NJBelle

Glad people are enjoying our comments. I have noticed that the posts from fellow cruisers have fallen off and that no one really talked about the ports in this cruise. Here we are on our last sea day, so I feel that I must comment.

The itinerary on this cruise was incredible. So many new countries and experiences. We loved Istanbul as a starting port. Totally felt safe. So many fun things to do on our third stay in Istanbul. I absolutely would encourage people to start or end cruises here as well as visit as a port city.

Israel was a new country and experience for me, although my husband had visited before on business. We did the more Christisn/Jesus oriented tours, although there were ones more focused on Judiasm and also just on scenery and wineries. It was a jam-packed 3 days and I enjoyed every minute of it. But don't really fell the need to come back.

Egypt was another matter. We did the overnight to Luxor and if it happens that I never get back to Egypt, I am okay with that. But I would love to do a more extensive trip that involved Cairo and Alexandria. Anyway, what we did do was stunning. Loved the tours and would definitely recommend the overnight. Totally worth it.

Petra...ah, Petra. How wonderful and incredible. I think you have to see it to believe it. Maybe I should say, experience it to believe it. A lot of excitement is built up during the long journey along the siq (kind of alleyway through the rocks) to get to the ancient city of carved rocks. Just unbelievable.

The trip to Wadi Rum was also fabulous. We choose a really long tour that included both. If you have to pick, you should do Petra, but if you can do both, then you should absolutely do the 4x4 off-road drive through this wonderful desert (where most of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed) that ends with a dinner in the desert at a Bedoiun camp under the stars, complete with fokelore dancers.

Oman is an interesting country, although pales in comparison to Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Jordan. And we will end up in Dubai in a few days time. I may not have time to do more in "reporting" but did want to comment on what a really wonderful itinerary this has been. If it comes up again, do not hesitate to sign up!

Well, so sorry you have had a bad experience. Sounds like most of us have had a very positive experience. As we know, anyone who had had a negative experience would have already chimed in!😎

Yes, the wines are great and I have assurances that the good wines will keep on flowing.

Service has been very good. The other day at lunch, a Chardonnay was offered. I asked where it was from. Italy. Well, that is not my favorite. I murmur just to my husband that if it were from France or California, I would have been more interested. Then said I was fine with the savignon blanc they were also offering as a choice. A moment or two passes and then the sommelier appeared with a lovely Macon Chardonnay. Bingo!

As i sit here in the Observation Lounge, sipping my pre-lunch champagne, I am relieved to hear that. Thanks for the reassurance, Jackie!

Let me take a moment to say how enriched our cruise has been by being a part of this. As you may recall from some previous posts, we are being accompanied by a cadre of NPR/PBS "stars" who have given a series of talks, discussions, preview screenings, etc. And there have been small group dinners and cocktails parties offered as well. We have really enjoyed these opportunities and encourage you to be on the lookout for other AT cruises - they do about 3 a year with Regent only.

Coupled with the Smithsonian lectures we have had, my reading time has been cut into drastically! But I can read at home......

JMariner, say it isn't so! The thought of the Montaudon not being free-flowing is frightening!😎

I agree that on a long cruise, something might run out, but let's hope it isn't the champagne!

Hi all. Sometimes, people on CC complain that the wines are not good or not to their liking, etc. But we are on aboard now on the Voyager and I am here to say that the included wines are quite nice. We had a wine tasting a few sea days back and there were about 20 for us to taste. While I had not had many of them served to me, now I know they are available. And they are serious when they say, you just need to ask. They have the "selected" wines for each restaurant each night, but you can request others to your taste. We think there has been an upgrade and are quite happy with the wines and the house champagne (which is Montaudon by the way). Anyway, I wanted to put to rest any concerns about the wines. We had thought that we would purchase some wines for special evenings (have a lot of OBC) but have really felt no need. I am not prepared to seek out a full list and post it, but do rest assured there should be something for everyone!

