Boarding Viking Star

Sunday March 27 - Easter

A Slight change to our itinerary.  We were to leave Istanbul Monday afternoon.  However, that has been changed to Sunday night due to recent incidents.  We will be visiting Canakkale (Troy) instead as a bonus on the way to our scheduled port of Ephesus.

Viking Star day.  We boarded at 11 am.   Went through security, showed our passports at 4 checkpoints.  The fourth  time they kept our passports and told us we would get them back in Athens.  We were given a card which serves as a boarding pass and a cabin key.  As we boarded, we were greeted with champagne.  That's classy.  We started by booking the specialty restaurants and tomorrow's tour of Troy and Cannakale.  Throughout the day we visited the facilities, listened to lovely live music, had lunch at the Pool Bar and Grill, had supper at the World Cafe.  Supper comprised of seafood buffet, salads, duck a l'orange, filet mignon, shrimp and crab soufflé, large shrimp, sushi, gelato.  All food is freshly made from scratch.  Our cabin hostess is Rosalyn.  It is the first time she has guests who stay for the entire trip.  She is excited!   The cabin is a decent size:  king bed, 2 chairs, desk, desk chair, and nice bathroom with heated floor.  

The crew we have met since boarding have been helpful, happy, pleasant, cordial, hospitable.  They have made our first day on Viking Star memorable.  They are from  Phillipines, Indonesia, Norway, Montenegro and other countries.

We left port at approx 10:45 pm.   Having a nice, smooth, peaceful ride on the Bosphorus watching the city go by with its well lit tower, mosques, and palaces.