Trip Report - Istanbul to Istanbul, RSSC Explorer, 10/19 - 30, 2022

[cfomac]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:45 PM, Linda VH said:

My late husband and I hired an historian (we didn’t realize that was what he was - we used Access Europe) many years ago and it was a wonderful experience.  Guides (as in Italy) go to the front of the line with their clients.  To go in the Blue Mosque he informed us I needed to buy a scarf (they supply one but many people have worn them and no guarantee they have been laundered that day).   It was a memorable day for us.

where did you hire the historian from...Access Europe?   let me google that...unless I am reading your message incorrectly

 

[irishwitchy]

Food from the class looked great!  I would like to see more of that fish on the regular menu in Compass Rose!  

[RachelG]

Glad to hear actual cooking classes are back.  Ours back in January was just an observation.  Though I still learned a couple of things.  
 

 

corinth tour looks great.  I believe the old Diamond used to actually go through the canal.

[forgap]

Sunday morning we docked in Haifa, Israel and booked an excursion to Acre/Akko.  But first we had to go through the gauntlet of Israeli security and passport control.  I know this is not the first time RSSC has been to Israel and I am scratching my head why destination services orchestrated the excursions the way they did.  Our time to report in the theater was 10 am.  We received our bus ticket, #12, which was not a good sign as they had just called #2.  The theater was packed.  After your group number was called, each group had to navigate to a table to be checked off, then your belongings went through an X-ray machine, then on to a port bus which didn’t hold everyone in the group and no one seemed to be counting passengers vs. seats.  The bus took you to a building for passport processing, then you had to scan the ticket the passport officer gave you, then you had to find your bus.  It was now 11:30, an hour and a half into our four and a half hour tour.  There has to be a more efficient procedure!  

Once on the road, it took about 35 minutes to reach Acre from Haifa.  Our guide was a young woman and I think this was her first gig.  She tried her best to narrate what we were seeing but only the people lucky enough to to be immediately around her could hear.  This would have been a good time to use some in the ear amplification.  We did a lot of standing around and following her like a gaggle of aging ducklings.  She kept saying we would have free time to wander but that didn’t seem to happen until we just left the group to wander on our own because we were hungry and thirsty.  We left Acre at 3pm (still no lunch but happy we had granola bars) and traveled back to Haifa in order to have a photo stop at Mt. Carmel.  That didn’t happen as we had a bonus stop at the Baha’i Gardens.   We returned to the ship at 5 pm,  tired, sweaty, and irritated.  
 

A bit about Acre that I gleaned from the internet:  Acre is a historic walled port-city with continuous settlement from the Phoenician period. The present city is characteristic of a fortified town dating from the Ottoman 18th and 19th centuries, with typical urban components such as the citadel, mosques, khans and baths. The remains of the Crusader town, dating from 1104 to 1291, lie almost intact, both above and below today's street level, providing an exceptional picture of the layout and structures of the capital of the medieval Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem.  
 

Acre was a fascinating place and worth a visit - just go with a competent guide!  
 

*** I’ll upload pics later as the internet is not cooperating this morning. 

 

 

[forgap]

Shopkeepers row.
 

 

this is the Templar dining hall.

This is a pottery fragment from the Templar dining hall.  It caught my eye and I thought it was charming.  

this is the Templar Tunnel, an underground passageway that connected the fortified port to the palace.  It was discovered in 1994 when a resident in a house above it complained of a backed up sewer.  

This is the Baha’i temple with its exquisite gardens.  Tours are by appointment only.

 

i think this is our Mount Carmel drive by looking down into Haifa. We were zipping along and our guide had gone silent. 

[Gilly]

This sounds really frustrating!   Bravo for your patience and good humour - agree 100% with you re the audio system.

[1982CruzStart]

Sorry that the tour wasn't up to snuff. We did that tour years ago with Regent and it was excellent, super guide and a very fascinating place.  I am with you regarding using the audio system. I was so pleased that Regent seemed to be trying to improve the shore excursion experience but it wasn't used enough. When it was used by the guide it greatly improved our experience. 

Thanks for taking the time to post your trip for us. 

[Lonedaddy]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:28 AM, forgap said:

Today we are in Lesbos, a tender port, after a very calm sail from Istanbul.  
 

We were scheduled to go on a tour of Lesbos today.  There were only two tours on offer, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  We arrived in the theater at 9:45 along with hundreds of passengers cued up to get a bus assignment.  This didn’t look like a scenario I would enjoy, so we promptly turned our tickets back in order to walk around on our own after lunch.  

