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Explorer on PBS

hvsteve1

By hvsteve1,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
Posted
Just watched Nova on building Explorer it was fascinating. Does make me wonder with all that precise engineering how some seats in the theatre (as reported by some cruisers) came to be positioned behind pillars.

 

I have another hour and 45 minutes before the show airs here (but whose counting:-) On the christening cruise, there were tables directly behind the pillars. When we boarded again in November, the pillars were still blocking the stage (not sure that you could ever remove the pillars) but I don't believe that there were still tables and chairs behind the pillars. IMO (and keep in mind that we are totally in love with this ship), the biggest issue in the theater is the stairs that are not illuminated enough to keep passengers from falling.

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iamheisenberg

iamheisenberg

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Just watched Nova on building Explorer it was fascinating. Does make me wonder with all that precise engineering how some seats in the theatre (as reported by some cruisers) came to be positioned behind pillars.

 

It's a retro-style based on the original Yankee Stadium.

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GOARMY

GOARMY

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Also awaiting the presentation. Feedback from those in a different time zone who have already seen it is positive.

 

Would it not therefore be a "bonus" for Regent to capture the PBS program--for later airing on one of its onboard channels--on the Explorer as well as the other ships of the fleet? Free publicity.

 

It has our good fortune to have cruised on all Regent ships. "Uniform" positive as experienced by this retired Army guy and his good Army wife.

 

See many of you this coming March at Miami while boarding Explorer for a follow-on cruise to Barcelona, then to Venice. Hopefully, during those five days at sea after departing Bermuda, we can tune in that onboard channel to revisit same.

 

GoARMY!

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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Watched it. Very interesting. Especially the part where they put the two halves of the hull together. Now I am going to have to figure out where exactly that is next time onboard.

Also interesting in the engineering of how they reduced weight at the top of the ship.

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
Posted
Also awaiting the presentation. Feedback from those in a different time zone who have already seen it is positive.

 

Would it not therefore be a "bonus" for Regent to capture the PBS program--for later airing on one of its onboard channels--on the Explorer as well as the other ships of the fleet? Free publicity.

 

It has our good fortune to have cruised on all Regent ships. "Uniform" positive as experienced by this retired Army guy and his good Army wife.

 

See many of you this coming March at Miami while boarding Explorer for a follow-on cruise to Barcelona, then to Venice. Hopefully, during those five days at sea after departing Bermuda, we can tune in that onboard channel to revisit same.

 

 

GoARMY!

 

Great idea! Why don't you send Jason Montague an email with your suggestion!

 

We have also cruised on all of Regent's ship (except those in service prior to 2004 - wish that we had sailed on them as well). Although we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Explorer, we didn't know that we would like her so much that, even though we have booked 3 cruises on the other ships, I'm feeling disappointed that it won't be on the Explorer.

 

See you in on the Explorer!

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BarbarianPaul

BarbarianPaul

Posted
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Looking forward to watching! Re those infamous pillars, I'm sure Regent execs could virtually walk through every inch of the ship prior to the start of construction, so they had to be aware of the issue, no? Maybe it was a structural element there was no way around, which enabled some other feature in the ship's design they wanted.

It really does shrink the available viewing space, as we discovered in November. But it's hardly enough to reduce our appreciation of a pretty incredible ship. Still, I wonder why it's part of the architecture.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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GOARMY

GOARMY

Posted
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Watching the program.

 

Have composed my message to J. Montague. However, do not have the best email for him. Can Travelcat2 or any other get this info to me ASAP, so it can be sent this PM?

 

Thanks, and await reply.

 

GoArmy!

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GOARMY

GOARMY

Posted
Posted

Thanks, Travelcat2.

 

Email sent. Will be interesting to see if a response is received.

 

Hope to see a bunch of our folks at Miami for the Explorer Miami-Barcelona segment; and more for follow-on Barcelona-Venice.

 

GoARMY!

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Gilly "Live from...." Rare

Gilly

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We made the same suggestion about making the programme available to watch on board whilst we were on Explorer a couple of weeks ago, before we knew it was going to be screened in the US. Being able to watch it and go right out there and see the finished ship immediately would be fun, for like Rachel, I was wondering where the join is!

 

Sadly, the theatre tables are still (fixed) behind pillars, though maybe it's something which is on the snagging list for the first service?

 

I'm glad that, at last, Regent fans in North America can see why those of us in the UK felt so positive about it when it was shown here. I agree with Flossie, it's not without a bit of faux drama and tension (we knew it'd all be ok in the end, didn't we?) But who knew about the level of detail in that inventory or the importance of weight distribution? Well, I suppose we might have reasoned it out but it's far more interesting seeing it all in glorious technicolour, isn't it?

