Grandeur live 12/14 - 12/21

[bitob]

The vibe very different. One guy tried to get into compass rose for dinner wearing shorts and a t shirt. 

[rcandkc]

10 minutes ago, bitob said:

The vibe very different. One guy tried to get into compass rose for dinner wearing shorts and a t shirt. 

😳 

We haven’t booked a 7 day since our first Regent and won’t.  They are just too short for the travel hassle but our first was 7 days so got us introduced to the line. So, they need to offer 7 day but recently there seems to be too many. 

[Camillus112]

I am in deck 9 and have not heard our neighbors at all.  We had the deck party today and it was the nicest!  Lovely neighbors and happy vibe.  Finally got in the pool this afternoon… yay!!

[kjbacon]

Thanks so much for reporting live! We are getting very excited as we board next month, even if there is a glitch or two. Somehow, we will find a way to suffer through 😉😃

 

Who is playing piano in the observation lounge for pre dinner happy hour? 

[Anon None]

Are there heated loungers in the spa?

[bitob]

This cruise may have set a record for the number of chair hogs 

 

every shaded chaise has stuff on it. No one in the pool and too early for lunch. They’re on an excursion. Lol
 

it really disgusts me

[Whinenowine]

16 hours ago, NYC-London said:

Today we were at Harvest Caye, NCL private island and upon returning to the ship, we witnessed two different individuals just throw their garbage on the ground near the entrance to the ship. There is no doubt, a seven day cruise has a different vibe and tone than all the other Regent cruises I have taken but it hasn't affected my enjoyment.

I'm not sure I'd chalk that up to the clientele on a shorter cruse as much as those people just being crap human beings.  I have no tolerance for that. I grew up in a very unspoiled part of the world, which became a tourist attraction.  And over two decades I saw it slowly destroyed by people who place their own convenience above everything and everyone else.

 

But I'm very happy you're not letting people like that ruin your vacation.

 

[Gpilon]

29 minutes ago, bitob said:

This cruise may have set a record for the number of chair hogs 

 

every shaded chaise has stuff on it. No one in the pool and too early for lunch. They’re on an excursion. Lol
 

it really disgusts me

On our Splendor TA this past April, crew had a table set up by pool bar and notices advising anyone who left items on a pool chair for more than 30 minutes (believe that was time) would have their items collected by staff and placed on this table for pickup. Became the walk of shame for far too many miscreants. Would hope/expect Grandeur to do the same thing. I would be speaking with someone about it.

[Camillus112]

We have also suffered rude guests trampling over me, I hopefully do not look like a rug.  This was while getting out of an elevator.  Otherwise we are enjoying the cruise.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Camillus112

[bitob]

19 hours ago, Gpilon said:

On our Splendor TA this past April, crew had a table set up by pool bar and notices advising anyone who left items on a pool chair for more than 30 minutes (believe that was time) would have their items collected by staff and placed on this table for pickup. Became the walk of shame for far too many miscreants. Would hope/expect Grandeur to do the same thing. I would be speaking with someone about it.

Many are complaining. Pool staff advised. 

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

On 12/17/2023 at 11:12 AM, tnm6217 said:

 

@cruise_loverinlaval This made me smile big! I’m still 20+ years away from retirement. I started cruising about a year ago after too many years of “I’ll travel when…” Cruising has become such a nice rhythm in my life and I’m so grateful to get to go as often as I do. I’m especially grateful for lines like Crystal, Regent, and Silversea who offer great rates for “independent travelers” like myself. What a treat it is to get a little taste of retirement while I’m still working ☺️

I hear you. We probably have about 10-15 years of work to go. We've traveled extensively - wife is a French teacher, and I work in the airline industry, so we are well set up for travel, but until our first-ever cruise this past summer (7 days in Splendor in the Baltic), I had never taken off more than a week at a time, except at Christmas, in 25 years of working for the same company. For our cruise, I took two full weeks off, partly so we could have some time in Stockholm before the cruise, and partly because of flight availability. It turned out to be incredibly liberating, and we'll do the same for our Mediterranean cruise on Navigator this summer.

[forgap]

18 minutes ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

wife is a French teacher, and I work in the airline industry, so we are well set up for travel,

We live in ATL and ny husband was a French professor at GSU.  I wonder if he taught your wife?….Dr. Georges Perla, Modern and Classical Languages.  

[Anon None]

1 hour ago, Anon None said:

Are there heated loungers in the spa?

