9/1/10 - Onboard Navigator - Alaska

[Travelcat2]

Interesting that Ray Solaire will be the CD on the Navigator for now. He'll be our CD on the Mariner in January. We first met him on the Voyager on our Southampton to Monte Carlo cruise. He certainly gets around!

[Mark_T]

As we are embarking in a week, did they get the salt water issue resolved?? Any other issue with the ship or is it good to go crossing the North Pacific??

 

Yes, the water issue seems to have been resolved. It took a while before they stopped using bottled water in the restaurants, but as far as I could tell it was resolved over the weekend.

 

No other new problems with the ship so you should be good to go.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

[rallydave]

Yes, the water issue seems to have been resolved. It took a while before they stopped using bottled water in the restaurants, but as far as I could tell it was resolved over the weekend.

 

No other new problems with the ship so you should be good to go.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks Mark,

 

Have a safe trip home and may your next cruise be even better the your last.

[Mark_T]

Mark,

You have to request the fresh squeezed stuff OJ. If they know in advance they will keep a couple of glasses for you at breakfast.

 

Good to know for next time, but this is the kind of thing that gets a little irritating at times.

 

When we first sailed on Voyager 5 years ago there was no need to specifically request fresh OJ, that was all they served at breakfast.

 

These 'hidden' aspects of the service and what is available do nothing to enhance the perception of guests who do not know they need to ask for these things.

[Mark_T]

Interesting that Ray Solaire will be the CD on the Navigator for now. He'll be our CD on the Mariner in January. We first met him on the Voyager on our Southampton to Monte Carlo cruise. He certainly gets around!

 

I'm intrigued though, have you seen his marionette show?

[Travelcat2]

I'm intrigued though, have you seen his marionette show?

 

Yes -- it was really enjoyable. He also does Trivia in a way that no other CD does (we think it's great). That man has a ton of energy -- really amazing:)

[OrpingtonT]

I agree. Ray is a very likeable Englishman, always around the ship. Usually goes around in shirt sleeves with trousers held up with colourful braces, of which he has a huge variety.

[rallydave]

I agree. Ray is a very likeable Englishman, always around the ship. Usually goes around in shirt sleeves with trousers held up with colourful braces, of which he has a huge variety.

And a tie that matches the braces. Looking forward to talking to Ray again next week.

[OrpingtonT]

And a tie that matches the braces. Looking forward to talking to Ray again next week.

 

He must meet so many people, but he may remember Tom & Barbara from Orpington (Barbara in a wheelchair) as he spent some time with us. If so, please give him our best wishes. We remember him from our Norway cruise last year and he was on for a short spell on our Med cruise in April this year.

[OrpingtonT]

P.S. Have a wonderful cruise. Great itinerary.

[rallydave]

He must meet so many people, but he may remember Tom & Barbara from Orpington (Barbara in a wheelchair) as he spent some time with us. If so, please give him our best wishes. We remember him from our Norway cruise last year and he was on for a short spell on our Med cruise in April this year.

 

I'll be sure to give Ray your best regards. Thanks for the good wishes. My DW and I have been waiting for over a year for this cruise and we know it will be the experience of our lives.

 

Thanks for the good wishes.

[LOGHL]

I'll be sure to give Ray your best regards. Thanks for the good wishes. My DW and I have been waiting for over a year for this cruise and we know it will be the experience of our lives.

 

Thanks for the good wishes.

 

We got on this lovely ship on the 8th.. everything is as hoped for...service, food, etc. Since we had been on this ship less than 6 months ago, we were well remembered by the staff. Have known Ray Solaire for over 16 years, so it was a delight when he asked us to have dinner with him the first evening.

Quite surprised that so many of the passengers are on the cruise for only one week... no idea how many will be on for the cruise to Beijing

We have been on this self same cruise on another cruise line so looking forward to the ports. Weather has been quite cold to date ( we are from Florida)...hope it warms up soon.

looking forward to welcoming you all aboard.

[rallydave]

We got on this lovely ship on the 8th.. everything is as hoped for...service, food, etc. Since we had been on this ship less than 6 months ago, we were well remembered by the staff. Have known Ray Solaire for over 16 years, so it was a delight when he asked us to have dinner with him the first evening.

Quite surprised that so many of the passengers are on the cruise for only one week... no idea how many will be on for the cruise to Beijing

We have been on this self same cruise on another cruise line so looking forward to the ports. Weather has been quite cold to date ( we are from Florida)...hope it warms up soon.

looking forward to welcoming you all aboard.

 

Thanks for the note Chelonia, glad everything is up to snuff so far. We are in Houston, temps still in the 90's so hoping it does warm up as well. Will probably take until Japan to get into the 70's. As best as I have been able to determine, there look to be around 50 to 70 empty suites out of Seward so should be about 75% full or so.

 

Three couples cruising to Beijing will be meeting next Tuesday nite in Anchorage before boarding. Knew you would be on the ship based on our limited roll-call and hope we can meet on board. We are chomping at the bit to get on the road and join you and the others. Now know to ask Ray to point out the lovely lady he dined with on the first nite out of Vancouver.

 

We'll see you soon.

 

Dave

[Shay123]

We were on the September 1st cruise as well. Now I know why the coffee tasted salty!

 

We enjoyed Alaska and all the excursions offered by Regent. Overall, we were quite disappointed in the food although we had a few good meals. The featured wines were just ok.

 

Our last Regent cruise was five years ago on the Voyager. I feel the quality of the food and service has gone downhill. Some of the staff were quite rude and unpleasant (this is not something I say too often).

 

Terry Breen's lectures were outstanding. The Crew Caper show on the last night was fun. We met lots of nice people. I just wish the food had been better.

[Mark_T]

We were on the September 1st cruise as well. Now I know why the coffee tasted salty!

 

I really wish they had just let everyone know what had happened instead of just leaving a lot of people wondering why coffee, tea and ice tasted odd, to say nothing of the quality of the shower/bath water.

 

We enjoyed Alaska and all the excursions offered by Regent. Overall, we were quite disappointed in the food although we had a few good meals. The featured wines were just ok.

 

Food is always a subjective issue I know, but on balance I'd say it was only the dessert course that left us feeling a bit let down on occasions. Presentation was always perfect, but the product itself tended to lack in taste or just missed the mark. The 'Apple Crumble' stuck in the mind (and the throat) as a badly interpreted example.

 

The free pours were always drinkable, but I don't recall anything particularly special on offer. I didn't feel any need to replace the ones being offered but similarly no feeling that we were getting anything more than a decent minimum quality.

 

Our last Regent cruise was five years ago on the Voyager. I feel the quality of the food and service has gone downhill. Some of the staff were quite rude and unpleasant (this is not something I say too often).

 

Sounds like your point of comparison is the same as ours, we were on Voyager in 2005. We didn't experience any direct rudeness, but there was a marked difference between staff in their ability to engage directly with us, some merely served and vanished, others displayed the smiling willingness to do whatever they could to help that we remembered from before.

 

The outstanding feature for us were the new entertainers. They really have lifted the quality of the shows considerably and they also take time to talk to everyone whenever possible. I spoke to the two singers on more than one occasion and they seemed genuinely excited to hear that early reports of their performances from other cruises as well as our own had been positive. Our only concern in that regard was the acoustics in the Galileo Lounge as the strong brass section in the orchestra tended to overpower the vocals at times during the late evening cabaret performances up there, but that was not the fault of the singers.