The Emperor tries on Regents New er third hand "New" Clothes - Yes an Explorer review

This is going to be my review of my time on the paying passengers inaugural cruise on the Regent Explorer. This will cover my review of the shoreside management, the ship itself, food/drinks, passengers and whatever else crosses my now heatstroke ridden mind.

Disclaimer: I was not in any way/shape or form compensated by Regent/PCH for this cruise. I realize that had this been the case I would be legally obligated to say so or risk running afoul of of FTC rules and regs.

All that being said, would the next group of passengers please provide those nice bartenders with citrus presses?:D

Apologies for the forthcoming pictures - I was trying out a new camera system this cruise and well let's just say that sometimes you do get what you pay for. Hopefully it'll be like the Folgers Crystals challenge and people won't notice, but if they do - it's probably the new system ;)

Looking forward to your thoughts and pictures!

Emperor, please make it clear if you were on one of the two 'maiden' voyages or on the ship now.

Emperor look forward to your review. I enjoyed your last seabourne thread with photographs and look forward to your take on the MV cruise. Jean.

This is going to be my review of my time on the paying passengers inaugural cruise on the Regent Explorer.

Emperor

Mrs Machotspur and I look really look forward to and value the reviews and postings about the new Explorer, in preparation for our first Regent trip. Thank you, in anticipation.

Will your forthcoming review be of a cruise you are about to take, or a look back at the Maiden Voyage ?

I am looking forward to Emperor's review even though we have now had reviews of the two maiden voyages ad nauseum.

So far some have liked the 'dark' new deco others have not. The food and menus have generally been liked, some overwhelming so, but there have been complaints. Even 3 star Michelin restaurants sometimes get things wrong. One meal lasted three hours but it is not clear if was a one off or the poster was complaining. We often enjoy three hour meals with good company. There were lots of minor, even major complaints, but most seemed ones that often occur on maiden voyages and can be sorted out. Most suites seem fine, but maybe PH ones are to be avoided. Wifi seems much better. Service generally seems O.K. and no doubt the various quibbles will be sorted out.

This will be a look back at the voyage from Monaco to Venice. Sadly the internet connection on the ship was not anywhere near up to snuff for a satisfactory Live from type review IMO.

I think I'll make my review of management its own thread.

Before a cruise starts, you have to get there. Before you get there you have to prepare (pack, arrange flights, transportation etc...)

Part of my preparation involves imbibing some beverages to ward off wee beasties (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - its worked so far). A little luck of the Irish doesn't hurt

maybe the heat from a spicy drink will help?

Or the strength of brandy?

That taken care of it was time to get some sleep before spending the next day or two flying from San Francisco to NY/JFL to Nice, France.

After not enough sleep it was time to head off to the airport. Thankfully at least for (most) domestic flights Deltas club is on the correct side of security in SFO.

Oh joy, watching the sun rise over the flight line

Not much here, but better than nothing.

All those options cost miles (IIRC its ~15k miles for a bottle of Dom)

I do not recommend their in club bloody mary

Eventually it was time to board

Oh look, Delta has lie flat individual pods now (no mattresses like on AirNZ however)

Getting properly hydrated is important at the beginning of a trip!

Welcome aboard mimosa (far superior to the one given while flying out of Venice)

Preferable to the one offered in club, but not nearly as good as one at the Buena Vista.

Oh the joys of airline food.

The cookies were good

Land Ho

Liking your photographs already. Jean.

Really enjoying the photos and comments. Keep them coming - there could never be too many reviews of the Explorer or any of Regent's ships.

This is going to be my review of my time on the paying passengers inaugural cruise on the Regent Explorer. This will cover my review of the shoreside management, the ship itself, food/drinks, passengers and whatever else crosses my now heatstroke ridden mind.

 

Disclaimer: I was not in any way/shape or form compensated by Regent/PCH for this cruise. I realize that had this been the case I would be legally obligated to say so or risk running afoul of of FTC rules and regs.

 

All that being said, would the next group of passengers please provide those nice bartenders with citrus presses?:D

 

Apologies for the forthcoming pictures - I was trying out a new camera system this cruise and well let's just say that sometimes you do get what you pay for. Hopefully it'll be like the Folgers Crystals challenge and people won't notice, but if they do - it's probably the new system ;)

Greetings, Emperor Norton. Your posts are extremely amusing. Thanks for all the photos, and your concomitant explanations. You are correct about the need for hydration. Your selections to achieve the perfect state were excellent. All of your choices had at least one healthy ingredient, tomato and orange juices, and grains. Guinness is the magic elixir of Ireland, and in an extreme circumstance can be used to help set hair. It is best used before a pub crawl or sporting events that include lots of beer. I have never used Guinness as anything but a drink when in Dublin, but I do collect heresay. Thanks for all the fun.

Mary

Think i'm going to enjoy this thread, great photos and banter.

Loving the wee instalments, just keeping us hanging in there. :)

You must have been a little bit squiffy on the flight after all those lovely refreshments.

Pam.

Lovin' this! Keep 'em comin' !!!

I have to say the arrangement of JFK does not make me a happy camper. Different terminals require a jitney out in the heat/humidity to get you there? Ouch. My welcome to JFK? Needing two locks on a stall door.

