Anyone back from Black Sea cruise yet???

[alexandra cruiser]

sorry,forgot exact return date,,but anxiously awaiting review..from what I ve read on past posts,,,sounds interesting...thanks in advance.;)

[jpalbny]

We did this last year and it was a great time! Looking forward to hearing from more recent travelers, as well.

[alexandra cruiser]

We did this last year and it was a great time! Looking forward to hearing from more recent travelers, as well.

Am trying to decide on various itineraries,,did you feel these ports were too much the same,,not sure what to expect.Took Russian cruise and some towns a little to "communist looking",,sort of dull and regimented .?? Have been to Athens,and Istanbul,,so like SS ports..more on Black Sea...will also be first SS cruise.:confused:

[duct tape]

Actually, the ports differ very much. They are all interesting and some are very scenic. Batumi, Georgia, was not my favorite but I hear they cleaned it up a bit. We have done this cruise x2 and will, no doubt, do it again in the future.

[jpalbny]

We went last June. Our itinerary was Athens - Canakkale - Sinop - Yalta - Sevastopol - Yalta - Constanta - Istanbul. This year and next year, the itineraries look a bit different. Not sure if this is good or bad...

 

Did not do a full review, but brief recollections:

 

We too have been to Athens so we flew in the morning of the cruise and did not do anything here.

 

Canakkale - went to the Gallipoli battlefields, and then to the site of Troy. Nice tour; lots of history at the battlefields that we Americans know very little about. Troy is neat to have seen but there's not much there.

 

Sinop - charming little seaside town that oozes "oldness" - easily walkable on your own. We did a tour that went to a museum, mosque, and then drove a few miles out of town to a "fiord" called Hamsilos bay. Very picturesque. After our tour we wandered the town for a bit. Really liked this stop and sorry to see it does not appear in future itineraries.

 

Yalta - Tries to be an upscale resort town but once you get off the seaside promenade there's poverty interspersed among luxury. We did a tour of the Czarist castles and then in the afternoon wandered the beachfront, took a cable car to the top of the mountain for a nice view, and meandered through the back streets for an interesting contrast to the seaside promenade.

 

Sevastopol is more industrial but has its nice spots. It seemed more of a military town - lots of war memorials in the waterfront park. We took a tour to the Monastery with a church built into a cave, and then explored the waterfront memorials in the afternoon. There's also a section of waterfront that has a carnival atmosphere, with music, performers, salesman working out of tents, and all sorts of general craziness... I thought this was different enough from Yalta.

 

Odessa is old glamor - beautiful in spots (the opera house is gorgeous) but some of it is in need of repair. We did a guided city tour for the morning and wandered on our own in the afternoon (sorry if this sounds redundant)... There are a ton of things to see here - neat archeological museum, churches, and we actually wandered into a grocery store to see what was being sold there. To us, this had the feel of an old European city that used to be glamorous, but is past its prime - maybe a neglected / run-down Paris? Definitely different from the other two ports.

 

Constanta - DISCLAIMER: many do not like this port. We enjoyed it but realize we may be in the minority. We did a tour to some Roman-era ruins (Histria) which drove through the Danube delta. Very pretty, and decent ruins with a small museum next to the site. We spent a few hours wandering the city which I'd warn you, be careful. There are seedy areas and pickpockets, etc; we heard stories from others though we did fine. Nonetheless, there's lots of really nice architecture to see, there's a great Archeological museum, a Roman bath house with a great mosaic floor, etc. There is a beautiful seaside casino and park which is sadly abandoned and badly in need of restoration.

 

Istanbul needs no other introduction though obviously 1 day is not enough. It's on our return list.

 

Bottom line - we thought the ports were different enough so that even the 3 Ukrainian stops were not at all redundant. Looking forward to seeing what others think. We know nothing about Sochi or Trabzon which appear on some future itineraries.

 

If you want to look at (too many) pictures of the different ports, there's a link in the signature below.

[alexandra cruiser]

and comprehensive review,exactly what I was looking for,,,and am now convinced,,this cruise on SS looks like what I m looking for,,after careful comparision,seems most complete for ports,,cant wait to show my husband,,,had no guidebook to look at..wheres Rick Steves??Did you find any??Will print this for reference,,realize next yrs ports not same,but many are..appreciate the time and quick response...love CC for that...:D

 

Duct tape, great recommendation,,since gone on this 2 times,,and looking forward to 3rd...I ve been on 15 cruises so far,,and still keep looking for NEW ones,,,although I ve enjoyed past ones too.Keep switching cruiselines ...love new experiences...but just GOOD ones.:)

[jpalbny]

and comprehensive review,exactly what I was looking for,,,and am now convinced,,this cruise on SS looks like what I m looking for,,after careful comparision,seems most complete for ports,,cant wait to show my husband,,,had no guidebook to look at..wheres Rick Steves??Did you find any??Will print this for reference,,realize next yrs ports not same,but many are..appreciate the time and quick response...love CC for that...:D

 

Glad to help out. We couldn't find a guidebook anywhere that was specific to the Black Sea ports / cruising - maybe we should write one! Of course we'd have to take a few more cruises but that should be OK...

