Joanandjoe

This is a review of the four day pre-cruise trip we took threee weeks ago before boarding the Regent Seven Seas Navigator. We hope to write a cruise review as well. Cappadocia review We'll write more when we get over the terrible colds (actually, bronchitis for Joe) which we got from the miserable weather on the trip. It rained all or part of the day the first 9 of our 13 days (we never did see the sun in a week in Turkey), with an all day rain three of the days (a downpour with wind at Ephesus). Despite the awful weather, it was a great trip. Cappadocia is beautiful beyond belief! An uncomfortable Transatlantic trip, with jet lag and cramped conditions, improves when we see a charming girl holding a sign with our names on it. Seamless connections to the hotel. We find a delightful restaurant on the Taksim Square, and enjoy our meal fully. We were part of a group of 8, with the two of us (ages 64 and 62) the babies of the group. Three or four of the others were over 80, and maybe 5 of the 8 had mobility problems. So there was no hotel switch. We met our guide, Sayat Turabik, in the lobby of the hotel. Nobody gave us a name or meeting time, but we were ready early in spite of our jet lag, and eventually connected with Sayat in Istanbul. For what we paid, we should have had that information. Sayat handed us a printed schedule of our Cappadocia adventure. We spent the morning visiting Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Sayat's advice about shopping the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar was accurate and helpful. Lunch at Hamdi was superb. We had a view of two continents, appetizers and pizza, and a mixed entree. I bought 1/2 c. saffron for $2.00, and Rahat Locum (known simply as Lokum in Turkey). Back to the hotel by 3:30, we walk around and find a modest restaurant. We're drinking bottled water, on Sayat's advice. Superb buffet breakfast in the hotel, a delightful meal. Turkish airlines gets us to Cappadocia in the rain. They serve a meal on the short flight: yogurt, water, cheese sandwich. A bit of sunshine for about two minutes, a waiting bus, and our tour begins. We hike up and down the justifiably famous Goreme Open Air Museum. We visit Avanos, walk into a cave and see a potter making a dish. I don't buy, although the place is obviously a shop. More sight-seeing of the remarkable Cavusin and Pigeon Valley, more caves. Wonderful lunch in a restaurant where they bake your stew in a clay pot and break the pot to serve you. The local wines are quite good, as my fellow-travelers sip a glass or two at their own expense. We are greeted with juice or wine on arrival. Unpacking, refreshing baths, and a buffet dinner fill our evening. Everyone's happy with an early bedtime. Buffet breakfast the next day is excellent, bountiful and varied. Joe and I acquire a taste for their cherry juice. Joe is now insisting that PANORAMA is the Turkish word for Gift Shop, half-jokingly. The Turkish Lira is worth less than the dollar, so shopping is a pleasure. The Lykia Lodge, is, I'll admit, a bit dreary; but we weren't there for much else other than eating and sleeping. They greeted us with complimentary beverages (hard or soft). We got two good nights of sleep, so the small rooms didn't bother us. The food at the Lodge was terrific: great buffets at breakfast and dinner. We almost became addicted to sour cherry juice! The other meals on the trip were excellent, with one exception: a perfectly awful lunch at the Topkapi Palace just before we boarded the ship. The guide, Sayat, was a very flexible guy. Seeing the age of the group, he switched our whiling Dervish reservations from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30--and we had front row seats. When it became obvious that the group (other than me) had knees too tricky for the underground city (the vote was 7 to 1 against going, with Joe the one Yes), we went instead to the Keslik 4th century cave monastery. The frescoes are far more expressive than anything in Europe at this time, and the keeper is happy to see us. We are the sole tour group there. Sayat finds us a Roman excavation so recent, we can't photograph it because it has not been fully recorded yet. Fascinating. We even went to a winery. The fairy chimneys are wonderful beyond description. We do not have a chance to ride a donkey, but we have a wonderful visit. Sayat jokes the donkey ride is $1- to get a ride and $10.00 to get off....Plane back to Istanbul the next day is a nightmare of people trying to get 10 bags each into the overhead compartment, a lobby without bathrooms or water, and the seats in the far back of the plane. It's a holiday weekend, and Topkapi Palace is so crowded we can't get close to the exhibits, and the lunch here is only so-so. (Joe's view--bloody awful!) The wind and rain make the Navigator especially welcome. Joan

HI! We had a wonderful time when formal night fell on October 31. The Captain wore his kilt and full formal clan attire, Jay and Carol Peterson came as a muscular Anthony and lovely Cleopatra, and Joe and I wore long, flowing caftan and djabellah with funny matching Turkish hats. I gave out 70+ genuine Turkish bookmarks, and the Social Director took wonderful pictures of us with the Captain. That formal night was one of the high points of the cruise, not merely because we tried to work in a Halloween theme, but because the staff and fellow passengers also joined in the laughs. Joe does not own a tux. He will buy one for our son's wedding, but our son is 34 and "why buy the cow when the milk is free?" is our son's motto. Formal night is always an extra effort....but some of the couples look so fine in their glad rags, it's often worth the effort. The real problem is tighter baggage allowances. As long as airlines punish you for checking suitcases, there will be a push by cruise passengers to save weight by eliminating formal nights. I might add that sentiment on the "critical board" for Regent is very mixed on this subject.