Cheers, Janice

Surprised to see that fellow travelers have not commented recently, but the again, not too surprised. We just spent a huge 3 days....2 in Egypt and one in Jordan. Today we are enjoying a well-deserved sea day. I think everyone is just recovering. I slept 10 hours last night! I think you will hear more in the next couple of days. Bottom line, last 3 days were WONDERFUL!

Right now just relaxing on the balcony in between events on a sea day. While the day is beautiful, this is the first chance I have had to enjoy the outdoors since there has been so much to do! Between the Smithsonian lecture on the Suez Canal (and it was literal standing room only this morning!) then the wine tasting and then the Artful Travelers lecture by Bill Gardner, there went the morning. On sea days, we like to have lunch in the Dining Room and that was very pleasant (although I am sure the Greek Buffet was pretty good too). Then we saw a premiere showing of PBS's The Pilgrims (being shown on Thanksgiving Day for the rest of the USA). Really wonderful production. Now I am out having a cup of coffee before the cocktail reception with Artful Travelers and then the Block Party. Then dinner and the show. Whew!

Israel was really fabulous. Everything was smooth (although some traffic and the some rain on the 3rd day). We had an action packed 3 days and saw all the sights that I read about in Bible stories and learned about in sermons over the years.

Glad to have the two sea days ahead. Well, this one and just one more while we go through the Suez Canal. Then Egypt!

This is a very short note to say that no one is posting since we are all dog tired. Our Jerusalem tour started at 6:45 this morning and we got back at 7:30 tonight. Only on Internet to check in with my daughter.

Great excursions in Israel so far. No issues whatsoever.

Hi, this is a quick note for those on board - if you like jazz, don't miss the Regent Signature Quartet in the Horizon Lounge in the late evening. We went last night after the Broadway Show, and we were quite taken with their talent. They seemed to respond to the appreciative audience, and they were as good as many we have seen in NYC.

For the rest of those reading this, life continues to be good on the Voyager. Nice day at sea with lots of lectures. My only complaint is that there has been so much to do, that I haven't finished my first book yet!

We had dinner last night with Sarah Colt, a documentary filmmaker who is here as part of the Artful Travellers. Not only is she brilliant in her work, she is also quite charming in person.

Tonight is Formal Optional and the Captains Reception. Since we have Prime 7 reservations at 8:00, we decided to blow off the reception, but will have a drink in the Observation Lounge instead. In fact, time to get ready!

I will make this quick since we are in total prime time for Internet use right now. Enjoying a nice afternoon on board after an excursion in Kavala, Greece. I really hadn't heard of this port before, but it seems to be a lovely little city. And we had a fabulously beautiful day. Cool and sunshine. Our excursion included the archeological site of Phillipi - of Biblical and historical fame (where Paul built the first Christian church in Europe). Lots of busses to the sites, but really the choices are a bit limited to where you can go in some of these smaller ports. We thought the guides handled everything very well.

Ship is great, so far. We were on Voyager about 15 months ago. Things look fresh and everything is comfortable. Service has been great. Food has been really good. And we are really excited about the lectures on this cruise. We are a bit nerdy, so are thrilled to have joined up with the Artful Traveler group. It is associated with PBS and they have lots of their "stars" on board.

Glad everyone is making it into Istanbul. So far we have had a great two days. The weather was a bit cloudy today, but the temperature was (for us, anyway) very nice. We enjoyed the Istanbul Modern today - had not been there before. Had a Context Tours guide and spent two wonderful hours learning about history, politics and art in Istanbul/Turkey. Also enjoyed walking and shopping in the Sultanahmet. Having seen all the big sites before, we really liked just strolling around and taking in the ambience. Had a great dinner tonight at Maya. It features a chef who does Ottoman cooking with a modernist approach. We found out she had been at Eleven Mdaison Park in NYC - maybe that is why we liked it so much! In any event, although a "hot" restaurant, we still spent less than $100 total. We have found tha food and accommodations are really a bargain these days.

We also flew in on Turkish Air Busness. We found the food to be delicious. Overall, we really liked the service (although not the world's most efficient, they had a lot of staff, so it didn't matter in the end) and the accommodations were fine. Would definitely fly them again.

