Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Mini Blog from the Mariner - 8/30 - 9/8/2017

Travelcat2

By Travelcat2,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

forgap "Live from...." Rare

forgap

Posted
Posted

We loved the "free" crab feast! We got to haul in crabs with our crabber - a woman from Marblehead, Mass., which is just one town over from my family homestead in Salem. A bunch of college kids pumped us up for the feast - very entertaining with a prize for the table with the highest tower of crab shells. Some tables started to stack cash on top of the tower so it was a slam dunk which table won!

 

We traveled in an old school bus and our driver was a student from Utah majoring in music. Not only was he funny, he had a wonderful voice. We were serenaded all the way back to the ship. Nice memories!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Great description of the crab feast. One of the top excursions that Regent does. We did go on a bus with a wonderful female driver (she goes to college in Utah). I should mention that it is all you an eat crab and one drink (wine or beer) in is included. Everyone is eating with their hands - using our new crab-dismantling skills. We enjoyed every moment!

 

We didn't see much wildlife (except eagles) but loved the stories of bear encounters. They have only black bears here - no grizzlies. One baby went into a market a few years ago and walked through the produce (produce is expensive up here - the damage was $3,000). Two weeks ago a mother bear opened a car door to see if there was food inside. The door closed and she was trapped and proceeded to total the car. The owner was awakened by the sound of the car horn. He went out to see the interior light on, the horn still honking and the bear (her cubs ran off when they saw the man). Everything ended well (except for the car).

 

The driver told about how well can see (and where the "eagle eyes" came from. According to the driver, if you were on a football field and put an eagle on the goal post and a newspaper on the other goal post, an eagle could read the newspaper (guess this assumes that an eagle can read):evilsmile:

 

Tonight is Signatures. I definitely do not want fish tonight. I'm too "crabby" from having three portions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
msmillie

msmillie

Posted
Posted
We loved the "free" crab feast! We got to haul in crabs with our crabber - a woman from Marblehead, Mass., which is just one town over from my family homestead in Salem. A bunch of college kids pumped us up for the feast - very entertaining with a prize for the table with the highest tower of crab shells. Some tables started to stack cash on top of the tower so it was a slam dunk which table won!

 

We traveled in an old school bus and our driver was a student from Utah majoring in music. Not only was he funny, he had a wonderful voice. We were serenaded all the way back to the ship. Nice memories!

 

As Travelcat stated we are in Ketchikan today, and I also love the Crab Feast. Today however we did the Alaskan Lodge Adventure and Seafeast. This excursion gives the Crab Feast a run for its money. We drove approximately 30 minutes to Silver king Lodge. We boarded a powerful pontoon motor boat and "flew" across the ocean. We stopped to see an Eagles nest and two eaglets, stopped a few minutes at a new oyster farm, then on to the Clover Pass Resort. When we got to land we walked an easy boardwalk trail into a beautiful Alaskan Rainforest, such a wonderous experience. We then went onto the lodge's patio where we we were asked to sit at newspaper covered tables with tableware for each of the guests. Our table had the usual condiments and buttered bread. The hostess then strained a large pot of crab, shrimp, muscles, clams, purple, red and white baby potatoes, sausage slices, corn and garlic and poured it all onto the middle of the table. This was a great feast, followed by a warm chocolate chip cookie. A fast boat ride, then bus ride and we're back on board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

"Z", it seems that you aren't getting emails from my iPad. Will re-take photos of the suite using my iPhone. Once again, I am indebted to you.

 

Nothing new to report other than the show "Tuxedo" was really good. Some moment in the show were brilliant!

 

One rather funny/strange note. For the first time since we have been cruising Regent, the Cruise Director had to announce "no bathrobes after 6:00 p.m.". There are quite a few newbies onboard that have apparently not read about the Dress Code. And, bathrobes really haven't been addressed. One man was in his bathrobe waiting for the elevator and mentioned to his wife that he was cold.

 

Still on our way to Juneau - arriving late morning. Weather in the 50's with light rain. We cancelled our Salmon Bake excursion and will be having lunch with my Regent "son", Zaldy. He is off from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. -- We are looking forward to spending some time with him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RJ2002

RJ2002

Posted
Posted

One rather funny/strange note. For the first time since we have been cruising Regent, the Cruise Director had to announce "no bathrobes after 6:00 p.m.". There are quite a few newbies onboard that have apparently not read about the Dress Code. And, bathrobes really haven't been addressed. One man was in his bathrobe waiting for the elevator and mentioned to his wife that he was cold.

 

As an upcoming newbie, I promise not to wear my bathrobe outside of the suite, at ANY time. ;p

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mudhen

Mudhen

Posted
Posted

Giggling hysterically here about the bathrobe issue! I'm pretty sure, a while back that I read about someone who went into one of the bars on a Regent ship, wearing his robe, and ordered a drink! I guess, he was politely discouraged from doing that again.....hahaha! Of course if John and I attempted to do that, it would clear the room!!

Continue to have fun....crabs looked fabulous!

L&J

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
Giggling hysterically here about the bathrobe issue! I'm pretty sure, a while back that I read about someone who went into one of the bars on a Regent ship, wearing his robe, and ordered a drink! I guess, he was politely discouraged from doing that again.....hahaha! Of course if John and I attempted to do that, it would clear the room!!

 

Continue to have fun....crabs looked fabulous!

