Sitting in the coffee cafe on the Voyager, so let the sea mail begin!

Had a relaxing day yesterday in Athens. Woke up just before 8:00 am - slept for about 11 hours. Had a wonderful breakfast upstairs at the Roof Garden of the GB, then back to the room to get ready for the day. That turned into naptime - typical. Woke up around 1:30 and then really got ready for the day. Saw Kristin and Greg who who headed out too. Wandered over to the Plaka and found a place for lunch. Jerel had some sort of stuffed eggplant dish and I had beef/lamb gyros. A long wait for the food but it was good.

Afterward we wandered a little more, then back to the GB so we could get ready for the group dinner. We ran into Tony who was waiting for their luggage to arrive. He told me the insurance company really cracked the whip!

After we got ready we met folks down in the lobby bar and saw Joanna who was so happy that their luggage had arrived! Walked over to the restaurant with Brad & Leslie - Brad & Jerel navigated for us. Did a pretty good job too!

Once at the restaurant hugs all around with Russ, Susan, Mark & Arlene. They had 3 tables set up for us outside. It was a beautiful evening. Sat with Tom, Marcie, Joanna, Tony, Brad & Leslie for dinner. Our table shared mussels, calamari, grilled fish and Tony had a kebab that he really enjoyed. Great catching up with everyone. There were 3 cats that congregated right to Marcie who made sure they had a little snack too.

We walked back to the GB with Brad & Leslie - stopped off for a couple of bottles of water at a kiosk store across from the hotel. We got back around 11 and didn't go to sleep until after 12. Jerel asked if he should set an alarm and I said "oh no...we'll wake up". Well - I should know better! I didn't sleep as well as the night before and woke up around 4. Finally got back to sleep and was awakened by people talking in the hallway. It was a little after 10!

So we got up, ordered some room service breakfast and got ready/finished packing etc. Had a call from Stelios that the cabs he was sending to pick us and Peter & Mark up were moved away because there was going to be a parade. Luckily we found them and eventually got our luggage into the cars. It was a quick ride to the port, where the Regent rep greeted us and walked us to passport control. No waiting like last year when we were here for Sea to Sea. The ship is docked right next to the terminal so didn't have to wait for the tram either.

Went to check-in - took about 5 minutes. Dropped our bags off in the cabin and went up to the pool deck for some lunch. Afterward I wanted to see what the new coffee area looked like since I haven't been on the Voyager since the renovations. It's very nice. There's the self serve coffee machine but also a barista. Nice tables and chairs...and of course, wireless! Jerel grabbed our laptops so here I am, just waiting for the rooms to be finished so we can unpack.

Looking forward to a wonderful 14 days on the Voyager!

Thanks Andrea,we look forward to the TUT seamail and you make it interesting. Say hi to Jerel and all the LCT'ers from Suzie :hello1: :hello1: Wish I was there.

Thanks Andrea for your TUT report. So glad you are all on the ship and ready to PARTY. Please keep the SeaMail flowing.

Yippee, the first email! Thanks for checking in, Andrea!

Thanks for you seamail, Andrea. We will all be content to live vicariously, though it would have been much more fun to be there! Send our love to everyone-

Hi Andrea - Great to know you are on the ship. Can you tell that all of us left at home are ready to sail with you? Will look forward to every word that you all send.

So my friends...once you hear this you're going to be glad you're not here.

After muster today we were told we all needed to gather in the Constellation Lounge as the captain needed to speak with us. Those of us who have been on a few Regent cruises know this is not the norm, so I had a really bad feeling about it.

Turns out there is a "problem" with one of the propulsion pods. I'll wait for a minute while you all get your feeling of deja vu out of the way. Not supposed to be a big deal, but we wouldn't be able to make tomorrow's first port of call in Kusadasi. No worries, we'll go to Mykonos instead. That was actually the first stop in the original itinerary. Engineers from Germany were going to arrive to figure out what was wrong with the pod, all would be fine. Sure, maybe some excursions might not happen, etc.

So, we went back to the cabin to make ourselves beautiful for dinner. Jerel for some reason took forever to get ready so by the time he was finished I was starving. Popped up to the Observation Lounge quickly but I just couldn't wait for dinner so we went down to Compass Rose by ourselves.

Started with some delicious spicy mussels, had some pasta with meatballs and prime ribeye. It was all very tasty. Finished with chocolate mousse. While we were eating dessert the captain had a few more words to say.

There had been no progress with fixing whatever is wrong with the pod, so we will be docked in Piraeous overnight. Maybe they are waiting for the engineers from Germany just to get to Athens so they don't have to then go to Mykonos.

So, here we are. No shops open, no gambling but at least the internet is working! I'm really, really hoping they can figure out what the problem is and we can get back on schedule.

A couple of you know this - but I actually quit my job so I could go on this trip. If it gets canceled, I'm going to feel like a real idiot!!

OH NO Andrea! I've got my fingers crossed for you all that the problems can be fixed quickly and you can get on with enjoying your cruise. Hope!!!!!

Let's hope you all get some good news next!

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! Pls keep us posted, good luck!

Yikes. This trip has to get better.Some of you guys must be starting to be sorry you ever left the house! Hopefully it will all be remedied shortly and it will turn out to be the best trip ever.
------------
Helen

OMG, what next?? Hang on, we're keeping our fingers crossed for you :eek:

I'm hopin' HELP is on the way!! Mercy :eek:

Oh no! At least with MUSH it was at the end of the trip. I bet RSSC is sorry they're stuck with those pods. Wishing a speedy resolution for all of you.

