Traveling With Sherry

Aboard the New Ruby Princess!

I was one of the lucky 2,000 agents invited aboard the Inaugural sailing of the Ruby Princess on November 6th.  Suffice it to say...the Ruby far exceeded my expectations.  Check back later this week.  I'll upload Ruby photos and my review.  Thanks for your interest!

Regent Mariner Day Four

Regent Mariner Day 4 For four continuous days we have had fabulous weather; sunny, breezy with temps in the 70s and no chance of rain. Today would be no different. I woke up just after sunrise as we were approaching the island of Puerto Rico. Quite quickly the land was getting closer and closer and I wasn’t dressed and ready in time to go up on deck to view the five hundred year old El Morro fortress built high above the sea at the edge of a cliff. This is why I love balconies; especially a balcony that I chose on a particular side of the ship based on the islands’ port location. NB: research your destinations and know the direction of the ship. Then you can ask your travel agent to find the best cabin location for your cruise.

The ship docked in Old San Juan, in the heart of the city. A brief walk takes you to the Sheraton Hotel and Casino, for those who want to gamble. A longer uphill walk will lead you to El Morro Fortress. From the ship to the Fort is about a 30 minute walk on cobblestone streets, uneven sidewalks and high curbs. It’s a very quaint old area, bustling with local residents going to work, tourists shopping at brand name factory outlet stores and children in colorful uniforms playing in shady tree-lined school courtyards for recess. The is a four dollar charge to enter the fort, well worth the money if you are a history buff or just like to tour interesting old structures. After a short visit the walk back to the pier is much easier as it’s all downhill. There are small cafes and large restaurants to stop at for a cold drink or meal. We ate lunch at El Jibarito, a local restaurant with hand-written menus, dark wood and high ceilings. Not trendy or well designed, it is a place for a taste of local color and food. The baked chicken seemed like a safe enough entrée and it was very good. The chicken was slow-baked with green and red peppers, and served with yellow rice, fried plantains and a tiny salad. Accompanied by a cold rum and coke, it was a tasty lunch after a long walk to and from the fort.

Back onboard, the idea of stretching out on a lounge chair by the pool seemed like the right thing to do. Unlike other ships, there wasn’t music blaring from a dozen poolside speakers, or a belly-flop contest or waiters hawking the daily foo-foo drink. Only relaxing quiet and the warm Caribbean sun to lull you into an afternoon nap. Dinner reservations were made for the La Veranda restaurant. This reservations-only specialty restaurant features Mediterranean cuisine, a buffet appetizer and dessert bar. My main entrée was a thick egg noodle pasta with bacon (pancetta) and artichokes in a very light cream sauce – definitely not a thick Carbonara. The pasta was a bit overcooked, but the overall dish was good. The appetizer bar was very nice, with many Med-themed salads, hummus and babaganouj. Dessert was either freshly prepared bananas flambé or a DIY ice cream sundae. I chose both.

The 9:45PM entertainment was a former London West End theatre performer with a twenty year history doing musicals. Clad in a John Travolta white suite with a crimson red sequined vest, he sang and gestured to at least fifteen familiar show tunes. Backed by the talented Regent ten-piece orchestra, his voice filled the Constellation Theatre for nearly an hour. After the show, it was a short walk to the Horizon Lounge at the aft of the ship for the few remaining minutes of the jazz combo, a nightcap and a step outside to the stern to see the stars, the moon and the churning wake as we headed to tomorrow’s destination of St. Thomas, USVI.

Goodnight!

Day Three - At Sea

My first day at sea, an absolutely beautiful sunny day and I didn’t have to fight for a thickly-padded lounge chair by the pool.  The pool is one of the nicest afloat…definitely several laps swimmable, no crowds, empty Jacuzzis.  The luncheon is served indoors and outdoors at poolside, with teak tables in the shade or poolside with umbrellas.  And what a poolside luncheon!  Instead of the usual hamburgers, hot dogs, fries (which there are if one so desires) a chef is cooking four types of fish on the grill: salmon, tuna, mahi and grouper.  All with their own seasoning and cooked to perfection.  An entire grouper lay char-cooked and displayed nearby and a server would pry a small portion off the fish per your request.  It was probably one of the most elegant poolside luncheons I have seen.  Of course wine, champagne and any other libation are complimentary. 

