Reykjavik to Southampton 5/26-Voyager-on board now

[RachelG]

Just boarded the Voyager at noon for our Reykjavik to Southampton cruise. We are off to a great start.

 

We did our own air. Flew to Boston on Friday. Spent Saturday touring Boston and doing the Freedom Trail as my husband (a seasoned traveller) had never been to Boston other than to do depositions. He really enjoyed it as he is a big history buff. Had lunch at an Italian place in the North End and dinner at Legal Seafoods. Flew to Reykjavik that night. (Icelandair isn't particularly comfortable in business class--sort of like domestic first in AA--but it is the only airline going there.)

 

We stayed at the Hilton Reykjavik. It was fine, but nothing spectacular. No air conditioning. We spent 3 days touring the country. Went to the volcano that is erupting, a bunch of waterfalls and geysirs, hiked a bit. All very nice. Weather has been outstanding.

 

We learned that MEAT is Icelandic code for horse. At a very nice restaurant, my husband was asked it he wanted meat or fish on his salad. He said meat. When it arrived, it was clear that meat=horse. We had encountered horse before in Sicily, so we were familiar with its appearance and taste. OK for us but some might have a problem.

 

Also had Icelandic lobster, which are tiny, like a large shrimp, but very flavourful and tender. I could eat a ton of these.

 

Boarded Voyager at 12:30 today. A long line, the longest I have encountered on any Regent cruise. Husband was getting restless, but after about 15 min, we were fine and on our way to lunch in La Veranda. While boarding, there were waiters with sparkling wine going around if you wanted any.

 

Lunch was excellent as usual. My husband ordered hamburger and fries from the pool grill, which were brought to our table with no trouble. I had salad, crab claws, shrimp, mussels from the buffet. The wine waiter was there in no time and refilled our glasses tiwce till we said STOP1. No skimping on wine so far.

 

Room is ready now--we have been upgraded to a butler suite--what will I do with a butler?? I am sure I will figure out something.

[WesW]

thanks for the on board report, sounds wonderful.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Thanks Rachel, looking forward to your reports!

 

(And note to future self: don't eat meat in Iceland!)

[Hambagahle]

Hi Rachel

 

Somethings to ask your Butler to do!!

 

Get you additional dinner reservations at signatures and Prime 7 (if you want them of course!)

Get your laundry back the same day with no surcharge

Serve you dinner in your suite

Arrange a drinks party

 

Handy fellows, butlers!! I wish I had brought mine home!!

 

Keep us op to date on how things are going...I am jealous!!

[Travelcat2]

Good to see your post. Glad to hear that you arrived safely. We will reach the Navigator in about 4 hours. So, we will be posting live from both ships. Should be plenty to read during our cruises

 

Enjoy your time on our favorite ship.

[OrpingtonT]

After all the volcano troubles in that part of the world it is good to hear you have arrived safely. Indeed your pre-cruise adventures seem to be a holiday in themselves.

 

And a butler too. We had an Indian gentleman called Ian on our last Voyager cruise. If you have him, please give him our best wishes (Each one looks after about 10 suites, I believe, so it is not inconceivable that you will have him).

 

Looking forward to each word from you.

[RachelG]

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone!

 

Orpington, our butler's name is Joshua, a very pleasant young man. I have had a few things for him to do--nothing too demanding, a bit of laundry to send off, changing the stock in the frig (I had prebooked only diet coke and water as that is what we drink other than wine, but that request was ignored apparently as we had only 2 waters and 2 diet cokes and a bunch of other stuff we would never drink. Joshua fixed it.)

 

One thing changed on the ship--the keyboards in the outer computer lounge are now those mini-keyboards that I can't type on at all. They still have regular ones in the inner portion of the computer lounge though.

 

Had the block party last evening and met 3chicks--she is just down the hall. Had dinner at Signatures. They have added a few new items which are quite nice while keeping some old favorites. The mushroom soup is still there (yum), but they had scallops with risotto as a main course which I have not seen before. It was quite nice, and the portions are not so big that you feel guilty for ordering. We had cheese for dessert--that was an indulgence but a good one. Had to beg the waiter to stop giving us more wine.

 

There was an English magician for last night's entertainment. Very old school but entertaining. I enjoyed it. Then drinks in the Observation lounge which we closed out at midnight.