We're leaving for our land trip to Turkey, followed by a cruise from Istanbul to Rome, tomorrow afternoon, and have plans for most of the day before then. Therefore, I dicided to say "so long for now" today. We'll write again when we're back on 11/10. J & J

We've just picked up the docs for our 10/30 cruise from Istanbul to Rome on the Regent 7 Seas Navigator, with a four day pre-cruise trip to Istanbul and Cappadocia. (Yes, we have a scheduled Whirling Dervish performance). We fly to Turkey on the 25th. We did a doc dance when we got home - I even imitated some of the Whirling Dervish head spins. We're really excited! I even celebrating the doc pickup by eating lunch at a Turkish restaurant. The Adana Kabob, rice, shepherd's salad, and Turkish tea were great. 17 days to go!

Where in Crete? We'll be at Iraklio (Heraklion) in early November.

Our experience in Barcelona in November, 2004 was very different from Debbie & Jerry's in Miami. We were given our new cruise cards very early, and were able to leave the ship before most PAX debarked. We strolled the Ramblas, then took the subway to the Gaudi Church. We also managed to see a museum, go to a market, and stop to see the Ramblas entertainers, and still got back on the ship for a late lunch before most new PAX embarked. Coming back to the ship (the Windstar Wind Surf) was like returning to an old friend. Since we were in the EU, if there were any customs formalities, they we so minimal that we don't remember them. If you're doing a turnaround in a US port, things might be more complicated.

Palma de Majorca?

Lisbon?

Our first cruise was our 30th anniversary cruise, Vancouver to Seward, in the HAL Noordam in 1998. The first port was Ketchikan, where we walked around the city on our own. No excursions.

Based on research on Insuremytrip dot com, there are at least 2 companies that allow you to purchase insurance withing 24 hours of final payment. We use one of them, CSA. We're not familiar with the other one. There are two caveats to this. First, the insurance is more expensive than if bought within X days of the deposit. Second, our TA's parent company believes that there have been some problems with clains, and no longer sells it (so we had to purchase it on our own). Our only claim, for a trip cancelled due to illness, was with another company, so I have no vews on whether there is a problem with claims.

I used Cruise TT a few times late last year and early this year. Then it had two major flaws: you had to page through each port month by month until you reached the month of your cruise (and I was looking a a cruise a year away); and it didn't list either cruise ships catering to non-Americans or most lines with small ships. I'm glad to see that the first problem has been cured. The secon one has not been cured, and my favorite line, Regent, is still not listed. I don't think lines such as Aida, Hapag-Lloyd, Seabourn, Silversea, or Sea Dream are listed either.

I have a new job, and had to get a special dispensation from the territory manager in order to take this year's cruise. No way I can plan for next year yet: we're nopt even supposed to take vacation until we hit the one year mark next June.

Apparently the poll did not work; but I'll put in my 2 cents anyway. I always thought that embarkation photos were a total waste. You arrive at the ship a bit harried and hassled, and someone points a camera at you just when you're at your worst. We've never had one that was good enough to buy. Port of call photos at least make some sense. After you've been on the ship awhile, you're relaxed; and there's at least a chance that the photo will be good. In effect, digital cameras have nade these photos obsolete. You simply hand your camera to another passenger, and he/she keeps shooting until there's a good picture. Then you do the same for him ot her. Our favotite cruise line, Regent, has eliminated photographers fotr the reason mentioned in the above paragraph.

Unbelievable, indeed. This supposed pirate cruise is apparently an urban myth.

The lines are as different from each other in Europe as anyplace else. If you want a European experience in Europe, try MSC or Costa; otherwise you may prefer your favorite line for other cruises. We can't much help with the favorite lines on this board. since our two European cruises were on Windstar, and our next one will be on Regent. We've had three cruises on Windstar and two previous ones on Regent. We haven't been on Carnival, Royal Carib or Princess, love HAL, and, unlike most people here, disliked both our cruises on Celebrity.

