Gilly

Yes, these glasses are used in the Meridian Lounge, which is styled as a "cocktail bar" but in the other bars a G&T will be more likely served in a plain long drink glass. This evening I enjoyed two "perfect" Mermaid Gin and Fevertree Tonics as we left Southampton, enjoying the lovely landscape of the Isle of Wight (home of the Mermaid Gin) pass by as we set said for Kirkwall, the day after tomorrow. Hopefully @lprp I will have got them ok on the basics ready for you to take over on the advanced course 😉 Now @Redking brings the topic of glasses into the grand scheme of things however, we could be talking about a long term training commitment here!

Oh my...I think that you can tutor that advanced class @lprp I am still working on the basics!!

See you soon @BuckGood

I don't know if it's simply that the way of serving such mixed drinks in different parts of the world vary? I say this only because I just read an article by an American visiting London for the first time, who was surprised to be served her spirit and the accompanying mixer separately. Now I think that's perfectly normal - isn't it? (Maybe not?!) So, a straight "G&T" order on board is served in a long glass, with about a third ice and topped up almost to the rim with whatever tonic happens to be there at the time by the server, usually a large "Coke size" can which is already open and might be slightly flat. (That's not always the case...I noticed smaller, San Pellegrino Tonic cans yesterday) Of course, the flavour and character of a particular gin is totally drowned in a serving like this and I have spent our time on board devising the best way of describing exactly how I'd like my G&T served wthout sounding too picky! (But maybe I'm just that way!! 😉) I try to find one of a handful of waiters to ask, who understand what I mean when I ask for " XXXX gin, served over ice please, with a slice of cucumber (or whatever) and a bottle of Fevertree tonic on the side would be perfect!` Maybe that's not how many would like their G&T served? I don't know. Tell me what makes the perfect drink for you, please?!

It's our first back-to-back cruise and it feels really strange to not be putting out luggage out tonight - though I'll admit, it's a pretty nice feeling and one I could get used to 😎. Whilst I'm looking forward to meeting new friends, we will miss the lovely people from this one for sure. Anyway, in similar vein to my previous thread, I hope everyone will feel free to chip in here with their thoughts as we sail towards Greenland.

Coming to the end of this cruise in the morning, but we will stay here for the next one. Perhaps I'd better wrap this one up soon and start a new one, just to keep things straight. I must say, we've had all kinds of confusing messages including a set of disembarkation luggage tags and maps of Heathrow, plus a form to complete with options for tours in Southampton "for those sailing on to Barcelona" (errrrmmm, we're flying home from Reykjavik aren't we?) I understand there are 23 px in transit, but sadly none of our ace Trivia team...so we'll be looking for new friends for that.

@Mudhen no panic....it's there but it takes perseverance to find it and engineer it to a place beside your favourite gin! I too like Hendricks but there's also Mermaid Gin on board which is rather good as well 😉

@Mudhen I haven't seen her....but that doesn't mean she's not here! There are a great number of new staff - more accurately, new to us. We recognised hardly anyone when we boarded. It appears my (new) role in life is to train Regent staff to make a "proper" Gin and Tonic - i.e. one where the gin isn't drowned in a whole glass of stale, anonymous tonic water. So far, I have about an 80% success rate, though I'm aiming for 100% reliability by the time we leave 😉 Well, we all assume a mission in our lives, don't we?!

@Mudhen I'm not 100% on this one but the man wearing a jacket (rather than the waistcoat of the others) in CR and dashing around chasing his tail all night with bottles in his hand is I Kadek.

Hopefully @seasickphil , you didn't have too bad a night as we rocked and creaked our way towards Cork though we had a rude awakening when one of our french windows came open and a blast of air roared in! (Probably my fault for not securing the door properly when I'd gone out earlier 🤫 ) Anyway, this morning, we heard that we won't make it into port today because of the storm, so we'll continue on towards Falmouth tomorrow. It's always sad to miss a port of course, but these things happen, as we know. Here's hoping the storm passes through and that we return to smooth sailing before too long.