 

We did borrow the Lonely Planet Ukraine guidebook from our library and it was somewhat helpful in getting around the 3 Ukrainian cities. Of course there's plenty for Istanbul - we used a pocket-size guide "Frommer's Istanbul day-by-day" or something like that, which was fine for just one day there. And we got guidebooks for Turkey and Romania so we could read up on the other ports. It made for some extra luggage, whereas one book would have been much more convenient...

 

We were amazed by the sheer natural beauty of the Black Sea coastline, especially around Crimea. The landscape is just stunning! Yet to us it felt more rustic and less developed than the Med, which can feel more touristy and gets more crowded. Sailing through the Bosporus was amazing as well.

 

Enjoy your cruise, whichever you decide! And thanks for starting this thread; writing about our cruise is bringing back some great memories.

[jpalbny]

...We have done this cruise x2 and will, no doubt, do it again in the future.

 

Actually, duct tape should write the guidebook...:) Suspect you are too busy cruising, though!

[duct tape]

Writing sounds like work! It would interfere with my cruising!

[Haworth]

We have just returned from a Black Sea cruise on the SB Odyssey, we visited Yalta, Sevastapol, Odessa, Constanta and Nessebur.

 

We enjoyed all the ports but chose not to get off at Constanta, the view around the ship was that it was the right decision.

 

Sevastapol tour we booked took us to the site of the battle of Balaclava where the charge of the light brigade occured, we stood on the high ground and our guide gave a detailed explanation of the battle. This was followed by a visit to a secret soviet submarine base from the cold war era, all fascinating stuff

 

Happy to answer any specific questions people may have but I suspect this cruise will get popular quickly and the bigger ships will move in, I would also recomend time in Istanbul before hand, it is an amazing city

[alexandra cruiser]

if Constanza,,,looks rough..and not inviting to visit,,,hope you mentioned on ship review card..

What did you do in other ports,Nessebur,Odessa,Yalta,,,

Am seriously considering this for 2013,,,but hubby wants to have change next summer to river boat,,have Regent Mariner in Dec..and just got off Seabourn to Norway last month...but like to do a lot of research and then book early...

So really appreciate you took time to review,,and glad you liked it too..how was ship,cabins,food,service,excursion quality,,etc...??Will be first on SB..thanks so much for info...:)

[Haworth]

We took a tour in Yalta to the palace where the conference (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchil) took place and a visit to the summer palace used as dacha by Stalin

 

Odessa we were docked at the base of the Potempkin steps and we walked round the town, felt very safe

 

Nessebur we walked round the old town, we are not into beaches but lots of sandy beaches and concrete tower block hotels as this was an Eastern European seaside resort, the town felt like Greece 20 years ago but too many stalls selling "local" merchandise

 

I would not be suprised to see Constanta replaced as people were given warnings on the shuttle bus not to show documents even to the police, as a consequence some people stayed on the shuttle bus and came straight back to the ship

 

Generally we like to do our own thing , not as easy here as other places, but booked some ship tours as we had on board credit to use

[MJN1]

If you search, you will find.... ;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1427390&highlight=mjn1

[alexandra cruiser]

with thanks for info,,to you,,was thinking there was another one that went in July,,and trying to get a few opinions...only drawback for SS is formal dress nites,,,posted this before,,,hubby refuses to bring suit...no problem for ME>.of course,,,oh well,,,have been told could eat in room,,or other rest??but this itinerary looks the best so far...:)

[rojaan19]

We are on the Wind July cruise 2221 and the Sumela Monastery is one of the tours on offer. On the SS website in the description of the tour is

 

"Please note: This tour involves an extensive amount of walking, with steep, uphill steps and uneven ground to negotiate en route to the monastery."

 

 

I really want to do this tour but my husband will only be 3 months post knee replacement so what I want to know is it as strenuous as SS makes out, or are they just being careful ? Is there anywhere on the way up to sit and rest ? What do they call " extensive amount of walking " ?

 

Thanks Ann

[MJN1]

what I want to know is it as strenuous as SS makes out, or are they just being careful ? Is there anywhere on the way up to sit and rest ? What do they call " extensive amount of walking " ?

