OctoberKat

Is it held in the original ideal venue,Panorama with pianist, or the makeshift Terrazza with electric organ music? Hope the answer is the former where it has always been an enjoyable occasion.

As others have said, in the Panorama, no electric organ music, thank all the relevant deities.

English Breakfast tea, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, bliss!

The scones dally are excellent. Jim and I skipped lunch offer to indulge in the tea treats.

On our Regent cruise Jan 2015, "afternoon tea" began at 4pm. Trivia, in the very same locale, began at 4:30 and was quite raucous. So, the above post is sly parsing. For most folk of the afternoon tea ilk, that lovely respite lasts an hour or a bit more.

Silversea also sponsors a lively round of trivia each afternoon but that happens elsewhere, not in the afternoon tea locale.

On our Jan. 2015 Navigator cruise the "music" was amplified electric guitar. With any luck at all, maybe sufficient numbers of passengers complained so that current cruisers aren't audibly assaulted.

I confess, straight up front, that I could be called ... an anglophile which, in turn, means afternoon tea. This would be a proper afternoon tea; it begins around 4pm and is accompanied by light chatter and quiet music in the background. That music doesn't usually entail electric guitar with amplification as Jim and I endured on our Regent Navigator cruise last year.

Portables include, well, teas of various kinds, of course, with milk or lemon. And comestibles in three or four categories: tea sandwiches, pastries and/or cake, and scones with clotted cream and red jam.

Most luxury lines offer afternoon tea. Regent combines it with trivia which is not a tea sort of experience to say the least, and there is no triple tiered offering as is the norm.

Silversea presents this soothing afternoon ritual correctly with a true-to-form afternoon tea. So much so that for half the days we were on Whisper to the Amazon and back, we skipped lunch in favor of lovely, exquisite afternoon tea.

Other thoughts about afternoon tea?

Well, hey you, fizzy, that could happen, thankee.

Meanwhile I am mindful that this is MasterEcho's thread and he has detailed so much and covered, if you will, the waterfront.

In this day and age, a company is judged by the strength of their technology, esp by the younger generation. Study after study has shown that prospective customers will quickly exit a website that is not providing the information sought and the chances of returning after two unsuccessful attempts is minimal.

 

In this day and age of IT, it is not necessary to keep a website down for any length of time to update the available data. With the proper IT Infrastructure, websites can update data very quickly. This is just another area where Regent has not invested the resources necessary (and we are not talking about much) to provide their customers with not even state of the art, but a basic functional web site.

 

A few months ago we were looking through the website with the boys, ages 15 and 17 who are growing up in the Silicon Valley and are very tech savvy. They were laughing their way through the website, picking up on every error and broken link. The older one turned to me and announced, "I could design a better website, do you think they would pay me to do it"? And the sad part is, he could, as demonstrated by many of the other sites he has designed. Maybe when he has finished studying for the SAT's, he can design a prototype and forward it on to the C suite.

 

In 2016 there is no longer any excuse why any organization does not have a fully functionally website that provides the end user the information that they need in an easy to use interface - as long as one is willing to provide the resources necessary, the technology is available and it is not rocket science. What other luxury cruise lines do and do not do is not really part of the equation - if Regent wants to differentiate themselves as the most luxurious cruise line, they need to have a website that does not cause their passengers (or more importantly, their prospective passengers) to waste hours of their time trying to locate basic information that is not available.

 

gnomie. :)

Amen, seriously. The ice age is over. Get with the digital universe or get out.

Don't be discouraged regarding the Amazon, Sunprince, the river's gargantuan nature is sufficiently splendid and the burning area was small in one spot. In a sense I appreciated that spot because it gave me first-hand comprehension of at latest one ecological threat in the Amazon basin.

 

As the river narrows upriver we expect to see more of interest including pink dolphins. We have a birding expedition Sunday outside Manaus.

 

Hoping Master Echo will weigh in to apprise us of his adventures and thoughts.

Sunprince, I apologize for my naive post upthread. Honestly the Amazon was a disappointment. Our halcyon moment was the sighting of several very pink dolphins, magical moments.

Otherwise it turns out every day is crowned by brown haze, you can't even discern if there are clouds. One doesn't even get a proper sunset. No blue skies ever.

The odor of woodsmoke from the deforestation fires is pervasive. The water is brown, always until you get up to Manuaus (where the ship does a U-turn back down the river to the sea) where the famous Rio Negro converges with the brown Amazon in at the Meeting of the Waters.

I agree, it is always a pleasure to read Octobercat's posts. Sneak in a few now and then, please:)

Octobercat, Halekulani is one of my favorites when staying in Honolulu. Each time I am there, I must have their coconut cake and the coconut shrimp. It provides my Hawaiian fix and then back to my heathy eating. Hope you have the opportunity to try them. Happy travels to you and Jim.

