RachelG

Sky museum. Sorry about the upside down flying. Don’t know how to fix it

They did have black pudding. I just tried to ignore that.

September 24, 2023–embarkation, Southampton England We had a great nights sleep. I have started taking melatonin when changing time zones, and that, plus being really tired, worked well. It was very overcast when we awoke, looking like it could pour rain at any moment. Temperature was 62F with some wind. We went down to breakfast which was a traditional English buffet with eggs, sausages, English bacon (yuck), tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms as well as several different breads, cereals, smoked meats and cheese, and canned fruit. Only fresh was watermelon, and they had some sliced avocado. Fortunately there was good plain yogurt, so I had that plus tomato, avocado, and one bite of some enedible vegetarian sausage, while George did the full English thing, minus the bacon. Check out was at 11 am, so we packed up at a leisurely rate. The Uber arrived, and we were off to the port. There was a lot of traffic because they are having a huge boat show right next to the cruise port. Once at the port, check in was very fast and efficient. We arrived a little before noon. Lots of people had already boarded, and we were through checkin in less than 10 minutes. Our plan was to just check in, do the muster station check in which took less than a minute (you just go to the muster station, and they scan your keycard), drop our hand luggage in the suite, and go back out. And it worked perfectly. As we were heading off, we met friends Ed and Michelle, who we have sailed with many times before. They were up for a walk, so we joined up. We walked and walked. First stop was the Solent Sky Museum, which has a lot of old planes and tells the story of the manufacture of spitfires in Southampton. Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Southampton during WWII, an interesting coincidence. Even when the factory was bombed, most of the equipment inside was undamaged, so the industrious Brits moved the machines to multiple different locations throughout the city and surrounding area and kept producing spitfires. The Germans were enraged, so just started bombing the entire city, and it was pretty devastated during the war. A very interesting and unique museum which I would highly recommend. We then went to the Tudor House museum and gardens which is exactly what it says. Not much to see in the house, but the gardens had a grape arbor with ripe grapes, so we had a snack. Our final stop was the boat show which was HUGE. We are definitely not in the market for a boat (been there, done that), but they had every type of boat or boat accessory you can imagine. George just likes to look at them. Back onboard, I quickly unpacked. We have been on Splendor a couple of times before, and I am always astounded at how much storage space there is in the suite. I don’t pack light, and we still maybe only used half of it. All crew are wearing masks. Apparently covid is going around. There was a letter in the suite about taking precautions, etc, etc. We met up with friends in the observation lounge then moved on to compass rose for dinner. Everything was really delicious. I had a beet dish and the filet with asparagus. George had a salad and a seafood medley with shrimp, scallops and lobster. (Sorry, I didn’t take pictures). Then I tried to go to the show which was an introduction to the performers onboard, while George went to the casino. George ended up winning in the casino, but I got an urgent call from our son about an issue at the ranch, so had to leave the show. What little I saw was good.

View from our room

September 23, 2023–LHR to Southampton Our flight landed at LHR early, but you know what that means. We had to wait for a gate, so we arrived right on schedule. Getting through immigration and baggage claim only took about 30 minutes, so our driver wasn’t there. I called him, and he was actually in the car park, so turned up quickly. It was a pleasant bright sunny day, a little cool, but nice. This meant very heavy traffic on the freeway heading south as, according to our driver, everyone was headed to the seaside. A bit chilly for the beach IMO, but I’m not British. After 2 hours, we arrived in Southampton. I had booked a room at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl which is a cricket pitch. The hotel is actually built into the stadium, and our room has a big balcony which overlooks the field. It would be very cool to stay here during a match, even though I know virtually nothing about cricket. Unfortunately, no match was on for today. The room is large and comfortable but no USB ports, and I had forgotten adapters. The front desk kindly loaned me two. While things recharged,we took a nap. We went down for an early dinner to the restaurant, Beefy’s. It is, as expected from the name, a steak place, but has a lot of other options. We had drinks at the bar first along with some of the best hummus I have ever eaten, and good pita bread. I am somewhat a hummus connoisseur, and this was really good. Then we moved over to the restaurant. We started with splitting a pomegranate and quinoa salad which was spectacular. All the stuff I love. George even commented to the waitress about how this was something I would make. George ordered a filet, while I had the fish of the day. My fish was excellent, perfectly cooked. George had ordered the steak medium rare, it came out raw dripping blood in the center. They were apologetic, took it back and cooked some more, and the second round was good. I had a bite, and it was a perfectly acceptable steak. Probably not as good as ours, but close. Then an early night in watching movies on tv as we were still tired from the journey.

