Black Sea

Cruising the Black Sea - any good? All comments are welcome.

It is.

Need specifics. What ports are you visiting.

You will get better input if you provide more specifics.

Keith

Cruising the Black Sea - any good? All comments are welcome.

We did a Black Sea cruise 10 or 12 years ago and had a wonderful time. Going back in October 2014 on the Ocean Princess.

We did this cruise in Sept '11 on the Pacific Princess. It was fabulous! I relied largely on the advice found on the Europe Port of Call -"Other" section. Found here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234 TripAdvisor is another great resource.

We used this guy in Yalta on a private tour: http://sergoyalta.at.ua/ You will find many positive reviews of his tours on CC and TripAdvisor. Sergey is a common name in the Ukraine, so make sure you get Sergey Tsarapora! Awesome, awesome, awesome! He's the best guide we've ever had... anywhere!:)

Have a great cruise.

Thanks for those comments - specifically we were looking at the Celebrity Constellation (which we have sailed on before) doing the Black Sea next Sept - and the ports include Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, somewhere in Bulgaria.

Thanks for those comments - specifically we were looking at the Celebrity Constellation (which we have sailed on before) doing the Black Sea next Sept - and the ports include Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, somewhere in Bulgaria.

In that case, you may want to engage Sergey for both of your Ukraine ports. There is so much to see. My favorite was the Balacava Caves near Sevestapol. It was difficult to pack so much in to one day and the distance was great from Yalta. You could spend one day just doing the Caves, Sevestapol and the Battlefields from the Crimean War. (The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson was written about this area.)

The Bulgarian port we went to was Varna. We just walked around the town. It's, sadly, not thriving. I'm sure the growing interest in cruising the Black Sea is bringing much needed revenue to this area.

Thank you!

We did a Black Sea cruise in September last year - Ukraine was VG, especially Sevastopol (Panorama), Balaklava (former USSR underground submarine base etc,) & Odessa. We used Sergey in Yalta & Sevastopol & did our own thing in Odessa - a truly delightful city with renovated public buildings, large boulevards (Potemkin Steps etc.), parks, fountains & gardens.

Subjectively, apart from if you like museums, we found Constanza somewhat 'depressing'. I visited the port in 1980 & unfortunately, not much seems to have changed.

The 'tender' port we visited in Bulgaria was Nessubur, which is a small UNESCO heritage listed village on a small 'island' connected to the mainland by a causeway. Interesting Byzantine ruins & narrow lanes with wooden houses & lots & lots of touristy/arty shops & cafes etc.

Thanks for those comments - specifically we were looking at the Celebrity Constellation (which we have sailed on before) doing the Black Sea next Sept - and the ports include Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, somewhere in Bulgaria.

We have enjoyed these places so I would highly recommend them. There is a lot to see in each port.

Keith