Mini Blog - Live from Voyager - Barcelona - Miami

[Travelcat2]

Kinda of difficult to take photos- many people and it started raining (the Captain drove us out of the rain. Now the. Sun is shinning.

 

This year that a camel race rather than a horse race.  There is a booth where you try to determine what spices are in containers - too many booths to take photos of.  Really loads of fun. Crew and guests alike are smiling and laughing.  Preview to lunch:

 

 

[gjkov]

Love the Country Fair photos. So much fun!

 

Regarding turkey...Jackie I agree about making a whole bird and not just the breast. We have both white and dark meat lovers in our family, so not really an option anyway. But flavor wise it makes a huge difference! And if you really want flavorful poultry, roast any whole bird breast side down. You won’t get a “bring to the table to carve” quality, but much more most and delicious meat.

 

Too bad you won’t have more time in Minneapolis you could enjoy some good Mexican food. We have a large Latino population in MN. And as a result, any number of wonderfully authentic Mercados and Taquerias. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Travelcat2]

18 hours ago, Thundery said:

Re: Chartreuse. Have to admit we too much preferred the menu in Signatures. We are long time Regent cruisers and are usually on board for 2 months over the holidays(including this year on the Mariner)  and the menu in Chartreuse gets really boring .Have mentioned it many times to the maître d on each ship but nothing seems to change. Signatures used to change the menu every week and we loved it

Agree with your observations.  Chartreuse’s menu does not seem to change (if it has changed, I have not noticed it.  We have enjoyed having Sette Mari/La Veranda change every other night.

 

Below is the Executive Chefs Daily Specials for Thanksgiving

 

 

[Mr Rumor]

Hi Jackie, hope you and Dennis have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day and dinner.  Your and Z's mentions of the 2016 Explorer Thanksgiving meal at the Captain's 12-top brought back some nice memories.  Yes, one had to almost shout to be heard across the table, but we still managed some great conversations and Ginny and I enjoyed the camaraderie among the CC members.  Hard to believe it has been two years!

 

A big thank you for posting all the menus, so I don't have to next week!

 

By the way, where do you plan to stash the Voyager Cruise Critic live-blogging baton?  I'll need it next Monday afternoon (plus, I've promised Shauna she can parade around with it).

 

Have a great rest of the cruise.

 

Rich

[Hambagahle]

22 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Jackie and Dennis, and to your fellow passengers. 

As someone who also does not eat turkey or anything with feathers (yuk!!!), The Boss is making a smoked ham for me and turkey for the rest of the clan. 

Hammie:  no peanut butter?  I’ve never heard that before. Any story behind that claim?

Have a great day, everyone and please remember those that can’t make it home. 

Z and TB

I had never heard of peanut butter until about 1947 when I went to boarding school in the UK (yes - a little young for that!  I was 5 at the time...)  One lunch we were given sandwiches and told they were "new" and very nice.  I took one bite and spat it out.  Peanut butter!  UGH!   To this day I only use it to make West African groundnut stew - which is very tasty BTW!   

[Hambagahle]

Jackie - great photos of the Country Fair!  That is always an enjoyable event and I hope we have one on the Splendour cruise!  Everyone, guests and crew, enjoy themselves.

 

And lovely to see the CR had other options than the dreaded turkey!!  We had a bouilli de boeuf for dinner last night and I wished Ken a Happy Turkey day.  (He then asked where the turkey was...)

 

Rich - really looking forward to reading what you have to say about your cruise:  This virtual cruising is a lot of fun!

[Mudhen]

11 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

By the way, where do you plan to stash the Voyager Cruise Critic live-blogging baton?  I'll need it next Monday afternoon (plus, I've promised Shauna she can parade around with it).

Hi Rich,

 Our paths may cross...we're on the QM2 (with a dear friend whose health is failing). I noticed a couple of ports where the Voyager is in with us....can't remember which ones, though.

We leave on Sunday and do the rather typical "Caribbean" ports. We hit St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbados and Tortola....not in that order, but gives you a general idea!

