I've called this blog 'To Istanbul and Beyond', but in fact we won't be going very much further than Istanbul. Cruise No R416 was originally marketed as a cruise to the Black Sea, with the main attractions being the ports of Sevastopol and Yalta. However, with the current political unrest in Ukraine, P&O cancelled those ports and revised the itinerary. The ship now sails into the Black Sea, but only as far as Burgas in Bulgaria.

About ten days ago, we noticed that cabins were available at knock-down prices, and since we were looking for an autumn holiday it seemed like an opportunity too good to miss. We leave on 1^st September and have 24 nights onboard Aurora, our favourite P&O ship.

Janet