*Live(ish)* Splendor - “Summer in Scandinavia”

[lprp]

Initial observations about Splendor:

It’s much lighter and brighter than Explorer, with a more contemporary feel, the artwork seems a little more subtle.

 

The theatre as previously noted by many others has much better sight lines.

 

The staircase down to Compass Rose now faces the restaurant and is a definite improvement IMO.

 

On the slightly negative side, IMHO Coffee Connection and the Observation Lounge have lost a bit of their charm, compared to Explorer, they seem a little soulless. The seating in the Observation Lounge doesn’t have the same appeal for “lounging” in.

 

Service so far has been good, the wine waiter was a little busy last night, so we didn’t drink as much wine as we could have, but that may have been a good thing……

We have seen a few faces among the crew that we recall from past cruises, this is always a great feeling and the crew members seem to love it when you recognise them.

[pingpong1]

Iprp - Thanks so much for posting.  Please keep the observations and thoughts coming, as your time permits.  Our first cruise on Splendor will be this November (less than 3 months from now - Yay!) and we're really looking forward to it! Regards

[lprp]

We woke to a cloudy day in Isafjordur.

 

We berthed next to another HAL Ship - Rotterdam, while (New) Crystal Serenity was anchored, guess maybe that the itineraries for other cruise lines would have been agreed long before Crystal, leaving them no option but to anchor 🤔.

 

Our tour this morning was Artic Foxes and Avalanches. Apparently there are plenty of both here, but you are more likely to see the latter 😬. Fortunately we saw the former, albeit in captivity, as they were rescued as cubs and avoided the latter 😅.

 

The tour guide, was an Australian who has been living in Iceland since getting stuck here during the pandemic! Quite interesting to choose living where for circa 3 months of the year you are unlikely to witness the sun…..

 

She was quite interesting and regaled us with stories of Trolls and Elves as well as more esoteric information. Apparently, the 3 cruise ships “more than doubled” the inhabitants of the area. It didn’t seem crowded though.

 

I’m trying to upload some photos from today, but it’s not letting me at the moment 🤷‍♀️

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by lprp

[Portolan]

Just lost the port call at Jude com due to high winds and rough seas.  We got the word last night that we'd be docking rather than anchoring so that would have been an improvement, but the captain felt that he'd tugboat assistance (or backup) and none were available in Husavik.

 

We've been to Iceland several times so our (now cancelled) excursion was more of a revisit rather than new experience, but we feel sorry for those on the ship who are new to Iceland for the missed opportunity.

 

Otherwise, everything about the ship, service and crew has been fine...to including winning the first trivia contest yesterday with a newly met teammate couple.  Just need a medical doctor to round out the team since we have Americans, Brits, engineers/scientists, geographers and English lit experise.

[lprp]

Really struggling with uploading photos 😬.

Last night we ate in Pacific Rim, it’s always

such a treat. My (appetiser size) portion of Lobster Tempura and my main of Miso Black Cod were just as good as I had remembered them 😋

I have an allergy to scallops (I love them but sadly they really don’t like me at all), so couldn’t even taste the Seafood Laksa that  RP had but he assured me it was delicious, as was the Alaskan Crab Roll appetiser.

We both ended the meal with the Ice Cream Sampler — who would have imagined that sea weed ice cream was edible? I’m not sure I’d order it in a cone, but it was definitely better than it sounds!

 

We skipped the comedian show opting for an early night.

I almost forgot to mention that our Team of 5 (3 from the US and 2 Brits) came a respectable 2nd in Trivia with 15 out of 16 points 😁.

We turned in our tour tickets for Husavik to Destination Services, the weather forecast was bad and we didn’t fancy the outdoor baths, no matter how reinvigorating the waters are supposed to be, we planned instead to walk into town and visit the Whale

…..Turns out it made no difference as the Captain came on the PA into our suites at 7am to announce that he was cancelling the stop due to high winds and no tug boat to assist us. So we now have 2 B2B sea days.

 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, lprp said:

Really struggling with uploading photos 

Have you tried reducing their size?

