Hot Spots and Headlines: A Mariner Mediterranean Joint Live Blog

[Travelcat2]

The early birds got to the computer before I did today. We are also happy to have another sea day but I am guessing that people reading this thread will enjoy reading about excursions, etc. rather than just about daily life on the Mariner.

 

Today we plan on going to a cooking demonstration and I'm not sure what else. Need to visit Destination Services and get some excursions figured out. We are waitlisted on most excursions. If it doesn't look like we'll clear the list, I need to do some research as to what we should do in port. I'm posting this information because there have been questions about clearing waitlists on CC in the past. We are the type of people that just "go with the flow", so if we have to do things on our own, we'll deal with it - no problem.

 

Food on this cruise remains better than normal (and "normal" is pretty darn good).

 

FreeMaggie: Your mother is delightful - so happy that we could meet her. I'm sure we will see you both again:)

[Mr Rumor]

Correction: Jean Ann Ryan Company dancers Alan Grundy and Nathan Berry, as well as Alan's ballroom dance partner, Lucy Witton, have only one more contract with Regent, and that is on the Voyager from March-October, 2016. I don't know if it has already been reported that the Voyager goes into drydock after that.

 

There was a good question put to the JAR group at the "Backstage Tour" Q&A this morning: Why are there mainly British, and no American, dancers in the current lineup?" (I actually have a hard time recalling any American dancers in the five years we've been taking in the JAR shows.) Two reasons, Alan replied on behalf of the group: 1.) It is easier, and less expensive, for Jean Ann Ryan to hire dancers from countries such as England where one does not need to purchase visas to visit countries such as China and Brazil, and 2.) It is hard to find American dancers that meet the JAR minimum height requirement--5'8" for women, 5'10" for men.

 

Lots of good, tasty offerings at the Greek Buffet Lunch today--much preferred it to the Tex-Mex Buffet the day before.

 

I learned that for the first time all summer, there are zero Titanium (400+ nights) currently aboard the Mariner. The rest of the cruiser breakdown is as follows: Platinum (200-399 nights), 6; Gold (75-199 nights), 41; Silver (21-74 nights), 237; and Bronze (7-20 nights), 59. We haven't heard yet when the Platinum-Gold reception will be held, but we did receive our invite yesterday to the Seven Seas Society reception, which I believe is set for Sunday in the Constellation Theater.

[thecleave]

Rich, will this be your first time in Jerusalem? If so I hope you have a wonderful time. I would definitely love to go back and spend a few days there in the future. Looking forward to hearing what the Platinum/Gold event is.

 

Keep enjoying!!

[MikeD1000]

We met Mr and Mrs Rumor at the Backstage Show this morning, and knew that once I saw Mr taking notes I'd be in trouble for not posting since we left home.

 

So here it is from Istanbul onwards.

 

The Intercontinental Ceylan was very comfortable. We went for a short walk the next morning around Taksim Square, but there isn't a lot to see. It is very much work in process, with a lot of repaving, presumably to replace what was taken up and thrown around in the protests last year.

 

We had dinner in the Safran restaurant in the hotel. Views to die for, and excellent meal and wine, and perfect service - oh, and a little birthday cake with a sparkler and candles.

 

We had decided not to take the tour of Istanbul, as we had seen most of the places they were visiting on our earlier visits. We had thought of taking a taxi to the port, but the local rep said "why would you want to?" so we took the Regent bus. In fact it left earlier than scheduled, and we were on board not much after 12.30.

 

One tip for future travellers is that when we met the Maitre D to ask if we could have an extra dinner in Signatures he said that there are always vacancies on the first night. As others have posted, it was a very good meal, and we are so looking forward to our next visit on Monday (Anne's birthday).

 

it was great to meet the other Posters yesterday and to be able to put faces and real names to those we have met only on line.

 

We enjoyed last night's show too. Very skilful dancing and singing and good music from the band. That made meeting the artists this morning even more special.

 

We are in our second day at sea. Yesterday there was a bit of a swell, but today is very smooth. We mare only making 14 knots, presumably to make up for our missed port of call at Lesbos.

