boblerm

@Maybelline Truedid you just disembark today in Amsterdam? If so, we were on the same cruise! And I couldn't have said it better (really, I couldn't possibly! 😁) it was a fabulous cruise, highly recommended. It was a great itinerary the cuisine was fabulous the tour directors and local guides were first rate, the cuisine was fabulous ... did I already say that? Anyway, let me second your remarks about Keueknhof, I had high expectations for this place, and my expectations were exceeded.

Thanks so much for this fabulous report!

Gill, I am so happy to see that you are cruising again! Very much looking forward to following along with you here, and here https://www.elegantsufficiency.org/

Indeed! It was a pleasure meeting you and Jack, all the best to you, wishing you many more wonderful future cruises!

I did a review of the cruise on the Cruise Critic Review section which can be found here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=712368

A big +1 on that! There was a "seafood extravaganza" on the pool grill at lunchtime which was very nice. The movie, "The Burial" was shown in the Constellation in the afternoon but since this movie is available on Amazon Prime, I decided to defer watching until I get home so that I could spend my precious cruise time on more productive endeavors. Like napping on the pool deck. Dinner at Chartreuse was a bit of a mixed bag. Jeannie had the Beetroot Salad which is always good I was fascinated with "crispy escargot", so had to try it. This is what it looks like Hah? But yes, there is escargot in there The dish tasted very good, but for me, there was way too much bread and too little escargot. I think I'll stick with the CR version from now on. The mushroom soup in Chartreuse is not to be missed ; the Grandeur version seems to differ from that of the other ships in that it contains "egg yolk confit", which made this soup even more flavorful. The Dover Sole was a little disappointing, it was thicker and less moist than the one we had in CR. The Beef Tenderloin Rossini is, IMHO, the best cut of beef that Regent offers. The final production show, also new on the Grandeur, was, "Ignite the Night ". This show featured the dancers of the cast, the fabulous singers were present to more or less support the dancers. I have honestly never seen anything on a cruise ship quite like this one. I am no expert in evaluating the dancing arts, but I thought that the quality and creativity of the choreography and of the performance rivals any that I have seen anywhere. And whomever is responsible for the lighting and the design of the projected scenery should get an award, the stage is a 45 minute visual delight. If you are cruising on Grandeur, and only see one show - to be clear, I strongly recommend seeing all of the shows - but if you only see one, make it this one. You won't be sorry.

We thought that he was hilarious. Different strokes. Agreed! Definitely not everyone else. I found the plot to be incomprehensible, as I do for all of Regent's story line shows. No matter, forget the story line, the show was fabulous.

We had an absolutely glorious day in Tortola yesterday. Our excursion was "Scenic Island Tour and Beach Break." We drove around in an open air vehicle for several scenic overlooks We passed by a wall where there were many murals painted by local artists, our tour guide described several of them as we passed Then arrived at Cane Garden Beach, we stayed about an hour and 45 minutes This was a highly enjoyable excursion. Another winner at Compass Rose. The matzah ball soup was maybe not quite as good as Bubby used to make, but pretty darn good. Truffle meatballs Roast turkey, asked for dark meat An amazing rosemary garlic roasted lamb rack Comedian Phil Tag did a return performance, we thought he was hilarious.

If anyone is not in the loop

As @kjbaconhas mentioned, St. Barts is a very hit or miss port, hooray that yesterday was a hit! Our excursion was "Sailing the Leeward Coast, a simple catamaran ride to a pretty bay. We had the option of swimming to the beach, (no one did), or we could take a" noodle"and swim around the boat (not us) We were offered fruit, cheese and popcorn, water, soft drinks, rum punch or It was a pleasant, serene way of spending time at St. Barts There was a Carnivale parade in the afternoon. We got back to the ship late, about 3pm, there was an Indian buffet on the pool deck. We also tried for the first time the lobster nachos. The lobster was very tender - what we could find of it. Searching for lobster chunks was kind of like being on a scavenger hunt. We were pretty full at dinner time*, so had a more smallish dinner that usual - 2 courses rather than 3. Oh, the sacrifices! I started with corn and coconut veloute, Jeannie the tuna carpaccio Scallops from the everyday side And chateaubriand Perfect! Somehow we managed to finish. There was another new production show "Marauders Ball".. a pirate show. In general, I am not a fan of the shows that attempt stories, as I can rarely if ever follow the plot. This one was no different. Something about pirates taking over a ship. But about 1/3 the way through, I decided to stop trying to figure out what in Sam Hill the story line is, and just focus on the amazing visuals; the glorious costumes the fabulous on stage props, the brilliant back drop scenery , the beautiful lighting. It was a feast for the eyes. Combine that with the magnificent voices and dancing, the intricate choreography that included sword play reminiscent of Inigo vs Westley.... Bravo! *This may be the first time I have uttered these words on a cruise ship.

My daughter, who reminds me yearly that my greatest failure as a father was bringing her up a J*t fan, also married into that kind of family. Thanks, we will need all of the luck we can get!

I'm glad that you mentioned this, I found the same but wasn't sure whether or not this was different from the other ships or if it was my imagination. Note that I encountered this issue on the first night of the cruise, not late in the cruise when navigating into any seats might be problematic! 😳

I think that any of the seats that are in front of the posts and are not way off to the side are just fine. I second the motion of @papaflamingofor arriving at 9:15, in addition to picking seats it will give you time to order drinks if you wish. They stop taking orders when the show starts, and they start promptly at 9:30. BTW, the current production cast on the Grandeur is as good as I have seen!

We had a very pleasant tour in St. Lucia yesterday called "Island Splendor" We toured a mansion with a scenic overlook We went to an art gallery where they do amazing sculpture carvings from various types of wood We drove to the village of Anse La Raye, where there is a beach and a vendor stand. The vendors here engage in, shall we be say, vociferous marketing techniques. Then to the lovely Marigot Bay As a fan of a team that I am too embarrassed to name, I feel behooved to post this picture of a school that was built through money donated by by Leon Hess, the former owner of said team. It is green and white. Not the eagles. Our tour guide was informative, engaging and pleasant. There was a top tier Seven Seas Society (gold and above) event before dinner where cruise director David Nevens a did a vocal performance, this man can sing! Fabulous voice. Dinner at CR was very nice, but Mr and Mrs boblerm had some difference of opinions. I had the Duck terrine with Asian spices and loved it. Jeannie tasted it and found it chewey. We both had the chicken and vegetable spring roll with Thai sweet chili sauce and both loved it I had the pan fried dorade filet and really enjoyed the bold flavor, but Jeannie found it too strong a taste. Different strokes. Jeannie ordered the lamb chops medium rare. Of the 2 chops, one was prepared properly, the other was more medium. But still very good. Profiteroles! The evening entertainment was a comedian, Phil Tag, really funny

Good to know, because having missed the SB commercials, I will be totally out of the loop in terms of pop culture when I return home. But David offered some interesting and informative trivia questions. For example, I learned what Heisman trophy winner never played in a super bowl and kills people. Ok, not exactly how the question was worded🙄