Safari + 29 days onboard Mariner starting 11/21/2015

Hope the above photo works. I found the photo a while ago and feel that it is fitting start to this vacation.

I'm starting this thread a bit early -- we depart Vancouver on 11/19 and take a short flight to Seattle on Alaska Airline’s local carrier, Horizon Air. After a 4 hour layover in Seattle (happy that they now have an Amex Centurion Lounge), we depart for Heathrow (10 hours) on British Air’s 747 – upstairs (note: This flight was originally scheduled on a Boeing 777 but was switched after the fire of a 777 on the ground in Las Vegas recently).

We disembark in terminal 5 at Heathrow. Our six hour lay-over will be interesting as they have just recently changed outgoing BA flights to Cape Town from terminal 5 to terminal 3. I did some research on terminal 3 and did not find the lounge facilities that are available in terminal 5. Having completed a long flight with an even longer one to come, we want to shower in the lounge which will require going through security to get into terminal 5 and then go through security for terminal 3. A bit of a nuisance but we have plenty of time there. Then onward to Cape Town (11 hours).

After arrival at 7:00 a.m., we will be taken by Regent to the hotel where we will not be able to check in. The plan is to drop off the luggage and go to the V&A Waterfront where there are lots of restaurants and shops. There is a shuttle from the hotel to the waterfront area. We know at least one other couple that will be on the same flight as we are but suspect that they are quite a few of “us”.

Very early the next morning (think we get up around 5:30 a.m.), we have breakfast and are taken to the airport for the approximately 1 ½ hour flight to Port Elizabeth and then a drive (1 ½ - 2 hours) to the safari camp (we are at Eagles Crag camp – a luxury camp with accommodations for 9 couples). There are several other safari camps in the area that Regent is using. Some passengers have elected to go to camps out of Johannesburg – a bit further than Port Elizabeth. Thinking about the long flights and early mornings makes me tired.

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We will do three games drives while at Eagles Crag – two morning drives (which means getting up 5ish) and one evening drive. For anyone reading this that loves safari’s and thinks this isn’t enough, it may not be for you but it is more than enough for me.

So, what am hoping to post on this thread? Firstly, I plan on posting photos of the safari camp and animals. My DH will be doing videos and I’ll use my Kindle as it is too difficult to post pictures using my Canon camera (although I will have it with me). I’ll use photobucket.com to enable me to post pictures. I’ve purchased a small keyboard for my Kindle to make it easier for me. Hoping this works.

Once aboard the ship, I won’t be posting food photos (unless it is something different) nor will I post photos of the ship as I’ve done that previously. Instead, I hope to get photos of some of the places we visit in South Africa, Nimibia and Mozambique. I am extremely excited to be returned to Cape Town and Walvis Bay, Namibia as well as visiting new ports in that area of the world. A highlight for me will be riding an elephant bareback outside of Port Elizabeth. There are two types of excursions to the Elephant camp. We decided to do the one that flies you to the camp and enables you to ride the elephant and then walk next to it for about a half an hour on the way back to the place that we have a snack. We booked this cruise in February, 2014 (as did most others). This excursion is what I am most looking forward before (even though we have ridden elephants before, this will be a much more authentic experience).

After the 15 night cruise, we will stay on board and do the Cape Town to Rio itinerary (14 nights) – the one we did approximately 3 years ago. This is a lot of sea days and will be a welcome respite from the previous active cruise. There will not be a lot to post but I will write about some of the on-board activities.

Rather than overnighting in Rio, we will leave the night before to head home. This is something we do whenever possible. In terms of Rio, we have been there and have no desire to get off of the ship at 9:00 a.m. for a 9:45 p.m. flight (they usually do a hospitality suite in a hotel but it still leaves us carrying our valuables and passport in a city that isn’t particularly safe). We will miss dinner on the ship but will be well on our way home when the rest of the ship disembarks the next day. Our flights back are really great – Air Canada non-stop to Toronto – a 1 ½ layover and then non-stop to Vancouver.

So, that is how the next month or so looks for us. I have no idea how much internet connectivity we will have before we get on the ship on November 24th (except in the airports). I will try to get other CC’ers to post but strangely, out of the 40 or so CC members on this cruise and almost twice that many on the second leg, few of them post on this board.

We will be home before Christmas but will spend Thanksgiving on board. Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!

Oh, boy! Happy sails and happy travels!! (Is there an envious tongue- hanging-out emoticon?)

Jackie and Dennis,

Safe travels and have a wonderful trip. I look forward to your posting. It looks like a great trip.

