Did anyone ever start a roll call for the Black Sea cruise (Cossack)? If so, I can't find it.

We are going qith my sister and her husband are you going, too? Hugs

Well great!!!! I was beginning to think we were going by ourselves ;) . See you in CA in a few days!

We'll be there also,
Jim & Pat

So I guess I should start a roll call

Jerry and Peggy -736
Mary Elaine and David
Jim and Pat
Ngaire and Ken
Kathy and Al
Victor and Roseanne -978

anyone else??

Why is it we always pick the wrong cruise?

oops - deleted by mistake!

Going to try this again......Al and I have signed up for this cruise. Peggy, could you please add us to the roll call? Thanks!

That's great, Kathy -- you're added to the roll call.

Added Victor and Roseanne to the roll call -- the more the merrier!

This pin made me giggle, too cute!

Love the pin! After what seemed like a flight that lasted forever, we got to Istanbul last night. When we checked in at the Grand Hyatt they upgraded us to a suite, so life is good (except for the jet lag!). We get on the Mariner tomorrow and then life will be really good. We;re looking forward to seeing Barry Hopkins who will be onboard for a few weeks this summer and we'll make sure the ship is in good shape for the rest of the Cossackees.

That is a cute pin!

Peggy, I hope you and Jerry have some time for seamail now that the ROCKer mail has stopped. Have a lovely time cruising!!

Have a great trip Peggy.

Have a fun time, Peggy! This itinerary is a good one, and you'll have some great shipboard companions when the COSSACK gang arrives. A recipe for an excellent cruise!

P.S. Love the pin!!!!

We're on the Mariner and currently docking in Kavala, Greece, a new port for Regent. We had a fabulous dinner in Prime 7 last night and enjoyed seeing a lot of familiar crew --lots of hugs and kisses. Dinner tonight with Ricky Balinger who is now Food and Beverage Manager. The Mariner looks great and since I'm on it, it's my favorite ship (it ususally is anyway, even when I'm not on it.)
Kavala looks like a typical Greek town -- I think Zorba could live here. I think we're seeing some ruins on our tour this afternoon and if we're lucky we'll get a shot of Ouzo. Opah!!!

Dang Peggy, a new port for Regent and I couldn't find a webcam that shows the harbor. It does look to be a beautiful day there, though!

Peggy, so nice to hear from you! You sure are escaping some scorching temps in Texas, apparently! I will enjoy hearing from you, as no way right now I would ever want to be away from the beautiful and cool temps we are experiencing on the mid-Atlantic coast so far this summer. Please write often until our lct Cossack friends come aboard to join you and Jerry!

Kavala was a great port! We went to the ruins of Phillipi (sort of a mini Ephesus) and enjoyed a welcome reception in the town square of a small village near the ruins. The local ladies prepared wonderful Greek specialties (Dolma, etc) and we were entertained by some local dancers. It was a beautiful day there . We were supposed to go to Mykonos today, but the winds were so strong the anchor wouldn't hold and we had to leave. We're headed to Kusadasi and will overnight there instead. We're welcoming an unexpected sea day.

Peggy, Kavala sounds like a delightful town and a nice new port for Regent. Many have asked for new ports in the Med and Regent has provided. On my first Greek Isles cruise, we had to bypass Mykonos due to high winds, too, but tendered to Patmos. Most of the summer Med cruises are port intensive, so your sea day should be a welcomed relaxing day!

Peggy,
Who do you have for captain & cruise director on the Mariner? We'll see you next week in Athens.
Jim

Hi Jim -- looking forward to seeing you soon. Felice Patruno is the Captain and Jamie Logan is the Cruise Director (and, of course, Dana is here too). Currently Davor is the GM, but he goes on vaction after this cruise. Michael Coughlin (sp?) is coming on as GM starting July 3. There's lots of other familiar faces onboard --it's been like old home week.

We celebrated July 4th with a visit to Ephesus that Ngaire arranged through K&D. There were just 11 of us on a minibus with a guide. Instead of the typical tour from the top we went in at the bottom where most tours finish and, since we all had been there before we took a quick walk by the theater, toilets & library and concentrated on the terrace houses which have only been open since 2006. It was pretty hot and most of the group weren't interested in visiting a small village so we got back to the ship in time for a late lunch. Some of us explored the bazaar in Kusadasi in the afternoon. There was a sail away deck party with the orchestra playing patriotic American tunes for Independence day and there were a flag and some bunting decorating the deck. The B&K group met in the observation lounge for meet & greet before heading out for dinner. Ngaire & Ken's luggage is still missing but hopefully will join them tomorrow (it's a sea day today.) Early this morning we sailed through the Dardanelles and in a short while we'll pass through the Bospherus and get a glimpse of Istanbul.