Luxury Cruise Bible

Black Sea Cruise on the Regent Navigator

Submitted by: Leslie from New Mexico

Cruise Details

• Cruise line: Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• Ship: Seven Seas Navigator
• Date of sailing: 7/2/2008
• Number of nights: 10
• Embarkation point: Istanbul, Turkey
• Debarkation point: Athens, Greece
• Ports of call: Nessebur, Bulgaria; Constanta, Romania: Odessa, Yalta, Sevestopol, Ukraine; Sochi, Rusia; Tranzon, Turkey, Mitillini, Greece
• Stateroom category: E
• Stateroom number: 709
• How did you book your cruise? Traditional travel agent
• Travel agent: Brown & Keene
• How many times have you sailed with this line? 3
• What other cruise lines have you sailed?
• What is your favorite cruise line? Seabourn, and Hapag Lloyd

Ratings

• Overall Rating 4
• Ship Condition 4
• Public Rooms 4
• Stateroom 5
• Food & Wine 4
• Spa, Gym, and Salon 4
• Entertainment 3
• Enrichment Program 3
• Internet & Phone Service 4
• Excursions 4
• Service 5
• Value 4

Pre-cruise

We did our own air for the cruise, upgrading to business class on American to Frankfurt and booking separate tickets on Lufthansa using our United miles from Frankfurt to Istanbul and then Athens to Frankfurt at the end of the cruise. Since we were on multiple tickets on multiple airlines, I worried about getting our baggage successfully checked through to Istanbul so I shipped one large suitcase to our hotel in Istanbul with Luggage Forward and we just carried on two small rolling bags. Although pricey, this was a great option and one I will likely repeat in the future.

We opted to take the four night pre-cruise package “Cappadocia—Land of the Fairy Chimneys” from Regent, which included two nights at the Ritz Carlton in Istanbul and two nights in Cappadocia along with flights, most meals, tours, and transportation. We had a small group of six people plus a terrific guide. The price was very reasonable at $1,195 pp.

Upon arrival in Istanbul we were met and transferred to the Ritz and later walked down to the Bosphorus for a seafood dinner. Our first day tour in Istanbul was on Sunday; since there was barely any traffic we were treated to a driving overview of the city neighborhoods, including a drive over the bridge to the Asian continent. The rest of the day we toured Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sofia. We met up with friends that night for a dinner on a balcony of a restaurant just off Istiklal Street and the Çiçek Pasajı.

Our first hotel in Cappadocia (Lykia Lodge) wasn’t satisfactory so our guide arranged for us to change hotels to the Museum Hotel, a stylish boutique hotel partially carved out of rock. We were all very impressed with our guide’s ability to arrange a hotel change and asked why Regent didn’t just book the Museum Hotel initially; she stated that Crystal uses the hotel but that Regent is concerned about all the steps being a problem for some guests so they choose to go with the subpar Lykia Lodge because it has an elevator.

We had gorgeous weather there, in the 80s, much better than the usual 100-plus-degree temperature typical in June. We crawled through underground cities, walked through valleys among the fairy chimneys, visited rock churches, met a woman still living in one of the carved cave homes that our guide has been helping over the years, visited Goreme and its amazing rock churches, had champagne at sunset overlooking the Rose Valley, took an optional sunrise hot air balloon tour, and much more. Since all in the group were adventurous eaters our guide arranged meals at fabulous small restaurants with a wide range of amazing Turkish food.

Upon our return to Istanbul we visited the Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, and were delivered to the Navigator for boarding around 4 pm with enough time to do a quick load of laundry and participate in the lifeboat drill before joining friends for cocktails and dinner.

Ports:

• Nessebur, Bulgaria—Nessebur has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The town was founded in the 6th century BC by the Greeks. The old town is self contained and located on a peninsula connected to the mainland seaside resort area by a narrow isthmus. We explored the town, which has pretty streets with interesting architecture and dozens of churches dating from the 5th to 17th centuries. Unfortunately the town’s charm is diminished by hundreds of tourist shops lining the streets.

