boblerm

Pre-cruise in Buenos Aires day 2 The next day was a tour of the city of Buenos Aires. We started with a visit to the Recoleta Cemetery, where the rich and famous of Argentina like to go to rest. Don’t cry for her. Or, cry for her if you’d like. It’s fine either way. They brought us to an historic café where we were offered coffee and a donut filled with dulce de leche or a croissant. Or both.😉 We visited the Cathedral Metropolitana The remains of General Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina are guarded by soldiers Casa Rosada or Presidential Palace, where Eva spoke to the people from the balcony, and Madonna sang to them Plaza de Mayo We stopped for a visit to La Boca, a funky colorful neighborhood Some other sights in BA In the evening we were taken to a tango hall, where we had dinner, (not so great) and a tango performance (ultra- great!) The dancers, singers, musicians, and other performers were top notch. It was a truly memorable performance to top off a memorable day.

I found the sausage too salty, the chicken dry, and the beef on the tough side. Still enjoyed the experience!

Pre-cruise in Buenos Aires day 1 We were put up in the Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta, which was very nice. Our first day of touring took us out into the countryside to visit an “estancia”, or cattle ranch. We first stopped for a walk around a pretty little town called San Antonia de Areco. Then on to the estancia, we were met at the edge of the property by gauchos, who led the way in. Our host, Francisco “Pancho” Guevara , greeted us as we got off the bus. (Our tour guide told us that it is rumored that Pancho is a distant relative of you-know-who, but that he does not like to talk about it.) Pancho and son #7 (he has 8 ) were very gracious hosts. As we entered, we were offered fresh hot empanadas First we viewed a demonstration of gaucho skills in the form of competitions. In the first one, a small ring is suspended from a crossbeam, and the rider has to gallop at high speed, and spear the ring with a thin stick In the next one, they had to ride past a post, and throw their bolas around it The last was an old fashioned horse race The show was a lot of fun, punctuated with commentary by Pancho and son. They cooked us a lunch of grilled meats. The lunch was nothing to write home about. So I won’t. While we ate, we were entertained by dancers demonstrating traditional folkloric dances Pancho joined in with the singing Everyone seemed to have a really nice time on this tour.

Mary, the saving grace was that I got to see a part of the world that I haven't seen before, we did visit some great ports, and lived the life of luxury on board!

Good news! I will be posting about our day in Rio Grande in few days, so you can relive your day there! No doubt it will bring back some.....fond??....memories😁

