just getting ready to sail from finland

what a great place to visit but from what i was told winter here is not fun

only sunshiner from 10am till 3pm and very very cold

but i so wish we had more time as it seems a really nice safe place to visit

also note it is very very costly here in finland

but do visit one day

tomorrow in st petersburg russia have set up private tour and invited social hostess and executive chef to join us

so will be fun


will post tomorrow


but do visit sweden/finland it only gets better with each port


and i got confirmation today that they have an empty cabin so my friend lars olsenn (former hoteldirector voyageur) and his wife will join us to sail for a few days to copenhagen


was even able to get a past passenger discount !!!!! ha ha



till tomorrow'

of to dinner with our scottish(born in ireland) captain

john mcneil!!


ta ta

We really enjoyed helsinki too, victor, and wished we had had more time there. I would have loved to have spent another day there or in Stockholm! Just have to go back I guess.

Seen from the Crystal Symphony:

It looks to be overcast in St. Petersburg today and the dock looks vacant. Where is everyone?

Rachel, that sounds like an idea to mix up the Baltic cruise some. I'd love to spend an extra night or two in some of those ports, as well.

I see some people now. Nice stalk, Karen!

Off the subject I know, but I sure wish Regent would put in bridge cams!

Cindy, me too! I always ask for online webcams on the comment card. They already have one, it's what we see on channel 1 or 2 on the cabin tvs so I wouldn't assume it would be that hard to put it online for us all to see!

Anyway, night is falling! I forgot to add the link for the cam if anyone else would like to look, you can find it here.

thats us!!!
well first things first zero smoking!!!

second end of tours in russia
what i can say if i had to write down just how good st petersburg and tours were i would be here for days

it takes a lot to put me in awe but this place sure did

you woulod be doing yourself a disservice to not visit st petersburg


i would suggest you research what you want to see on internet
and then arrange a private tour (many list on line) red october is one you need time and lots of it to see just a prt of this city


we did two days private tour and also dinner with regent tour at a palace it was amazing with a band to greet and also wave good bye to us and the palace oh well you will just have to see


off to estonia and then our 500th day with regent in visby sweden\


will update tomorrow


time for a martni!!!

hello from visby sweden

nice weather again but short day in port

sailed at 1pm
anotehr heritage site but would be better at night as this more of party place some stuff to see but ok to miss

tomorrow germany

good evening from germany

in berlin all day again wonderful weather and great place to visit
took a private tour via taxi about 1,000 usd less than regent tours

all in all a great end to regent ships
now tomorrow denmark 2 days then off to cairo for nile cruise

i highly recomend a baltic cruise maybe 2 or 3

Nice to hear from you Victor enjoy the Nile a fabulous place to visit and probably no tourists. Could not be a better time BUT be prepared it is going to be REALLY hot.

What a special looooong vacation this has been for you Victor. We love reading all about your journey. Keep having a wonderful time.

good morning from copenhagen

weather cool yesterday looks better today

what a great place to visit so so much to see

and still more cruising to come

nextw ek nile
october navigator montreal to miami
december south america to miami

i may even learn how to upload pictures

will e post tomorrow after arriving cairo

bye

Ah, Victor, back to the heat you go. Hope Cairo is wonderful. How fortunate that you and Rosanne don't stop! Continue to enjoy your cruising and sharing with us.

You will be Regent residents for life.

Have fun in Cairo, don't burn up.

hello from london heathrow
3 hour wait with some vodka and caviar
so now we have cool weather i can only imagine what cairo will be like at 1130 pm tonight but still looking forward to it

will update daily if possible

note

if regent service is like voyageur they will lose many many cruisers !!they need a quality control person to monitor
as teh service level has dropped huge!

Victor, that is sad to hear.....People need to continue to complete the comment cards or better yet, tell the management while onboard of these issues. I do hope you let people know of your dissatisfaction in service.

hello from cairo

left copenhagen at 2pm arrived hotel at 2 am

and tour at 8 am

have all private tours so no rush
we were met at airport and they did visa and transfer with no issue

everyone said it would be hot here but i think athens was worse

we can see the pyramids from our hotel balcony cool|!!!

went and saw others now going to get private tour of one by hotel

then either camel/horse/donkey ride

will uodate\


starting like fun

tomorrow!!

hello from luxor egypt

now here it is warm
yesterday at pyamids at night for light show great cool breeze
boarded ship today all clean and nice and we had a nice welcome on seeing the town tonight

they have 350 ships on the nile

only about 65 are working so ypu can imagine the unemployment
on this trip there will be 22 guests only!!!

our tour guide had not worked for over a month

half the shops on nile walkway are closed !1

but we feel very very comfortable and safe

will update

Victor, what ship are you on?

Victor and Roseanne: Thank you so much for your posts - what a fantastic voyage you have experienced and more voyages to come! Congrats about your smoking and keep having great time you two - Joanna

hello from aswan egypt
this will be 3rd time trying to post
zero smoking
we are on the sonesta star goddess which needs a lot of work
as it has seen better days but it seems no one wants to spend money with the worry of no passengers we were upgraded to master suite and i an say all suites are great it is just the public areas that need a lot of work the service has been fantastic
if they even think we have a problem we are asked right away
for some reason they refer to us a vip couple for what ever reason
we are the only people doing 7 day cruise others just did 4 ugh!!!
tomorrow there are only 20 joining so with capacity of 68 we are empty
today again i saw many many ships idle and many many shops closed such a shame!!
we feel totally safe without any issues

the food on board is also fantastic and with me stopping smoking
i am now eating much much better

all those that warned us of hot days were wrong
it was and still is hotter in greece!!

so off again on another tour


ps if ever a chance to do the nile go for it
also 7 days is a must and they may also return to 14 days
from cairo which i would join in a heartbeat

starting to miss home as we are now at 2 months and still have to see in laws in italy on the 30th
they are visiting from toronto and this will be last time all 4 can be in italy

i will update once we sail from aswan tomorrow heading back to cairo

yah!!!!! it looks like my post finally worked!!!!!!!

hi all

i am now sitting in master suite on the sonesta star goddess in
aswan egypt and just went ut to balcony to look at the other shore lite up with all the grandness and beauty that only a cemetery (ha ha) they call it different but thats what is many many tombs!!

the weather is much like a mild atlanta night not even as warm as texas

called for a few more drinks which arrived in 3 minutes

now what a tough life!!


it is amazing that i grew up with nothing and now i sit in a master suite on the nile of all places


life is so funny ike they say life is like candy

you don't know what it is until you open it up

i am so lucky to have friends here that follow this little guy@!!

but then i have had more than most


i will update tomorrow once we sail again for the 3 day cruise
which is day 1 board
day 2 at sea
day 3 disembark

man i want the 11-14 cruises even more now

but you must do this once


till later

Life IS good, Victor, especially when you are on a cruise!!

hello from cairo


wrll all good things come to an end sooner or latertomorrow off to visit family in italy and home in one week

will post again from navigator in october

Thanks for all your posts, Victor. Since I will be getting on the Navigator the day you and Roseanne disembark in October, I'll be looking forward to your fall posts. Enjoy your family time in Italy. Rest up when you get home to hit the seas again!

I will miss your posts Victor but look forward to your fall trip and your NEWS!!!

Victor, now that you are retired, are you still using your old email or do you have a new one?

new e mail and i still work 50 days a year for 3 years and get well paid


expediteplus@yahoo.com or
victor@victorjdeschenes.com
rosanne
rsabatino2000@yahoo.com

beth

since you get off why not come back and join us on board for linch??????????????????????