• Constanta, Romania—We signed up for the Regent ship’s excursion to the historic citadel of Histria, billed as the “Pompeii of Romania”, about an hour bus ride from the port. First we were ushered into the museum on site housing many of the architectural finds from the Greek, Roman, and Byzantium eras during which the site was occupied. Our guide translated the commentary of a museum worker there, which was a bit tedious, even though the items on display were interesting and had English signs. Since our guide perceived the day to be extremely hot (actually it was warm, but not unpleasant) she only gave us about 10 minutes to walk through the site itself. On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Folk Museum displaying costumes, textiles, photos from the past, and more.

• Odessa, Ukraine—For our four ports in the Ukraine and Russia a friend set up our private touring for a small group and our guides were terrific. Odessa, was quite interesting. I always think that these former Soviet Union cities will be depressing, but while Odessa is a bit “crumbling”, it has some European charm and a nice seaside location along a semi-circular bay in the northwest corner of the Black Sea. Many cultures settled there so there is quite a mix of architecture, especially French and Italian. Quite a few buildings and promenades were under re-construction. We had a short, guided visit of the Literature Museum, with a museum guide speaking and our guide translating. Suddenly we were rushed out by the staff without getting to look at all the literature displays. There were no English translations anywhere so we wouldn’t have really known what we were looking at, but I love museums like the British Library and would have liked a bit more time. We visited two Orthodox churches, the Uspensky and Preobrazensky Cathedrals. They were really fascinating because there were small services, including a baptism, going on while we were there. There was one priest singing and swinging incense, there are no seats, everybody stands, icons and gold were everywhere The older ladies were especially interesting looking! Our guide told us that when she was a baby her mother spirited her out of town and had her secretly baptized because her father was a member of the Communist party and could never know. We also stopped at the Privoz market which was a slice of life, very crowded, full of people trying on clothes over their clothes, eying $5 plastic knock off purses, haggling over good-looking fresh produce, disgusting-looking hanging displays of dried fish, etc. Our guide was quite relieved that nobody in our group got lost or robbed! We had a lunch at a cute restaurant of typical Ukrainian food—stuffed cabbage rolls and a selection of perogi-type dumplings that we all enjoyed.

• Yalta, Ukraine—We continued our private touring in Yalta, a beautiful and historic port on the Crimean Coast, this time with a terrific guide, Anna, who would also accompany us in Sevestopal. Yalta is a lovely seaside resort city. We began our tour at the lovely Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. We arrived during a service so we could only peek inside but the exterior is stunning. Next stop was Livadia Palace, summer residence of the Romanovs and the site of the famous Yalta Conference, held in February 1945 when FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met to determine the post war reorganization of Europe. The palace contains the conference table as well as a recreation of the bedroom FDR occupied while in residence. Next we visited Vorontsov Palace, the summer residence of Count Michael Vorontsov; Churchill stayed here during the Yalta conference while FDR stayed at Livadia Palace. Enroute back to the ship we stopped for a scenic view of the tiny Swallow’s Nest castle built on a cliff.

• Sevastopol, Ukraine—Anna met us at the pier for our highlights of Sevastopol tour. The ship’s itinerary was changed at the last minute due to military exercises (perhaps in preparation for the ensuing conflict between Russia and Georgia, which occurred less than a month after we returned?) We had an abbreviated stop in Sevastopal but we managed to fit in what we were most interested in seeing. Our first stop was the Panorama Museum, an incredible 360-degree gigantic painting and 3D diorama of the siege of the city during the Crimean War. Not knowing what to expect we were all blown away by this fabulous museum. Next we visited a creepily fascinating former nuclear submarine base at Balaclava, It brought back memories of the air-raid drills in grade school in the 60s. I’m actually quite surprised they have opened it up as a museum. Our guide said she has talked to some men who worked there and they are still unwilling to say anything about their time there and what they did. We all felt that perhaps we should have brought along a Geiger counter, especially after seeing one display of a worker in his haz-mat suit all lit up in red. An interesting juxtaposition at the site (or “military object” as it was defined) is the sight of the harbor filled with yachts when you emerge from underground—how things have changed (especially for the Russian mafia.) Our final stop was for a view over the valley where the Charge of the Light Brigade occurred.

