I just read on the Regent site that the Black Sea cruise is also a spotlight on antiques cruise with antiques roadshow reps aboard.

Just wanted to post that Brad & I have just signed up for CAVIAR - I was fortunate in scoring AA upgrades through Frankfurt.

We have tentatively signed up for the Cappadocia pre-tour but I'm also looking at independent options. We were in Istanbul 7 years ago and loved it.

Nostrovia!

In my next life I want to have Leslie's savvy for all things FF. Most days I don't have time to check in to LCT! I am nearly frantic about getting our Roar2 air arrangements set. I will probably end up paying through the nose with AMEX Plat. Sure wish you still lived in Chicago Leslie!!! Oh ,the wine I would ply you with for help!!!

I thought I already responded! Leslie, we are really going to miss you! I too, looked into the land thing after Anne's postings, but decided I need some sea days and simply don't have the energy. Hope you guys have a great time! Already did that Black Sea thing with Suzanne and Lyn, and Peter, and many others, as it was a BK cruise, but small group.

Yet another person I get to meet!

Hi.

Does anyone have information on hotels in Istanbul? I am planning on 2 extra days in Istanbul prior to the cruise.

Thanks very much,

Marcia

Marcia, you will get lots of opinions about hotels here. Are you thinking luxurious chain hotels, or smaller boutique hotels?

I always recommend that you stay in the Sultanahmet, the old part of Istanbul, where all the main tourist sights are. Especially if you're there for only two days.

Hi Wandra.

thanks for the quick post.

either luxurious chains or boutique. Also, I will be alone in Istnabul for the 2-3 days, if that will make any difference.

Marcia

Marcia, if you want to splurge, there's the Four Seasons. I haven't stayed there, but we went in while we were there, and had friends who stayed there just before us. It's beautiful, smack in the midst of things, but very pricey.

There are lots of smaller "Ottoman Inns" in the Sultanahmet. You could try:
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/IstanbulHotels/IstSpecialHotels/OttomanInns.html

It's an excellent site with all kinds of information. I've read that the Empress Zoe specializes in making women travelling alone feel comfortable, but I believe someone here (Anne?) took a look at it and was not impressed.

We stayed at the Dersaadet which now gets very good ratings. It was comfortable and friendly.

Istanbul ... ah! Such a wonderful place to visit.

We booked through Credo Tours in Turkey for our hotel rooms & airport transfers. I found them on the Turkey Travel Planner website (? - 90% sure). They were excellent and were able to get us discounts on the room rates vs. what I could find elsewhere on the Internet. I will definitely use them next time I return to Turkey.

I was not overly impressed by Empress Zoe. It's on a darker corner on a back side street down from the Four Seasons. Suzanne stayed at an Ottoman hotel she really liked in Sultahamet.

Lots of good choices. If you want services, then Taksim Square has many 5 star hotels. We rode the tram system (easy but jam packed) in and out of Sultahamet to dinner one night. We also tried it from the airport. Not good with luggage, as the tram is jammed from the university area to Sultahamet. This was around 11 am, so not what I think of as rush hour.

Cheers, Anne

Marcia,
We will be spending 4 nights in Istanbul in April. Like you, we were so confused trying to find just the right hotel and the best location. We decided we definitely wanted the Sultanahmet location as this is our first visit to Istanbul. After lots of research, we're booked at Hotel Nena. It has gotten such high marks and the deluxe room we have has a nice large balcony with table and chairs plus it is in such a central "walkable" location yet very close to the tram stop as well. They are picking us up and delivering us back to the airport (we are then flying to Athens to board the Voyager) free. If you want to look at their website, here it is: http://www.istanbulhotelnena.com/

We looked at other hotels such as Empress Zoe but with all our luggage we really wanted a hotel with an elevator (many don't have one) and AC. Dersaadet was also a strong consideration and sounded very nice.

Looks like lots of good advice, marcia.

Marcia - Just to throw another consideration into the mix (yikes, with even more variables to ponder...), you might wish to look at the 4- and 5-star hotels in Taksim. No, they are not in the wonderful old town area of Sultanahmet, which truly is delightful for sightseeing during the day. However, several commentators on the current scene in Istanbul have suggested that while Sultanahmet is quite dead at night, Taksim is lively, with loads of cafes, restaurants, and clubs of all sorts, making it a much more pleasant experience in the evening than Sultanahmet would be.

Another factor which was important in our decision to stay for five days at the Hyatt Regency in Taksim rather than at one of the boutique hotels in Sultanahmet is A/C. Bear in mind that our pre-cruise in Istanbul will be the beginning of July. It can be very hot in Istanbul in mid-summer, as I well recall from previous visits and a year based in Turkey in the Army (U.S., not Turkish Army). As spoiled guys from the cool Pacific Northwest, my partner & I don't tolerate heat very well and try to find hotels which will offer us a cool haven after a day of hot touring. Modern deluxe hotels are much more likely to have reliable and efficient A/C than restored Ottoman mansions. It may be a bit philistine to want good A/C over boutique hotel charm; but in July we take that factor into serious consideration. (If the trip was in October, the decision factors would be quite different...)

Have fun looking at the choices. Istanbul is a city of remarkable delights.

Cheers, Fred


Sultanahmet

Hi.

Thank you, Fred. AC is a huge issue for me.

Marcia

Aloha
We booked a room at the Hyatt. They have a senior discount. Also noticed that Hyatt will open a new hotel in the spring of 08. Thinking about looking later in the year to see how much etc. They are not accepting any reservations at this time.

John & Christina

Hi all.

After much consideration and hours on the internet sites, I booked a room at the Hyatt. The comment on air-conditioning was the clincher. Thanks for all uour help.

