Voyager 2010 Fall Crossing

[Hambagahle]

Wes - what is Cartagena like? And what shouldn't one miss (or skip?). Seems that our 2012 TA will stop there and I have never been.

 

For flowers - Madeira is THE place. I think evey square metre of land that isn't built on has either flowers, flowering shrubs or flowering trees on it. I will never, ever, forget the first time I saw it in 1952, coming out of the grey of post-war England to this sun-filled, flower-filled paradise. Buy lots!!

[dusababy]

Another glorious day here in Spain (Cartagena) on board the Voyager. Yesterday, Ida and I did our own walking tour of downtown Valencia with the help of the courtesy shuttle bus service provided by Regent. We saw the Four Towers, Basilica and (yes Maria) the Mercado Central (tho we did not buy any ham; we are waiting until we arrive in Funchal before getting more flowers (on arrival in our suite on Monday we had a beautiful floral arrangment of roses (pink/white) and carnations). Very nice sunny afternoon in Valencia (mid 60's). Last night was the Captain's welcome in the constellation theater where he introduced the Voyager staff. (plenty of champagne and canapes passed out by Regent staff in the theater) At about 7:30pm a few of us went up to the Observation Lounge for pre dinner drinks. Ann and Al (Sunviking) joined us for drinks in the Observation Lounge. Dinner in Compass Rose included (as Tom (orpington) decliciously pointed out above (soft shelled crab as one of the four appetizer selections), memorable main course we enjoyed--Lobster Tail and a mouth watering beef tenderloin paired respectfully with a delicious Voigner and the very tasty (red blend) Cline Cashmere (Grenacnhe, Syrah, Mourvedre).

 

This morning is delightfully warm and sunny (upper 60's) perfect choice for breakfast outside on the veranda in La Veranda. We will do our own walking tour of Cartagena after lunch.

 

T (mimoto4), will ask some of our CC clan here to post pix (Sunviking--pls check her signature for her blod link) is posting on her blog daily with pix) will post our pix on Facebook on return.

 

 

Wes -- suddenly realized I am probably a "lurker" on Regent Voyager -- living vicariously through you, mon ami.....or when in Spain -- amigo !! Glad you enjoyed The Snails and BCN -- now everyone's favorite city!

 

Enjoying your posts and shall wait for your photos on Facebook upon return.

 

Mary Ann

[jhp]

Wes, and Ida, I am reallly enjoying your log on this board! May you continue to have a great time!

[OrpingtonT]

Another fine sunny day here in Malaga.

 

Just to get you all going, dinner in CR was one of the best last evening. Creamy vegetable pasta and I followed with foie-gras stuffed quail. Not something i have every day of the week I must confess. I thought on previous cruises that Compass rose had steeped up the choice and quality. I now think it has stepped up another notch.

 

Rachel. No they were seperate drinks and now we get waiters following us round saying "Baileys and cognac, Sir?"

 

Gerry. As I am typing this, Dionne came in and asked how we are. I told her of your good wishes and she remembered you well. In fact she read your post so it was good you said nice things about her! She is going on leave after this cruise but does hope to be on Navigator to see you both.

 

Off into Malaga for a walk round now.

[grapejuice]

Orp T, (may I call you that ) Sunviking, Colonel Wes and Ida,

Am loving your threads of your journey so far. As others have said a few more pics would be absolutely fantastic, but you all sound as if you are having too much of a good time to be busy with photos and posting them etc.

Please continue with your present schedule and try not to miss any important bits and pieces.

Am looking forward to hearing about all the antics on your sea days ahead.

Orp T - how good is the cognac? I am a champagne person myself and DH enjoys a good red wine (Australian of course) but I could be persuaded to try a little cognac if need be.

Cheers Guys

[RachelG]

Just wanted to wish Col Wes, Orpington, and any other veterans on board a happy Veteran's Day. Hope you have a great one. You deserve it. Did they do any special recognition or get together on board?

 

Orpington, fois gras stuffed quail sounds downright decadent. Are you sure you won't get in the habit of eating that every day at home, perhaps for breakfast? Probably would go well with the cognac.

[Hambagahle]

I shall be SO glad to see Dionne on the Nav in January. Let's hope for my sake her leave is short... (we sail 7th Jan) but that she finds it most enjoyable.

 

I am relieved, Tom, to know that the cognac and Baileys were two drinks. I was worried for a -- bit!!

 

After Malaga - what? Next stop Funchal and the flowers for Wes??

[WesW]

Hi All, we spent the day at the magnificent Arab Citadel here in Malaga, the Granada. Our first included excursion was seamless, extraordinarily well organized and one of the top three we have had at sea. We did not arrive back to the ship until 5:20 pm...alas we missed the Veterans day rememberance in the Obsvn Lounge at 5pm. Rachel, thank you for your very kind Veterans day wishes and thankyou for your son's (deployed) service as well Both Ida and I then went for an evening workout...got a wonderful sunset (50 min) run/walk in--glorious sailaway from Malaga.

 

More about the Granada as we need to go to dinner at Compass Rose soon...Echo Tom's comments about Compass Rose;

dining and service are exceptional.

