Some Musings From a Newbie on Mariner TA

[gjkov]

A test photo... arriving in Cartagena

 

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[gjkov]

Thanks Boblerm. You saved me looking back to instructions I received from Wes previously. He’s a great wealth of information!

 

I have sent a test photo, so we’ll see if it works....

[gjkov]

A few more Cartagena photos. We are from the frozen tundra in MN. Seeing green things was delightful!

 

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[gjkov]

We saw Lovena Fox on another luxury line and she is fabulous. We have her CD and she does a mean Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick and other artists and she is lovely to meet in person. Hope you enjoyed.

 

She was fabulous! What a voice!! And a great variety of music she performed too. I’m hoping to meet her. She made a point of requesting everyone talk with her when we see her around the ship.

[Travelcat2]

Great photos and commentary. Keep them coming!

[gjkov]

Very nice little laundry room. I'm loving to send out blouses/shirts and slacks. But guess I'm just too economical (cheap?) to send our my underwear [emoji2]

 

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[gjkov]

Malaga Spain

 

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[gjkov]

So many dogs in Spain. Interacting with them helps me miss mine a little less. This one was very friendly with us at a cafe. Her owner told us she had rescued her as a pup from a rubbish bin where someone had thrown her. Not sure what's wrong with some people. But very thankful for those like this lovely young woman!

 

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[gjkov]

Great electrical outlets. I haven't even had to use our extension.

 

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[gjkov]

It was a beautiful day in Malaga. Definitely more crowded than yesterday as there was also a Costa ship here and seemed most every tour was in town. But we had a very good tour guide and a great, fun bunch on our bus.

Being in my 50's, I'm definitely on the younger side of the guest list on this ship. But love how active these folks are. Even the ones with canes and walking sticks are out enjoying. And because I wasn't sure how my knee was going to be (I'm headed towards a knee replacement, but juiced up with some cortisone right now) I chose excursions that weren't going to be too much walking. It's been just the right amount so far. Good exercise, but not too much! I can't speak to if some less mobile folks have gone on the more intensive tours, as some have mentioned.

[boblerm]

Thanks Boblerm. You saved me looking back to instructions I received from Wes previously. He’s a great wealth of information!

 

I have sent a test photo, so we’ll see if it works....

Works great! Really enjoying them, keep them coming!

[boblerm]

Boblerm

 

Do you write your thread on CC (here) and then locate it on tapatalk or do you write initially on tapatalk. That is the only place that I find the box,etc.

Thanks Paula

Paula, hopefully someone with more knowledge about this than I can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that you have to initiate the post in Tapatalk in order to post the photo. (as opposed to posting to CC via a computer). IMO, it is much easier to do the post via an IOS device than an Android device, at least on my Android I find it difficult to mix text with photos.

However, if you have difficulty getting your post just right using Tapatalk, you can always post it using your device, and then log on to CC with your computer and edit the post to get it the way you want. I believe you have 20 minutes to edit a post.

Is this what you are asking?

Bob

[Travelcat2]

So many dogs in Spain. Interacting with them helps me miss mine a little less. This one was very friendly with us at a cafe. Her owner told us she had rescued her as a pup from a rubbish bin where someone had thrown her. Not sure what's wrong with some people. But very thankful for those like this lovely young woman!

 

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We are also thankful to that young women. It sickens me to see how some animals are treated but I smile with joy to see those that have been rescued into loving homes.

[gjkov]

Our first sea day is a very rocky one, with sunny skies but rough seas. We weaved our way around with many others, but still had a good time.

 

My first negative experience today was in the spa. It was actually a mixed bag, because the treatment was very good, but I felt a good deal of pressure from my therapist to book more appointments. I really only scheduled this treatment (sole rejuvenation) because I have OBC to use and it sounded interesting. But it’s 3x the price of the reflexology I do at home. So I left the spa with a little bad taste in my mouth and very late for the Meet and Mingle. Gene had gone to the lecture, and since I was unable to stand very well with the ship’s motion, I just went and joined him there. I hope the Meet and Mingle was good fun!

 

I continue to be impressed with the staff on the ship. Of course I had heard the service is wonderful, but is great to experience that first hand!

 

A simple breakfast at Coffee Connection, a lovely lunch at Compass Rose (our first lunch there) an enjoyable afternoon of relaxation and trivia and now will be off to Prime 7 for dinner soon.

[gjkov]

Some photos from Prime 7. We had a shared table...great food and conversation!

 

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[RachelG]

Your food pics are making me hungry!

[Got2Cruise]

I’m going to be a newbie on Voyager soon so I’m taking notes. [emoji3]

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

Our first sea day is a very rocky one, with sunny skies but rough seas. We weaved our way around with many others, but still had a good time.

 

My first negative experience today was in the spa. It was actually a mixed bag, because the treatment was very good, but I felt a good deal of pressure from my therapist to book more appointments. I really only scheduled this treatment (sole rejuvenation) because I have OBC to use and it sounded interesting. But it’s 3x the price of the reflexology I do at home. So I left the spa with a little bad taste in my mouth and very late for the Meet and Mingle. Gene had gone to the lecture, and since I was unable to stand very well with the ship’s motion, I just went and joined him there. I hope the Meet and Mingle was good fun!