• Sochi, Russia—Sochi, situated just north of the southern Russian border, was established as a fashionable resort area under Stalin. The city sprawls 90 miles along the shores of the Black Sea against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. The city has been selected to host the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014. Our stop in Sochi began with a walk on the seaside promenade with our private guide, Nina. Back in the day Sochi was primarily a health resort and many of those in power came there for the sanatoriums or spas. Downtown Sochi is booming in the run up to the 2014 Olympics and real estate is extremely expensive. Traffic was a nightmare and limits what you can see in a reasonable amount of time. We drove to a park at the top of Mount Akhun for a view of the Black Sea and Caucasus mountains. The highlight there was the opportunity to hold and pose with various animals, including a lion cub, for a fee. I was amazed by how green and scenic the whole area is, mainly forested with sparsely settled valleys and tall mountains as a backdrop to the almost turquoise sea. The Olympic venue is quite far from the coast (1 1/2 hours) so it will be interesting to see how they handle the logistics over the next 6 years. We toured Stalin’s gloomy dacha, one of five built for him. The buildings were painted green to camouflage them and the interiors, complete with a wax figure of him, were just as gloomy as the exterior. Some of our group played a little game of pool on Stalin’s billiard table. On the way back to the ship we stopped at the fruit and vegetable market.

• Trabzon, Turkey—We signed up for the morning excursion to Sumela Monastery, built in the 4th century, and restored and rebuilt several times over the years. It clings to the side of a mountain like a monastery in Tibet or Bhutan. We all thought it was a don’t-miss excursion. Although the site is usually enshrouded in fog we were lucky to arrive on a day with clear blue skies. In the afternoon we visited some sites in town, the Aya Sofia 13th-century church, a mosque, and Ataturk’s summer villa. Trabzon, a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey, is not a port on the tourist/cruise ship circuit and I don’t think too many people, and probably no taxi drivers, speak English. Our guide for the Regent excursion was flown in from Istanbul. He was terrific and had many interesting stories to tell about his life, Turkish history and politics, the conflict between Islamists and secularists, etc.

• Mitilini (Lesvos), Greece—Officially named Lesbos, more often called Mitilini after its principal city, the island is the third largest in Greece, famed for its olive oil. Its undulating hills are said to support 11 million olive trees, which glisten silver in the sunlight, while the higher peaks are swathed in deep pine forests. We were tendered for only a few hours so we on board and had a “sea day” with massages. Some went ashore for ouzo tasting and taxi drives to see a bit of the island.

Dining

On the Navigator you have the choice of dinner in Compass Rose, the main dining room, or up in the Portofino Grill that was turned into an Italian restaurant with a set menu in the evening. We ate there one night, which was OK. Fortunately they discontinued the singing waiters! Our past Regent cruises were on the Voyager, a larger ship, with multiple dining venues; we really missed having the multiple options. In Compass Rose we noticed that the staff seemed stretched and we did not get as much personal attention as in our past cruises. In addition, menu offerings were not as extensive.

Ship Activities and Entertainment

This was a port intensive cruise; we were on the go every day but one. Although I’m not sure how they would have fit them in, I was surprised that Regent didn’t offer much in the way of enrichment lectures since the history of this area is so fascinating. For activities we enjoyed trivia and games of pooch in the late afternoon. Most evenings we met up with friends in Gallileo’s for pre-dinner drinks and then on to dinner. We are not big fans of cruise ship entertainment so I can’t report on that for this cruise. We also had several massages in the spa, using up our on-board credits, which were all terrific. We opted not to bring our laptop on this trip and used the ship’s computers in the library, which often had a wait unlike the large computer room on the Voyager. While I like the size of the Navigator and think it is fine for a port intensive cruise I would probably hesitate to take it on a longer cruise with more sea days.

Disembarkation

Disembarkation in Athens was very easy. We joined friends for breakfast while we waited for our group to be called. I arranged a taxi ahead of time to meet us and take us to the airport, which went off without a hitch given the huge cruise terminal facilities with multiple ships arriving at the same time. Since we could not get home all in one day we flew to Frankfurt and stayed over at the Sheraton at the airport, located within walking distance of the terminal and then caught our flights back to Dallas and on to Albuquerque the following day. During our cruise there was an ongoing strike at Lufthansa but fortunately it was resolved before we disembarked.

For More Information…

…talk with your travel agent, call Regent Seven Seas Cruises at (877) 505-5370, or visit their website.