roothy123 Posted November 1, 2012 #1 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I am drooling over the "Black Sea Explorer" cruise that goes to (among other places) Nessebur, Odessa, Constanta, Trabzon, Sinop, Yalta and (I believe) ends up in Istanbul. I was wondering if anyone has done that cruise, and if so, what they thought. I have never been to that part of the world. I was also wondering if you need a visa in any of those countries (Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, etc.) and also if any of those ports are doable on your own. The cost of the ship's excursions are so high, and we love just DIYing in any ports where it's possible, so we'd love to DIY at least a little bit if possible. I am also interested in the "Paths of the Byzantines" cruise from Venice to Istanbul. Does anyone have any comments on that cruise? Istanbul and Venice are definitely on my To See list, and Kotor and some of the other places on that cruise appeal to me, although I can't exactly say why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted November 2, 2012 #2 Share Posted November 2, 2012 We did this cruise this summer on Regatta and loved it. The ports are interesting but beware the weather. Typically the Black Sea area is very hot in the summer time. In August while it was warm, on only one day (in Constanta) was it really hot. Our guide said it was the hottest day of the summer so far. The comments from passengers on the July cruise indicated that they had hotter weather than we did. The only visas you would need are for Sochi (Russia) and Turkey. We used a private guide in Sochi who provided group visas for us. Otherwise, you need to get your own visa OR take a ship's tour. For only one day, I wouldn't advise getting the visa on your own. Oceania provides a visa for Turkey at a reasonable cost. If you fly in to Turkey you can get it at the airport very easily for less money. Write to me and I'll let you know which outfits we used for our private tours. We did Nessebur and Trabzon on our own. Both cruises this summer had to pass up Sinop due to sea conditions. You might want to check out our roll call to see what was discussed this past year. I think my favorite port was Odessa -- a beautiful city. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roothy123 Posted November 2, 2012 Author #3 Share Posted November 2, 2012 We'll pass on the Russian visa if we go. Just did the Baltic cruise and used Alla Tours for SPB - much preferable to trying to do that city on our own! It's good to hear that only Turkey requires a visa. I don't have much money to spend on hired drivers, but would love any info you could give me on ones you used in the Black Sea if they're not too expensive. Did you sense that anyone did any of the ports without any kind of guide or excursion? Thanks for the heads up on the weather. I'm only seeing 2 cruises, one in July and one in Sept. Sept. is usually a great month for us to travel, so maybe we'll shoot for that one, if we go at all. Of course, we are used to hot, humid summers (Wash. DC), so I can't imagine it being too terribly bad even in July - but of course, I may be wrong! When you're walking around, it's easy to get hot and sweaty - quite something else just going from the car to an air-conditioned building! In any case, thank you. I will try to email you for more info, or maybe you can post info on guides here if I don't. By the way, I hope that if you're in NY right now, you and your home are OK! The pictures we're seeing here (DC) are chilling, and a friend is hopping from one house/apt to another until she can return to her apt in the dark part of Manhattan. Another friend's mom is hopping around in Jersey until she's allowed back into her house in Normandy Beach. The friend got a glimpse of the house on the Today Show this morning, so he knows it's still standing, but that's all he (or she) knows! Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted November 2, 2012 #4 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I think plenty of people did places on their own, others used ship's tours, and quite a few did DIY tours. In our case (I didn't set these up) most of our tours were larger than I'm used to -- 15 or 16 people, which did bring the cost down and wasn't TOO crowded. I personally wouldn't want to do Odessa on my own, just because it's so large. Many of these places are seaside resorts, so not so large. We had a fabulous guide in Sebastopol (we also saw her in Yalta although her boss was our guide there) and if you are limited to touring funds, I'd suggest making sure to book her if you can. Go to the roll call when you have one to see about getting people to share with you. These tours do seem to fill up early, I would suggest starting now. I also think September is probably better than July, especially since you're less likely to run into children (if that's a problem for you) and probably fewer tourists in ports. Thanks for asking about us here in NYC. We are actually in Brooklyn Heights which came through quite unscathed. We never had much wind or rain, and we are very high over the East River so we never were in danger of flooding from the river. We could have had some flooding in the streets if we'd had a lot of rain because the drains can't always handle a heavy rainstorm, but this time as I said we had very little. We lost internet and TV Monday night but it was back by the next morning. But when I look at the TV depictions of how much so many people have suffered, I am very grateful and appreciative of our very great luck. