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Mariner Grand Pacific Paradise Voyage: Miami - Sydney, 10/10 -12/15/2018 - Rich48100


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Mariner Grand Pacific Paradise Voyage - Miami - Sydney, 10/10-12/15/18 - Rich48100 (Rich & Barbara), Papaflamingo (Jim & Margaret) WesW (Ida and Wes), Live!

 

Welcome to Grand Pacific Paradise joint blog, where the threesome of Rich48100 (Rich and Barbara; on board the Mariner for the entire 66 nights of the Grand Voyage), Papaflamingo (Margaret and Jim; on board the Mariner Grand Voyage (GV) for three segments and a total of 44 nights) and WesW (Ida and Wes; on board the GV for the first two segments/total of 36 nights) as well as about eighty of our fellow Regent Cruise Critics who are on board with us, will do our best to entertain and inform with our posts and occasional photos.

 

Following the wonderful tradition of setting the “South Pacific/Polynesian” table that outstanding fellow Regent blogger Mr. Rumor began. We will begin our joint Grand Pacific Paradise Voyage blog a few days early.

 

This 66 night voyage includes about 40 port visits (nearly 190 included shore excursions) with focus on the ancient cultures of the South Pacific. Highlight port visits include Havana, numerous Central America countries including a Panama Canal transit, snorkeling in sapphire waters of Hawaii, French Polynesia and Fiji, lounging on pristine beaches at (Guatemala, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji), visits to the spectacular scenery found in the Fjords of New Zealand, and unique geography found in the Australian Bush.

 

We are fortunate to be able to enjoy a robust enrichment program that as Regent says, "will be thought provoking presented by seven renowned experts" during our voyages. Lecturers on the Grand Voyage include: June Teruya (Polynesian arts & crafts classes); Dr. Teri Sowell, lecturer and curator, is a dynamic speaker specializing in the art and culture of the Pacific Islands; Hugh M. Neighbour, specializes in political/economic affairs; Adam Tanner is an associate at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science and has been at the university since 2011--his interests include the Arctic and Australia; Michael Scott has a degree in botany from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, but a wide interest in all the natural world; Lt. Col Bill Rothschild, your proverbial rocket scientist who spent 44 years in the aerospace industry, including 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force; George Losey, Professor George Losey was entranced by the ocean growing up with a diving mask and plywood body-surfing board on the Southeast Florida coast.

 

Rich and Barbara as Grand Voyage cruisers will enjoy a sunset cruise and an elegant reception at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui, exclusively for full Grand Voyage guests.

 

Tomorrow, expect Rich and Barbara to begin posting as they begin their travel to Miami to enjoy a Grand Voyage Gala Dinner and one night Hotel stay prior to boarding the Mariner (along with the rest of us fortunate Mariner (South Pacific crossing) cruise critics) on Wednesday, October 10th.

 

We have nearly 30 Regent cruise critics registered for our RSSC & CruiseCritic Meet & Mingle. Our Miami to Honolulu group voted for the first sea day (Oct 12th) to hold our M&M. Further, they voted on a method to Identify themselves when on board between an Anchor Ribbon, Mardi Gras beads, or Lapel Pin. The Lapel PinWon, pls see photo below.

 

Our next segment (Honolulu to Papeete (we have 53 registered for our meet & mingle))voted on the Anchor Ribbon as their means of identification while on board. (pls see second photo below)

 

 

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Most of us are intensely watching the path of Tropical Storm Michael and how this storm may affect our voyage. Another guest on board the Mariner (CCr, Artsy Crafty posted last night that their Grand Cayman port stop was canceled by the Mariner Master, Captain Green in the interest of safety.

 

Mariner leaders we will have while on board. (tho note Michael Coghlan will take over from Massimo on October 21st. Our Captain's Welcome will be Oct 12th and our Captain's Farewell is scheduled for Oct 30th. Both of these events are on formal optional nites. The repeaters (Seven Seas Society party) will be held October 22nd.

 

 

 

Master: ```````````````Daniel Green

 

General Manager: Massimo Arzani

 

Chief Purser: Paola Velez Cueva

 

Food & Beverage Director: Ricky Ballinger

 

Cruise Director: John Barron

 

Executive Concierge: Daniela Acosta

 

Destinations Manager: Stephanie Thomere

 

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Edited by WesW
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Fantastic start Wes! Margaret and I are eagerly running final errands. We will leave Oct. 26 for 6 nights in Honolulu, enjoying the sights and meeting old College friends! We'll board the beautiful Mariner on Nov. 1. So... here we go... looking forward to putting a "face to the name." Have a great voyage!

