Hot Spots and Headlines: A Mariner Mediterranean Joint Live Blog

[xrvlcruiser]

Welcome Dennis!

[orchestrapal]

Great report as usual, Travelcat 2.

One quick Oceania/Reagent question that I know you can answer.

Does Regent allow people in the top suite categories to order meals from the specialty restaurants from their butlers?

Thanks in advance.

[Travelcat2]

Great report as usual, Travelcat 2.

One quick Oceania/Reagent question that I know you can answer.

Does Regent allow people in the top suite categories to order meals from the specialty restaurants from their butlers?

Thanks in advance.

 

You're right - I should know the answer. I will double check but do not believe that we can order from any restaurant other than Compass Rose. Unlike on Oceania, we have not dined in our suite in all of our Regent cruises. However, if you are in a Grand or Master Suite you can have a party with up to six guests. We have done this every time we've had an upsell to this level. The butler wears his "tails", serves drinks and passes around appetizers. It is relaxing and fun (especially because we go to dinner leaving all of the dishes in the suite and come back to an immaculate suite:D )

 

I don't know if any of my co-bloggers were on one of the "late" excursions today. One excursion arrived back at 8:30 p.m. (the ship was due to depart at 8:00 p.m.). At times like these, Regent does not care about dress code -- everyone can dine in CR - even in shorts. Also, La Veranda prepared a Middle Eastern buffet so guests returning from excursions can have a quick meal. Chef Kelly did an amazing job of preparing Middle Eastern food. My DH wanted the buffet in Sette Mari and I preferred dining in Compass Rose. One thing we are great at is compromise........ so, he filled a plate from Sette Mari and brought it down to CR. I tasted some of his food (incredibly good) and was able to dine in my prefered restaurant with Zaldy.

 

Before I forget..... swabs..... I checked on the items you were interested a few days ago but didn't post. They do carry Dolce & Gabana Light Blue (ladies) for $86.40 for 400 ml. They do not carry L'Occitaine Vevyter cologne/aftershave for men but do carry the fragrance for women!

 

We have a 4 hour excursion in Alexandria tomorrow. Alexandria is the only port on this cruise that we have not visited. Except for dreading the heat, we look forward to this excursion.

 

P.S. It is now 8:50 p.m. and they are paging two couples. Hopefully we will be departing soon - with all passengers on board.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Travelcat2

[orchestrapal]

Thank you for the dining reply. We do love dinner in our suite with the view of the ocean.

Alexandria is a very depressing city with exception to the new port area but the museum is worth a visit and the library was one of the highlights of our cruise. Have a great day and keep cool.

[Dakota0307]

Do you know at what point up sells are offered before the cruise? Currently in an AFT. Cruise in December.

 

Enjoying all the posts. The ports you are visiting are amazing. I get the apprehension in Egypt. What a great place to visit without crowds.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Dakota0307

[Mr Rumor]

It was come as you are at the La Veranda Middle Easter buffet tonight for all the Cairo excursion late returns. For security reasons we drove back to Port Said in a convoy. LV was still buzzing as we left a little after 9 p.m.

 

Well, that was some experience in Cairo. It is not every excursion that we're accompanied on a 200 kilometer drive by M-16 and AK-47 toting policemen with sirens blaring. Not every excursion where we negotiate a teeming metropolis of 20 or so million, give or take a few million (not possible to get an accurate populatation count in continually expanding Cairo--now with a "New Cairo"). Or manage to do justice in a mere 105 minutes to a famous museum's (Egyptian's) unparalleled collection thanks to a literal tour de force performance by our guide (the impressive Dr. Maja). Or peer at one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World while being constantly serenaded by the Giza peddlers' branch of the Dollar Store ("One dollah!" "One dollah!" "One dollah!").

 

Was it an amazing day? Yes! Would we like to go back some day? Ask us again in a year or two!

 

Rich

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[RachelG]

What a day! We started out very early with all tours to Cairo meeting in the theater at 6:15 am. We traveled by convoy to Cairo with heavily armed trucks in front, beside, and behind us. In addition, each bus had an armed security guard. Ours was a big husky guy named Timor made even huskier by the large selection of weapons bulging from his jacket in every direction. He and George were fast friends. He is also the proud dad of a 15 day old daughter and 2 older sons.

 

I was expecting the road from Port Said to Cairo to be through desert. Really surprised because it was surrounded for most of the way by very fertile farmland covered in healthy crops of several varieties. It is dry, but they have irrigation down to a science. Also saw healthy goats, sheep, and cattle.