 

L&J

 

 

 

The guy in the robe was on Exployer and he was in the Regent suite. Just sent photos to 'Z' but want to do a test here so bare with me for a minute. As they say on Regent when doing the crew drill "for test ... for test"

 

7f2d5a0763790bc352cc8b98e83e0ffd.jpg

 

If it worked there will be a picture of our Twiggy

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by Travelcat2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BarbarianPaul

BarbarianPaul

Posted
Posted
forgap, this is definitely one of our better cruises - made so by the PBS group as well as the current crew on the Mariner. While I am not making any political statement, I am happy to see a Senator onboard - just to hear the questions from the passengers and what is going on in Washington from her point of view. Senator Boxer will do a presentation "The Art of Tough" on September 5th in the morning. At 4:00 pm. there will be "Cocktails and Conversation with the Senator in the Observation Lounge.

 

One event that I'm particularly interested in is the screening of "Into the Amazon". This has yet to be shown on PBS but will in the future. Since we go to the Amazon on Mariner in November, this is a must-see.

 

In other news....... all of our excursions in Alaska, Oregon and Victoria will be meeting "On The Pier - Ashore" - not in the theater. Huge congratulations to Regent for putting this in place. I also notice that, when there are multiple groups going on the same excursion, there is more time between departures - this is a great thing IMO..

 

Service onboard has been as good as it could be -- excellent! We have not attended a show yet but hope to go to a new one put on by the Mariner singers and dancers.

 

One nit-picky thing that will likely only be noticed by British guests (like my DH). They changed the beans that they serve in the morning (which have always been out of cans). They now add garlic pieces - not chopped finely - and sauce them with the beans making them inedible (at least in my DH's opinion). Wanting to please their guests, Francisco (Maitre 'd in La Veranda) arranged for him to have "plain" beans in the morning. Even with this change, the beans are not as good as they were.

 

Another food comment - IOO (in our opinion), the lobster tails on the everyday menu in CR are far superior to the special "steamed Maine lobster" served last night. Food is subjective and we are finding most of the food to be great - just a couple of things that we did not care for.

 

Service in CR is excellent - even after the Captain's Reception (note: we got there at 6:30 p.m. so our experience may be different that the crowd that arrives at 7:00 p.m.). Another reason to find a server and stick with them is that they remember your preferences. My DH does not like red or green bell peppers in his food. So, when we ordered a salad and were not aware that there were red peppers in it, Risky made sure that his salad did not have the peppers. Such attention to detail is appreciated.

 

In 45 minutes we leave for the Crab Feast. As mentioned on another thread a couple of months ago, we have done the Regent's Choice excursion where you fly to the location of the Crab Feast and sit in a separate room from the others, this time we are doing the included excursion. It will be interesting to see the difference (besides for the fact that we will be paying for wine if we wish to have it). We are in Ketchikan and it is not raining (very unusual). Temperatures are in the 50's which is perfect for me.

 

Today I will start taking photos with my phone so I can post a few. Hoping that "Z" got my email with the suite photos. If not, I'll take photos with the phone and hopefully will be able to post them.

 

Before I go I need to talk about Wi-Fi - it has been amazingly good. The interesting thing is that it is much better in our suite than it is in the computer room. Last night, after dinner, I tried posting downstairs and couldn't even get into Cruse Critic. After returning to our suite, I had no difficulty connecting. This is the case with both my laptop and iPad. I've also used the iPad in La Veranda with no difficulty.

 

Bye for now:wine-glass::wine-glass:

 

P.S. - GrJ Berkshire, thank you for your assessment of the suites. Agree completely about the PH suites on Mariner. They are the best PH suites in the fleet. While we no longer sail on Navigator, their PH suites are the same size and configuration as lower category suites. On Explorer we prefer the concierge suites over the PH suites.

 

 

 

During the August congressional recess, aren't Senators supposed to return to their respective states, reconnect with their constituents, and further investigate whatever issues might be affecting the people they represent?

 

Not sure how taking either a free or heavily discounted Regent cruise in Alaska furthers any of those goals. She's a senator from my state, and though she's certainly free to do whatever she wants, the optics of it all aren't so great. (And aren't there laws against senators accepting this kind of stuff?) Apologies for posting something even mildly political, I usually never do, but hearing about this irks me.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted
e1278e665b41887ef9bc91850ec49d5e.jpg

 

Lovely sofa in PH suite. Great for reading and falling asleep

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

c42570dd78339a582730846f5e20f952.jpg

 

This is a weird way to post pictures bit is working. This is make-up area. Lots of space around it. This will likely be replaced during refurbishment.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted
c42570dd78339a582730846f5e20f952.jpg

 

This is a weird way to post pictures bit is working. This is make-up area. Lots of space around it. This will likely be replaced during refurbishment.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

709490b2169fbe36d69c76ed7df03d19.jpg

 

All of this being removed. Top area will no longer exist but I believe that there will be bottom drawers.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
  • Author
Posted
709490b2169fbe36d69c76ed7df03d19.jpg

 

All of this being removed. Top area will no longer exist but I believe that there will be bottom drawers.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

f866ce2ebed7e6d894bb79244eebd160.jpg

 

Other half of what is being removed. Fridge at bottom. Sorry that I had to post this way. If I tried to load four photos at once it may have taken until Christmas (which in when Z will likely receive my emails.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...