Ocean Princess week 1, 19-26 October

We board this beautiful ship in Venice. It "only" holds 650 passengers, so is relatively cosy, but still has 10 decks of stairs for daily exercises. 

We soon find a woman Kay attended choir with in Bendigo, friends of Ian's sailing mates and people who have a Torquay holiday house!

Our first night is at sea, then there's

Split, Croatia where we walk around the old town and hear beautiful singing

 and see happily-posing-for-tourists  centurions 

In Kotor, Montenegro we join another couple for a taxi tour and go around twisty roads to a beach and fortress. The wind is blowing and the waves are pounding 

Next is Corfu, Greece where Kay celebrates her 60th birthday, woohoo :-))

The day starts just after midnight with flowers which Ian has bought and arranged to be snuck into the room while we're at a show

There's presents before breakfast 

and balloons and a card outside our cabin, then a bus tour of Corfu which starts with tastings of cumquat liqueur, limoncello and ouzo (at 10am...) and continues with coffee overlooking a heart shaped bay

A yummy end is a cake delivered to the dinner table and new mates to share it with

Unfortunately the slightly dodgy weather turns really bad, and the captain makes a decision to go straight to Athens, as it's too dangerous to dock at the planned Katakolon and Mykonos.  There's a bit of rock and rolling, and the dining room is not as full for the 2 nights, but it's not so bad. Just lots of wind and rain from the tail end of the cyclone that hits Bermuda  and England

The bonus is a $300 credit per room, so we are more than happy with that compensation and book a "Greek Night" ashore in Athens. Lots of singing, dancing and plate smashing masked for great entertainment.