Our B2B experience on the Wind Surf in 2004 was quite different from Mary Lou's; although, like May Lou, we did not change rooms. Our first leg was Nice to Barcelona. At Barcelona, we were given our new cruise cards, then were allowed to leave the ship quite early. (In contrast, Mary Lou apparently stayed onboard.) We spent a great day ashore in Barcelona, then at lunch time (a very late lunch) we breezed back on board before most of the nex PAX came on board. By then, the ship felt like hone, as we sailed for another week from Barcelona to Lisbon.

Obviously, you should see what's offered by the cruise line. A typical Canada/New England cruise contains a lot of ports where you really can do great things on your own: Boston, Montreal, Halifax, Quebec City, Newport, and Portland. We've been to all six of these places on our three Canada/New England cruises, including twice in Halifax and three times in Boston, and didn't take a shore excursion in any of them.

Fall, because it's cheaper than other seasons, and the weather is neither too hot or too cold. 2nd choice: spring, because of the weather.

For a Yankees fan, there are no blessings in having the Dread Sox win two WS titles.

We've had three cruise ship stops in Boston, and lived there for three years when we were students. We found great things to do all three times. However, Boston is, in effect, a tender port: the cruise ship terminal is a long way from the Hub (downtown), and most ships supply shuttles to the Fanuel Hall Market area. That means that your time in the interesting part of the city is, at best, 3 p.m. to 8 or 8:15. Get a good online directory (or a guidebook from your library); then check for restaurant recommendations for an early supper, or for museums and attractions that are open late the night you're in port. The Fanuel Hall Market Place is open until 9 every evening except Sunday. so that's something you can do after other things close. Here's what we did on our three Canada-New England cruises. Please bear in mind that we were in Boston during daylight hours, morning to afternoon. You won't be able to do this much due to timing. Also, we spent some time at the market each time, so it's not mentioned for the specific itineraries. Trip 1, Regal Empress. Took Subway to the Science Museum. After lunch, Joan went back to the ship, while Joe went for a walk to Boston Common and the public garden. Trip 2. We had never been to the quirky Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum while we were students, because (amazingly) it was closed on weekends in the late 60s. We made that our priority, and went by subway. We also went to the Art Museum, and had lunch in the Newberry St. area. (We didn't go to the top of the Prudential Center, but that's something else to do.) We then walked through the garden and common all the way back to Fanuel Hall. Trip 3. We walked the Freedom Trail. We had done that many times, but never all the way to the Constitution in Charleston. We had a great tour of Old Ironsides, and saw an interesting movie about the Battle of Bunker Hill. The we did another new thing for us: we took a ferry from Charleston back to Boston. Terrific! BTW, while I was on a business trip to Boston, Joan took a national parks tour of the historic area. If the timing is right, that's also a good idea. All in all, a great city (other than its baseball team). Joe

I'm puzzled by the responses regarding room service. All of the lines I've been on, other than the river cruise, offered a full dining room menu while the dining room was open. With one exception, a dinner served course by course, we've never had room service for a meal other than breakfast, and it was always a hot breakfast. Is that unusual? We have had room service snacks, and there the menu was limited. We agree with the idea of a clock with larger numbers than the tiny ones on the DVD player. I also think a night light would be good. As for a coffee machine, I think that cruise lines would regard it as a fire hazard. (Not that it's important to me, since I haven't had a morning cup of coffee in many, many years. I'm a tea drinker.)

Tendering won't stop us from gong ashore, unless the seas are rough; but it's still a drag not being able to come and go as you please. We had one port (Porquerolles, France) where I went back to shore for a second time after lunch, while Joan stayed on the ship because she though the seas were too choppy. She thought that my skin color when I got back to the ship was the loveliest shade of green she's ever seen. We had another cruise that was almost all tenders. One or two on a trip isn't bad, but four or five was a bit much. We now refer to the cruise as "the tender trap".

Yes, our plans have changed. When we gave our response, we assumed we would have no cruises in 2009. Now we're booked on an Istanbul to Rome cruise, beginning 10/30/09.

We've never been to Jamaica or Nicaragua. We might not go back to the Caribbean; but that's because we hate hot weather (even in the winter), not because any port has been bad. I can't say we;'e ever had a truly bad experience in any port. Some parts, such as Mayreau (Grenadines) and Porquerolles (France) were so small that we feel no need to go back; but there was nothing wrong with our experience in either place.

We're such non-drinkers that we seldom have a pre-dinner drink, and never have more than one, even on Regent, where booze is included in the fare. (We do have wine at dinner, and sometimes at lunch.)