I know you and the other TUTrs will make the best of it because you are all so wonderful. But I hope help is on the way.

Oh, no....I can't believe this is happening!!! Hopefully,things will be fixed quickly. At least you are with a big group of fun people.

I'm ready for a WOW seamail.

I know where all you TUTsies can go and drown your sorrows <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />

So sorry to hear about this. I hope the problem is rectified quickly and an enjoyable cruise is on the very near horizon.

Hopefully all the TUTsies are sleeping and will wake up to good news.

Oh Boy . . . been there, done that on the Voyager in 2009 . . . . hope you all have better luck getting the POD fixed than we did.

I do have to say that Regent did the best they possibly could but it is always disappointing to have this sort of thing go wrong.

Peggy

PS . . thanks Karen and Eugene . .I hadn't found the seamail thread.

Oh no! This is such sad news. Wishing and hoping for better things to come for the TUTsters!

Breaking news from the Voyager (now that the internet is finally working again).

Our cruise has been canceled.

We are able to stay on the ship until Wednesday evening. They are busy rebooking us on flights to our point of departure, in the same class of service. If they can't get us out of Athens by Wednesday they will put us up in a hotel.

We will get a full refund of our cruise fare, but nothing has been said about a free cruise.

Needless to say, there were tears...

dupe

So sorry to hear this. I know how much you were all looking forward to this itinerary.

Good luck on your returns. I'm sure Regent will do its best. It will be interesting to see what "compensation" is eventually offered.

-----------------

Eugene

What heartbreaking news to wake up to. I have tears too :mecry: :mecry: Wishing you all safe and quick flights home.
XXOO

I am trying to make lemonade...

:lct:


:lct:


:lct:


No luck on the lemonade. :(

With internet intermittent and no information back from the staff; it is getting harder and harder to think positively about this experience.

We are UN-TUTless in Athens ;)

Oh no! I'm so very sorry for all of you.

Marc & Arlene, we were the cheerleaders for this cruise so I'm sad too. Ship happens. XXOO

Arlene says we are now known as...

....

THE UN-TUT-ables!

JoAnn says she is crying big time!!!

She was in the middle of a massage which totally ruined the experience.

I was hoping that when I logged onto LCT this morning, the news would be far more favorable. Needless to say, I am truly sorry to read the above posts and that this much anticipated cruise has been canceled.

We are quite heartbroken. Luckily for us, we had a fabulous 1 week cruise before TUT so we're luckier than many. We're trying to figure out whether to hang somewhere in Europe for awhile or just head for home. It's been quite tough with the internet down too trying to figure out our options. Tom was sweet, thanked everyone for flying all the way for my birthday yesterday. :D We (Tom, me, Ngaire,Ken, Joanna & Tony, Olivia) had a fabulous dinner in Prime 7 last night. I have never seen so much food or wine...it was a wonderful party. Afterwards, stayed up and partied some more in Horizons.

Like Marc, we're trying to make lemonade out of lemons...haven't hit on it quite yet but we're working on it. This could be a mess to unscramble as many of us are on this cruise with future cruise credit from World Cruise, VIKING cancellation, etc. so hard to put an exact price tag on it all. ReLLY hoping it all works out for Ray and Penny as they have several nights pre-paid hotel in Venice, Paris and a 9 day riverboat trip following TUT. I guess there's a gal onboard who was meeting her parents in Israel for her wedding !!

TUT less in Athens.... :mecry:

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Oh, I am so sorry it turned out this way. Do you have the time to get to an internet cafe to make alternate arrangements. Knowing RSSC, they will try to make everything right for everyone!

I am so sorry for all you guys. Not an experience any of us want to have. Wishing you all safe journey home.

Really heartbreaking news - we had the best time in bar last night and knew this had potential to be one of the best cruises ever - so to wake up to sad announcement we were devastated - not sure what plans we have and short time to make new ones ....boat will be empty Oct 6- sure wish we could go somewhere!!!!

We are all working on the new definition for TUT... everyone chime in with your creative ideas.

Brad and I had the foresight to schedule a massage yesterday for 4 PM this afternoon - I am sure all appointments have been snapped up since the bad news came out.

When we heard that the captain wanted to make a little announcement after the lifeboat drill, everyone thought that was unusual. After all the port and other strikes in Athens last week I assumed it was going to be about a problem with provisioning some essential items, like crab legs or caviar or raspberries. Then I thought for sure they'd get going later today...

So we are carrying on on our little cruise to nowhere, awaiting word of our return arrangements. WIth the internet down all morning we couldn't do any alternative planning research, and since we had a week in Vienna we'll just head home.

How disappointing!!! Good luck getting arrangements for a safe trip home. Hopefully, Regent will come through with a fair compensation.

I am so sorry to hear about this... I am sure Frustrating doesnt even begin to describe how many are feeling right now.. At this point I would get a bunch of people together get on a small plane and head to Mykonos/Santorini/or Crete and chill at one of the wondeful resorts, Starwoods on all of them... Relax, Regroup.
there for a few days and then fly home and send Regent the Bill....

I really can't believe what I'm reading! How unbelievable - so sorry for all of you. Lee