sharon2975

Lorna, so sorry to hear you were one of the many affected by the rough seas tender disaster yesterday. We stayed onboard and were watching the tenders attempt to connect with the ship. We have decided that when a tender is involved we will simply skip a port. as to the sun beds, it will be interesting to see how it goes today since there have been notices regarding this for the past two days in the nightly newsletter.

an unexpected day at sea today due to rough seas causing difficulty going ashore in Roatan. We enjoyed all that the Explorer had to offer. The staff added activities and printed up a new daily list. Bob attended 2 lectures and I went to bingo and enjoyed the pool.

Dinner tonight was in Chartreuse, not our favorite. My opinion is "to much use of truffles" If you like truffles you will love Chartreuse.

Two nights ago we ate in Sette Mari and enjoyed it very much, last night was Prime 7 for the second time, don't miss the 14 layer chocolate cake, a dessert to dream about.

There were many questions about Harvest Caye. We took the excursion to the ruins since the snorkel activity was cancelled. We walked thru Harvest Caye, but did not spend any time there. I have been polling those onboard who spent the day at the pool/beach and everyone seemed to like it. Many commented that it was the biggest pool they had ever seen and that everything was new and clean.

Today is Sunday and we have just arrived in Harvest Caye. Bob is heading to the Veranda to score some caviar and bring it up to the suite for me. Will report on how this goes.

Big news yesterday: We found Lorna, or I should say Lorna found us.

We were floating in the pool, our favorite activity and another passenger commented on my noodle. I replied that I had posted here on Cruise Critic about the "noodle envy" from other passengers and a voice behind me said: "are you Sharon?? I am Lorna" The quest is over, it was nice to finally meet Lorna.

One comment on the pool, if you are wondering as we were if it is heated, the answer is YES! We had to ask them yesterday to turn down the heat as the pool was almost as warm as the hot tub.

We have an excursion this morning, please feel free to send any questions my way.

another great day on the Explorer. Had breakfast from room service, have solved an issue we had with the decaffinated coffee. We now order it made in a plunge pot and it is much improved. Lunch was in La veranda and we are really loving the pasta station there, they also had sweet and sour chicken today and it was yummy. Dinner was in Prime 7 and I had the best salad of the trip with candied pecans, fresh beets, and a light tasty dressing. The prime rib is really good and the service excellent.

The show tonight was very entertaining. Doug Cameron a violinist is not to be missed, we were told he would be performing again on this trip. We have enjoyed all of the shows.

Our shore excursion today was AWFUL! We got to a very crowded, dirty beach where we were signed up to snorkel. The water looked uninviting to say the least. there were vendors selling lots of junk all over the place. We jumped into a cab (the cab fare was included at no cost to us, the only positive about the excursion)

and headed right back to the ship where we enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the pool and bob had a great time touring the bridge with the captain.

We asked many fellow passengers if they were Bob and Lorna only to be told by all that we asked that they were not. We have met several interesting folks because of our quest for Lorna and Bob, but so far have not found them. We had the desk ring their cabin today and we left them a message. When we returned to our cabin tonight there was a message from them, so, maybe tomorrow we will finally meet up. We will report back on that. We gained an hour tonight thanks to crossing time zones, night night from 1210, Sharon and Bob

We will be in Harvest Caye in 2 days time. We have decided to take the land tour to the ruins. I will poll other passengers and report back on what they say. There is nothing like first hand reports.

lorna, please phone us in suite 1210 and leave a message so we can meet up. When we board the bus, for todays snorkel trip, I will ask if you are onboard and introduce ourselves if you are. so sorry to hear about your day yesterday, sounds awful, wish you had joined us as it was fantastic and worth every penny we paid. for all reading this, we have had room service breakfast every morning and it is really great. just finished bagels and lox as as we come into port and get ready for our day with a relaxing beginning.

another fantastic day on the Explorer. We arranged a snorkel trip on our own with H2O and it was amazing. Saw a grouper as big as a volkswagen and zillions of other sea life. if anyone is interested in this company I will share their information. Regent did not offer the type of snorkel trip we wanted and I did a lot of research to select this company. Dinner tonight was an outdoor buffet, it was ok but not the best that we have had on the ship. We really enjoy the lunches in the specialty restaurants and the dinners in Compass Rose. As to the number of guests at the infinity pool, we found not too many there. No Sunday brunch for us as we are at Harvest Caye on Sunday, so not a sea day.

Tomorrow is Costa Maya and we are taking a snorkeling trip from the ship. We will keep y'all posted. night night from the Explorer. Sharon and Bob

We are on the Explorer and having a FANTASTIC time. So sorry it has taken me till now to report, but, we have been in such awe of everything that we just did not have time.

The boarding and lunch on embarkation day could not have gone smoothly. The buffet included some of the best prime rib we have ever had. The staff is amazing.

