Looking forward to reports from this new expedition ship.

Have fun!!!

Thanks Marc. We are in London now. Only one more Covid test to boarding (that is how we tell time these days)

On our way to the Crystal Endeavor we did a short 4 day cruise on the Silversea Moon to check out the new ship. It was very nice as is often the case some things I like better on Regent some things I like better on Silversea.


Stelios picked us up in Athens. He is a taxi driver/ guide, a fantastic person we met many years ago. I think quite a few of you have used Stelios over the years.

We were given tickets by the ship to a $229 per person special lunch ashore in Santorini. Only 5 guests and 2 Silversea staff. It was six courses with wine and one of those courses was lamb. I actually ate my plate and three other peoples plates. Lamb heaven. This a very fancy hotel with incredible views and very modern. All the "beautiful people were around the pool" Really enjoyed the experience


One of the chairs on the patio around the infinity pool outside the restaurant


Santorini Brewing Company was the name of the company that brews the Crazy Donkey Beer. There quite a few wineries and breweries on the islands. I was quite surprised by the wines did not taste one I did not like.


Nafplion, Greece - a stunning port absolutely gorgeous little town that does not seem overly touristy. Normal shops every where not just tee shirt tourist shops.


Ken caught this cute girl on her scooter. The town was not over crowded a lovely place to stroll.


Argostoli, Cephalonia, Greece. Another port we have not been to before. Lots of fancy hotels definitely a tourist island.


The Silver Moon docked in Argostoli.

LOL, Ngaire, when I read that you ate your plate, I thought "wow, she must have been really hungry to eat the plate".

Funny Rachel. Actually the plate was hard to bite so I just ate the lamb.

We showed our papers at the airport in Cofu. We were able to get an exemption from the two day COVID test as we were leaving England in the next day. I was told in Corfu we would need paperwork to prove that.

Amazing arrival in Gatwick. There were signs showing everything you needed to have ready for inspection. Went through an automated login for your passport. Tons of machines no line. Passed through that and straight to luggage pick up and walked to our hotel.

Easiest arrival EVER. Totally surprised.

Good news from Endeavor! I know this is a subject of intense interest— we were told today that masks are not required on board our voyage. Yay!!!

Jim, fantastic news! Are they making you carry trackers?

Crystal Symphony just put about 10% of all passengers ashore in Bermuda to enter quarantine; most of them tested negative but were "tracked" to be in close contact with one or more of the positive cases.

We did not have to $them on Serenity either, although the staff wore them 100% of the time. Maybe that will happen with Regent by the time we cruise in Feb.

This ship is a WOW. Cabins not large but really nice more drawers than you can fill. Really impressed so far with the ship. Beautiful decor, stunning chandeliers. Food was good tonight. Just has a nice feel. About 50% full, about 100 guests.

Getting here with all the paperwork and last minute logistics changes was a lot to deal with but now we are here, so soon those issues will be a distant memory.

Yes, we have to wear trackers. But compared to the”Icelandic Roulette “ on Viking, with testing everyday, I like my odds better on this ship. Plus it’s much nicer!

Lots of pluses on the Crystal Endeavor, cabins, food and the ships public areas are excellent. The Boot Room looks super for a real expedition. Negatives too much “new technology” with no daily printed passages it is all on line. But a real hassle to log in and keep looking for things. Many small things like that. Probably the wave of the future. But overall a very good product.

Had a great time today bailed on the tour and just walked into St. Malo town with Kate. We ate at a tiny place more local than touristy, and got a sandwich and a panini, ( both really yummy) sparkling water, coffee and two soft freeze ice creams total bill 20 euros. Just a great day.

Supposed to be raining every day but no rain so far. Today we woke up to bright sunshine and no clouds.

Bayeaux, France

Dinard, France

For some reason I have not been able to logon to LCT. Having a very nice time. The endeavor is pretty amazing. Boot room is huge with tons of places to sit while putting on or removing your boots and has male and female toilets. Ken will post a photo. The guest laundry has about 8 washer and dryers and a coffee machine and chairs while you wait for your laundry. Very spacious. Lots of unique and extra touches everywhere. Definitely an outstanding ship.

This is not an expedition type trip. Using tenders to go ashore not zodiacs and normal mainstream tours. Still a great ship for this type of trip as well.

So far we have had good weather even though it has predicted rain each day. However, today we are in Bordeaux and it is raining. Good thing here is most tours are going to wineries where we will be inside drinking wine.

Wow such a great trip. Had I realized it was not an expedition type trip, I think we might have seriously considered it. Love the little towns along the French coast.

Good news on the weather front. The rain stopped around noon and we had an afternoon tour which was nice. A small French village , St. Emilion that focused on art and wine. A very old church were we could go underground to see where they also worshipped below the church. Followed by an excellent wine tour. So many wine tours over the years but this one was very informative and more interesting than any other. A family winery and the history of the family was really interesting. All three sons of the owner married interns that were sent to the wineries. Two from the USA and one from Canada. They had a video of one of the children aged about 3 swirling her drink and rolling it around in her mouth like wine experts do when they drink wine. Really cute.

