Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Gill W
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Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Day 14

A nice day at sea, we had hoped to spend most of the time sitting in the sun, but there was passing clouds too. In the end, we gave up and came inside, just before lunch. We decided to have the Sindhu Nashta for lunch, washed down with a bottle of Cobra. Completely delicious!

We did a bit of shopping, and got the perfumes we wanted, and a couple of presents for friends.

We then went to the interview with the captain. Our captain for this cruise is Julian Burgess, first time we've sailed with him. He was very interesting to listen to and has been keeping us informed throughout the trip.

We braved the main dining room again. The general plan was to get there about 6.20, get a pager for a table for two, and have a drink before dinner at around 7.30. There was a queue when we got there ( there always seems to be a queue for freedom on this cruise), but to our surprise there was a table for two immediately available, so we ate earlier than we thought.

Afterwards, we went to Manhattan, where Manuel Martinez was doing his second show. He was totally hilarious.



Day 15 - Day 16 Istanbul

We were slightly delayed by traffic this morning, so docked a little later than expected. But the weather has been lovely and sunny and not too hot, so we were up and around early to see the sights, and were at the front of the ship to sail under one of the bridges.

The captain neatly parked the ship behind Costa Pacifica and in front of another ship. We also have The World parked opposite us.

This is our first time in Istanbul, and we've done an excursion to see The Blue Mosque, The Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar.

Of course it was a whistle stop tour, madly crowded and I feel I've been bombarded with sights and sounds. But, it was an amazing experience.

It is now 5.30pm on day 15. I'm sitting on my balcony, with a priceless view of the Bosphorus, all the ferries and little boats cross-crossing the waterway, with the famous Istanbul skyline in the background. It's moments like this when you just know you are one of the luckiest people who are able to do cruises like this.

Our 2nd day in Istanbul, started with a rain shower. We did a short excursion to the Sultan's Summer Palace. Our main reason for doing this was that it was on the other side of the Bosphorus, so we could say that we had stepped foot in Asia. However, it was a nice little trip, and an oasis of calm after the busy day yesterday. We sailed at lunchtime, and enjoyed the Sailaway from our balcony, as the weather was still a bit showery. We saw a dolphin from our balcony, very close to the ship.

In the evening we went to XVII for dinner. It is a bit expensive, and we had a dearer bottle of wine than we would normally have, as we are still spending OBC. We shared the chateaubriand steak, and it was melt in the mouth delicious.
Gill

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Meg 50
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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watching the ferries and small boats reached pantomime proportions when we were there!

Not sure if it's always like that
Meg
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Quizzical Bob
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Post by Quizzical Bob »

Thanks for the report Gill. I love all the activity in Istanbul harbour and would like to go there again. Can you please tell me if you were berthed port side to the dock or starboard?

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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Post by Gill W »

We were berthed starboard side to the dock so I got the view from my port side balcony.

Although Costa Pacifica was docked port side to dock

Maybe it depends from what direction you approach Istanbul - we came in from the Black Sea entrance.
Gill


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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Post by Quizzical Bob »

Gill W wrote:
We were berthed starboard side to the dock so I got the view from my port side balcony.

Although Costa Pacifica was docked port side to dock

Maybe it depends from what direction you approach Istanbul - we came in from the Black Sea entrance.


We were also starboard-to but we came from the Sea of Marmaris. You're right - sitting on the balcony watching all the little ships is wonderful.

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Meg 50
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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on Adonia we parked over the other side just across the road from the park entrance the other end of which was the entrance to Topkapi - wonderful - everywhere was within walking distance - no trams or buses
Meg
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Manoverboard
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Post by Manoverboard »

We have been to Istanbul many times and the ' water scene ' is always totally mad ... funnily enough it all seemed very orderly when we were out there with them.
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

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Gill W
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea -part 6

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Post by Gill W »

Meg 50 wrote:
on Adonia we parked over the other side just across the road from the park entrance the other end of which was the entrance to Topkapi - wonderful - everywhere was within walking distance - no trams or buses
That's where The World was parked - the prime spot, and probably suitable for the smaller ships
Gill

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