 

Our tour went to Sakkara, Memphis, and Giza. All very interesting stops, but quite hot and dusty which was not a surprise. Lunch was at the Movenpick hotel. Best part was tahini, pita, and yogurt. I did not allow George to eat any raw veggies. He can thank me later. They had some chicken, fish and beef as well as cooked veggies. Not gourmet but it filled us up.

 

It was exciting to see all the pyramids, statues, and the spinx which we had only seen in books.

 

I have been to a lot of chaotic, dirty places. Naples during a garbage strike, Albania, China, Peru and Ecuador all come to mind. But Cairo takes the cake. There is trash literally every where. And apparently no traffic laws. I finally just started laughing at the crazy traffic. We saw cows in the back of a pickup truck, riding along with no restraint, trucks loaded with huge piles of goods that were not tied down, a lady in a public bus carrying two live ducks. That said, everyone seemed very happy we are here. Lots of smiles and enthusiastic waves.

 

Finally got back at 8:30. At 9:00, they had called for one couple missing 3 times. Don't know if they were found or if we left without them. We are tired so ordered burgers and fries from room service.

[RachelG]

As far as the upsell offer question, usually occur 1-2 weeks prior to the cruise.

 

Good to see Dennis posting!

[poss]

You may not need a reminder, or want one, and you may have received one from your TA in any case: Today excursions for the Alaska cruise opened (nothing listed for Anchorage yet). You sound wonderfully busy on your cruise, so I suspect thinking about yet more excursions may be the last thing you're interested in, but just in case....

Have fun! Wish I were there!

[georg0]

The descriptions of the excursions to Cairo reminded me of our trip to Luxor in 1997. We were part of a Renaissance Cruise group which included a 7 day cruise in the Seychelles and 7 day stops in Nairobi, for a safari, and Luxor. Rennaisance had chartered a plane and had rotating groups spend 1/3 of their time in each place all sharing the same plane on the same plane. We had the same seats for each stage.

 

Unfortunately 2 weeks prior to our arrival in Luxor , the Queen Hatshepsut tomb terrorist massacre of 67 people occurred. Luxor and all adjacent sites were closed. However Renaissance accommodated the half of our group (about 20-30 people) that were willing to get off the Plane in Luxor, apparently in conjunction with the government at the time.

 

We travelled in one bus, which was allowed through the roadblocks and was accompanied both front and back by an armed motorcycle, a van of troops, and some sort of armor. We had the run of Luxor, with our accompaniment, and had the rare privilege of being the only tourists in the Valley of Kings and Queens, so had no trouble seeing all tombs. Armed soldiers were everywhere in the hills surrounding us.

 

We also attended a "no on terrorism" rally put on by the Government at the Queen Hatshepsut memorial, which was a moving experience. I obtained a No on terrorism in english on front, and Egyptian on back (or vise verse) of a T shirt, which I wore for years ( best Egyptian cotton). I understand it took quite a while for tourism generally in that area to recover. As you can imagine, a great travel experience and we were pleased with Renaissance cruises, which I think is a predecessor of Regent.

[MikeD1000]

TravelCat wasn't the only couple not to take the long trip to Cairo and other places. Anne and I had originally booked the carriage tour, but decided in the end to stay on board. We ventured to the bazaar on the quayside, but nothing worth buying.

 

Mariner was pretty quiet until the Cairo returners arrived. We had booked Signatures for Anne's birthday. As she said, she never expected to spend her xxth birthday in Port Said. Great experience again, with a special 'happy birthday' from the waiters. If any of you were around she has a beautiful necklace from the brilliant Austrian jeweller on board. And for whoever posted this a couple of days ago, my third helping of escargots!

 

I guess the late departure will make little difference to our arrival in Alexandria. We are booked on one of the short tours and hope to see some of the Roman remains there.

 

Jamie's show tonight was pretty empty, probably because people were so late back from the tours. We discovered he comes from the next village to the one I was born in, and is a good friend of Tony Christie (The way to Amarillo).

[swabs]

Thanks Travelcat2 for the info requested .

Much appreciated.

 

Swabs

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited September 21, 2015 by swabs

[Dakota0307]

Thank you for answering. Fingers crossed. In any case we will be content.

[xrvlcruiser]

I was glad to hear that some of the tours had ship's escorts . . . . .

 

Peggy

[xrvlcruiser]

>>Austrian Jeweler<< Christine? She was on the Voyager last month - beautiful things.

 

Peggy

[Mudhen]

WOW! What amazing "reports from the front"! I will still be glad when you're all home. I'm a wuss when it comes to armed guards, sirens and road blocks, but have to admit I'm totally enjoying all of your adventures! Be safe and carry on!