@seasickphil I thought of you as I heard the Captain's announcement. Hold tight and hope you're ok.

We are anchored off Dun Laoghaire today; another tendered port with a bus ride into Dublin. We'd booked "Dublin on your Own" today, but handed in the tickets first thing because we were a little tired of the tender/bus combo and Dublin's somewhere we know pretty well. Instead, we're enjoying a "sea day" for ourselves, pottering about and catching up with this and that. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in La Veranda - we could have chosen Chartreuse but since we have a booking there for tonight, we thought better of that. I must say, even though the ship is sailing full right now, it never feels that way. Still, today was extra-peaceful and it was a delight to be here. Time for Trivia now. I wonder if our team made it back in time? @liptastic Glen sends his best regards!

So far, I've not experienced any break in connection, which seems to be reliable if rather slower than I realised.

I was just coming back to say exactly the same - @seasickphil we must have run our speed tests at almost the same moment - except mine came back with upload speed of 0.6!! Clearly my perception is utter rubbish, though I must say, loading my blog each day has been far more trouble-free than previously.

From my experience, it is much better than we have previously experienced. I have been able to post my photo-rich blog every day with no problem whatsoever. I will try to remember to get the speed later so you can assess whether it's fast enough. I do, however, think it's location dependent...

Older teens mostly, one or two younger people travelling with parents/grandparents (one of whom proudly achieved gold SSS status the other day. Mostly, there are (?a couple of) large, multigenerational family groups noticeable primarily in the evening sitting at adjacent large tables, sometimes having a cross table conversation.

Jean, of course we will! I agree, he is utterly charming and we so enjoy his company. Gx

We're counting our blessings too, @cruiseatc ! We'll try to see you then...😉

Yes, I think that's pretty much a sure thing !

@pappy1022 it depends which is your first port when entering the UK. We've been in Norway, sailing across to Scotland and Invergordon was our port of entry. If you're sailing on a round Britain itinerary, then you might not have to encounter the Border Force again, since you're staying within the UK.

@seasickphil interesting to read about P7 last night - I guess it made for a lively evening? We enjoyed a splendid time in Pacific Rim, which rounded off the (busy!) sea day nicely. @Cruisefriends158 whenever we've seen the head sommelier in CR so far, he has been chasing his tail and incredibly busy, so I hesitate to ask him for something else - maybe someone else here might catch him at a quieter time for you. But if I get the chance, I'll see what I can do, of course. We are in Invergordon today and on an afternoon tour so thought we might sneak a bit of extra sleep this morning. Sadly, the UK Border Force had different ideas and invited us to show our faces at their immigration inspection starting at 7.45am. Even though we weren't part of the first group, we felt we needed to be ready, just in case, so no lie in for us!!

Currently sailing in the North Sea, in calm waters and fine weather. We enjoyed breakfast outside la Veranda this morning and lunch in Chartreuse just now. A spot or two (understatement) of rain yesterday didn't spoil our day and we look forward to a wee dram or two in Scotland tomorrow. Life is good on board Splendor!

Not so far...

We had a fab first day in Oslo yesterday, even though our first choice tour (Beyond the Blueprint) was cancelled. We were rescheduled for the afternoon one to the Maritime Museums, which didn't fill us with enthusiasm but which turned out to be terrific. A great guide makes all the difference and she was first class. Not only that, but we got back in time for Trivia, found our team and somehow came in first too 😉 We decided to give Sette Mari a try last night, even though it's not our favourite. We hear so many good things and thought that perhaps we need to see what we're missing. Hmmm. Several large tables of friends/family made it incredibly noisy and we were glad to find somewhere a little quieter for a drink when we'd finished dinner. The ABBA show in the Atrium was fun though and the cast put on a great performance!

Five minutes makes all the difference. We barely stopped walking between the transfer bus and the lower end of the gangplank, only needing to stop for a few minutes to allow crew members to fit the wheelchair ramp, make use of it and then fold it away again securely . I've not seen them do that before and it was quite interesting and rather impressive. Lovely to have sunshine in Oslo, isn't it?