Jim and Margaret

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Awesome start to your cruise. This thread looks as if it will be epic based on the participants and itinerary and we will be looking forward to it daily. Well wishes to all and safe travels!

 

Z and TB

 

 

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Safe Travels. Did you notice the sticky that Cruise Critic Boards are shutting down on Oct 10 to read only while they switch over to new boards? I didn’t see the sticky but there is a thread on the River Cruise board started by Host Jazz.

 

 

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June Teruya was the star of the world cruise. In addition to crafts, she taught a Polynesian dance class which resulted in a thrilling performance by her ‘students’ in the theater one evening.

 

 

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Hi Wes,

We can report that Mariner is ready for your embarkation; ship, officers & crew are all top notch.

 

Hope you all have a voyage that is as good as ours has been - fabulous itinerary, good weather, calm seas, tasty food & drink, great entertainment and enjoyable company.

Unfortunately, two missed ports but for totally understandable and sensible safety concerns.

 

Entertainment has been particularly good this cruise with a variety of visiting entertainers, a good duo, plus a new production cast who are extremely talented and settling in quickly to their new lives on board.

 

Marla Sanders is the social hostess and if she does a show then her singing is not to be missed.

Also a mention to Blake Richardson who was in the previous production cast and has now taken on the role of assistant CD - he is doing a good job under the wing of John Barron.

 

Have a great cruise and look forward to your reports.

S&D

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June Teruya was the star of the world cruise. In addition to crafts, she taught a Polynesian dance class which resulted in a thrilling performance by her ‘students’ in the theater one evening.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Totally agree with you. June's craft classes were enjoyed by husbands and wives alike. She is definitely high energy and lots of fun to be around!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Carolyn

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Wes, et al—looking forward to everyone’s reports and following your journey. We board Mariner in Sydney for the Circumnavigation, so have a good trip and take good care of her! We were on the TA, right after dry dock, had a great trip, looking forward to Australia. Know Regent will make good, safe decisions about the hurricane. Wishing all of you fair winds and following seas. Jan & Dave

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If you have some time, could you ask and find out who is onboard for the Circle Australia voyage that starts on Dec 15, when you debark. I know that Ray is going to be CD and Micheal is GM.

 

 

Thanks,

J

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Wes, we will join you in Hawaii, and look forward to hearing about your adventures before then.

Terri n Ray

 

Wes:

 

Be forewarned about these two; while Terri is a sweetheart, Ray is a miscreant. He came to my house once and drank all my good booze then made the cats nervous with an evil twinkle in his good eye. You are all in great company with Terri and Ray and I only wish we were onboard to enjoy the time with them.

 

Z and TB

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As one of the bloggers, I just want to say how excited Margaret and I (Jim) are for our 3 legs, Hawaii to Sydney, and meeting many of you on board!  We did our "pre-cruise practice pack" last week and, amazingly, got everything in our suitcases!  Now it's all hanging on racks waiting for our final packing to depart to Honolulu.  We are leaving on Oct. 26 for 6 fun pre-cruise days in Honlulu with friends from California, then boarding on Nov.1. So excited.  

As a test, I snapshot the departure of the beautiful Seven Seas Mariner as she departed Miami on Oct. 10 for the beginning of this amazing odyssey.  Thought I'd try posting to see how it works.  

Looking forward to a fantastic cruise! 

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This is rich48100, and i have been trying to relogin to cruise critic so i can post a blog for our cruise from Miami to Sydney.  No password works, cant change password, and cant reregister.  Frustrating.  If i cant get back in then cant do a thing.  Wesw has let me use his computer to post this.  Please help Host Dan or Laura S send instructions on how to log back in to Colonelretwes@yahoo.com

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Thanks everyone for your patience as we work through this cruise critic site migration.  Rich48100 (Rich and Barbara) and Ida and I r having a blast on this segment Miami to Honolulu.  The Mariner is stunning even more beautiful refurb has taken place since our South Am voyage in January on board then newly refurbed Mariner.

Have been avidly posting on RSSC Social Club on Facebook since we went wheels up from Atlanta back on Wednesday Oct 10th.  So, if you’re interested in catching up, pls take a look.  We have done two Mariner crew (behind the scenes profiles) that are also posted there (Aladdin the Mariner’s Engine Fitter) and Hazel (one of the Mariner crew mess servers.  

 

Please enjoy our posting now and will add photos as I learn to navigate Cruise Critic 2.0

 

Good Morning Costa Rica!

