Cruising The Seven Seas: Madonna, Shakira and The Beatles

Madonna, Shakira and The Beatles

24^th April 2011

Today is the start of our 2 day stay in Istanbul, Turkey. So far, it’s been a real laugh. Istanbul looks absolutely fantastic! The city is dotted with impressive, massive mosques. Some are more impressive than others. We have another couple of trips here so hopefully we'll have plenty of time to look around the city. The sea is infested with jelly fish! There are hundreds of the buggers floating around the ship and port. At first I thought it was a foam on the surface but it was a mass gathering of jelly fish! I guess swimming is out of the question…

Once a month we are given US$20 for a team activity. This month we were going out for a team lunch. We found what we thought was a traditional Turkish place for our team lunch. Inside looked amazing: carpeted sofas, authentic looking tables, bowls of fruit and nuts. Each of us tried a Turkish pipe (Nagile). Most of us tried apple but a couple of others tried banana which was horrible. Jeni’s mint and lemon was the best. It’s basically flavoured smoke/tobacco and if you go to Turkey, you have to try a Nagile.

We had a great laugh, had our photos taken etc. Jeni, Luci and I got a shock when we went into the men’s bathroom (as you do) to find it was just a hole in the floor. There was no way we were squatting over that so we had to cross our legs and wait.

A couple of hours later we got the bill which was stated in Turkish Liras. Jomar, the BM, asked for the amount in US Dollars… US$500 in total!!!!!!! Gobsmacked wasn’t the word! We asked them to check again and tried to count up what we’d had. In the end we really couldn’t argue and Jomar had to pay up – obviously, he wasn't a happy bunny. It’ll teach us not to check the prices before going in somewhere or even asking how much something is beforehand. After being financially raped by Turks most of the team headed back to the ship.

Mariner of the Seas Photog Team

Rich, Lee & Luci

Hernan

Jeni & Rich

Mariner of the Seas Photog Team

David

Luci and I jumped in a taxi and headed to the Grand Bazaar to have a poke around the market. It’s absolutely amazing, a completely different way of life. Every two minutes you are getting stopped “Excuse me lady” “Where are you from?” To be fair, most of the people left me alone, they weren’t really interested in the little blonde scruffy girl. They were more interested in the hot Brazilian. The men were trying everything to get our attention, especially Luci’s. The best names were Madonna, Shakira and Angelina (Jolie) – they are as similar as chalk and cheese!

Neither of us had a lot of money which was a good thing or else we’d have bought half the market! The only thing I got was an Istanbul magnet so I can start putting photos on our cabin wall. The market holders sold pretty much the same things but if you're a first timer, go, as it's something compeltely different from the norm: bags, clothes, woven boots, leather jackets, magnets, hand crafted wallets and purses, nagiles, Turkish sweets, tea and so on. There were stands selling small cucumbers which were peeled and salted - they didn't look particuarly appertizing but were selling like hot cakes. We are coming back again soon so maybe next time I’ll get a few post cards for people back home. If only I could find a post office!

As Lee and Rich are signing off soon and we are staying overnight we headed out for their leaving do. Well, the first leaving do. No doubt we’ll have another one the night before they sign off. Originally we were going to Windjammer (on the ship) but we were told we couldn’t as it was only open for higher ranks so we ended up heading to Johnny Rockets “Everybody say hellooooooooo”. Every so often they’ll put this one particular song on and all the waiters working there will all dance together. It’s all very American cheese but hilarious. Stu was dragged up to dance. We were crying with laughter! I think Fede has a video of it, if not I’ll try to get some photos.

We had a few drinks up in S.O.B. before getting off the ship. While in S.O.B. Lee took over the music and was playing non stop Beatles. No matter where the guys are from, they ALL knew the lyrics and were singing along together. The best was “Yellow Submarine". Everyone changed the lyrics to “we all live in the Mariner of the Seas”.

Hernan was doing some of his humping cowboy like dancing and pole dancing on a pool cue. We were in stitches. Stu’s attempt at getting us all to do strawpedos or Stupedos failed. He can neck a bottle of Smirnoff ice in 3 mouthful.

We jumped into a taxi and headed into Istanbul. It was a Sunday so the place we were looking for, Babylon, was closed. While walking aimlessly we found a small shot bar so we popped in for a quick shot… The Turkish equivalent of Apple Sourz warmed us up nicely! It was freezing outside!

We walked back to a club we’d previously walked past – it was a bit of a last resort. We ordered our drinks and after 3 attempts found out how much the bill would be: 10 euros each drink!! A beer was 8 euros but we just split the bill evenly. The drinks were too expensive so we finished up, took some photos and left. Walking around Taksim Square, the place to go in Istanbul apparently, we found another club. Going inside the drinks were just as expensive.

Rather than spend an arm and a leg on booze we headed back to the ship where the drinks are only a dollar or two. We carried on having a drink and laugh on back deck until about 3am. I’d managed to lock myself out of my cabin! Hernan and I had to be up at 7am for life raft training while the rest of the team weren’t working until the evening.

David, the new guy’s great, his laugh is so addictive. He’s fitting in well and he’s finally got his luggage!! Overall, we have a great team, it’s gonna be a shame seeing Lee and Rich go. I think I could even miss Rich stabbing me in the ribs and tickling me. Oh, and we can’t forget the head nuggies!

Getting up for training is going to be a royal bitch tomorrow!!!!!!!!!