Voyager Iceland (with precruise details) to Copenhagen 7/30-8/11 live report

[forevertravel]

Macbeth, please say hello to Alberto from Pilar (he calls me Madame Pilar).  We love Alberto. He was our waiter on many cruises. I'm happy he's been promoted. He's excellent. We saw him last on Splendor November 2020.

[asnaleah]

Gorgeous photos! I want to go there now…

[macbest]

Prime 7 dinner, Faroe Island day

Much has been written on this steakhouse. For the last several cruises we have struggled to have any steak other than a fillet cooked to our liking or not being tender. We decided to play it differently today. 

 

We were seated at what I call the “chairman’s table” which has a view over the entire restaurant. We used to always get this table the time we went to China on the voyager in a grand suite. 

 

Service was exquisite. We heard earlier this cruise about being rushed and “hovered over”. We went in with this knowledge and asked for a slower paced meal. Dominic, the restaurant maitre D, checked in with us to make sure everything was going at a pace we liked. Our waitress, Danle was excellent. 

 

Now for the food. The standard starter (amuse bouche) is the roasted tomato soup with a blue cheese foam. Not a fan of blue cheese but this is very mild. I whipped it up with the soup and it was very refreshing. 

 

We both started with the tuna Tartare with fried shallots, Acacado and cucumber. It was excellent. Maybe a bit too much sauce ( a mixture of soy, and sesame oil) but very enjoyable. I noticed some type of nut that was also included that gave it a nice crunch to all the savory elements. 

I also tried the crab cake which was excellent. Nice lump crab with minimal breading and a tarter sauce that was enhanced with a squeeze of lemon. Delicious!

Our salads were the wedge salad (mine with extra sauce) and a Caesar that was a half a head of romaine. Both were excellent with a dressing on the Caesar that was different from elsewhere on the ship. The wedge had this smoky bacon that made it. 

For entree Laura had the slow roasted prime rib, perfectly cooked. I decided to avoid the beef due to past issues and try the double cut pork chop. Awesome! Especially with a habanero maple bbq sauce (shown). 

It’s all about the sides here. We had crispy onion rings, masked potatoes, creamy spinach, corn, potato gratin (incredible!) and green beans. All were excellent prepared. 

I love ice cream and only eat it when we cruise. Adding the Carmel popcorn? Wow match made in heaven. I have this every time and it never disappoints. Laura had a red velvet cheesecake. Everything tonight was well prepared, hot, and delicious. Can’t always say that (although i have been the last few nights!). Top it off with top notch service, what an enjoyable evening. 

For wine we ordered the Belle Glos, Pinot Noir. Santa Lucia highlands central California where some of the best Pinots are coming from. Probably the best Pinot Noir on board not because it was but because they don’t really have a selection to compare to. Had a glass of the R mix (Syrah, cab mix) with the main course as someone else suggested on this board and it was pretty good. 

Till our next meal, stay tuned. We are in the Shetland islands tomorrow and weather looks to be substantially better. 

[dvalentine823]

1 hour ago, macbest said:

Prime 7 dinner, Faroe Island day

Much has been written on this steakhouse. For the last several cruises we have struggled to have any steak other than a fillet cooked to our liking or not being tender. We decided to play it differently today. 

 

We were seated at what I call the “chairman’s table” which has a view over the entire restaurant. We used to always get this table the time we went to China on the voyager in a grand suite. 

 

Service was exquisite. We heard earlier this cruise about being rushed and “hovered over”. We went in with this knowledge and asked for a slower paced meal. Dominic, the restaurant maitre D, checked in with us to make sure everything was going at a pace we liked. Our waitress, Danle was excellent. 

 

Now for the food. The standard starter (amuse bouche) is the roasted tomato soup with a blue cheese foam. Not a fan of blue cheese but this is very mild. I whipped it up with the soup and it was very refreshing. 

 

We both started with the tuna Tartare with fried shallots, Acacado and cucumber. It was excellent. Maybe a bit too much sauce ( a mixture of soy, and sesame oil) but very enjoyable. I noticed some type of nut that was also included that gave it a nice crunch to all the savory elements. 

I also tried the crab cake which was excellent. Nice lump crab with minimal breading and a tarter sauce that was enhanced with a squeeze of lemon. Delicious!

Our salads were the wedge salad (mine with extra sauce) and a Caesar that was a half a head of romaine. Both were excellent with a dressing on the Caesar that was different from elsewhere on the ship. The wedge had this smoky bacon that made it. 

