Cef123

@lesliew… I celebrated a big birthday on Explorer in January 2024. Yes, our wonderful stewards decorated our suite while we were on an excursion. My DH asked that a special bottle of champagne be placed in our mini bar the evening before so that it was chilled ready for us on my birthday. Last, but not least, I’m not a chocolate cake fan, so again, my fabby hubby made a special request for a passion fruit birthday cake which was our dessert that night at a lovely table in P7. The remainder was taken away and miraculously showed up in our mini bar to be enjoyed for several days thereafter. Great attention to detail, great memories, and why Regent is really the best. Just give everyone as much notice as possible for special requests…particularly because it’s a switchover day for the crew.

We were so looking forward to our 40th anniversary Mediterranean cruise on Explorer. Postponed due to Covid and now it was really happening, sailing from Barcelona to Istanbul in May 2022. We had planned 10 days with family in the Loire Valley, then extra days in Barcelona before boarding. On the TGV from CDG to Nantes, my husband’s passport was stolen… lots of lessons here, but we will never place anything on the overhead rack ever again!! No passport=no travel. After train security, police reports, US embassy phone calls, TA phone calls, travel insurance phone calls etc, we turned around and took the next train back up to Paris. As instructed, at 0800 the next morning, we were in line at the US embassy. Turns out that a ‘temporary’ passport is a piece of paper that will get you back into the USA and that’s about all. We opted for an expedited full replacement passport, which takes 10-14 days. Our wonderful cruise was literally sailing away and disappearing before our eyes….there was no amount of Champagne that could cheer me up! To cut a very long story short…. the replacement passport arrived at 4pm on the day that Explorer was sailing from Barcelona, but we knew that Marseille was the port of call the following day. We were still in the Loire. The next few hours are a blur. Multiple phone calls, a hurriedly scheduled Covid test at a local pharmacy, TGV tickets to Marseille on the first train, hotel booking next to the train station that night, taxi to the hotel, Regent arranging with Marseille port services to give us access to the Port. Hoping beyond hope that the French Railways wouldn’t decide to strike! well…… we made it! Boarded the beautiful Explorer at 3pm in Marseille. Best of all, while Bruno was checking us in at reception, out of the corner of my eye I saw the wondrous sight of a waiter approaching with 2 glasses of champagne held aloft on a silver tray. champagne has never tasted SO delicious. I can’t begin to say how helpful Regent was throughout this whole ordeal. We are back on Explorer again this coming January (Sydney to Singapore) and we’ll be holding onto our passports VERY tightly!

The Hammam was https://www.hurremsultanhamami.com It was recommended by our guide from one of our Regent excursions when we arrived in Istanbul. if you go to their website, it is in Turkish, click on the heading ‘Dil’ on the extreme right and it will give you the option to bring up the English Website. you can make a reservation on the website, or call them. Just an FYI: males and females are separated, I really enjoyed my ‘alone’ bath time, but it would have been more fun to go with a girlfriend. I also wish I’d allowed more time at the end of the spa time, just to sip my tea and people watch. Sometime during your time there, be sure to visit the restroom….. I’ll say no more 😄. Enjoy…

We spent several days in Istanbul at the end of our May 2022 Barcelona to Istanbul cruise (on Explorer). We signed up for the ‘Taste of Two Continents’ Food Tour. It was truly amazing… learned so much and ate too much. I would do this tour again in a heartbeat. Loved just wandering about this incredibly vibrant city. We also both experienced a traditional Hamman… thoroughly enjoyed that too. 😄. Have a wonderful cruise and enjoy Istanbul.