 

Mary Ann, wonderful to see you post on this Regent thread...and yes Spain is now in Ida's heart. Olivia, thanks very much for your well wishes and we're glad you're enjoying this thread.

 

Grapejuice, very glad your enjoying our Voyager crossing posts. Tell your husband they have delightful Shiraz's on board.

 

 

Gerry, we enjoyed our own personal tour of Cartagena. We saw the large Navy yard in Cartegena as well as the moving

memorial for the madrid terrorist victims dedicated in April 2009...a one and half story bronze nude man--Ida took lots of

pix :). Pls see this link for cliff notes on Cartagena: And yes we can't wait to visit the market in Funchal for our flowers.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Spain

[LOVE@CRUISE]

Happy Veteran's Day Wes! We're thinking of you today

We had a Remembrance Celebration in Iwo Jima aboard the Voyager World Cruise in 2008 and it was a day we will NEVER forget. Capt Dag led the most moving ceremony we have ever witnessed and it was one of those lifetime experiences that can never be repeated, for sure.

[mimito4]

Yes indeed, happy Veteran's Day to my good friend Wes (and all other veterans so lucky to be onboard).

 

As for all the other also-never-met-but-soon-to-be-friends on this voyage: you have free internet and yet no pictures yet? I promise to do better by all of the "left behinds" when I get inboard! :p

[SusieO]

Happy Veterans Day Wes, Ida and all those who have served for our country!

[Hambagahle]

thanks, Wes

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Cartagena, and realised that indeed, I did know about it before (!) having studied Latin for many years and having read the Punic Wars. It will be interesting to see those ruins for myself. (Actually by then I shall also most likely be a ruin too!!)

 

Happy Madeira-ing. Don't forget the wine!!

[greygypsy]

First sea day, Susan is at Cordon Bleu, and I'm relaxing in the suite, having just renewed our library books via satellite internet connection. Voyager is sailing smoothly and is in very good condition. They must have taken advantage of the time in dry dock to fix the pod to also update some of the ship's public rooms, as they are in much better shape than our last TA in the Spring of 09. Have met many new friends and were very pleasantly surprised by the appearance of some old friends from our last TA cruise, who casually reminded me of our pole dancing escapades as we were imbibing our first champagne after check in. Great to see Trevor and Mary again!!

-

Aside from that, lots of crew changes, at least from our perspective. Different everybody, from captain to security, but ship is running very fine. We did our first "free" shore excursion in Cartagena, to the Bullas wine region, and we strongly recommend Regent remove this excursion from further stops at this port. It's a long, boring drive to taste so truly awful wine. Not that much farther is the Jumilla wine district and they have some wonderful wines - or how about an excursion out of Valencia, which isn't that far from Penedes?

-

We were quite pleased with our discounted excursion to Grenada yesterday. Scenery much nicer, tour guides quite professional, Alhambra very beautiful, and fantastic lunch. All in all, an A+.

-

We are cancelling our excursion in Funchal as more bus time is not required....we've made arrangements with another couple to get a taxi and have some freedom. Think seriously Regent ought to offer fewer buses and more independent travel for a discounted fee. Believe it might suit some the more experienced travelers who don't quite get the herd mentality. Just a thought.

-

Demographics on this TA are on the older side, compared to our last one. Susan and I (both in mid-50's) figure we are in the youngest 10%. Don't know if it is just the nature of this specific cruise, or a tendency, overall, for Regent. So, late evenings are rather quiet, but that may change when we get to the actual crossing between Madeira and Bermuda.

-

Best meal so far was actually lunch on yesterday's excursion, followed by our first dinner in Prime 7 (going again this evening). Food in Compass Rose has been inconsistent and service generally slow, although both had improved by last evening. Wine selections generally good, as usual, don't be afraid to ask for something different if the day's selections do not appeal. We'll be doing Signatures a couple of times later in the cruise.

-

We haven't gone to any of the shows, but can report that the entertainment crew is quite energetic and fun (just based on running into them and chatting during the cruise). Will probably catch a show or two later (not one of the things we typically do much of on these cruises).

-

Weather has been typical for this time of year, mostly in the 60's during the day and partly cloudy, and seas have been pretty calm.

-

So, overall, all is good with the Voyager now that the pods are working, and we expect to continue to enjoy the rest of the cruise. As always, if anyone has any specific questions about facilities ask Wes (no, seriously, you can also ask me, but I'm not going to be posting quite as often!) Jeff

[OrpingtonT]

Internet very patchy today, but Barbara And I did want to pass on our thoughts to all Veterans, but especially to you RachelG and your eldest son doing his job in Afghanistan.

 

As far as our Voyager cruise is concerned, we are enjoying our first sea day. There is a slight swell but it is warm and sunny and we have just enjoyed a superb lunch of Paella and various BBQ items on the pool deck. Wine tasting shortly, then we shall go to hear Hunter Davies first talk.

 

Prime 7 last night and surf and turf for me. I cut down on ood at lunch time to make the most of it and that was well worthwhile. We went to a vrery nice reception last evening. The UK marketing director is on board and she invited us tio a get together. She is leaving at Funchal so it was a good opportunity to talk.