For entree Laura had the slow roasted prime rib, perfectly cooked. I decided to avoid the beef due to past issues and try the double cut pork chop. Awesome! Especially with a habanero maple bbq sauce (shown). 

It’s all about the sides here. We had crispy onion rings, masked potatoes, creamy spinach, corn, potato gratin (incredible!) and green beans. All were excellent prepared. 

I love ice cream and only eat it when we cruise. Adding the Carmel popcorn? Wow match made in heaven. I have this every time and it never disappoints. Laura had a red velvet cheesecake. Everything tonight was well prepared, hot, and delicious. Can’t always say that (although i have been the last few nights!). Top it off with top notch service, what an enjoyable evening. 

For wine we ordered the Belle Glos, Pinot Noir. Santa Lucia highlands central California where some of the best Pinots are coming from. Probably the best Pinot Noir on board not because it was but because they don’t really have a selection to compare to. Had a glass of the R mix (Syrah, cab mix) with the main course as someone else suggested on this board and it was pretty good. 

Till our next meal, stay tuned. We are in the Shetland islands tomorrow and weather looks to be substantially better. 

 

Thanks for the Prime7 review. On our last Splendor cruise, Prime7 was a disappointment. Our steaks were tough and thin, and did not seem at all "prime". We have two reservations on our B2B cruise starting next Wednesday, so I think we will try the same red meat options that you chose!

[macbest]

5 minutes ago, dvalentine823 said:

 

Thanks for the Prime7 review. On our last Splendor cruise, Prime7 was a disappointment. Our steaks were tough and thin, and did not seem at all "prime". We have two reservations on our B2B cruise starting next Wednesday, so I think we will try the same red meat options that you chose!

That is exactly where we had the issue, on the splendor. Went twice. Both times disappointed. One thing we did notice is that king crab legs are no longer on the menu. May be due to availability. Or that the price has dramatically increased. 

[Kwaj girl]

8 minutes ago, macbest said:

That is exactly where we had the issue, on the splendor. Went twice. Both times disappointed. One thing we did notice is that king crab legs are no longer on the menu. May be due to availability. Or that the price has dramatically increased. 

 

We just disembarked Voyager last Saturday after a B2B.  Enjoyed many wonderful P7 dinners with Darle.  Surprised about the crab legs as they were on the menu at that time IIRC.

Love your memory-inducing photos....but how the heck did you manage to enjoy all those choices at one meal? Yeah, jealous, as I can usually finish just 1 starter, main, and a side or 2 (steamed mushrooms and asparagus).  Love your wine choice- we were gifted a case of it for Christmas a couple of years ago.  Mmmmmm.

[macbest]

Fun day touring around the Shetland islands. Best weather so far since we left! Very different geography. We visited an archeological dig (when in Shetland). Our tour didn’t Include any close ups of the infamous Shetland Ponies but we could see some from the road. Was just nice to have sun again!

Town is so small that you have to drive across the runway of the major airport to get to the other side!

[eeguy]

Hi Wayne,

 

I think that we were on the same tour as you this afternoon. What a beautiful day in Shetland. We are at Prime7 tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions. 

 

David

[irishwitchy]

In Prime 7,  if you really want to go big,  order the seafood plateau as an appetizer for two and make sure there are four shrimp on it!    

[asnaleah]

I very much enjoyed the veal chop at Prime 7.

[macbest]

Compass Rose dinner, Shetland Islands

 

You have to love these beautiful Versace plates that are on the table when you arrive. Just gorgeous. We hate it when they have to take them away. George your meal arrives.
We started with a beef tartare that was tasty but I should have ordered some Dijon mustard which would have sent it over the top.

Laura had a mushroom tart that was incredible. Think about the mushroom duxelles that is around the meat in a beef Wellington. Delicious. Coupled with a red pepper coulis it was very enjoyable. 

I next headed to the “left side” menu and had the always available lobster bisque. I forgot how good this is. Very little cream (likely just the foam shown on the top) this is full flavored. I’m guessing they roast the lobster shells to make this as it is rich and deep but not overly heavy due to too much cream. 

I skipped taking pictures of our salads and the cantelope sorbet which literally tasted like eating your best cantelope. It was so good that I had a couple scoops for dessert!

 

It was prime rib night and since I didn’t have this last night like Laura did I went for it. Nicely prepared, cut very thin. I loaded up with horseradish. Yum. It came with hollandaise dressed broccoli And a potatoes gratin. 