Marcia

We have just signed up for Caviar as well.

welcome sedona. this will surely be a wonderful cruise.

I just wanted to post that we are will have to cancel on this cruise. Our daughter will be married on July 5, so obviously we have a more important place to be. Our next group cruise is "Ice" and we look forward to seeing many old friends then.

Cheers, Pam

Guess I should own up that in the last week or so Carol and I have booked CAVIAR. We are also on the segment just before that goes from Rome to Istanbul. Looking forward to the interesting Black Sea ports.

Andi,
It will be great to travel with you and Doug again. Jim and I are signed up for CAVIAR a while ago and we actually will be able to make this one - we are just finishing up 2008 planning at my company so I'm getting a clearer idea of where I'll be next year. We have had to cancel CAMEL due to a work conflict, but this one is a go. We decided to do the Voyager fall crossing in 2008 as a replacement for CAMEL. Looking forward to travelling with Fred and Pat and all the new LCT friends we haven't met yet.

Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen:

Wow! How cool! I did not know that you and Jim were on CAVIER, too! How great! Been too long since we have seen you guys.
Andi has told me some of the others who are on this trip...looks like a wonderful group! She will be thrilled when she reads this thread, too!
& how amazing was it that you saw Marc & Arlene in Japan about a week after we had dinner with them in NYC!

Best to Jim!

Doug

Sadly,

When we booked this, we had to cancel the Voyager crossing. We would have seen you on that trip! We are going on ROAR II, but just don't have enough days to do all three. We're looking forward to seeing you and Jim again, as well. We had a great time on TAP and it was a hard decision to cancel the trip, but we just did a crossing and wanted to do something different next year. Also, the crossing was so close to ROAR.

Fellow Black Sea Navigators,

My wife Judy and I will be on this cruise and are looking for another couple that might be interested in a post-cruise, half day trip to Corinth and the Temple of Apollo. We ended a Regent cruise in Athens in 2006 and made a similar trip to Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. We found a good car service that will pick us up at the ship and after a brief stop to drop bags at the hotel(s) (we are staying at the Hilton), we'd proceed to Corinth to see the canal and ancient site, returning to Athens in the late afternoon. We'll also be using the same car service to get to the airport early the next morning (we spent 3 days post-cruise last time, but just overnight this time), so that is an option for you as well (when you depart).

Anyway, if you are on this cruise and might be interested in what I describe, just send me a private message.

Also thought it time to bump this thread...got to get some excitement building here!

Scott, can I get the name of your Athen's car service? I need to find a car to go from Athens to Sounion and Temple of Poseidon and then take us to ship next May.

Caviar lovers (the cruise, not the foodstuff though I hope there will be some of the latter on the former):

First, I thought I'd bump this thread since it has been dormant for months, and we are now 116 days away!

Second, Judy and I have arranged a post-cruise day trip to Corinth (pick-up at the ship in Piraeus, short stop at the hotel in Athens {Hilton for us} and then on to Corinth for the ancient sites there with a stop for lunch andanother to look at the canal with a return to Athens in the late afternoon. This is with an operator we've used before. We plan on doing this in any case, but would be happy to share it (and the cost) with another couple or two (about $195 for 2, less if we are 6 total). Let me know if you might be interested. Other hotels can, of course, be accommodated.

Scott - Could you post the name and contact info for the car service you're using for the Corinth tour? Pat & I are going to do what you did a couple of years ago - go to Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon on the way to our hotel at the airport. Since our flight the next day is so early, we decided to stay at the Sofitel at the airport - they claim to be a mere 50m stroll from the terminal. Thus, no taxis or worries about traffic that morning. Cheers, Fred

Scott, Carol and I are interested in joining you on the trip to Corinth. We are staying two night post cruise at the Intercontinental. Is this a problem. We are of course doing CAVIAR but also will be on board for the segment before CAVIAR.

Freddie: GreeceTaxi (greecetaxi@greecetaxi.gr). Cost for the Sounion trip in 2006 was 350 Euros for 6 people (2 taxis to hotel because of luggage and then a minivan to Sounion and back). Staying at the airport is probably a good idea for a one-night stand.

Ralph: see personal mail from me shortly.

Others who might be interested in Corinth, we can do this comfortably with up to 6 total, and the price will just get better.

Update on the post-cruise day trip to Corinth:

Not surprisingly, inflation/exchange rate have raised the costs since our Sounion trip to 450 Euros for a minivan (but longer itinerary). Ralph and Carol (see above) have signed on. We can accommodate another couple if you are interested. Keep in mind that the trip also handles your transfer to a hotel in Athens. Here's the description from GreeceTaxi:

Full day tour / max 8 hours: Ancient Corinth (Includes: Corinth Canal, Ancient Corinth, Acrocorinth, and the seaside spa town of Loutraki for lunch. Pick up at port, transfer luggage to the hotel, continue on tour.

Ralph and Carol have an included Regent transfer so there would be 4 plus luggage for the transfer and then 6 for the day trip to Corinth.

I'd like to complete this booking by early April so let me know soon if you are interested.

108 days and counting!

60 days and counting...

Since this trip is fast approaching, can someone up-date who is on this one?

Doug (just wondering who I'm going to be having dinner with)

Oh goodness, no one ever started a roll call for this one? No, must be SOMEWHERE!

It is :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Isn't it Caviar????

Joanna:

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten the name for this trip. Since i don't log-in everyday, I welcome the help from those of you who are on here daily or hourly.
As it happens, Fred started a roll-call the very day before I posted my question! Looks like a wonderful group of people! Can't wait.

Doug