Hi from the Navigator,

We all (Mom, sis Sharon, niece Jenn and I) made it to Venice minus one bag for Jenn. The Regent folks took us right to the ship where we had to walk up a tall, tall staircase to show our passport only to go down again for a long walk to the ship. Not to easy for my mom. Check in was easy, met up with my brother and sil, then lunched at Portofino's. Arnold was the first smiling face I saw and he greeted us royally.

Off to our cabin and the luggage (that arrived) came shortly after. I unpacked, then sailaway which Venice provides one of the most beautful and memorable images. Then dinner at CR. It was quite noisy, but the food was fabulous. We all had some sort of beef.

Later we headed to Gallileo's for jazz night with Clinton. Good music. Judy (my sil) and I contributed to the slots!!

Today was Dubronik and we tendered into the Old Town. Our mission was to find clothes for Jenn. (The ship has been great on providing complimentary laundry for her.) She had some luck in one shop. It was tough pickings as it's Sunday and most of the shops are closed.

Tonight we ate in Portofino's with a wonderful meal and music by Jerry. We had eaten at Don Vito's on the Diamond, so we knew we were in for a treat. A big plus was Portofino host, Vincenzo. He has a great singing voice and does a mean Sinatra impresonation.

We are just about to leave Dubrovnik, heading for Kotor, Montenegro. Hope to send more seamail later.

Hi Beth and thanks for the sea mail! Sounds like everyone is off to a great start on your cruise - minus the one suitcase! :)

Wow! We did the sail-in to Venice on our first Regent cruise. It is, as you say, magnificent! Thank you for checking in. I look forward to hearing about Kotor.

Here's to Jenn's clothes arriving ASAP!

Cheers, Anne

Thanks for the seamail, Beth - what a nice family get away!!! Hope Jenn gets her bag soon - I have wanted Venice for soooo long - of course, just 11 months off for B2B

Beth, nice to hear you are having a great time! That lost baggage only happened to me once, for 5 days, and I had better shopping opportunities, plus the ship sent some clothes to my cabin which were fine, I guess things that had been left on the ship by passengers. We gave up in Malaga, and went shopping (fun!), and baggage arrived two days later. Still wearing some of those clothes! Your ports seem a bit more difficult for luggage to be transferred.

Hi Beth,

So sorry about the lost bag, that can be an inconvenience!

Hopefully it'll catch up with you soon. If not, shopping is the order of the day!

to a great cruise!

Olivia - we were on that cruise with you (VJ7) and you and Joanna coped so well with lost luggage -

Good hearing from you, Beth. Venice is magical.

Hope the luggage situation is resolved very soon.

Have a great time. Looking forward to more seamail from you.

Ahh Venice. Lovely place. Have fun and keep the seamail coming. Hope the bag arrives soon. Your report about it has me cross-packing all over the place today. Now I' don't know what is where.

Thanks for checking in Beth, hope Jenn's bag arrives soon. Will look forward to more reports.

Hi again, you all. We visited Kotor today. This was the Navigator's first time in the port. So many of us commented that it reminded us of an Adriatic Norway with mountains cutting out and coming straight down to the water. Only things missing were the snow covered mountains and the waterfalls.

The old town of Kotor was very quaint with narrow walking streets. We encountered a few women with children begging, but they weren't overbearing. Also some knock-off cologne sellers.

Our mission was shopping for Jenn again. (She has heard her bag will arrive in Santorini... 2 more days.) She found a nice dress and shoes for tonight which was informal. The ship's alterations department took care of some snipping off a few bows on the dress then all was right. Kotor was full of shoe stores so she had luck there, too.

Judy and I both had luck in the casino, recooping our losses of the past 2 days.

Captain John McNeil is a charmer. He wore his kilt to his Welcome Aboard Party tonight.

Some things I am noticing are the addition of a Port and Shopping Consultant and no mention of the Peter Grey Trehune singer and dancers. Now they are known as the Regent Signature Singers and Dancers and the Regent Signature Band. Also Sam, the cruise director does a daily TV taping of the next day's activities. This is kind of interesting and done in a fun way.