Peggy

Lovely! Wish I were there. For that amount of flying and early mornings, you deserve a great trip. Can't wait to hear all about it as I slave away at work.

TC2

We have the same situation for our Dec. cruise. We will fly BA PHX to LHR to CPT with a 7hr layover. I found a day room area near the LHR lounge that provides a very small room with bunk beds and a private bath and access to there lounge.It is inside security so no need to go through that again. I would look into your terminal info because BA has recently changed terminals for our flights (T-3 for all our flights no T-5) . Hope this helps if not send a personal message .

John

 

 

We disembark in terminal 5 at Heathrow. Our six hour lay-over will be interesting as they have just recently changed outgoing BA flights to Cape Town from terminal 5 to terminal 3. I did some research on terminal 3 and did not find the lounge facilities that are available in terminal 5. Having completed a long flight with an even longer one to come, we want to shower in the lounge which will require going through security to get into terminal 5 and then go through security for terminal 3. A bit of a nuisance but we have plenty of time there.

TC2,

T3 at Heathrow has a very good Galleries Lounge. Same style as T5 but not as large.

Suggest you speak to a BA rep when you land to check what facilities are available in each lounge and what the transfer arrangements are between Terminals - probably an airside bus to avoid the necessity of passport control & security; the lounges at both terminals are airside.

Hope you have good journey.

TC2:

Real jealous. :D:D Hope you and Dennis have a wonderful time and please post LOTS of pics.

I am curious about Olga (bartender) who we had discussed in other boards regarding. I hope that everything is OK with her and please give her a hug from us (Roberto and Pamela) if she is back onboard.

Enjoy the cruise and safari.

Z and TB

Have a great trip Jackie. Sounds amazing.

Very excited that you're doing this trip? Why? So I can travel, vicariously, with you. Your trip reports are great and it's fun to "travel" along. Thanks! :D

TC It's still the 18th here. Have a great trip, we hope we both will have photos like that. We go to Kapama after the cruise on O. As before wish we could wave as we board in CPT.

TC No wonder we couldn't get on! We were supposed to be on Voyager until my surgery ended that in 4/15. 1 year too late.

Travelcat thanks for the info on the waterfront. We get in before checkin time on the 20th and will surely head down there.

We are sitting in the aa lounge in Dallas waiting for our 14 hour flight to Doha on Qatar.

TC, nice start to our trip. We also depart tomorrow (11/19). We fly Orlando to Frankfurt with a two hour layover. Then Frankfurt to Munich (four hour layover) and on to Cape Town. We arrive at 7:30am and as you said, rooms will not be ready. The rest of itinerary is same as yours (we are also staying at Eagles Cragg) but we end our cruise on the 9th in Cape Town. Safe travel to you and your hubby. As I look at the Regent's website everything is waitlisted. We received three offers from Regents to cancel our cruise (actually very generous offers) but we declined. This is our second trip to South Africa (the first one was a land tour) and are looking forward to it.

See you in Cape Town.

Forevertravel:)

Jacquie, Suspect there may be a few of "us " :eek: remember, we leave the same day:p. Bet both lines have people on your flight. We're doing Emirates bc BOS/DBX 8.5 hrs in a hotel DBX/CPT leaving 11/20 arr. 11/22 12n. What a trek. Similar to Boston/Tokyo/ Sydney but at least we get lie flat not angle flat seats-yea

Thanks for all the good wishes - they mean a lot. We are down to counting hours until we leave the house. Our only slight concern is having to transit through Heathrow with the heightened security. While I am happy that they have strong security, it is already a difficult airport to get through.

Really looking forward the safari and the cruise(s) as well as meeting the great people that have been on our Roll Call. Hopefully there will be a few of us posting on CC which will be nice.

In terms of offers to change cruises, it seems that many people received offers. We did not but our TA knows that there was no way we would have changed this cruise.

"Z" (Roberto): Will definitely check on Olga and will report back. BTW, we came extremely close to cancelling "our" cruise. After we gave tentative permission to cancel to our TA, both Dennis and I went into withdrawal - even had upset stomachs because we simply could not cancel unless it was an emergency (and this wasn't) so we'll be on the Explorer with all of you a year from now.

newlondon: So happy that you are now well enough to do the wonderful cruise that you are doing on Oceania (which, as you know, is the same itinerary as the Mariner). Hope you enjoy every moment!

Wish there were a way to identify each other when we are in Cape Town. We will likely be in some of the same places at the same time.