I have a tumor in my spine and they are a life saver keeping me mobile. I thought Splendor had them, I am hoping Grandeur does as well.

[Anon None]

29 minutes ago, Anon None said:

I have a tumor in my spine and they are a life saver keeping me mobile. I thought Splendor had them, I am hoping Grandeur does as well.

I think they are called heated ceramic loungers and on splendor they were in the shared area of the spa.

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

43 minutes ago, forgap said:

We live in ATL and ny husband was a French professor at GSU.  I wonder if he taught your wife?….Dr. Georges Perla, Modern and Classical Languages.  

Cool! No, afraid we don't know Dr. Perla. We both majored in French at Florida State, actually; met in a couple of classes but didn't get together until 15 years later. I taught French briefly at the University of Kentucky as a grad student in diplomacy and international commerce, but have been in the airline industry since finishing that degree. My wife taught in Florida for a quite a while, then moved up here when we got married, and currently teaches in a local district.

[Gpilon]

16 minutes ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

Cool! No, afraid we don't know Dr. Perla. We both majored in French at Florida State, actually; met in a couple of classes but didn't get together until 15 years later. I taught French briefly at the University of Kentucky as a grad student in diplomacy and international commerce, but have been in the airline industry since finishing that degree. My wife taught in Florida for a quite a while, then moved up here when we got married, and currently teaches in a local district.

With a last name of Pilon, and being originally from Montreal….think I can ask “Comment ca va?”.

 

[Roxydog15]

20 hours ago, NYC-London said:

Seem to be lots of younger people (in their 30's) some traveling with their parents - also some younger children aboard. There are many first time Regent cruisers which gives the whole cruise a different vibe. I think one of the main problems is that there are so many new passengers who do not know "the ropes" and unless someone is available to help them, it leads to some confusion. As an example, some passengers were confused about ordering breakfast in LV and ended up with three breakfasts! Also there are some who seem to be going overboard with the ability to order without flashing your room key each time - seems to be much more waste than I remember. And what is really irking me - people leaving their garbage wherever they happen to be instead of picking it up and disposing of it themselves. Today we were at Harvest Caye, NCL private island and upon returning to the ship, we witnessed two different individuals just throw their garbage on the ground near the entrance to the ship. There is no doubt, a seven day cruise has a different vibe and tone than all the other Regent cruises I have taken but it hasn't affected my enjoyment.

In regards to your note about people leaving garbage around, on X, there aren't any garbage cans anywhere that I've ever found except in bathrooms.  So I hated leaving garbage, but really nowhere to put it without carrying around garbage till you find a bathroom.  What are the opportunities for disposal on the Grandeur that we could use?

thanks,

Ellen

[Roxydog15]

3 hours ago, bitob said:

Many are complaining. Pool staff advised. 

Thank you for working on getting some of those kinks worked out for those boarding on the 21st!  Much appreciated 🙂 

[GMIAC]

4 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Thanks so much for reporting live! We are getting very excited as we board next month, even if there is a glitch or two. Somehow, we will find a way to suffer through 😉😃

 

Who is playing piano in the observation lounge for pre dinner happy hour? 

Here’s today’s Passages. 

2023-12-17-GRA231214-Day-04-December-17-Harvest-Caye-Belize.pdf

[Roxydog15]

Thank you for posting....

[bitob]

20 hours ago, Roxydog15 said:

Thank you for working on getting some of those kinks worked out for those boarding on the 21st!  Much appreciated 🙂 

There will still be some kinks. See u then

[kjbacon]

13 hours ago, GMIAC said:

Here’s today’s Passages. 

2023-12-17-GRA231214-Day-04-December-17-Harvest-Caye-Belize.pdf 3.22 MB · 62 downloads

Thanks so much. I was hoping that Ross might just be on board. Does anyone know his whereabouts these days? He’s our favorite!

[tnm6217]

21 hours ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

I hear you. We probably have about 10-15 years of work to go. We've traveled extensively - wife is a French teacher, and I work in the airline industry, so we are well set up for travel, but until our first-ever cruise this past summer (7 days in Splendor in the Baltic), I had never taken off more than a week at a time, except at Christmas, in 25 years of working for the same company. For our cruise, I took two full weeks off, partly so we could have some time in Stockholm before the cruise, and partly because of flight availability. It turned out to be incredibly liberating, and we'll do the same for our Mediterranean cruise on Navigator this summer.