Oh, and TC, thanks for providing the Turkish Flavours link. Tomorrow we are doing a day long foodies walking tour and will start in Besiktas but end up on the Asian side.

Janice

Well, we have been in Istanbul over 24 hours now. Due to a late flight, a 10 hour flight and a 7 hour time difference, we got in after dark yesterday. Was actually good, since we got showered and unpacked and then went to a nice dinner. Had a pretty decent night's sleep and then had a great day. We are staying in the Sultanahmet and that has proven to be a good choice for us. Easy to get around and also to walk places; also has been nice for great local restaurants. We enjoyed a really fun cooking class with Turkish Flavours today. We started in the Spice Market and then took the ferry to the Asian side. We had the class in a private apartment and it turned out to be just the two of us. We are pretty accomplished cooks, but we learned new stuff and had a really lovely meal with wine.

A warning for any of you arriving Istanbul today or tomorrow. Be sure you have the right time. iPhones and iPads do not give the correct time. The correct time is 7 hours ahead of the US. This year, Istanbul has a different calendar than normal so some clocks show a different time. Just check with your hotel to be sure. We were late to our excursion due to this (but all turned out okay).

Hi, we are now in the lounge - our flight has been delayed. BUT, at least they arranged for the longe to stay open until we board our flight. So things could be worse!

Anyway, with regard to what cooking class - well, when we were in Istanbul a few years ago, we took one at Cooking Alaturka. It was really fun, lots of hands on, not very pricey, and a nice meal with wine. While we enjoyed that, this time we are going with Turkish Flavours - really just for something different. Both companies are on the Internet, so you should check them out and see what is available and what appeals to you.

Hello All, my husband and I are about to leave for the airport to fly to Istanbul. Plane seems to be on time, weather is good, so here we come, JFK.

Looking forward to several wonderful days in Istanbul, before the cruise on Saturday. We have been a couple of times before, so this time we are going to focus on food. We are doing a cooking class, and we are also going to do a food-eating walking tour. And of course, check out some wonderful restaurants and I am sure that we will buy some spices in the Spice Market.

Will post again once we are in Istanbul.

Thanks, Wellseasoned! That is good intell. I will give my TA a call and see about getting on the "wait list" for the segment we are interested in.

Any news on being able to do partial bookings? On the Silversea website, the Whisper is whited out for that timeframe, so one cannot even look at prices. I just know from the World Cruise brochure/booklet that there is a cruise we would be interested in.

My husband and I have many cruises on Crystal, Regent and Silversea. And have recently sailed on all three within the last year. While we now will be alternating between Regent and Silversea, we will not be sailing on Crystal until they have their new ships with open dining.

Do not let anyone tell you that Dining By Reservation on Crystal has no issues. It might be true that you can have a cruise and do DBR and not have issues, but then again, it may be a disaster. On a back to back last fall, our first leg was fine - we were able to eat about 7:30 each evening and had good service, etc. The second leg was just horrible. Terrible service, bad seating, either a ghost town or a carnival - depending on how many people were in the dining room still left from the first seating. We were told that our unfortunate experience was due to a full ship and so many people wanting the first seating. Well, how can you know what you will end up with until you are on board?

Bottom line, the dining aspect is too important to leave it to chance - for us, anyway. And we will not risk it on Crystal anymore - not until the new ships are built.

Beautiful pictures! Look forward to more please!

Hello, I saw your same post on the Crystal board and responded. I am responding here since it is likely since different people may view each board. What I just said on the Crystal board was:

My husband and I have many cruises on Silversea, Regent and Crystal - and in the past two years we have sailed on all 3 of them (twice each). Right now, Silversea is my favorite and Regent is my husband's favorite. We will not sail Crystal again until they have open seating in the dining room (promised on their new ship). On our recent Crystal cruises (returning after many years on Silversea and Regent) we wanted to like the "Dining by Reservation" but it was a disaster on one of our cruises (and okay on the other one). Suites are also quite a bit smaller on Crystal, but we could live with that (and knew going in, of course). It is really the lack of open dining which keeps us from considering another Crystal cruise.

