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

[1982CruzStart]

Loungers on 12th deck. View of the pool from 12th deck. 

[Travelcat2]

 

1982CruzStart - thank you for posting photos of the ship - I never tire of see her.  

 

Gerry - you're right - no blue lighting - how refreshing!  

[Focused1]

Wonderful pics of Santa Cruz de Tenerife with Mt Teide in the background. You even captured the condo building my son and family live in. Makes me sad we didn’t sign up for this leg of the cruise since we board in Cape Town. 

[ArtsyCraftsy]

8 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

 

Crab Salad!  My favorite appetizer!  Had it 3 or 4 times on the Mariner Panama Canal cruise this past Sep-Oct!  

[Zqueeze1]

How were you able to take such great pics in Compass Rose without the dreaded blue light ruining them?  We need to know!!! Loving your comments and pics. 

Z and TB

[vegasdriven]

Thanks for all the pics, but, there's something missing. 🍨

[flossie009]

Made a good choice for our excursion this morning on Tenerife.

A 5 hour included excursion travelling in 4x4 vehicles up above the clouds & treeline towards Mount Teide.

Our driver/guide was excellent. Stopped at various viewpoints and then a long break for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, biscuits & cake at the highest point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[captjohn]

Watching your adventure with great interest since we will be on the same itinerary in 2020 all be it on the Voyager. I asked on the Roll call thread but no response so will ask here.Are any of you going on the "Sossusvlei Desert Lodge overnight tour ? Will be very interested in your experience. Thanks, JD

[Travelcat2]

18 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

 

Fun night in spite of the hiccups. 

 

Just reread your post and saw your hiccup sentence.  How long did that last?  It must have been disturbing to say the least.  

 

Really looking forward to the part of your cruise that is in Africa.  We have been there a couple of times but not in some of the areas you will be visiting.  We almost booked this cruise and then decided against it.  We love South Africa, Namibia, Port Elizabeth, Durban and a few other places but wondered how much there is to see in the other African ports.  

 

Continue to enjoy your cruise!

[1982CruzStart]

10 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

How were you able to take such great pics in Compass Rose without the dreaded blue light ruining them?  We need to know!!! Loving your comments and pics. 

Z and TB

 

thanks Z.  If i recall correctly the blue lights weren't on the night we ate there. If i am wrong about that it may be because we were seated in the back area away from the blue chandlier. 

[1982CruzStart]

5 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Just reread your post and saw your hiccup sentence.  How long did that last?  It must have been disturbing to say the least.  

 

Really looking forward to the part of your cruise that is in Africa.  We have been there a couple of times but not in some of the areas you will be visiting.  We almost booked this cruise and then decided against it.  We love South Africa, Namibia, Port Elizabeth, Durban and a few other places but wondered how much there is to see in the other African ports.  

 

Continue to enjoy your cruise!

When i said hiccups i meant in spite of the little challenges.  Fortunately didn't have any real hiccups. Sorry for the confusion but thanks for your kind thoughts. 

I must watch my phrasing in the future. 

[1982CruzStart]

What greeted us when we opened our curtains this morning

[Hambagahle]

On 12/1/2018 at 1:08 AM, flossie009 said:

@Zqueeze1,

We passed on your regards to Captain Serena at lunch.

After an initial look of horror (only joking 😉) she regained her composure and wishes you all the very best.

 

 

@Hambagahle

You asked for views of the rear of Explorer; hope these are of some use:

 

 

 

 

Thank you SO much.  Indeed!  very useful

Gerry

[flossie009]

A sea day today, but what to do? So many choices. Should it be a lazy day in the sun by the Pool? a cha cha class? a lecture or seminar? ................

 

 

Susan chose the pool while David opted for the lecture followed by the Officers’ challenge and the cocktail demonstration.

 

 

A good turnout of officers and guests at the top-toss challenge. It was close scoring throughout.

 

 

Olga demonstrated four different champagne cocktails - David felt obliged to try them all

 

 

Susan was also well catered for on deck:

 

 

After lunch in La Veranda, we will read & attempt the MENSA questions this afternoon.

Then the Block Party followed by dinner in Prime 7. 😋

 

These sea days are so challenging.  😉 

Edited December 3, 2018 by flossie009

[1982CruzStart]

Yes sea days are such a challenge.  Haha. After getting some exercise on deck 12 it was hard to decided whether to sit outside on the balcony & read or read on the bed or napping on the bed. Oh let me think. Had a tough day of doing all three. 

Lots of people walking the track on 12 as well as some playing shuffleboard, someone once again hitting balls in the golf practice area and a couple starting a game of bocci just as I finished my 5 km.

We had lunch in chartreuse and is likely our first & last. Not enough options to choose from. 

Going to enjoy the block party & then off to dinner in CR. 

I hear the crab salad calling my name. 

[flossie009]

Splendid meal in Prime 7 tonight. Our steaks were cooked perfectly - exactly as requested

 

 

 

Followed by Key Lime pie and the 14 layer chocolate cake

 

 

..... and in case you are still hungry there is always the selection of fudge

 

 

[flossie009]

The show tonight was Steve Stevens, comic & musician. Very entertaining.

The joke which the audience appreciated the most was: “This free internet is magic ................ it keeps disappearing”

 

1982CruzStart opened today with a fabulous sunrise; I will finish with today’s sunset

“Red sky at night, sailors’ delight”

Edited December 3, 2018 by flossie009

[boblerm]

On 12/2/2018 at 3:29 PM, Zqueeze1 said:

How were you able to take such great pics in Compass Rose without the dreaded blue light ruining them?  We need to know!!! Loving your comments and pics. 

Z and TB

Z, having been recently on Explorer and Voyager, here is  what I experienced -  my photos in CR on Voyager showed a hideous blue cast that could be minimized, but not entirely eliminated. 

But on Explorer, even though there is a large blue chandelier, photos do not come out with a blue  cast. I don't understand enough about optics to explain why that is, but looking back on my photos, there is a world of difference between the 2.

Bob

[Hambagahle]

Whatever the cause - the photos are wonderful!   

[1982CruzStart]

Susan, what a lovely sunset. Thank you. 

We had dinner at CR & the food was very good. I had the crab salad, steak tartare & lobster tail. Chartreuse still wins the steak tartare contest. 

[1982CruzStart]

Can't figure out why they would ruin a perfectly good tartare with a little curl of anchovie on top. What did that tartare do to them to deserve that. 

My DH had the creamy penne bolognese and said it was great. 

 

[1982CruzStart]

I finished with the recommended canyon ranch chocolate cake.  It was tasty & healthy?

[1982CruzStart]

I did take a picture of my lobster & will post it as I think it is better than the last one I did of lobster. 

[1982CruzStart]

Our meal last night was served quickly up until dessert & the petit fours. We waited at least half an hour for that though coffee was served quickly after the main course was done. 

Off to P7 tonight for dinner and another hectic day of doing nothing except walking the 5 k to wear off all the food & drink. 

[1982CruzStart]

Random thoughts from a wandering mind.  Just a few comments about our trip so far that i may or may not have noted already, My apologies if some of the comments are a repeat performance. 

 

For the first time in my what i thought was a pretty well travelled life i stayed at a hotel where you have  to enter the floor # before you enter the elevator.  The elevator letter would show up and you then take that elevator to your floor. The key is that you have to pay attention to what elevator you have been assigned to.  No matter what i did i could not remember to check the elevator letter before it disappeared  off the screen. So i am standing there hoping that the first elevator to stop was the right one. I finally did notice that there was a narrow display on the side of the elevator that showed what floors that elevator stopped at. Luckily for me i didn't ever get into the wrong elevator.   Have to say it is a little weird stepping into an elevator that has no buttons to push on the inside. 

 

I have been giving a lot of thought to how i feel about Explorer compared to the only other Regent ship we have sailed on - Voyager.   Explorer is a gorgeous ship. What i really like is some of the larger public rooms. 

 

We are in a F2. It is a lovely cabin but have to admit my first thought was the cabin seems smaller than a comparable cabin on Voyager. I know they aren't it is just the difference in layout that makes it seem that way to me at first glance. I do really like the bed facing the window and that in part accounts for why the seating area seems smaller.  It is great to have the double sinks in the bathroom as well as a good sized shower and tub.  What i do wish is that put different floor in the shower. Putting large slabs of marble in a wet area seems like an accident waiting for a time to happen. I think if they had put the lovely inlaid area in front of the sinks into the shower instead it would have made the shower feel less slippery. 

 

There is so much storage in the F2. Couldn't get close to using it all up except maybe by putting only a couple of pieces in each drawer. Love that.  The walk in closet is also great. So much room to hang things and lots of drawers as well. 

 

One thing i really don't like are the narrow stairwells. In an effort to not waddle off this ship i try to never  take the elevators. Have used them twice only so far when i had my carryon luggage with me. I purposely didn't bring any high heels (not that mine are that high) so i could not use my shoes as an excuse to ride the elevator.  The stairways are very narrow and barely comfortable for 1 person let alone when you meet  people on them.  I also find some  of the choices of carpet on the stairs strange as they don't  hide the wear and tear very well. 

 

Overall the staff have been friendly, hard working and can't do enough for you.  The same as we have always found on voyager. When you have a ship with this many staff you are bound to find someone that is having a bad day but you don't really see that here.  My one exception is my not so pleasant encounter with DS.  

 

My challenges with DS continue but nothing that couldn't be fixed easily.  When i checked about getting my paid excursions charged to my OBC, they were pleasant and easy to deal with.   The only fly in the ointment was he did it wrong.  I kept checking my account to see if things had been processed and there was nothing on my account.  I stopped by today to find out if i was missing something. The charming staff person let me know that my original request was processed incorrectly and she would fix it.  I have to admit i have put off checking to see if it has been fixed but will do so sometime today. 

 

Enough for now. I need to change because it is time to stuff my face once more. My lord it has been 3 hours since i did that. I may starve  to death. NOT.