 

Now to pore over the details of how to get from Mariner to the buses tomorrow on the trip to Jerusalem. We have never been to Israel before and are very much looking forward to it.

[Catpow]

Mr Rumour, I can see you have a wonderful nose for detail. We are on the Voyager from April 12th 2016. The previous cruise end in Beijing on March 25th. I guess we thought there might be a dry dock then. Or perhaps a chartered cruise? I'm not familiar with Alan and Nathan, but look forward to seeing their skills next year.

 

And thanks to all for this interesting thread. And yes, Olga is the best!

[Mudhen]

Thanks to all of you "bloggers", it's almost as good as being there with you! You notice I said "Almost"!

Keep calm and sail on......(yeah, I borrowed that from Cunard...giggle!)

[RachelG]

As others have stated, the seas are very calm. Quite warm today. I got up early to do my 1 hr on the top deck and was sure glad I did. Too hot this afternoon.

 

Cooking demo was good as it made George decide that he does not hate all risotto. He has just had a lot that was not properly prepared. We followed that with a really delicious Greek lunch, but took our plates inside La Veranda to eat where it was out of the sun and cooler.

 

We did NOT win at trivia. Mainly due to the absence of 2 team members. (You know who you are.). However, we did come in 4th despite our handicap.

 

Our tour to Jerusalem is supposed to leave at 7 am, so no more sleeping in for George. Everyone has to do a face to face interview with Israeli customs. They are going to announce by tour groups starting at 6:30, and the announcements will be broadcast into the rooms. I feel sorry for anyone not on tour as they are going to have to get up early for this, even if they are staying on the ship. They anticipate everyone to be cleared by 8.

[Dakota0307]

Thanks to ALL of you for entertaining and informative posts. Your trips have begun smoothly.

 

Looking forward to reading about your excursions. Great destinations! Jerusalem is an awesome destination to visit.

 

Does anyone know the last cruise current singers dancers contract ends?

 

Happy cruising. Will continue checking back to read your blogs. I learn a lot of useful tips from many of you.

[Travelcat2]

Just learned that "certain" members of our trivia team were napping so all is forgiven. Although we did not win trivia, I enjoyed being part of the 4 person "CC" team.

 

I love the reference to Mr. and Mrs. Rumor. Think I will refer to them that way (very nice people - hope he isn't reading this:D)

 

Because we did an overnight with Regent in Jerusalem 3 years ago and took multiple tours, we opted to not go on any excursion tomorrow but will do a long one on Sunday. We will check out Haifa and see what is going on.

 

Dinner in CR was delicious. Food onboard is getting rave reviews.

 

Hope everyone going to Jerusalem tomorrow has a great time!

[Mr Rumor]

Enjoyed your first onboard posts, Margaret/FreeMaggie and Mike! Yep, Mike, I keep that little notepad with me at all times--never know when I am going to glean a Random Note!

 

Ha, didn't see your post, Jackie, before posting, so I'm "editing." Yep, here I was the one to write about trivia earlier today and I'm the no-show. I went down for a cat nap this afternoon, and wound up taking a two-hour snooze. Oh well, I'll be glad to contribute my usual quota of one or two correct answers after we reconvene in the Horizon Lounge following our three big tour days.

 

Speaking of which, I wasn't going to post again tonight due to our early face to faces with Israeli immigration, followed by the 12-hour A Day in Jerusalem tour. But I can't retire without a few words about our dinner in Signatures tonight.

 

Signatures boasts three of our very favorite Regent dishes--the crabmeat appetizer arranged in what I call the Asparagus Spear Hut; the creamy mushroom soup and the Tahitian Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. Each was outstanding. The big surprise for me was the totally scrumptious Fillet of Halibut. Honestly, it was 140 grams of heaven on a plate. Perfectly cooked, salted just so, it really didn't need the pool of pistachio sauce and baby spinach and herb-marinated tomatoes beneath it, although I liked these tastes, too. In my ten Regent cruises I've never had a more enjoyable meal. Adding to the specialness of the evening were our servers I Ketal Rai (fourth contract--Bali) and Mohazzib (first contract--India). We got a kick out of their teasing interplay, and we were impressed by their attentive, even doting service. In sum, a signature Signatures experience--bravo!