[Mr Rumor]

georg0m thanks for sharing your 1997 Luxor story! I would have treasured that "No on Terrorism" tee-shirt you received, as you certainly did.

 

Peggy, all Port Said buses sported a security agent in the front seat. Also want to mention we went through two passport checks by Egyptian authorities before we were allowed on our buses. Also, the drive through Port Said to the highway that connected us with Cairo was notable for the fact that there were police in white at virtually every corner and intersection watching for us, clearing the lanes, etc. By the way, white and blue uniforms signified police; tan, the army. We were protected by all three colors!

 

Just had the chance to breeze through a few of the other recent posts and want to add my kudos to Dennis, Jackie's hubby, for being the sixth to post live on the HS&H joint blog. Are we nearing some sort of Regent CC record for number of live bloggers on one CC thread? It is hard to keep up on all the posts while doing excursions every day and trying to post myself, but I look forward to a thorough read when I return home. This blog will be a great day-by-day record of what has already been an amazing cruise.

 

Jackie did a really good job of covering the building of the new branch of the Suez. Just want to add that the work on this $9 billion project was only recently finished, and that it is estimated that Egypt's income from the new branch will soar to $17 billion a year from the present $5 billion. "The goal is to improve our economy," our guide, Dr. Maha, said. (By the way, Maha said her name means "Beautiful eyes of the wild gazelle." Instead of a gazelle, however, she sported the biggest gold scarab pendant I think I've ever seen--had to be at least one and a half to two inches. Thank goodness, Ginny had a much smaller gold scarab pendant in mind when we did our jewelry shopping before lunch at the Meridian Hotel in Gaza.)

 

I was hoping that Maha's commentary would veer into the political. She didn't address the current threat from ISIS-backed groups (will see if I can engage today's guide in Alexandria to do that), but she did have a lot to say on Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood, who was escorted from office in the coup, as well as current leader Abd El Farah El Sissi (I'm using her exact spelling on both names). A supporter of the coup, Maha branded Morsi, as "so stupid. He had a chance and he blew it. Thirteen million in the streets wanted a change from him." About Gen. El Sissi and the army, she added: "We're happy with the President, but we don't have a Parliament. We hope to have one by the end of this year. What we want are strong, faithful, professional people to help the President. The President is working alone right now."

 

Rich

Edited September 22, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[yllwjp1]

Rachael I do so agree about how dirty the city of Cair is.. Saw the funniest sight while people watching from the bus. In the backseat of the family car was a live sheep!

Also just wanted to say that it was our 46th anniversary and we were able to spend it touching the Great Pyramid. What a memory

[DenEsq]

To-day is September 21, just to keep myself of where I am. Going back a couple of days we had dinner at Compass Rose with "Paul Bocuse" recipe for his Halibut.

It was afavourite of mine the last time on Mariner. I wanted to compare it to the wonderful Halibut that we had in Signatures on leaving Istanbul. The PB recipe calls for fillet of Halibut coated in a layer of sauteed mushrooms and overlaid with a coating of mashed potato. When baked the potato is browned and the fish is cooked through. In my case, the potato was nice and brown but the fish was translucent in the middle. It was done at the ends but the middle was a no no. It did not compare the slightest with what I had in Signatures. I also must comment on the next night, in Compass Rose we had the Miso Glazed Sea Bass.

 

We first had this when on a Oceania Riviera cruise. We did not know it but the original recipe was taken from Regent over to Oceania. The first time we had it, it was outstanding. The second time we had it, it was nice. The third time we had, it was enough. It seems to be that such exotic recipes fade with consumption or is it because we are spoiled? The Compass Rose dish compared very favourably but somewhat lackluster.

 

Now a bit about yesterday, Sunday here. We had a long, tiring and hot day doing an excursion into Israel. There were 25 of us that took the trip to a Kibbutz which is right next to the Border with Syria in the Golan Heights. This was a repeat because we did this three years ago while on the Voyager. It was interesting to be there again and they provided us with a delectable lunch. They are equipped with bunkers and shelters in case of any attack. The Jordan border line, which runs adjacent to the Kibbutz line is electronically monitored with Jordanian forces stationed on one side. The Kibbutz has a herd of 368 cattle that provides milk and milk products. Originally the Kibbutz facility was a Syrian Military outpost. On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Baptismal Site on the Jordan River. The site is managed by another Kibbutz and was, obviously very popular from the amount of baptismal Robes that they were selling.

