Suez Canal to Piraeus, Greece

Our first sea day in the Mediterranean Sea, which is a pleasant and quiet day, certainly a significant change from the weather and seas we have experienced since departure Sydney. It is almost as if the entire ship has decided to take a holiday, as I definitely noted he energy levels are way down, which is probably everybody catching up from the rigours of Petra and the Suez Canal.

Temperature: High 30C/86F, Low 25C/77F

Wind/Weather: W’ly wind at about 10 to 12 kts. Low sea and clear skies

Sunrise/Sunset: 05:55/20:36

Clox: Z+3 (no change)

Distance to Noon: 533 miles from Aqaba

Navigation

Sea Princess continued Northbound through the Suez Canal in the early hours of the morning, clearing Port Said shortly prior to 04:30, at which time NWxW course of 308 degree was set towards Piraeus, at full sea speed of 20 kts.

Activities

After the turmoil of yesterday’s delayed Suez Canal transit, we noticed that the general mood aboard the ship today is one of enjoying a quiet and relaxing day. After breakfast, as per the Princess Patter, we headed down to the Nightclub with our lifejackets for the Pax Sports. Thanks to Captain Coward on the Costa Concordia, attendance at Pax Sports is required every month. No alarms were sounded, so we headed down shortly after the posted time of 09:45 and found we were one of the last to arrive. No crew were present, but the room was full of pax with lifejackets. Some pax were already grumbling, at which time I mentioned that the Patter may have requested our attendance, but no alarms had been activated. Shortly thereafter the crew alarm sounded, so it was actually a crew drill that also encompassed the pax, a fact that wasn’t explained in the Patter.

Shortly after the drills we received the long awaited announcement from the Captain regarding our next destination and arrival time. Due to the 11 hour delay in Suez there is no way we can make the ETA in Athens and as I speculated yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised if we stopped at an alternate port. However, we are still going to Athens, with an ETA of Noon. This means all the full day tours, including our tour, are cancelled. The tour office indicated they will have a tour booking form to all cabins within the hour, but 4 hours later we still haven’t received it.

Lunch today was Pub Lunch and also a Cruise Critic get together. I enjoyed a Guinness and Chicken Curry, while Judi had her usual Fish & Chips. Thoroughly enjoyable lunch with some excellent conversation. The afternoon was spent getting caught up with photographs and blog posts, as with the flurry of ports in the next 2 weeks I can’t afford to get behind.

This evening we planned to attend the 18:30 production show, but it was cancelled due to technical difficulties in the Princess Theatre. Yet again, another example the Sea Princess is aging and sadly overdue for a refit, which isn’t until October. Formal night tonight, so dinner was the traditional lobster and filet mignon. The meals were cooked to perfection, now if they could only serve them hot, life aboard would be perfect. After dinner our entire table attended the singer in the Vista Lounge. An excellent performance and the young lady was an exceptional singer. The choice of music was 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and Jazz, which don’t suit us, but it did appeal to most of the audience, which are generally a few years older than us.

As another day closes, we bid you farewell, till tomorrow and hope for fair skies and following seas.