Nice to Athens Reviewed by Pam

We started this trip with a wonderful pre cruise stay at the Chateau Eza in the lovely medieval town of Eze, high above Nice. After a wonderful dinner at Le Troubadour restaurant with our friends Malcolm and Julie and Judy and Scott (portolan) we had a lovely nights rest in our beautiful old room. We wandered the little town for a while the next morning, sneaking in for a visit of the wonderful garden with sculptures at the Relais and Chateau property nearby called Le Chevre d"Or.
Scott had arranged for a van to pick us all up at noon for our transfer to the ship and we had a few photo stops on the way. At 12:30, we arrived at the Voyager and boarded without a hitch. It is always lovely stepping back onto the ship and being greeted by the staff. Louise, the darling social hostess was there to greet us as well as several others. We were disappointed that a new guitarist was onboard (Cesar), and although a great musician he did not have the charisma of Frankie!
The ship looked great with the new Regent logo in a few places, but the harp is still quite visible. We moved to La Veranda for lunch after getting our room cards and drinking our champagne.

Our itinerary was very port intensive so there was no rest for anyone on this cruise. Our first stop was Ajaccio, France and although we enjoyed it, would have no need for a return visit. Tom and I took the "Highlights of Ajaccio" ship tour that was worthwhile. Our next stop was Sorrento and we joined tallship (Tina and her mom) for a private drive of the Amalfi coast. Our driver Gennero, from Sorrento limo was terrific, allowing us to set the pace. This turned problematic for my husband as the stop at the ceramic shop could be repeated (and it was) and I ordered a gorgeous table! Next we stopped in Naxos, and we chose the 4X4 ascent of Mt. Etna which included a walk out to the spewing volcano! It was quite cold, including snow along the path! After this port we finally had a sea day for relaxation. Kusadasi was one of the highlights of the trip. Our day included a great private tour with our prearranged guide, Levant Solmaz. He was a perfect guide and very good at keeping to a pace that suited us. The evening started for Seven Seas Society members having a cocktail party at the Celcius Library and then we walked along a candlelit path to the theatre for the concert (with other guests from the ship). The concert consisted of ten classical pieces and it was lovely. Santorini was next and we took a taxi with Tina and her Mom to Oia before the crowds arrived. We enjoyed this lovely area and took loads of photos here with the scenic backdrop of white houses, blue roofs and many churches. Unfortunately our next stop was Athens and disembarkation.

Overall, this trip was delightful and the ship, crew and itinerary were great. The food was excellent at nearly all of our meals, with special highlights being the night in Signatures and also Latitudes. The service in all the venues was outstanding, except for the last night when we had planned an anniversary celebration for our friends. It was not a big deal, especially since Malcolm had to leave early (he felt poorly), but it still would have been nice if they had received their anniversary cake. It amazes me that the staff has such good memories. The two engineers who we dined with in June invited us to join them again and remembered my husband by name. Captain Knute was his usual jovial self, and we enjoyed lunch with him one day after he danced across the deck on his way to the outdoor grill! He definately enjoys his job. On a side note, we had two groups on the voyage: one from Toyata and another from Park West. Evidently Park West brought VERY expensive artwork (I heard one piece sold for $160,000) onboard and entertained their best customers at this special event. I bet some received a free cruise with those prices [Wink] . The groups did not cause any disruption to the regular passengers.
As this was "The President's Inaugural Cruise" in the med, we did receive some nice perks: the concert at Ephesus, all inclusive beverages and a commemorative photo album.

We stayed three nights post cruise in Athens at the Hilton. We used points for this stay and were happily upgraded to the concierge level with a lovely room that included breakfast and drinks at any time of day. With a view overlooking the Acropolis, this was very nice indeed! I had prearranged tours for our group, the first being to Cape Sounio to see the Temple of Poseidon. Although this was very intersting, our day was not picture perfect (no rain though! The next day we traveled to Delphi and this was a spectatular spot that we would highly recommend. The distance is far, approximately 200 kilometers from Athens, but definately worth it. The ruins were jaw dropping and our day was perfect with blue skies and a mountainous backdrop. The last day we stayed in town and toured the city on foot, seeing many of the sights in our "DK Top Ten Athens" guide.