Our cruise was March 5 to March 15, Buenos Aires to Rio. The itinerary: 1 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 Montevideo, Uruguay 3 Montevideo, Uruguay 4 Rio Grande, Brazil 5 At Sea 6 Porto Belo, Brazil 7 Santos, Brazil 8 Ilha Grande, Brazil 9 Buzios, Brazil 10 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A 3 day pre or post land package was included, we chose the pre- cruise “Authentic Buenos Aires”. Here is what I loved: Food!!!! For me, Regent remains the standard for cruise ship cuisine, and Compass Rose remains as my favorite cruise ship venue, whether it be a specialty restaurant or main dining room. We always visit the specialty restaurants once, but do not see any need to try for additional reservations, because CR is so good. Just a few thoughts- Early in the cruise, we asked the head waiter in CR if any Pacific Rim items might be offered during the cruise (Pacific Rim is only on the Explorer and Splendor). He asked us what in particular we might be interested in, and we told him that we love the lobster tempura. The next night, he had special ordered it for both of us. Fish dishes are consistently prepared great in Compass Rose, whether it be on the left, or always available side, or the right, or daily special side. I especially enjoyed the Black Sesame Crusted Local Red Snapper with Panko Rice Cake and Miso Buerre Blanc Many of us love the Miso Glazed Sea Bass that is offered on Seven Seas Society evening, but I have always found the sticky rice that accompanies is to be rather blah. My wife suggested substituting the vegetable fried rice, and I enjoyed the dish that much more. She had the cauliflower rice, and that worked out well also. Soups in CR are always great, even those that are labeled “consommé”. I would never order something so labeled, as it conjures up for me something bland, thin, and tasteless. But my wife ordered it several times, and lo and behold, it was very flavorful. On the rare occasion that something is not up to par (it happened only once on this cruise,) substitutions are made in an efficient manner. In Prime 7, the crab legs are no longer available as an entrée. However, there is “Seafood Sampler”, ironically offered under the “Small Plate” section that comes with 2 legs. I imagine you can ask for an extra leg. Or 2. It normally comes with 1 scallop. we asked for 3. The only dining hiccup for me was in Chartrouse, I ordered the Baked Lobster Tail with Scallop Mousse, which I remember enjoying on my last cruise. It was tough and chewy, especially compared with the Lobster tail that Jeannie had in CR the night before, which was tender and delicious. OTOH, Jeannie had the lamb chops, which were much thicker and leaner than those that I had in CR that night. We had all of our breakfasts and lunches in La Veranda, we find that the variety and quality of the items offered there to be exceptional. At lunch, the soups of the day are consistently good, as are the pastas of the day. Pizza is served on the starboard side, thin slice pizza, and is excellent, provided that you grab one hot off the grill. If it has been sitting for even a few minutes, it loses quite a bit of its charm. I thought that the coffee in La Veranda was much better than I remember from my last cruise. At the Pool Grille, the Impossible Burger was strangely better than the regular burger. Go figure. Service In a word- phenomenal. Throughout the ship, we were greeted warmly with smiles, most often enthusiastically. These amazing individuals work so hard for such long hours day after day, and still manage to maintain their upbeat mood. I just don’t know how they do it. Service in all venues was very efficient, never had any trouble ordering drinks in any of the bars or at the pool. Bartenders often remember what we ordered last night, and offer to bring it. When we find a waiter that we love in Compass Rose, we will ask to be seated at his or her station at each visit, and that was the case on this cruise. It was our pleasure to be served by a lovely gentleman from Bali name Gede (pronounced G’day). His personality and efficiency made what is always a special evening even more special. Entertainment When I last cruised on the Splendor last year, I was somewhat disappointed in the evening production shows. They seemed to be moving away from the tried and true formulations of familiar music, to what seemed to be an attempt at avant-guard type productions, shows with indecipherable story lines, and music that was obscure, at least to me. In addition, I thought that the voices of the lead singers to be a bit on the weak side. I was delighted to find that the production shows on this cruise returned to the style that I love, familiar music from Broadway, Hollywood, and pop songs, (due, no doubt, to my post cruise comments last time 😊 ). In addition, the singers were top notch; I often got chills listening to them. The dancers are always phenomenal. The shows were “The Hollywood Musical”, “Rockin’ Soul” “Broadway in Concert”, and “Dance to the Beat”. I loved every one of them. Guest comedian Darrell Joyce did 2 shows, very funny. We had seen Darrell last year on the Splendor, I figured that he would do the same shows, but the material was all new. (Yes, yes, I would not likely have remembered them if they were exactly the same, but Jeannie would, and she assures me that it was all new). Assistant Cruise Director Richard Rubin did a delightful show of piano, comedy and shtick. The Academy Awards was shown live (snooze). In the Voyager Lounge was “The Natural Duo”, Denis and Elena from Bulgaria. Denis is a phenomenal guitarist, and Elena has a pleasant voice. Brand new to Regent in the Observation Lounge was Abner Sanchez, from Mexico. I predict that Abner will be with Regent for some time to come, he is very talented. The Regent Signature Orchestra, always great, played in the Horizon Lounge. Is it my imagination, or is the Orchestra shrinking? The Ship My last several voyages have been on Explorer/Splendor, and I do love the environment on these ships, so I wasn’t sure how well I would appreciate being on Voyager. But I found that the Voyager has held up very well, and very much enjoyed my time there. While it lacks some of the glamour of its younger siblings, it is still luxurious in an understated way. I did miss the cavernous storage space that one gets on Explorer/Splendor, as well as the nicer bathrooms and double vanities. But the Voyager does have some advantages as well, namely an outside forward viewing area, and more convenient restrooms adjacent to Compass Rose. (On E/S, if you are seated in the inner recesses of Compass Rose, you may need to pack a snack to bring along on the journey to the facilities😊). The hallway carpeting, however, was the stuff that nightmares are made of. Here are some things that I did not love- The Ports Since I began my cruising life 30 or so years ago, this is definitely one of the more disappointing itineraries that I have experienced. I thought that Buenos Aires and Rio were magnificent, (we loved our pre cruise in BA), and Montevideo well worth the visit. As for the other ports, for me, they ranged from, “pretty, but not especially inspiring” to “why is it that I am here, exactly???” Accordingly, the excursions that Regent forces us to pay for in our cruise fare did not represent a good value, IMO. We almost always take Regent excursions, and almost always choose the included ones. For the most part, we have been pretty well satisfied with the quality; sure there is a clunker now and then, but they have been the exception. But on this cruise….let’s just say that if you are taking a tour called, “Highlights of XYZ”, but “XYZ” does not have much within it that might meet the Merriam-Webster definition of “highlight”….you are likely to be disappointed. If I was planning this itinerary, I would have had overnights in BA and Rio, a stop in Montevideo for sure. Including Porto Belo and/or Buzios would be fine. The others, I would remove and be sailing. Just my opinion. I hope that others who have done this itinerary will chime in here with their impressions. I will provide more detail about the ports of call over the coming days. Internet Really bad. I found that there was often no signal, when there was it was frequently dropped. When I had a signal, it was generally at a snail’s pace. If someone was planning on doing some work from the ship, it was likely a frustrating experience. If I was trying to do a live trip report, I fear that my fellow passengers may have been treated to some rather colorful language .

