Just returned from Istanbul-Athens Cruise

[lvannrn]

We just returned from a fabulous cruise on The Insignia. We love the size of the ship, and it's understated elegance. We had a room with a balcony- and while it was small, it was well appointed, and we had no trouble storing all our things. The food and service were outstanding! Every single staff member was pleasant, and more than accommodating. We ate in all the restaurants and enjoyed each one, but Toscana was our favorite. The quality and presentation was comparible to any fine restaurant we have been to. The food at Tapas on the Terrace was not as good as the other restaurants- but that is because it is buffet style. We did however eat there once, and enjoyed eating outdoors on a beautiful evening. Hamburgers and ice cream at The Waves Grill by the pool- exellent! My only complaint about the specialty restaurants was that once we had signed up for a meal in each of them, we had to wait on line every morning to see if we could get additional meals at Toscana or Polo Grill. I understand that this is a way of making sure everyone has the opportunity to dine in these restaurants, but I feel that if people haven't signed up by the 3rd or 4th day of the cruise, others should be allowed to do so without waiting each day. The entertainment each evening was mediocre- but we did not mind, since we were up and running all day- we didn't need much in the way of late night entertainment. We did thoroughly enjoy Mario in the Piano Bar, and spent many evenings there. There also was a String Quartet that played in different locations on the ship, and they were delightful. We enjoyed the sea days, and didn't need activities to fill our time. We were tired, and sitting by the pool was just what we wanted to do. We found the piped in music by the pool to be lovely. It was soft enough to be non-intrusive.

We have cruised before on Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Renaissance, and after this cruise, we feel we are spoiled for any other cruise line. We only hope that don't price themselves out of a price range we can afford!

[stingraynz]

It sounds like you had a great time!

 

We are going on the same itinerary on Nautica june 2006. Can you tell me about the ports, what you did, weather, shore excusions or private tours? Did you stay pre cruise Istanbul or post cruise Athens? If so where did you stay? What was you air schedule? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[lvannrn]

I have posted the information about the private guides we used in Istanbul and Athens on the "Europe" boards. We did the Greek Islands and Dubrovnik on our own- and really enjoyed it all. I did a lot of research on the web and in the library, and carried information with me, so we enjoyed doing our own tours. I would highly recommend walking the wall in Dubrovnik, and renting an audiotape. We did it first thing in the morning, and avoided the crowds. Our cruise included airfare and the flights were fine. We flew from BWI to JFK, had a two hour layover- and then non-stop to Istanbul- arriving the next morning. We spent a pre-cruise night at the Swissotel in Istanbul. It was expensive, but I like to give myself an extra day before a cruise, in case there are flight delays. Our return flight times were also good. We left Athens at 12:30PM, and only had an hour and a half at JFK before catching our flight to BWI. If you want more information, please email me at LVannRN@comcast.net. I am sure you are going to love this cruise.

[stingraynz]

You are very organized! Ship info on the Oceania board and port info on the PORT board. I am so very excited to read your posts I am going over to the Europe board right after this note. Sounds excellent! Thanks for the offer to email you.

 

Nancy

[Phoenix cruiser]

stingraynz, are you on the 6/20/06 Istanbul to Athens cruise? Know of any others through CC board yet? We just booked yesterday.

[stingraynz]

Hi Phoenix Cruiser

 

I am on that sailing and I don't know of any others yet? I guess since two of us are booked we should start a roll call. So look for it in the Roll Call section.

 

Looking forward to June

[infolady]

Hi Stingraynz and Phoenix Cruiser ...

 

My husband and I are on the 6/20/2006 Nautica Istanbul-Athens cruise also. Very much looking forward to it will be our first Oceania cruise and our first cruise in the Mediterranean. We are spending an extra day in Athens at the end of the cruise.

 

Looking forward to meeting you all on board!

 

Cynthia

[stingraynz]

Hey Cynthia

 

That's great! I have since made a ROLL CALL on the 'all other cruise lines board' for our sailing Nautica 20-jun-2005 Istanbul to Athens. Look forward to sharing more info and meeting you on board.

[Bruin Steve]

A lot of you folks are on that Istanbul to Athens run next summer, but I've seen almost no one on these boards on the Istanbul to Venice run with me...

Our itinerary starts out similarly, with an overnight in Istanbul, then on to Kusadasi, then to Delos/Mykonos and to Santorini...but rather than go to Katakolon and Corfu (I've been to Corfu twice), we go on to Athens first, then Amalfi, Taormina, Kotor, Dubrovnik and Venice for an overnight before dsembarking, 14 nights rather than 12...

 

Take care of the ship for me, okay?