LOUIS AURA 3rd August 2014 Part 5, the final one

Wednesday 6th August 2014
I woke up to hear the gentle noise of LOUIS AURA’s engines going astern as we approached Marmaris in Turkey at 6.30 a.m. but ignored them and returned to sleep.

Chart for Marmaris

Louis Aura at Marmaris, Turkey

Marmaris Express

It was again incredibly hot out on deck and when we went ashore after breakfast we discovered the temperature was 35ºC, and that was at 9.30 a.m. We wandered into the cool terminal for the free wi-fi just outside, and then enjoyed the rest of the morning in the shade. A salad lunch was followed by a trip to the Bridge for departure from Marmaris at 2.40. The scenery of the surrounding mountains and narrow entrance in and out of the port was beautiful, with the blue sky and calm seas all around us.

Head count

Brass plate on the Bridge

On the Bridge

Heading for that gap

Aft view port side

Starward bell

We thanked the Captain for letting us be on the Bridge for departure, and he then invited us for drinks with him at 7.30 p.m. in his cabin – which he says is ‘special’.

Venus Deck view

Oooh, I may have to change my home page picture...

At 7.15 p.m. we presented ourselves at Reception and were escorted up to Captain Gritzelis’s cabin, which was indeed a great surprise. It reminded me slightly of Nelson’s cabin on VICTORY, as it was probably designed to do. The Captain was happy with it, and told us the story of the first captain on the ship having the work done by his chippie (carpenter) on board. When the then owner of the ship came on board to see it, he was not a happy man and immediately dismissed the Captain for exceeding his duties in having the cabin changed. The cabin has not been altered since, and we subsequently discovered that LOUIS AURA’s sister ship LEISURE WORLD also has a similar cabin so the story may be apocryphal rather than accurate, but it made a wonderful tale!

Captain's Cabin

Captain Kostas Gritzelis in his cabin

We also talked about the company’s change of name, but that LOUIS AURA was not included in that, so then we speculated about the ship that might be acquired at approximately 25,000 tons with some balconies, for use in 2016. After a lively discussion, which I think gave Captain Gritzelis some food for thought, we had to thank and leave him and head for Greek Night dinner in the Restaurant.

This proved to be less disappointing than previous nights, but we did notice that a large party on two nearby tables was able to order non-menu food and one of the Chefs appeared from the kitchens and was warmly greeted by the passengers on those tables. I remembered Greek Night food from LOUIS AURA sailing out of Greece last year, but this was rather different.

Stargazing on a dark deck forward of Venus Bars provided a tranquil and lovely end to a fascinating day on board.

Ships seen: Harika, Louis Aura, King Saron, Aegean Cat, 12 small sailing excursion vessels, and 2 or 3 parasailers as we left Marmaris

I see my companions had added a new heading here in my notebook of
Ships not seen in Rhodes as we sailed nearby, so these are: Queen Elizabeth, Orient Queen II

Further notes added included reference to wine, biscuits and cappuccino but I shall ignore them.

Thursday 7th August 2014
I had to vacate my cabin on this last morning by 7 a.m. so breakfast was early today, as we sailed along towards Limassol on calm seas in the heat.

Up to the Bridge

We went to the Bridge for 8.40 a.m. and were again welcomed by Captain Gritzelis. The view from there is so panoramic and enjoyable, especially as we could see the SALAMIS FILOXENIA in port ahead of us. I had always wondered what she looked like in reality and this was my chance.

Salamis Filoxenia

All the luggage was taken off and then passengers were allowed ashore. I had a Priority label so we were soon off the ship; on the way out I was greeted by Michael the Hotel Manager, who hoped all was well. Our voyage questionnaires have been handed in so he will learn of our disappointment with the food, but the voyage and ship itself has been just as enjoyable as we all hoped. The ports were interesting and Captain Gritzelis made us feel so welcome on his Bridge.