All ended well, the poster in the other place* posted that they arrived in BA 15 hours late (!) and were brought directly to the ship. The bad news is that they missed their tour of Buenos Aires, the good news is that their suites were ready upon boarding due to their "refugee status". *It's ok to say "Facebook" here, it's not like invoking the name of "Voldemort" or anything😉

What hotel did Regent use? Were you assigned that great room just by the luck of the draw, or did you request an upgrade in some manner? Thanks

Many thanks to those that are posting from this cruise. Are crab legs being served in P7? I have heard that they were not available on some cruises.

Still looking for a private car transport in Rio. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks.

Yikes, I just realized that I booked a cruise during Super Bowl week for next year. We will be on the Grandeur, and it is in Bonaire until 9PM. (Being I Jet fan, I do not tend to plan my life around post-season football)☹️😨 😠😢😭

Thank you for sharing these breathtaking photos!

I only sailed on SS once, I would return only if the itinerary was one that Regent did not offer. We had a few service glitches, but that may well have been an anomaly. I know that you are interested in cuisine, and I thought that the cuisine was comparable to Regent, although as Wes has mentioned, their very best restaurants require and extra charge. To me, no big deal, in the big scheme. Do not miss La Dame! It is truly a unique experience at sea, a small intimate venue, well worth the extra cost for foodies. I have to disagree with my friend Wes in regard to evening entertainment. What was offered on my SS cruise was a troupe of 4 or 6 singers, (can't quite remember), no dancers, no costumes or scenery, no live orchestra. What was offered was more of a cabaret show than production shows. For those that relish the production shows on Regent, this does not compare in any way. If that kind of entertainment does not float your boat, it doesn't matter. I enjoyed the lounge performer very much. Other than that, SS is more formal than Regent in that there are some formal nights that Regent (other than on longer cruises) do not. SS has butlers for all suites categories. I know that you are cruise lovers, and if you do decide to go with SS, I have little doubt that you will have a great time; as to whether or not it lives up to Regent standards, only you can decide. Bob

You may be able to have the title of the thread changed, if you write to C C support at community@cruisecritic.com It would be a shame if people miss your very nice report if they do not understand the title and don't click on it.

I hope and pray that you never need to know this from experience, but I am wondering what sort of help Regent provides in that unhappy event.

I want to learn how to do this!😁 That may be so, but I wonder to what extent Regent has control over the process, and to what extent they are at the mercy of the local authorities.

If you want to keep things easy, we very much enjoyed Toro Toro , in the hotel. Another favorite of ours for seafood is is Trulucks, close by.

Thank you TrulyBlonde, this is really a beautiful part of our country. I forgot to mention, after visiting Mackinac, that evening there was a package of fudge left on our beds, courtesy of Tauck. 😋

All in all, this was a fabulous trip. Tauck is a first class operation, and I highly recommend traveling with them. Our Ponant ship was very nice. I had a few issues with the cuisine, and the bottom line is that those that are accustomed to luxury cruising may be disappointed with some aspects of it. But the negatives did not come close to putting a damper on our wonderful experience. To all of those that have been following this report, my thanks. And if either one of you have any questions, I will be happy to answer.

