Hi Everyone
Thought I would start this one since nobody else has.
Made it to Istanbul Friday. Long lines at airport, then rush hour traffic
and us get to the hotel about 6:00 pm
Jan and I did a 1/2 day river cruise Saturday afternoon.
Dinner at a sea food place only two blocks away.
Jeff & Helen arrived around midnight .
Sunday the four of us got started at 9 am and saw all the sites within walking
distance. We were all glad to get back to the Amari Hotel for cocktail hour.
Then went to dinner at a Ottoman restaurant which was enjoyable.
Today,(Monday) going to walk to Grand Bazar this morning. Come back
check out and go to the ship about 1 pm.
Speaking of the ship. Exciting to be looking at the water at one
of the look out points and the Mariner was just arriving into Istanbul.

We're here on board...sure feels good !! We had such a fantastic whirlwind time since arriving. It was great hooking up with friends and meeting new ones in Istanbul before going to Cappaducia. Istanbul is such a beautiful city, one of my all time favorites.

Saturday we were off to Cappaducia, such a unique place and just gorgeous. We also got to go up in a hot air balloon yesterday. That was a first for Tom and me and so happy we did it. Talk about being able to see for miles. The Museum Hotel was also quite an experience...I bet we'll never stay in a 5 star cave again! It was lots of fun and just beautiful. We had cold weather in Cappadocia so dressed real warm.

As luck would have it, there was a very friendly kitten at the Museum Hotel. The first night he was wandering around and cold outside....we invited him into our room and he quickly scampered in. He ended up spending both nights with us, just happy and purring, snuggled inbetween us. He was adorable and an unexpected surprise.

Today in Istanbul it is beautiful, so nice to have warm sunny weather and enjoyed eating lunch on the pool deck with fun people. It's just GREAT to be home again. Hopefully Ken will post some photos of Cappadicia. Just wanted to say Hi and let you know that we're on board and all is great, the muster drill will be soon. Bye for now.

Love istanbul. Sounds like a terrific start. Have a wonderful trip!
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Helen

Sounds like a fantastic start! I sure hope someone took pix of the cave hotel and Marcie, did you find someone to adopt the cat?

Which room were you in at the Museum hotel? Cappadoccia is definitely a fascinating place and that hotel makes it even better. Have a great trip!

Frustrated! Just typed a long post, and between starting and sending, got knocked off and lost it all. Maybe tomorrow! Peggy, Marcie had same room as you did at the Museum hotel.

Loved the experience, but the glass covered hole in the floor in that room really freaked me out for some reason

Did you try putting the seat down?

Wasn't that kind of hole, Ted There was a manhole type hole in the floor at the end of the bed about three feet deep. It has a glass cover over it and some antiquities on ledges within the hole. The glass was thick enough to walk on, but as I said, it kind of freaked me out...

Thanks for the reports Marcie, Jim and almost Olivia. Glad you are off to a great start.

Peggy hmmmmmm about the hole in the floor in the room!?!?

Sounds wonderful. We love Turkey. George would have had a fit if I had brought the kitten in, but how could one resist?

Hi everyone

So nice to be back on board the Mariner. So many wonderful familiar faces including DAVOR as GM and FELICE as Captain. Along with many of the crew just feels like home.

Some of us gathered upstairs on our first night and we had a lot of fun catching up. I know it seems like we are always saying this but it is a great group of people. We were surprised to see Mark and Marilyn Conroy on board he looks great.

Dinner last night I was in heaven, cauliflower soup, dorade fish as an appetizer and a roasted strip loin that was outstanding. Followed by my standard mixed berries! Really a fantastic meal.

Stayed on board today and got some paperwork completed for the week. Tomorrow we will start playing cards in the afternoon so looking forward to getting creamed by Mark as usual.

Life is good for sure.

I had one of those holes outside the entrance to my room, and always made sure to walk around it. I think it's sole purpose was to hold a lightbulb so you could see where you are going at night. I was in Oriental, almost no steps to climb anywhere you wanted to go.

Olivia, holes notwithstanding, the Museum hotel is fabulous--a one of a kind for sure. Have a great cruise -- wish we were there...

What a wonderful trip! And a wonderful group! Have a blast.....

Ngaire...I wish Penny and I were there to help the Trivia team! Have a great cruise!
Tim

Kusadasi day! Going to see ancient Ephesus / terrace houses. Broadway them theme last night was very good in constellation lounge. The QV just pulled up.

Have a wonderful time, Kim & Alice! fun to read about the MARINER Mediterranean exploits aboard Mariner

Hi Kim and Alice - Hope Mike and Val are behaving themselves:)
Sally

Love hearing the reports and seeing pix!