 

It is quite a walk! You will be driven up a very steep (and curvy) mountain road and dropped off at its end. From there it is a quite long (min 10 if not 15min at normal speed) walk along the hillside through the forest. There are sections of (sometimes quite narrow) forest path with tree-roots running in and across the path intermixed with flights of (uneven) stone stairs both uphill and downhill in BOTH directions. After several 100meters/yards you have a staircase up to the entrance/ticket booth and from there a long, steep staircase up into the monastry and then another one down on the other side to the caves and frescos. Yes, you can rest on the side but it is NOT for the fainthearted and the first time we felt that SS got the "warning" about right.

 

The monastry is spectacular so and was one of the highlights of the cruise! I tried to attach pictures to illustrate above, but failed. I can e-mail them if you give me your e-mail address.

[rojaan19]

..................

The monastry is spectacular so and was one of the highlights of the cruise! I tried to attach pictures to illustrate above, but failed. I can e-mail them if you give me your e-mail address.

 

 

Thanks for that info MJN1 !

 

 

I would love to see your photos - my email: rojaan19@gmail.com

 

thanks

 

Ann

[MJN1]

Done

[badgerdee]

<snip>...If you want to look at (too many) pictures of the different ports, there's a link in the signature below.

 

Great photos, thanks.

 

We're on the Black Sea cruise this coming July, although our ports differ to yours.

 

Very much looking forward to it :)

[badgerdee]

We have just returned from a Black Sea cruise on the SB Odyssey, we visited Yalta, Sevastapol, Odessa, Constanta and Nessebur.

 

We enjoyed all the ports but chose not to get off at Constanta, the view around the ship was that it was the right decision.

 

Sevastapol tour we booked took us to the site of the battle of Balaclava where the charge of the light brigade occured, we stood on the high ground and our guide gave a detailed explanation of the battle. This was followed by a visit to a secret soviet submarine base from the cold war era, all fascinating stuff

 

Happy to answer any specific questions people may have but I suspect this cruise will get popular quickly and the bigger ships will move in, I would also recomend time in Istanbul before hand, it is an amazing city

 

Is it worth getting off the ship in Nessebur? I'm trying to decide which of the days will be my spa day and this one is looking promising...

[jpalbny]

Is it worth getting off the ship in Nessebur? I'm trying to decide which of the days will be my spa day and this one is looking promising...

 

 

I can't answer about Nessebur from personal experience, but I can say that most of the people on our cruise did not like Constanta very much. We may have been the only people onboard who liked it, but we were brave/stupid/crazy enough to wander around on our own... For what it's worth, I've heard a number of positive things said about Nessebur.

 

Looking at your itinerary, these would be the only two candidates for a spa day. You could choose based on whichever port is offering better shore excursions - do a ship's tour in one, and bag the other one.

[Orange County Murphy]

We found Nessebur to be rather charming. It had an old world village atmosphere which we enjoyed. You can simply wander about on your own, people watch and browse in the small shops. There were a few vendors with crafts as well.

 

The longest 9 hours of my life were spent on a shore excursion from Constanta. I would have killed to have been at the spa.

[badgerdee]

I can't answer about Nessebur from personal experience, but I can say that most of the people on our cruise did not like Constanta very much. We may have been the only people onboard who liked it, but we were brave/stupid/crazy enough to wander around on our own... For what it's worth, I've heard a number of positive things said about Nessebur.

 

Looking at your itinerary, these would be the only two candidates for a spa day. You could choose based on whichever port is offering better shore excursions - do a ship's tour in one, and bag the other one.

 

We found Nessebur to be rather charming. It had an old world village atmosphere which we enjoyed. You can simply wander about on your own, people watch and browse in the small shops. There were a few vendors with crafts as well.

 

The longest 9 hours of my life were spent on a shore excursion from Constanta. I would have killed to have been at the spa.

 

Thanks so much for your input, which reflects the research I've done over the past few hours.

 

When we arrive in Constanta, I'll be sending hubby off to the Roman Edifice and Histria whilst I will be retiring to the Spa for a facial and massage.

 

I'm really looking forward to Nessebur's old town now that I've done some reading :)

[drron29]

Thanks so much for your input, which reflects the research I've done over the past few hours.

 

When we arrive in Constanta, I'll be sending hubby off to the Roman Edifice and Histria whilst I will be retiring to the Spa for a facial and massage.

 

I'm really looking forward to Nessebur's old town now that I've done some reading :)

Well I'll be joining hubby on the tour and Rojaan is joining you in the spa-that was our plan as well.