 

I continue to be impressed with the staff on the ship. Of course I had heard the service is wonderful, but is great to experience that first hand!

 

A simple breakfast at Coffee Connection, a lovely lunch at Compass Rose (our first lunch there) an enjoyable afternoon of relaxation and trivia and now will be off to Prime 7 for dinner soon.

 

Loving your commentary and photos. We love hearing impressions from people new to Regent!

 

Please make a comment on either your mid-cruise or end of cruise comment card about the spa. Many of us have had similar issues and it is important for Regent to be aware of how many times that this happens. Canyon Ranch Spa are contractors and if they are upsetting customers, there other companies that would love to be on Regent!

 

How was Prime 7?

[Boatmans Lady]

Firstly apologies for being late to the table, but I'm settled now.

 

I love the fact that there are a number of us newbies to Regent taking cruises over the forthcoming year and your musings and photo's are certainly whetting our appetites for our first cruise with Regent in 9 months time.

Glad that all is living up to expectations and you are enjoying yourselves.

Regarding the excursions, you mention that you are being guided by the recommended activity symbols, do you find the these a true representation ?

 

Looking forward to the next instalment.

[gjkov]

Firstly apologies for being late to the table, but I'm settled now.

 

I love the fact that there are a number of us newbies to Regent taking cruises over the forthcoming year and your musings and photo's are certainly whetting our appetites for our first cruise with Regent in 9 months time.

Glad that all is living up to expectations and you are enjoying yourselves.

Regarding the excursions, you mention that you are being guided by the recommended activity symbols, do you find the these a true representation ?

 

Looking forward to the next instalment.[/quote

 

I only have the three excursions to go on, but I do feel like the activity level symbols have been accurate. And the information about the tour and at the end of the tour description has proven very accurate too.

I know there is always personal taste involved and certainly some tour leaders are better than others, but we've been very pleased with our choices!

[gjkov]

Loving your commentary and photos. We love hearing impressions from people new to Regent!

 

Please make a comment on either your mid-cruise or end of cruise comment card about the spa. Many of us have had similar issues and it is important for Regent to be aware of how many times that this happens. Canyon Ranch Spa are contractors and if they are upsetting customers, there other companies that would love to be on Regent!

 

How was Prime 7?

 

Thanks Jackie....J will be sure to comment about the spa experience. Gene got a very nice haircut, with only a passing inquiry asking if he was interested in some product. So probably depends on the therapist/stylist, etc.

 

Prime 7 was great! Gene had a huge porterhouse steak that he said ranked right up there with a good steakhouse on land. My surf and turf (with king crab legs) was very good also. But next time I'll just have crab. I'm not such a big steak lover. Our table mates were all pleased with their meals also.

[gjkov]

After a very rough day and night at sea it was a great pleasure to wake up in Funchal, with no ship movement. It was rather cloudy to start, but has turned into a beautiful sunny day. It's 10 degrees F at home, so the 65 degrees here is amazing!

 

We enjoyed an excellent included excursion today, Panoramic Island Landscapes. Our tour guide was outstanding and the bus driver was excellent. For which we were all very thankful, as the road up to the top peak was long and winding! And the views were spectacular!!

We had a few nice stops for photo ops and shopping, with great commentary in between.

One thing that's been very nice is when there are multiple buses on a given tour, they've staggered the stops so it's not so crowded at each place. I'm not sure that always happens, but it did for two of our three excursions.

Today there was a big motorcycle rally on the island, but apparently they were going somewhere else, because other than hundreds of bikes near the beginning of our excursion, we never saw them again.

[gjkov]

Panoramic Island Landscapes.. Funchal Madeira Portugal

 

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[gjkov]

A few more photos from Funchal (including a shot of a little Mini Cooper car show that was happening at one of our stops).

 

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[gjkov]

Some dining challenges last night in Setti Mari. The six of us were seated promptly and given menus and ice water, but then waited for nearly 30 minutes for any attention from a waiter. Two of the men from our group inquired several times during that wait, but things seemed very disorganized and even a little chaotic. I had a straight view into the galley (or whatever the room where the staff were working) and witnessed a couple quiet but seemingly terse interactions between staff members. You could see the leaders were trying to orchestrate, but things just weren’t clicking.

 

Eventually the bread and appetizers were brought, then wine and finally orders were taken. We had eaten there a couple nights before and the food was excellent. Last night nothing was quite right. Gene had the same steak he’d had the first time we went, but this time was a different presentation. My veal scallopini was tough, though the marsala sauce was delicious. Two in our group had the carbonara (which Gene had ordered the first time and was just perfectly sauced and presented). Last night it was very heavily sauced and not very appealing. Wine service was very good, but the service from our waiter was very slow and sub par. It took about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. Far too long in that venue by my thinking.

 

The buffet choices were all just as good as the first time, so that was positive. The tiramisu and panna cotta are top notch!

 

And interesting that Captain Serena told us that about 9pm we’d enter some rough seas and you could have set your watch by her prediction!

 

I was tired and chose to just stay in and read. Gene went to the show, pianist Antonio Scali (spelling ?) and said it was excellent!

 

We’re pitching and rolling this morning, but with my walking stick by my side I’m ready for a fun day....the first in our journey across the Atlantic. The Captain says it should ebb by this afternoon.