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I’m considering a Black Sea cruise on Spirit of Adventure in September and would like to hear from cruisers who have been on her in the last 6-8 months. Specifically, overall condition of the ship and especially information about her stability as I understand that the Black Sea can turn ferocious and wouldn’t want an experience like the one on Balmoral last week.
I live in the US and have been in touch with the office in MA, Lisa has sent me info and I especially like the lecture programs and excursions that they have planned. But before committing I’d like to hear a few first-hand accounts.
I did check back in Cruise Talk’s archives and found some posts that go way back, does anyone have more recent information?
Any and all imput welcomed.
primrose87
Balmoral's experience was quite out of the ordinary, I am sure you need not worry over getting that sort of weather. Spirit of Adventure seems to be a good experience. There are a few photos on SRead's Site over to bottom left from 2007.
Pam
One of the attractions of SOA is that it is a British ship and passengers are mostly British. My favorite all-time cruise was on the Caronia out of Southampton in Sept 2002... the dining table was the high point of the voyage, we had a great group and I hated to leave the ship when the cruise was over. I've cruised many times since then but nothing has measured up to that wonderful dining experience.
We flew to Athens, sailed to Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Kepez (for Troy), Varna, Bulgaria; Constantza, Romania, Odessa, Sevastopol and Yalta in the Ukraine, Sochi in Russia and Trabzon in northern Turkey, before arriving in Istanbul for an overnight stay and the flight home.
The ship is small and friendly, cruise director Neil is a hoot, and there is always plenty to do, whether it's listening to a lecture, learning watercolour painting, reading a book (the library is bigger than the Yacht Club bar), or enjoying the surprising variety of entertainment.
We ate most of our meals out on the open deck aft of the Verandah restaurant, but the main dining room was also excellent.
Apart from a few suites, cabins are compact, but with everything you need.
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions
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