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Before we start with today’s adventures I want to share a special photo with you; a view of the Prinsendam seldom seen. Yesterday in Varna somebody operated a Drone above the ship on arrival and then published a series of photos. I have copied below the most interesting one.* It shows the Prinsendam just docking alongside the pier with the bow and stern thruster churning up the mud due to the shallow water. We spent the day sailing southward. This morning between 07.00 and 10.00 hrs. we sailed through the Bosporus again. Although it was a bit overcast with rain in the distance, it was a clear day and all the sights came nicely into view. By the time it started to drip, we just cleared Istanbul and entered the Sea of Marmara.* What was also nice was that the outside temperatures are going up again. Once we were in the shelter of the mountains range which guards the North side of the Bosporus the temperature started to climb. Istanbul is becoming a more and more an important cruise port and today it was a full house again. *We saw the Saga Sapphire, two ships from Silver Seas, an MSC ship, an Oceana ship and an Ile de Ponant ship (not visible in the photo) I still remember the good old days, when the arrival of a cruise ship in Istanbul was an important happening and the captain feted as the “messenger of good tiding’sâ€. *Now it seems that we just one more Tourist Bus parking ourselves alongside. Luckily for the guests it does not make much difference. In a way it is even better as more guests means a better infrastructure to process the tours. We went along all day with the sedate speed of about 10 knots. No reason to hurry as we can easily make Lesbos on time but also because the Dardanelles are closed during the day. Today is the National Holiday commemorating the first assembly of the Turkish Parliament, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded modern Turkey and established the democracy which still endures. That happened […]
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Before we start with today’s adventures I want to share a special photo with you; a view of the Prinsendam seldom seen. Yesterday in Varna somebody operated a Drone above the ship on arrival and then published a series of photos. I have copied below the most interesting one.* It shows the Prinsendam just docking alongside the pier with the bow and stern thruster churning up the mud due to the shallow water. We spent the day sailing southward. This morning between 07.00 and 10.00 hrs. we sailed through the Bosporus again. Although it was a bit overcast with rain in the distance, it was a clear day and all the sights came nicely into view. By the time it started to drip, we just cleared Istanbul and entered the Sea of Marmara.* What was also nice was that the outside temperatures are going up again. Once we were in the shelter of the mountains range which guards the North side of the Bosporus the temperature started to climb. Istanbul is becoming a more and more an important cruise port and today it was a full house again. *We saw the Saga Sapphire, two ships from Silver Seas, an MSC ship, an Oceana ship and an Ile de Ponant ship (not visible in the photo) I still remember the good old days, when the arrival of a cruise ship in Istanbul was an important happening and the captain feted as the “messenger of good tiding’sâ€. *Now it seems that we just one more Tourist Bus parking ourselves alongside. Luckily for the guests it does not make much difference. In a way it is even better as more guests means a better infrastructure to process the tours. We went along all day with the sedate speed of about 10 knots. No reason to hurry as we can easily make Lesbos on time but also because the Dardanelles are closed during the day. Today is the National Holiday commemorating the first assembly of the Turkish Parliament, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded modern Turkey and established the democracy which still endures. That happened […]
Click here to view the article.