There were many activities going on: wine edu-taste-ment, bridge, pilates for beginners, needlepoint, even surprisingly enough poolside bean-bag toss competition.  Despite a median age of maybe sixty-five these are very active older travelers.  My neighbors both  sides of my cabin are eighty-six and eighty-nine.  I should only be so lucky in thirty years!

 

Tonight is formal night and I’m headed to Signatures, an elegant dining venue operated exclusively under the auspices of chefs of the famed Le Cordon Bleu of Paris.  The menu, presented in the classic ala carte tradition (the Entrée is actually the starter) is fixed and no alterations are allowed.  It doesn’t matter.  The cuisine is wonderful.  Our selection included escargot, not the heavy greasy garlicky ones, but only two snails on the plate in a wonderfully light garlic sauce along with a flaky pastry shell.  I ordered the most delicious sautéed halibut I have ever eaten.  I also sampled the duck, small filet slices rather than the usual skin-on, never crisped enough variety.

The entertainment at the appointed nightly time of 9:45PM was again the Regent singers and dancers doing their version of more Broadway through the Decades, as I’ve come to call it.  Again an excellent performance, especially “One Day More” the finale from Les Mis.  The Stars Lounge, a.k.a. the Disco, was the venue for late night karaoke.  But alas only one female country western singer wannabe had the moxie to get up and perform in front of sixteen other passengers.  Once she was finished, that was it for karaoke.  The room was once again a disco.  This is not the karaoke crowd.

Called it a night by midnight again.  The ship is basically deserted after 10pm.  The lounges close up, the music venue cease and desist and the carpet is rolled up.  Not even the crew showed up to socialize in the disco.

 

More tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.

Regent Mariner Day Two - Princess Cays, Bahamas

The Regent Mariner is an interesting dichotomy.  Consistent with what you’d expect from an ultra-luxury small ship there are less passengers, more personalized service, no crowds.  Not consistent with what I’d expect for a luxury experience are the outstanding main theater singers and dancers, a lesser focus on onboard shopping, smaller more controlled dining portions (no one could possibly starve however), towel control – although I’d imagine it is a “green” move and I applaud it – and less than stellar dining service. 

My second day is spent at Princess Cays in the Bahamas.  It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day and I didn’t have to fight for a lounge chair by the ocean.  This island beach getaway, owned by Princess and built to accomodate three-thousand passengers was for us an island paradise with only 300+ guests who ventured to come ashore for the afternoon.  It was like having your own private island complete with a beachside BBQ.  Aside from the usual BBQ chicken and ribs, there was a very tender cut of steak, baked potatoes and several cold salads.  Wine, pina coladas and soft drinks were never out of reach.  The water was warm, especially for this time of year and of course I spent at least an hour just happily floating and paddling back and forth close to the shoreline.  The last tender back to the ship was at 3:30, but by then I had enough sun and water to call it quits.  But I was still one of the last ones to head back.  Some of us just hate to leave. 

For the second dinner, we opted for the main dining room, Compass Rose.  I could be happy with simply two or three appetizers and forego the main entrée.  But I never pass up the entree.  Instead I ordered what I thought would be, as always is for formal night, generic lobster tail.  Not hardly.  These were smaller tails, lightly sautéed and served on a slight bed of angel hair pasta topped with a delicate tomato mixture.  Unlike Italian cuisine this was more Continental in flavor and texture. 

Tonight's entertainment was a piano raconteur with a familiar name from my past life in Chicago: Stanley Paul.  He played Cole Porter tunes along with his narration of the life of Cole Porter.  It was different for shipboard entertainment, again being more of the edutainment variety.  I enjoyed it.

