Voyager Cruise #3 - Canary Isles from Lisbon

[CJANDH]

EMBARKATION: After reading the horror stories of dysfunctional embarkation processes on various boards, I was very pleasantly surprised by Regents approach at Lisbon. They staggered bus departures from the hotel in 15 minute intervals. We arrived at an uncrowded terminal and were  processed in about 30 minutes and aboard the ship enjoying a warm welcome and our first glass of bubbly. The whole process was as good if not better than pre covid.

 

I will experience the food service  for Day 1 at sea and post my opinion on how well Voyager has recovered from the poor service on its first two voyages. Stay tuned.

[Gilly]

In our experience, it's not so much Regent who influences the embarkation procedure, but the port agent, Regent's contractors.  So good to read of a positive experience.

 

Looking forward to reading more about your cruise!  Thanks for sharing.

[1982CruzStart]

looking forward to your observations. Have a wonderful cruise. 

[ronrick1943]

Looking forward to read your post - have a great cruise.

[asnaleah]

Following along with you. Thanks Chris!

[CJANDH]

We have now had a full day at sea and are currently in Madeira. I have to say right up front that everything has been great so far 🙂.

 

We have had dinner at both Compass Rose and Sette Mari. At each the service was excellent, both in terms of the attentiveness of the staff and the quality of the food. The lunch buffet at La Veranda is back to self service and the selection of dishes has been good. There was no smoked salmon on the buffet today and one of the staff overheard me telling DW that I was disappointed. Within minutes of sitting down, she came over with a portion of salmon for me from the kitchen. Top marks for initiative.

 

I have had the opportunity to speak with the General Manager, the Cruise Director and the F&B Manager. They each independently admitted that the first two cruises were not up to RSS standards but felt confident that things were now back under control. Through two days, I agree with them.

 

We dine at Chartreuse this evening. I will give my impression of that tomorrow.

 

BTW, Funchal, Madeira is a wonderful port of call. We took a trip to the highest point in the mountains this morning. The views are spectacular. Only problem was that we went from 70 degrees at sea level to what felt like freezing at an altitude of 5,000 feet. We had to purchase coats to keep warm! Our little gift to the economy of an island that is so glad to have cruises back.

 

To be continued. Chris.

 

 

[Boatmans Lady]

So pleased that they have ironed out the problems and you are having a good cruise. 

Is the Regent Orchestra back and I hope you get to see the production shows and everybody is back to full fitness?

 

Thank you for taking the time to post and I look forward to the rest of your posts. 

 

[CJANDH]

10 hours ago, Boatmans Lady said:

Is the Regent Orchestra back and I hope you get to see the production shows and everybody is back to full fitness?

They are playing. The first production show was postponed as one of the dancers reported sick Scared us as we obviously thought covid. But no. He had food poisoning from a trip ashore in Lisbon and is now back with the team. The postponed show goes on tonight.

[asnaleah]

Do you know the protocol for Covid positive cases on board? Can one quarantine in their suite, or are they moved? Glad to hear your cruise is going better than Voyager’s first two!

[PhD-iva]

Really enjoying your posts, esp the food porn!

[Tudorcruisers]

Really enjoying your posts.  We just left Voyager on Friday in Lisbon and although we had a very good cruise it seems like many felt it wasn’t up to their standard.  Our embarkation in Barcelona couldn’t have been smoother apart from the guy doing the nasal swab as it was the worst I have had.  In these times when there will be staff shortages I think we have to make adjustments and we found the staff to be first class. Have a wonderful cruise. 

[CJANDH]

4 hours ago, asnaleah said:

Do you know the protocol for Covid positive cases on board? Can one quarantine in their suite, or are they moved?

Pretty sure you would be moved. However there is no scheduled testing on the cruise. So, unless you "give yourself up to the authorities" it is unlikely anyone will be quarantined. The risk is at the end of the cruise when you take a test to go home if your country of origin still requires one (as of course the laggard US government does!!).

[CJANDH]

One more good day down. We had a fabulous dinner in Chartreuse last night and because we are sailing with only about 450 pax, we were able to get another reservation for later in the cruise with no difficulty. [Tip: talk to the Maitre D' rather that the reservation desk.]  Heather had the vegetarian special and loved it. I started with escargot served as I had never had them before in a rich cream sauce (delic!) and followed up with a tournedos of beef with three different types of foie gras. The Bordeaux was great.

 

Today we had a too big breakfast in Compass Rose and a quick bite at the pool grill for lunch before taking an afternoon speedboat trip around the north coast of La Palma, Canary Isles, where we got up close and personal to the recently erupted volcano . . . what a sight!

