kjbacon

On 11/4/2023 at 11:01 AM, Hambagahle said:

Our 21 April cruise Valetta to Trieste should have gone to Istanbul and Kusadasi (both places I had been before) and now we visit Kotor, Heraklion and Santorini - all of which I have been to before.  I am not unhappy with this decision because I did want to see Heraklion and Santorini again.  I am sorry, very sorry, that we won't see Ephesus or Istanbul on this cruise but we can always fly there in a couple of hours and visit them (though I am not sure exactly how we would get to Kusadasi from Istanbul!).  I was hoping Turkey would not fall victim to what is happening in Israel and Gaza but it has.  A real shame.  But the new ports suit me just fine.  In fact if the ship were just to sail off and go around in circles for 10 days I would be fine with that too!!  Oceania (and Regent) are great companies to sail with...

You are right that both Regent and Oceania are great companies to sail with.

Many of the changes don’t make sense to me though. For example, you say you had Heraklion added to your changed itinerary and yet we had Heraklion removed from our changed itinerary (a port we were very excited to call on).

We are probably going to cancel, given the 14 or so port changes and the multiple duplicated ports. Neither of us would have ever considered a 36 night Med cruise. 

On 11/11/2023 at 11:47 PM, dock said:

Our summer ‘24 ,Athens-Istanbul cruise , still has all 6 Turkish ports of call. 
 

I’m waiting to see what ports they would switch them to and hopefully well before final payment, if they are planning on changes. 
 

Our October 2024 has had all Turkish ports cancelled, along with with many others, and we were notified a couple of weeks ago. It makes no sense that yours are not cancelled. We are probably going to cancel our cruise, too many changes and too much duplication.

@DaveFr thanks for the info, even if it’s not what I wanted to hear!

@Qld13 we will be on grandeur in January as well … hope to see you and the cheese cart 😁

I hope it’s true …a monstrosity maybe but a most delicious one!

Thank you @GeorgiaPeach51 for the terrific reviewing and helpful info!

Thank you, @dgannett and @kej1 that’s good to hear. We booked that cabin for the location and the layout. Love a spacious shower and a big aft balcony!

@loriva thanks so much for the good, detailed reporting. You are quite right about those bathroom breaks lol we aren’t in our 20’s anymore!

Our first experience with Destination Services was on the Explorer in ‘16 or maybe ‘17 and it was outstanding, one of if not the best teams on the ship. That was a one and done as we have had the same negative experiences that most have with DS since.

We have also been so fortunate to know Prakesh, an absolute gentleman and I would be thrilled to see him on the Grandeur in January. We also hope that Georgianna will be on board.
 

It sounds like you had a great time and I do understand your thoughts on the price point although we hear you much more on Oceania but not as much on Viking. All good though! If you do book for ‘26, hopefully a leg of the WC will look good to you. 

@GeorgiaPeach51 so glad you enjoyed the salad!

Malta pics are terrific! We are going for the first time next year.  Can you walk into town from the port?

We have enjoyed all the snorkeling excursions that we’ve done in Aruba and curaçao because the water is so warm. Both islands are also very safe for walking around and exploring on your own. Curaçao has a fantastic floating bridge that is definitely worth checking out and is a reasonable walking distance from the port.

Grenada has a nice clear bottom kayak tour but otherwise, we don’t get off the ship in Grenada. We don’t feel as safe as we do on other islands.

@GeorgiaPeach51 please let us know if you liked the salad and what else you order.

We are booked in a spa suite for next year so this is very concerning. Our first trip on Seabourn was lacking in the service of our room and now, we can expect it to be worse? Ugh!

17 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Last night we had our first truly delicious meal, and it was in Jacques.  That is the restaurant O, in its’ infinite wisdom, has done away with on Vista.  Based on our wonderful meal last night I would say that is ill-advised.  We did not have a reservation but were told to show up at 6:30, and they seated us at 7.

 

Service was excellent.  Food was truly yummy.  I got a lobster gnocchi appetizer that was perfect, light and fluffy.  You know who got half of it.  True French Onion soup that I wanted very much to finish but could not if anything else was going to be enjoyed.  Pork something or other with apple and a lovely sauce.  Delicious potatoes.  Every single thing was really good, and the portions were small, so you could enjoy without having to waddle out the door.  For dessert, having learned my lesson, I got the pistachio crème brûlée AND the chocolate mousse, and the chocolate mousse was the only disappointment….it was just a touch salty and had the consistency of that old package whipped pudding, the name of which escapes me.  Readi-whip?

 

Rolf got the escargot, which he loved.  Then he had Coquille St. Jacques, which he did not…scallops were not tender and there was no sauce to speak of.  He pronounced my version at home to be much better.  So he got half of my pork.  He didn’t want to bother with ordering something else.  The waiter was certainly concerned that he didn’t enjoy it.  We are in Jacques again tonight and looking forward to it.  Our favorite so far.

We loved Jacques when we were on Riviera last year and couldn’t agree with you more … we are on Vista next year and think the absence of Jacques is the worst!