Laura had the coq au vin, chicken thighs with a burgundy wine sauce. She very much enjoyed the mox of vegetables and flavors of this classic. 

I spotted a Thai dish also, a green curry vegetable dish and figured, why not? This was perfect as a side dish with many types of vegetables in a luscious green curry sauce. Not at all spicy however. 

A passion fruit soufflé with a coconut rum sauce and the cantelope sorbet ended our great meal.

Service again by Nino was incredible. He has dialed us in and fully anticipates what we would want at every step of the meal. He can now almost predict what we will have for dessert. 

 

We went with the included red wine tonight, an “R” (for Raymond, a California winery) Merlot that I had early on in the cruise and it was very smooth and enjoyable. Even Laura had it through tour the meal. 

 

We have been starting our evening at 6p in the front observation lounge with a cocktail and listening to Andrew on the piano. Such a civilized way to start the evening. 
Till tomorrow my friends, we will be in Bergen, Norway which is looking great for weather. 

[paulandjoyce]

Thanks for the great info and photos...we are getting ready for Iceland and Greenland on Princess and enjoyed your tour info - most of which, we are also doing through Princess. Keep having fun...we have been to Bergan and up the funicular - enjoy the rest of the cruise. Norway is wonderful.

[macbest]

Excursion: Mount Floyen, funicular and Troldhaugen, Bergen. 

They had a festival going on at the waterfront so the town was packed with people. As a result of an afternoon excursion and sleeping in we missed walking around the town which was a mistake. It looked cute with quite a bit to see. 

We weren’t sure what to expect at Trouldhaugen, a museum commemorating Edvar Grieg, the famous composer who also lived on the property. We had to look up the music as weren’t sure what he has written and was surprised on how many well known pieces he had written. The tour itself was a bit of a bust. Seeing a house where he lived that was very small, with a few momentos in each room only able to hold 15 people, was frankly, boring. 

The property it is on is beautiful as seen from the views below. The trip did provide a view of the parts of the city which is very modern with beautiful homes on steep hills, all near the water in some way. If you decide to do this, be sure to select the small group option as a large group would take much longer as the guide has to split the group into two to take them into the house. 

We went up the funicular on Mount Floyen which is brand new (2002) and modern. The view from the top over the city was excellent especially given the rain stopped (not common in Bergen). The Voyager is the ship in the middle in the picture showing the ports. For a first time visitor the funicular is the way to go. 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by macbest

[macbest]

Compass rose Dinner, Bergen

We started with “left side” (always available” menu items Including the Iberico ham with baby artichokes and piquillo peppers. What a great combination. They add caper berries and a “perfect bite” of all items together was amazing. We haven’t had this in several cruises and this will have to change for us as it was delicious. 

Also tried the Soft poached egg and black truffle with croutons and asparagus coulis. The truffle adds such an amazing Unami to this dish and the addition of a little salt brings it all together. This is a once a cruise dish and was very good. 

Salads for both of us and a raspberry sorbet intermezzo and then Laura had the Bucatini pasta with creamy veal bolognese and porcini mushroom sauce. This was incredible. The bucatini gives it that extra bite with the hollowness inside the spaghetti and the Veal / porcini sauce is subtle and not at all like a tomato sauce. A real winner. 

I had the chicken parmigiana with buffalo mozzarellla and tomato sauce and spaghetti. The meat was super moist but extra tomato sauce is needed (and we ordered after the fact which came out quite promptly along with some hotter green beans as the first were cold). I would order this again in a heartbeat. 

The disappointment came during dessert. The menu said chocolate napoleon which is this delightful flaky (like phyllo) layered dessert with a glossy kind of sweet icing. What came was below which was none of that and almost like a tiramisu. A real disappointment. Someone messed up on the menu is all we could tell. Two scoops of the raspberry sorbet made up for it…..

They served a Corvina Italian red wine from Rondinella, Veneto which was light like a Sangiovese but even smoother. Quite nice. 

 

Service all around by Nino was top notch. Such a joy to have dinner where everything is anticipated and just “happens”. 

 

Tomorrow is Stavanger Norway. But rain in forecast all day. 

[macbest]

Excursion to Lysefjorden fjord. Stavanger. 

We walked to the waiting small(er) boat that was comfortable and warm inside but ample space to get out to view the many formations (what the ice age did) and little towns of summer homes along the way.