September 22, 2023–en route In the family tradition of drama before a trip, we were on the way to the airport when I received a notification that our AA flight from Tulsa to Charlotte was delayed 45 minutes. This would be a big problem as we had only 30 minutes in Charlotte before our flight to JFK was to take off. Then from there we were to be on BA to LHR. I had a moment of panic and started researching options. You might ask why we are on a such a convoluted route—money. I had searched and searched for flights in business class using miles. I could find options from Tulsa to LHR but nothing at all coming back from Barcelona for any reasonable amount of miles. I considered using Regent air, but they wanted an additional $1000-$3000 per person depending on the route. So with major research, I finally found tickets for approx $3500 per person, and took the air credit, making it not so bad, plus we earn the miles. Most other flights I found were in the $6000-$7000 range, so I was happy. Anyway, while I was frantically searching,I received another message from AA that we had been rebooked and would now be flying to Charlotte, but then to Cincinnati then on to LHR. This was actually a better option for us than the original as we avoid JFK and we would get to LHR an hour earlier. I quickly emailed the driver we had booked with the change in arrival time, and we were set. Flight from Tulsa to Charlotte was fine, except that the plane’s temperature was that of a meat locker, and I am not joking. Even George, who never gets cold, was shivering. The flight from Charlotte to Cincinnati was only refrigerator temperature. I should have brought my parka. The Cincinnati airport was deserted with the BA flight being one of the few left to depart, a much better connection than JFK. I will keep this in mind for the future.

Jumping in here, George and I will be flying out tomorrow afternoon. See you soon!

Boarding in Vancouver has been chaotic every time we have done it, whether on Regent or Oceania, but this sounds awful. Forgap, so excited we will finally meet. George is the guy with the cowboy hat. I have grey hair now--that picture of me is old.

Have a great voyage! We fly out Friday heading to LHR to then board Splendor in Southampton.

At home, I do reformer pilates at least 5 days a week. The classes onboard are mat classes (no reformers), and not offered every day They usually offer either yoga or pilates, one or the other, every day, but time varies between morning and evening. So you really have to pay attention to the schedule. You are supposed to sign up the day before. But I have just shown up and been able to join in on occasion as most classes aren't full. The instructors vary in expertise but are mostly good. On our last cruise, it was a guy from India who was quite good with the yoga part. He had never done reformer pilates so had lots of questions for me.

you are off to a great start. We have been to the Galapagos 3 times, twice with Silversea and would gladly return. The new ship is amazing.

I don't typically read the reviews. My experience has been that people with an ax to grind are more likely to post reviews in general. I see this in my medical practice. About the only people who post reviews online are people who are upset about something--in my line of work, usually because they want more narcotics than are appropriate. I see about 100 patients a week and there are maybe 2-3 reviews a month.

We have disembarked at the Manhattan terminal a few times. Most recently was last October. Be aware that, as stated by others above, cars, car services, taxis, ubers, etc can't wait in the terminal. You have to cross the street. Barring unexpected complications, you should easily be able to make a 2 pm flight from La Guardia.

We have been both to Egypt and Israel and just used US dollars. They seemed happy to take them.

There is a shuttle bus to downtown. There is a huge mall downtown which is really nice. after our excursion to the WWII sites, we took the shuttle there and it was not a long distance. We had lunch and actually got some nice shopping done

The Battle of Okinawa excursion is a great one. Not sure why they couldn’t add more buses as it is an area. My husband could literally have spent all day at the park, so an option is just to get a taxi to take you there and wait for you.

We have dodged hurricanes a couple of times on cruises. Annoying to miss ports, but obviously no one can predict weather that far ahead.

InIstanbul, the port is right downtown in the middle of the city. Don’t really need a shuttle, and I don’t think there was one provided last year when we visited.

So any, but here are just a few. We were to sail from Singapore to Hong Kong. Two days prior to flying to Singapore, i was at the hospital making rounds. I walked round a corner and slipped on some water left by those huge floor polishing machines--and broke my shoulder in 3 places. I called George from the ER and told him what had happened and that we would have to cancel the cruise. He said no way. I went to surgery, came out with a plate and 8 pins in my shoulder, spent the night in the hospital then went home. My daughter in law's mother came over and packed for me. My orthopedist thought I was crazy, but we flew to Singapore the next day. Another time, we were going to the Caribbean in February. It started snowing hard two days before we were to fly to Miami. And by hard, I mean 27 inches in 24 hours. Unheard of for Tulsa. The airport closed. I kept watching and watching and it became clear that the airport was not reopening. So we drove to Dallas in the 4 wheel drive truck to catch a flight. A drive that would normally take 3 hours took 6, but we made it just barely. And another. We had an ant issue at the house. George put down poison and somehow my cat walked in it and then licked her paws the day before we were to fly out. She was foaming at the mouth and throwing up all night. I took her to the vet the next morning (a saturday). and left her there. I had to sign papers giving my friend temporary custody in case something happened.

good choice on the wine. Everything looks lovely.

We don't use Regent air, but have done a B2B cruise once and the cost was less than if I had booked the 2 cruises separately.

Stunning pictures. It has been years since we visited Alesund, but I recall enjoying it very much.

Those little foxes are so cute! Portolan, wish I were onboard, as I would gladly join your trivia team and provide medical advice.

The pizza is unbelievably disgusting--something I would never expected to find on Regent. And it had melting into the top of the frig--oooh! but how did the housekeeper not see/smell it when readying the room is beyond me. George and I always seem to have a bit of drama before embarking on a cruise. Glad the hurricane missed you. ' Cadiz is one of our favorite walking around cities too!

There is a good reason why I have OCD about checking upcoming flights frequently, and this is it. I once had a flight where the airline changed the schedule (had nothing to do with Regent, as I do not use Regent air), and the connecting flight was leaving prior to the first flight landing. I was not notified. Had I not been checking, I guess we would have found out at the airport. When I called the airline, they had no explanation as to why I wasn't notified other than a computer error.