Turkish Discovery On The ROTTERDAM: Part Two
Turkish Discovery on the ROTTERDAM, part 2
by Kalle Id
Join MaritimeMatters’ Kalle Id for the second part of a ten-day cruise Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline onboard Holland America Line’s 1997-built ROTTERDAM, this time with a day at Istanbul followed by the quaint Turkish town of Dikili.
Holland America Line official website: www.hollandamerica.com
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are copyright © 2013 Kalle Id.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013: Istanbul
Our second day in Istanbul dawned cloudy and slightly gloomy – although still much lighter and more pleasant than Finland at this time of the year. To give us more time exploring Istanbul, we had decided the previous night to order breakfast in the cabin. This is always something of an adventure, as the names on the cabin menu – which I’m sure are perfectly self-explanatory to most American passengers – can result in a surprise for us from different cultures. For instance, V-8 juice and sausage links turned out to be quite different from what I expected. And even such mundane and supposedly self-explanatory things like ham slices turned out to be different from what we expected.
In any case, after breakfast we headed out of the ship and walked across the Galata Bridge to our destination of the day: Topkapi Palace, the former seat of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. We only stopped to buy some souvenirs to give relatives (a fez and a mouse mat made to look like a turkish carpet) and greet some local cats.
To our utter horror, the entrance courtyard of Topkapi was filled with local schoolchildren – it seemed a large portion of Istanbul’s schools had chosen this day to visit the palace. Unperturbed, we pressed on, and somehow never saw any of the dozens of children again after getting inside the palace complex.
Topkapi is not a palace in the traditional sense of the word. It is laid out like an Ottoman nomad camp, with three large courtyards flanked by low buildings housing different functions. Hence the palace was more of a series of separate buildings and pavillions in a park than a single building.
The first place we decided to visit once inside was the Harem, the entrance to which incurs an additional charge of 15 turkish lira (about 6 euros or 8 US dollars, the entrance to the palace having coast 25 tl). This was listed in many travel guides as the place to visit at Topkapi. In hindsight I have to say that while it was interesting, it was not all it was cracked up to be. The thing that makes the harem interesting is the exotic image we have of harems here in the west, and when you take the people and most of the furnishings out of the equation, you’re left with just walls. Prettily decorared walls, but just walls never the less.
But Topkapi is so much more than the harem. There is a treasury, a display of perfectly preserved clothing of the Ottoman Emperors, and an exhibit of holy relics of Islam (many of which are also holy relics of Christianity, the religions sharing so much common roots). The latter’s main exhibit was Mohammed’s cloak – stored in a solid golden crate, so that you actually only see the crate. (The cynical atheist in me immediately wondered if there’s anything inside at all).
Unfortunately there was no photography allowed in any of the exhibits listed above. This was particularly unfortunate with the treasury, as now I have no way of showing you the intricate workmanship and downright opulence of the multitude of gold-and-jewel artifacts. These ranged from downright beautiful, exquisite things to items that had clearly been crafted just to include as much of gold and jewels as possible, without a thought given to how they are presented. The objects in the latter category reminded me of nothing so much as Louis Vuitton bags. (I’m sorry, I just don’t like Vuitton at all).
In terms of achitecture, the most interesting buildings of the Palace are at the northern corner of the complex, furthest from the entrance – which meant we almost missed them, thinking we had already seen everything there is to see. The Circumcision room (actually a separate building) and Baghdad pavillion are amongst the latest additions to the complex and also some of the last examples of traditional Ottoman achitecture added to the palace. The courtyard between these also offers splendid views across the Golden Horn.
In the end we had spent almost the entire day at Topkapi; by the time ewe exited the complex, we only had about 1½ hours of time left before we needed to head back onboard the ship. This left us with the dilemma of whether or not to go and see the Hagia Sophia? I was of the opinion that such a short time would simply not be enough to see the former church and mosque now turned into a museum and we would just be left with a bad feeling for not having had time to explore things properly… but Maria convinced me otherwise. And it was good she did, as it turned out we had just enough time to see the place – although we certainly could have wasted more time there.