Although overcast it did not rain. Wear an extra heavy coat if you are outside as the wind from the moving boat can be treacherous. The boat ride was very smooth. 

 

Beautiful views abounded including close ups where the captain would pull the boat right into crevices and in front of water falls. Very cool. Recommended. 

A great little waterfall that the captain pulled right up to  

Ended with included waffles and coffee at this cute little place on the water with an amazing view. 

Spotted these “fish globes” a local invention that is designed to stop many of the problems of salmon raising in the industry. See below. 

[wristband]

How were those waffles? Did they give you the famous locally sourced Stavenger syrup to pour atop?  If so, what flavor did you have - boisenberry or elderberry?

[macbest]

12 hours ago, wristband said:

How were those waffles? Did they give you the famous locally sourced Stavenger syrup to pour atop?  If so, what flavor did you have - boisenberry or elderberry?

They were a little flabby and not hot. They gave us bread and jelly. Didn’t know about the syrup. That would have been great!

[macbest]

Another relaxing afternoon after our tour this time by the pool (for one of us) where a nap seemed so appropriate. We went to the top tier seven seas society gathering for some beef tartare with caviar, foie gras and some other delicacies while we watched the assistant cruise director perform a ballet dance, the social director do a tap dance, and the cruise director Margaret sing a couple of songs (she is good!). No mention of any promotions or tier levels nor how many of each type (gold, platinum etc) that were on the ship. 

Compass Rose dinner, Stavanger 

We started with a spicy tuna maki (i had them replace the salmon sashimi for more maki) and a seared foie gras (left side of menu) both were delicious especially the latter. Surprising though no toast or brioche points with it. 

Salads for both of us and then I had a half order of the rigatoni with braised pork ragu that was amazing. Get this. Super flavorful with pasta perfectly cooked and the pork was luscious. 

A lime vodka sorbet as an intermezzo we both had the beef bourguignon over tagliatelle. Enjoyable. Ordered some mash potatoes (a must for that burgundy gravy) and sautéed spinach. 

Dessert was a raspberry cheesecake   And chocolate profiteroles. The former was excellent the latter good but Not great. 

Enjoyed an included Bordeaux wine and Laura had the R Merlot which is drinking nicely. 

 

Tonight we attended the comedian Billy Boyle who was much touted. We thought the show was good but nothing spectacular (or at least as hyped). Tomorrow is Kristenland and two tours so we will be busy. Weather continues to warm we might hit 60! Still 50% chance of rain. We will go out prepared….update on excursions this afternoon. 

[macbest]

Excursion: Kristiansand: Holden, Sogne, open air museum. 

 

We were entertained by these two lovely locals.

Kristiansand is supposed to have the most sun in Norway but alas, we had rain all morning. It is Sunday so all the stores are also closed in the cute town. Maybe should have planned better and woke up to Champagne and Caviar offered every Sunday on Regent. We just had room service. 

 

First stop was a bust. An aerial photo stop of what was a German naval installation years ago. 

The parking lot had this Mercedes with a tent on top. While I have seen this before on Trucks it surprised me. A lot of load for a car roof. A shame when that was the most “exciting” part of the stop. 

We then went on to the seaside town of Hollen. The bus from regent in front of us just circled and left. We stopped for 30 min. It sprinkled the whole time but at least was warmer. Some boats in the harbor. We stretched our legs but also why did we come to this spot?

We did get to meet eeguy on these boards so that was good and talked about their next adventures. 

 

Went Into the local store along the waterfront and spotted all the different foods unique to the area. 

 

Major construction going on everywhere especially the roads where they are cutting through rock to make way. 

 

The Kristiansand open air museum was interesting. Old homes from as far back as the 1650s we went in several and they told us what life was like back then. Worthwhile stop but we could have skipped the two first stops and spent more time here. We had a total of 45 min and could have had 1:15 easy.

So note to others coming to this port, skip this excursion and do something else (there wasn’t a lot of options however). 
Here is a map of the downtown area that is a 5-7 min walk from the ship

[macbest]

 

The short video of the entertainers at the dock

[wristband]

That "outdoor museum" looks like rotted wood structures falling apart, a boring model and an old fire pit.  Waste of time and uninspiring day.   As you said, walking to "downtown" Kristiansand would be far more interesting and fun.  Even if one stares at the sardine stands.

 

Maybe hot & flavorful waffles are offered there with local fruit syrups!

