flossie009

Colombo has a huge cargo port, which is being expanded

When we look at all these containers we always wonder what they contain and where they are coming from or going to

There were also some interesting ceremonial masks

Having visited the tea plantations in Sri Lanka on a previous visit, we opted to look at the city of Colombo with a shopping trip

First to a gem store, then handicrafts and finally a seven storey shopping mall.

The handicraft store was probably the most interesting, but this part of the world does have an obsession with one type of animal

7 minutes ago, tobewan said:

Also, note that the spec restaurants may be open for lunch on sea days.

Only on the newer ships; and a completely different menu to the evening service.

On 4/11/2024 at 8:41 PM, flossie009 said:

Both Martin & Dave will be leaving soon to be replaced by others, who we hope are as good.

We are still blessed with a packed & varied programme of evening entertainment in the theatre on Navigator (one of the best auditoriums in the Regent fleet)

Visiting entertainers on board now are:

Zlwin Chew - Malaysian magician

Nicola Ward - British singer

Both have done one show with second performances to follow in the coming days.

Last night the pre-dinner show was CD, Ray Solaire. A packed house and a standing ovation at the conclusion of his Les Miserables medley (c/w a puppet for his “duet” with the inn keeper’s wife)

After dinner the ABBA Dance Party, originally scheduled for the Pool Deck, was brought inside to Galileo’s to avoid the forecast rain showers.

Tonight is another show by the very talented Production Cast

31 minutes ago, GMIAC said:

Sharing tables is a gamble I don’t like taking.

You could be missing out on some interesting dinner companions 

32 minutes ago, GMIAC said:

“Tier level” programs, from anyone, always strike me as elitist. 

I think that is the idea, isn’t it 😉

3 hours ago, sanne said:

I thought like you did, that they didn’t do them anymore. 

We have one scheduled for this evening on Navigator

Today we are docked in Colombo, Sri Lanka

The day’s schedule & opening times below:

Sorry for the financial hit you incurred due to your cancellation of the cruise that had to be re-routed by Regent because of issues outside of their control.

Your previous posts back in October 2023 indicated that you and your TA knew that you had no redress against the cruise line but you were confident in making an insurance claim on medical grounds. I assume that did not work out in your favour.

You are right to warn other guests to check carefully their entitlement before taking the decision to cancel.

7 hours ago, CardowMD said:

Is it normal to have Prime 7 and Sette Mari closed for dinner or was this one of the days when you were in port over night where there were evening tours?

This was the overnight in Phuket when there was a Deck BBQ* (and some evening tours).

I will try to remember to post a more normal port day schedule of opening times.

* A good way of predicting whether your cruise will have a Deck BBQ is to check the restaurant pre-booking section on the “My Account” section of the website. If an evening with a late departure is marked “bookings not available” then there is a good chance that a special event is planned.

17 hours ago, Mocamps said:

I'd really welcome some comments on the advantages and disadvantages of the various ships in order to guide our choice.

Our subjective view of the Regent fleet:

Navigator - smallest & oldest ship in the fleet. Only one speciality restaurant. A few window suites. All suites are a good size. Avoid suites to the rear of the ship if you are bothered by vibration. Somewhat of a “Marmite” ship; some, like us, love her …….. others don’t 

Voyager - basic suites are same size as Navigator. Two speciality restaurants.

Mariner - best layout of public areas. Basic suites are a little small. Penthouse & Horizon suites are an excellent size & layout. Most guests prefer “shower only” suites on Mariner, otherwise you get a tub with shower over. Two speciality restaurants.

Explorer, Splendor & Grandeur - D, E & F suites offer the best value. Three speciality restaurants. Splendor improved on Explorer by correcting some design errors & using a lighter colour palette for decoration.

We have sailed on all the ships except Grandeur and generally make our choice based on itinerary & our perception of best value.

In our experience all Regent ships offer the same level of comfort & service.

On 4/13/2024 at 10:02 PM, crusin7 said:

Jim’s surgery went great!

David says to tell Jim he can’t wait to see the new set of X-Rays next time we sail with you again 😉  Hope no more metal implants to set off the airport scanners !

Good to hear everything went well.

Neptune came all the way from Blackpool to be Master of Ceremonies in the Bay of Bengal

The Master, Captain Abhi, and GM, Nickie, ensured fair play throughout the event

More of the Production Cast administered the raffle ……..

…………… with prizes for the lucky winners

……………. sadly not us 🙁

The Production Cast just enjoyed cooling off in the pool, while guests played hoopla with them

The Galley team wanted us to guess the weights of their cakes

Destinations wanted us to identify countries

……….. and then we had to provide the nationality of some of the officers on board

The Deck department and Engineers had the most intricate challenges

All departments were represented at the Country Fair this morning, but Housekeeping, Restaurant and Bar were definitely the noisiest

19 hours ago, CardowMD said:

can you post the daily schedule showing hours of the different venues on board…dining, spa, etc.

Here are the opening times:

Sea day:

Port day:

Hope this is what you wanted

19 hours ago, CardowMD said:

You seem to be having amazing weather. For the last few months many cruises have been plagued with rainy weather most days while sailing in that area. 

We did have a thunderstorm earlier this morning, with some impressive lightning & thunder, followed by heavy rain.

However the Captain managed to reposition the ship so that we had a window of dry weather for the Country Fair to go ahead on deck.

Great fun. More photos later if the internet behaves; a bit iffy today🤨

The original itinerary for this cruise had us being in Indonesia on Saturday April 13th, but a few months ago we had a communication saying that the Indonesian port had been dropped in favour of an overnight in Phuket.

All well & good, but on closer inspection we found that we were actually leaving Phuket at 8am, so the day in Indonesia had been substituted for another day at sea.

To add to the confusion, the itinerary published in Passages on the first day of the cruise had a mis-print showing us leaving Phuket at 8pm (see post #13) 🙄

This was corrected back to 8am after a few days.

No one on board can quite understand Regent Miami’s thinking in scheduling three days to sail from Phuket to Sri Lanka.

The ship was docked overnight in Phuket and some evening excursions were available to go into town for a show and/or dinner.

However, most decided to stay on board for the Grand Deck BBQ & Dance Party

Not just one suckling pig ……..

…………,.. but one each side of the deck

…………… and desserts, of course

F&B and the entertainment team did a wonderful job.

………… but it was very hot & humid all evening, with the temperature remains in the high eighties Fahrenheit 

Our guide pointed out a cave entrance and the boat driver steered us in for a closer look

Next minute we were going through and out the other side, narrowly missing the stalactites

We stopped for lunch at a village built on stilts in the middle of the bay

Although some of the houses were dilapidated, some were very grand properties; particularly the home of the restaurant owner who obviously does a roaring trade from all the tourist boats that call in every day

During our tour around the bay, we saw the island made famous as Scaramanga’s lair in the James Bond film “Goldfinger”.

Friday April 12th - Phuket, Thailand

Back in Thailand, we were up in time for sunrise ready for our trip to see Phang Nga Bay; a popular excursion chosen by half the guests on the ship, but split among 10 buses we were never crowded (apart from in the Stars Lounge checking in for the tour 😉)

After a fairly long drive from the cruise ship we boarded our long-tail boat for the tour around the bay. 
First through mangrove swamps and then into open water to see the towering limestone rock formations.

@forgap, Thanks for the pre-cruise and cruise blog. Interesting descriptions & beautiful photos.