 

Today on board Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner, we are in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  Distinctive Voyages (the travel consortium we are part of) is having a private Andalusian Horse show with Lunch for our group of 13 couples (26 

Plan to share photos and videos of our visit here in Costa Rica tomorrow.

 

Yesterday we enjoyed another relaxing day at Sea as we continued to cruise the Pacific Ocean enroute to Costa Rica and our next port Puntarenas.

 

Days at Sea are chock full of fun events executed so very well by the Mariner’s Entertainment team, led by Coach/Cruise Director John.  We begin our days at sea with vigorous morning workouts (fitness classes (e.g., boot camp), then private training sessions for Ida with Bianca the on board fitness instructor.

 

Mid morning Ida enjoys the mildly intense competition during the Officer’s Challenge, playing the Baggo game (photos & vids below).

 

Ida and I then headed for the first of two Regent Seven Seas Mariner sponsored Veterans Day Get Togethers held on the top deck’s Observation Lounge (deck 12).  This well attended Veterans Day event allowed the two dozen+ veterans who attended to share their war & peacetime stories.  The Mariner has a Veterans Service book that most of the World’s Veterans waited to sign and post the service (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines).  The photos and vids show Bill (Army Vet sharing his 2 year commitment during the Vietnam War) and Ian (a Canadian 35 year Navy Veteran whose service include combat duty during Desert Storm)

 

We then headed to the Mariner’s main dining venue, “Compass Rose,” to have yet another delicious lunch with new cruise friends Rich & Barbara from Tulsa Oklahoma.  Rich and I are fellow blog authors along with Jim Stinson (Atlanta) of our voyage on another site (cruise critic).

 

Also want to share the finished cross word puzzle that diligent puzzle masters on board the Mariner took only 3 days to finish.  Ida often would spend an hour after dinner working the fierce Lion head puzzle.  Please enjoy a pix of this finished (very difficult due to the lion’s head vibrant colors).

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Well, this is Rich48100, and finally got into cruise critic to post about our trip up to this date.  Internet has been  slow, so trying to post early in the morning before the rest of the passengers get up at a reasonable hour.

We, fortunately, had no problems getting to Miami from Tulsa, and our bags showed up with us and had a smooth transfer to the Trump Doral for our one night stay and Gala dinner.  The property is beautiful, and we stayed in the Gary Player pavilion.  For this golfer it was a real treat.

 

The Gala itself went off without a hitch.  about 80 of us are taking the full Grand Voyage and we had a wonderful meal, and were able to meet a number of great people to be lucky enough to cruise with.  Jason Montague and Jason O'Keefe attended the Gala, and it was great to talk with them, and they mingled with the rest of the attendees.

 

Got on the beautiful Mariner the next day, and settled in to everyday life on the ship. Got into our room about 2:30, and proceeded to have a great meal at the Compass rose.  Next day in Havana, and got to take a tour of the city and saw lots of old cars that were colorfully painted. They really like pink!!!

 

A few sea days and then off to Cartegena.  I had been before so stayed onboard and wanted to see how it was having the entire ship almost to myself for a few hours.  Great wandering around, talking to staff, lounging around the pool, looking around for all the nooks and crannies I can enjoy later.  DW went on an excursion, and she thoroughly enjoyed the city and got in her retail therapy.  Also got to bargain with the locals, and was satisfied she got a good deal.

Then off to the Panama Canal for a daylight crossing.  Interesting to see the workings of the Canal. Lots of people in the Observation lounge and outside taking all kinds of pictures documenting the transit.  Nice commentary on board about the canal as we went through.

 

After another sea day, now about to go to Punteranas, Costa Rica for an excursion "Walk in the Clouds".  Little suspension Bridges in the forest to see all kinds of animals and birds, we hope.

 

Life onboard has been great so far, good meals, good conversation,  and all want to have a good time.  Two wonderful speakers, one dealing with the Space Program, and one dealing with all of our stops and what to expect at each place in the way of sights and wildlife.

 

This is a quick recap of our journey to date, and from now on I can hopefully post on a more regular basis in real time.

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Good Morning:  

It is great to have you guys back on the boards and sharing your adventures with us.  Lots of great memories are floating through my head about our recent Mariner crossing of the Canal last April.  We loved the renovations and new decor.  With the new Cruise Critic rollout, do you find it more difficult or easier to post comments and pics?  

Rich48100:  Were you trying to log onto CC via their App or tapatalk when you weren't able?  According to Host Hattie in a different thread, CC 2.0 in not compatible with tapatalk or their own CC app.  Go figure.

Z and TB

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