 

Rich

Edited September 18, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[RachelG]

Tonight was the block party as well. Met some really nice people on our block including a lady who lives less than 3 miles from us back home which is crazy!

 

Delicious dinner in CR. I had the absolutely decadent escargot. I was planning to give half to George, but surprise, he ordered the same thing. So I sacrificed and at all of mine. Food tonight was just outstanding.

 

Early up in the am. So no show for me tonight.

[Mr Rumor]

A P.S. post to end the evening. . .

 

Dakota0307, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread and thanks for the good cruising wishes. In answer to your question, contracts are up for the current group of Jean Ann Ryan dancers and singers on October 21. It will mark the end of an odyssey that began in March when they met in Ft. Lauderdale and commenced a week of rehearsals for each of the four shows. They've become close friends over the six months and their mutual rapport was clearly in evidence this morning at the Q&A and Backstage Tour in the Constellation Theater.

 

Andrea, this will be Ginny's first visit to Israel and my second. My first visit, in the spring of 1977 while working aboard the Royal Viking Star, was certainly memorable, for both good and, er, not so good reasons. You see, we had just called on Alexandria and then Cairo, and in Cairo I had accompanied a group of passengers on an excursion to the pyramids that included lunch at one of the top hotels. Well. . . there was something about that lunch. . . . Anything more would be TMI. I'll just say I'm glad we're visiting Israel first this time!

[poss]

This was one of the cruises that I'd most wanted to be on this year. My tongue is hanging out. The posts are wonderful. Looking forward to ongoing salivation.

[Mudhen]

A P.S. post to end the evening. . .

 

Dakota0307, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread and thanks for the good cruising wishes. In answer to your question, contracts are up for the current group of Jean Ann Ryan dancers and singers on October 21. It will mark the end of an odyssey that began in March when they met in Ft. Lauderdale and commenced a week of rehearsals for each of the four shows. They've become close friends over the six months and their mutual rapport was clearly in evidence this morning at the Q&A and Backstage Tour in the Constellation Theater.

 

Andrea, this will be Ginny's first visit to Israel and my second. My first visit, in the spring of 1977 while working aboard the Royal Viking Star, was certainly memorable, for both good and, er, not so good reasons. You see, we had just called on Alexandria and then Cairo, and in Cairo I had accompanied a group of passengers on an excursion to the pyramids that included lunch at one of the top hotels. Well. . . there was something about that lunch. . . . Anything more would be TMI. I'll just say I'm glad we're visiting Israel first this time!

 

Hi Rich,

I had almost forgotten that you had a RVL connection. The Star was one of my all time favorite ships. My parents cruised almost exclusively with them and we attended many happy Bon Voyage parties aboard the Sea, their personal favorite. We have a huge array of Skald Club goodies and I still use my heavily etched wine glasses with the sea eagle almost every day. Hope someday we'll meet!

Best,

Linda and John

[xrvlcruiser]

Rich, Jackie, Rachel et al,

 

I'm thoroughly enjoying all of this . . . . and Linda - I'm a xrvlcruiser as well.

 

Peggy

[Mudhen]

Rich, Jackie, Rachel et al,

 

I'm thoroughly enjoying all of this . . . . and Linda - I'm a xrvlcruiser as well.

 

Peggy

 

OH WOW! We need a mini RVL reunion!

[xrvlcruiser]

Linda,

 

I'm sure we'll sail together at some point - and with Rich. There are still a few former RVL passengers and some staff as well who sail on Regent. And on other lines too - SilverSea, Crystal . . . . .

 

If you like, you can watch the Navigator sail out of NY Harbor a week from tomorrow.

 

http://www.portnywebcam.com/

 

Peggy

[Travelcat2]

Mr. Rumor and I were posting at the same time from the computer room last night - this is a good meeting place. Too bad that everyone missed the show as Jamie (forgot his last name) is a wonderful performer. He will perform again in 3 days.