Now this morning we have a blue sky and sunshine. It was showing rain every day of this trip and fortunately the forecast was very wrong.

I loved every one of the pictures so far! The Greek isles is one of my favorite areas. What is meant by "wearing a tracker"?

Just saw the photo of you guys and Stelios. Great memories of him, what a great guide!!!

I remember he would say, "I'll show you everything...AND MORE!!!"

Glad you are having a wonderful cruise!

Great final day in Bordeaux. Stunning day with bright sunshine and no wind. Could not be better. We had a tour of Bordeaux by bus that was really well done with a great guide. It really is a lovely city. We were docked right in the heart of Bordeaux

Then we visited the "Cite du Vin" which is like a museum of everything about wine world wide not just in France. This included an audio guide and here were so many great exhibits. From wrap around movie about transporting wine by ship in the early days, to a movie that was hilarious featuring Napoleon, Maria Callas, Mozart, Churchill and other famous characters from history on their thoughts on wine. The audio was all in English and you touched the transmitter to a red dot and it explained everything related to that particular subject about wine. You could spend many hours in this place. All extremely well done. Finished off by a wine tasting at the top of the building with a 360 degree view of Bordeaux. Of course I tried a South African wine and Ken tried a Romanian wine.

All this followed by a great dinner with lobster tail on the menu.

Today we arrived in Pasia, Spain, Right now weather not looking great but we arrive around noon but it is brightening up a bit so fingers crossed. I feel we have been blessed by the weather gods. Had wonderful mussels for lunch two large orders.

From Pasia we visited San Sebastián and we just got back so I thought I would just post here. Weather settled a little bit but we decided to cancel our 5 tour and just go in on the shuttle bus. They rain held off for the most part with just some light rain periodically.

Lovely town, attractive buildings with parks and green areas and quite a few monuments. Shame it was not sunny. Clothing in the stores was really nice, super quality and very reasonable. Unfortunately we hit at siesta time and most of the shops were closed. Did try on a few items but as usual nothing fit. Food was also very inexpensive. Things were much cheaper than in France. Really enjoyed just wandering around on our own. The guide on the shuttle bus told me this has the reputation of being the most beautiful town in Spain.

Tonight Rack of Lamb, really enjoying the cruise life again but definitely over eating and instead of berries been ordering desserts. This must stop.

Clay leaves for the splendor today but I will be home in four days and I know our great staff will keep our ship afloat.

Ken will post pictures today.

The first pictures below are from St. Emilion, France










The next two are from Bordeaux.

The gate is one of older gates into the city of Bordeaux



The center portion of this bridge disconnects from each side and raises to allow boats to pass through. This was pretty fun to watch. Once the boat has passed the center moves back down and traffic continues.



San Sabastian, Spain. A beautiful city with parks, monuments and classic Spanish buildings. Unfortunately it was overcast and raining.

Today we were in Aviles and Luanco. Gorgeous day, sunshine, no wind and in the seventies. Driving through the countryside looked very like the North Island of New Zealand. Lush green and even sheep. We visited the small town of Luanco. This is a fishing village and really not much to see in the town but the ocean and huge ocean wall was attractive. At the end of the walk we entered an old looking traditional small church. We were amazed at the interior of this church. Stunning detail in gold on the altar and the sides of the church. What you would expect to see in a major church in a big city.

We finished up in the town of Aviles which was a very short walk from the ship. A classic town with lots of outdoor cafes and busy with locals going about their daily business. Quite delightful to walk around. Now on our way to the next port,

Ken will get up some pictures.

it has been a long time since we were in St. Emilion and Bordeaux (Jon was 15 and he is now 30), but not much appears to have changed. We love that area (and the wines).

First pictures are from Luanco







This picture captures the Altar but it was just as ornate on the walls of this small local church




These next pictures are in Aviles.

This next two pictures are of an exhibition area right next to the Crystal Endeavor

Last tour of the trip today. We went to PonteVedra today. A town full of history of all the Pilgrims that walked in order to be sure of their entrance to heaven. Visited churches and the squares with fun bronze statues, a large fish and flower and fruit market. Ken took a few shots in the town.

Then we went Combarro which is a seaside small village. The tide was out and many people were gathering mussels and clams and putting them in bags. These bags were delivered directly to the restaurants to be cooked. Talk about fresh. However seeing the people digging in the mud to gather the seafood kind of affected the desire to eat there. Cannot imagine how hard gathering the seafood must be, definitely back breaking work. The village had very small homes built on the banks above the sea. Small granite buildings on pillars were still standing that were used to store corn.

Beautiful day a little chilly early but warmed up to be very warm. Blue sky and bright sun.

Having a group dinner tonight in Prego in a lovely private room. Fabulous meal in this restaurant with a wonderful mushroom soup served in bread and outstanding rack of lamb. Followed by tiramisu. Yum.

Time has flown by and the time to leave is looming. Great ship in many ways been delight to experience the Endeavor.