 

I love reading this! Cruising is such a wonderful forcing function to pull you away from work and allow you to focus on the present. I haven't yet done a full two weeks off, but my sailing on Navigator next November will be. I still feel (misplaced) guilt for taking two weeks off of work, but I continue to remind myself that annual leave is an earned benefit and I'm allowed to take it!

 

Thanks for sharing your cruising journey with us. Wishing you many wonderful long sailings ahead!

[lorimay]

Finally getting a chance to catch up on my reports.

 

We ate in Compass Rose on Sunday night. Had an excellent meal and excellent service. I like Compass Rose because of the large selection and the Chef's specials usually contain some incredible dishes. I had the eggplant wonton appetizer and the smell of the miso broth that surrounded it was divine. We were seated at a two-top by the windows near the front. We were able to have a conversation, so I didn't feel it was that loud. The windows have clear panels in front of them that have lights embedded in them so they look black with stars in them. It's very pretty. During the day the panels are clear so you can see out, but you are a foot or two away from the walls so you can't really see down. Not an issue for me, but it may be for some. 

 

That night we had a conversation with another couple who are also on their first Regent cruise and are Celebrity loyalists. We all agreed that there's no comparison in many ways. If you look at the quality of the food and the huge number of choices. I don't think the downgrade in food on Celebrity is new. It's been happening for years. But what distresses us is the fewer number of choices. We spoke to another couple one day that is also trying Regent from Celebrity. People talked about it a lot on the Celebrity forum, but clearly they are actually doing it.

 

Yesterday was Costa Maya. We had an excursion booked to Chacchoben Mayan ruins. We were the first ship in port and so it wasn't crowded. There were about 5 busses from Regent heading to the ruins. Unfortunately, we ended up with the guide who spoke very poor English. She tried really hard, but her pronunciation was bad and it wasn't a great experience - and I am very tolerant of non-native speakers trying English. However, the ruins are very interesting. We got back to the port and the Carnival Valor, Carnival Dream and RCCL Voyager of the Seas were are in port and were discharging passengers. I am not kidding when I say 10,000 people were coming at us as we were  trying to get back to the ship like salmon swimming upstream. The port was so crowded and they make you walk all the way past shops and bars. It was awful. 

 

We got back to the ship too late to make La Veranda so we went to the pool grill. Should have done room service. They just can't seem to get their act together at the Pool Grill. I ordered two iced teas, a club soda, and peel and eat shrimp. The club soda came, I had to ask for the iced tea three times, and the peel and eat shrimp arrived after we were already done with the items we got from the buffet. No one on the staff there seems to know who is supposed to take orders or serve or clean up. I also think the food on the buffet isn't great, although their hamburgers are 100 times better than the ones served at the pool grill on Celebrity. 

 

We had reservations in Prime 7 for dinner. Had to wait a few minutes to be seated, so we looked at the drinks menu and saw that in the non-alcoholic mocktails section they had drinks made with Lyre non-alcoholic spirits, mainly the "gin". We ordered the "No-groni" and one other, both were delicious and it was nice to have real cocktail style drinks with no alcohol. Food was excellent last night, although I think the steak in CR is just as good as in Prime 7. Service was top notch. We love the atmosphere there - very clubby with all the leather. 

 

We missed the show in the theater, Broadway tunes by the singers, and went to the Observation Lounge to listen to Gino play. He's so good and not over the top like some piano bar performers are. He's a great entertainer.

 

Breakfast this morning in CR. Service was a little slow but it's breakfast so who cares. Food was well prepared and they do have quite a variety.

 

Once my husband was banned from our dune buggy excursion here in Cozumel for being over the age limit (the excursion information on line had a higher age than reality so it let us book, then they rescinded) there wasn't another excursion that interested us, so we're staying on board today. There is a Viking ship docked next to us and I believe the two Carnival ships from yesterday are here too. Maybe it's a good thing we're not going in.

 

One other observation - I had some laundry done and was amazed by the attention to detail. It was returned to me folded in a box and wrapped in tissue. Definitely much nicer than other cruise lines. Can they come to my home and do that for me?

 

Tonight is Pacific Rim. Really looking forward to it.

[bitob]

At the end of the cruise when they have the farewell ceremony the laundry team gets the most applause for good reason 

 

disagree with you about pool grill. I have had flawless experience 

love the options 

pool special buffets are fabulous but they happen largely on sea days. On the crossing we had 4  and all were wonderful

Edited December 19, 2023 by bitob