The Original Orient Express route.
Paris to Istanbul
As usual, We arrived early to enjoy our departure city and get on the right time zone! 4 days in Istanbul before boarding the Orient Express to Paris! Deb Mcfarlane and I splurged:) They now have a direct flight from Seattle to Istanbul -11 hours on Turkish Airlines. We started in the Old city. Kinda reminded me of the Mall in DC with the Obelisk from Egypt instead of the Washington monument. This one from Egypt is MUCH older! I highly recommend Istanbul as it is very different from the US but still safe. The traffic is the worst in the WORLD! So recognize you need to build in extra time. We took a yacht cruise up and down the Bosphorus which I highly recommend.
Here’s what it looks like inside the Beautiful Venice Simpton Orient Express. We were pretty much in the steerage section but so cool to relive how they used to travel in the late 1800s and early 1900s!
On my Birthday they created a special cake and gave me a gift and made it very special:). Thank you everyone for my Birthday wishes. It’s going to hard to top this one but I’m gonna try!
For you foodies out there I will try to remember to take more pics of each course. The veube clicquot was flowing and I forgot! After that was the bar car until midnight we all got off the train in our finery to submit our passports for the Bulgarian border. Can’t remember when I was last in the top bunk but it was fun!!! Serious nice dresses and suits at dinner! @Trish Seeney I could have used your make up as I felt like we were on a movie set! Most people from England and the US but some from Bangkok and I think Croatia
Orient Express Experience
It was very expensive, BUT if you consider every meal is a Michlin star meal and you can ask for any wine you want. We had beautiful red wines which I’m sure were not inexpensive. I met a woman journalist writing for Conde Nast and she said she was going to try every single drink they have in their menu! 😊
What worked for us
It’s all about the experience you want! Having just been on a 12 day cruise with 12 people I would say the experience was like a college party for 12 days 🙂 Only in College you didn’t have unlimited food and drink, Las Vegas quality entertainment and the safety of being on a ship so you can do things alone if you wish and are not in danger. We got the Premium drink package and I think we broke even but not sure its worth $79/day plus 20% gratuity a day. The bonus was we never had to sign a check like our friends so it was less of a hassle. All in all we only paid about $6000 total for the cruise due to a promotion so we felt like splurging on the premium drink package. You have to get it for both people in the room so consider that before ordering as well.
The Celebrity Ascent (its newest ship delivered in 2023) is huge and has every amenity you can imagine. Plenty of space for everyone at the pool or in the theater. We booked a cabana for the 12 of us on each of the sea days because we were worried about not having a seat at the pool but that was not really an issue. Still it was a fun thing to do. The cabana suite cost $600 per day but split between 12 people was $50 each per day. A little splurge!
Even though I live part time in Naples which is known for older retirees and people eat at like 5pm, we ended up going to the 7:30 pm Theater shows every night and eating afterwards. More people seem to go to the 9:30pm show so there were always seats available at the early show. For some reason eating later didn’t bother me onboard. Most likely because we usually had nice lunches at tour island stops to try the local fish and dishes.
An Infinite-edge Pool
Experience the joy of swimming in our infinity-edge pool that gives you a nice picturesque view.
An Iconic Spa
Set forth on an exquisite wellness journey to refresh, re-energize and rejuvenate at our iconic spa.
Luxurious Rooms
Our rooms are more than just a place to stay. The relaxing ambience will keep you happy all through.
Deep Soaking Bath-tub
Take a dip into these special bath-tubs to soak into a refreshing vacation mode that you’ve wanted.
Guest Computer & WiFi
We offer special computers and WiFi for guests who’d like to stay connected while on vacation.
24 Hour Concierge
We have three in-house restaurants offering different cuisines that you can choose from.
What worked for us
As usual, We arrived early to enjoy our departure city and get on the right time zone! 4 days in Istanbul before boarding the Orient Express to Paris! Deb Mcfarlane and I splurged:) They now have a direct flight from Seattle to Istanbul -11 hours on Turkish Airlines. We started in the Old city. Kinda reminded me of the Mall in DC with the Obelisk from Egypt instead of the Washington monument. This one from Egypt is MUCH older! I highly recommend Istanbul as it is very different from the US but still safe. The traffic is the worst in the WORLD! So recognize you need to build in extra time. We took a yacht cruise up and down the Bosphorus which I highly recommend.
Here’s what it looks like inside the Beautiful Venice Simpton Orient Express. We were pretty much in the steerage section but so cool to relive how they used to travel in the late 1800s and early 1900s!
On my Birthday they created a special cake and gave me a gift and made it very special:). Thank you everyone for my Birthday wishes. It’s going to hard to top this one but I’m gonna try!
For you foodies out there I will try to remember to take more pics of each course. The veube clicquot was flowing and I forgot! After that was the bar car until midnight we all got off the train in our finery to submit our passports for the Bulgarian border. Can’t remember when I was last in the top bunk but it was fun!!! Serious nice dresses and suits at dinner! @Trish Seeney I could have used your make up as I felt like we were on a movie set! Most people from England and the US but some from Bangkok and I think Croatia
It was very expensive, BUT if you consider every meal is a Michlin star meal and you can ask for any wine you want. We had beautiful red wines which I’m sure were not inexpensive. I met a woman journalist writing for Conde Nast and she said she was going to try every single drink they have in their menu! 😊
What worked for us
It’s all about the experience you want! Having just been on a 12 day cruise with 12 people I would say the experience was like a college party for 12 days 🙂 Only in College you didn’t have unlimited food and drink, Las Vegas quality entertainment and the safety of being on a ship so you can do things alone if you wish and are not in danger. We got the Premium drink package and I think we broke even but not sure its worth $79/day plus 20% gratuity a day. The bonus was we never had to sign a check like our friends so it was less of a hassle. All in all we only paid about $6000 total for the cruise due to a promotion so we felt like splurging on the premium drink package. You have to get it for both people in the room so consider that before ordering as well.
The Celebrity Ascent (its newest ship delivered in 2023) is huge and has every amenity you can imagine. Plenty of space for everyone at the pool or in the theater. We booked a cabana for the 12 of us on each of the sea days because we were worried about not having a seat at the pool but that was not really an issue. Still it was a fun thing to do. The cabana suite cost $600 per day but split between 12 people was $50 each per day. A little splurge!
Even though I live part time in Naples which is known for older retirees and people eat at like 5pm, we ended up going to the 7:30 pm Theater shows every night and eating afterwards. More people seem to go to the 9:30pm show so there were always seats available at the early show. For some reason eating later didn’t bother me onboard. Most likely because we usually had nice lunches at tour island stops to try the local fish and dishes.
An Infinite-edge Pool
Experience the joy of swimming in our infinity-edge pool that gives you a nice picturesque view.
An Iconic Spa
Set forth on an exquisite wellness journey to refresh, re-energize and rejuvenate at our iconic spa.
Luxurious Rooms
Our rooms are more than just a place to stay. The relaxing ambience will keep you happy all through.
Deep Soaking Bath-tub
Take a dip into these special bath-tubs to soak into a refreshing vacation mode that you’ve wanted.
Guest Computer & WiFi
We offer special computers and WiFi for guests who’d like to stay connected while on vacation.
24 Hour Concierge
We have three in-house restaurants offering different cuisines that you can choose from.
Let me design the perfect itinerary for you!
Looking for more? Well, we believe that every guest walks into our hotel for the best experience. And, we are determined to do that.
Food
We have team chefs from across the world. So you can enjoy the delicacies anytime during your stay.
Adventure and Sports
Among the scenic beauty of the city we also have an ocean view terrace for every suite in our hotel.
