Black sea reviews anyone??

[alexandra cruiser]

Looked in search engine and member reviews but dont find any recent Black Sea reviews...just doing research,,but like the May dates,,rather then mid summer(too hot I fear).

Have never been on Azamara...but interested in suites..love a balcony and tub,plus full breakfast room service...have looked at luxury lines taken in past(regent,seabourn,etc..but have bad sail dates for me_

Any help would be great...not till next year..;)

[rialannah]

You are correct. Although Black Sea cruises appear very popular (and some sell out quite early) there are only a few of them and full reviews are pretty scarce.

 

I obtained my information largely from snippets obtained by searching the "Other Mediterranean Ports" threads and fortunately from friends who have done the cruise. The best other source was cruise reviews by Oceania passengers.

 

We are booked on Azamara Journey for the Black Sea cruise, Athens to Istanbul, next May. The itinerary is good, but not as comprehensive as some by Azamara and other lines later in the year which include additional ports in Russia and Eastern Turkey. However, like you, we were not attracted to the likely weather conditions in late July and August, especially as we are taking a ten day land tour of Turkey before the cruise.

[ian67]

Writing this in Paros on last evening of an outstanding Black Sea cruise on Quest. It did indeed exceed our expectations. Full review hopefully by this weekend!:D

[Phxazzcruisers]

On the Quest on the final day of the Black Sea Cruise.n Azamara Quest was awesome. A few of the ports in Romania were not very interesting. However the cruise, as a whole was incredible, and highly recommended. It was, as the OP notes VERY HOT and VERY HUMID. We loved it all. I will answer any questions after we return to the states in two more weeks. We are staying on for a B2B.

[alexandra cruiser]

and appreciate your taking time to respond. Any detail will be great.:)

[mara01]

Looked in search engine and member reviews but dont find any recent Black Sea reviews...just doing research,,but like the May dates,,rather then mid summer(too hot I fear).

Have never been on Azamara...but interested in suites..love a balcony and tub,plus full breakfast room service...have looked at luxury lines taken in past(regent,seabourn,etc..but have bad sail dates for me_

Any help would be great...not till next year..;)

 

Can anyone tell us what weather to expect on the Black Sea cruise in May - have been looking at that itinerary for 25th May next year but wasn't sure if it would be warm enough. Any ideas of temperatures that early in the year? We know the ship would be lovely!

[tgg]

Can anyone tell us what weather to expect on the Black Sea cruise in May - have been looking at that itinerary for 25th May next year but wasn't sure if it would be warm enough. Any ideas of temperatures that early in the year? We know the ship would be lovely!

 

I find the best place to check historical weather data is wunderground.com

[Haworth]

We did this cruise last year and this is a comment I posted on another question

 

Nessebur we got a tender into town and walked round and enjoyed a good look around, it was a bit "tatty" in our view

 

Constanta we stayed on board and relaxed

 

Yalta and Odessa were very enjoyable with trips to Stalin's palace, Livadia palace where the Yalta conference was held in ww2, also the secret submarine base

 

We booked all our trips through the ship

 

We also stayed an extra couple of days in Istanbul, a wonderful city

 

We went in July and I dont recall it being too humid but the weather can change on a daily basis

 

If you have any specific questions I will do my best to answer

[rbdb]

We just finished the above cruise as a back to back and can highly recommend it. Ports of call, the Quest, the staff, the history, the weather and of course the food and wine - all surpassed our expectations. Constanta was a bit of an eye opener in its coldness and starkness but from a cultural and historical perspective it was well worth seeing - it just can't compete with the likes of Odessa or Yalta. Overall the cruise was an 11 out of 10 - so much so we booked another back to back for next year.

[Jetpuffed]

We are new to cruising, but very experienced international travelers.

Our first cruise was to the Black Sea on Azamara Quest 8/11.

Without question, the highlight of the cruise was visiting Ukraine. We used private tour guides in all 3 cities and enjoyed learning of their fascinating histories.

Nessebar was a glorified souvenir stall. It is a quaint seaside town whose streets are lined with souvenir vendors, all selling the same thing.

Constantza was such a depressed town, we took our pictures in black and white. While walking its cracked sidewalks, we ran into a group of Brits coming from the opposite direction. I asked if it got better. One answered 'no, as a matter a fact, we just saw someone commit suicide.' Of course he was joking, but it summarized the bleak, depressing town perfectly.

Istanbul is fabulous, and you should spend time pre or post cruise exploring it. Nessebar and Constantza should be replaced.

[alexandra cruiser]

Nessebur and Constanza could be bypassed...maybe Azamara will take this into account on poor reviews in these ports and replace with another one??

We have seen most of the main sites in Europe,,,but not the Black Sea.Would not be my first choice to cruise...but sounds historic and interesting in own,unique way.Know it won t be the "prettiest" in terms of ports.

Love to hear and read other opinions,,,thanks so far..really helps.:)

[alexandra cruiser]

Thought I d refresh this thread,,,to ask for any updates.

 

And to ask for any new reviews to be posted.

 

Thanks,,,:)

[uktog]

I am not sure you will get more reviews posted as this is a trip that is not repeated a lot by Azamara.

 

I am not sure they will change the ports for the sailings advertised in 2013 but if I can say, having been to Nessebur in 1984 and then back again in 2009 on Quest, it is an area full of eastern historical ruins just a little bit out of town and gives a real taste of Bulgaria. I saw quite a difference over the 25 years! If you get a chance try and get a trip that goes out of town and stops at their wineries - again, not a gold label product but fascinating all the same. If they had the same level of investment as California or Hunter Valley they could be amazing

 

Like Constanza, both are areas that are still slowly emerging from their Eastern Bloc existence so are not as well developed as other ports - they are certainly not shopping ports but then many on the Azamara ports of call these days are not.

 

I am sure you will find these two days interesting and I hope you enjoy all your cruise