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

[forgap]

Covidlogue - Day Four

 

We had a beautiful sail away from Rhodes yesterday.  The rest of the ship had a party to celebrate Regent’s 30th anniversary.   I felt a little sorry for us, but champagne and a cosmopolitan cheered me up.   
 

The anniversary menu looked good and for the first time I ordered beef tenderloin which convinced me that I am just not a beef eater anymore.  The rest of the meal was OK but eating in the cabin for the fifth day is getting old.  We tried to make it a movie night but the sound quality on the TV was lacking so we just spent the night reading.

 

Today we docked in Kusadasi, Turkey.  I was up early and took a shaky picture of what I thought would be another picture perfect view.

An hour later, though I looked out, the sun was up and I was confronted with the Viking Ocean “peep show”.  
 

Plus, the ship is not quiet.  I guess it’s the sound of the generators to keep everything running, but it makes our balcony unusable.  Fortunately, we sail at 5:30, cocktails in hand.  
 

i tried to whine my way out of quarantine this morning but the guidelines are inflexible.   I have developed a cough and a raspy voice so I tested myself with an antigen test from my stash.  Still negative and G now has no symptoms at all. 
 

We will be missing our last port in Turkey due to weather that will make tendering unsafe so the captain announced we will be spending the night in Istanbul tomorrow before debarkation the next day.  

[forgap]

Covidlogue -Day Five

 

We are officially Covid negative!  BUT, we are still in Covid lock down until our next test tomorrow morning.  Irish, our nurse, tried to soften the blow by assuring us she would test us at 7am so we can eat in La Veranda before leaving the ship at 9am. I didn’t even roll my eyes! 

 

The last two days have been more difficult than the first four (remember we started at day zero!)  I hated that we missed some entertainment, the Gatsby party and the Halloween party.  I have practically memorized the menues in all the restaurants. We even skipped dinner last night as we were too stuffed from lunch.  The devil on one shoulder wants to sneak out, but the angel on the other shoulder is very persuasive in telling me to sit tight.  

 

We received a lovely conference call from the management team making sure that we were content and that we were aware of the benefits of Covid lockdown.  The GM joked that he would talk to the captain about parking the ship so we had a good view!  I think they have either been reading this or my posts on Facebook!  
 

We are sailing the Dardanelles strait today so the scenery is beautiful and we are scheduled to arrive in Istanbul at 6 pm.  I ordered another bottle of champagne….carpe diem!  

[fudge]

You passed us this morning, we are on the Voyager en route to Athens our final docking, it was great to hear the horns blowing and all the crew waving at your ship. 

[forgap]

You were not on out side of the ship but see you on the navigation cam.   Nice horn blowing!  

[forgap]

Quarantine has ended!- Debarkation

 

Early morning Covid test that was once again negative.  What a relief to leave the room!  It looked a little worse for wear given that we had no housekeeping for six days.  We could have requested it but why not keep the standards I’m accustomed to at home!  But then again, at home I’m not knocking around in two rooms.  
 

Debarkation was a breeze but Galataport in Istanbul is large. We booked the Novotel which is very nearby and managed 3000 steps.  Many of the steps were accomplished by walking the length of Galataport three times before we surfaced from the underground labyrinth.  Once in open air we walked the length of it again to get to the hotel.  

 

As we were waiting to leave the ship, I spoke with a fellow passenger we met before boarding.  She said that there was a mean upper respiratory infection circulating the ship that is not Covid.  One member of her traveling group is quite sick.   She was surprised that our quarantine was so strict.  She was even more surprised that I opted to stay with my husband!  

 

Actually, we did quite well in isolation.  One of the things I liked about the early days of Covid lockdown was the lack of obligation.  In quarantine, I wore comfortable clothes, barefoot the whole time, no makeup until debarkation, hair in a scrunchie on top of my head.  Best of all, all I had to do was pick up the phone to get anything I wanted delivered to the cabin. 

We are in Istanbul for two days and fly home on Wednesday.  Thank you for all the support you gave us during this cruise.  It was very encouraging.

 

Our captain was good  managed to give me a room with a view on our overnight in Istanbul.  Enjoy!

 

And a restaurant, right outside our cabin in Galataport!  
 

 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I’m so glad you have some time to enjoy a few days prior to getting on an airplane to fly home.  Thanks for reporting the ups and downs of your cruise.  I wish it had been better for you!

 

Joanie

[irishwitchy]

What would the ending have been if you were only three days into the COVID lockdown?  Do the kick you off the ship, first or last? 
 

 

[forgap]

31 minutes ago, irishwitchy said:

What would the ending have been if you were only three days into the COVID lockdown?  Do the kick you off the ship, first or last? 
 

