cruiseluv Posted December 8, 2019 #301 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Hello Jackie, Hope you're home or close to it! Thank you for taking us along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambagahle Posted December 8, 2019 #302 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Hi Jackie - I haven't been able to read your posts for a couple of days - have been in Basel, without computer, for the weekend (Christmas markets with my granddaughter!) Love the photos of the cats! And I can see why you miss them. Also - now I see the design of the buffet area in La Veranda I completely see that it is impossible to station serving staff there to serve the guests. BIG oversight in design IMO because I still believe that not having hundreds of "sticky fingers" touching serving spoons etc is more hygenic. Photos of the Grand lunch buffet - could have been taken in the MDR on Oceania at a Sunday brunch. Exactly the same sort of things. And I must say all delicious! Hope by now you are home with the marathon flights done and dusted. And looking forward to seeing you and Dennis in March. MANY thanks for the entire thread from the insightful comments, to the great photos and from time to time putting up with "interruptions" in a very graceful way!! Gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare bebop bonnie Posted December 8, 2019 #303 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Thank you, Jackie, as always for you incredibly informative comments, responses (to all our never-ending questions!) and photos! Love all your posts....and the kitties are precious!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted December 8, 2019 #304 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Thanks again for posting, now that I see the LV dining on the Explorer (which I forgot how big it is compared to the smaller ships) I'm looking forward to be on the Splendor soon. LV looks great. Glad your home with the little ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare boblerm Posted December 8, 2019 #305 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Jackie, welcome home, hope your flights went well. Thanks for all the great info, the duo playing in the Explorer lounge sounds...interesting? I think that venue would be more enjoyable if we could get them to take the volume down a bit, at least for the before dinner sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Caroldoll Posted December 9, 2019 #306 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Hope you and Dennis traveled safely. C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
califsealion Posted December 9, 2019 #307 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Thanks for your live updates! What was the final verdict on the seasickness glasses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #308 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Thank you for your kind comments - I really need to pst the photos and wrap this up so I'll get to it. califsealion (love your avatar). The seas were calm the last two days so I did not get a chance to try them again. I don't want to recommend something that costs around $100 (less expensive ones are probably from China - they look similar to the original ones from France but who knows what the difference is). It did seem to work except that one time. All I can say is that with the fairly rough seas, I only took 1/2 of pill for seasickness once which is a plus. Overall, the cruise was very good. Rather than rambling as I usually do, I'll try to organize my final thoughts below: 1. First, some comments about the crew. If you go to Prime 7, ask for Vishnu's table. He is one of the best servers that we have had. Pacific Rim overall has wonderful service (even from the new crew members). I had difficulty picking a "Shining Star" for this cruise. Anna in La Veranda is definitely a star and I was going to name her. She was recently employee of the month and guests rave about her. She is definitely a shining star but isn't THE "Shining Star". That would be Cecilia in the Meridian Lounge (she may be in another lounge now). She is from Mexico - makes great drinks - always has a big smile and remembers her guests. 2. Part two about the crew - the not so perfect part. As with any job, some people excel fairly quickly and others do not. While new crew members get in-depth training, no one can prepare you for working on a ship 7 days a week - long hours and some grouchy guests. In an industry where new ships are being built all of the time, getting experienced crew can be a challenge (for all cruise lines). We saw a lot of progress in the short time that we were onboard with the new crew. We also saw a couple of crew members that seemed a bit lost. This should be sorted out rather quickly. 3. I will not belabor the internet issue as we all know that there are issues. I believe that Regent will deal with it. 4. The officers were great! Despite the fact that Andreas (General Manager) came to Regent from Oceania a few years ago (something that I like to tease him about), he fits Regent perfectly. He was always available and did his best to calm the concerns of guests (particularly about the internet and missing Bermuda which were the major complaints). Must mention here that it is amazing to me that people blame Regent for missing ports. Had we sailed towards Bermuda, we would have to go through an enormous storm with very high waves and we still would have had difficulty getting to Bermuda. 5. Food is so subjective. We intensely disliked Pacific Rim for our first two cruises and now want to dine there as often as possible. We love the food (but have learned what to order that meets our palette). Some items in Chartreuse are quite good while others were not to our taste. Prime 7 has been a puzzlement since it was first launched. It can be top notch (as it was on this cruise) or a total failure. We always enjoy CR and this time we sat in John's section - excellent service. As mentioned previously, some people find the back of the venue to be quiet but we do not care for that area. The center of CR tends to be noisy but the sides (the tables by the window and the next row of tables) is no nosier than any other ship (in my opinion). 6. Volume of entertainment. Theater - extremely loud. Meridian Lounge - medium loud. Observation Lounge - generally piano music played at a reasonable volume (we did not spend time there this time). The night of the Beatles event, that took place in the atrium, was so loud that it could likely cause hearing damage. I was in the Business Center on the deck above and wondered what on earth was going on with the intensely loud music (I enjoy Beatles music but it does not have to be played so loudly.). Live music on the pool deck during lunch can also be deafening. 7. The ship looks like new. Almost everyone that I spoke with loves Explorer. She does have some quirks but don't we all? The reasons that we rate Explorer #1 in the fleet is because of the suite layout for regular suites (F1, F2 and Concierge), the extra dining venue, the seating areas on deck 5 where people can sit on sofas or chairs - work on their tablets/phones/laptops - people watch - watch the ocean or just read, We also like being able to dine in specialty restaurants for lunch and really enjoy the wonderful Sunday brunch in CR. La Veranda is also so open and easy to get around as compared to the other ships. The other ships are lovely but Explorer, to us, is the complete package. 