This was our first cruise on Windstar. We have sailed with Regent/Radisson six times and Oceania once. We usually make our own pre- and post-cruise arrangements. This time, we used our American miles to fly first class from Los Angeles. We had a brief layover in Chicago before continuing on to London, where we spent a few days.

We planned this trip with a couple from Iowa that we met last year on our Oceania cruise. We met up with them at Heathrow and continued on to Istanbul together. I am happy to report that everyone's connections went smoothly, our luggage made it safely, and we thought that Terminal 5 was definitely worthy of all the hype. The British Airways lounge there was by far the nicest airport lounge we have ever visited!

Please be aware that if your flight lands in Istanbul, you need to purchase your Turkish visa BEFORE going through the long Passport Control line. The visa window is to the left of Passport Control, and you probably wouldn't see it unless you knew where to look. Our visas were $20 USD. Read more