In an expansion of that post, I will say that we have sailed on all the Silversea (except the adventure ones), Regent and Crystal ships in the past 10-15 years. While SS is my favorite, given that the Silversea ships are of varying sizes, it might be that some would find the Wind/Cloud too small or the Spirit too large. There is less variation on the Crystal ships since there are only 2 ships and they are of similar size. Regent also varies some since their ships are built differently. And for all of them, the staff, the chef and the passenger mix are all things that you cannot anticipate when you reserve a cruise. Each cruise is different and has its own personality - as we learned when we did a back to back recently.

Mark, for whatever it is worth, my husband and I were on the Voyager in Feb 2014 and again in July 2014 - and had great cruises each time. We are looking forward to our next Voyager cruise in October of this year. We have also sailed on Silversea (2 cruises) and Crystal (2 cruises) in the last two years as well (and many more in the last 10+ years, but wanted to relate to you our recent experiences)....At this point, I give Silversea the nod and my husband gives Regent (Voyager) the nod as our favorite cruise line. But we agree that we really like both and will toggle between the two lines in the future.

The only staff person we care about is the Chef - and that is because we dine with him/her every night.

Hi Master Echo,

Yes indeed, we loved this cruise. I look forward to reading your report and comments.

And you are correct - I said in a previous post that the Captain was getting off in Athens, but I meant that Colin the CD was getting off there. Captain Palmieri got off in Muscat as you said.

Interesting to note that in October we are going to be sailing (on Regent) from Istanbul to Dubai - going through the Gulf of Aden. Fingers crossed that that sailing will be as smooth and uneventful as this one was!

Hi there, since there are a few people who are posting on this thread that will be new to Silversea, I thought I would share my recent experiences on the Silver Wind. We have been on all the Silversea ships (except the explorer ones) and like them all. We love the Cloud and, of course the Wind and Cloud are sister ships.

The bathrooms are the smallest on the Wind and Cloud - but we knew this going in (having been on her 3 times in the past). The space is tight, but with the shelves underneath the sink and also on the edge of the bedroom area, we found that we have spots for everything.

I never had an issue with the outlets. There was one at the vanity area, right in front of the bed. Surprised that there was not one like that on the Cloud, but that worked fine for the hair dryer.

Announcements were not heard in our stateroom. In fact, if there was an announcement, we had to prop the door to be able to hear it from the hall speakers. Our Cruise Director, Colin, was wonderful and he did not make an ungodly amount of announcements. I think there were a couple of times he had to "goose" people (with an announcement) to come to a talk or demonstration since on a small ship, it is nice to have a decent turnout.

There were 4 kids on our cruise. In fact, I was surprised there were any, given that this was a long cruise in March/April. One German family had a 3 year old and a 7 year old and the Italian/American family had a 12 year old and 5 year old. All behaved beautifully and in fact, they added a little extra zing to the cruise. I must say the parents parented well - for example, when the 3 year old began crying one night in the MDR, the mother gathered him up and took him away (for bed I guess; the father and other child enjoyed the rest of their meal.) Anyway, my point is more that kids are not the issue - it is the parents. Sounds like the OP got some "bad" parents on their cruise. We have never had an issue on Silversea cruises with kids - maybe we have just been lucky!

Like the OP, we loved our cruise (Singapore to Muscat, Oman) and signed up for another one!

No one has mentioned the library on the ship. I really don't remember the one on the Navigator, but we were recently on the Voyager and they have quite a number of books, and especially lots of copies of selected new bestsellers.

What I do is make a list (and I continually update it) of books that I would like to read at some point. I look at "Best 100 Books" lists, go on some of the websites already mentioned and generate ideas based on authors and other books I have read, and take suggestions from others. I keep this list on my ipad/iphone so that when I go to the ship's library (no matter what ship I am on) I have that list and can look for already vetted books. This approach has worked great for my last several cruises and I get to read books "free" but don't have to haul them. I have books on my ipad for the plane but really prefer to have a real book in my hand.