 

Must go, Barbara is having a nap in the sun by the pool. Sorry I have no pictures for you, it is bad enough trying to get a few words off!

[RachelG]

Glad the cruise continues to be wonderful. And glad you are having sun for Barbara to nap in!

 

Wes, one of my favorite sail outs was Malaga as I was doing my walking/running around the track on top deck. Beautiful. Glad you and Ida were able to enjoy that too.

 

Thanks for the well wishes--I will pass on to my son. Totally OT, but as you may know, the Marine Corps birthday is one day prior to Veteran's Day. I emailed my son to see if they had any special celebration planned. He emailed back that he thought not as they are pretty remote, and no other Marines nearby. Anyway, a couple of hours later, he emailed that the cooks (from India) had made them a birthday cake (wonder what kind of cake that would be) and a civilian contractor who is a Marine Vet had given them a bottle of whiskey. So they had a nice celebration after all.

[alexandra cruiser]

do you still notice the vibration in back of ship that has been mentioned before,,or is it better now???Have a H category cabin for Novem23 cruise and just wondering to upgrade??

 

Hope you all continue to enjoy your cruise,,,

 

Sorry, another question re library,,,does it carry lots of non fiction,,,like travel,biography,etc....??

 

Thanks,and BOn voyage....:)

[StrandVillas]

This trip sounds lovely, and we are looking forward to our first Voyager experience next year. I read today that certain Voyager cabins should be avoided (vibration) and I didn't know this might be an issue. Can anyone advise, please?

[BarbS]

We were on the Voyager cruise from Athens to Barcelona. We did not have a suite at the back of the ship......but we were back there several times doing laundry and sitting on the outside lounge area at the very back of the ship on deck 5.......and couldn't feel any vibration at all. I don't know if it got fixed during dry dock or if for some reason we just couldn't feel it.

[hondorner]

We'll be in a Category H suite on Voyager in less than a month -- I'll be sure to report back on whether we feel any vibration. We'll be in 664, which is one of the forward-most H suites. It's right next to a Category B Penthouse, so if we can feel it,I bet they can, too.

[Emdee]

Tom/Wes,

 

Glad you are enjoying the cruise. We dont sail on the Voyager until next November so will be following your trip on the boards. Its some years since we did a TA. Nothing more relaxing from what I remember.

 

Enjoy!

 

Miriam

[gf]

Hi Neighbor! (ATL) Wes!

So enjoying your reports and hope you and Ida continue to have a wonderful cruise. A belated Happy Veterans' Day to you both; most grateful for your service!

AKA Another Kathy

[WesW]

We are now docked in Funchal...glorious sunny day with the beautiful city as a backdrop. Ida and I had breakfast on the aft deck of La Veranda...stunning views along with Ida's delicious eggs benedict and my giant french toast (could not finish both slices). Alexandra Cruiser--we are in a mid ship suite on deck six (55 paces from the gym :) but during breakfast you could feel a slight vibration coming from the running engines. Some people love the aft cabins (SunViking/Ann) others are bothered by the vibration. The library is chock full of fiction books--but we use our kindles to save packing space. Rachel, you son's Veterans day sounded very special for the exceptional tought combat environment he is serving in. ATL Kathy, thanks so much for your warm Veteran's day wishes.

 

For those NHL hockey fans, we have as a passenger (not an enrichment lecturer) New York Rangers Hall of Famer Harry Howell on board...nice guy/exceptional hockey player. The Rangers retired his jersey

 

Dining and service continue to be exemplary. Ida started her Le Cordon Bleu workshop yesterday. The French Chef who is leading the class, Christain Leroy spent four years in Mexico, teaching at the LCB facilities their. He asked Ida to help interpret during the second workshop as his French and Spanish are better than his english. Ida enjoys all things LCB and was glad to assist (spanish is her first language)

 

they are now shutting down the internet to do final tests before the crossing. more later

[PaulaJK]

Wes, It sounds as though all of you are having a wonderful cruise! As LCB classes continue, would you please share Ida's menu? Paula

[OrpingtonT]

We are awaiting sail-away at around 4.45 and there is a party organised on the pool deck ready for our Atlantic crossing.

 

The Hunter Davies lecture was very interesting as he was the official biographer of the Beatles and showed some home movies with Paul and Linda. Later we enjoyed a reception with the Regent marketing director for Europe.

 

Good dinner in CR and we are in Signatures tonight. I am told that we can book now for future nights in both speciality restaurants if we wish.

 

About vibration. We have noticed none, even though we spend some time in the Horizon lounge. Our suite is 1038, not far enough aft to notice anyway and we have never been bothered by noise from the pool deck above.

 

We had planned to go into Funchal on the shuttle bus but we were enjoying ourselves too much on board to bother!

[StrandVillas]

Hondorner, Thanks for letting us know if you notice vibration on your next cruise; I'm sure our cruise will be wonderful and we don't anticipate anything but a few weeks of bliss. Since we've only sailed on the Mariner, we're a little spoiled. Have a great trip!