Regent Seven Seas Explorer Athens to Istanbul Full Travelogue

[BellaOnline]

16 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

I'll echo earlier comments.  Really enjoyed reading your reports.  I'm relieved that your flights home worked out OK, and kudos to Air Canada for making it work for you and your Mom.

Thank you so much! Yes Air Canada was absolutely fantastic. I hope they give him a bonus or something.

[BellaOnline]

12 hours ago, irishwitchy said:

Loved reading your blog. We had a similar experience this summer with the flights on the way home.  However,  we were in London and knew it would be worked out, but it took three hours 😞
 

You make a great point about having the functional phone.   My husband and I both had phones with unlimited access - well worth the $100 when you find yourself in a messy situation.    Folks,  if you are spending 20k for a cruise,  2k to insure the cruise - you can afford to spend money on a functioning phone.   The couple behind us in London,  didn’t pay for the functioning phone  - we helped them to download airline apps and stuff.  Another point,  a backup power supply is a good idea also,  my battery was almost dead and there wasn’t a outlet to be found - it did last until we got to the hotel. (We had to spend the night in London, no flights for us at that point.). I didn’t use Regent Air, so no complaints there.   
 

Where is the next trip,  you need more countries on your list!  

 

Thank you so much! And yes I *always* carry a back-up battery and cable with me. A phone does no good if it is dead. That is an important point. Make sure you have a functional phone AND power to keep it running. It can really save you in an emergency. 

[puppyluv1]

Echoing others on how enjoyable your travelogue was to read. You are a terrific writer. And I will add an amazing daughter. It was clear that you took great care of your mom throughout the trip. 
I find the lack of assistance while you were trying to get out Turkey and the lack of any follow-up by Regent to be extremely disappointing. Don’t let them off the hook!  You deserve an apology and more. Thanks for taking us along. 

[RetiredandTravel]

22 hours ago, forgap said:

 Jason Montegue is the head of Regent and you should reach out to him.  The lack of emergency response is very worrisome.  

 

 

There was another person who recently posted that they had significant troubles with the Regent air coming home    They were getting no where with Regent so they contacted Jason Montague and the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

 

Thank you for the thread.

[pag111]

Thank you for your wonderful and very helpful commentary. 

[Camillus112]

2 hours ago, BellaOnline said:

 

It was a long bus ride (9:44am to 10:12am) to get to the central area with the mosques. Once there we walked through the obelisk plaza and over to get in line for mosque #1. This line was slow enough that he told people who needed to to run over to the bathrooms and then come rejoin us in line. A few people did. I don't know how clean those were. Then I don't recall any bathroom breaks in the second mosque line until we then walked to the Turkish palace plaza. Once in the plaza complex, when we were set loose, he pointed us toward a bathroom and most people went. But those were ATROCIOUS.

 

Thanks so much for your reply.  I was considering a 2023 Regent Athens-Athens with overnight in Istanbul, but would not be able to enjoy Istanbul at all!!

[Jennefer Teegen]

4 hours ago, BellaOnline said:

 

I'm so sorry you had the situation happen to you. It makes no sense when a counter agent won't help. That is what they are there for - to help you get on the plane. I hope your Turkish Air travel goes more smoothly than ours did!

 

My mom just emailed our travel agent to see if we'd gotten any word on Mom's reimbursement (over $500) for the Uber drive. The travel agent said she'd sent two email messages to Regent and hasn't even gotten a response yet. So that is really disappointing. I will absolutely be writing Regent myself now that I have the whole trip documented.

Hi @BellaOnline – I am so sorry to hear about the challenges with your trip home. I know that our Guest Relations department has reached out to your Travel Advisor, and we’ll certainly try to resolve all the issues as soon as possible. If you would like to reach out to me directly, you can email me or call me (info below). Thank you!

 

Jennefer Teegen | Director of Guest Experience and Loyalty
P: +1 954.940.7217 

jteegen@rssc.com| www.rssc.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

7300 Corporate Drive, Miami  FL 33126

[KenzSailing]

On 9/12/2022 at 12:11 PM, BellaOnline said:

Day 9 / Sunday August 28th / Dikili, Turkey

 

I texted Jenn my sis a photo of the circle-square dessert teasing "They don't even line them up". Her response: "Artistically off-track to remind you of the chaotic nature of the universe."

