July 9 2014 Kusadasi

July 9 2014

Today we were to arrive in Kusadasi (Ephesus) at 7:15 a.m.  I woke up at 6:22 a.m. and Captain Robert had us pulled up to the port already and the ropes were just coming out to tie us to the dock for the day.  Another beautiful morning from the Magic.

I got up and went and had breakfast and then headed into the Bazaar to do some window shopping.  My excursion wasn’t until afternoon today.  The fishermen already had their morning catch lined up for the day.

I wanted to be back on the ship by 11 a.m., because I wanted to check off on my bucket list something I had never done before on the Magic. I was going to watch Tangled on Funnel Vision at 11 a.m.  I have never watched a movie in its entirety sitting around the Goofy pool while on the ship.  Well, 11 a.m. came and went and no movie.  I was watching for about the 10^th time, Disney Trivia.  Kept watching for one of the tech’s to come by or an officer, so I could ask since the Navigator said 11 a.m. but never did see anyone.  Of course, most everyone was off the ship.  

I sat until 11:54 a.m. when the movie finally started.  They still had music on the outside speakers, so the movie was extremely hard to hear.  Since the movie started late, I wasn’t going to meet my goal of watching a full movie on funnel vision and I love the movie Tangled, so I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the whole thing. 

So….after my excursion Enchanted was going to be on, so I came back on the ship and watched funnel vision.  So I did meet my goal for the day.  However, it was frustrating.  Also, when Enchanted was playing, the music was gone that interfered with the morning movie, but the sound was so low it was really hard to hear.  I am wondering if it was just the tech on duty or if this is a common problem.  But it seems when I have walked by in the past, you can easily hear the movies and stuff going on.  Not today.  I’m going to check to see if it is an ongoing problem.

So today my excursion was the Turkish Bath Experience through Disney Cruise Line. 

Here is what the brochure said:   

In history, the Turkish bath was much more than just a place to cleanse the skin, it was intimately bound with everyday life, a place where people of every rank and station, young and old, rich and poor, townsman or villager, could  come freely. Woman as well as men made use of the “haman” as the bath is known in Turkish.

I wasn’t sure what quite to expect, since I have never done anything like this, but here is the rundown.  There were about 18 adults that headed on the bus over to the Turkish Bath House.  It was about 15 minutes from the ship.  We arrived and our host was waiting for us.

The building was beautiful.  The tile work and marble was very detailed.  We were given private locker rooms with keys to the doors, so after we changed into our swimsuits we could keep all our stuff in the room and lock the door. We then were taken to the sauna room where our host said we could stay for up to 10 minutes.  Our host did not speak a lot of English, but our tour guide that met us at the ship participated in the while excursion with us and spoke excellent English so he was able to translate for us if we didn’t understand.

After the sauna room we went into the large Parlor Room that had marble all in the center about 2 ½ feet off the ground.  It is called a “Gobek Tasi” in Turkish (in English it is known as a belly stone).  It is a raised central platform in a Turkish Bath.  We first used these small basins that we chose the temperature on to pour water on ourselves, kinda from warm to cool.  It felt very refreshing.  The room was warm.  You can see the basins to the back of the marble that was in the center of the room.

Our host then took us one by one and we laid down onto the marble surface.  It was warm and was very relaxing.  Then the host scrubbed us with warm water and a loofa in order to open up all your pores to get all the dirt and grim off your body.  Then the next guy used this bag and put bubbles all over us and then washed us.

After that you showered to get the soap bubbles off you.  Then, if you wanted, (which I did) you could get a foot, ankle and lower leg massage.  The host used the pumice stone and got all the dry skin off my feet.  It felt awesome and the massage felt even better considering all the walking that I’ve been doing.  The foot massage was $10 euros extra.

Then, if you wanted, you could get a facial for $10 euros.  So I dove in for that too and got the green mask all over my face and throat. After ten minutes you then washed if off your face.

Next, if you wanted, you could get a full body massage.  15 minutes was $15 euro I think, but I got the 30 minute massage for $24 Euro.  The host rubbed oil on you before doing the massage. The massage was incredibly relaxing and my skin is now so baby soft!  My hair was kinda a mess by the end though!

I spent 44 euros for the three extra services and $55 US to Disney for the excursion.  So I spent about $100 and got a lot more than I every would at home for a massage, pedicure and facial and if I had done it on the ship it would have been more like $300 after they added on the 18% auto gratuity.   

Money well spent in my opinion!  I would do it again…and again….and again…….

Olaf got a picture in front of the little fountain in the reception area:

We returned to the ship about 4 p.m. Got a gelato at the port before getting back on the ship.  All aboard was 4:45 however, two passengers were late and we actually waited for them until 5:10 p.m. before they got on board.  I don’t understand why people come back late all the time.

Got some gorgeous pictures of the Greece coastline after we left the port.

Ran into Goofy after dinner and no one was in line to get a picture so took the opportunity to get a picture even though I was having a bad hair day after my Turkish Bath Experience.

Headed to the Walt Disney Theater for Twice Charmed but stopped and got a picture of the sun setting before going into the theater.  The show was the best!  Jeanna was back and sounded perfect.  You would never know that she had been sick with a cold.

I haven’t been going to the adult entertainment at night, because they aren’t starting the shows in the Walt Disney Theater until 9 p.m., so by the time I get done and visit with other guests I usually head back to the room, especially since we have early port times each morning.

Tomorrow we are in Rhodes, Greece.  Looking forward to my second visit in Rhodes.

Another great day of vacationing!  Goodnight from the Disney Magic!