Live from Voyager, Rio to Lisbon, 19 March - 6 April 2024

[welshfamily]

Sorry embarkation was less than perfect,

Hope the champagne was properly chilled and relaxed you both.

 

Pre dinner drinks

May I recommend the Voyager cocktail. This was my husbands favourite tipple last summer. 

[Steve Q]

7 hours ago, Gilly said:

Well, we are here after a far from easy embarkation!  Never mind, that first sip of champagne was all the sweeter and a sign that the fun can begin.  Suites were ready at 1.30pm and since our luggage hasn't appeared yet we can relax and look forward to a great itinerary, some interesting conversations and eighteen lovely days on board one of our favourite ships.

Cheers!

We are also onboard. Embarkation was not the best. It just seemed chaotic. Took us well over two hours from the time we departed the hotel until we finally boarded.

Otherwise, it was a wonderful day. Dinner at Compass Rose was very good.

There are several crew members that we remember from our last two cruises. It’s great to see them.

[Gilly]

@welshfamily thankfully we're able to rise above the embarkation experience, safe in the knowledge that it will all be worth it in the end.  There were three ships in the Rio cruise port, all welcoming guests at the same time.  Organisation was sadly lacking (as was signage - i mean, who wants to be misdirected onto the wrong ship?! 😱)  A road tunnel was closed in the city as well, meaning that a fairly short transfer from hotel to ship turned into an hour long traffic jam, but we are here and we are happy to move on from all of that.

 

Thanks for the Voyager cocktail recommendation.   Tonight, the legend in the Observation Lounge that is Kevin served me my perfect G&T, first time round!  That's a Mermaid gin over ice in a tall glass with a bottle of Fevertree tonic on the side. Bravo Kevin!   Definitely worth a mention in dispatches and happy times on Voyager to come, wouldn't you say, @Steve Q ?

Edited March 20 by Gilly

[PhD-iva]

7 minutes ago, Gilly said:

@welshfamily thankfully we're able to rise above the embarkation experience, safe in the knowledge that it will all be worth it in the end.  There were three ships in the Rio cruise port, all welcoming guests at the same time.  Organisation was sadly lacking (as was signage - i mean, who wants to be misdirected onto the wrong ship?! 😱)  A road tunnel was closed in the city as well, meaning that a fairly short transfer from hotel to ship turned into an hour long traffic jam, but we are here and we are happy to move on from all of that.

 

Thanks for the Voyager cocktail recommendation.   Tonight, the legend in the Observation Lounge that is Kevin served me my perfect G&T, first time round!  That's a Mermaid gin over ice in a tall glass with a bottle of Fevertree tonic on the side. Bravo Kevin!   Definitely worth a mention in dispatches and happy times on Voyager to come, wouldn't you say, @Steve Q ?

KEVIN! Bless his heart. He and Rommel really made my Voyager cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago so memorable. Kevin remembered me from our previous cruise together. He came up to me in the horizon lounge on the first evening, right about Sailaway. It really touched my heart deeply that he remembered me and came up to greet me.
Later that night, Benji, who was maitre’d at one of the specialty restaurants did me a great service, and finally that night it was great to reunite with Rommel, who was seating us in Compass Rose. It was so great to be on Voyager. 

[ysolde]

@Gilly, I thnk we may have had lunch with you and your DH yesterday.  Getting onto the ship was indeed, chaotic, what with traffic and then rather a mess at the port itself.  Sit and wait. Get ready, a shuttle is here.  No, sorry, sit and wait again.  When the shuttle finally arrived, I realized I could not physically climb into it (I have a mobility impairment and am short), so the wheelchair pusher pushed me to the ship, with my DH walking alongside us.  I think we looked dead by the time we boarded.  One funny thing: our muster station is at Prime 7, so DH joked that in case of emergency, we'll be fed well on our way off the ship.

 

We saw sail-away from our balcony and were asleep by 11 pm. Jet lag resolved by exhaustion.

