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

[flossie009]

Today we were in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

 

Following a face-to-face immigration inspection on board, we took an excursion to Walvis Bay Lagoon (a RAMSAR Natural Heritage Site) to see bird life, seals, sea lions and dolphins.

After a short coach ride from the ship we boarded a small boat for our guided tour around the lagoon.

 

Our Captain & guide (with his co-pilot, Lady Ga-Ga)

 

Lots of wildlife to be seen (on & off the boat)

 

 

 

 

A seal surfing in our boat’s wake

 

On the way back to the dock we were served with various snacks, including delicious local oysters, all washed down with some bubbly.

 

In summary, an excellent included Regent excursion.

[UUNetBill]

29 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

 

This is Regent - Ask and it will be given 😀

Within reason.  I asked them for a new Bentley Continental S to be waiting in my driveway when I got home.  It wasn't there...

[flossie009]

This afternoon the Mascato Youth Choir came onto Explorer to give a short concert in the theatre. They were extremely good and well received by a full house.

 

 

Soon after their concert was over, the last guests returned to the ship, the Namibian immigration officials left and we set sail at 5pm.

 

After dinner in Compass Rose, we watched the production show World Beat which is a very enjoyable, high energy production.

 

Tomorrow is our last sea day before we arrive in Cape Town. This means our memorable cruise is nearly over 😥 .................. but we still have the 3-day post-cruise in Cape Town to come 😀

 

[Travelcat2]

Have done the excursion to see seals, etc. twice.  Really a great excursion.  I have photos of a seal that boarded the boat for a few minutes — he/she walked around the boat for a while and then jumped back into the water.  The food was delicious - one of the few times in my life when I’ve eaten oysters.  

[xrvlcruiser]

flossie009,

World Beat is my favorite Production show of all times. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

Enjoy  the last few days of your cruise and your time in Capetown.

And safe travels

Peggy

[alidor]

Will be sorry to see these posts end.  As I wrote once before, my husband and I are doing this same cruise on Regent but not until November, 2020.  Really have enjoyed following you on this cruise!

[Hambagahle]

9 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Within reason.  I asked them for a new Bentley Continental S to be waiting in my driveway when I got home.  It wasn't there...

and I asked them to get Splendour launched this coming year - and they didn't!   Seriously though - those desserts look great and I am not a dessert person as a rule...

[1982CruzStart]

Yesterday we did an Regent Choice excursion.  I am not sure if it was worth the extra charge or not especially after seeing and reading the information from Susan.  Also Susan, thanks for posting the wonderful pictures of the Christmas villages. 

 

Our tour was the treasures of the Namib Desert by off road vehicle. There was another one called Living Desert by off road vehicle.  Both mentioned the dunes. What i was looking for was one where you actually get to go on the dunes by vehicle.  That definitely was not what we got. According to the TV presentation the one that did what i wanted was the other one. Too late to do anything about that as by the time i saw the TV presentation it was too late to change the tickets. 

 

As what seems to be a theme for most of the tours this cruise, passengers ignored the instructions and went to immigration clearance before called and went out and boarded the 4 wheel vehicles before their number was called.  that meant that almost anyone that actually followed the instructions got screwed when it came time to finding seats.  We lucked out as we were first out of the theatre when our number was called and we were able to find a van with room for both of us.  Some vehicles were overcrowded because in spite of being told that people may have to separate no one was willing to do that.  Had we not found seats i hope we would have graciously split up.  We travelled as a caravan so you saw each other at every stop. 

 

I know of at least 1 couple that gave up and went back to the ship to ask for a refund.  They tried to join our van but he was just too tall to sit in the back with DH and me and the middle bench seat was just too tight for the size of the 2 people that would need to sit there. 

 

I don't know what the solution is but as long as people benefit from ignoring the instructions and doing whatever they want it will only get progressively worse.

 

Now having said that we did have an interesting tour that spent a little too much time driving but what can you do when things are spread far and wide.  We went to the lagoon to check out the pink flamingoes and a few pelicans.  Off to see the endigenious lichens that grow all over the rocks  out in the desert.  They showed us how by pouring water on them they went from black dead looking plants to soft green plants.  These poor plants grow about a 1 mm a year and so if you step on them or damage them in anyway they can't recover.  It was quite interesting to see the transformation.

 

Next stop the moonscape where a few of drivers/guides joked that this was where the real moon landing took place and not the moon. It was a different kind of valley landscape than anything around but did run 400 km along the river. 

 

Off to see the 700 year old odd looking plants and high content iron rocks. Not sure what happened but i missed the boat and failed to get pictures of them. They are quite unique.   We then stopped at an Oasis where they served some bubbly with or without orange juice and a selection of snacks. A nice break and then off to Dune 7 which is the highest (i think) dune in the area. It is called Dune 7 because it is 7 km from the military base and the trainees would have to  run to it and then up it. Our driver said the quickest time was 2 minutes for the run up. No idea how any one can do that. I think i made it maybe 30 or 40 feet up it and gave up.   There were however a number of people that did make it up to the top  though i think most of those were younger people that happened to be there. 

