen them with Ken and Denise on the first leg of the cruise.
Sheila had ended up on stage with Dean Martin last time and she was adamant she was not getting on stage this time.... Yeah right!
As soon as he came by her she sprinted past him and was on the stage before him.... Lol... That may be a slight exaggeration but only a slight one.. Lol.
Anyway the upshot was we saw the guys in the bar on our way to bed and stopped for a quick chat, so Sheila could take in all the adulation from them.
They were telling her how she made the show that night etc, etc.
That was the first mistake, the second being staying for a quick drink with them and Simeon, the cruise director, who had joined us by this time.
The third and on my part the most fatal mistake was me drinking another bottle of red wine.... Hence the title The Lost Day.
I did spend the next day and night in the cabin recovering...... But I'm fine now so onward and upward as the bard said (I think he said it) lolRead more
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2011 Vision Med & Holy Land Rulocal
Malta
November 13, 2011 in Malta ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Got to Malta yesterday and all six of us decided to take the open top bus tour.....fatal mistake...lol
I'm blaming Denise because she picked the open top instead of the inside bus....because as she rightly said you can see more and it was a good deal at €10 each.
What we hadn't bargained for was the driver doing 60mph on the open road which was most of the trip and also we'd not realised it was a 3hr tour.
Needless to say we were battered by the gale force wind the speed created.
We were flying past fields and villages so fast it created G force scale winds that made it almost impossible to breathe...lol.
Also the driver seemed to be searching for all the storm clouds, if you looked left and saw clear blue skies, you could guarantee he'd turn right and chase a big black storm cloud.
But he failed to get us wet until the last 10 minutes of the tour, when he finally caught the biggest and blackest cloud you've ever seen.
It then started pouring down, so he promptly stopped so we could all enjoy the freezing cold rain...lol.
Needless to say most of us had come out dressed for Caribbean style sunshine, even though this was mid November in the Mediterranean. ..
But all in all it was a good laugh, and as Denise kept reminding us, at €10 for a three hour tour, it was a bargain....lol
And just to top it all Ken lost his baseball cap somewhere around Rabat...so maybe it wasn't that much of a bargain after all lol.Read more
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70s Disco night
November 15, 2011, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Never again.
Last night was the 70s disco party in the centrum.
We were all there, Sheila and I, Ken & Denise, John & Drena and Ann.
All full of free wine, we had a whale of a time.
I was certain I was John Travolta disco dancing, complete with shirt open to my waist.
I even caught the Love Train..... God why do we do these things? It seemed a good idea at the time and I'm suffering for it now.... Lol.
But we all had a great time and that's all that really matters.Read more
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Istanbul port
November 17, 2011 in Turkey ⋅ 🌧 7 °C
God do I feel rough this morning.
I'm sure Sheila force fed me white wine last night.
I can remember being on stage with about six other alcoholics, all trying to remember and sing the next line to the song played to us.
The upshot is I apparently won another gold medal... So it's not all bad... But I do feel rough this morning.... I can't wait to get home and stop drinking..... LOL.Read more
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Trip end
November 17, 2011