 

Now, a minor rant about destination services.   This excursion procedure isn’t logical when it is a tender port as hundreds can’t fit safely on the boats.  Wouldn’t it have been better to stagger the meeting times?  Wouldn’t it have made more sense to assign a departure time and have passengers meet on shore?  As it was, an announcement was made at around 11:45 that passengers who were not on a tour could now go ashore.  So, many folks were standing around in the theater during a span of an hour or more.

 

 Couldn't agree more, I would cringe on our last cruise at sitting in the theater for so long - when they could stagger the times for people.

[forgap]

Our second day in Israel went much smoother as we now had our entry pass so leaving the ship just involved a passport check by an Israeli official and bag X-ray.  Our excursion was a long day to explore Safed and the Golan Heights.  
 

We traveled north from Haifa through pine forests and landscapes strewn with lava boulders as the terrain became more and more mountainous.  We had high hopes for this excursion as our guide was a retired US Army chaplain who had immigrated to Israel.  His Hebrew and English were fluent.  The problem from the get go was that the tour agency fails to tell the guides the specific tour they are leading until arrival at the ship.  So, the guides are unable to prepare which might explain why our Acre guide was constantly scrolling on her iPhone.

Safed is the highest city in Israel.  It was settled by Spanish Jews after the their expulsion in 1492.   It is a very spiritual place with many synagogues scattered around the town.   The locals of Safed are often involved in Kabbala (a Jewish esoteric school of thought) and the streets and houses are steeped in Kabbalistic influence – the doors and windows painted blue in mystical symbolism to confuse evil spirits.  Safed is also home to artists of varied mediums creating an interesting the Artists’ Quarter.

 

 

 

On arrival, we hung out for a bit as our guide had to find a map.  This wasn’t a great start.  We managed to find the stairs that lead level by level to the oldest part of the city and the synagogue and artist quarter.  Once again we had the problem of no in-ear audio guide.  The paths were narrow, we had to walk in single file, and our guide wasn’t big on explaining the plan for the day.  
 

We visited several synagogues and interesting artist shops, but the day might have been better if we had a set rendezvous spot and meeting time so we could either stay with the guide or visit the shops on our own.  
 

 

At this point it was about 12:30.  We walked a very long way to the bus and, once on board, our guide announced that, rather than go to lunch on a kibbutz (which was about 70 km away), we would go to a wine tasting for which we were already late.  Off we went to a nearby vineyard.  

 

The problem? Wrong vineyard so back to the bus for the correct vineyard.  We sat down and tasted three wines.  Fortunately, cheese and crackers were on the table to augment the granola bars I had in my bag.
 

Back on the bus we traveled a scenic route, past the Sea of Galilee, and up into the hills to a kibbutz for lunch.  

 

 

This was another hiccup as it was past 3pm and it seemed we weren’t exactly expected or on time.  Lunch was a cafeteria line, not bad, not great.  

The kibbutz overlooked the Sea of Galilee.

On the bus again, we navigated some hair raising hair pin turns.  

 

I prayed that the brakes were in good shape as we barely made the turns, scraping the bumper at one point when there was a guard rail to scrape.  
 

We were on our way to the Jordan River but first we had a “photo stop” at a sort of amusement area.  It was closing for the day so we turned around and got back onto the bus.  No explanation was given so I’m not sure what we were supposed to photograph and why.  
 

The Jordan River was interesting, however.  The river was full due to the recent rains.

There were many pilgrims being baptized in the waters.  

 

I especially liked the youth group who enthusiastically clapped and shouted as each of their group was baptized by their youth leader.  
 

 

We made good time on our return to Haifa.  It was almost 6pm and we were ready to part ways with the bus and our guide.  We arrived at the port and went through security only to turn around and go back out.   No explanation.  We traveled north, then south again, on the freeway, and then on a clogged road and finally arrived at another port security entrance.  We traveled north for about a mile until finally arriving at the ship.  I have to say, for a moment, I thought our bus driver might have gone rogue and was kidnapping us for ransom.  I could imagine the headlines!  
 

 

[Gilly]

Oh my, it sounds as though the tour company in Haifa needs to get their act together.  So many frustrations during the day, I expect that by the time you reached the port your good humour would be waning somewhat?

I just read your note on FB too, for which I send hugs and good wishes.  Totally unfair and a real pain in the neck.  I know that @briar14 will empathise.