Then it was time for goodbyes to the Staff Captain on the quayside, a short walk past LOUIS AURA and SALAMIS FILOXENIA

Salamis Filoxenia from the quayside

Louis Aura looking aft

and then journeys to Paphos airport for me on my way home to the UK and to Larnaca for my friends and their flights.

Ships seen: Salamis Filoxenia, DP Gezina (the ex Simara Ace), various cargo ships and tugs, and Louis Aura.

I had loved being on LOUIS AURA again and hope she continues to sail for a long time to come.

LOUIS AURA 3rd August 2014 Part 3

Tuesday 5th August 2014
We were prepared to arrive in Kos at 7.00 a.m. but apparently we were delayed by the departure of the Blue Star Ferry 2 plus more wind than expected, so it was 8.00 a.m. before we were alongside. The heat was tremendous even that early in the day. Louis Cruises had printed English copies of the Daily News programme again, which we appreciated.

Yesterday we met the Staff Captain on deck and he recognised me from sailing on LOUIS AURA last year, which was nice, and he joined us all for a chat and invited us to visit the Bridge today.

This morning therefore I went to Reception to register my credit card and asked them to arrange for us to visit the Bridge, as invited by the Staff Captain. A telephone call was made to the Bridge and we were invited to come back to Reception at 1.40 and be taken up top for departure from Kos. Hooray, how kind.

We watched arrivals and departures from the port, but they were mostly very local small ferries going to and from the Turkish coast which could be seen faintly in the distance.

Suddenly however a very unexpected sight appeared and was recognised by my very knowledgeable companions – it was HALAS 71; we thought she might sail right beside us and enter the harbour but she didn’t so we had to be content with various views of her. She started life in 1914 (yes, really) as a ferry, but World War 1 decided otherwise, and she was handed over to the newly-created Republic of Turkey in 1923 and became a passenger ferry on the Bosphorus. In 1984 she was bought by a shipping company, and refurbished. In 2009 she was sold on to current owners, renovated yet again, and is now available to charter for 12 guests as a luxury cruiser, or for events. She is flagged in Istanbul; (I found this website with some details http://www.myhalas.com/history/) She certainly looked different to the other shipping we have seen, and it is astonishing that she has lasted so well.

Restaurant lunch was again disappointing but we decided to have dinner ashore this evening in Symi. At lunch my companions chose the fruit pudding, but decided that it tasted of shower gel (how did they know that?) but apparently it is a favourite pudding on the ship. I didn’t try it.

We were taken up to the Bridge for departure from Kos and were introduced to Captain Kostas Gritzelis, who is the Master of LOUIS AURA. He made us feel very welcome and invited us to visit the Bridge for departures or arrivals if we chose. We certainly did and could immediately understand why this sociable and obviously efficient Captain was so popular with all his passengers. We sailed away from the island of Kos and looked forward to our evening arrival in Symi.

Arriving at Kos

Halas 71

Another view of Halas 71

Stern view

'Shower gel pudding'

Much more to our taste - Frozen Vanilla Capuccino

Starward's Bridge Bell

View from the Bridge

To be continued...

LOUIS AURA 3rd August 2014 Part 2

Monday 4th August 2014
My View from The Bridge on the television showed sunshine and a calm sea as we sailed along. Early breakfast out in the sunshine on deck was most welcome, and looked far more appealing than the offerings available in the Restaurant last night. Captain Kostas Gritzelis did his smiling walkabout with his Staff Captain (who remembered me from last year) before having his breakfast. He greeted, smiled or shook hands with many passengers as he walked around the deck and is understandably a very popular Captain in the Louis fleet. I remembered several members of staff from my trip last year, and it was pleasant to be recognised and greeted by them. I don’t think they have many English passengers!

Today we are due in Rhodes at 13.00 hours, leaving at 23.30, so there would be lots of time in port, which is a very busy one. Entertainment on the ship this morning included Price is Right, Towel Folding, Bingo Bingo, Cooking Competition, Darts, Salsa Dance Lesson, and an Aperitif Game.