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted November 2, 2012 #5 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Nessebur is certainly a DIY port if you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted November 2, 2012 #6 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I am doing nearly the identical cruise on Azamara August 2013 If you go to our roll call (Azamara Journey, Black Sea, August 2013) you will see all the private tours I arranged and the names of the guides/companies. I have some fabulous private tours planned. Feel free to mail me if you have any questions. I have done a ton of research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanny18 Posted November 2, 2012 #7 Share Posted November 2, 2012 The Black Sea was one of our favorites. We did it in June 2010 on Nautica and the weather at that time was perfect. Nessebur and Constanta on your own; but the others you should have tours , either the ship's or private. If you use a reliable tour guide in Sochi, no visa is required, and the if you fly into Istanbul, the visa (at that time) was $20US cash!! If you need any private tour guides, let me now as the ones we had were wonderful!! You will really enjoy...and don't forget to put the monastery in Trabson, Turkey on your must see list!! Arlene ;) tanny5258@att.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted November 2, 2012 #8 Share Posted November 2, 2012 We are on the Sept 16, 2013 cruise. Roothy123 take the plunge and join us. Should be a great cruise. Mura, glad you and Howard made it through Sandy with minimal problems. Let's hope the City returns to normal soon. Mura and Arlene, if you are sending info about the Black Sea to others, please cc me at sfoedward@yahoo.com so once the roll call gets active I can start working on private tours. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globevest Posted November 2, 2012 #9 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I am drooling over the "Black Sea Explorer" cruise that goes to (among other places) Nessebur, Odessa, Constanta, Trabzon, Sinop, Yalta and (I believe) ends up in Istanbul. I was wondering if anyone has done that cruise, and if so, what they thought. I have never been to that part of the world. My no.1 cruise...wonderful. Depending on the cruise date 'Black Sea Explorer' either starts in Istanbul and finishes in Athens or vice versa. Both great cities to explore. Then there are the ruins at Ephesus, the Monastery at Trabson, Yalta and the Crimea and the rest of the ports all very well worth seeing. This cruise covers history from 3,000 BC to the Yalta conference in WW2. The memory is making me think about it as my first repeat cruise. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy The Wanderer Posted November 2, 2012 #10 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I was there in June, and the weather was lovely. Bordering on hot by local standards, but perfect as far as I was concerned (cooler than Greece or Istanbul.) Istanbul itself is very hot and humid in summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmh1212 Posted November 3, 2012 #11 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Roothy; We are booked on the July Black Sea cruise(and also live in MD btw). If you go on the roll call for that cruise you will see a number of people who are arranging private tours that seem more reasonable than the ship's tours. Not sure how many still have openings but it may give you some ideas. Good luck with your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted November 3, 2012 #12 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I have responded privately to people who wanted information about the guides we used but for the record, here they are: Sergey (Yalta & Sevastopol) - Crimea Consulting: *********************** Jenny Spektor (Batya with Migdal JCC in Odessa): batya624@gmail.com Anastasia Chikunova(Sochi Holidays): holidays@sochi.com Constanta-Histria (Mircea Dumitru -Contur Travels): mircea@contur.ro I did not set these up myself but all our guides were excellent, especially Natasha who works for Sergey. We had her for a wonderful day in Sebastopol and were sorry that we didn't have her for Yalta as well. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted November 8, 2012 #13 Share Posted November 8, 2012 In any case, thank you. I will try to email you for more info, or maybe you can post info on guides here if I don't. Roothy, I know I saved your address but now I can't find it! I was sending out photos of our trip to friends tonight and thought you might want to see them as well. Email me and I'll send them on to you ... or if you aren't interested, that's okay as well! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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