If you enjoy salad at all, they have a Boston Lettuce Salad appetizer with Roquefort cheese that is one of the best dishes that I’ve ever had on a ship. While it is “only a salad” it is perfectly prepared and the flavor combination is absolutely delicious. Enjoy Jacques and the rest of your trip!

18 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

If Joan Sheridan is available, you will have the best tour ever- she is a history buff and knows the best places to go.  In St John's Cathedral she just bypassed out the people with electronic devices to do the tour and led us right to the Caravaggio paintings and gave us a wonderful history. In Mdina, she knew everyone and introduced us to the Mayor.

https://www.maltatourguide.com/

 

Thank you! I have reached out to her. 

Thank you all so much for the WWII info; he will love it. When I looked just now for some of those places, I came across the fact that Malta has a HOHO bus so that will be perfect for our first stop in Malta. Perhaps a food and wine tour would be good on the second stop (if we do follow through with the cruise).

The new itinerary also swaps out several ports in Greece and Cyprus … very disappointing and not as understandable. We have about a dozen port changes so it’s not an easy decision. Still, a very privileged problem to have!

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

If I understand the OP, part of their issue is that the addition of these new ports means that they will be called on TWICE in the same voyage...

 

If that is the case, I would not be very tempted. While all of the ports are worth a visit, I'm not sure they are worth TWO visits on the same cruise.

 

Yes, twice. We have about a dozen ports that are changed on this cruise and the 3 mentioned above will be called on twice, about a week apart. We’ve been to Dubrovnik and Kotor before but not Valetta.

7 hours ago, LWFM said:

Although we have not received formal notice our September 2024 Cruise Athens to Istanbul on the Riviera has also been modified to include Kotor, Dubrovnik Corfu and Mykonos. All ports we have been to and loved but are not interested going back to at this time. We choose O for the itinerary, specifically so we could visit Egypt and Israel and at the time the price. We have traveled on Azamara several times but we got a better price from O and have always wanted to try it. If you have not been to Kotor, Dubrovnik and Valetta I suggest you visit. We love all of those ports and have enjoyed our visits. The sail into Kotor is spectacular and there is a store in town that sells local crafts. The Christmas ornaments ( among other items) are gorgeous. We are never at a loss for things to do in Dubrovnik definitely stop for lunch. If you are a desert lover try the apple strudel or gelato or both. Valetta has Knights Templar and WW II history to explore. Also another place to stop for fabulous food. Before you cancel check out similar cruises on other lines such as Celebrity, Azamara, Viking. I do trial bookings. I am finding out that prices are high everywhere. At this point we are canceling but may rebook for 2025 or pick another 2024 cruise with Ports we want to visit. 

My husband is a total WWII buff so thank you for that helpful tip. What are the places you might recommend? When I skimmed over the shorex, I didn’t really see that featured.

Although we have enjoyed Azamara and Viking, we are most comfortable with Regent and Oceania.

We were notified by Oceania that our cruise itinerary for the titled cruise was modified. Of course, we understand and the lengthy notice is a plus but we just aren’t sure if the new itinerary is going to work for us. Three of the ports are called on twice, Kotor, Dubrovnik, and Valletta. The price seems high now that it is a Greek Isles and Med cruise instead of the Middle East. It’s always helpful to hear other’s thoughts and ideas so please chime in.

14 hours ago, cruiseej said:

And for those cruising on a ship while TK Grill still exists, I just discovered that reservations are now available again; they hadn't been available in the weeks leading up to and immediately after the Solis announcement. 

Reservations for Solis remain unavailable. 
 

We were very disappointed in the food on Quest last year. We hope for improvement next year even though the menu writing is still ridiculous!

@flossie009 thanks for taking us along with you and for the great pictures. We are going to Mykonos next year. Would you say it’s a good port to do your own thing without booking a shorex? 

16 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

On 10/28/2023 at 7:14 AM, kjbacon said:

January 26 and February 5 🍷🦞❤️

We are on that same cruise...can't wait!

Great! Judging from your name, we are likely to be on a snorkel excursion with you.

January 26 and February 5 🍷🦞❤️

I very much appreciate the humor here and we could all be open to the other guy’s interpretations of things … be it humor or elegance. There is no one and only way.

Sounds like you guys are having a very good time! We will be on the Grandeur soon so it will be interesting to see how many of the splendor staff move in that direction. Is the war in Israel having any impact on your cruise? 

Happy to follow along with you, Lori!
 

I couldn’t agree with you more about getting your own transfers. We only did Regent’s once and that was enough. One of the few things that they do not do well.

Cheers 🍷

6 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

In the club did they redo and put in dining tables?

I don’t think so. If I understand it correctly now, sushi is available as a snack in the club as opposed to being a dedicated restaurant on Quest. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t have multiple rolls and call it dinner, which I expect we will do a couple times.

17 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Earth and ocean  on Seabourn seems to be very popular - even has people in hats and coats sitting outside eating on the colder weather cruises. Perhaps that is because S don't have as many alternative restaurants?

Our experience on SB was that Earth and Ocean was by far the very best dining on board. SB also has fewer choices than regent. We absolutely were that couple in hats and coats with blankets on our laps. And after many cruises with regent, we have never used the pool grill at dinner.