Well off to bed as tomorrow we are in Olympia (another new port of the Navigator) for the afternoon. Sis Sharon and I are going on the Ancient Olympia and Museum. Will tell you all about it in a day or two.

We are having lots of warm weather, just like at home.....

Beth, you are bringing back such wonderful (and not too distant!) memories. Jerry and Vincenzo put on a fantastic, FUN show, don't they? I was impressed that they don't do the same show over and over; they changed it up our second time around in Portofino.

Capt. McNeill just glows, doesn't he? He was always smiling!!!

Glad to hear the casino is treating you well! Ask the bartender who is usually in the casino, Alessandro from Rome, if he'll make you a Cham-Cham! (Champagne + Chambord) That'll bring a smile to his face. Also Meo up in the Galileo.

So sorry to hear about the lost luggage, what a royal PAIN that must be.

Continue to enjoy, and keep checking in with us when you are able! :)

Beth,

Sounds as if your cruise is going very well. Thanks for taking the time to report. Hope Jenn's bag arrives soon. Keep having fun and keep up the SeaMail, please!

Beth, interesting to hear of the "re-naming" of the entertainment! Hope you enjoy them!

Tell Jenn to hang in there, luggaage will make it eventually. Regent is always so good about missing luggage, and nice to know the alterations department is accommodating her!

Say hi to Sam for me and tell him I am burning more music DVDs for my next cruise:)

Love Capt MacNeil too. Kilts are charming.

Phyllis

Thanks for checking in, Beth. Hope your niece meets her luggage soon, and you all have a great time.

Hi All from Santorini,

Yesterday in Katakolon, Greece I got knocked off the Internet on two tries to post. So here goes again, in Word first.

We enjoyed a lazy morning yesterday as we docked in Greece at 12:00. Prior to our excursion was the lobster grill poolside. We scurried through lunch and I grabbed some cookies to take with us. The almond crescent looked so good, I took a bite only to have a crown come loose. I quickly cancelled my excursion to Olympia and went to reception. The nurse wouldn’t be able to see me for 5 hours, so mom and I watched movies in the cabin and read.

At 5:00 I saw the doctor who recommended I see a dentist in Kusadasi ( two days later). My niece suggested I call my dentist office, who said I could make a paste of baby powder and Vaseline and not have anything done to my tooth. So I made an appt at home for Monday afternoon. Luckily I must have had a root canal because I am not hurting…..

The service in the CR has been wonderful. The first evening, all 6 of us dove into the bread basket looking for our much loved salt sticks. Gerson, our assistant waiter, searched the dining room and kept us happy bringing more and more. Two nights later, he saw he come in and showered us with more salt sticks. How they remember this is amazing to us. Again last night, we moved two tables over and Gerson came over and was sad we weren’t joining his table, but Carry our waiter and Arnold kept bringing us more and more salt sticks. Needless we have been happy.

Jenn’s luggage arrived this AM five minutes after she and my brother and sil left on their excursion of Santorini. They are going on the monastery and winery tour or Monks and Drunks as Carroll calls it.

Tonight is the Seven Seas Party, then we are joining Sam, the cruise director for dinner.

Kristin, Thanks for the suggestion of the Cham-Cham. Sounds like drinks to play slots by.

Phyllis, I'll talk with Sam tonight at dinner and send your best.

Was told by my dentist I could always get an adhesive which is available at pharmacies; also, can use any kind of denture paste to hold the crown in place till you can see the dentist. Have a great trip!

Love reading your reports Beth. Sorry about your tooth. Fascinating that you can keep it on with a paste like that - great advice from your dentist.

It is the little things like the salt sticks that make a trip so special. I can just picture Arnold arriving with Salt Sticks in hand.

So glad the luggage arrived that is such a good feeling. Experienced that a time or too!

Sam and Arnold please give them both a hug from me. I am not going back on the Navigator until November 2008 - too long. They have some great staff members on that ship. Wish it was sooner!

Mama Sup - Are you abandoning us CAVIARites on the Navigator on the Black Sea in July, 2008?? Say it ain't so!!!

Say it isn't so!

