Bodrum, Turkey.

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Busy day in Cesme.

It has been a busy two days since my last entry. We berthed in Cesme, Turkey opposite two ships from another cruise line. Our guests mingled with theirs on the quayside. I was told by one guest from another ship that Seabourn Odyssey was a very pretty ship. I gave her a brochure and told her to come cruise with us. A Captain from one of the other ships told me my ship was ugly. I wanted to plant him one on his nose. Clearly he was of limited vision and a tad jealous I reckon. Ugly indeed. These ships must have some of the most beautiful profiles on the ocean. We Captains are very protective of our ships.

Later that evening we held our Club party for our loyal guests and I recalled his comment. One of my guests with many many days cruising with us came to me afterwards and told me that he and his fellow guests were right behind me the next time we ever met the other ships Captain again and we would remind him of the error of his ways. It would appear that Seabourn guests are also very protective of their ships.

The other business of the day came and went. One of our crew is Voltaire. A great name. He is one of the team in charge of replenishing our tanks with fresh water when the Staff Captain requires it to be taken. Normally our desalination plants are enough but there are times when we top up from a shore supply. Here is Voltaire getting ready. 

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Voltaire at the ready.

I remember a time about 3 years ago when we arrived in Patmos. There was a visit organised to the famous monastery there and now and again we send some crew on the tours. Two of our men are Voltaire, above and Dante. I often wondered what the monks would have to say if they knew Dante and Voltaire were coming to visit!

Crew cabin inspection then occupied me for the morning. You can imagine that even though we are a small ship there are many cabins that need to be inspected so I enlist the help of a team of Officers. I have a legal obligation to make sure that crew cabins are fit for purpose and maintained thus. By the same token these are peoples homes at sea and that must be respected. It can be rather like checking 150 teenagers bedrooms at times. My idea of clean and tidy can seem a little at odds with theirs if you know what I mean.

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Part of the cabin inspection team ready to go.


We sailed for the overnight run to Bodrum.

After a peaceful night on the Eastern Aegean we  berthed here in Bodrum. It is a warm day with temperatures up in the low thirties centigrade. This morning was taken up by our weekly crew emergency exercise. Today we had a simulated incident in one of our engine rooms. This involved all our teams onboard from the rapid response teams that deal directly with whatever the incident is to the hotel support teams dealing with whatever we throw at them. We had “casualties” to exercise our Doctor and his medical team, hurt guests to exercise the support teams and simulated fires to train the firefighting teams. It all went rather well. We always learn from these experiences. New techniques and methods continually evolve.

Tonight we sail for one of my favourites, Santorini.

 © Mark Dexter 2015