We had long talked about booking a cruise, and spent a lot of time researching the different options and itineraries. As we have stayed with Regent Hotels before and we had read a lot if good things about Regent Seven Seas, when we this cruise, the Red Sea Odyssey, from Istanbul to Dubai, we thought it was a good choice. The cruise was very expensive and was the most expensive holiday we have ever booked. However, as it was for a special anniversary we thought it was worth it, giving that it was 6* all-inclusive luxury.
I regret to say we found the entire experience very disappointing and got off the cruise after only 4 days on board.
We flew to Istanbul and stayed overnight at the excellent Intercontinental - the staff and rooms were both very good and we very much enjoyed our short stay. We were transferred to the port, which was not very salubrious and consisted of a number of rundown buildings. Check-in was ok, and after we queued up and collected our room keys we went through passport control, and saw the ship. No one was around to show us where to go, so we just made our way up the ramp. We were met by a security man who swiped our keys, and were then met by a Stewardess holding a tray of champagne glasses with a dribble of champagne in each - I could not help but think 'why bother?'.