Indeed, I am a sneaky sort. I would not be astonished to cruise again when Jim is somewhat less functional (that's OK, believe me, I talk enough for six people).

Looking forward to Halekulani. It's why we'll be on Oahu rather than the Big Island and Hualali -- been there several times but never have gotten the high vibe from it that others report; plus, the quid pro quote there is abysmal.

At the Halekulani, I have ordered a fresh lei each day, and a fresh head crown each evening. This constitutes the belated celebration of our 43rd anniversary. I may get Jim to lei as well!

Voila, and back at you, hon.

I confess I was, and remain, ambivalent about posting my last two entries here, since the ostensible primary topic wasn't so much about Silversea or the Amazon cruise as much as the luxury cruising itself.

It occurs to me that there is a Luxury Cruising thread elsewhere on this site so I may repair thence. What fun is the occasional pomposity.

The thing is, when one wants to research online, it is less than helpful to refer that person to the telephone. There are a variety of explorations that can be conducted on a website that simply cannot be replicated on the telephone. The telephone is by no means a replacement for a decent website.

There's no reason for poor websites for huge companies in this day and age. I have fairly deep experience with the websites of Regent, Silversea and Seabourn. The latter two are mostly decent to good depending on what is required. Regent, however, is dismal in most areas.

Aw, spinnaker and portifinoitaly, you two are bright lights on these fora, appreciate your kind thoughts.

Catlover54 (are we so numerous?!), thanks to you as well. Yes, i did cancel the Seabourn Norwegian fjords cruise (within the window, no penalty). Also cancelled the Panama Canal cruise on Seabourn ($10K penalty, ouch). The right thing to do. We still will do the Nordics somehow; we have non-refundable biz tix round trip SFO-CPH. I really did want to try Seabourn but probably we will not rebook the cruise, or maybe we'd do that that Jim's is less functional.

Other travels will take us to Paris and the French countryside, for the third year in a row, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, New Zealand, Fiji or Tahiti/Bora Bora. Next month we have a short respite on Oahu at the Halekulani, and in April, we're back to Barbados for ten days. We totally adored Barbados. Staying here: http://www.sandpiperbarbados.com

Catlover54, what made the Amazon disappointing is the pervasive brown have from deforestation fires. No blue skies, period. And the rampant smoke odor not to mention the brow waters of this gargantuan river. Yes i am an idiot for not knowing this ahead of the journey. The haze and odor are apparent as far as 50 miles out to sea, ditto the brown water. The heat wasn't an issue, for me, at least, Panama born and bred.

We've been home well over a month from our Amazon cruise aboard Silversea Whisper. This was our second cruise after 2015's January's 10-day Regent Western Caribbean jaunt.

Whisper was a better voyage all around. We thought Whisper furnishings on the fusty side yet comfortable and spacious with truly outstanding spectacular service. Our voyage was not close to full so there was plenty room for roaming. We especially loved the observation lounge which was heaven incarnate.

That, for me, is part and parcel of luxury (I bite my tongue because, well, you know why, and if you don't it shortly will rear its head). I'm not dithering at will here but want to say:

Cruising isn't everyone's cup of tea and I wanted to love it. I do so adore being at sea. You don't know until you've voyaged a time or two. I loved as a child sailing from NYC to Panama, then, panama to New Orleans. Kids easily are impressed and amused.

I wanted my husband to have the experience of being at sea so we booked our first cruise together aboard Regent's Navigator, ten days round trip Miami. And that was fun although expectations were not met. Our second cruise together was 17-days Barbados to Barbados, sailing up, then back down the Amazon. Loved Silversea; would return to an Amazon journey when hell freezes over which it may eventually do considering climate change.

Jim and I want to maximize our time traveling because, well, you know, all that stuff that can go wrong when one gets older? Right, Jim has a lot of that. And, I am scurrying fast as I can to make things right for him and make travel for us both.

Now then, folk here don't talk much explicitly about money. But I will do so:

Our 10-day January cruise was $25K for master suite on Navigator, plus $4K first-class air SFO/MIA/SFO + one day hotel MIA. So, say $32k including incidentals and transfers. Yes, indeed, some of that could have been done cheaper but that is not luxury for us. The cruise broke out $2,500 a night.

Earlier the previous year we enjoyed a week (seven nights) at Twin Farms (http://www.twinfarms.com) iin Vermont at peak leaf season in October. Best accommodations in cottage, plus three truly gourmet meals, fab service, etc. Nightly cost $2,200-2,300. Many here will know this venue for the height of luxury it is in the U.S. (in Paris I recommend Le Bristol http://www.lebristolparis.com/eng/home/). To cut short this disquisition, true luxury is not attainable afloat.