 

So Mom challenged Jenn to describe the next dessert. Jenn said: "Wow. The arch of Heaven. The firmament of Earth and Plants and a worm. And the Earth. The raisin things are ... elephants?" To which Mom replied, "Yes ... more effort exerted in presentation rather than taste. The arch of heaven was too crunchy and collapsed immediately." Jenn replied, "Sounds like reality."

 

:). We have fun with these things.

 

 

 

Thanks again for your great write-up.  You strike me as an interesting member of an interesting family.  You'd be fun to swap stories with on some other cruise.  Over a glass of wine (you pick the wine.)

[forgap]

So glad that @Jennefer Teegenstepped forward to help.   As your flight experience is everyone’s worst nightmare, I would be very interested in what exactly happened that six of you did not have valid tickets on Turkish Air.  I hope that you and your mother get the restitution you deserve.  

[RJ2002]

5 minutes ago, forgap said:

So glad that @Jennefer Teegenstepped forward to help.   As your flight experience is everyone’s worst nightmare, I would be very interested in what exactly happened that six of you did not have valid tickets on Turkish Air.  I hope that you and your mother get the restitution you deserve.  

 

Yes, it is everyone's worst nightmare, and I'm also curious what happened.  Being unable to do an online checkin the night before was a warning sign for sure.  It is also a concern that Turkish Air apparently was not any help at all - even at the Business Class checkin counter.

[Techno123]

Well if the airlines won't help you in business class, think of us poor Brits - Regent only provide us with cattle class so we would probably have been spending the night in that Turkish jail BellaOnline's friend was teasing her with as my husband is not the most patient and would probably have blown his top at them 😜.

[traveljkkk]

Very interesting.  Great job.

[janecambridge]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:18 PM, Techno123 said:

Well if the airlines won't help you in business class, think of us poor Brits - Regent only provide us with cattle class. 

Cattle class for us Brits. Rather unfair when others get transatlantic business!! 

[flossie009]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:18 PM, Techno123 said:

Regent only provide us with cattle class

 

1 hour ago, janecambridge said:

Cattle class for us Brits. Rather unfair when others get transatlantic business!! 

Although Regent cruise fares quoted in the U.K. only include economy class air, Regent will provide premium, business or first class air on request.

Additional cost, obviously, but often a good deal compared to pricing the flights independently.

You pays your money ………………….. 😉

 

 

[BellaOnline]

On 9/15/2022 at 5:16 PM, Jennefer Teegen said:

Hi @BellaOnline – I am so sorry to hear about the challenges with your trip home. I know that our Guest Relations department has reached out to your Travel Advisor, and we’ll certainly try to resolve all the issues as soon as possible. If you would like to reach out to me directly, you can email me or call me (info below). Thank you!

 

Jennefer Teegen | Director of Guest Experience and Loyalty
P: +1 954.940.7217 

jteegen@rssc.com| www.rssc.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

7300 Corporate Drive, Miami  FL 33126

I haven't heard anything at all from our travel advisor, even a month later. I will check in with her to see if she has any update. I'll also email you to stay in the loop.

[BellaOnline]

I'm finally starting to work on the videos of my Greece-Turkey trip. Here's day 0 / the flight from Logan to Madrid. Only a few photos here, of the lounge and the business class "pod" on the plane :). Still, it's a beginning! There will be LOTS more photos on subsequent days.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjWsXP-g0v8

[lprp]

On 9/5/2022 at 5:19 AM, irishwitchy said:

Wow, I would normally be on the donkey, but I  may have to rethink that if I’m ever there.  

Please, Please, Please don’t use the donkeys up or down.

They are brutally abused by their owners, who hit them with sticks 🤬

They are forced to carry overweight cruise passengers (sometimes 2 on the same beast 😔).

We walked/slipped down the last time we were there and I was a CRAZY English lady screaming at both the owners and the tourists!!

Take a look at this article, there are many others saying the same thing:

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/support-us/campaigns/santorini

[janecambridge]

Yes Iprp. Exceptionally cruel.Breaks your heart.  But then I think camel riding and elephant riding for fun is too. Those poor animals have to endure so much just for people to have a laugh or take photos for their own pleasure.

[BellaOnline]

I'll note first that I checked in again with my travel agent. She hasn't heard a single thing from Regent since we got back from this trip. So it doesn't seem as if anyone from Regent is looking into the stressful situation with Turkish Airlines at the end of our trip. It's fairly disappointing.