Day 12 Chicago Day 2 This morning we had a choice of a tour of the Chicago Art Institute, or a guided walking tour of Millennial Park. We chose the latter. Wowzer. What an interesting place. Some highlights- Jay Pritzker Pavilion & The Great Lawn-a Frank Gehry designed bandshell with curving steel plates. We were told that concerts here have a capacity of 11,000 people, and, supposedly the sound system is top notch. Crown Fountain- there is a shallow pool where kids wade, between 2 50 foot block towers, that have projected images of faces of residents of Chicago. I think our guide mentioned that there are 2000 faces stored here. Every minute or so, the expression of the face changes, culminating with a stream of water flowing out. Then the face changes to another. Cloud Gate (“The Bean”)- a unique mirrored sculpture, giving interesting effects as it reflects the skyline and people moving around. After the guided tour, we had the afternoon to ourselves. We walked around the park a bit then walked down to the RIverwalk, where we had lunch. After lunch, we wanted to walk back to our hotel, Google maps told me that it was about a mile’s walk up Michigan Ave. It was obvious to me which direction we should walk. We started off, and after walking for a while, I checked again, and Google was telling me that we were now 1.3 miles away. Clearly, a glitch in the GPS, I figure. We walked a little longer, and came across one of our fellow Taulk guests. “This way to the Four Seasons, correct?” says I. “Nope, wrong way”, says he. So our walk back was somewhat longer than we had anticipated. A good thing, perhaps, given yesterday’s lunch. You may recall that I started off this report with a complaint about our Welcome dinner in Toronto, and that I did not think that it lived up to the standard of a Tauck Special Evening. I would say that the Farwell dinner made up for that and then some. It was held at the Fairmont in a venue called the “Rouge Room” It was a festive atmosphere, great food, and some really superb entertainment. Another Tauck special touch- we had a 6 AM time arranged for transport to the airport, and breakfast was starting at 6:30. Normally in those circumstances, Tauck provides a boxed breakfast for passengers to take along with them, which is fine. During the meal, one of our tour guides came to our table with a room service menu, and said that we could fill it out and order anything we wanted, specify the delivery time, on Tauck’s dime. Classy. On the bus on the way back from the Fairmont to the Four Seasons, I was sitting across the aisle from the gent who steered me back in the right direction earlier in the day. When we arrived at the hotel and the door opened, he tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to the door and said, “that way.” The next morning we had our breakfast delivered to our room as promised, came down at 6 AM, and had a private limo take us to the airport, provided by Tauck.

Did she ever. In fact, she taught me much more about Mies than I ever wanted to know! I would love to point out which of the buildings that I show were his design, however I do not wish to brag about my exhaustive knowledge of this topic.

Day 11 Chicago Day 1 We docked in Milwaukee this morning and disembarked, to be bused to Chicago. Why couldn’t we have docked in Chicago? Dunno. We said goodbye to the lovely Dumond d’Urville, and set off for the drive of about 2 hours. Our tour guide spoke to us along the way, and we picked up a local guide as we entered Chicago. We drove around for a while getting an overview of the city, and then were taken down to the Chicago River, where we boarded a boat for ab architectural sightseeing cruise narrated by a docent from the Chicago Architectural Foundation. This narrator was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her area of expertise, describing the buildings, some famous, some not. She gave us a great insight into the visions of the various architects that were responsible for the amazing variety of styles that this city displays. I think that it is fair to say that I am now an expert in Chicago architecture. Or would be, surely, if I a) paid closer attention to the narration, and b) were able to retain new information for longer than about 10 minutes or so After this very enjoyable tour, we were brought to Giordano’s Restaurant for a lunch of Chicago’s famous deep dish pizza. I had thought that I had eaten deep dish pizza before, but I was wrong. It was nothing like this. We were able to choose from cheese, veggie, and meat pies. Prior to the pizza being served, we had a Caesar salad course, (not shown), and a pasta course. And then, this After lunch, Tauck was kind enough to provide wheelbarrows to cart us to our hotels. Just kidding. Like in Toronto, we could have chosen the Four Seasons or the Fairmont. Again, we chose the Four Seasons, and again, while this hotel was absolutely gorgeous, the Fairmont, IMO, would have been better for touring. We were on our own for dinner, but being still rather stuffed from lunch, we decided to just roll down to the hotel restaurant for light snacks. For those that just can't get enough of Chicago architecture, here' some more

