Oh wow Fred, I forgot about you being in Turkey! (Our trip didn't go to Trabzon.)

It's a very interesting cruise. Not a beginner's cruise, but I found the ports in the Crimea very beautiful and thought-provoking. I like Eastern Europe quite a lot, and would love to go back. David's less enthusiastic, he's rather go somewhere more relaxed like Greece.

We did it on the Diamond, which in retrospect was the most beautiful ship we have been on. And it was a spotlight on classical music, which was executed exquisitely, and coordinated with many music-related excursions. We also had a Crimean War specialist on board, which was really great.

We were there in June, and heat wasn't really an issue. The weather was perfect.

I have reviews somewhere, I'll dig them up. Here, I found it...(disclaimer: I'm betting conditions have changed quite a bit in these countries, probably for the better, since I was there.)

http://www.luxurycruisetalk.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000059#000000