Newbie

[oldafw]

Hi everyone. While I am not new to cruising, I am going on my first luxury cruise (Athens to Istanbul) in April. I was wondering if you guys can give me some ideas of what to expect thats different... or maybe some tips. I have never left the country before and this is probably my trip of a life time. :D

[gdlamberth]

Well, I have a couple of thoughts:

Go at least a day early. This is partly for jet lag and partly to give you a chance to see Athens (assuming the Greek economy stays somewhat stable)
Try a Mojito at the pool bar
Depending on your itinerary, Regent's, no additional cost, excursions will be nice as a lot of the "sights" can be a bit away from the docks.
You'll get better input if you mention the ship and main ports of call.
Though thisis your first time overseas, consider not using Regent free hotel the night before as the credit is usually enough to pay for a nice hotel, transfers, dinner and still leave a few bucks in your pocket (or let you do two days pre-cruise in Athens).


That's a few early thoughts.
Greg

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Hi Newbie (Andy and Wendy) look forward to meeting you on board.

Greg provided some wonderful tips above. A few more:

--You will be able to make Prime7 and Signature specialty restaurant reservations beginning at 1 a.m. EST tomorrow morning.
--You will be able to board the Voyager about noon on the April 16th, we like to enjoy nice lunch after we have checked in. If you are not
touring Athens on this day, you can also plan to board about noon.
--We like to order a bottle of champagne for each day we disembark (on this voyage, every day is a port day except when we reach
Isanbul) then we step out on our veranda and toast to a beautiful sail away--should be magnificent at the ports of Santorini, Rhodes,
Mykonos, and Kavala

Am sure many other Regent CCr's can offer some more very useful tips/recommendations

[oldafw]

We are on the Voyager. While I am here, may I ask about room 800? Looking at the pics... the balcony looks almost covered? Thanks for your response.

[oldafw]

Hi Colonel Wes!!! I am getting nervous and excited!

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Hi Wendy & Andy, most of your fellow Athens to Istanbul cruisers are in what our good friend Mimito4 says is "the Journey Proud" stage--very excited about our upcoming Regent voyage. We have sailed in suite 810 before on a Voyager Transatlantic crossing, tho a tad forward (your suite 800) will have a nice balcony w/view to enjoy.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Good advice from Greg, for sure. Do make sure to hit the pool bar at least once, it's fun. My favourite drink is a Cosmo, or a Pina Colada.

Yes, the balconies are covered. if you have no sea days, you won't really be able to discover all there is to do on the ship, but do explore.

On a new ship, we usually explore each deck, starting at the bottom and working our way up, while we wait for the rooms to be ready, which is usually about 2:30. Of course, if you spend the day in Athens, you may arrive later--your docs will tell you what time you must be aboard.

Don't forget you can order specialty coffees and liqueurs after dinner, in any of the dining rooms.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Another bit of advice. Pace yourself. This is a very port-intensive cruise, and the instinct is to try to "see" everything.. The weather should be wonderful and mild, but trudging around ruins all day can get very tiring. Consider declaring a "sea day" if your energy flags.

[oldafw]

Thank you all so much for your advice. Yay!!!

[esimon]

great advise -- this will be our first Med. cruise and we will want to see and do everything and yet know we can't -- also our first luxury cruise definately a coffee after dinner -- we'll see what we can see -- and know we already enjoy cruising -- would love a spa date also --

thanks again

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Oldafw, (Wendy/Andy) thanks to JayinNYC for pointing out that for our Athens to Istanbul Voyage Regent instituted their new Concierge program. One of these benefits is priority online reservations for the Specialty restaurants provided you are in a cabin E or higher. Thus, if you are in one of these suite categories you will be able to book Specialty restaurant rsvns online early tomorrow morning. Otherwise, your online booking date is February 1st. It's so refreshing to see the excitement pop out of your (oldafw, esimon) posts for your Regent cruise.

[newlondon]

BTW, A GREAT choice of itinerary for your first luxury cruise. I would recommend even more than arriving in Athens early that you be sure to spend extra days in Istanbul-one of the most interesting cities in the world.

[oldafw]

We are arriving on the 14th but had no idea at the time that it was good Friday and Easter weekend. I am hoping it works to our advantage rather than disadvantage

[rallydave]

We are arriving on the 14th but had no idea at the time that it was good Friday and Easter weekend. I am hoping it works to our advantage rather than disadvantage

Think you should check out the calendar, my research shows that Easter is April 8 this year so think you are week after Easter and Good Friday.

[oldafw]

Greek Orthodox Easter is a week later.

[JAYinNC]

Wendy/Andy...we too are on the same cruise, and we too are arriving in Athens on the morning of April 14th. And yes, Sunday April 15th is Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday, so all of the archeological sights will be closed. We had planned to spend Saturday and Monday morning exploring Athens and use Sunday to take one of much favored driving trips out into the country. Don't think that will work, since I don't think we can rent a car for Easter Sunday. Working on adjusting our itinerary

Jay

[McMer]

We were on a Mariner cruise last spring (Rome to Istanbul) and were originally scheduled to be in Athens on Easter Sunday. As the sailing date got closer, Regent decided to change their itinerary so that we ended up going to Santorini on Easter and Athens on Easter Monday. Easter Monday was also a holiday, however most of the sights were open. Many of the shops in Santorini were closed on Easter, but many of them also opened for us. Maybe Regent will do another switch for you.