[forgap]

Yes, indeed, my travelogue has just morphed into a covidlogue.    G woke up this morning with a cough.  We have been diligent about mask wearing but at times it is just impossible while eating and drinking.  I brought a baggy of tests with me so I tested him and the dreaded Covid line showed up in 10 seconds.  I then tested him again with the same results.  I tested negative and within a minute of discussion, we reported the results to reception, knowing that we would be quarantined for the rest of the cruise.

The medical staff has been great. A nurse showed up in hazmat gear in short order.  PCR test was positive.  Medical history and consultation with MD by phone.  Meds arrive in an hour.  We are insured and we also got a PCR test 48 hours before the cruise.   The only question mark is that our paperwork said all medical treatment is on Regent, but the Doc said it is on our account.  I’m not stressing as we have travel insurance. 
 

Of course, I opted to stay with him in our cabin.   I’m making it a honeymoon of sorts, although our luxury accommodations extend only to our cabin.  As you can see from our first Covid “déjeuner en aire” our view of merchant ships and waiting containers is not as scenic as palm trees on a Sandy beach!  The smell of diesel fuel and the sound of port clatter doesn’t help…and,  I forgot to mention, Israeli military maneuvers today so overhead fighter jets add to the mix.  

Fortunately, G is feeling well enough with only a mild cough and fatigue which can also be attributed to our intense touring schedule. My biggest problem is how to spend our sizable on-board credit from memory.  I scouted the boutique so between jewelry and vintage champagne, I hope to spend it down to zero!  

Edited October 25, 2022 by forgap

[briar14]

Briar14 here, yes, I empathize greatly! Happened to us this summer on Navigator where Gilly, I and our husbands had great plans for a wonderful cruise. We also received excellent medical care. We were able to enjoy the last 10 days with Gilly and her Hero. I sincerely wish both of you well. Your trip reports and pictures are wonderful. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Oh gosh.  SO sorry your trip now includes Covid.  What a disappointment!  How many days do you have left?  You are obviously making lemonade from lemons….but I hate it for you!

 

Joanie

[RJ2002]

@forgap, thanks for your two day report from Israel.  Great pictures and descriptions.  Touring Israel can be a challenge, even in the best of circumstances.  We hired a private guide, and also had issues with crowds, traffic and security.  However, it was worth it - as Israel is such a special tour destination.

 

Very sorry to hear about your Covid setback.  Make no mistake, it is still around.  We were on Explorer a couple of months ago, and there were many cases - including guests who were quarantined in the suite next to us.  Regent will take care of you.

[carolina cruisin]

2 hours ago, forgap said:

Yes, indeed, my travelogue has just morphed into a covidlogue.    G woke up this morning with a cough.  We have been diligent about mask wearing but at times it is just impossible while eating and drinking.  I brought a baggy of tests with me so I tested him and the dreaded Covid line showed up in 10 seconds.  I then tested him again with the same results.  I tested negative and within a minute of discussion, we reported the results to reception, knowing that we would be quarantined for the rest of the cruise.

The medical staff has been great. A nurse showed up in hazmat gear in short order.  PCR test was positive.  Medical history and consultation with MD by phone.  Meds arrive in an hour.  We are insured and we also got a PCR test 48 hours before the cruise.   The only question mark is that our paperwork said all medical treatment is on Regent, but the Doc said it is on our account.  I’m not stressing as we have travel insurance. 
 

Of course, I opted to stay with him in our cabin.   I’m making it a honeymoon of sorts, although our luxury accommodations extend only to our cabin.  As you can see from our first Covid “déjeuner en aire” our view of merchant ships and waiting containers is not as scenic as palm trees on a Sandy beach!  The smell of diesel fuel and the sound of port clatter doesn’t help…and,  I forgot to mention, Israeli military maneuvers today so overhead fighter jets add to the mix.  

Fortunately, G is feeling well enough with only a mild cough and fatigue which can also be attributed to our intense touring schedule. My biggest problem is how to spend our sizable on-board credit from memory.  I scouted the boutique so between jewelry and vintage champagne, I hope to spend it down to zero!  

 

[carolina cruisin]

Fully understand your covid experience.  Both me and DW tested positive on our cruise in July.  Seems we had the same view from the veranda.  But like you, received great medical care - although still waiting for the travel insurance to step up.

[pingpong1]

4 hours ago, carolina cruisin said:

Fully understand your covid experience.  Both me and DW tested positive on our cruise in July.  Seems we had the same view from the veranda.  But like you, received great medical care - although still waiting for the travel insurance to step up.

