Six of us sailed with Regent from Venice to Istanbul, with stops in Croatia, Montenegro, and various ports in Greece and Turkey. We all enjoyed it very much, and thought Regent did its usual excellent job of taking care of us.

We embarked in Venice, where we'd spent a comfortable night at the Hotel Luna Baglioni. We took a water taxi to check in for the cruise (this is Venice, after all! Check-in was straightforward. Because of the Festival of the Redeemer, we checked in at the cruise ship terminal, but had to ride a bus to the ship, which was docked over on the mainland. That was easy, though. We had lunch on the ship, and before we were finished, our suites were ready. We then attended the mandatory lifeboat drill. (I really appreciate that Regent takes this part quite seriously. When in Vancouver, BC earlier this summer, I observed two other ships getting ready for departure, and supposedly having their drills = most passengers were out on the deck totally ignoring the drill. Regent takes safety very seriously.)

I won't go into detail about every port, except to say we enjoyed our excursions, and felt they were worthwhile. Also hugely worthwhile: the Enrichment Lectures given by Dr. Paula Smith. She gave four talks on board: Corfu, Athens, Ephesus, and Istanbul, and they were all informative and enjoyable. Read more