As we arrived early in the port of Rhodes we could see BLUE STAR 1 in a berth;

Blue Star 1

Aegean Paradise

AEGEAN PARADISE’s white paintwork gleamed in the sunshine and we were soon alongside the quay ourselves. I was interested to see AEGEAN PARADISE as she is a cruise ship, built in 1990 in Japan, and now operating for the Turkish tour operator Etstur. Their name is painted on the hull. She has been through various owners (and their bankruptcies) and charterers, has been re-built, and has been with Etstur since 2012.

Aegean Queen

Herakles 3

Stars Show Lounge

Chart showing our route from Limassol to Rhodes

Blue Star's Diagoras sailed

Later we strolled in intense heat along the quayside and out along the waterside until we had a lovely view of the LOUIS AURA and could take photographs, with the ancient walls of the medieval city behind us.

Alongside the water's edge

Louis Aura in Rhodes

Back on deck we could see other comings and goings into the port.

Why, it's Royal Iris...

I was amazed to see ROYAL IRIS arrive, as she looked very like a car ferry. In fact she was indeed built in 1971 as a car and cruise ferry, at St. Nazaire in France, for Southern Ferries who named her MV Eagle. Her itinerary from Southampton to Lisbon and Tangier proved unsuccessful, so she was sold and became AZUR, and then sold again in 1987 to the Greek Chandris Lines as THE AZUR, for cruising. In 1994 she was sold to Festival Cruises for cruising out of Venice, but they declared bankruptcy in 2004, so the ship was finally sold in 2005 to the Israeli company Mano Maritime, renamed ROYAL IRIS and now operates short cruises mostly among the Greek islands. At 14,717 gross tons she was another delightful sight in Rhodes harbour, as was our own little liner LOUIS AURA.

Security was very tight around her, but that was an unexpected and interesting ship to be able to photograph from a distance.

Mano Cruises logo on the funnel

Royal Iris from the quayside

Whilst we were watching her from back on board, we could see two ferries coming fast towards us and there was SYMI and PANAGIA SKIADENI racing for pole position in the harbour entrance! They were heading for different parts of the port, but SYMI seemed to ‘win’ the race to reach the entrance first, with PANAGIA SKIADENI having to do a rather sharp turn to starboard aft of SYMI to get in position for her berth. That was interesting to watch, especially from shore-side!

Racing for position

Symi

Panagia Skiadeni

Small local fast craft were soon leaving, and then the tiny ARTEMIS arrived and berthed. She was built in 2007 at 1,206 gross tons and looked very small as she berthed ahead of us.

Artemis coming into Rhodes Harbour

We heard a broadcast telling us that because of strong winds expected tomorrow around our intended port of Kalymnos, it had been decided to head for the island of Kos instead, in the morning, and then visit Symi for the evening. We noticed later that the chart on display had been removed and replaced by another one. This was most unusual I thought as it included some unexpected chart notes, mentioning the positions of a capsize, missing person overboard, semi-sunk boat adrift, which are notes that have to appear on official Notices to Mariners for amending the charts but which I suspect are not often seen by passengers in some other areas of the world. With so many islands in the area it is so important that charts are up to date of course.

After dinner we headed for the Stars Show Lounge and listened to the Greek bazoukia music. They were joined by some singers, sitting at tables on the stage set; we noticed they were singing along to words on iPads or Kindles in front of them on the tables. The music was very enjoyable. After that it was pleasant to go out on the deck and enjoy the warmth under the night sky.

Cheers

Forward of Venus Decks 11 and 12


Ships seen: Blue Star 1, Louis Aura, Diagoras, Aegean Paradise, Aegean Queen, Flying Poseidon, Marmaris Express, Aegean Cat, Royal Iris of Mano Cruises from Israel, Symi, Panagia Skiadeni, King Saron, Dodekanisos Seaways, Artemis, and far in the distance we could see the white-hulled profile of Salamis Filoxenia as she sailed past the port of Rhodes.


To be continued....