Before I am consigned to the lower depths of hell, let's acknowledge luxury ashore and luxury shipboard are two very different aspects of that norm. I prefer the former over the latter after sampling both.

Jim has Alzheimer's so we will be maximizing travel for as long as we can. Probably not another cruise although but maybe Norwegian fjords in 2017.

I think it is interesting to discuss cruising and land travel, together with the notion of luxury.

One couple on our November cruise to the Amazon was given a gratis upgrade to a Royal Suite.

Regarding fixed-time dining, I originally was opposed to it. Yet on our first two cruises (one Regent for ten days, one Silversea for 17 days), we ended up dining at the same time each night. Who knew we were so routinist?! Thus, fixed-time dining has lost its horror for us, we are entirely open to it.

I thought fixed seating was a deal breaker for years. But regardless, on board experience exceeds all my expectations and all inclusive except excursions. Small cabin equal to a Navigator cabin. Entertainment and programming spectacular.

Thanks, ChatKat, for new option to consider.

Loved reading this!

The "high tea" vs "afternoon tea" often confuses. My understanding is the version with tea, scones, tea sandwiches, small cakes and/ or pastries is afternoon tea. Usually served around 4pm.

High tea derives from the working class and it constitutes a substantial meal consumed at table -- a regular size table, hence the high in high tea. Usually served when laborers returned home from the work day, between 5-7pm.

A cream tea is tea served with scones, clotted cream and red jam (strawberry or raspberry).

Thank you so much for the recommendations.

 

If you can remember, I would love to hear what your experience is at each of these places.

 

Thank you again.

 

Keith

Greetings, Keith reporting back on our Barbados accommodations: Lone Star is very tiny so no services. We fell in love with The Sandpiper. It oozes laid-back charm, sophistication, comfort. Set in glorious gardens, two pools and excellent beach affording great swimming and splashing. We're returning for ten days in April. Breakfast included, lovely buffet and/or a la carte, splendid afternoon tea. Unusually affordable considering such great lodgings, services and setting.

http://www.sandpiperbarbados.com

Cheers,

Kathryn

For my part, in my limited experience which likely will be highlighted further on: genuine, timely and expert service; better food overall; better public facilities; delightful afternoon tea of which Regent makes a horror; an ambiance of grace and understated elegance. The hair salon was leagues ahead of Regent -- expert, comfortable, excellent result.

Wine, in the main was on a par with Regent and that's not a good thing. I learned to ask for the white Bordeaux which was brought with sense of reluctance.

We booked a grand suite on Silversea Whisper; it was capacious, very comfortable and, well, frumpy. Service in the suite was super fabulous and kindly. Butler service, in particular, wzy ahead of Regent.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what she said.

I believe the OP said she did not drink but had trouble getting non-alcoholic options. I would agree with the comment about luxury but do not want to start another debate on this. Free drinks and some free excursions do not make it luxurious. Our friends who traveled with us on Regent have also done Crystal and they say there is no comparison re: the food. They say that Crystal's teatime, in particular is likely the best on the seas. Regent is very good but I would also prefer other brands of tea and perhaps loose leaf tea. I usually bring my own tea bags anyhow.

Excerpted from Teemsum's post:

"Personally, I didn't feel the luxury. I wasn't wowed."

These comments align with my single Regent experience such that I'm not motivated to book again on the this line. I'm just returned from a Silversea Amazon cruise which delivered what Regent promised and did not deliver. Luxury is lacking on Regent as well as loose tea.

As for "another debate," we soon shall be roundly excoriated and our opinions discarded for an assortment of reasons.

Appreciate the level of detail here, Teemsum, thank you. Yikes on the food front for you.

We're just off a 17-day cruise on Silversea Whisper. I think you'll find the butler will intuit your level (or lack thereof) of engagement such that you will be comfortable. At the outset, I recommend you tell him nicely you don't want to be fussed over.

It IS useful, we thought, to have him bring tea every morning at 8am.

Was wonderful to meet you and your husband OctoberKat and thanks very much for the tour and your hospitality

Likewise, David. Hope we meet up again, would be grand.

Now ensconced in Barbados for three days at the superlative Sandpiper in a Tree-top Suite with ocean view -- and loving it. http://www.sandpiperbarbados.com. What a great find is this place!

I'll be writing a wrap-up of our cruise experience later in the week once we get home so, stay tuned to this spot on your dial.

MasterEcho, your posts have been great, as if someone were expertly narrating our holiday, thankee.

Sure, that would be fine. 5pm today, Saturday? I'll give you a ring.