 

Up early this am at Heimaey which is an island just off the coast of Iceland, about 4 miles and right straight south of the currently erupting volcano. They didn't get to stop here last year due to bad weather, but today was perfect. The volcano is however belching out lots of ash, so the captain advised anyone with respiratory problems to not go outside. We had no problem, but you can see and smell the ash.

 

The island is volcanic and has about 4000 residents. They are mostly fishermen and puffin hunters. Icelanders love to eat puffin apparently. Millions of these birds nest on the cliffs of this island.

 

We took a small boat ride around the island to look at the cliffs and birdwatch. It was a little cool but not bad. I had all my layers on. Only complaint was that the tour (run by local people) was 45 min late in starting, which is not nice when you only have a short time in port anyway.

 

Didn't actually go ashore here due to the delay in the boat tour as there just wasn't enough time. But by the time we got done with our birdwatching tour, my husband was frozen anyway.

 

Had a nice lunch in Compass Rose with plenty of menu options. Food so far is outstanding.

[WesW]

thanks for another detailed seamail and detail about the keyboards in the outer computer room. enjoy your voyage.

[OrpingtonT]

I've often wondered what puffin tastes like. Capt Dag would have brought some on board!

 

Who is the Captain?

 

All good news so far with the food. That scallops and risotto look made for me, Yum. Hope the seas are calm.

 

Is Steven still on board?

[Emdee]

Thanks for posting.This one is on my list to do in the future so for now shall live vicariously through you.

[Travelcat2]

Mini keyboards? Wonder why they would do that. The Navigator has all new computers -- really nice. I'm sure they will be upgraded on the other ships soon.

 

Are you finding the service better than it has been recently? The service on the Navigator is over the top (in a nice way).

 

Your itinerary is really a nice one. While we prefer your itinerary, this is closer to home and that is what we were looking for.

 

We did not have a block party. I enjoy them -- but, there was a lot going on last night -- late sailaway, etc. There were so many people taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge that I'm surprised the ship didn't tilt to one side:-)

[RachelG]

Just a few quick replies while I wait for my manicure appt (have to use up our $700 OBC--won't be a problem).

 

The captain is Italian with a long last name. Seems to be a very capable fellow though I haven't talked to him personally. We spent last night rocking and rolling in some pretty high seas, but he had warned us ahead of time that it would get rough. I slept well as that always just makes me drowsy instead of seasick. My husband was bothered some by the creaking and wind noises, so he is sleeping in this am.

 

TC, the computers are new as well. I think the put the mini-keyboards in the outer area because the desks there are so small. They fit better, but my fingers aren't used to them. The computer room has been very busy, but I try to find a computer with a regular keyboard inside.

 

Last night's entertainment was a male singer who had starred in several West End shows in London. Very good. He joked that it was going not just be singing, but dancing as well due the ship's movement. And he was right.

 

Dinner at CR last night was excellent. We got there late but agreed to share a table. I had some salmon that had been locally caught in Heimaey that day--very fresh and delicious. Husband couldn't decided between veal and beef--so as a solution, he had both! He won't be able to do that every night, or they won't let him on the plane back home due to weight limits!

[Threechicks]

Met Rachel G at the Block Party for the new arrivals in Iceland. I agree with everything Rachel has told you about this cruise. I boarded in Fort Lauderdale and have had a wonderful time. The food and service are excellent. Fresh salmon at dinner last night in the Compass Rose was superb. The comuter keyboards are similar to some laptops. Very compact but I am learning to adapt and have stopped reaching an extra key over.

[Threechicks]

I should say I have ALMOST adapted. I notice that computer has become comuter.

[OrpingtonT]

Met Rachel G at the Block Party for the new arrivals in Iceland. I agree with everything Rachel has told you about this cruise. I boarded in Fort Lauderdale and have had a wonderful time. The food and service are excellent. Fresh salmon at dinner last night in the Compass Rose was superb. The comuter keyboards are similar to some laptops. Very compact but I am learning to adapt and have stopped reaching an extra key over.

 

Good to hear from you, Threechicks (or as the Americans would say 3chix!). I met RachelG on a Voyager cruise last year and immediately fell for her. Keep posting.

[Travelcat2]

Who is the Cruise Director on the Voyager now? Paul Reynolds is on the Navigator (seems very nice). The Asst. CD is Chris -- he does a marvelous job -- just left the Voyager recently.

