Voyager - Dubai to Barcelona 5/2 - 5/23/16

We are sitting in the British Airways lounge at Heathrow waiting for our 10:30 pm flight to Dubai. We flew in from Atlanta with very little sleep. Business class on BA is a bit peculiar. The pods are arranged like a jigsaw puzzle - or more accurately like sardines in a can. Even the flight attendants complained about the design. They look like the cast of Cirque de Soleil as they swoop and hover over hard to reach passengers.

We were initially excited about a long layover in London, but not so much after 3 hours of sleep. It took us an hour and a half to get through passport control - and this was in the fast lane! It's Sunday and a "bank holiday" which might explain the hoards of people milling about. I decided to look at it as a spa day.....after a nap, a shower, a massage, and a glass of wine, I'm good to go! We arrive in Dubai at 8:30 am so I'm not sure wh Regent will do with us until it's time to board. After two sleep deprived nights, we may be bit wonky!

This will be our 5th Regent cruise and our 4th on Voyager. Please feel free to ask questions as we go along. This a very interesting itinerary, although my friends and family are terrified we will get into trouble. I hope to post some pictures as well. Stay tuned!

Hi Jennifer & Georges, Hope y'all have a terrific cruise and enjoy the iconic middle east sites. Look forward to more posts.

Look forward to your posts and photos. Have a good flight and a great cruise. Jean.

I'm just finishing my packing and will head out at 4:00 to catch my 8:30pm flight from Chicago direct to Dubai on Emirites. I am scheduled to arrive in Dubai at 7pm on Monday, so hopefully everything will be on time and I will make it in time. At least the ship doesn't sail until 11pm.

It seems that I'm always arriving too early or too late, but I think I prefer this to sitting in a hotel lobby or arrival lounge at the cruise terminal.

We are sitting in the British Airways lounge at Heathrow waiting for our 10:30 pm flight to Dubai. We flew in from Atlanta with very little sleep. Business class on BA is a bit peculiar. The pods are arranged like a jigsaw puzzle - or more accurately like sardines in a can. Even the flight attendants complained about the design. They look like the cast of Cirque de Soleil as they swoop and hover over hard to reach passengers.

 

We were initially excited about a long layover in London, but not so much after 3 hours of sleep. It took us an hour and a half to get through passport control - and this was in the fast lane! It's Sunday and a "bank holiday" which might explain the hoards of people milling about. I decided to look at it as a spa day.....after a nap, a shower, a massage, and a glass of wine, I'm good to go! We arrive in Dubai at 8:30 am so I'm not sure wh Regent will do with us until it's time to board. After two sleep deprived nights, we may be bit wonky!

 

This will be our 5th Regent cruise and our 4th on Voyager. Please feel free to ask questions as we go along. This a very interesting itinerary, although my friends and family are terrified we will get into trouble. I hope to post some pictures as well. Stay tuned!

Have to chuckle - just a bit about BA's Business Class seats. It took us a while to get used to them (especially having to climb over some's feet when they are lying down in order to get to the isle). OTOH, we enjoy facing each other when having dinner, drinking wine, etc. Also find the flatbed seats fairly comfortable.

It sounds as if the "new" security measures are as bad at Heathrow as they are in the U.S. It seems that you need to arrive at airports here 3+ hours ahead of the flight departure time.

Were you able to have wine, food and a shower in the lounge at Heathrow (assuming that you had enough time to do so)?

Hope you are able to enjoy Dubai - looking forward to hearing about it.

Agree' the sardines in a can jigsaw puzzle arrangement of seats takes a bit getting used to. But the BA lounges at LHR are outstanding.

By the time we arrived in Dubai, most of us had been in transit 48 hours. We were met by Regent and after a short wait, we boarded a coach for a city tour as we could not board til 1:30. The tour was actually pretty good as it didn't require us to exert much energy and most of us could have been mistaken for cast members of the Walking Dead. By the time we checked in and had a quick bite at La Veranda, our rooms were ready. We collapsed into bed, ignored our bags, and slept until we groggily stumbled to the mandatory life boat drill.

Our fellow passengers seem pretty gregarious, although I realize that we've crossed some sort of age line when we can talk about the pros and cons hip and knee replacements before we even know each other's home towns!

At a lovely table in La Veranda as I write this. Thanks goodness for unlimited internet. Arrived in Dubai at 7pm last night after an easy flight. Slept for 8 hours. I don't care of the 2-3-2 arrangement on the Emirates 777, but the middle seat was empty, so I didn;t have anyone climbing over me as I slept.

Arrived on time in Dubai and Regent had a car waiting to take me directly to the ship. Nice to have a private car instead of a bus. Booked on a guarantee and got a nice cabin upgrade.

Looks like this will be another fabulous cruise.

My wife and I are on this same cruise .

Look forward to meeting you .

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks forgap/kmkord/rustyrabb for your on board posts--so refreshing to have a live Regent thread to enjoy. Hope y'all have a wonderful cruise--look very forward to reading more.