Some apps are available, such as "Image-Size"

[lprp]

 

Q. How many crew members does it take to change the lightbulb outside the Observation Lounge?

 

A. Just 1, with “moral support” from 3 others inside, including the crew members supervisor!

 The poor crew member wasn’t really tall enough so had to really stretch to remove and replace the bulb, his, much taller, supervisor could have done it in less than half the time 🤨 

 

Thanks @flossie009 - hopefully it worked 🤞

Edited September 2, 2023 by lprp

[lprp]

Some photos from Isafjordur

[lprp]

Yesterday was Sunday, it was also a sea day, which, if you’re on Splendor or Explorer usually means that it’s (drum roll please) “GALA SUNDAY BRUNCH”.

We’ve only experienced this phenomenon once before on Explorer - it’s an amazing thing!

The Wi-Fi has been a little challenging, just the written part of this has taken several attempts!

[boblerm]

Thank you for your posts, and continue to enjoy your cruise!

[lprp]

Yesterday we were in Trondheim, Norway which is a town of about 213,000 residents.

 

We waitlisted for the Tram and Bus tour in the theatre and struck lucky…..🤔

 

There was plenty of “liquid sunshine” including for the 15-20 minute wait for the vintage tram, some kind of mix up with the schedule meant that the tram wasn’t waiting for us when we arrived. Fortunately it wasn’t too cold or windy.

The tram took us to an overlook over the City, Port and Church, nothing particularly noteworthy.

There is a little island just off the pier that has a checkered history.

It has been a place for Viking executions, a monastery a WW2 gun station by the Germans and a prison; the guide called it Norway’s Alcatraz

Today it’s a tourist attraction!

 

I took a photo from the overlook on our tour, not realising that we had a much better vantage point from our suite balcony.

 

Dinner was in Compass Rose, a little disappointing, my Dover Sole was borderline tough, not sufficiently to send it back, but not the tender flaky flesh I had hoped for. Interestingly, RP and our 2 table companions, all with different main courses were similarly underwhelmed. Perhaps the chef was having an off day…or a day off.

The show was Bohemian Soul which was a new one for us. It featured the Regent singers and dancers and was quite good.

Tomorrow is Alesund, and, perhaps more importantly, the Seven Seas Society Cocktail Party, which DEFINITELY, most importantly, means Miso Sea Bass 😋😋

LP

[RachelG]

Those little foxes are so cute!

 

Portolan, wish I were onboard, as I would gladly join your trivia team and provide medical advice. 

[lprp]

Yesterday we were in Alesund, Norway.

We slept late and were awakened by the Captain at 9:20am advising that we would have a slightly late arrival.

In what seemed like no time we were alongside in a pretty port, the sun was shining too, which was a pleasant change.

We had an early afternoon tour so we snatched a light breakfast snack in Coffee Connection followed by a piece of Pizza and a sandwich at the Pool Grill.

Our tour was the Sunnmore Museum - an outdoor museum of old Nordic buildings and boats - followed by a drive to a viewing platform, which delivered some amazing views.

As we sailed out of the port we were serenaded by a small Norwegian brass band.

 

Dinner at Compass Rose did not disappoint - the Miso Glazed Sea Bass with Sticky Rice was every bit as delicious as I had (a) hoped, (b) dreamed, (c) imagined.

The show was Philip Brown, a singer from the UK we have seen twice before. He is phenomenal. Top Tip if he is ever on any Regent ship DO NOT MISS HIS SHOW!!!

[crusin7]

Thank you for the great pictures.  This is one of my favorite ports.  I was sorry we missed it last month on the Navigator.  

[RachelG]

Stunning pictures.  It has been years since we visited Alesund, but I recall enjoying it very much. 

[lprp]

Yesterday we were in Skjolden, Norway.

Our tour was supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour bus trip to see Glaciers and Landscapes, we were also waitlisted for the Rib Fjord Adventure.

After a leisurely breakfast in Compass Rose (we actually got up in time to go there 😴), I went to the theatre to see if there were any Rib Adventure tour tickets available. As luck would have it, there were 2 for the afternoon, so we returned the other tickets in exchange.