The Hagia Sophia… what to say about it? I’m sure all readers are familiar with the name and the building at some level (after all, it does appear in the James Bond film From Russia with Love). Built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, it was the largest cathedral in the world for just shy of a thousand years (from completion in 537 until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520). In the inside, all of original Orthodox Christian mosaics were plastered over when the building was converted into a mosque… but fortunately several of these have been at least partially restored.
Having seen the two key sites of Istanbul during the day (and convinced we’d need to return later for a longer visit), we headed back onboard the awaiting ROTTERDAM. After watching the departure on deck, we headed for early dinner (or late lunch, depending on your point of view) in the buffet, being far too exhausted after the day in Istanbul to entertain the idea of dressing up and heading to any of the waiter-service restaurants. While there, we were greeted by a language I wasn’t expecting to hear onboard: Finnish. It turned out we were not the only Finnish passengers onboard, as there was a second Finnish couple there – veterans of over a dozen cruises on Kristina Cruises, NCL, Costa and HAL.
After dinner, it was time for the evening’s show at the Showroom at Sea, comedian Adrian Walsh. Never heard of him, but he was rather funny… though the show was clearly aimed at the 60+-year-olds – who did make up the vast majority of the audience – which did mean some of the jokes were lost on us 29- and 30-year-olds. Adrian Walsh was followed by sitting at the Ocean Bar (which this time had free seats) listening to the ship’s jazz trio The Neptunes before retiring to bed.
Thursday, 14 November 2013: Dikili
The fifth day of our cruise dawned while we were at anchor outside the Turkish town of Dikili. The town itself has very little to recommend it, and the reason for the ROTTERDAM calling here was something nearby but inland: the ruins of Pergamon, the city with the second-largest library at the antiquity, after the more famous Great Library of Alexandria. So tight was the competition between the two libraries that the Egyptians refused to sell papyrus to Pergamon. This in turn forced the people in Pergamon to invent a new material for writing on – parchment. Indeed, the word “parchment” is derived from the name Pergamon.
However, we decided not to take up the option of going to Pergamon. Having spent the two previous days rather intensely exploring Istanbul, before that walking long distances in Volos (and add to that the grueling traveling to Piraeus just days before), and knowing we would have another intensive day ahead of us tomorrow, exploring Ephesus, we decided a day of exploring Dikili would be just the ticket to gather strengtht for the next day.
Access to Dikili was by a tender and I must say that this was surprisingly slow. My previous experiences at tendering are both from ships of MSC Cruises where things went surprisingly smoothly and quickly. Even though you’d expect a Dutch ship to be more efficient than an Italian ship, the opposite turned out to be true. Then again, we weren’t in a hurry so I’ve got little reason to complain.
As said, Dikili was a small town and quickly explored. But with the benifit of hindshight, it was a very good destination, for it was not a tourist place at all. Sure, there were hotels, but compared to the three upcoming Turkish ports, which all definately qualified as tourist traps, Dikili was very genuine. We walked around the town, looked at some shops, tried Turkish Coffee (which was surprisingly tasty… and I say this as someone who doesn’t like coffee), and made some friends with local cats (again). All in all, Dikili was a very pleasant break-day to have between the intensive ports visited.
Back onboard we had quick lunch at the Buffet (hey, we’re Finnish, we love self-service) and settled in The Crow’s Nest to watch our departure and meandering through the Greek isles (and the mention of Greece is not a typo. When sailing between the Turkish ports, we sailed through Greek territorial waters). Although it must be said that it got dark so quickly there really wasn’t that much to see outside.