We seem to have recovered from jet lag and getting into the cruising flow....sleeping, eating, drinking, touring, repeat. We went on a dhow tour of the Omani fjords of today. This is the northernmost part of Oman - just 65 km from Iran. There is a robust smuggling operation from Iran...somewhat sanctioned by Omani police as they ignore speedboats filled with livestock and goods from Iran which are welcomed by the townspeople. According to our guide, smugglers are more harassed by the Iranian police as they return with electronics and cigarettes

We saw many dolphins and some sharks in the waters. The boat was very relaxing with big cushions on the floor...made for a convivial atmosphere. It is hot, of course, but very nice with the sea breeze. One cannot imagine a more arid climate. There is virtually no vegetation. I have been trying to upload pictures but the Internet connection is not cooperating.

As far as the ship is concerned, food and service have been wonderful. Our fellow passengers are a congenial mix and everyone seems to be in good spirits.

We went on a dolphin and snorkeling excursion today. Really fantastic. The water was like glass and we saw huge numbers of leaping Dolphins. The snorkeling was wonderful as well. We must have seen 30-40 species of fish in warm, crystal clear waters.

After a 3 hour nap(!!), we managed to make it to the Artful Traveler reception. Artists from various PBS series are on board to meet, mingle and give lectures. We have dinner scheduled tomorrow with a documentary filmmaker.

I've been very impressed with the food this trip. Tonight was no exception....tiny local clams in a shallot cream sauce and local kingfish, Omani style. Really, really good.

We even made it to entertainment...an Australian violinist of Korean origin who electrified the crowd....then on to karaoke for a "memorable" rendition of Wild Thing.

We remarked that this might be the best trip ever!

This thread is extremely interesting as in November we will be on same Voyager itinerary but in reverse. I had no idea there was snorkeling in Oman and also no knowledge of the Artful Traveler reception. Hope these options will be on our cruise - we're fans of PBS and love snorkeling! Thanks for your ongoing information and positive comments.

This is the first Regent thread I go to in the morning--thanks forgap for entertaining us with Georges and your posts.

ennegram, at the link below are the next artful traveler cruises on Regent (Baltic, Carribbean, Fjords & Wildflowers). We enjoyed traveling with Artful Travelers (on a similar Voyager middle east itinerary) back in the spring of 2013 and listening to Charlie Cook analyze the 2012 elections.

http://www.artfultravelers.com/

We arrive in Salalah, Oman today after a relaxing sea day yesterday. The Artful Traveler program was in full swing with an interesting lecture by the producer of The Independent Lens series on PBS. We then got to see "A Ballerina's Tale" about the Misty Copeland and her rise to be the first black principal at the American Ballet Theater.

That evening, we had signed up to have dinner with a documentary filmmaker, Justin Weinstein and his wife. What an interesting evening! The conversation was so wide ranging and involving that we shut down Compass Rose! You may have heard of some of his films - "Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey" and "An Honest Liar" about the Amazing Randi who debunked faith healers, fortune tellers and psychics.

We also had our block party last night to get to know our neighbors - one of whose we traveled with in the Baltics (and recognized each other!) and two neighbor's who also live in Atlanta - such a small world!

Salalah was very interesting....different from the rest of Oman and positioning itself as a tourist resort with a lot of construction going on. We toured Mugsail Beach (famous for its blow holes and cave-like geology), the souk in town (famous for its trade in frankincense) and Job's tomb high in the mountains above Salalah (famous for Job's footprint in the rock outside of the tomb). Camels were everywhere just wandering around. Apparently, they all know where they live and walk about during the day and go home at night.

The ship continues to function very well. We are being recognized and greeted by name - not a big deal for us but, I know, important to others on this board. Food continues to be very good. We had fresh yellow fin tuna last night. I had mine rare, which it was when it came to the table...quite an accomplishment for chefs serving so many people at once!

By the way, the Internet is too slow (and I'm too impatient) to post pictures. This is the downside of everyone having access to wifi. The perk either has to be re-thought or they have to increase bandwidth.

We, once again, shut down Compass Rose last night due to interesting dinner companions and a lively conversation. Unfortunately, this meant we also missed the entertainment which was a French cabaret singer.

The decks are off limits at night for the next couple of days as we are in an area at high risk for piracy. In fact, we are off the coast of Somalia as I write this. We had our mandatory piracy drill which was quite interesting and reassuring.

We are facing three sea days so we are looking forward to movies and naps!

Thanks for the update. We really enjoy the part of the world that you are currently sailing in.

Hope that you read the latest announcement from Regent. Their bandwidth will be quadrupled in July! Great news for all!

We had another relaxing sea day with many activities planned to keep us busy. We attended a lecture by the documentary filmmaker, Justin Weinstein, and then saw his film on the Great Randi whose mission it is to debunk psychics, faith healers, and other types of illusionists. The discussion in the lecture was lively, focusing on faith, politics, and what we believe without evidence. It was intelligent and civil, and, therefore, a refreshing change from our usual discourse in the US.