[Gilly]

52 minutes ago, ysolde said:

, I thnk we may have had lunch with you and your DH yesterday

@ysolde I was looking out for you but didn't spot you both - so sorry!  We will have to wear red carnations or something, won't we? 😉

[Gilly]

Our first sea day and an action planned programme of activity!

[Gilly]

Sorry, I have no idea why those posted twice.  🤔  

[ysolde]

We had dinner at Prime 7 last night and our waiter, Christian, recognized us, as he had worked on Splendor until recently, and we were on Splendor in February (OK, that is a bit embarrassing to admit, but we did not plan it that way -- it was just rescheduled for us when I could not take the cruise we were supposed to take in January 2022 because I caught Covid).  Anyhow, Christian was delightful, and so happy to see us!  

 

The food in Prime 7 was excellent (both DH and I had filets mignons).  The service was a bit slow, though we don't mind that.  We are in vacation mode, and relaxed is fine.  The acoustics at this Prime 7 are not great: it gets loud as it gets full.  This is not a problem at the Splendor specialty restaurants.  Not sure why Voyager's specialty restaurants are so loud.

[forgap]

Yes, and tight!   Once seated we couldn’t easily navigate our chairs or even attempt to leave the table.  They offered to put us elsewhere but it all looked equally crowded and noisy.  

[Gilly]

41 minutes ago, forgap said:

Yes, and tight!

Prime 7 is our least favourite speciality and I agree, the Voyager one is particularly hemmed in.  Does anyone recall those enormous menus they used to have in there too?  Now managing those in that tight space really was a challenge!  At least they saw sense with that!

[mom0f3]

We’ve had a relaxing and delightful first 2 days.   One of the lecturers is below par….he is supposed to lecture about technology and security (such as the CIA) but based on the first lecture we heard, we were underwhelmed, to say the least.  His “experience” appears to have been that he was “recruited” by the CIA and FBI and other federal agencies while he was in college, but never joined!  He also stated that he “inherited” a security clearance from his father, which was still active.  As a federal employee, I can assure you that this is not a thing!  On the other hand, we enjoyed a lecture by Dr. Howard Kramer, a physicist, and are looking forward to hearing his other lectures.  He also ran “science trivia” at noon, which was really hard!  Our team came in first, with only 9 correct out of 15.   

[RachelG]

21 hours ago, mom0f3 said:

We’ve had a relaxing and delightful first 2 days.   One of the lecturers is below par….he is supposed to lecture about technology and security (such as the CIA) but based on the first lecture we heard, we were underwhelmed, to say the least.  His “experience” appears to have been that he was “recruited” by the CIA and FBI and other federal agencies while he was in college, but never joined!  He also stated that he “inherited” a security clearance from his father, which was still active.  As a federal employee, I can assure you that this is not a thing!  On the other hand, we enjoyed a lecture by Dr. Howard Kramer, a physicist, and are looking forward to hearing his other lectures.  He also ran “science trivia” at noon, which was really hard!  Our team came in first, with only 9 correct out of 15.   

The science trivia would be super fun!  

 

And you are correct, security clearances are not inherited.  My son was in intelligence in the Marine Corps, and they even investigated his father and myself before approving his clearance. 

[Gilly]

 

Even though i know this doesnt mean what i read at first sight, i did wonder if i should go back and put some makeup on!  (Seen on the shuttle bus in Maceio, Brazil today)

[Gilly]

A fun and interesting activity this morning, out on the top deck, where Giacomo, one of the senior officers, demonstrated the use of a sextant to identify the ship's position.  When he'd completed the process, he offered a young colleague a chance to practice whilst he answered our questions. 

Just a brief announcement from the Captain intitiated what seemed to be a spontaneous activity, quite the highlight of a quiet morning at sea!

 

 

Edited March 25 by Gilly

[irishwitchy]

2 hours ago, Gilly said:

A fun and interesting activity this morning, out on the top deck, where Giacomo, one of the senior officers, demonstrated the use of a sextant to identify the ship's position.  When he'd completed the process, he offered a young colleague a chance to practice whilst he answered our questions. 