For some reason there was an HAL Cruise Planned 2013-2014 laying on one of the tables – I naturally appropriated this. And I must say that when leafing through it, I was shocked to discover how far HAL have gone with the current marketing mantra of abolishing the individual identities of their ships in the name “signature” amenities. Not only do all HAL ships have pretty much identical restaurants and bars onboard, even the bands have the same identity on every ship: all HAL ships have a jazz trio named Neptunes, a classical quarter named Adagio and an eight-piece “party band” named HALcats.
My message to cruise line executives is this: don’t do this. It is not only disrespectful towards the ships and the artists, it also makes people less likely to sail on you again. Just think about it for a moment: If every HAL ship (or every ship of any other company for that matter) is just a carbon copy of all the others, what’s the point of sailing with that company more than once? I for one want to experience not only different destinations but also different kinds of ships, restaurants and entertainment. And as much as I loved my ROTTERDAM cruise, your marketing makes me less likely to sail with you again, because you give the impression I’ve seen all there is to see on a(ny) HAL ship.
But I digress, you are here to read about this particular cruise and not about how I’d do things differently if I ran a cruise line (which of course I’d do fantastically if given a chance 😉 ).
This evening’s entertainment was the brilliant concert pianist Jason Ridgway, who treated us with about an hour of absolutely superb solo piano. Ridgway’s performance was also the first time that anything in the onboard entertainment touched on the area were were sailing in at any way, with two very different arrangements of Mozart’s “Rondo alla Turca” (“Turkish March”).
After mr Ridgway’s performance there was a chance to buy a CD of his performances, and we jumped at the chance, deciding to buy two (one for ourselves and one for Maria’s mother). Ahead of us in the line to get Ridgway’s signature was an elderly woman named Adeline, who told Ridgway she was learning to play Liszt’s Liebensraum no. 3, a piece that appeared on Ridgway’s CD but that he had not played in the night’s performance. Long story short, Ridgway promised to try and play it on his second performance of the night.
After Ridgway’s first performance we headed to The Mix bar to listen to a very different kind of pianist, the ROTTERDAM’s Piano Bar entertainer Les, who was offering a 70s and 80s hour suitably just as we were there. The man was rather skilled and as such it is no surprise the bar was packed. After a while of listening to Les it was time for Ridgway’s second performance – where he did play Liebensraum no. 3, despite not having had any time to practice it between the two performances.
After listening to monsieur Ridgway for a second time, it was time to head for bed and the day exploring Ephesus that was to follow.
End of Turkish Discovery on the ROTTERDAM, part 2.
More to come…
This entry was written while drinking tea from a ROTTERDAM mug.
Special thanks to Maria Id and Martin Cox.
For more photographs by Kalle Id, visit kships.blogspot.com.
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Kalle, OK, so now I understand what you were ‘getting at’ in part 1. Firstly, I have to say that I wholly agree with you regarding HAL’s ‘signature’ amenities. However, I don’t expect that this is limited to HAL, I am sure there is a similar thought process at Princess, Cunard, Carnival, Costa and beyond the Carnival Corp fleets amongst Royal Caribbean and NCL. This is all the more evident when a company has several virtually identical ships (or groups of identical ships). I am certain that were an HAL executive to read your plea not to make everything the same throughout the fleet he would look at you in an uncomprehending way. Quite apart from it being probably an easier way in which to operate and market your cruise line (or indeed, chain of hotels or restaurants)it undoubtedly makes a large proportion of your clientele feel safe, secure and confident in their choice. How many times have you heard or read of someone saying “we always travel with this cruise line or that cruise line”. It’s not a case of always saying we always sail on this ship or that ship, it is not the ship that matters, it’s the product and the perceived sense of security in what is familiar. Remember, Renaissance built 8 identical cruise ships and furnished them identically too, right down to the same pictures in the same places and the same pillows and cushions on the same chairs. Whether it is the cruise lines or the hotel/restaurant chains they are looking at it from the opposite perspective than you and I. Familiarity throughout will ensure people keep on coming back rather than saying “well, OK, been there done that, we don’t need to do it again!”