 

Getting up to date...Monday...we allowed ourselves to take it much easier and do a Carriage Ride excursion into the port of call, Port Said. Most likely the high pint of our excursions. First of all Port Said runs on car and Taxi horns, secondly it adheres to traffic arguments and thirdly there are balloons everywhere - including my ankles. We had 28 carriages in the convoy and they were so happy to have a tourist ship in town, The last (cruise) ship to dock was in May 2015. Port Said is the gateway to the Suez canal and the statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps is stored away in some dark canyon, but the pedestal remains. It was designed and built by the designer of the Statue of Liberty in Paris and Bedloes Island in New York. Our horses name was "Ibrahim", or maybe that was the name of our driver. A very worthwhile trip into Port Said city where we were escorted through the streets with the help of police on motor cycles and cars. The military Museum was a plethora of Egyptian history and house much of the tanks, guns an armory left behind by the Israelis in the 1973 war. More to-morrow.

Edited September 22, 2015 by DenEsq

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for the dining reply. We do love dinner in our suite with the view of the ocean.

Alexandria is a very depressing city with exception to the new port area but the museum is worth a visit and the library was one of the highlights of our cruise. Have a great day and keep cool.

 

I was thinking about you last night after I posted. The most important difference between Regent and Oceania is that "upper suites" are not treated differently than any other suites (except for insuite ammenities). So, while I have yet to check whether or not you can order room service from specialty restaurants, if the answer is "yes" - this would mean that every category of suite could do this. It not, then no one can. Will ask the F&B Dir. when I see him.

 

This morning we took a short excursion of Alexandria. What a lovely beach city! We did a "panoramic" excursion which meant staying on the bus with short stops for photos. The highlight of this excursion was our first 10 minute stop by the beach. I was looking around and noticed that my DH was surrounded by 5 women and their children. They were most anxious to welcome tourists to Egypt and wanted to talk to him/us. They asked whether we liked Egypt, what our ages were, etc. They also introduced themselves by name and the names of their children. They were absolutely delightful. A passenger on our bus took a picture that I will post if I can edit myself out of the photo as I prefer not to have my photo on CC. A delightful day!

[MikeD1000]

Rachael I do so agree about how dirty the city of Cair is.. Saw the funniest sight while people watching from the bus. In the backseat of the family car was a live sheep!

 

Today in Alexandria a cow carcass being hosed down in the street. That's Egyptian water too!

 

Mike

[Mr Rumor]

Good to see a post from Judy/yllwjp1, who started the Roll Call for this cruise, and congrats on your 45th!

 

After three lonnnnnng excursions in Israel and Cairo, we were happy to relax on one of the shorter Alexandria tours, "Museums and Gardens." It was OK. The National Museum was worth the one-hour guided tour in a building that was originally a villa (consequently several of the rooms were oddly shaped for a museum). We also enjoyed the drive along the Corniche with the Mediterranean on our left and bustling downtown Alexandria on our right. I was expecting more from our visit to Montaza Gardens, however. We drove around for a while on the grounds, which house the Al-Haramlik Palace (used to house foreign dignitaries), and had a couple of 5-10 minute photo stops, and then it was time to drive back. The return on the Corniche went on a little too long for me--much more traffic--but we were kept entertained by scenes of last-minute preparation for the big "feast" ("Eid Adha Hajj pilgrim trip to Mecca," according to our guide Hany) the day after tomorrow. This included hordes of locals shopping for all kinds of food stuffs, as well as cattle and sheep in the backs of trucks (no back-seat animal drivers observed!) being transported to their main-course destiny.

 

A special deck lunch--grilled meats and fish, a few nice salads and a great rice dish with shrimp and bits of hot fresh peppers-- wasn't listed in Passages, but when we returned, there it was. Tried not to eat too much because we have a 6:30 reservation at Prime 7.

 

Rich

[RachelG]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.Today we were in Alexandria. Fortunately did not have to be up so early, so got a good rest.

 

The Alexandria port is very nice-very clean and elegant architecture. Unfortunately, the rest of Alexandria is crumbling. The trash situation is just as bad as Cairo. There are old buildings which are falling apart everywhere.

 

We did the Al Alamein battlefield excursion. Originally I had signed us up for the Alexandria library and museum excursion as my son had told me how great it was as he had visited when he was stationed in Egypt. But about 2 weeks ago, we were advised that the excursion was cancelled due to the library being closed for the holiday (makes no sense but whatever) so we had to pick another excursion. The problem was that they were all full with the exception of Al Alamein. Since George is a WWII history buff, I signed us up.