[labonnevie]

Agree that Kristiansand is lovely. 
For others stopping there if you are slightly adventurous, you can take a 25 minute city bus (was line 40) ride to Hollen. There you can hop on a small boat that takes the mail to four other islands, a little over an hour. So fun.
Then return the same way to Kritiansand in plenty of time to walk around the town. 

Makes for a great day. And yes, it often rains. 

[macbest]

Sette Mari dinner, Kristiansand 
After viewing the compass rose menu and not seeing anything that jumped out at us, we decided to go to Sette Mari. Despite getting there an hour after opening, Francisco, head waiter sat us right away by the window. 

 

The menu had changed window the last time we were there earlier in the cruise and for the better. We started with the standard items that come to table and then moved on to the buffet for round two of appetizers. A “little of this, a little of that:” salad with balsamic dressing ( a first this cruise - I plan on getting this for future salads, delicious. They had breaded meatballs with a truffle aioli that was really tasty. The yellow fin tuna carpaccio was bland. As was the pumpkin. The whole roasted garlic head was a nice touch. 

I did an appetizer portion of the lasagna. OMG. Probably the best ever (or at least since my last regent cruise!). First off in my book, lasagna has to have meat. And this one was filled with meat. The cheese was creamy and the pasta perfectly cooked. This came together beautifully. Get this. 

One of the major adds to the menu was the veal pounded thin and then breaded. Look at the size of this thing! Francisco recommended having this done parmigiana style and we took his advice. Others have written about this and they were right. It was incredible. Super moist, not oily, tasty breading. We added extra tomato sauce. We both loved this dish although something like a steamed green beans would have been nice. 

Decided to go with the limoncello (when in Italy…) for dessert. We had a beautiful sunset (one of the first in a long time in this trip. 

Excellent service from our waiter Eunicel, head waiter Alberto, and wine steward Jinky. Enjoyed a nice Italian varietal tonight. 

 

Early morning excursion into Oslo tomorrow. Temperature to be sunny and in the 70s! Best weather of our entire trip. Bring out the shorts!

[LouChamp]

Thank you for taking the time to post all your pictures and comments.  I especially enjoy the food pictures as we have been blessed to have visited many of the locales you comment. As for food….I can never get enough lol. So please be safe, travel well, and keep the food coming!

[macbest]

Oslo excursion number 1. By Land and by sea 

We woke up to warm weather! Being able to wear shorts for the first time in the last two weeks was a treat. After a quick room service breakfast (which by the way have been timely and generally good, but every day something is missing that we ordered, syrup for pancakes, coffee, sweetener, etc. more work needed here in quality control). 

 

They ended up having three groups crowd together just off the ship and then we walked 1/4 mile to the ship. All 114 of us waited for our 10 min for the ship to be ready for the sea portion and then we spent 20 min getting on and taking our seats. This was the preview of what was going to be a slow day. 

We left the dock and got to see a number of interesting sights from the water like the Munch Museum, the opera house and many other key buildings. Given the warm temp (probably 60-62 at departure) it was so nice having the sun at your back. Those that sat at the rear of the ship didn’t have speakers to hear the guide. It was nice to all be outside however. Many pictures follow or post the dock area and the beautiful views of the water and islands. 

museum of fine art

Munch Museum and Opera House:

We did a “one way ride” on the boat which should have been very efficient vs just going back to the starting point. But this was poorly executed. We waited around for over a half hour for the three busses in the morning group to arrive (they would then take the boat back to the ship) and we would take the busses onward. Once loaded on the bus we sat for 20 min before we found out that the guide that was supposed to go with us went on the boat with the other arriving groups. So no guide. What a screw up!!!. A lot of waiting around time with nothing in the area (shops or a coffee would have made this time fly). So we miss the land portion of the tour as the bus had to go back to the boat. I guess we got what we paid for…..

 

Again very poorly executed. I normally see a member of the Regent staff joining excursions and finally, one was pointed out on our bus. I asked what he was doing about this and he said, “I’m just a musician I can’t do anything.” Note to excursion staff- send someone along that has a phone number to call. I’m just telling you like it is for future guests to know. There may be some online here that are saying, “what’s the big deal, stuff happens”. Totally agree but we have one day in our lives (likely) to see Oslo and we missed some of it for no reason than poor execution.  
 

I guess you can’t “it” here

Impressive busses that are all electric 

Read the sign. When you want a gorilla burger

Never ending trolls

 

Even one of these in the souvenir store.