LOUIS AURA (ex-ORIENT QUEEN) Part 4

Tuesday 17th September 2013
I woke up and was soon on deck to discover that we had indeed sailed on time from Mykonos at midnight. It seems that LOUIS OLYMPIA was supposed to leave before us but, after making a couple of attempts to do so, abandoned that idea and waited out the bad weather, although she had hit the quayside. Captain Goumas of course knew the LOUIS AURA ship and understood the weather and sea conditions, so he and the Pilot were able to manoeuvre our ship away from the quayside and sail away as scheduled.

I managed to locate a map of Mykonos town, which shows the New Port where we berthed and the old port where we went on the water bus.

The Taverna Matthew was pictured on the side of the map

I passed this cabin door on the way to breakfast

It was another blue sky day as we arrived before 7 a.m. in the port of Patmos, the little Greek island where St. John the Divine is said to have dictated the text of “Revelations” to his pupil Prochoros in AD95. There is now a big fortified monastery named for St. John. After breakfast we disembarked and decided to walk up to the little church on the nearby hill. The views were lovely, both down to the ship in the bay and across the island to the sea on the other side.

At Patmos

A little painting

We are going to walk up to the white-painted church

Local lane

Back down on the quayside we watched a local fast ferry arrive and then one of the bigger local ferries, and saw the timetables for the current sailings.

One of the Flying Dolphins

N. Kalymnos arrived

Passengers off and on the ferry

Dolphin about to fly

The Complain box

I also wanted to see if the ‘Complain’ box was still fixed to a post near a small quayside building, and it was. I was amused to see that it still had no bottom to the box, so presumably anything complained about just blew away on the breeze…

Ferries and timetable

We were back on board by 10 a.m. ready to go to Reception and be taken up to the Bridge to meet the Captain. It was lovely to be there, especially when Captain Goumas recognised me from a couple of previous short voyages. I was rather surprised at this, but I did remember him too! We were made very welcome, and introduced to the Staff Captain and another guest. This was Kaptan Saim Oguzulgen, a Turkish Maritime Pilot who must have found it strange to be on the Bridge but in a different capacity.

The Pilot came on board and we sailed from Patmos, heading out through the islands towards Kusadasi in Turkey, where we are due this afternoon. We now have a permanent invite to come to the Bridge for arrivals and departures whenever we like, which is just lovely.

View from the Bridge

There's the church we climbed to see

There's the view across the island

LOUIS AURA had a sister ship, which is still sailing in Singapore waters, called LEISURE WORLD but she too has been radically altered.

Louis Aura's original sister

Our ex-ORIENT QUEEN was built in 1968 as STARWARD and the bell with that name still hangs on the Bridge wing. One of my friends later told me she was designed by Tage Wandborg of Knud E. Hansen A/S and the original interiors (long-since gone) were by Mogens Hammer.

As we approached the port of Kusadasi it was fascinating to be back on the Bridge, and watching LOUIS OLYMPIA heading towards us as she left the port.

Louis Olympia leaving Kusadasi

Kusadasi Pilot approaching

The Pilot came aboard and we soon berthed, fairly near SPLENDOUR OF THE SEAS, which made for an interesting comparison. SEABOURN QUEST was also in port.

Seabourn Quest already in port

Splendour of the Seas

Kusadasi berthing plan

I spent some time ashore in the great heat but soon returned after taking photographs, and then watched as the Bridge Officers on SPLENDOUR started consulting their watches rather obviously, and someone on the gangway was sent off to the passenger terminal to see if they could find a missing person. He obviously did find him, as sailing time was almost due, and suddenly two people could be seen hurrying to the ship, one of whom was carrying shopping bags; the gangway was raised, the doors closed and the ship sailed – just slightly late but with all aboard.

Splendour of the Seas

Running to join the ship

And then she sailed almost immediately

On board LOUIS AURA we enjoyed more of Greek Day, with good food and music, and all sorts of entertainment available during the day and evening. I noticed our English Daily Programme also included an advertisement for ‘Towel Art Inspirations’ Book. Thank you, but not for me.

Before we sailed

We sailed just after 10 p.m., heading for Rhodes, Greece, after another interesting port of call in Kusadasi.

Ships seen:
At Patmos: Aegean Flying Dolphins, Epata, Patmos Star, N. Kalymnos of ANEK Sea Lines
At Kusadasi: Louis Olympia, Pilot 72 boat, Bogagay II tug, Seabourn Quest, Splendour of the Seas


To be continued....

GEMS OF THE AEGEAN SEPTEMBER 2009 Part 7

GEMS OF THE AEGEAN SEPTEMBER 2009
Part 7 - on board The AEGEAN PEARL

Tuesday 15th September 2009
I enjoyed 8 hours of sleep, disturbed momentarily by the anchor going down well before dawn, and then breakfast, whilst we all enjoyed knowing we were back in Kusadasi, Turkey.


How lovely, another chance to go ashore under clear blue skies in the comfortable heat of this bustling port. Nearby was the huge bulk of SPLENDOUR OF THE SEAS, and OCEAN VILLAGE 2, and walking past EASYCRUISE LIFE we could clearly see the wording on the dark hull: “Reunite the Parthenon Marbles”. Hmmm, that’s telling us!










