Day 9: Heraklion, Greece

This morning Silver Moon is docked in Heraklion, Greece, on the island of Crete. This is our first visit to Crete so we look forward to doing a little exploring on our own today. All of the ship’s tours that interested us were sold out by the time we tried to book.

We decided to treat ourselves to breakfast en suite this morning. We filled out the breakfast menu the night before and left it outside our suite. Right on time, our excellent butler, Antonio, arrived with our meal. The coffee table in our living room was quickly converted to a full size dining table complete with linen tablecloth and all the finery you would expect in the restaurant.

Antonio prepares our table for breakfast

Rickee ordered the Eggs Benedict, which were a bit overcooked. We should have written on the breakfast order that she prefers her eggs lightly poached. My ham and cheese omelet could not have been more perfect. All of the items arrived hot and the coffee was especially good. I am not sure why we don’t do this more often.

This morning, I am back in the S.A.L.T. Lab for another cooking lesson. Since the ship is docked in Crete today, we are learning how to prepare two Cretan dishes.

S.A.L.T. Lab on Deck 4

Our instructors today are from the Silver Moon culinary team. One of the chefs prepares the dish while another one tells us about the preparation. TV screens are positioned around the lab so that we can see what the chef is doing at his cooking station. And, the room is small enough that you can always walk up to see what is being done.

Today we prepared Dakos, a sort of Crete version of Bruschetta: tomatoes, black olives, capers and feta cheese on top of barley rusks, which must be soaked in water first. The second dish was Gamopilafo, a traditional Cretan wedding rice dish made with chicken breast, chicken stock, long grain rice, onion and garnished with an asparagus spear.

Dakos

Gamopilafo

The S.A.L.T. Lab is a fun and very informative addition to Silver Moon. I was fortunate to have two sessions here and enjoyed both immensely. After the S.A.L.T. Lab, it was time to visit Heraklion to seek out souvenirs. Once again, Silversea offers a complimentary shuttle bus to take guests to/from the port into the city center. The Heraklion port cruise terminal is only about 100 yards from the ship and the shuttle is just outside the terminal building.

Heraklion port terminal building

We just missed the 11:30am shuttle. It was pulling away as we exited the terminal building. No big deal, we just waited inside the terminal building for the next shuttle. Shuttles run every 30 minutes.

Silversea complimentary shuttle in Heraklion

The ride to the city center, or the shopping district, only takes about 10 minutes. In fact, if you know where you are going, you could easily walk there. However, there is a lot of traffic here and busy intersections, so why not take the shuttle?

The shuttle drops guests within easy walking distance of major pedestrian streets lined with shops and cafes. Had we been more familiar with Heraklion, we would have come into town for lunch at a local spot. Maybe next time?

There are some very nice souvenir shops here and we had no trouble finding the often elusive refrigerator magnet to add to our collection. We still can’t get over how reasonable the prices are here. 1€ for a refrigerator magnet!

Souvenir shop in Heraklion

We spent about an hour walking through the pedestrian streets and came upon a local flea market, of sorts. Small booths or tents have been set up in this area with local artisans selling all types of crafts. We found one booth where a young lady was selling bars of olive oil soap that her mother makes. Rickee bought eight bars to take back home to some of the caregivers who work at the assisted living facility where her mother lives.

Flea market

We were back on board Silver Moon in time for lunch. Once again, we just can’t pass up Arts Cafe. I was still full from my big breakfast and S.A.L.T. Lab meal, so I only had half of one of the delicious desserts at Arts Cafe, a Mango Mousse. I think I may have to go back for another!

Mango Mousse

This afternoon, we enjoyed Team Trivia conducted today by Fernando, The Venetian Society Ambassador and 25-year veteran Silversea Cruise Director. It was great seeing Fernando again. We have sailed with him twice before on Silver Shadow. However, his trivia questions left us without points today.

Fernando De Oliveira has been with Silversea for 25 years!

At 6:30pm this evening, we all gathered in the Venetian Lounge for the Captain’s Farewell Party which followed another incredible performance by The Voices of Silversea. A couple of observations about The Voices of Silversea: I cannot recall ever enjoying so many shows on a Silversea cruise as I have on this cruise. Honestly, we usually skip the shows on Silversea. This is the most talented group of vocalists I can ever remember seeing on a cruise ship. any cruise ship, of any size. Yeah, they are that good!

Voices of Silversea

The entire crew of Silver Moon paraded down the aisle and lined up in front of the stage to receive a lengthy round of applause from the guests for a job well done.

After the Captain’s Farewell Party, we chose to dine at La Terrazza for the second time this cruise. We did not have reservations, but we were accommodated with a beautiful table on the aft deck. The weather was perfect for dining al fresco this evening. The menu has changed slightly since our first visit (it changes every four days).

I ordered the veal chop again, but this one was battered and deep fried. It resembled Schnitzel in texture and taste. It was very good, but I think I prefer the grilled veal chop over this one. Rickee ordered the Gnocchi which were tender little potato dumplings in a buttery sauce.

At 10pm every gathered in the Venetian Lounge again to see Cruise Director, Vicki Van Tassel’s show, ‘SHIP HAPPENS'. We have been enjoying Vicki’s wit throughout the cruise, but her performance tonight really blew us away. This is one very talented lady. She can sing, she can dance and she’s hilarious to boot. If you are sailing with Vicki, do not miss her show!

Vicki Van Tassel in Ship Happens

It has been another amazing day aboard Silver Moon. Tomorrow, we will be docked in Mykonos, Greece. Sadly, it will be our last day aboard Silver Moon. We have booked Mykonos Town Highlights On Foot for tomorrow at 10am, so watch for an update in tomorrow’s blog.