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Linda and John

[Travelcat2]

11 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

Hi Jackie, hope you and Dennis have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day and dinner.  Your and Z's mentions of the 2016 Explorer Thanksgiving meal at the Captain's 12-top brought back some nice memories.  Yes, one had to almost shout to be heard across the table, but we still managed some great conversations and Ginny and I enjoyed the camaraderie among the CC members.  Hard to believe it has been two years!

 

A big thank you for posting all the menus, so I don't have to next week!

 

By the way, where do you plan to stash the Voyager Cruise Critic live-blogging baton?  I'll need it next Monday afternoon (plus, I've promised Shauna she can parade around with it).

 

Have a great rest of the cruise.

 

Rich

 

Rich - you can have the live-blogging baton anytime.  After all, you need to set the table.  So glad that Shauna will be with you.  The crew onboard Voyager at the moment (many leaving mid-December) are wonderful.  If you have a chance, ask to sit in Roxanne's area in CR.  She is funny, bright and an overall wonderful server.  This is only her 3rd contract and she has worked her way up to "waitress".  I can see her going far and really think that you, Ginny and Shauna would love her.

 

So looking forward to being home and reading your blog.  I forget ....... are you and Ginny on the Splendor San Diego to Miami sailing?  That is very full of Cruise Critic members and Gerry and I will get to meet for the first time.  Bellagio Cruiser will also be onboard.  Wish "Z" had booked that cruise.  Oh well, we will hopefully cruise with everyone from our 2016 cruise sooner rather than later.

 

gikov -  Minneapolis has good Mexican food?  Very surprised.  May check out what they have at the airport.  Very disappointed that the lounge there does not sound very good.  Flying within the U.S. seems to be getting worse and worse.  As you likely know, First Class passengers in the U.S. cannot go into a lounge unless they are going internationally (Canada and Mexico does not count).  So, we belong to the Premium Plus program and their lounges are beginning to give you a credit of around $15 each to spend in their lounges.  That would cover about 1 drink.  After this cruise, I suppose that I don't need any more drinks for a while.

 

Linda and John - have a wonderful cruise with our friend - hope that three of you have a wonderful time.

 

Rich - back to you again.  The only big thing that I'll be posting from the ship between now and Monday is the Connoisseur Wine Lunch (photos) tomorrow.  This should not clash in any way with your blog.  

 

We are docked next to a NCL and Celebrity ship.  They look ginormous compared to Voyager.  Waiting to disembark the ship ...... we are cleared and excursions have left.  After spend so many sea days with all passengers, we decided not to be on a us with all of them that want to get off of the ship.  So, shopping we will go (Dutch side as we are not looking for high end products on the French side).

 

Someone asked which side of the island we dock on.  I asked Davor (G.M.) and he said that ships can dock on the Dutch side but have to tender on the French side which is why we are where we are.

 

  

 

 

[Mr Rumor]

Linda, when I see the QM2  I'll wave!

 

Jackie, we looked seriously at that Splendor cruise (a Joint blog with you, Gerry [Hi Gerry!] and other CCers would have been a ton of fun) but we decided in the end to go Bucket List and book Bangkok-Abu Dhabi, as we've only been to one of the 15 ports, and I've always wanted to take Ginny to India.

 

Thanks for the Roxanne tip!  Shauna adores Risky and I bet she and Roxanne will hit it off.

 

Enjoy St. Martin, and land again!

 

Rich

[ronrick1943]

Nice report and photo's, thanks for sharing your thoughts and enjoy your cruise.

[Hambagahle]

6 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

Linda, when I see the QM2  I'll wave!

 

Jackie, we looked seriously at that Splendor cruise (a Joint blog with you, Gerry [Hi Gerry!] and other CCers would have been a ton of fun) but we decided in the end to go Bucket List and book Bangkok-Abu Dhabi, as we've only been to one of the 15 ports, and I've always wanted to take Ginny to India.

 

Thanks for the Roxanne tip!  Shauna adores Risky and I bet she and Roxanne will hit it off.

 

Enjoy St. Martin, and land again!

 

Rich

So sorry about that decision!  The 2020 cruise is jam packed with CC ers...ken and I send our hugs to you, Ginny and Shauna and wishes for smooth sailing and good winds!

Gerry

[Boatmans Lady]

Thank you for posting the photos of the Country Fair.