It’s not just the fact the ships are so alike, thought that is certainly related t omy main criticisms. My single biggest issue was the fact the onboard product had little to nothing to do with the places we sailed to. There was one night with a “turkish bazaar” and that was pretty much it. Another, related, complaint is how little HAL’s history showed in the onboard product. Yes, it heavily featured in the decor, but when it came to the food and entertainment, what was offered was close to a carbon copy of what I’ve experienced on other ships. Sure, everything was done better than on, say, MSC, but it was still a very similar product.
As for people wanting familiarity… I’m not sure they want that. My experience – which I admit can be somewhat limited – is that people want new experiences and want to try out different kinds of ships and onboard products. I’m not saying that the people who want familiarity wouldn’t exist, certainly they do. But it seems to me that the vast, vast majority of cruise lines think all passengers are like that.
Kalle, you and I and probably everyone that reads Maritime Matters may well enjoy new experiences and enjoy discovering the differences that each ship could offer. But I’m pretty sure that Mr and Mrs Average Cruise Passenger wants to step aboard (for example) Zaandam and find their entire on board experience exactly as it was aboard Nieuw Amsterdam – or what ever other two ships of any other major line you care to consider. The ships largely look the same, are decorated the same, for goodness sake the dreadful Theresa Anderson has inflicted her tedious interior decor throughout the Princess fleet and even aboard the Cunard ships. Yes, yes!!! You are right, a lot of the cruise industry thinks that ‘one size fits all.’ As a very good friend said to me on Friday “Yes, but you are not a typical cruise passenger.” A fact that I am very happy about. Why am I not a typical cruise passenger? Because I know that one size does not fit all and I refuse to accept what most of the industry offers me – and that even includes HAL.
I think I would count myself among those who would want something different each time. I’ve never been on a cruise, I’m more than happy to spend a few nights each year aboard the Queen Mary, the relative freedom to explore the ship unfettered is a good part of what brings me back time and again, I’m always finding new things I’ve not seen before. My family is trying to convince me to take them on a Disney cruise, and I’m considering it for next year, but I suspect it won’t be something I’ll particularly enjoy, for some reason, and I’ve never been able to fully explain it even to myself, I have little interest in cruise ships, yet I have a lifelong near-obsession with 20th century ocean liners, to the point where I recently made a 100 mile plus round trip trek to simply touch one of the original Queen Elizabeth’s anchors.
Paul, There was a time, that seems not really so very long ago, when one could take a cruise aboard a ship that had originally been designed and built as an ocean liner. (Indeed, even now after over 65 cruises I have still sailed on more former liners than purpose-built cruise ships). Sailing on such ships one knew and felt that they were ships that had been built with something more than just idle pleasure in mind – albeit their voyages would be pleasurable experiences. Such ships, even when converted into cruising ships, were not filled with multiple dining venues, vast show lounges, climbing walls and deck after deck of cabins with balconies. There was an awful lot about those ships that still gave an essence of their former lives whereas now, in most cases, a cruise is no longer something special, it has been downgraded into just another a holiday choice that is little different from many land-based resorts. We can look back and say “Well Carnival gave those two redundant former Canadian Pacific liners a whole new lease of life, then in later years they ensured a viable future for Costa, Holland America and Cunard. But indeed, at what cost? The names have been saved but the product has been considerably downgraded.
Kelle,
I do agree with you about the repetitiveness of the onboard offerings on most modern day cruise lines. As Clive mentioned, I doubt any of the readers of this website would be what you’d class as an ‘ordinary cruise passenger’. We live and breath ships- what others may find irritating, we find charming. A case in point was sailing on an older vessel like the Marco Polo or the Discovery. There are many features of those ships that would not please the ordinary cruise passenger (albeit they are not aimed at them), that I am sure all of us would find very interesting and characteristic.