Just a brief announcement from the Captain intitiated what seemed to be a spontaneous activity, quite the highlight of a quiet morning at sea!

 

 

Now that sounds like interesting activity!  Need to have more stuff like this.  

[Steve Q]

We are also currently sailing on Voyager. A few observations, in no particular order:

 

We are really enjoying Voyager. Prior to sailing, we had heard some very negative comments on FB about the condition of the ship. Generally, the ship seems  to be in good condition. The one exception was that our room cooling system was not operating properly. We have since been relocated to another suite.

 

Voyager is sailing at 100 passengers less than capacity. Not sure what the occupancy levels have been on its most recent itineraries.

 

Service has been very good. As always, the Regent goes out of their way to be helpful.

 

Meals have also been very good. I have Celiac, so I need to eat gluten free. Again, the staff has been very accommodating.

 

Weather has been very warm. If you are looking for a warm weather itinerary, this seems to be perfect.

 

 

[Gilly]

3 hours ago, Gilly said:

quite the highlight of a quiet morning at sea!

 

Actually the highlight was the Connoisseur Wine Lunch that followed!!  😅   

[Gilly]

A small crisis last evening in the Horizon Lounge, where I ordered my usual blue Mermaid gin, served in a long glass with plenty of ice and a bottle of Fever Tree tonic on the side...(yes, those words slip so easily off the tongue these days 😉) and was told "Sorry, Ma'am, we've run out of blue Mermaid gin". 

Oh no!  Oh well, the pink one will have to do!  (It's a hard life, isn't it?!)

A few minutes later, the F&B Director stopped to ask how things were with us.  I confessed and apologised, for it seemed that I had drunk all the blue Mermaid gin...oh dear!  He disappeared and returned a few minutes later with an armful of bottles.  "There's another 250 bottles in the store, Mrs Thomas.  There's no need to worry".

Regent service.  What's not to love?!  🥰

 

[mom0f3]

We are also having a wonderful time, with full schedules on the sea days!  Morning stretch, yoga, bridge lessons (my husband says the instructor is very good), and this morning learned some really useful things about photography using smart phones at a lecture by photographer Alan Feldman.  I need to sneak in a few relaxing hours on deck 11 to finish the large book I borrowed from the library.  Food, service, all great—a nice re-introduction to Regent after 5 long years 

[Gilly]

Just to say that from our perspective, right now, Voyager is the happiest of ships.  The Country Fair this morning was one of the best we've experienced with all officers and crew joining in the fun with good humour and a great team spirit.  That atmosphere doesn't "just happen" but is the result of great leadership on board and we are glad to see it happening.   

 

   

 

Though everyone was happy to throw water-filled balloons at the Purser's department, it seemed a little unfair to soak the Staff Captain Joao, especially when he'd just been awarded a long service award at the SSS cocktail party last night!  Along with everyone else who was similarly soaked to the skin, he took in in good heart (I hope his phone survived the soaking too)

 

 

 

Needless to say, the Pursers got their own back in the free for all that resulted!!

 

@momOf3 I'm glad you are also finding this cruise so enjoyable!

 

[PacificView]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with all of us!  I had to look up what a Country Fair was, I had no idea.  I will join Voyager in 19 days in Barcelona, and I'm very excited for my trip.  I hope that the fun atmosphere continues!  Enjoy the rest of your journey. 

[Doris Banting]

We'll be on the Voyager soon. Enjoying this blog!

[Pies4u]

If Regent have descended into having “water filled balloon” events then I, for one, am somewhat concerned! We have almost 100 nights on board and I’ve never seen, or heard, of that happening before.

[piscean]

One of our best cruises with Regent included a Country Fair…Andy and Mandy were CD and Hostess…the best….

the weather was wonderful …it was so much fun on the sun deck….

Happy days.