Another one o'clock nights with an early wake up by room service with morning coffee and danish.  If asked, your room service person will set up your order on the balcony.  It is done with a tablecloth over a large board balanced on the small end table between the balcony lounge chairs.  A very lovely beginning to the day. 

More tomorrow! 

Cruising with Regent - Fabulous, Dahling....

After an easier than usual two and one-half hour drive to Ft. Lauderdale down I-95, we arrived at the Port.  N.B. all the parking structures at the embarkation ports in Florida are now $15/day for parking.   You may want to investigate alternative parking options at nearby hotels and off-site airport parking lots. Going through the embarkation process was so smooth…in fact at 2pm, we were the only two people checking in.  With a recent Royal Caribbean mega-ship boarding only a couple of months prior still fresh in my mind, I was more than thrilled to be greeted by a no-line, no-wait check-in.  This ship at capacity will accommodate seven hundred passengers.  We were not sailing at capacity with less than six hundred guests expected on this cruise.

 

Unlike other commodity and premium cruise lines, lunch was served in the dining room from noon until 2PM.  It’s interesting because your cruise documents request that you do not get to the port prior to 2PM as that is the time that embarkation will begin.  Apparently not.  I missed a nice welcome aboard lunch and although the Lido Buffet was quite nice, it was not what I had expected.  N.B. if you are expecting an expansive buffet lunch on sailaway, it won’t happen.  The selection, while ample, doesn’t offer an expansive variety.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, a fish filet and BBQ shrimp on a bun were the options.  I opted for the BBQ shrimp and a cold squid and (more) shrimp salad.  Both were tasty and colorful and after one Bloody Mary (all complimentary) I didn’t mind at all missing the dining room sailaway luncheon.  Next time I’ll plan to arrive at noon and enjoy the luncheon in the main dining room.

 

Back to the room to unpack, grab the life jacket at 5PM for the Muster Drill (which was after we sailed – a nice touch.  According to the SOLAS regulation, the Muster Drill may be conducted up to twenty-four hours after departure.  I like the idea of sailaway first then the Muster Drill.  Definitely good planning on Regent’s part.

 

At precisely 6PM a bell goes off and it’s time for the “Block Party” to begin.  It’s Regent’s idea of a meet the neighbors get-together and a terrific way to get to know who is living next door.  You are instructed to bring a wine glass from your room and someone comes around offering a choice of red or white wine and cheese squares on a toothpick.  I’d imagine that the higher the suite level (all staterooms are called “suites”) the better the Block Party snack.  After chatting with my neighbors and a resident cruise entertainer, the Captain made his rounds meeting and greeting everyone.  What a nice touch.  He’s French, very personable and has a good sense of humor.  This block party idea is awesome!

 

Time to change for dinner – open seating is wonderful.  We were headed to the Compass Rose, the main dining room, but upon seeing Latitudes, with an Indochina menu based on Vietnamese food with modern French cooking techniques we changed our minds and opted for this different dining venue.  Here you can order several entrees, served family-style. Among our selection were fresh Vietnamese egg rolls, lamb chops with a hoisin sauce and herbs, garlic shrimp and a vegetable in an Asian sauce.  The lamb chops were very good, wonderful flavor.  NB.  The first night of the cruise there is usually no reservation required for this restaurant. 

 

Of course, Regent is an all-inclusive cruise line so there is never a charge for the specialty restaurants or alcohol or bottled water or cappuccino…or almost anything.

 

The remainder of the evening was spent at the Welcome Aboard show featuring the Regent singers and dancers.  They are excellent.  For such a small cruise line and small ship I wasn’t expecting much.  The entertainers gave it their “all” and yet another “Music Through the Decades” show far exceeds their counterparts on the mega-cruise line.  I am looking forward to their Broadway review on Day Three.

Good-night!   

