Having just completed an 10 port cruise from Athens, around the Black Sea to Istanbul on Oceania Cruises "Regatta," I was tremendously impressed with the seamanship demonstrated by its master, Vitaliy Silvachynsky, and his crew. He made an unassisted docking at Sochi in Russian so perfectly that an egg suspended between the dock and the ship would not have even been cracked. And it had to have given our master, a native Ukranian, a special thrill to do this with his family on board while two Russian tugs hung around uselessly, who could only watch in admiration.

And watching our master battle his way into our final port Istanbul, when his docking space was being hogged by a competitor who had overstayed his berthing schedule, ESTour's creaky rehabbed Carnival liner redubbed "Aegean Paradise," and fight with the harbor master for being allowed tender service to keep faith with his passengers' tour schedules was enlightening.

Enroute, the meal service, quality, and attentiveness of the crew on every level were absolutely superb. The staterooms delivered clean, useful, and well-maintained space at a competitive price. And the entertainment was adequate with a good comedian and an extraordinary Polish Tatra quartet who could play anything from Jerome Kern to an obscure movement of a Dvorak quartet. Read more