We have had dinner the first two nights in Compass Rose and highly recommend the Dover Sole. Bob had the duck last night and reported it was yummy. We had lunch yesterday in prime 7, don't miss the clam chowder there. are you seeing a theme here that I am really into the food?

We spent the afternoon yesterday in the small pool at the stern of the ship. The water in this pool is quite warm, very comfy. We were at sea and the waves in the pool were very soothing. I brought along an inflatable swim noodle (Purchased on Amazon under the name of "doodles by Swimline) and it has sparked "noodle envy" by other passengers. I highly recommend this as a purchase for anyone who my be inclined to spend a lot of time in the pool. Alexi just arrived with Room service breakfast, so I have to go. I will be back when I have time and share todays adventures and meals. Regards from room 1210, Sharon and Bob

thanks so much, i have added another long sleeve shirt for Bob. you guys are the best!

We are on the Feb 14 Explorer sailing and I am a bit concerned about how cold it may be in the evenings? does anyone know if my hubby may need long sleeve shirts, he runs a bit hot so I have packed him all short sleeves, but am a bit concerned. I have a pashmina along and hope that will ward off any chill. thanks in advance for any feedback.

if we book onboard and there are 2 of us, do we each get the $100 credit on the current cruise, or is it $100 per cabin?

below is an excerpt from an NCL press release. As you can see they only allow their own shore excursions. I have phoned other Belize shore companies and told me that they are not allowed to collect passengers at Harvest Caye.

What's also interesting is that Norwegian has created a hybrid that's part port of call and part private island. For example, Norwegian plans to open the island to other cruise lines eventually, and a day on Harvest Caye isn't necessarily an extension of the onboard experience: passengers will have to pay for food and most activities, and they'll find locals manning the island, rather than ship crew. On the other hand, visitors can still use their Norwegian cruise keycards for purchases ashore, and the only shore excursions offered are those booked through a cruise line.

Hi Travelcat, at Harvest Caye you can't take any private tours, only the ones offered on the ship. the tubing one offered on our cruise Feb 14 is not the same one you took. it is down a river and does not make mention of any caves. We are really bummed about the snorkel trip being canceled. Regent did not really offer a good snorkel experience in Cozumel so we did arrange one on our own there. In Costa Maya we are "wait listed" for the power snorkel, So much for the "free" shore excursions. This is our first Regent cruise and as far as booking shore excursions we are less then impressed.

does this mean there will be NO snorkeling tours going forward? we are on the Feb 14ths sailing of the Explorer and are signed up for a snorkeling tour here????

thanks so much, GREAT BLOG! I love the tour of all the decks, feel like I am already onboard.

can't see the lunch menus you posted, can you please tell me where to find them.

thanks so much for all you do.

Gilly, what cabin are you in on 12??? We will be on 12 in a few weeks. Thanks ever so much for all the information. We are enjoying it.

Regent booked our room, so not sure what they requested. Thanks for the heads up, I will have my TA put in a request.

As to the food we like, we eat almost everything. Would appreciate any recommendations.

we will be departing on Feb 14 on the explorer and staying the the Regent chosen Epic hotel. if anyone has stayed the could you let us know how it is and where is a good place to eat nearby, or even not so near if worth the commute. also how far is it to the ship?

thanks so much for all the information. We do board on Feb 14th and are very excited. this is our first Regent cruise. What may we see on the menu on those special nights???

We have booked our dinners in the specialty restaurants, but I do see some availability if we are willing to share tables ( we do love to share as we will be sure to meet interesting people) so maybe night 2 would be a good time to dine elsewhere and avoid the crowd, if , there is not something we really would like to have on the special menu??? What would you do??

we are on the explorer Feb 15th and are curious if there are nights with special dinners in Compass Rose? I know every night is special, but just want to make sure not to book the other restaurants on a night that may have something in CR that I would be sorry to miss.

we are signed up for a guided snorkel when we visit harvest cay, do you know anyone who has done this and if the water was clear and what fish were seen???? very curious

Hi Travelcat, thanks so much for all your postings, they have been very helpful. We are first time Regent guests, We will be on the Explorer Feb 14. We are in cabin 1210 and reading your post above are a bit concerned. Was this a bad choice of cabin due to movement of the ship? We look forward to your reply. Thanks in advance.

Has anyone heard of any offers on Explorer? Just curious????

i posted on the seven seas roll call board, so far, no-one has responded. For a while I thought maybe, we were the only passengers on the Feb 14th sailing. So glad you will be joining us. We have not cruised for 15 years, (unless you count a riverboat on the Mekong) and are really looking forward to this trip. We have enjoyed this forum and are following everything Chefwoody has to say. What type of cabin did you get? The Explorer looks so beautiful, how fortunate we are to be able to have this experience.