 

It is going to be 89 degrees today so we'll leave shortly for our Haifa walking tour (on our own). The face-to-face with Israeli immigration went quickly for those of us doing our own thing today.

 

We were on the Mariner 5 months ago - had a great cruise but are finding some changes (mainly food) that is making this cruise even better than the previous one. Lest I be told that I only post "good things", there are a couple of issues that I wish would be fixed (soon). First is the forward elevator that has not been functioning since we boarded. The other two are very slow (possibly because the door on one of them opens and closes a few times before it goes anywhere which is wasting time). Secondly is that two computers are missing from the computer room - one has not been here since we boarded.

 

Cannot think of anything else newsworthy. The rest of the "team" should have interesting reports when they return from their excursions!

Edited September 19, 2015 by Travelcat2

[orchestrapal]

Mr. Rumor and I were posting at the same time from the computer room last night - this is a good meeting place. Too bad that everyone missed the show as Jamie (forgot his last name) is a wonderful performer. He will perform again in 3 days.

We were on the Mariner 5 months ago - had a great cruise but are finding some changes (mainly food) that is making this cruise even better than the previous one. Lest I be told that I only post "good things", there are a couple of issues that I wish would be fixed (soon). First is the forward elevator that has not been functioning since we boarded. The other two are very slow (possibly because the door on one of them opens and closes a few times before it goes anywhere which is wasting time). Secondly is that two computers are missing from the computer room - one has not been here since we boarded.

Cannot think of anything else newsworthy. The rest of the "team" should have interesting reports when they return from their excursions![/quote

 

Thank you for your reviews and enjoy Haifa.

We have booked our first Regent cruise for fall of 2016 and are greatly looking. forward to it. So happy to read about the food on Mariner since we will be Oceania transplants who enjoy good food. As for the nigeling negatives you posted, we don't use the elevators, bring our own computer so we should be very happy on Mariner. Keep us posted and a big thanks for doing so.

[Travelcat2]

orchestrapal - pleasantly surprised that you booked a Regent cruise. You may see some cruise members that you know from Oceania. We met a delightful Sommelier (misspelled) that spent many years on Oceania and is on her second Regent contract.

 

Food is so subjective. There is nothing on Regent that is as good as Jacques (IMHO). Regent's French restaurant, Signatures, may be gone by the time you cruise. "Chartreuse" will be replacing it after the new dining venue is introduced on Regent's new ship, The Explorer. It is expected to be high end French and may be almost as good as Jacques (not sure that anyone can beat Jacques Pepin's recipes).

 

In terms of my elevator comment, we are using the stairs a lot but are on deck 11 and it is a long way down to deck 5 - especially for someone with a relatively new knee:-) I can use a computer in my suite but prefer a good old fashioned keyboard that is available in the computer room.

 

Haifa is interesting - we walked around in the heat and found many places closed for the Sabbath which was expected. Tomorrow we will be out on a 10 hour excursion. Some passengers are doing long excursions both today and tomorrow. We did that three years ago and are happy that we do not need to take the long ride into Jerusalem. We feel the same about Cairo. We did a land vacation in Cairo and a Nile cruise several years ago so will not take the long ride from the ship into Cairo. We will stay local in Port Said and also will be visiting Alexandria.

 

Speaking of excursions, we love the fact that many crew members are going on excursions today and tomorrow (thanks to the Crew Fund). They are so excited. Some are going to float in the Dead Sea while others are going to Jerusalem.

 

Before I forget to ask...... what cruise did you book and on which ship?

[RachelG]

Posting on my iPhone on the bus coming back from Jerusalem. Wifi is better here than on the ship. Great excursion with our guide mordecai. There were 30 passengers and a crew member. We had the audiovox system so no issues hearing. Walked all over old Jerusalem, down the way of the cross, to the wailing wall and took a bus up to the mt of olives. Very good buffet lunch at the olive tree hotel with really good fresh salads, hummus, delicious roast chicken and potatoes. And the wine was pretty good as well.

 

Most moving part of the day for me was at the wailing wall, seeing people from all nations in prayer.

