Clelia II -- A Voyage to the Black Sea
By Vivian Fancher

    Legend has it that while searching for the Golden Fleece, Jason and the 50 fearless Argonauts were the first Westerners to navigate the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks, who named the land surrounding these waters the "Hospitable Shores," regarded the expedition as an historical fact, which led to the colonization of the region. The story of the journey was known at least as early as Homer and the wandering of Odysseus may have been partly founded on Jason's travels.

    Classical Cruises will position one of its ships, the all-suite Clelia II, to follow the routes taken by the mariners of yore and introduce travelers to a territory that does not host many Americans. The theme of this 9-day trip is the interminable narrative leading to today¹s social and political systems near the sea.

    The cruise company's forte is its stops at exotic and sometimes little trafficked ports; scholarly lectures focusing on history and the arts; and educational shore excursions that are strong on museums, archeology, architecture and nature. The line attracts passengers interested in a learning experience rather than the glitz and glamour usually associated with cruising. Members of museum and college alumni associations often sign up as a group for the sailings.
 
    To start the journey passengers fly to Istanbul, one of the world's most dramatic and dynamic capitals, for a two-day pre-cruise stay at the Istanbul Hilton. The city is not on the Black Sea, but on the confluence of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus, the narrow 19-mile-long strait that separates European and Asian Turkey and joins both bodies of water. However, Istanbul
shares a heritage with the rest of the region due to the interweaving of commerce, civilizations and conquerors. Sightseeing begins at the Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Divine Wisdom, now a museum representing over 2,000 years of history. Other visits include the 16th-century Sulemayiye Mosque; the Blue Mosque, so named because of the color of its vivid tiles; the Grand Bazaar, home to over 4,000 shops; Topkapi Palace, the opulent former dwelling of the Ottoman emperors; and the Archeological Museum with its rich collection of artifacts.

    After a day at sea, Clelia II docks in Yalta, Ukraine. Passengers visit Lividia Palace, a former Imperial residence where Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met for the famous 1945 conference. While the ship sails to Sevastopol, the group travels the scenic route along a highway sandwiched between the Crimean Mountains and the Black Sea. Before re-boarding, there is a stop at Chersonesus, an excavation of a 22 B.C. Greek settlement.

    Then it is on to Odessa, the most exciting port in the entire itinerary. A memorial to 18th- and 19th-century grandeur, the town has been acclaimed as the "Paris of the East" and "Pearl of the Black Sea." At the 130-year-old Renaissance-style Londonskaya Hotel you feast on a typically Russian lunch while musicians and singers entertain. At the Upensky Cathedral, you view a
remarkable exhibit of icons and at the Archeology Museum a rare collection of gold and antiquities. At the city¹s opera house you listen to a specially arranged performance. The afternoon ends with a descent of the steep Potemkin Steps, immortalized in the 1925 film classic "Battleship Potemkin." Before returning to Istanbul, Clelia II cruises to Constanta, Romania and Nessebur, Bulgaria. In Constanta the day's activity is an excursion by air to the Carpathian Mountains to see the 15th- and 16th-century painted Bucovina Monasteries of Moldavia. Nessebur, a charming and walkable medieval looking seaside resort, draws several thousand vacationers in season. Founded by the Greeks as Messembria about 500 B.C. and protected by UNESCO, eight of its 48 old churches remain in good condition, Their distinctive feature is the rich and varied brickwork of the facades.

    On shore excursions, conducted in two modern, air-conditioned buses, the ship's scholar, Dr. Edward Keenan, Professor of History at Harvard University, augments the information presented by experienced local guides. Participation in the tours is usually 100 percent. A staff numbering 55 attends Clelia II's 82 guests. At 225 square feet, the standard cabins are spacious and comfortable. Despite the vessel's small size the public spaces are roomy and the facilities are ample. They include a beauty salon, steam room, Jacuzzi, gymnasium, outdoor pool, library, two large lounges for lectures, nightly cocktail parties and late evening piano music and an outdoor café that is used at tea time.

    The atmosphere on board is casual. Open seating for all meals at tables of six, eight and 10 in the cheerful Golden Star Dining Room enables passengers to quickly get acquainted with one another. Breakfasts and lunches are buffets; a wait staff serves dinner. A room service menu is available, but guests also have the option, when the restaurant is open, of taking meals from the regular menu in their cabins. Because of the active and exhilarating days on shore, most people end their evenings after dinner. But the ship does offer a light snack at 11 p.m.

    Classical Cruises, a division of the U. S-based company, Travel Dynamics, leases the vessel from a Greek owner and hires a French-speaking crew to operate it. The American cruise director and tour managers do an excellent job of coordinating sightseeing, taking care of individual requests and answering questions during daily disembarkation briefings. Vasos
Papagapitos, president, handcrafts the itineraries by spreading nautical charts across his desk and plotting times and distances with a protractor.

    Clelia II's nine- to 13-day trips will be organized around seven topics and will sail along India's coast and in the Aegean and Mediterranean, including stops in the Middle East.