 

Tonight we have arranged with Compass Rose for a special Indian feast. Cannot wait. More later 😍 Chris.

[seasickphil]

9 hours ago, CJANDH said:

They are playing. The first production show was postponed as one of the dancers reported sick Scared us as we obviously thought covid. But no. He had food poisoning from a trip ashore in Lisbon and is now back with the team. The postponed show goes on tonight.

There was only 1 production show on our cruise departing from Barcelona 05/04/22, don't know if it went ahead as we were quarantined when it was scheduled.

[TomTN]

3 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

There was only 1 production show on our cruise departing from Barcelona 05/04/22, don't know if it went ahead as we were quarantined when it was scheduled.

On the 3-26 cruise the production show lasted only a few minutes because of an injury caused by rough seas. The was no second production show.

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

So, unless you "give yourself up to the authorities" it is unlikely anyone will be quarantined.

It is to be hoped that anyone who is symptomatic would report in order to avoid spreading the virus to other guests and crew

[Pcardad]

On 4/17/2022 at 9:59 AM, CJANDH said:

We have now had a full day at sea and are currently in Madeira. I have to say right up front that everything has been great so far 🙂.

 

We have had dinner at both Compass Rose and Sette Mari. At each the service was excellent, both in terms of the attentiveness of the staff and the quality of the food. The lunch buffet at La Veranda is back to self service and the selection of dishes has been good. There was no smoked salmon on the buffet today and one of the staff overheard me telling DW that I was disappointed. Within minutes of sitting down, she came over with a portion of salmon for me from the kitchen. Top marks for initiative.

 

I have had the opportunity to speak with the General Manager, the Cruise Director and the F&B Manager. They each independently admitted that the first two cruises were not up to RSS standards but felt confident that things were now back under control. Through two days, I agree with them.

 

We dine at Chartreuse this evening. I will give my impression of that tomorrow.

 

BTW, Funchal, Madeira is a wonderful port of call. We took a trip to the highest point in the mountains this morning. The views are spectacular. Only problem was that we went from 70 degrees at sea level to what felt like freezing at an altitude of 5,000 feet. We had to purchase coats to keep warm! Our little gift to the economy of an island that is so glad to have cruises back.

 

To be continued. Chris.

 

 

Who is the F&B Manager?

[Luvwillow]

We will be sailing out of Lisbon on the Voyager in September. Thank you for your reports. Glad to hear that all is back to normal. Look forward to future impressions.

[CJANDH]

Today we are in Tenerife. Quiet day with just a short bus tour this morning.

 

Last evening was special. Our Indian butler arranged with the chef to prepare  an Indian banquet for us in Compass Rose. It was over the top good! They even arranged for an Indian waiter to serve us course by course, as he said, "in the way my family would serve you" back home in Mumbai. We loved it.

 

The sea was very rough last night and the production show "Rock and Soul" was cancelled for the second time, this time for the safety of the dancers. Disappointing but wise. Tonight we have a second show from Irish comedian Billy Boyle. He is funny without resorting to bad language, which is rare these days.

 

First two issues arose today. First the tour bus made no attempt at social distancing. It was a 52 seat bus with 48 people on board. Everyone wore masks. But it was a bit to much togetherness for me.

 

The second was a MAJOR failure for the restaurant management at the lunchtime buffet: NO CAPERS WITH THE SMOKED SALMON!!!! Just joking of course.

 

Chris.

[CJANDH]

16 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Who is the F&B Manager?

Vlad.

[Gilly]

We have also had spectacular Indian meals served on request, frequently using family recipes and always incredibly generous in terms of quality and quantity!  It's in this way that truly memorable evenings begin...so glad you got to enjoy that very special Regent treat!

[CJANDH]

14 hours ago, CJANDH said:

Who is the F&B Manager?

His full name is Vladimir Cavic.

[Pcardad]

9 hours ago, CJANDH said:

His full name is Vladimir Cavic.

Ah yes - he is from Serbia I think.

[CJANDH]

15 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Ah yes - he is from Serbia I think

He is.

[CJANDH]

It is rough out here in the Atlantic. Very high winds and waves of 10 to 12 feet for the last three days. We have a day at sea to enjoy the "Rocking 'n' Rolling". Things are supposed to quiet down a bit as we approach Gibraltar.

 

Nothing much new to report on the quality of the cruise. Service and food are good and the capers are back with the salmon on the buffet ☺️. The only disappointment is that the major production show "Rock and Soul" has been postponed again due to rough seas making it dangerous for the dancers.