 

We (two buses worth) drove along the coast road for 108km to Al Alamein. Each bus had our personal armed guard, with armored car and guards in front and in back. We drove to the desert, but the amazing thing is that the entire way, all 108 km, the beach front is totally filled with condos. Probably over a million which are empty. Our guide told us it was because it was off season, but I don't buy that.

 

The battlefields, museum, and memorials are impressive. The best is the Italian one, totally privately funded, and totally beautiful. Very poignant. The museum has a lot of old military gear, and the labeling is funny--has anyone heard of a general chairman tank. Or a 35 inch gun.

 

It was very windy and dusty--basically a dust storm. I had brought a scarf, and ended up looking like a local with it around my head and over my mouth and nose. It makes me appreciate the conditions our soldiers endured.

[Mr Rumor]

In an earlier post I gave the passenger count for this cruise, and broke that count down by nationality. I'd like to do the same now for the crew.

 

We're sharing this journey with a total of 450 crew members, from forty (40!) countries. A total of 376 are males, and 74 are females. The Philippines leads the way, as it has on every cruise I've blogged, with 141 crew members. But India is closing in with 123. Here is the full list:

 

Philippines, 141

India, 123

Indonesia, 48

United Kingdom, 12

Bulgaria, 11

Honduras, 9

Romania, 8

Ukraine, 8

United States, 8

Italy, 7

South Africa, 7

Portugal, 6

Croatia, 5

Mauritius, 5

Poland, 5

Serbia, 5

Brazil, 4

Canada, 4

France, 3

Greece, 3

Thailand, 3

Chile, 2

Ireland, 2

Myanmar, 2

Nepal, 2

Slovenia, 2

Venezuela, 2

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1

Belarus, 1

Germany, 1

Finland, 1

Hungary, 1

Latvia, 1

Mexico, 1

Nicaragua, 1

Paraguay, 1

Peru, 1

Sri Lanka, 1

Tunisia, 1

Zimbabwe, 1

Edited September 23, 2015 by Mr Rumor

[Mr Rumor]

Dinner experience last night in Prime 7 (food + service) was very, very good! We were delighted to see Melvin (India, seventh contract) again; he had served us previously in Prime 7 aboard the Navigator. He is a gentle, pleasant soul and I can't recommend his waiterly skills highly enough.

 

As vegetarian Ginny is on Regent's culinary "watch list," we have been receiving the Compass Rose and specialty restaurants' menus the night before, for her planning. The first thing that caught my eye on the Prime 7 menu is the addition of a new Main Course Salad, The Prime 7 "American Cobb" Salad. As I've enjoyed Cobb salads ever since I ate my first one at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles decades ago (the owner--Cobb--invented it one night after whipping together a late-night salad in the kitchen for himself and his drinking buddies), I knew that would be my appetizer/salad course rolled into one.

 

It was one of the more original Cobbs I've had. I think you would term it a "deconstructed" Cobb, as the various ingredients were arrayed in a circle around a little nest of red lettuce. Several of the items--finally chopped avocado, tomato, hardboiled egg and scallions--rested in their individual, tiny lettuce boats. The star ingedients were slices of lobster and two fat pieces of Alaskan king crab meat. Ranch dressing was served on the side.

 

Well, it was delicious, and not too much for me to enjoy the six ounce Filet Mignon that followed. It was medium rare as ordered.

 

Ginny enjoys eating at Prime 7 because of the many side dishes she can make a vegetarian plate from. Last night it was Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, Truffle Fries (she can't stay out of P7's fries), Sauteed Sweet Corn, Sauteed Mushrooms, Caramelized Root Vegetables and Crispy Onion Rings. She started off with another new Prime7 salad, the Harvest Salad (mixed greens, corn, roasted pumpkin, pickled red beets, dried cranberries, dried cherries, Cajun spiced pecans, with honey-walnut dressing).

 

One change to P7's menu I wasn't thrilled about at first is the deletion of the Golden Cake. That 14-layer rich-chocolate delicacy had been one of my favorite Regent desserts. Oh, well, things change and I made friends with a new offering, the Caramel Popcorn Sundae (vanilla and chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate sauce, caramel, whipped cream and salted peanuts), while Ginny ordered Key Lime Pie, a P7 dessert fixture.

 

The only complaint Ginny and I had on our meals is that several of the side dishes were a little oversalted for our tastes. That is a minor issue I have had with Prime 7 all along. Overall, however, Ginny and I were very happy with our dinners.

 

Rich

 

P.S. Kudos to the chef for creating a Prime 7 vegeburger slider for Ginny to start off the meal!

Edited September 23, 2015 by Mr Rumor