On the upside Shake Shack which is a somewhat East Coast/Texas? only chain was here. I made poor decisions here. I went for the Smoke Shack Double (double cheese burger, bacon, cherry pepper and shack sauce) and sadly the Chickn Shack (fried chicken mimicking Chik Fil A). I didn't get a side (oops) or a shake (regrets).

Chick n shack - looks far better than it tastes IMO

Smoke Stack - Hello In N Out - are you listening - this is a FAR superior burger in every metric. Beef is beefier, bun is better tasting, veg are fresher and oh yeah BACON.

I have to say however, that the Delta lounge here was the most awesome I've been to (better than even Atlanta IMO). Why? Outside seating with live music. YAY.

For those that don't want food pics, this thread will NOT be for you. I thought that most people would have already shot the ship to death as it were and posted those images here on CC. Therefore most of my images are of food, ports and drinks. I regret not taking more generic photos of the ship (and not using the infinity pool - but my underwater camera is no bueno).

For those that don't want food pics, this thread will NOT be for you. I thought that most people would have already shot the ship to death as it were and posted those images here on CC. Therefore most of my images are of food, ports and drinks. I regret not taking more generic photos of the ship (and not using the infinity pool - but my underwater camera is no bueno).

Loving your food pics and comments. Keep them coming!:D

After several hours flying over the pond we arrived in Nice, France. I'm not sure I'd call it an airport so much as a jet port on steroids. I think it took all of 15 minutes from getting out of my seat to clearing customs and collecting baggage.

Next to the baggage carousel was a Regent rep who didn't have my name on her list of passengers. She did however know that those with private transfers had to exit baggage claim and find their driver outside (this was an improvement from a few prior cruises where there was no car service for a Titanium member even when living within 11 miles of the port! Or the times there was just no car but no mention of having to take the bus - communications are essential).

Our driver was right outside baggage claim and we were on our way to fighting through traffic to reach the port.

Upon finally reaching the port I was greeted with some rather horrific signage and uhh markings?

Thank goodness we arrived when there were only about 50 or so others there. I can't imagine the potential lines for those when the buses arrived.:eek:

While there were people milling about waiting for boarding to start a group arrived and positioned themselves infront of the magnometer so they could be the first on the third cruise. I thought that was very nice of them.:rolleyes:

Eventually boarding started and we walked onto the ship, were given a glass of champagne (thankfully not NickF from SS/SB but still a bit sweet for my tastes) and ushered into the Constellation Lounge (for some reason it reminds me of a old west theater - I kept expecting a woman in corset and fishnets to pop out of somewhere) for check in. Interesting note about the lounge - the cruise director described the second floor as "useless" due to poor views. I'm not sure if/how that will be resolved.

After obtaining this (sorry for lack of focus)

I went back out on deck to see what I could of the town.

For some reason the room wasn't ready on time (I don't recall hearing any PA/Tannoy announcements as on Oceania) but we were still able to access it and drop bags off. Eventually it was time for the muster drill which was thankfully relatively quick and painless (and indoors). After that it was time for dinner in Prime 7 (computer issue - initially could only book P7 online they'd failed to load the other restaurants... This carried over to the ships internet packages where they'd only put the per minute and 200 min packages on - meaning no "hey this should be free" option was available the duration of the cruise).

Interesting about the second floor...lounge looks nice but it does have an old timey feel...

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While there were people milling about waiting for boarding to start a group arrived and positioned themselves infront of the magnometer so they could be the first on the third cruise. I thought that was very nice of them.

Maybe they needed to utilizer l'urinoir in a hurry :p

Enjoying your pics and adventures

Dinner in P7: After viewing the always available proteins/sauces/sides in Compass Rose I have to wonder if P7 will be long for the world or perhaps replaced with something different as there seemed to be a massive amount of overlap between most P7 offerings and the always available options in Compass Rose.

Waiting area to the left, bar straight ahead, host stand on the right out of frame.

Each of the special restaurants had their own signature drinks/wines/sake/teas only available in those locations.

The P7 bar - note the newer "cooler" box for the Baccarat crystal that holds the Louis XIII.

The waiting area/lounge seats.

They do like their flashy chargers on this ship.

The view from P7

We really liked the small, intimate bars outside of the specialty restaurants. I'm not sure that P7 is going anywhere - at least not until/unless the amazing crab legs and porterhouse steaks are available elsewhere on the ship. On the other hand, we did not dine there on our Explorer cruise - probably because the "new" restaurants were too intriguing.

An amuse-bouche of a smokey tomato soup with a "tortilla" chip. I'm not sure why cruise lines think a pita chip is the same as a tortilla chip, especially since later on in the cruise they had what appeared to be actual tortilla chips.

It was a nice unami laden way to get the meal started.

The crab cake was good, but sadly not Dungeness.

Foie Gras sliders, these were very good.

Steak tartar - IMO this suffered from Robot Coup abuse. Instead of nice hand cut bits of steak (like you'd get pretty much everywhere else, including Chartreuse on the ship) I got something resembling the texture of Fancy Feast. As I am not a cat I didn't quite enjoy this dish.

Prime rib. It had more fat than I'm used to land side, but the flavor was good, and unlike Oceanias version this wasn't freezer burned. Also it was served with freshly grated horseradish! (something that Seabourn seems unable to provide)

The worlds smallest twice baked potato, onion rings that were more breading than ring and mashed potatoes. Oddly Francks mashed potatoes weren't available on the ship even though he was on board. I would have preferred them to the nutmeg saturated version they served on Explorer.