 

Ha!  Quarantine is 7 days and two negative tests OR the end of the cruise - whichever comes first! 

[cwn]

Is it different from ship to ship (Regent)? There was a thread just recently from someone who was allowed out of quarantine after The 0-5 day and 2 Test routine. They got to enjoy the last few days of their cruise. I think CDC is now saying quarantine for 5 days and negative test.

[1982CruzStart]

Enjoy your time in istanbul and thank you for sharing your trip both the ups and downs. You are a better person than me as i would have deserted my DH in a heartbeat if i tested negative. I would have told my DH to do the same if i was the one with covid but then i prefer to be alone if not feeling well.  You are a wonderful spouse. 

[SusieQft]

I would have deserted my DH also, but Regent would not let me because the ship was "full."  For us it was 6 days.  We were out after negative testing the morning of the 7th day.  It is nominally 5 days, but his positive test was first thing in the morning on day "zero," which did not count toward the 5 days.  If you are going to get an initial positive test, I recommend doing it late in the day.  😜  At least don't put it off until the next morning, because it will cost you an extra day in jail.

 

If his test on either day "5" (the sixth day) or day "6" (the seventh day) had been positive, they would have tacked on an extra 5 days, for a total of 11 days in jail.  Or if my test had been positive on day "5," that would have become my day "zero," and it would also have tacked on an extra 5 days for both of us.  Then I would have had to have 2 negative tests on my days "5" and "6" (the 11th and 12th days), or else it would then have been another 5 days, 16 in total.  Six days was manageable, but we would have been pretty crazy after 11 or 16 days.

[peribit]

4 hours ago, SusieQft said:

I would have deserted my DH also, but Regent would not let me because the ship was "full."  For us it was 6 days.  We were out after negative testing the morning of the 7th day.  It is nominally 5 days, but his positive test was first thing in the morning on day "zero," which did not count toward the 5 days.  If you are going to get an initial positive test, I recommend doing it late in the day.  😜  At least don't put it off until the next morning, because it will cost you an extra day in jail.

 

If his test on either day "5" (the sixth day) or day "6" (the seventh day) had been positive, they would have tacked on an extra 5 days, for a total of 11 days in jail.  Or if my test had been positive on day "5," that would have become my day "zero," and it would also have tacked on an extra 5 days for both of us.  Then I would have had to have 2 negative tests on my days "5" and "6" (the 11th and 12th days), or else it would then have been another 5 days, 16 in total.  Six days was manageable, but we would have been pretty crazy after 11 or 16 days.

If the cruise is only 10 days, do you disembark at the end of the cruise and go to a hotel to finish the quarantine or do you just disembark and on your own?

[forgap]

@SusieQft  you are correct that the quarantine is the CDC required “5” days which is really 6 days but you are actually set free on the 7th day if you have two consecutive negative tests.  The first of the tests are given the morning of the 6th day.  I guess that in my mind, the 7th  day counted as still in quarantine even though we were se free after the negative results came in.  @peribit  I think quarantine requirements depend on the country you are in if you are still positive when disembarkation comes around.  In our case, Turkey, it didn’t matter, 

[Aloha 1]

Foregap; So sorry to hear of your "jail time" due to covid.

 

We were on the same shore ex to Safed with you. In Jerusalem, we spent the day with a friend who is also a tour guide. She said Regent had hired a new company for the Israeli excursions which basically has inexperienced guides and drivers. They apparently bought up a few smaller companies and then low balled their offerings to get ship excursions. Having been to Israel twice before, I was extremely disappointed in the two Haifa excursions we took and made a strong suggestion in the final comment form that Regent should immediately find another agency.

[forgap]

7 hours ago, Aloha 1 said:

Foregap; So sorry to hear of your "jail time" due to covid.

 

We were on the same shore ex to Safed with you. In Jerusalem, we spent the day with a friend who is also a tour guide. She said Regent had hired a new company for the Israeli excursions which basically has inexperienced guides and drivers. They apparently bought up a few smaller companies and then low balled their offerings to get ship excursions. Having been to Israel twice before, I was extremely disappointed in the two Haifa excursions we took and made a strong suggestion in the final comment form that Regent should immediately find another agency.

It was dreadful, wasn’t it?  I’m not sure why destination services is such a weak link for Regent.  Since all excursion seem identical for identical cruises year by year and our excursion choices are on the computer, why not create individual excursion surveys? We could rate them and  add a narrative explanation.   Both the excursion desk on the ship and the corporate excursion “Wizard of Oz” could then readily see where the clunkers are and act accordingly.  In surveys there are always those who are excessively positive and negative but that would be fairly easy to sort out.  
 

And, on another note, the system of collecting in the theater has got to end. It is inefficient and annoying.  We have tickets.  Meet on shore.  Collect the tickets. Easy.