Olivia, before you hit the send button, highlight all your text and choose copy. If you post gets zapped, you can paste the text into your LCT post and resend it! I don't want to miss a word

The hearts playing has commenced. Ngaire won!

Then we move on to trivia! Sorry for the dark image.

Hi Sally! It's been a lot of fun hanging out with Val and Mike again!

I love seeing the happy faces! Sounds like a wonderful, fun trip so far.

La veranda breakfast while pulling into Mykonos . It's my third time here, so off to see Delos.

Had a wonderful day just walking the streets of Mykonos today. I forget how lovely it is in town. Only the Mariner in port and the streets were empty. The weather was absolutely perfect, great temperature and sunny skies.
Actually this is the calmest trip. Absolutely no movement and today the sea is like glass. Food has been exceptionally good at this point I believe the best ever. Certainly enjoyed all my meals.
We had the drawing last night for the free cruise and posted the names. The final will be on next cruise October 31 so the winner will be announced on that trip at the cocktail party.
I am going to the card room shortly and if Ken is not “needed” he will post some pictures from the trip so far.

Kim, thanks for posting your great pictures. It's good to see all the smiling faces! Continue to have a fun cruise.

What a lovely day!

Yep!! Fantastic day. Alice and I were told by the head waiter this morning that the last 3 out of 5 times here had to be skipped due to weather.

The Mariner looking glorious !

Edit- I posted wrong photo for today's winning trivia team. Having problem with photo bucket . Will keep trying.

Great pictures and seamail - I've been without internet for week so first chance to comment!

Finally got today's winning Trivia team photo uploaded to photo bucket. Not one of my best shots , but they did great and deserve the recognition.

I have a colleague that may be on this trip. If you meet someone from milwaukee, say hi for me.

Had a post typed on word and tried to post it and it would not post so hope typing this directly will work.

Had a lovely day in Mykonos just walking the streets. NO PEOPLE only the Mariner in port and it was so delightful. Perfect sunny day and a great temperature. The day ended with a win in trivia for one of the LCT teams so that was wonderful.

Way over ate in Prime 7 last night. I asked for a main dish of crab legs with a lobster tail instead of the filet. They bought a full order of crab legs SO MANY. Then after that they bought a FULL MAINE LOBSTER - something was lost in translation. However I had no trouble finishing off both dishes.

Today we arrived in Santorini on another picture perfect day. Totally calm seas. Ken, Sheila, Olivia, Marcie, Tom, Tim and Barbara were with us on the OIA shopping expedition. We did not do much shopping but enjoy wandering Oia and some of us stopped and had a cup of coffee with a sensational view. Long line for the cable car down and it had warmed up by then so we were glad when we finally got on the cable car and then the tender and got back to the ship. Delightful lunch upstairs and certainly had a great day.

Some hosted tables tonight hope everyone has a great time. Tomorrow is a SEA DAY - yeah, a little sleep in and no port of call. I think we are all waiting for that.

Be back later

Ngaire, so you don't lose any posts, after you type your post on LCT you can highlight your message and right click on it then choose copy before you hit the submit button. If your post is lost in space, you can right click on the message box area and paste it in the box and try again.

Photos From Cappadocia, Turkey:

Thanks so much for posting Ken! Beautiful pictures as always!
Sally

Stunning pix, thank for posting!!!

Love seeing your photos, Ken!

Very nice day in Santorini . Saw quite a bit of it, too.
Fun dinner in CR with Mike and Val. Lost twenty of the $36 we won last night at the slots. Jean Ann Ryan dancers thing tonight was somewhat boring-- "LaVida" I think it was called.

Hello all as we're en-route to Malta and enjoying a beautiful sea day. The weather is absolutely perfect, high 70's/low 80's with a nice breeze.

We had a wonderful dinner last night with the Captain, his adorable new wife Anna, Ken & Sheila. He prefers small tables of 6 so it made for a nice, intimate dinner...much better than the large Captain tables we've often shared. The food on this cruise has been an A+.

I agree with Kim, the show last night Viva La Vida was boring even though the cast has lots of talent. We caught the very tail end and it was more than enough for us.The first show "Broadway something?" was terrific. The Beatles night was also lots of fun with a great passenger turnout.

We're excited about Malta tomorrow, we've never been there before. Like all cruises, the fun continues but the days fly by. This is such a great group on board, fun running into someone in the group all the time, always neat people to eat, spend time and tour with.

Well, it's 2:00...time for cards before trivia then bingo. This is followed by a private cocktail party then dinner in Signatures tonight with Kim, Alice and Olivia. Tough life!

The best way to spend a sea day.



Another option. Ngaire, Marcie, Cheron and Sheila and Mark. . Also ken, Jeff , Dave and Alice