May I ask exactly "what it is" that your travel insurance will be paying for?  I don't mean the actual amount of money; I'm just interested in the "type or category" of expense/s that you incurred (as a result of your "positive Covid test, and subsequent quarantine) that would be eligible for a reimbursement?  Thanks.

[carolina cruisin]

Primarily the cost of the medication that was prescribed for us.  I have seen where others claim "trip interruption" as well.

[pingpong1]

30 minutes ago, carolina cruisin said:

Primarily the cost of the medication that was prescribed for us.  I have seen where others claim "trip interruption" as well.

Carolina - Thanks a lot!  The reason why I'm asking...We've never bought travel insurance for our past cruises. We just "self-insured".  I.e., "if something happens, it happens, and we'll just absorb the cost."  But this "Covid Thing" has added a whole bunch of variables to the mix.  So now, I'm thinking about the "wisdom" of buying "some kind of insurance" (and spending the extra money) for our 2 upcoming Regent Cruises...either from Regent's Insurance or maybe from another source.  I'm just not sure what "actual costs" I'd be specifically "insuring" that might not be covered by the insurance I get from my Chase Sapphire Card?

 

If I'm quarantined in my suite on the ship for the duration of the cruise, my trip hasn't really been "interrupted"...I'm just having to stay in my suite and not able to walk around the ship or go ashore for the rest of the trip.  Right?  Regards.

[RachelG]

So sorry to hear about your covid interruption.  George caught covid at the end of our cruise in June, so we were home when he tested positive.  I have thus far been lucky, thanks probably to an immune system that has been thoroughly challenged over the past 45 years being exposed to everything imaginable, plus being vaxed and boosted. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by RachelG

[forgap]

1 hour ago, RachelG said:

So sorry to hear about your covid interruption.  George caught covid at the end of our cruise in June, so we were home when he tested positive.  I have thus far been lucky, thanks probably to an immune system that has been thoroughly challenged over the past 45 years being exposed to everything imaginable, plus being vaxed and boosted. 

Thanks for the well wishes.  We thought we were in the well exposed category, too, and we are fully boosted, the last being on 9/30.  Hoping that trip interruption as well as medical care kicks in when I file for insurance.  

[forgap]

Covidlogue - Day One

When G tested positive yesterday, that became Day Zero of our quarantine.  This morning he sailed through his medical check-up with no fever, clear lungs, good oxygen levels, and no temp, although he is still testing positive while I am testing negative.  
 

My biggest complaint is that we have had terrible views when docked!   Today we are in Cypress and the port is loud and industrial but we can see a bit of the hills in the distance.  Coffee on sail-in was nice.  

 

 Our noisy view for the day:

 

The plus side of quarantine is that we no longer have to keep up the frenetic pace of early excursions and all the activities not to be missed while sailing.  I rather like ordering from any restaurant and I don’t feel so compelled to over order.  As an example, last night we ordered from Chartreuse.   Beet Salad, Lobster Bisque, Mushroom Soup, and Artichoke Tarte Tatin.  And, a digestif from the coffee connection - sambuca and Amaro Montenegro.  Very nice!

 

 

Breakfast this morning came from Compass Rose. 

Another nice bonus is that we got a letter yesterday informing us that we now have upgraded internet.  It is slightly faster and we shall see if we can stream anything.  We also have the option of rolling over our on-board credit to our next cruise.  What to do?  What to do?  They sent up the wine list last night which might be one way to spend down our credit.  I also talked with the Executive  Concierge about sending me a photo of some jewelry I had my eye on.   
 

So, all in all, it is disappointing to miss half of our trip, but, hopefully, insurance will reimburse us for half of our costs.  We shall see!  

 

 

[lincslady]

It is a shame about today's view, but so good you are getting fantastic meals; having nice food and drink to look forward to does make a difference.  Let's hope it is not too many more days until you are free again.

[carolina cruisin]

Similar situation when we quarantined for 5 days back in July.  Terrible view - but great to have an "outdoor" place to relax.  Missed what could have been some interesting ports but enjoyed the "perks" of being on Regent with the unlimited room service, etc.  And we did get the upgraded internet - which really did not do much for us.  Watched a lot of movies.  Have to agree in part about not really having the trip interrupted - know that some to feel that way - again, lucky to have had good service - both professionally and medically - and thankful that we recovered.  Heading back out on the Mariner in a few weeks. A closing note - travel insurance has helped a few times in the past - but totally understand the reluctance from some. Everyone stay safe!!

[RJ2002]

Congrats on the favorable checkup...  negative status will follow!  Glad to hear that you are taking full advantage of the range of insuite dining options.  Hope you both are out again soon.