RachelG

June 5, 2022–continuation in Haifa we had dinner reservations in Prime 7. The food was hot and miss. The salads and appetizers were great. George enjoyed his shrimp cocktail and my crab cake was delicious. I had a filet which was perfectly cooked and delicious. George had surf and turf with lobster and steak. His lobster was definitely past it’s due date with a distinct odor. His steak was weirdly unevenly cooked, with one side being well done, and the other borderline raw. The new onion rings are not good- very greasy, and not panko coated, but drenched in a batter which soaks up grease. The key lime pie was good. The chef came out to talk to us. Promised to do better. no show tonight as all the tours tomorrow are really early and long

View from our room at the Hilton Tel Aviv—sorry it is upside down

June 5, 2022–embarkation in Haifa, Israel Probably the best 1st night in Europe (well, this isn’t Europe, but you know what I mean—it is over the Atlantic Ocean from home) sleep I have ever had. George agreed. We were both mentally and physically exhausted, and we slept until 7:30 without interruption. The room was large with very comfortable pillows and king bed, nice bathroom with separate shower and tub and a large balcony with views of the ocean. Breakfast in the executive lounge was expansive with a couple of hot egg dishes, a huge variety of very fresh raw veggies and fruits, really good yogurt and cheeses, and a variety of breads. Only thing missing was any meat, though they did have smoked salmon and tuna. We met our driver who I had hired to take us to Haifa with a stop at Caesarea on the way. Caesarea is a town built on the coast by King Herod to honor Caesar. It was first a Roman port with a big amphitheater and hippodrome for chariot races. It was where Paul appealed to Agrippa to be able to appeal his case in Rome as he was a Roman citizen, and where both Paul and Peter set sail for Rome. The archeological site is now a national park and goes along the coast quite a long way. It was a little warm but with a good breeze and a fun way to spend the morning. We headed on to the port. They wouldn’t let our driver (or any taxi drivers or private vehicles) into the port itself. So anyone arriving privately had to unload their luggage, pull it up a sidewalk for about a block, enter the port, go down an elevator, and wait for a shuttle to take us to the ship. And the shuttle had minimal room for luggage, so it was really not good. Once at the ship, they checked temperatures, had us fill out the health forms, and refill out our covid vaccine information even though we had already done that part online. No one asked for our covid test results, the Israeli covid form, or proof of the extra covid health Insurance policy we were required to buy. Very annoying since I had spent a lot of time and $100 getting all the done. But there was no line at least. Check in in the theater was very fast. They just gave us our keycards as we had already uploaded our pictures. Then upstairs for lunch in La Veranda. I had my usual salad and shrimp, while George had his usual salad and prime rib which he always gets and never likes. It is kind of a tradition- he has to take one bite and comment on the poor quality of the beef. Then he goes and gets something else. They announced that the suites were ready actually just as we were starting to eat, about 1:45 which is the earliest I have encountered on Regent. The afternoon was spent unpacking and getting everything in order. Unfortunately a bunch of my tours had been cancelled due to “problems with local tour operators “. I had spent a lot of time researching these, and most of the other tours that interested me were already filled. Really annoying. I picked a couple that are just ok—definitely not my first choices, and am on wait lists for a couple more. If the wait lists don’t clear, we may just end up doing our own thing in those ports. I tried to post some pictures from yesterday and today, but no luck. Maybe later.

June 4,2022–in transit via Madrid First of all, thank you for all the condolences and well wishes. It means a lot, and I think I am actually better off being away for a few weeks, though it means missing my friend’s funeral. We boarded our Iberia flight to Madrid right on time. Business class seats are true lie flat and pretty comfortable with a lot of space around the seat for storage, big tv screen, and a nice fold down table tray. However, the cabin was very warm. I thought this might improve, but no. And I am a person who is generally too cold. We sat and waited and waited—and waited. Finally after about an hour, the pilot announced that one of the engines wouldn’t start, and a mechanic had been summoned. We waited some more, and the pilot announced that the problem was fixed. I will admit some trepidation about flying over the ocean in a plane with a engine acting up, but all was good. Food on the planes was actually pretty good, and the Spanish wines were excellent. The dinner was served right away, and a full hot breakfast was served about an hour prior to landing, leaving a good amount of time for sleeping. I was able to sleep a good 2 hours and could have done more if it hadn’t been so warm. So I just read the rest of the time. Masks were required during the flight. When we arrived in Madrid, we could remove the mask in the airport, but when we entered the customs hall, even George decided we needed to keep them on. It was a mass of humanity, easily over 1000 people in a line with no distancing. Only 8 of the 24 stations were open. Some people were getting upset because of fear of missing their flights, babies were crying, a big school group blatantly cut in line—you get the picture. It took 2 hours to get through. So if you ever have a connection in Madrid, allow plenty of time, I would say 3 hours minimum. So our day in Madrid was significantly shorter than planned. We took a taxi to Parque Retiro and walked around. They were having a huge book fair, and the stalls were numbered. There were 112. Weather was perfect, sunny with temperatures in the low 70s and just a slight breeze. Lots of families and young people were out enjoying the space. Restaurants don’t open for lunch until 1:00 in Madrid. We had gone in one place at 12:30, but they were still serving breakfast, so we walked some more. We had lunch at a great tapas bar with a big cheese plate, olives, almonds, really good bread, and of course Spanish wine. Perfect and not expensive at all. We were worried about maybe encountering a long line to go through security and customs again, so we went back to the airport. And there was no line at all. We walked right through both. Go figure. The new Iberia Sala VIP is huge and airy with lots of comfortable seating, ample buffet of hot and cold food and self serve bar. You could easily spend a comfortable long layover here. Flight to Tel Aviv was on the same type of plane as the previous, again with comfortable lay flat seats. No pillow, blankets, or amenity kits on this shorter flight, and dinner was served all at once on a tray rather than in courses, but was quite good. Customs in Tel Aviv was quick. 30 minute taxi ride took us to the Tel Aviv Hilton, which is very nice and right on the beach. We are only here one night which is kind of a shame as it is a lovely property with lots going on. of note, health forms were required to be filled out for both Spain and Israel showing proof of covid vaccination . They scanned our QR code in Spain, but thus far no one has even asked to look at our Israel form. Same for the required proof of covid insurance—no one has asked to see it. I printed off all the papers and kind of wanted my efforts to be a little acknowledged.