We attended a small town fair in Vermont recently and loved it, so really hope we get a Country Fair on our cruise as the games just look such fun.

 

I will be sad when your cruise is over and your lovely blog finishes.

[travelwell]

Thank you for posting the pictures of the country fair. I does look like such fun!

 

[Hambagahle]

You know, when Jackie started this blog she said there wouldn't be much to post because it was a TA so not much activity.  Boy, was she wrong!!  And WOW!  Has she done a great job with the posts, the photos etc.  Just the change in ports, storm, aftermath of storm, lifeboat adrift in the ocean, new port added - would have made for a novel let alone a blog "with not much going on" !!

 

Before you disembark, Jackie, I would just like to thank you for ALL the posts, photos etc.  it has been SO enjoyable reading them all...

 

Rich - you have a hard act to follow!!

Gerry

[Travelcat2]

Wine lunch photos

[Travelcat2]

[Travelcat2]

The foie gras pairing was particularly amazing as it was sitting on banana bread.  .

 

the WiFi did not allow me to take a photo of the beef tenderloin.

 

here is our dessert

 

 

[briar14]

Thank you for this great blog. And, the wine luncheon pics look soooo good. I have read and enjoyed all your posts. I hope we have the opportunity to attend one on the Circumnavigation in just 3 weeks!

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Loved following your blog, as usual. See you on the Splendor, March 2020. 

Sheila

[gjkov]

Great photos Jackie!

You have to go to neighboring capital city St. Paul for good Mexican food. Minneapolis is pretty ho hum for Mexican, though many other awesome restaurants! I don’t think you’ll find any good Mexican at the airport. But if you’re in concourse E, pick up pastries at The Salty Tart. 

I don’t know what airline you’re flying, but the Delta lounges aren’t bad at MSP. Certainly much better than they used to be. And I’ve heard good things about the Escape Lounge for AmEx Platinum folks, though I can’t speak from personal experience about that one. There’s still some construction happening, but there’s been some other very nice changes to the airport in general over the last year. I was favorably impressed when there last in October. 

 

Enjoy your last last couple days!

[Hambagahle]

Foie gras on banana bread sounds lovely.  here it is generally served with something sweet as well - and coming into the Christmas season that is often pain d'épices (like gingerbread, sort of...)   Great lunch if somewhat expensive!!

[Zqueeze1]

On 11/23/2018 at 8:02 AM, Travelcat2 said:

...So looking forward to being home and reading your blog.  I forget ....... are you and Ginny on the Splendor San Diego to Miami sailing?  That is very full of Cruise Critic members and Gerry and I will get to meet for the first time.  Bellagio Cruiser will also be onboard.  Wish "Z" had booked that cruise.  Oh well, we will hopefully cruise with everyone from our 2016 cruise sooner rather than later....

 

Wow, that cruise is practically a Who's Who of CC bloggers.  I believe that this is the cruise originally scheduled for the Explorer, then Regent changed it to the Splendor.  If so, John and Karen (1Teach53) will be onboard and they are great folks to hang out with.  Although this cruise is about one month prior to our TA on the Mariner, I had to look and see availability/cost, but all categories are wait listed.  

Z and TB

[Travelcat2]

Photo of Roxanne and Dennis!

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

2 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Wow, that cruise is practically a Who's Who of CC bloggers.  I believe that this is the cruise originally scheduled for the Explorer, then Regent changed it to the Splendor.  If so, John and Karen (1Teach53) will be onboard and they are great folks to hang out with.  Although this cruise is about one month prior to our TA on the Mariner, I had to look and see availability/cost, but all categories are wait listed.  

Z and TB

 

Jackie and I originally booked this one on Explorer. We were surprised and delighted that Regent made the switch to Splendor, same suites, same price. It was handled easily. 

Also sailing with us are Maria and Bob, and I think Terry and Ray. I know there are many other CC’er’s booked. 

Perhaps there will be some cancellations when final payment is due, which is very early. 

Keep trying. 

Sheila

[Cybercsp]

Thanks so much, Travelcat2, for a great blog.  We will board tomorrow for our first Regent cruise, and this has been a fabulous preview.  It was generous of you to take the time to take us along with you.