The Tour Gods must have been smiling on us……

About an hour later Margaret came on the PA system to announce that despite all the necessary checks having been done by Destination Services, the local tour operator was unable or unwilling to provide the necessary buses for the tours! As a result the only tours that would be taking place were those involving the Rib Boats!

Eventually 2 buses did turn up and I believe ferried passengers to and from town. I don’t know the reason why the buses didn’t arrive - I’ve heard several theories, I won’t repeat them here as they range from one extreme to another!

Having got suitably attired for our adventure, we clambered aboard the RIB.

 

The scenery for the next 1h15m was spectacular.

I’ve attached a few photos below - they might be a bit repetitive but they are all from different places 😂

 

One (possibly) interesting tidbit from our RIB Driver guide is that for the English Premier League Football teams, all the names, numbers and sleeve badges will be produced at Avery Dennison's factory in Western Norway, not far from where we were - if I’d ever been asked to guess where they are manufactured I would almost certainly have guessed China! You never know it might be a question at Trivia one day 😉.

 

Dinner was at Prime7. Somehow our sharing table booking became a table for 2 by the window - the views, albeit through salt sprayed windows was spectacular - the last photo is from the window of P7.

 

We then went to the Crossroads show, I was wondering whether to bother given some earlier reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised. Not as fabulous as Divos and Divas (on tonight) but definitely better than some other shows we’ve seen.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day. 

[lincslady]

Lovely photos - it really was your lucky day!

[1982CruzStart]

Absolutely beautiful. thank you. 

[lprp]

Yesterday was a sea day.

In sharp contrast to the beautiful weather the day before, it was damp and foggy, with the foghorn sounding fairly constantly.

We tried and failed to win Regent Rewards points at shuffle golf.

 

We spent some time trying to decide which cruise to book for Christmas 2024.

 

The only other noteworthy thing about the daytime was that I found my little piggy sock that had gone missing in the laundry room (I don’t generally use the laundry service for socks and underwear preferring to use the machines)!l - its sibling is happy to be reunited 😂

We had a very good dinner in Compass Rose and went to the Divos and Divas show, which was very good, although possibly not as good as the version we saw on Explorer last Christmas.

[lprp]

Quick update to say that we have several cases of Gastroenteritis on board and as a result the library and laundry rooms are closed.

 We realised it serious when we had to mark our own trivia papers!!

The Captain and Margaret have both been on the PA imploring guests to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer.

[pappy1022]

Get them to clean that ship top to bottom, we are next onboard. 😀

[Techno123]

I think your photo of the waterfall might be Fegumfossen ? We stopped in Skjolden in July and cycled (16km each way) to the waterfall then climbed it. It was stunning and no cruise passengers except us😜

[Techno123]

Re the gastroenteritis - my huge gripe is that the staff are not 'strongly suggesting' to passengers that they wash/sanitise their hands before 'bugs' take hold 🤔.
 

We have cruised on Navigator (last December) and Seabourn's Ovation (July to Norway see above) and only a tiny minority sanitised their hands prior to entering the dining rooms. I think people have forgotten that 'tummy bugs' were the main transmissible disease prior to Covid.

[lprp]

23 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

cycled (16km each way) to the waterfall then climbed it.

@Techno123 - that’s just showing off 😮

[lprp]

15 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Re the gastroenteritis - my huge gripe is that the staff are not 'strongly suggesting' to passengers that they wash/sanitise their hands before 'bugs' take hold 🤔.
 

We have cruised on Navigator (last December) and Seabourn's Ovation (July to Norway see above) and only a tiny minority sanitised their hands prior to entering the dining rooms. I think people have forgotten that 'tummy bugs' were the main transmissible disease prior to Covid.

I make a VERY showy point of using the hand sanitizer when we go into the restaurants, the number of people who don’t are unbelievable…..BUT, what is beyond comprehension are the people who come out of a toilet cubicle and don’t was their hands 😱