Live from the Voyager, Istanbul to Dubai, 31 Oct to 21 Nov 2015

[Art Instructor]

And then realized I had forwarded the clock two hours, not one! That's the carefree life on a RSSC ship. Really, does anyone care what time it is, as long as we are able to arrive in the dining room at the proper time.

 

Wadi Rum was fabulous! Pics are up on my blog, as are sketches of Mariana and Franck. Hope you enjoy them.

 

The weather was great today. Seemed like every chaise on the pool deck was filled with a sleepy sunbather. The seas are calm and the Captain is barreling through the Red Sea.

 

Marcia

consultm2.blogspot.com

[Art Instructor]

A large pod of dolphins surfaced, starboard, as the sun was setting this evening. It was a wonderful surprise. I've never see dolphins in the Red Sea.

 

We had dinner with Jane and Mike, Sally and Bob, both CC members. It was a delightful dinner with great company. After, we dropped in for the show. Great cast and a really good production. The costumes were really gorgeous.

 

Another sea day tomorrow. Ray's entertaining in the evening. It will be another, warm, beautiful day on the Voyager.

 

I posted two photos, on my blog, of sketches I completed today. Please check them out: consultm2.blogspot.com

 

Thank you,

Marcia

[NJBelle]

Let me take a moment to say how enriched our cruise has been by being a part of this. As you may recall from some previous posts, we are being accompanied by a cadre of NPR/PBS "stars" who have given a series of talks, discussions, preview screenings, etc. And there have been small group dinners and cocktails parties offered as well. We have really enjoyed these opportunities and encourage you to be on the lookout for other AT cruises - they do about 3 a year with Regent only.

 

Coupled with the Smithsonian lectures we have had, my reading time has been cut into drastically! But I can read at home......

[Thundery]

Just spent a few minutes reading all the posts.

We join the ship in Dubai and must say we are so pleased by all the good reviews for the ship and the food etc. We are frequent Regent cruisers but only once on the Voyager and it was a long time ago. Hope to meet any of you going on to Cape town

Sandy and Terry - Calgary

[NJBelle]

Glad people are enjoying our comments. I have noticed that the posts from fellow cruisers have fallen off and that no one really talked about the ports in this cruise. Here we are on our last sea day, so I feel that I must comment.

 

The itinerary on this cruise was incredible. So many new countries and experiences. We loved Istanbul as a starting port. Totally felt safe. So many fun things to do on our third stay in Istanbul. I absolutely would encourage people to start or end cruises here as well as visit as a port city.

 

Israel was a new country and experience for me, although my husband had visited before on business. We did the more Christisn/Jesus oriented tours, although there were ones more focused on Judiasm and also just on scenery and wineries. It was a jam-packed 3 days and I enjoyed every minute of it. But don't really fell the need to come back.

 

Egypt was another matter. We did the overnight to Luxor and if it happens that I never get back to Egypt, I am okay with that. But I would love to do a more extensive trip that involved Cairo and Alexandria. Anyway, what we did do was stunning. Loved the tours and would definitely recommend the overnight. Totally worth it.

 

Petra...ah, Petra. How wonderful and incredible. I think you have to see it to believe it. Maybe I should say, experience it to believe it. A lot of excitement is built up during the long journey along the siq (kind of alleyway through the rocks) to get to the ancient city of carved rocks. Just unbelievable.

 

The trip to Wadi Rum was also fabulous. We choose a really long tour that included both. If you have to pick, you should do Petra, but if you can do both, then you should absolutely do the 4x4 off-road drive through this wonderful desert (where most of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed) that ends with a dinner in the desert at a Bedoiun camp under the stars, complete with fokelore dancers.

 

Oman is an interesting country, although pales in comparison to Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Jordan. And we will end up in Dubai in a few days time. I may not have time to do more in "reporting" but did want to comment on what a really wonderful itinerary this has been. If it comes up again, do not hesitate to sign up!

[Travelcat2]

Really appreciate the update and your views on the ports. I could not agree more about Istanbul -- one of our favorite cities in the world!

 

Your desire to spend time in Cairo is understandable. IMO, the Nile cruises are the best way to see the country. We appreciated what we saw outside of Cairo more than Cairo itself (however, we found Cairo to be unique and interesting). Although we enjoyed Alexandria when we were there in September, I would not make a special trip just to visit the port city.

 

Anyway, really enjoying "seeing" these places through your eyes:)

[Art Instructor]

The best of Oman will be seen when we dock in Oman tomorrow morning. It's a beautiful city with a fabulous Souk...lots of alleyways and exciting haggling. I am looking forward to doing some shopping there...the first for this trip.

 

The cruise is winding down. "Crew Kaper's" tomorrow night before dinner at the Captain's reception. That is always a fun and moving show.

 

Tonight I gave a lovely couple their portraits. They are members of Cruise Critic, so it felt like a special gift. I'll post them on my blog soon.

 

Marcia

consultm2.blogspot.com

[UUNetBill]

Agree on Istanbul - one of our favorite cities. In fact, our summer cruise next July was supposed to end there...but it was pretty much completely rerouted and now ends up in Haifa. Although we're sad to be missing Istanbul, we're thrilled to be visiting Israel. And reading this thread just makes me that much more excited to go.

 

Now if Regent would just get their website straightened out so we could book our excursions, I'd be REAL happy.

 

:)

[Eager2Travel]

Hello from The Voyager. After several attempts to post with a weak signal from the cabin I finally decided to do this from the Internet cafe.

 

The cruise continues to be excellent. Food is the best we have ever had on Regent. Destination services is very helpful and accommodating with excursions running smoothly. All personnel go above and beyond in our opinion.

 

Yesterday was Oman. We visited the Mosque and saw the city of Muscat. As our guide told us, the country is very wealthy and citizens are well taken care of. The main Mosque is in a world apart.

 

Today we arrive at Abu Dabi at 4pm. We will stay onboard to pack and spend Friday (the last day) doing the Hop on Hop off bus. Saturday we arrive in Dubai and the next group gets on.

 

Last night was the wonderful Krew Kapers. We had a lovely dinner wth Grandma Mimi and her husband and someone from the ship. The lobster was fantastic and the company even better. Grandma Mimi says hello.

 

NJ Belle did a great job of describing the earlier ports. Now off to start the dreaded packing so I don't have to do it tomorrow.

[jillyf]

Thanks everyone for all the postings along the way.

We are in Dubai and embark on Saturday so very happy to hear everything is very good aboard.

We were in Abu Dhabi today on the pre cruise excursion. The mosque is amazing. If you visit, ladies must have long slacks ( no leggings or capris) to cover ankles, long sleeves and even with long sleeves they must not be even slightly transparent.

Everyone was inspected and some had to buy an abaya in the shop.

Safe travels home.

Jill

[NJBelle]

This is a heads up about the Crew Welfare Fund. We haven't talked about it on this thread, but this is a place to show your appreciation for all the great service on the cruise. We always give to the CWF but it was only over dinner tonight that we realized we had not done it yet. Please don't forget - just go to the Front Desk and say you want to contribute. They will give an envelope and you just put your money in.

 

This is a way to honor ALL the wonderful crew.

[xrvlcruiser]

Crew Welfare Fund: you can also use a credit card. You cannot charge it to you on-board account - ie: use on board credit though.

 

I agree - do it!

 

Peggy

[NJBelle]

Hey Peggy, good point! In general, that is true. We had to use cash since we remembered so late they had closed the account for credit cards.

 

Next time we should just do it when we get on board!

[Eager2Travel]

When we donated earlier in the cruise we were told it had to be cash or a cash advance on the credit card. In the old days you could use a check.