After another 3 hour nap (!!), it was time for dinner and the Arabian dance party. Many people had bought Arabian costumes in Salalah, the rest of us made up an approximation of Arab dress. It was a blast - even the staff looked like they were having fun. We have a relaxed crowd on this ship which makes for a very convivial atmosphere. Even the old and infirm were dancing, holding on to the rails, canes in the air keeping the rhythm.

We are in the Gukf of Aden - Africa to the left, Yemen to the right. So far, this is the best cruise ever.

PS- caviar and champagne this morning - not because it's Mother's Day but because it's Sunday and it's Regent!

Your daily update posts are lovely to read. It's very obvious you are having a fantastic cruise and enjoying the food,service and great company.

Thanks for sharing, Jean.

Hi Jennifer & Georges, echo Liptastic's words above, thanks for sharing your wonderful Voyager experiences with us. If you have time could you please check with your HD and ask who our HD/CD will be for the Voyager Auckland to Hongkong in Jan?

Really enjoying reading your entries; thanks for taking the time to post. We are boarding Voyager when she reaches Southampton, June 6, and it will be our first Regent cruise. We await with eager anticipation.

Cheers!

Bob

We have been on this cruise for 7 nights and we have two more weeks to go. So far, it has been just about perfect.

I wanted to focus this post on food. This is one of the first cruises that I remember having locally sourced fish on every menu: clams, kingfish, snapper, tuna. All of it has been delicious. Every menu also has some exotic preparation from India or Indonesia as well. Since we are in Arabia, we are also having fragrant rice and vegetables and sauces infused with aromas of the spice trade.

Lunch buffet themes have been Greek and Turkish thus far. During sea days, we often eat in Compass Rose because it is less frenetic. La Veranda can be chaotic and, if I'm hungry, I get very impatient with people ahead of me holding up the line as they evaluate each piece of lettuce before it goes on their plate!

Wine choices have also been good and you can deviate from the selection du jour and ask for your preferred wine. We had the wine tasting from "around the world" yesterday which was a lot of fun. They also had a display of wines you could purchase at a pretty good discount.

By the way, Wes, I asked about the CD/GM for your cruise. We are too far out still and staffing the Explorer has thrown everything up into the air, therefore, no one knows for sure.

There has been a steady line outside the cruise consultants door and we are no exception with our appointment scheduled for 4 pm. They put in writing that by booking on board you will get any perk or promotion offered up to the sailing date. I'm saving the flyer in case anyone in the Miami office gets amnesia!

We have been on this cruise for 7 nights and we have two more weeks to go. So far, it has been just about perfect.

I wanted to focus this post on food. This is one of the first cruises that I remember having locally sourced fish on every menu: clams, kingfish, snapper, tuna. All of it has been delicious. Every menu also has some exotic preparation from India or Indonesia as well. Since we are in Arabia, we are also having fragrant rice and vegetables and sauces infused with aromas of the spice trade.

Lunch buffet themes have been Greek and Turkish thus far. During sea days, we often eat in Compass Rose because it is less frenetic. La Veranda can be chaotic and, if I'm hungry, I get very impatient with people ahead of me holding up the line as they evaluate each piece of lettuce before it goes on their plate!

Wine choices have also been good and you can deviate from the selection du jour and ask for your preferred wine. We had the wine tasting from "around the world" yesterday which was a lot of fun. They also had a display of wines you could purchase at a pretty good discount.

By the way, Wes, I asked about the CD/GM for your cruise. We are too far out still and staffing the Explorer has thrown everything up into the air, therefore, no one knows for sure.

There has been a steady line outside the cruise consultants door and we are no exception with our appointment scheduled for 4 pm. They put in writing that by booking on board you will get any perk or promotion offered up to the sailing date. I'm saving the flyer in case anyone in the Miami office gets amnesia!

We have been on this cruise for 7 nights and we have two more weeks to go. So far, it has been just about perfect.

I wanted to focus this post on food. This is one of the first cruises that I remember having locally sourced fish on every menu: clams, kingfish, snapper, tuna. All of it has been delicious. Every menu also has some exotic preparation from India or Indonesia as well. Since we are in Arabia, we are also having fragrant rice and vegetables and sauces infused with aromas of the spice trade.

Lunch buffet themes have been Greek and Turkish thus far. During sea days, we often eat in Compass Rose because it is less frenetic. La Veranda can be chaotic and, if I'm hungry, I get very impatient with people ahead of me holding up the line as they evaluate each piece of lettuce before it goes on their plate!

Wine choices have also been good and you can deviate from the selection du jour and ask for your preferred wine. We had the wine tasting from "around the world" yesterday which was a lot of fun. They also had a display of wines you could purchase at a pretty good discount.

By the way, Wes, I asked about the CD/GM for your cruise. We are too far out still and staffing the Explorer has thrown everything up into the air, therefore, no one knows for sure.

There has been a steady line outside the cruise consultants door and we are no exception with our appointment scheduled for 4 pm. They put in writing that by booking on board you will get any perk or promotion offered up to the sailing date. I'm saving the flyer in case anyone in the Miami office gets amnesia!

Sorry for the triple post! I have no idea what happened! CC said there was an error in their server so I went back and reposted the entry! :confused: