Explorer Lisbon to Cape Town Nov 28 until dragged kicking & screaming off

[1982CruzStart]

Currently sitting in the Maple Leaf lounge at YVR awaiting our LH flight to Lisbon through Frankfurt. It has been a very long 2 years since we last were on a cruise ship. My DH is dealing with cancer treatments but he is finally back able to travel and we were able to get medical and cancelation insurance. Hurrah we are finally on vacation again.  He is fine and thankfully it was never life threatening. 

 

Okay now on to the fun stuff. We are spending an extra full day in Lisbon, doing an all day private tour of some of the parts of Lisbon that we didn't get to see the last time we were there. I fell in love with the city from the very first time we stepped ashore. Don't know what it is as i have absolutely no Portuguese blood in me but it is a place that just feels right to me. I hope that is still the case when we get back once again. 

 

Needless to say (so then why say it you are thinking) this is our first time stepping aboard Explorer and are very excited to see the newest addition to the fleet. Our other cruises were on Voyager so we are finally going to be on a different ship.  We were booked on Navigator but had to cancel becasue of you know what. 

 

Everything went smoothly with booking shore excursions and dining reservations. The only fly in the ointment was booking the culinary classes. Apparently i can't read very well and by the time i figured out that they were open for booking, anything i wanted to do was sold out. Oh well you snooze you lose. Maybe next time. 

 

I will do my best to be informative, maybe even entertaining (though that is likely to be purely by accident) and even post pictures if i can figure that out. I hope that other CC'ers will join in the thread. 

 

Bye for now.

Kathy

[travlr21]

Enjoy! We just got back from the airport, dropped our friends off,  they will be on the Explorer with you though they fly out of YVR tomorrow. Wish we were going, but we have the Voyager to look forward to next March.

[Boatmans Lady]

Have a great trip and looking forward to reading along. 

[Travelcat2]

So good to hear that your husband is doing well.  Enjoy every moment of your cruise ....... we look forward to reading about it.

[crusin7]

Kathy I had a good laugh when I read your title!  I hope you both enjoy your well deserved cruise. Can’t wait to hear all the details. Have a wonderful time.

[jimbri]

Enjoy your trip!

[flossie009]

 

 

Waiting to board our our short flight from a rainy Heathrow to join fellow cruisers in sunny Lisbon.

So looking forward to the interesting itinerary on this cruise and to meeting other CC members on Explorer. 😎

Edited November 27, 2018 by flossie009

[NCCruzQueen]

Hi Kathy,

 

Wishing you and your husband a wonderful cruise.  Explorer is a beautiful ship.  

 

Stop by the Destinations Desk to see if you can get on the waitlist for the Culinary Arts Classes.  Sometimes there are cancellations. It may work!

[UUNetBill]

Okay, I'll admit - I'm jealous.   

 

Enjoy your cruise - it looks like a good one!

[alidor]

Am so looking forward to your posts.   My husband and I are on this same cruise but not until 2020!

 

Enjoy your trip!

[flossie009]

Lisbon is looking festive tonight

 

 

 

 

On the way to our hotel we saw Regent Explorer moored up (beside Oceania Marina)

Hope the guests ending their cruise on Explorer enjoy their overnight in Lisbon ............... but also hope they remember to leave in the morning to make room for us boarding. 😉

 

 

[liptastic]

Wishing you all a great cruise. Like the itinerary and will look forward to your reports.

Jean.

[WesW]

1982CruzStart, Flossie009; Wishing you Fair Winds & Following Seas for your Explorer voyage.  Thank you very much for sharing your cruise with us in words & photos.  Susan/David, loved the Lisbon Christmas/Holiday photos.  Sincerely appreciate both Kathy and your humor, respectively,  about getting off the ship and boarding the Explorer.

[1982CruzStart]

Good morning all. I have resurfaced. My apologies for abandoning this thread. Thanks to all that responded and are following our adventure. Thanks to flossie009 for adding to the thread. 

I am back from the dead or at least for awhile wishing i was dead. I ate something(s) that disagreed with me on our flight across the pond and for about 24 hours i was either sure i was dying or alternatively wishing i was. I don't believe there was anything wrong with the food just that it didn't agree with me.

 

All is well now but it did keep me off the computer during the time i thought i would post.   We had an all day tour yesterday of Lisbon which we thoroughly enjoyed but it drove me to bed early with no energy to do any posting. 

 

We flew through Frankfurt and was reminded why i hate that airport. It was a zoo and if we hadn't had the foresight to reject Regent's itinerary change we would have been scrambling to find an alternative flight to Lisbon as we stood in the security line while our plane was taking off.  There were a number of people standing in the line with us complaining that they were missing their connecting flights and the warden at the front guiding people into line could have cared less. Not his problem.  We tried to let everyone in that situation go ahead of us but i don't think it was enough to really help. Once again FRA is off my list of places that i will fly through. 