At last, our much delayed and much anticipated trip has arrived. We were scheduled for this in June 2020. Obviously that didn’t happen. I was getting worried about this time, but it is a go. As usual, we had precruise drama, but this time, far more serious and far reaching. You can read about it in the news. Won’t go into details here, but it happened where I work every day, and I lost a close friend. So I have been stressed to the max. I am hoping the cruise will be the tonic for recovery. We are currently in the Flagship lounge in Chicago after a totally uneventful and ahead of time flight on AA. We fly to Madrid on Iberia then on to Tel Aviv. I haven’t flown Iberia in several years, but it is supposed to have gotten better. The tickets were using miles and a bargain as far as miles go. We have a long layover in Madrid so plan to visit Parque Retiro and walk around some to fight jet lag. i had not been in the Chicago Flagship lounge since pre covid. It is totally remodeled and very nice. Big buffet is on offer with good choices as well as a self serve wine and beer bar, also with good choices. Not crowded at all. So far so good. masks were not required on the AA flight, but I have some in my tote bag just in case we need them. i will as usual report every day, so I am happy to answer any questions or check on anything people want to know.

They use refillable carafes with the filtered water. We do not like it, so we ask our steward to fill the fridge with Perrier.

Just read the entire report, and burned dinner while doing so. Husband is not happy. But what a great trip. And excellent reporting.

Hopefully this too shall pass, and we can get back to us normal cruise fares without all the inflated add ons. We are getting a hundred pp credit to decline the ride to the airport. One of our kids or friends can take us and pick us up, or we can just take an Uber if all else fails, which is $30 at most each way. but silversea will have to give me good reason to book future cruises with them. We currently only do the expedition cruises, as we like Regent for traditional cruising. And I am pretty sure we can find other expedition ships with straightforward pricing and not a bunch of add ons that we don’t want or need.

And that is how I like it. Was not the case on our Splendor cruise in January unfortunately.

Yes, it is there. And very nice.

To add to above, tea is at 4 pm. Trivia is at 4:30. They used to be in the same venue, but the tea only people and the trivia people got into it over seating, so now it is in different areas on most if not all the ships. So if you are interested in both, you have to run get your tea early then go to trivia. I liked the actual TEA part of tea ( not the scones and desserts), but I like trivia more so just do that now. sometimes depending on the port schedule, trivia is in the morning, but rarely. So you do have to look at passages the day before to know timings.

We always do our own air. But business class/first class to Alaska is not great. Just domestic first class for a really long flight. We try to end in Vancouver rather than anchorage for that reason.

If that is true, great news.

N 95 masks still required in Greece and Italy. Just got the notice from Regent today. Will Regent supply these? I have unlimited regular masks but the N 95 masks at the hospital where I work are extremely uncomfortable. I only put one on when dealing with someone with known covid or doing a procedure that requires one.

in Positano and Santorini it is very easy to get a taxi at the pier. At least it was pre-covid and very safe. In Athens, we have used George the taxi driver, but this was years ago. I think maybe his son has the business now.

He would definitely be all into that!

definitely on our to do list. When we retire, we won't be under so much time limit to get back, and can do what you suggest. Great advice

We had booked Kimberley on Explorer in June 2023, but have now cancelled. Main reason is the huge difficulty in getting there and back. Airfares are outrageous , and getting there with miles seems unlikely. Explorer is an older ship. We have over 100 nights on her,and love her to death, but at that price, we just can’t see doing it. So we rebooked for Wind Helsinki to Hamburg where we can easily do the air with miles, much nicer ship, and less money. I still want to do this area of Australia, but am waiting for now.

Love Navigator despite the vibration issues. As far as desserts, I don’t eat sugar at all, and have never had any problem finding a dessert that I could not eat in any venue. Usually I don’t eat dessert, but their sugar free ice creams are delicious, and you can get berries anytime without sugar.

Much relief for you!

I was able to check in for our June 5 cruise with ipad.

My advise is to rent a car in Seward and drive to Anchorage. It is a beautiful drive. We have done it many times. You can stop by the wildlife refuge which is right on the way—one of my favorite places ever, and stop somewhere for a nice late lunch/early dinner.

I would love to know the answer to this as well. We have a long layover in Madrid on the way to Tel Aviv in 3 weeks. I only found out about the form and QR code via this website yesterday. When I look online,it says it is still needed. But friends who recently returned say no one ever looked at anything or asked for it.

we have done this several times. Granted, not since covid. Never had an issue. In fact, I think they were kind of happy to get rid of us as it is one less suite that has to be turned over rapidly on the next day.

Haven't been to those specific sites, but all our large bus tours in Israel and Egypt a few years back were excellent. So excellent that we are returning to Israel with Regent next month.