Day 10 Holland, MI We anchored in Muskegon, MI, and were bused to Holland, a town settled by (surprise, surprise), Dutch immigrants in the mid 19th century. It was about a 45 minute drive. We drove around the town for a while, and then went to the Windmill Island Gardens. This is a 36 acre park featuring beautiful botanical gardens, and the only functional Dutch windmill in North America. There is a tulip festival in May, where they go all out in tulip blooms. I imagine that this would be the best time to visit this site. But in August, the grounds are not too shabby! From here, we went to the downtown area, where we had some free time to walk around, shop, and lunch on our own. Our Tauck guide gave us 20 smackaroos per person to go toward our lunch. There is a beautiful Centennial Park here, the highlight of which is a 12 foot “living mosaic” of live plants of the Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum spent summers nearby along the shores of Lake Michigan. It is believed that he wrote parts of the book here. Across the street, on the grounds of a library , there are bronze statues of some of the characters, based on the illustrations of William Wallace Denslow, who did the original illustrations. Statue of the Reverend Dr. Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of the city More of Centennial Park A visit to a town like this just brings home one of the great joys of cruising- spending a delightful day in a place that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would visit otherwise.

Day 9 Traverse City. MI We anchored and were tendered to Charlevoix, (one might think that this place is pronounced “shar-le-vwah”, as the French would but it isn’t. It is pronounced, “shar-luh voy”). From there, we were bused to Traverse City, about an hour’s drive. Our first stop was a visit to the Music House Museum. This is a really neat place, it displays music making machines dating from the late 19 and early 20th century. We had a docent give us demonstrations and explanations of various machines, ranging from very small to humongous and many in between. My favorite was a player piano that played “Rhapsody in Blue”, with the recorded keystrokes of none other than Georgie G himself! They only played the last 5 minutes or so, (it is a very long song) but I found it somewhat enchanting to think that Gershwin’s fingers were used to make that piano do what it was doing. We then had some free time to explore the museum’s displays. We then were taken to downtown Traverse City where we were let loose on a retail street. For me, there was not much to distinguish it from any other retail street in the US, with a few exceptions: Apparently, TC prides itself in being the cherry capital of the USA. Did you know the over 70% of all cherries grown in the United States are grown in the Traverse Bay Farms region of Michigan? I didn’t. This store had every possible product that you can imagine being made from cherries, and a few that you probably didn’t imagine. And, of course, while a little off the beaten track was a statue of Perry Hannah, father of Traverse City. Perry was the city’s first mayor, and spent his life dedicated to the improvement of the economy of this area. But you probably already knew that. We were then taken to a winery for a buffet lunch. A nice setting; the food just ok.

Day 7 and 8 Cruising and Mackinac Island (the final “c” is silent) The next day was a day of cruising on Lake Huron. It’s easy (or, it is for me at least) to lose sight of just how huge the Great Lakes are. Sailing was as if we were on the ocean, in that all you can see is water and sky. It was, however, smooth as silk, not a wave to be seen, although I am well aware that this is not always the case. Those that do a lot of ocean cruising know that most ships on sea days offer a wide variety of activities. On the Dumont d’Urville- not so much. In the morning there was a dance class, and a lecture, “who was Dumont d’Urville?” In the afternoon, there was a class on iphone photography, and tea time at 4PM. Bingo at 4:30. That’s ok by me, for me, a perfect day at sea is doing what I do best- absolutely nothing. The next day we anchored for our tender ride to Mackinac Island. This is really a unique place! No horseless carriages allowed, so transportation is by foot, bike, or horse buggy. We got off our tender, and boarded a buggy pulled by 2 horses. The driver gave us a tour of the main sites of the island, and was very personable, funny and engaging. We were told that in May, it is lilac season, and during that time, the air is fragrant with the scent of lilacs. As we were there in August, given the number of horses on the island transporting people around, the air was fragment with the scent of…..something else. We got off at a tourist place for rest room stops, and then boarded another buggy, this one pulled by 3 horses. Our driver took us around the more remote parts of the island, and dropped us off at Fort Mackinac, interesting displays and beautiful vistas. From there, we boarded yet another buggy for ride to the Grand Hotel, where we were treated to a lovely buffet lunch. After lunch, we had free time to explore the hotel and its grounds, and to set for a spell on the world’s longest porch. After we got our fill of soaking in the absolute glory of this magnificent property, we had a choice of taking a buggy back to town and tender port, or taking a short walk. Just follow the road, we were told, you can’t get lost. They don’t know me very well, but fortunately, my wife was with me to help me find my way. After a little walk around town, we tendered back to the ship. I surely have been at more exciting cruise ship ports, but I can’t remember a more pleasant one, it was just a delightful day.