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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We really enjoyed watching the show - it was well done. Actually, the drama surrounding the ship in the weeks before the launch was quite real - the ship simply wasn't ready (and was turned over late -- not mentioned on t.v.). Also, as we now know, the tables in the theater were amongst the last things to be installed on the ship. Some adjustments have been made but you really can't move the pillars (but, based on what I see on the other ships, they can be made smaller).

 

While I agree that there are sight lines in the theater that aren't good, IMO, this has been a bit over-emphasized since you can see the stage just fine from most of the seats on the lower level. OTOH, I suspect that the theater in the next Explorer-class ship will be improved.

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Portolan

Portolan

Posted
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We loved the fact that the show aired just weeks (7 at the moment) before we'll be on Explorer for the first time.

 

If I were Regent management interested in maximizing exposure for the Explorer during her inaugural year, I'd provide each suite with a copy of the DVD to watch and then keep (and, no doubt, show their friends). Otherwise, it's due to be released on 21 March (about $18 from online retailers). I do wonder what was in the UK ~90 minute content version that was trimmed for the ~55 PBS version?

 

One other (I thought) amusing aspect to the program: our cable provider (FIOS) had as part of its program guide description, "the worlds largest and most luxurious cruise ship." While the reports are quite supportive of the latter claim, it falls a bit short of the former which I'm sure they didn't get from Regent. I expect any Regent official would be rather horrified to have it suggested that they do large (except in terms of space per passenger). As we all know and love, they do smallish (by today's standards), but extremely well.

 

For reference, the largest cruise ship currently is the Harmony of the Seas at 226,000 tons. A Nimitz class aircraft carrier is 104,000 tons (w/o aircraft) and the Explorer is only 54,000 tons. Of course, the USS Missouri (largest WWII battleship) was 45,000 tons!

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flossie009

flossie009

Posted
Posted

For reference, the largest cruise ship currently is the Harmony of the Seas at 226,000 tons. A Nimitz class aircraft carrier is 104,000 tons (w/o aircraft) and the Explorer is only 54,000 tons. Of course, the USS Missouri (largest WWII battleship) was 45,000 tons!

 

Of course, comparing cruise-ship tonnage to warship tonnage or cargo ship tonnage can be complex as the article below indicates:

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/faq-gross-tonnage.html

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Gilly "Live from...." Rare

Gilly

Posted
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<For reference, the largest cruise ship currently is the Harmony of the Seas at 226,000 tons. A Nimitz class aircraft carrier is 104,000 tons (w/o aircraft) and the Explorer is only 54,000 tons. Of course, the USS Missouri (largest WWII battleship) was 45,000 tons!>

 

Portolan, the Harmony of the Seas sailed past us whilst we were on Explorer, sailing towards Miami. How did we identify it? With my super duper 30x zoom! Of course, it looks very small here, because I have used CC advice re the size of photo to upload: no more than 600px. Since I don't normally post photographs directly into CC, I'm wondering why other photographs don't come out as thumbnails for enlargement as desired? Tapatalk maybe ? (I don't use it)

 

Anyway, this springs to mind.... http://quotegeek.com/television-quotes/father-ted/8572/ Sorry, you really need the YouTube link but I don't think it will work beyond the UK

DSC01842-001.jpg.ee6e8c019014dc2854c72ef7deac6dc3.jpg

DSC01843-001.jpg.74bd966af63f40f37460cb9f2a5ef5b3.jpg

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flossie009

flossie009

Posted
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We really enjoyed watching the show - it was well done. Actually, the drama surrounding the ship in the weeks before the launch was quite real - the ship simply wasn't ready (and was turned over late -- not mentioned on t.v.). Also, as we now know, the tables in the theater were amongst the last things to be installed on the ship. Some adjustments have been made but you really can't move the pillars (but, based on what I see on the other ships, they can be made smaller).

 

While I agree that there are sight lines in the theater that aren't good, IMO, this has been a bit over-emphasized since you can see the stage just fine from most of the seats on the lower level. OTOH, I suspect that the theater in the next Explorer-class ship will be improved.

 

 

When is the next Explorer-class ship due to be commissioned by Regent?

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flossie009

flossie009

Posted
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Thanks, Gilly

Did Gudrun say what the ship would be like?

 

I noted in FDR's introductory comments during the documentary he said that Explorer is ".....never to be repeated again..."

 

...........or maybe he just meant the theatre design........

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