 

Also, how has the weather been?

[xrvlcruiser]

Lorraine is the CD on the Voyager and Lisa is the ACD. I don't remember the name of the Social hostess. Englebert is the GM.

[cruisealert]

Rachel,

 

Thanks for your postings. We go on the Voyager in late August so will read your comments closely. Sounds like a fun trip. As an exchange student in Spain in 64 I flew Icelandic Air home from Europe, It was the most economic.

 

Entertainment sounds good.

 

Weather in Tulsa is fabulous this weekend! Have a great cruise!

[RachelG]

I posted a long rant about this stop--and it disappeared into cyberspace. Maybe God didn't want me to be so negative.

 

Anyway, it was cold and wet, and our tour was really lame. My husband and I left 1/2 way through and just did our own thing. I think that there really aren't that many notable sites, so they have to try to make up some. We were better off just walking around.

 

I did see a huge cat, sort of like a Maine coon. It was the highlight.

 

Also got to meet Diana and her sweet daughter. What nice ladies!!

 

Orpinton, Stephen is still on board. When we walked into Compass Rose, he immediately saw us and came to say hello. He sends his regards to you and Barbara and wants to know when you will be on board again.

[RachelG]

We had a great day in Kirkwall. Beautiful town and lovely people. The town provided a shuttle to town center from the port, and the lady onboard said to ask anyone if we needed anything at all. Everyone was so nice and welcoming.

 

We walked all over town in the am, had a nice pub lunch, then went on a archeological tour of various Neolithic sites, including some standing stones that are older than Stonehenge and, in my book, better since you can actually walk around within the site. Guide was a very nice lady as well.

 

Dinner in CR was wonderful as usual. I also got a good 45 min walk around the top of the ship before we sailed, which is one of my favorite things to do.

[RachelG]

Another perfect sunny day. We have really been very lucky with the weather so far. Other than the day in the Faroe Islands, weather has been outstanding. The locals were commenting all day how nice it was.

 

We tendered into port today. I am not a big fan of tenders, and today proved me right. As we were going back to the ship for our tour (we hiked on our own in the morning which was great), the tender malfunctioned. I am not a person who knows how to drive boats, but apparently the mechanism that allows the driver to back up and control the turns stopped working. So we could only go forward. This happened just as we were almost at the ship. I thought we were going to hit the side of the ship, but our driver was very skillful and avoided that. Then there was a lot of radioing back and forth as we were adrift. They finally were able to circle around and make another go at it and throw us a line. But it was pretty exciting.

 

In the afternoon, we went to Dunvegan castle and gardens. THe castle wasn't much as castles go, but the gardens were WOW--bursting with color.

 

This morning, our butler was practically begging me for something to do, so I stepped in some mud on the tour (accidentally). When we got back, he had my shoes cleaned like new in about 2 minutes. I am spoiled!

[OrpingtonT]

Orpinton, Stephen is still on board. When we walked into Compass Rose, he immediately saw us and came to say hello. He sends his regards to you and Barbara and wants to know when you will be on board again.

 

Great. If you get the chance tell him we are booked for Voyager's return to Fort Lauderdale from Barcelona on November 8th this year.

 

Kirkwall sounded a lovely warm, friendly place. Hope the seas have calmed down, though rough seas don't seem to bother you too much.

[WesW]

thanks for the continued on board Voyager posts, enjoying the port detail too.

[RachelG]

Oops, meant to add that they had champagne and caviar at breakfast this am then again at the repeat cruisers reception tonight.

 

Also meant to comment about the spa. It is now Canyon Ranch as you know. All the Filipino girls who worked there are gone, replaced mostly, as far as I can tell, by South Africans. Very nice ladies, but not the same. I had a wonderful facial and manicure, but they do try to sell you "extra" stuff during your treatment, like eyebrow waxing, parafin for the manicure, upgrading from a 50 to 80 min massage, etc. I don't particularly care for that--if I wanted the service, I would have booked it. And it sort of puts you on the spot. I can say no of course, but just don't care for that sales approach.

Prices are expensive, but do include tip. If I didn't have a sizable OBC to use up, I would probably not visit.

[smilingcruiser]

Do the restaurants have Canyon Ranch selections? When we were on the QM2 they did, and they were excellent, Kind of relieved some of the guilt at eating so much.