Beth: Sorry about your tooth - hope all stays well until you get home. Should have stuck to the lobster. Great to read your reports and keep enjoying yourself! Lee

Beth, so sorry to hear about your crown! I always worry that something like that will happen to Greg or I while on a cruise. I am glad you are not in any pain!

Monks & drunks - cute!!! I think that's the excursion we did while in Santorini. We also went to Oia, what an enchanting little town!

I love hearing from you - continue to enjoy!

Ah duh!! I think I am so deep in organizing the GAME safari right now that is going to be taking place before my Navigator November 2008 cruise it was focused in my feeble brain.

DEFINITELY WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT WILL BE ON THE BLACK SEA CRUISE ON THE NAVIGATOR IN JULY.

I'm sure you are forgiven, Ngaire, for lapses all of us have! I'm leaving tomorrow, (just got home from work a little while ago) and hope I finish the packing with all of the things I still have to put in the suitcases! Like the OTC medicine cabinet, the RX's, the SHOES, the sweat pants I know are not packed, and so much other stuff!

Ah, such a grand relief that Ngaire will still be our Mother Superior on the Black Sea adventure. (She gave us such a Kiwi fright, when she posted that she would not be on Navigator until November...)

Of course, she had promised to be the first one to try the Bulgarian goat trotters in lemon-yogurt sauce while we're in Nessebur; so it would have been most unfortunate if she had bailed on us, no??!!

Just a quite HI from Mykonos,

The tooth is just fine and has not hindered my eating at all!!!

We hope to get off here in Mykonos, but it is extremely hot. At 9:45 am it was 98*. I wouldn't recommend this area in June. Hotterinhe!! around here.

Kusadasi was wonderful yesterday. Warm with a nice breeze and fabulous to see the ruins again. It was fun to see Ephesus with my family with new eyes.

Tonight is the SSS Gold Onboard Activity. We've all been invited to a private sailaway on the bridge. We are looking forward to it. (Sounds much more exciting than the Cocktails in the Laundry we had last year on the Mariner.)

We sadly leave tomorrow for home, so I hope to give you a more indepth report when I get back to Wilson next week. I do have some interesting news from dinner with Sam.

Beth,

Have a safe trip home. I will look forward to your report!

Thanks for the reports Beth! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip.

Dave

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Beth. Glad the tooth is holding up. I know its sad to see the trip come to an end, but hopefully you have done an onboard booking and now have something else to look forward to. I'm sure this was a special time with your family as well.

Beth it sounds like you have some wonderful memories to take home with you. Enjoy the day you have left and I wish you a safe journey back home! :)

Safe travels home, Beth.

I've enjoyed reading your seamail. Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all.

Just wanted you all to know that we are staying over in Athens. Mom took a fall on the ship as our color was called. She fell right at the reception desk on deck 6. We went to the hospital and she checked out just fine. We are staying over in the same hotel with brother and sil. Extremely hot here. Going home on Tuesday. Will give you more of a report then as we are paying 6E for 15 minutes at the hotel business center!!!!!

Beth,

So very sorry to hear about your mom's fall. I do hope she will be o.k. Hope you have a safe, pleasant trip home.

Beth, I hope you have an easy journey home. I am glad your mother is going to be ok!

So sorry to hear about your Mom's fall, Beth. Hope she's doing OK. Have a safe journey home.

Good luck with your Mom Beth. Hope she is doing well and you get home soon. So sorry to hear this. Will be thinking about you'all and hoping it all works out.

Beth please let us know about your Mom when you can. I am relieved to read her fall wasn't anymore serious than it was.

Safe travels back home to all of you!

We made it back home at 11:00 last night, minus mom's luggage. She is doing remarkable well with everything she has gone through.

We stayed 3 nights in Athens at the Divani Caravel Hotel. My brother, sister-in-law and I went down to the Plaka early Sunday morning. Did some shopping and was back at the hotel by 11:00am. With the extreme heat, the afternoons were spent with munching on take out, snoozing and watching 2 year old Bold & the Beautifuls. Y&R and Greek versions of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Monday we did a morning excursion of Athens.

Yesterday was a long travel day (an 11 hour flight from Athens - Atlanta) and today we are waiting around for mom's luggage to arrive.

Glad you are all home safely Beth and that your Mom is doing better! :)