On that ship it was also possible to see one of her previous names – JASMINE –still visible on the hull. We remembered she was built in Poland in 1981 as LEV TOLSTOY for Black Sea Shipping, with six sister ships. In fact we could also just see that original name on another part of the hull when we looked from a different angle.

Walking round the harbour gave us the chance to see local fishing boats, some with lines of washing on board drying in the breeze, as well as the cruise ships.









I noticed a small white van with “Ladies Beach” written on the sides, and discovered that years ago there had indeed been a Ladies Beach nearby; now it was open to all, and the white vans ran as a taxi service around the area. What an eye-catching title.

This was to be a short visit to Kusadasi so we were all back on board by 11.30 a.m. ready to sail the 47 nautical miles to Patmos, Greece. As usual I think we all felt very proud and proprietary about our little AEGEAN PEARL as she sat amongst the huge cruise ships, before sailing gracefully away from the Turkish port.

After lunch on board, we arrived back at the little port town of Skala on the island of Patmos at 4 p.m. in the most wonderful clear light. Many passengers went on excursions to visit the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, high above us in the village of Chora, with its 900 years old fortifications. With AQUAMARINE also anchored out in the bay, this was the ideal opportunity for photos of the two ships, looking fabulous in the blue sea.



After a walk along the coastal path under shady trees, an ice-cream in the little port was enjoyed. I noticed the usual dogs asleep in various wayside shops or shady areas.














Back on board AEGEAN PEARL, the light, air, clear water, scenery and environment were just wonderful and reminded us all of why we like to be at sea in congenial company: it’s that sense of exhilaration at being alive on such days. Tea and scones gave us a moment of humour. Jam was provided in very small packets, and my portion fell out of the packet as one rather congealed piece, onto my plate. Having recently seen several Viking Line ships, it was immediately recognised as being the shape and red colour of a Viking Line funnel.








We left Patmos just before 9 p.m. and enjoyed Greek Night dinner on board, as well as the evening’s entertainment, sailing the 105 nautical miles to our next port of call in Rhodes.

Ships seen: easyCruise Life, Splendour of the Seas, Ocean Village Two, Aquamarine, Gemini, Izmir (tug)

To be continued...

GEMS OF THE AEGEAN SEPTEMBER 2009 Part 5

<GEMS OF THE AEGEAN SEPTEMBER 2009
Part 5 AQUAMARINE

Sunday 13th September 2009

We arrived at 6.30 a.m. at Patmos and anchored in the bay, well before dawn, having sailed 111 nautical miles from Rhodes. Soon after sun-up the excursion folk took the first tenders, and then it was our turn at 7.45 a.m.



On the quayside there was a Welcome sign from the Patmos boatmen, and I also noticed a "Complain.." box (which had lost a ‘t’). Presumably this was for comments from the public as it had a slit opening in the top, but I also noticed that there was no bottom to the box so presumably anything put in the top simply fell through and was borne away on the breeze…




The air was clear and calm, which made for beautiful reflections in the water, and I noticed a local multi-coloured cat asleep on a blue-painted chair enjoying the peace (paws for thought?).

There was just time for a pleasant walk around admiring the surrounding mountains and the arrival and departure of BLUE STAR 2 and a Flying Dolphin, before getting back on board for the departure at 10 a.m. and a leisurely breakfast on deck in the warm sunshine.

Our next treat was to be a Bridge Visit! The ship’s Host, Ion, took us up there at noon and gave us a short talk, and the chance to take photographs from the Bridge wings.







The ship’s Hostess then took us to visit several empty cabins, at different grades, but I noticed she didn’t include any on Bahia Deck. They were all set out neatly with life jackets on each bed, ship plans and writing paper in folders on dressing tables, full toiletries and towels in the bathrooms, and swimming towels nearby, and those of us on Bahia Deck felt we should take the opportunity to say how welcoming they all looked, and how different it had been in our cabins when we came on board. She was somewhat surprised at this, asked some questions, and apologised on behalf of the ship.












There was time for lunch before our next port of call, at 2 p.m. in Kusadasi in Turkey. This was 49 nautical miles sailing. Tourists are very welcome here, judging by the size of the duty free shops and malls at and near the quayside. We berthed and soon disembarked and felt dwarfed by the huge size of CELEBRITY SOLSTICE at an adjoining berth. I saw her in Papenburg, Germany, last year as she prepared to be tugged away from the shipyard, and she looked enormous then.










Some of us strolled around the bay in the hot sunshine, but returned for tea before departure by 6 p.m. Our elegant little ship looked so much more attractive than the huge SOLSTICE, we thought, as we drank Earl Grey tea on deck and watched our engines start up and emit clouds of black smoke.
It drifted up and straight across to some of the private balconies of the SOLSTICE, whose occupants promptly got up, went inside and slammed their doors, one man shaking his fist at us. We raised our tea cups to AQUAMARINE.













Drinks, dinner (with singing waiters) and packing followed, ready for an early arrival back in Piraeus in the morning. On my way through the shop I noticed a table selling Inch of Gold – and this reminded me of Cunard!

Ships seen: Blue Star 2, a Flying Dolphin, tender 12 and 14 at Patmos, Celebrity Solstice, Orient Queen, Patmos Star, Samos Star, Gemini


Part 6, on board The AEGEAN PEARL, to follow...