8. What to do on sea days. I do have several Passages in the still unpacked suitcase but I remember most of it without having to take photos and post. On sea days there are always at least two lectures in the Constellation Theater. Canyon Ranch (now gone from Explorer -- since Friday) had lectures in smaller venues about your body, diet and other helpful things. I assume that the new spa will do the same kind of thing. There are games that may sound silly but are very popular. Some games are against other guests while others are guests against officers. Of course, there is Trivia and Bingo. On Explorer this time, Afternoon Tea was held in the Meridian Lounge and I believe that Trivia was held in the Observation Lounge. On transatlantic cruises, there may be a Country Fair (described in a previous post) which is 45 minutes of good fun (even if you don't participate, seeing the booths and the crew dressed up in funny costumes is enjoyable.). One booth that I like is one where you are racing with someone - holding a martini glass that contains colored water - trying to fill up a container. It is much more fun than it sounds. Time for photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #309 Share Posted December 9, 2019 I have no idea where I left off with the Connoisseur Wine list so I’ll just do the last six pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #310 Share Posted December 9, 2019 That upload took less than 30 seconds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #311 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Horta, Azores 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #312 Share Posted December 9, 2019 More Horta 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #313 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Back to La Veranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 9, 2019 Author #314 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Will wrap this up as soon as I can. Real life keeps interfering!🐈 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambagahle Posted December 9, 2019 #315 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Glad you are back to "real life" and thanks again for the comments and photos. A question -- on our Roll call for the March cruise someone just posted that Serena will not be our Captain. Apparently her "tour of duty" will end before we board. Any ideas as to whom s/he (must be a he I suppose) might be??? Felice would be great... just my thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising diva Posted December 10, 2019 #316 Share Posted December 10, 2019 New to Regent. Someone mentioned that the hotel director’s name is Andreas. What is his last name please? Thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycruisingUK Posted December 10, 2019 #317 Share Posted December 10, 2019 From the Seven Seas Society magazine which was waiting for us after our Explorer cruise. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted December 10, 2019 Author #318 Share Posted December 10, 2019 (edited) happycruisingUK - thank you posting that list. I can never remember how to spell Andreas’ name. BTW, be prepared for changes to that schedule. Changes were even happening when we were on the ship last week. Well, “real life” has taken over and the photos that I have not posted are really not that interesting. Just happy that I was able to upload in seconds once I got home. I’ll leave you with on more photo (probably posted earlier) - one that I am fascinated by. See you all in March - from Splendor. In the meantime, I can be reached at mitamejade@gmail.com! Edited December 10, 2019 by Travelcat2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lespat Posted December 10, 2019 #319 Share Posted December 10, 2019 On 11/21/2019 at 7:01 PM, rcandkc said: What is TAP? I’m feeling a little ignorant 😜. Portuguese Airways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Voyager Posted December 10, 2019 #320 Share Posted December 10, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said: I’ll leave you with on more photo (probably posted earlier) - one that I am fascinated by. Espada Preta---- How can something so ugly taste good. Preferably fried with fried banana. Edited December 10, 2019 by English Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted December 11, 2019 #321 Share Posted December 11, 2019 11 hours ago, happycruisingUK said: From the Seven Seas Society magazine which was waiting for us after our Explorer cruise. Hope this helps. From this list it doesn't look like Captain Serena Melani won't be the Captain in March 2020 on the SS Splendor. Sorry to see that has we really enjoyed her on other sailings and was looking forward to seeing her on the ship. We board the SS Splendor on April 1 out of Miami for a b2b. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted February 17, 2020 Author #322 Share Posted February 17, 2020 50 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said: Seems you aren't content with Seabourn or Oceania either. Maybe a different type of holiday would be better suited for you. You may have misunderstood my post I omitted Seabourn because we haven't sailed on them and Oceania is not a luxury cruise line). The part that you missed is that we love Regent - have taken 34 Regent cruises with the 35th coming up next month. We tried the other luxury lines to see if they were better (for us) than Regent and they were not. IF we could not sail on Regent, we would sail on Silversea, then Oceania and finally Crystal (only if we could stay in a Crystal Penthouse again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkystheLimit Posted February 17, 2020 #323 Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said: You may have misunderstood my post I omitted Seabourn because we haven't sailed on them and Oceania is not a luxury cruise line). The part that you missed is that we love Regent - have taken 34 Regent cruises with the 35th coming up next month. We tried the other luxury lines to see if they were better (for us) than Regent and they were not. IF we could not sail on Regent, we would sail on Silversea, then Oceania and finally Crystal (only if we could stay in a Crystal Penthouse again). Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was not referencing your post. It was the one regarding the Explorer being "far, far from the most luxurious ship". We were on TA on the Explorer and absolutely loved the ship. Booked for this summer on her. Again, apologies for any misunderstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted February 17, 2020 Author #324 Share Posted February 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said: Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was not referencing your post. It was the one regarding the Explorer being "far, far from the most luxurious ship". We were on TA on the Explorer and absolutely loved the ship. Booked for this summer on her. Again, apologies for any misunderstanding. Not a problem🤘 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-2-Bs Best! Posted February 19, 2020 #325 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Sorry, y'all, too busy to do a detailed reply. I will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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