Start Here For My Cruise aboard the Regent Mariner

Here I go again.  It's been nearly 6 months since I set out on a new journey to new destinations and tomorrow I'll be aboard a new ship, too.  Regent Seven Seas (formerly Radisson Seven Seas) is an all-inclusive ultra-luxury cruise line.  Everything is included, from your en-suite mini bar restocked daily to the caviar/seafood bar on the pool deck.  Yes, Grey Goose is also included!  I'm especially looking forward to all the bottled water I can drink.  I can't tell you how many times towards the end of a cruise I have trapsed from bar to bar to bar, looking not for the latest foo-foo drink but for a large bottle of water.  Only to learn that "they are sold out." By the way, for those of you with a bottled water addiction, it is always more economical to purchase the largest size of bottled water, rather than the easy-to-carry size.  The problem is finding the one or two bars onboard that sell the largest size.  When you find that bar, be sure to tip, in cash, the bartender that fetches it for you.  If you should ever be fainting from thirst this will be your first point of contact to score a liter of the water. Scary but true!

I haven't started to pack yet despite my pledge to myself that I'd not wait until the last second to throw my bags together.  Even though this is an 11-night luxury cruise, there are only two formal nights and even those, according to the brochure, don't require formals for the women or tuxedos for the men.  This is really country-club attire, dress-up is a nice cocktail dress/pants for the women and a dark suit/tie for the men, if so desired.  And...I've heard that this isn't a stuffy ol' cruise for the mega-rich.  It's "regular" folk, who are tired of being nickeled and dimed by the mass market and premium cruise lines, who are tired of being one in 3,000 passengers and are looking forward to very personalized service. 

If my electronic equipment doesn't fail, if the internet connection is good and the video gods are smiling, I'll upload video clips to YouTube.  My YouTube name is CruiseMaven; simply enter CruiseMaven in the search box.

Please check back often.  Leave pertinent comments and questions.  Thanks and "see" you tomorrow! 

From Paris to Falmouth, England

Sept 11-12

Back on the bus for our two hour ride to the ship in Le Havre, I was sound asleep before the driver pulled away from the Eiffel Tower.  And I slept almost the entire way to the port.  Onboard, shower, change, dinner and watch the 10PM sailaway from Le Havre.  A short jaunt from the coast of France, one hour time change earlier, and tomorrow we would, if the weather held up, drop anchor offshore of Falmouth, in Cornwall, England.  This would soon become one of my favorite port calls. 

If you are not familiar with Cornwall, it is a small area of England with their own culture and heritage.  They are a seafaring people, quite friendly and hospitable.  And Cornwall is the home of the Cornish Pasty.  Sort of like a turnover with a very thick "handle" along one side, making it easy for the outdoor working man to eat a hearty lunch without getting his dirt-covered hands on the food. 

We only had five hours in port and the tender would take up nearly forty minutes each way included time spent in the queue to board.  Once ashore, I decided to not take a shore excursion (next time I will definitely take a tour as there is much to see and do outside of town).

A trip to St. Michael's Mount would have been my first choice for a shore excursion.  It is an old (so what isn't?) monastery about forty-five minutes outside of town.  When the tide is out, you can walk the river bed to the monastery. When the tide is in, a small boat conveys passengers back and forth.  Once at the monastery, you have time to walk the grounds.

I chose to walk the pavement in Falmouth.  Shopping is really quite terrific in Falmouth, very European-style clothing stores, not what I expected from a small town.  But the lure is the pasty, and I quickly devoured a very hot meat and vegetable pastie and a flavorful cup of Earl Grey tea.  By now it was time to start heading back to the pier.  Along the way, I stopped at the Falmouth Library where there was a kinetic art exhibit being installed.  Arrived at the pier, waited about 20 minutes for the first tender to appear and was back on the ship by 4pm.

We would sail out of Falmouth shortly thereafter, having to wait an extra hour for a few of the shore excursion buses to catch up.