[orchestrapal]

orchestrapal - pleasantly surprised that you booked a Regent cruise. You may see some cruise members that you know from Oceania. We met a delightful Sommelier (misspelled) that spent many years on Oceania and is on her second Regent contract.

Food is so subjective. There is nothing on Regent that is as good as Jacques (IMHO). Regent's French restaurant, Signatures, may be gone by the time you cruise. "Chartreuse" will be replacing it after the new dining venue is introduced on Regent's new ship, The Explorer. It is expected to be high end French and may be almost as good as Jacques (not sure that anyone can beat Jacques Pepin's recipes).

In terms of my elevator comment, we are using the stairs a lot but are on deck 11 and it is a long way down to deck 5 - especially for someone with a relatively new knee:-) I can use a computer in my suite but prefer a good old fashioned keyboard that is available in the computer room

Before I forget to ask...... what cruise did you book and on which ship?

 

We are booked on Mariner San Francisco September 3 - Montreal October 1, 2016,. We have done the CA to Norkfolk several times but greatly look forward to the NY - Montreal portion. We will spend a week pre in SF and post cruise in Montreal. By the way, my DH has two knees and a hip thanks to implants and finds the steps very beneficial to keeping limber.

Edited September 19, 2015 by orchestrapal

[poss]

Had never thought of that-- that there'd be people of all nations praying at the wall. I was in Jerusalem for a couple of weeks many decades ago, but don't recall that. Thanks-- a nice image.

[Mr Rumor]

Blogging from the tour bus--that could be a Regent CC message board first, Rachel!

 

We took the same tour ("A Day in Jerusalem"), and had only 26 on our bus. With so much room to spread out, Ginny and I treated ourselves to our own window seats.

 

"Thanks for not listening to the news and coming to our country," Moshe, our tour guide, began as we set off from Haifa. When was the last time a guide welcomed you with those words? Our response after a profoundly enjoyable excursion: Thank you, Moshe. We saw and learned so much.

 

A tour like this one, which included about five hours of drive time plus a two and a half hour walking tour, rises and falls on the passion and personality of the guide. Moshe kept me busy scribbling in my notepad as he held forth on the history of the Jewish people and the State of Israel during the drive to Jerusalem. And the reitred diamond company executive hardly acted his age--70--as he energetically shepherded us on the Old Jerusalem walking tour. Had a good chuckle regarding his advice on negotiating the Via Dolorosa: "God has granted you elbows--use them. You are in the Middle East."

 

Like Rachel, we enjoyed the lunch buffet, which was definitely Ginny-friendly (many vegetarian choices). I didn't even mind the obligatory shopping stop, at a place called the Mt. of Olives Bazaar, probably because Ginny was pleased with her purchases, which Moshe helped us negotiate the price on. The one blemish on the day was the theft of a fellow tour taker's cell phone at our final stop, to view the Temple Mount. Ironically, the stop was a last-minute add after Moshe consulted a group of police officers across the street from the bazaar, and got word that the spot was safe again after some recent Palistinian youth rock-throwing incidents.

 

After returning to the ship just after 6:30, we quickly changed and made it up to Sette Mari, where our appetizers-and-dessert-only dinner clocked in at a speedy 50 minutes. Our plan is to turn in at a decent hour tonight because we have an even earlier--6:15!--check-in at the Constellation Theater tomorrow for our 10-hour "Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee" tour.

 

Rich

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[RachelG]

Today was just amazing.

 

Poss, there was a whole contingent of Christians from India, wearing saris, at the wailing wall. Americans, Jewish women from Israel and other countries, some Russian women, and a bunch of other languages heard. Definitely a wondrous very spiritual experience.

 

After we got back to port, George and I decided to go exploring on our own. So we took the shuttle to the German colony in Haifa where we strolled and had a marvelous dinner of Greek salad and pizza. Very good price too. We sat outside and just enjoyed the ambiance, then got yogurt from the place next door.

 

Tomorrow is another long day. Our tour leaves at 6:15. But totally worth it.

 

George and I are already planning a return land trip, hopefully with Mordecai as our tour guide.