In my experience chatting to cruise passengers, a great deal of them cherish familiarity. These are people who have done 20+ cruises on a single line, and do not consider anything else. From their point of view, the respective line satisfies their needs, so why look elsewhere? To them, cruising is a relaxing, luxurious and pleasurable travelling experience. Ships are not the passion that they are to us. While we may want to experience as many different lines, ships and experiences as possible, the reality is that we are nothing but a fraction of the 20 million people that take a cruise every year. Many of them would struggle to recount the name of the ship they were on, never mind the intimate details that we recall as second nature. These people are not any different to us- they have other interests that I am sure they devote a lot of time and thought towards- ones that we do not share. For example, I could not care less about mobile phones, for while certain quality requirements are necessary, the fact that Samsung fits my needs, next time I will need to buy a new one I will simply walk up to the Samsung store. On the other hand, I have a friend who travels nothing but Royal Caribbean that is extremely interested in mobile phones, owning over 100 various models, and can recount every obscure fact to do with them. I am sure he wishes every phone had it’s own operating system, while I would not like to have to jump around from Android to Windows Phone to iOS, etc. What I’m trying to say is that we would love every ship to be different, hell, if every single ship in every single line can be unique ala Queen Mary 2, it would be heaven, but unfortunately that is not the case with many other cruisers.
This is not to say that I personally agree with what Carnival Corp., in particular, has been doing to its brands. While I am aware that to a degree this is driven by economic reasons, I nonetheless cannot but compare many of their brands to a car platform. Take, for example, the Ford D3 platform- you can either spec it as a Ford Taurus (Carnival), previously a Mercury Sable (Princess), or a Lincoln MKS (HAL?), yet while some of the upholstery and the facade may have been altered to create a more premium feel, underneath the car is pretty much the same, with minor changes. With Carnival Corp. brands, it isn’t only the fact that ships are built almost unaltered on the same platform (Costa Serena/Carnival Splendour), but so much of the actual entertainment and general ”feel” of the product is the same from line to line. The only brand that I feel has escaped much of this homogenisation is Seabourn.
While not wishing to turn this into a Carnival Corp vs Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. debate, one cannot help but feel that the former has done more to distinguish their two major brands. This is understandable, for only two of their brands (as opposed to seven of Carnival’s) are in the business of receiving new ships, but there is very little similarities between Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, both in terms of the hardcore as well as the softcore product.
At no point would I wish to diminish the irreplaceable and pioneering role that Carnival Corporation has had in the building of the cruise industry. Nonetheless, having sailed on Princess, P&O, HAL, Costa as well as Seabourn, I feel like HAL and Seabourn are the only two Carnival Corp brands that I would personally consider (Cunard if the grill prices are in line with the product, i.e. premium not the Seabourn rates that they seem to want to charge). Dare I say, this is only my personal view and if you would take a look at the net income per berth for CCL vs RCL in 2012, there is literally not a dollar between them.
Mohamed: Regarding familiarity the thing is that, according to my experience, craving new experiences is not limited just to people like you and me who are ship buffs. For example, every person I spoke to on the ROTTERDAM about cruising were experienced cruisers and they had all tried several different cruise lines. And most of these people were not ship buffs, they were just ordinary people who happen to like cruising.
Do people who want familiarity exist? Absolutely yes, and they may even make up the majority of people who go on cruises. But at the same time, perfectly ordinary, non-ship buff people who want new experiences exist too. And from a purely business point of view, it feels like a missed opportunity that almost every single cruise line out there caters to the former group while ignoring the latter.
Kalle
You have captured something in your photos that usually has not been seen in most reviews of “older” HAL ships sailing and in service for quite a period of time, and that is, the unkempt condition of the HAL ship. I see it when I sail them and have my own collection of seedy in need interior shots.
It seems HAL is all too interested in ripping out Piano Bars, swimming pools and so forth, and adding absurd lanai cabins to the open Promenade Deck. Adding the Culinary Arts Centers is redundant.
This is a cruise line – regardless of its owners- that has had an identity crisis for years – it is old and dated, like its passengers.