Anyway, that is all for now. Will likely write from Heathrow since we have such a long layover.

the tried and true "Here I am!" red carnation (or rose) on the lapel (or in the teeth)?

Onboard the lovely Mariner right now, and I am taking good care of it for you all. Wish I could stay on board as I much dread the flight of almost 26 hours in transit back to Houston.

Altho this is my first cruise after the loss of my husband May 30th, I have run into many crew from Oceania who remember both me and my husband, and that has been a real plus. Vladimer is in charge of dining now and "Teddy" is director of Housekeeping. They do such a fabulous job.

Lorraine is the Cruise Director, and she is wonderful Never had her before. I hope she does the "James Bond" night for you all. Don't miss it.

Don't know what safari camp you all are doing, but last year on the trip from Cape Town to Singapore on Voyager, we were assigned to Sibuya Forest and it was wonderful. Any of them are great tho.

Internet has been very fast. Only one day on our way to the Canaries was it difficult to use. Food is good, but i actually prefer Oceania's food. You would think it would be the same. We have "Hendro" every night for dinner. Had him on the Voyager. The couple with whom I am traveling we met on that trip, and they are actually responsible for me going on this one, and I am so glad I did. They have had Hendro on several trips. Sette Mari is good. They had a French Bistro there one night instead of the Italian. Did not go, but I heard it was great.

Enough of my rambling. Just saw your post and had to chime in. Happy sails. I'm envious. Oh, one more thing. I tried to have a get together with CC folks, and we only had two show. Oh well--another time.

Jacquie:

We are so glad that you've decided to not cancel the TA cruise since you are our anchor. It would not be the same. Besides, I have an invite for cocktails in your suite and would hate to miss it (I'm like an alcoholic elephant). Larry would have to take over and he makes me speed drink martinis.:D

TC It's still the 18th here. Have a great trip, we hope we both will have photos like that. We go to Kapama after the cruise on O. As before wish we could wave as we board in CPT.

You will love Kapama. We went there after our cruise on Voyager last year and had the very best time. We saw virtually all the different animals including the elusive leopard and a hippo at night. If you have time I recommend taking the side trip to the Endangered Species Center. It is well worth it. We also took the trip to the Elephant Interaction and had the chance to get close to a couple of elephants, something i had not done before. These trips are available after the morning drive. Beautiful lodge.

This was our most memorable trip.

Jacquie:

 

We are so glad that you've decided to not cancel the TA cruise since you are our anchor. It would not be the same. Besides, I have an invite for cocktails in your suite and would hate to miss it (I'm like an alcoholic elephant). Larry would have to take over and he makes me speed drink martinis.:D

An anchor? Hmmmmm, do I drag you all down?;) Definitely want you both in our suite for cocktails so we have to do the cruise. An effort was made to get us to transfer to the Explorer's March transatlantic which will be a Regent 25th anniversary cruise. Had it not been for the wonderful people (especially people who think they are like an "alcoholic elephant) and the itinerary (much better than the March itinerary), we definitely would have switched.

Leaving the house in 15 minutes for the first of three flights to Cape Town. Now that the luggage is in the car (I packed enough for 5 people and two elephants), there is nothing for me to do. I get sad when I tell my kitties how long we will be gone (they do understand:-)

More to come..... eventually!

Jackie, Ginny and I wish you and Dennis safe travels, and a great safari/cruise!

Jackie, Ginny and I wish you and Dennis safe travels, and a great safari/cruise!

Thanks for the good wishes. This is a long day already and we are only in Seattle. Checked out the new Amex Centurion Studio (smaller version of their lounge). Now in the BA lounge. Eating and drinking ... very enjoyable. Looking forward to flight to Heathrow so we can relax and get some sleep.

Will check I'm from Heathrow in about 13 hours..

All the safari camps we stayed in had internet service. And if you don't want to go out on the game drives, you can stay behind at the lodge. I would be SO tired, and thinking that I couldn't possibly go again, but the knock on the door would happen and up I would hop!

Thanks Pam - good to know. There were two things that I had no interest in doing... first was visiting India and the second was a safari. We did India.a couple of years ago on the Voyager and thisweekend will be the safari. End of my lists. Now we can happily sail on the Explorer or the Voyg m.p.h. 4

We are in T3 at Heathrow. My idea of spending a couple of hours in T5 did not work. Although we landed in T5, we had to go to T3. The lounge is small but

works fine. Had a shower. there was no where to plug in appliances. Security very strict but that is to be expected.

One more long flight and we will be in Cape Town.