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Random Notes, Explorer Maiden Voyage, LIVE

Mr Rumor

By Mr Rumor,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
Posted
To all you MV & CV voyage vets - What times do the Constellation shows and entertainment in the 3 lounges begin? Also, how was the lounge entertainment & what types of groups were there?

 

I can answer one question...... the shows in the Constellation Theater begin at 9:45 p.m. Our favorite group is currently on board the Explorer ..... Nature's Rhythm - we saw them in various venues but do not know when they start playing in the evening or in what lounge (things were not "normal" on our cruise so hopefully someone on the MV will chime in).

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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Posted
Our little friend Stowie (for Stowaway) couldn't wait to show us the MV commemorative gift that was delivered to our room while we were at dinner!

 

58fec062e616e9c2ef2521bb5ab23655.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Love little Stowie and the beautiful frame that we also received on the CV. Regent certainly knows how to treat their passengers!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post -- hopefully people will continue posting from the Explorer for the foreseeable future.

 

Safe travels!

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Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

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Linda, Jim, Dan, Flossie, Jackie--thank you! I'd like to thank, in turn, my CC MV cruising brethren who posted as well. This blog wouldn't have been half as good or a fifth as fun without their participation.

 

Had a wonderful excursion today in Koper--Panoramic Koper. The highlight was our visit to the hilltop village of Padna, where the friendly locals prepared various taste treats for us (the asparagus lasagna and homemade honey-sweetened ice cream were stand-outs) and shared their crafts. These markets, our guide Mateja told us, serve as community fund-raisers. We also visited the coastal town of Piran, where Mateja lives. It is such a close-knit town, she explained, that when she makes her minestrone she knows to make enough for her neighbors because "we live so close together we can smell everyone else's cooking."

 

Just Guessing guessed right enough times to take first in trivia today. The Regent Reward Prize Redemption was already underway in the Constellation Theater. Favorite new item: a navy blue Regent medium-weight sweatshirt.

 

We had our last Compass Rose dinner with favorite server Max in Station 9 (tomorrow is Prime 7). Glad I took Max's advice and ordered the Cajun-Spiced Tuna Steak with Bell Pepper Basmati Rice and Tangy Mango-Papaya Salsa--it was luscious.

 

Tomorrow begins with a bang with the 6:15 sail into Venice. I expect many--if not all--hands on deck for that iconic cruise event!

 

Rich

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Portolan

Portolan

Posted
Posted (edited)

thank you very much! We knew we'd be excited by the new ship, but you've brought it to life more than any advertising booklet could. Enough so that we extended our first Explorer cruise next year from 10 days to 24!

 

Sailing into Venice is magical. We did it many years ago on the Diamond, and it'll be the capstone of our Explorer voyage next year!

 

Now we just have to wait until late March. That'll be tough...

Edited by Portolan
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elmwood

elmwood

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I would like to add my thanks to Mr. Rumor and all the others who took time out to post about their cruise. This thread answered a lot of questions we had and it convinced us that we had to try Explorer and I completed a booking this morning for a Baltic cruise.

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Pamela1

Pamela1

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Thank you Rich and all the other people posting from this wonderful Maiden Voyage. It has been helpful and informative and really loved your different (photo) aspects of the ship.

Also thank Rich for the reply to the vegetarian options, i think i will be really be looking forward to those.

It's good to know that the rewards points are still on offer with the quiz and i'm sure a little lady back home will appreciate a new sweatshirt on behalf all your hard work! :D

Hope you have a fabulous last evening and safe travels tomorrow.

 

Pam. Xx

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Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

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The last day of a cruise for us usually has a bittersweet taste, but there was nothing bittersweet about watching our Venice sail-in this morning--it was glorrrrious (then I go again). We were on Deck 12 early and didn't return downstairs until the Explorer was about to dock. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful.

 

The mild temps continued though midday, when friends Jim and Karen and Ginny and I informed our guide that we wouldn't be returning to the ship with our group after our Secret Corners of Venice and Grand Canal excursion. Instead we did a little shopping then lunched at a nice Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant. After that we embarked on our walk back to the ship. With all our Venice-style zig-zagging, that turned out to be a five and half mile trek. We were fortified along the way by some delicious homemade gelato from an off-the-beaten-path gelateria.

 

After our return to the ship I beheld a line for the first time for a spot at one of the four computers in the Business Center. Yep, boarding-pass print-out time. The overflow descended on Executive Concierge Odul, who provided additional printing services.

 

Tea Time was for the fun of it (Regent bookmarks to the top finishers). Dinner at Prime 7 followed and it was just OK, with hiccups in the service and a little too much salt in a couple of the dishes. All is already forgiven, and I'll be happy to give Prime 7 another shot in November, when we reboard the Explorer for its inaugural Atlantic crossing along with several dozen CCers. What a momentous live-blog that promises to be!

 

Ginny is already asleep, which I should be, as we have a very early scheduled departure time (4 a.m. for our 6:35 flight!). As I close I'd like to share a favorite memory of my DW from this cruise. It happened at about the midway point. I woke up in the middle of the night one night just in time to hear her whisper in her sleep very distinctly the following word:

 

"Wowwwwwwwwwww!"

 

Ginny has no recollection of exclaiming that word, or of the dream that sparked her soft outburst, but she is content for me to interpret her exclamation as her review of the cruise. As I think back on all the Likes and Loves I've peppered my posts with over the last two weeks, I'd have to say that "Wow," works as a one-word summary for me, too. I know that many of you have booked an upcoming Explorer cruise, and I'll be looking forward now to your comments and reviews.

 

Ciao for now!

 

Rich

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Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

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Posted (edited)

Hi all, and greetings from the Delta Banco transiti line at the Rome airport (long and very slow moving). Our flight to Atlanta has been delayed four hours and 20 minutes. We will miss our connecting flight to the Land of Enchantment. Maybe we'll still get home tonight, and then maybe we won't. Yippee!

 

Rich

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Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

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Update: We'll be bunked down in an Atlanta airport-area hotel tonight, with Delta paying. I counted up our post Regent cruise returns from either Europe and the Mediterranean--six--which means we have not made it home on the same day, as originally scheduled, on half of them! Well, at least we had the opportunity to make gluttons of ourselves at Casa Alitalia, the Allitalia business class lounge near Gate 12. Pizza, pasta, ravioli, brushchetta, salad bar, gourmet fruit salad, meats, cheeses, pastries--we may need to be wheeled onto our plane when we finally get to board in a half hour.

 

Rich

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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Rich, hope you and Ginny got home safely.

 

I really hope that you will do a review in the "Review" section of Cruise Critic. I just posted one (not approved yet). There was a very critical review posted which concerned me as it was based mainly on not liking the décor of the ship which, IMO, is not something that a ship should be reviewed on. After all, we all have different tastes.

 

Secondly, the service was reviewed harshly. While I understand that the crew is still getting used to the ship and the service may be slow, IMO, it is unfair to judge a maiden voyage as harshly as this one was judged. Again, IMO, many MV are not as good as the Explorer's!

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Silver Sweethearts

Silver Sweethearts

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I have been on this board for years, but where is the "Review Section". I know this doesn't sound smart, but I honestly don't know.

 

Say, for instance, you want to read the review just mentioned. Search "Cruise Critic Regent Explorer Reviews". Click where it says reviews under the title to read them. If you want to write a review for that ship, look to the right on that same page and click on "Write A Review". At least that is the way we do it. Don't know if it is right, but it works. Hope it works for you too!

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