 

Here's all the photos from Day 1 of our Greece to Turkey cruise. There weren't many photos on this day. It primarily was about me surviving Madrid airport, getting on the smallish plane where someone stuck their bare feet on my armrest half the time, and then getting onto the ship. By that point my mother and I were both exhausted and had dinner, then went to bed. Still, there are some initial photos of our cabin and then photos of each meal and the menus. Ask with any questions! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUcAi85qk_Y

[BellaOnline]

Day 2 of our cruise was at Mykonos Greece. We did an ouzo tasting, saw a monastery, and explored the twisty little passages of Mykonos Town itself. Then dinner. There are 242 photos here including all menus and meals. There are also 5 short videos, linked to in the main video's descriptions, of various scenes in Mykonos including the sunset from the ship. Ask with any questions! 

 

 

 

[BellaOnline]

Day 3 / Santorini Greece - 160 photos from today. Gorgeous landscapes of blue-domed churches. The slideshow video links to four short videos showing the cable cars which take you from Oia down to the shoreline. Plus the famous Santorini Sunset.

 

https://youtu.be/rLPO-ymUR2o

 

[BellaOnline]

Day 4 / our visit to Crete Greece. There are about 100 photos from today in this slideshow, along with two short videos. We walked around the town center and then had lovely meals on board the ship. Ask with any questions!

 

 

 

[BellaOnline]

Day 5 on my August cruise was a visit at Bodrum Turkey. Mom and I visited an **amazing** castle and I took about 250 photos. Here's the full slideshow of images. We also ate in the restaurant "Chartreuse" that evening which was equally lovely. I took photos of all menus and meal items. A wonderful day all around. There are also two shorts, linked to it, of the ship sailing out of port.

 

 

 

[forgap]

I’m curious how Regent handled the awful return trip home.  Are you able to give us an update?  I thought of you as we flew home from Istanbul last week.  We were flying in UA points so we didn’t have a TA ticket number.   Wasn’t too paranoid as our outgoing flight to Istanbul was uneventful but our ordeal was very much in my mind as we checked in.  I hope that time will make this an engaging travel story as you gain distance from the nightmare I’m sure it was.  
 

i just read an article about an Australian couple whose 18 month old baby was booked on a different flight after a flight cancellation.  It took them two weeks for the three of them back to Australia.   KLM blamed Quantas…Qauntas blamed KLM.  

[Catlover54]

On 10/24/2022 at 6:41 PM, BellaOnline said:

I'll note first that I checked in again with my travel agent. She hasn't heard a single thing from Regent since we got back from this trip. So it doesn't seem as if anyone from Regent is looking into the stressful situation with Turkish Airlines at the end of our trip. It's fairly disappointing.

 

Here's all the photos from Day 1 of our Greece to Turkey cruise. There weren't many photos on this day. It primarily was about me surviving Madrid airport, getting on the smallish plane where someone stuck their bare feet on my armrest half the time, and then getting onto the ship. . . .

 

I just read your terrific blog, with great interest, and flashbacks to my first (and likely last)  trip to Istanbul a few years ago, right up to the filthy toilets near the mosque which I still vividly remember .  I appreciate the details in your frank descriptions of both the good and the not so good, both on the ship and off.  

 

A couple questions, if you have time: 

 

1.  So as of 10/24 your TA claimed she had not heard anything back from Regent.

 

Meanwhile on 9/15 the Regent "customer" assistance person Teegan here wrote that she *knew* Regent had reached out to your TA:

 

"

#132   

Posted September 15

   

Hi @BellaOnline – I am so sorry to hear about the challenges with your trip home. I know that our Guest Relations department has reached out to your Travel Advisor,  . . ."

 

So either your TA or Teegan was, frankly, lying (unless one redefines the term "know" in Teegan's response)

 

And no one from Regent, or your TA's company, was available to answer a phone while you were stuck at Istanbul airport with your elderly mother and hostile Turkish airlines employeees.  

 

Either way, it is very disconcerting that one cannot rely on Regent's travel bundling procedures.

 

2.  As for the the passenger behind you putting bare feet on your arm rests, it is just another example of how even business class passengers' behavior has degenerated in recent years. Did you ask her to remove them?  Or ask the flight attendant to tell her to remove them?  

Or did they not bother you enough to complain (e.g., it was "only" a 3-4 hour flight from Madrid?)

 

In the past I have had people try and stick their feet, with either stinky socks or hairy toes, into my space (either on my seat back or through the space between sweats ), but it only happened in coach, where I expect more Greyhound bus type behavior,  and as a last resort there are creative ways of taking care of such things . . . 👿

 

I love traveling, but the 'getting there' -- not so much anymore.