Distance travelled: 2,498 nautical milesFrom Istanbul we were due to break in to the openness of the Black Sea and arrive in to Constanta, Romania the following day. However, as we have now changed our itinerary due to bad weather, our next stop is back the way we came, back through the Dardanelle Strait, back past Izmir and on to Marmaris (still in Turkey). For this reason, the day after Istanbul is now a day spent at sea. I woke up conscious of the ship vibrati...

Distance travelled: 2,030 nautical miles  Please note: The BS in the title of this blog stands for Black Sea (what else did you think it stood for??) I just couldn't fit the whole title in due to a restriction of characters!!!  "It is 283 nautical miles from Izmir, technically in Asia, to Istanbul, technically in Asia AND Europe. Our route took us north across the Aegean Sea to the Dardanelle straight. This 39 mile canal is only 4.5 miles at its widest a...

Total miles travelled: 1,747 nautical milesSo far I have been stating the distance we have travelled since the beginning of the cruise. The distance is in nautical miles. I may have already explained this previously but for those of you who aren't aware, a nautical mile is calculated to account for the curvature of the earth. 1 nautical mile is equal to 1 minute of 1 degree of the earth’s circumference. Therefore 1 degree is equal to 60 nautical miles. ...

Our next port of call, Istanbul is 1118 nautical miles from Civitavecchia and there were 2 sea days before arrival. Time for some relaxation and catching up on my blog while Roisin tried to catch up on topping up her tan!!!The route took us down the Tyrrhenian Sea where we passed the Island of Stromboli off the North coast of Sicily. Stromboli is one of 3 active volcanoes in Italy, the other 2 being Etna, on Sicily itself, and Vesuvius over shadowing the Bay of N...

It is 286 nautical miles from Izmir, technically in Asia, and Istanbul, technically in Asia AND Europe. Our route took us north across the Aegean Sea to the Dardanelli straight. This 39 mile canal is only 4.5 miles at its widest and is as narrow as 0.7 miles. The canal joins the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara which in the past has been the site of numerous wars. The fight for control of this stretch was the original motive for the start of the cold war in 194...