 

Can't say i really enjoyed LH either but it could just have been that the last time we flew on the top deck of a 747 it was only 1/3 to 1/2 full and we had the most charming flight attendants. We had neither situation this trip. The flight attendants were pleasant if you spoke german but didn't have a lot of time or patience for those of us that didn't.  They weren't rude but not particularily pleasant either. 

 

The BC lounge in FRA was packed and with not feeling well the 5+ hours seemed like forever. 

 

Fortunately our driver was at the airport smiling and happy to see us. We had a relatively quick trip to our hotel. Our luck seemed to change when we got to our hotel. As we checked in we discovered they had given us a wonderful upgrade from a queen executive room to a king executive suite. The room is beautiful and the bed was calling my name as i hurried to do minimum unpacking before i hit it for a much needed rest. A few days of little or no sleep and feeling like crap had definitely taken its toll.  

 

After laying down for a couple of hours we headed for the excecutive lounge for a drink and a little food. Didn't eat much even though i had nothing to eat for quite a few hours. Headed to bed earlier than normal.  The executive lounge is spacious and comfortable.  The appy spread and drink availibility was very good. The breakfast had made to order eggs, nothing i expected. I really great executive lounge and definitely worth the money. 

 

After reading  about Ronrick's stay here i booked the hotel quite a number of months ago when they had a special on. We got a smoking great deal and made even better with the upgrade. It is a lovely hotel (Corinthia Lisbon) and can't recommend it enough.  It is not close to downtown, a 15 minute cab ride, but that didn't matter to us as we had arranged drivers and a private tour so the location didn't negatively impact us. 

 

As flossie009 showed with her pictures Lisbon is  decked out in it's Christmas finery and it is beautiful.  Our tour lasted after dark and our driver suffered traffic jams to show us as much of the beautiful lights as he could. It was wonderful. 

 

I am going to close for now but will try to get back on later on the ship or tomorrow to continue the saga.  Tomorrow is our first sea day so gives us time to settle in. 

 

[Catpow]

The fog in Lisbon is starting to lift, so it should be great at embarkation and sail away.  We did aa sunset cruise last night on the Tagus River, and it was just perfect and we managed to sneak a pic of the ship.    We're really looking forward to our first trip on the Explorer and meeting the previous posters around the ship and at the Meet and Mingle.  I think we're all in for a treat!

[Hambagahle]

So sorry to hear about the "gastronomical mishap" and hope it fades quickly from your memory, cruisestart!  FRA is my least favourite airport too... once had to spend 5 hours in a cold gate area there waiting for a QF plane to board (when we should have been in the lounge and then called...)  UGH!  Plus the transfer from non-Schengen to Schengen is really badly signposted and hard to do.   (Have to say that IF you have the chance one day to fly via ZRH all this is handled far, far better!  And faster!  And with mooing cows to welcome you as well!!)

 

The Explorer looks great - and I have a special favour to ask!  IF at all possible sometime along the cruise could you take a stern view photo?  We are booked in 785 on Splendour, which will look just like Explorer and it is the rear Grand Suite on deck 7.  I would LOVE to see what the balcony looks like and have had an impossible time of finding any photos taken from off the ship.  (not many either from ON the ship).

 

I wish I were on your cruise.  It would remind me of being on the Union Castle line, age 10, travelling to Africa for the first time.  I know you will love every minute and we will all love seeing the photos.  Many thanks in advance!

Gerry

[flossie009]

Glad to hear that fellow blogger 1982CruzStart is feeling better.

 

We stayed at the Corpo Santo Hotel in Lisbon and would recommend it. Centrally located, excellent service, very comfortable modern rooms and a good breakfast.

This morning we looked out on this view of the small square in front of the hotel:

 

 

After a a short taxi ride to the cruise terminal we boarded Explorer at 11:30. A seamless experience with hardly any queuing or hassle.

Lisbon looks good from the deck of Explorer - sunny but cool

 

 

After an excellent lunch we are soon off to unpack and then lifeboat drill and sailaway

 

[flossie009]

Luggage all arrived & unpacked - there is so much storage in our F2 suite, which makes it ideal for a long cruise.

 

Safety briefing completed and the ship has just cast off, leaving Lisbon to start our journey to Cape Town via the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and numerous West African ports. It was the interestingly different itinerary on Explorer that attracted us to make this booking.

 

Captain Serena warned that we will hit heavy swells of 4 to 5 metres after we exit the Tagus river this evening. Hope we get our sea legs quickly but have both popped a Stugeron tablet just in case.

