I was so looking forward to our day in Rhodes (say ROH-dos) today. In fact, even if we had stayed on the Sapphire Princess for the repositioning cruise to Singapore, we would have enjoyed a day in Rhodes on that itinerary. So when we gave that up, I knew we still had to find a way to get here.
Rhodes has a magnificent history due in large part to its location at the crossroads of Europe and what was once the Ottoman Empire. It is the largest of the Dodecanese Islands, and sits on the far southeastern corner of Greece just 11 miles from Turkey. Because of its location, the sun first rises in Rhodes, and early Greeks believed the island was the birthplace of the sun god Helios. In honor of Helios, they erected one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the famous Colossus of Rhodes. It stood for only 56 years before an earthquake demolished it. Thinking they had offended Helios, Rhodians decided not to re-build it.
As part of the Roman Empire, Rhodes flourished as a shipping center. During the Crusades, its close proximity to the Holy Lands attracted the Crusaders and it became the headquarters of the Knights of St. John and knights from all over Europe passed through Rhodes. In the 14th century, Greece was overtaken by the Ottomans and the Knights moved to Malta. The Ottoman influence is still apparent in some of the architectural elements on the island. They remained in control until the early 20th century when Rhodes fell under Italian rule. The Italians rebuilt some of the medieval structures, such as the Palace of the Grand Master and eliminated some of the Ottoman structures. It was not until after World War 2 that Rhodes finally became part of Greece for the first time.
Rhodes is absolutely perfect as a cruise stop. The walled Old Town is just a five minute walk from the port, there are centuries of history and interesting and picturesque architecture to ponder…and an abundance of shopping and restaurants from which to choose. Honestly, if Disney had crafted a perfect medieval cruise port, it could not have been any nicer.
It made us happy to realize that we’ll be boarding the Pacific Princess in Civitavecchia in Sunday.
And it made us realize how small that ship is, even compared to the (small in today’s world) Norwegian Spirit.
Imagine our delight and surprise when we docked in Rhodes today to see the Pacific Princess already berthed there. It is quite exciting to think that, on Sunday, we’ll be boarding the ship in Civitavecchia, and basically going home for 12 days. Our good Greek weather continued today, and for the first time this season I wore a short sleeved T-shirt (and could have gotten by wearing shorts, though I didn’t). What a change from our past visits to Rhodes. G had been joking that NCL has much better weather than Princess, but, with the Pacific Princess enjoying the same good weather today, it ruined that joke.
We walked off the ship early, shortly after we were cleared by the local authorities at 9am. I had originally been so discouraged when I realized we would be visiting on a Monday. Both of our prior visits had been on Mondays too, and, beginning in November, the Palace of the Grand Master is closed on Mondays. But something must have been different today, and we were thrilled that, not only was the Palace open, but the admission fee was half price (just €3) during the off season. We headed that direction, walking through the shopping and restaurant parts of the Old Town (Sokratous Street) before reaching the Avenue of the Knights.
Norwegian offers a convenient seating area on the pier to wait for other passengers or take a rest.
In chilly Mykonos, we were welcomed back to the ship with warm washcloths.
The walled Old Town of Rhodes
One of the gates to the old town
A courtyard off the Avenue of the Knights 
Along the Avenue of the Knights
I remembered this so well from two years ago (it had been one of my very favorite experiences that season). Being here on the Pacific Princess, the only ship in town that day, we had walked up a nearly empty Avenue of the Knights, and every single photo I took had no people in it. It was very easy to imagine ourselves back in the Middle Ages. Today, there was some construction work being done on the lower part of the Avenue, and quite a few more people (though, I imagine, no where near as many as in the summer). We entered the Palace through its impressive gates and courtyard and purchased our tickets inside.
Entrance to the Palace of the Grand Master
Palace of the Grand Master, built in the 11th century.
We ended up spending nearly two hours touring the Palace. The architecture, a blend of medieval and Italian influences, was extraordinary. There was a special exhibit on the first floor of Byzantine culture, with items such as coins, weights and pottery. The second floor held the massive meeting and dining rooms and offices of senior members of the knighthood. The floors were covered with the same sort of exquisite Roman mosaics we had seen in Montenegro.
Chapel in the Palace
The Palace’s thick walls and narrow windows for defense
Entrance hall of the Palace
(That’s 45 stone steps by the way, with no handrail) :-o
Beautiful ceilings...
...and extensive mosaic floors.
Beautiful ceilings......and extensive mosaic floors. 
The original alabaster windows
Signs of Christian and Muslim (Ottoman Empire) rule
We left the Palace and returned a different way through the Old Town toward the waterfront. We stopped at the same restaurant I had dined at two years ago (while G was taking a Segway tour) for late lunch/ snack (minus the wine this year, which was sad), people watching as we sat at an outside table and re-boarded the ship about 3:30pm. For the first time, we sat on the huge covered deck behind Raffles Buffet and enjoyed the fantastic weather. Also for the first time, we saw a dad and his young children enjoying the pirates pool and slide on the back of the ship. It was definitely the best weather day of our season so far.
We weren’t particularly hungry for dinner at 5:30pm (but that hasn’t stopped us yet)…the menus are just that exciting, the food is just that good and the service by Rico and Derek is just that attentive. Afterward, we went to production show Soul Rockin’ Night in the Stardust Theater. The music was great but we continue to be less than fully impressed with the production shows. I don’t know if it’s the flat choreography (my thought) or the vocalists’ voices (G’s thought) or the poor sound system (both our thoughts), but something is just a bit off (and you know how much we usually love production shows).
Naturally, we stopped by the buffet on the way back to our cabin (actually, it’s not on the way at all). If I didn’t have a crêpe tonight. Is it possible I’m crêped out? Maybe, but I’m sure it’s just temporary setback. G is loving his late night ice cream, but I settled for a cup of coffee tonight.
At 10:15pm we are tucked in bed and I am typing these last words of this post. I think that’s a record for me, and it means a good night’s sleep is in store. We are holding up quite well, but only because we’re skipping all the late night entertainment on this ship.