 

Looking forward to dinner in Pacific Rim tonight .............. now what delicious courses shall we order?   😋 .......... such difficult decisions on Regent.

[Hambagahle]

Great decisions to have...tell us what you ended up with!

 

Last time we sailed out of the Tagus (on the Mariner) we were warned about some "bumps" at the river mouth which were apparently due to a sand bar - anyway the word "bar" was mentioned and it wasn't the drinking kind!  Did you feel this too??

[Zqueeze1]

I hope all you guys have a wonderful and safe cruise.  Thank you for taking us with yous especially on this extraordinary itinerary. 

Flossie:  we found the F2 cabins were perfect for our needs and tastes.  Hopefully, you have one with the angled deck.  Also, if possible, please see hello to Capt Serena from Roberto and Pam (the cat lovers from South Florida!).  We enjoyed seeing her most mornings at the Coffee Connection where she would kindly take the time to chat with us for a few minutes.

 

Z and TB

[1982CruzStart]

Well my challenges and issues continue. First we couldn't figure out the magic to getting online. We kept missing a step and with a very short meeting with the IT guy we were up and running but that was mid morning before that was resolved. 

As mentioned earlier we are having rough seas and for the first time in 30 years i fall victim to seasickness. Couldn't believe it.  Not bad but just enough to make the day a little unpleasant. 

Enough already. 

Today was our M&M. I think there was about 30 or so people signed up with little over half attending.  Regent put on an unbelievable spread of food. Wow it was enough to feed a group of 2 to 3 times our size. As well it was set for 11 to 12 so i think most people didn't come thinking that they would have lunch. 

Captain Serena, Margaret the CD and Nicola the social hostess attended.  About half way through they had an officer passenger game scheduled just outside Explorer Lounge where we were. 

It was a pleasure meeting Susan (flossie009) and Elaine (cudof). We had a lively and interesting chat.  Being slightly under the weather they really carried the conversation. Briefly met a few other people but didn't get their handles. 

I took the advice offered and made a stop at reeption for one of those magic pills and the day is looking better now. 

 

We ate in Prime 7 last night, staff was excellent and enjoyed the food very much. Sorry no pitctures as i wasn't bright enough to bring my phone with me.  they served a very tasty amuse bouche of smoked tomato soup, i had the steak tartare that was very good but sadly not the best i ever had and the ahi tuna though based on taste and color certainly didn't taste likely ahi to me but was very good regardless. 

 

We are off to Chatreuse tonight and will once again try the steak tartare as it is truly one of my favorite foods.  Both last night and tonight they are extra reservations we scooped by visiting the reservation desk yesterday afternoon.  We have an extra pacific rim reservation added as well and will try later in the trip for a 3rd one to it.  

 

I better run and get ready for dinner.  Our tour tomorrow is not until 1 pm so will try and get online sometime before then to report how tonight goes.  I will even try and take some pictures but the optimum word is try as i get drinking some wine and visiting with our companions and it might fly out of my mind. 

 

Thanks again to all following along. 

[forevertravel]

Hi 1982CruzStar, I'm glad your DH is doing fine and both of you enjoying the Explorer. The Explorer is my favorite ship. We cruised together Beijing to Bangkok many years ago. If you have the time, can you find out if Margaret will be  the CD in February? We'll be boarding the Explorer Feb 1st for Buenos Aires to Valparaiso (actually San Antonio) for cruise around the Cape of Horn. Also, I'd like to know if Captain Serena will be the captain. We have never cruised with her and I hear wonderful things about her. By the way, if you're staying in Cape Town, is a beautiful city. We have been there twice. Once for safari and once for Regent cruise Cape Town to Cape Town. I recommend this cruise.

Enjoy the cruise.

Edited November 29, 2018 by forevertravel

[Travelcat2]

Sorry to hear that the seas are rough and that you became a bit seasick.  I do not recall the seas in different places around the world being as rough as this year (Mariner missing ports in the Pacific Ocean a month or so ago and Voyager cancelling some ports in the Atlantic in order to avoid 30 ft. waves ..... not sure what is going on).  Hope that the seas calm down for you.    Captain Serena told us that the first three days of a cruise your system is getting used to the movement of the ship and many people are tired at the beginning of a cruise.  I remembered her words when on the Voyager and was happy that we didn't hit the rough seas until around the 5th day at sea and everyone seemed to handle it just fine.

 

Feel better soon.  Look forward to your posts.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Travelcat2

[flossie009]

A delicious array of goodies was on offer at our Meet & Mingle today 

 

[liptastic]

That’s a great spread they have arranged. Look forward to this on our next booked cruise.  Hope the seas have calmed slightly .   Jean.