 

So a good day with a very good driver/guide in a comfortable vehicle but really worth an extra $139 pp over what Susan did. Not so sure. 

 

Damn, have been trying to fight off a cold for a few days and finally it won last night. Woke up this morning with the stuffy nose and a little bit of coughing.  My DH said there were quite a number of people in the Cafe coughing etc so hopefully all of us are getting off in Cape Town and the new group joining are all healthy.  Tried so hard to be vigilant with the the antibacterial stuff at every doorway into every venue but obviously were not vigilant enough.  Hopefully it will be mild and not put a damper on our upcoming safari. 

 

Not sure how much more i will post before we leave as packing this afternoon and tomorrow morning is on the agenda.  Trying to get the suitcases balanced but also make it easy to find the stuff we want to wear home once we return to Cape Town after the safari.  2 Bags go into storage and we take 1 with us on the safari.  i will have to do a little re-balancing when i get to the hotel in CT as the weight may be an issue for our final flight from YVR to home. That last flight is not under Regent's business class airline rules for luggage so will try and minimize the costs when we arrive in YVR.  

 

Overall this has been a very good cruise with great staff and excellent food.  My biggest issue is the lack of communication at times. For instance we have no idea when we fly out of CT for our safari. No idea how many game drives we will actually get to participate in which does impact what we pack.  I can't believe they can't provide us with some basic info.

 

On a positive note i would sail with Captain Serena any day and on every cruise if i had the option. She is spectular. She is everywhere and talking to everyone. The most visible Captain i have ever sailed with. 

 

[DeepFreeze63]

My sincere thanks to the cruisers for very interesting and enjoyable info.

We join the Explore in Cape Town on 1/06/19 for the cruise to Rio. I'll try to post BUT as my Christmas gift to DW will be: 1) stay up with her as late as she likes (probably until the Observation Lounge closes the bar and music) and 2) participate with her in all her pursuits for "Regent Points" (she's addicted to that; everyone on our gift list gets something Regent), I probably won't have a lot of spare time on-board.  In any event, I'll post a detailed review when I return home. So let me know any specific questions that you may have. This will be our 4th Explorer cruise so I know the ship very well and already have a page of things to do this time that I haven't done before (e.x. photo in Infinity Pool; view all the hall photographs; stargaze when in the middle of the Southern Ocean; try the sauna/special shower at the workout room) - any other ideas welcome!

[Travelcat2]

5 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

Yesterday we did an Regent Choice excursion.  I am not sure if it was worth the extra charge or not especially after seeing and reading the information from Susan.  Also Susan, thanks for posting the wonderful pictures of the Christmas villages. 

 

Our tour was the treasures of the Namib Desert by off road vehicle. There was another one called Living Desert by off road vehicle.  Both mentioned the dunes. What i was looking for was one where you actually get to go on the dunes by vehicle.  That definitely was not what we got. According to the TV presentation the one that did what i wanted was the other one. Too late to do anything about that as by the time i saw the TV presentation it was too late to change the tickets. 

 

As what seems to be a theme for most of the tours this cruise, passengers ignored the instructions and went to immigration clearance before called and went out and boarded the 4 wheel vehicles before their number was called.  that meant that almost anyone that actually followed the instructions got screwed when it came time to finding seats.  We lucked out as we were first out of the theatre when our number was called and we were able to find a van with room for both of us.  Some vehicles were overcrowded because in spite of being told that people may have to separate no one was willing to do that.  Had we not found seats i hope we would have graciously split up.  We travelled as a caravan so you saw each other at every stop. 

 

I know of at least 1 couple that gave up and went back to the ship to ask for a refund.  They tried to join our van but he was just too tall to sit in the back with DH and me and the middle bench seat was just too tight for the size of the 2 people that would need to sit there. 

 

I don't know what the solution is but as long as people benefit from ignoring the instructions and doing whatever they want it will only get progressively worse.

 

Now having said that we did have an interesting tour that spent a little too much time driving but what can you do when things are spread far and wide.  We went to the lagoon to check out the pink flamingoes and a few pelicans.  Off to see the endigenious lichens that grow all over the rocks  out in the desert.  They showed us how by pouring water on them they went from black dead looking plants to soft green plants.  These poor plants grow about a 1 mm a year and so if you step on them or damage them in anyway they can't recover.  It was quite interesting to see the transformation.

 

Next stop the moonscape where a few of drivers/guides joked that this was where the real moon landing took place and not the moon. It was a different kind of valley landscape than anything around but did run 400 km along the river. 

 

Off to see the 700 year old odd looking plants and high content iron rocks. Not sure what happened but i missed the boat and failed to get pictures of them. They are quite unique.   We then stopped at an Oasis where they served some bubbly with or without orange juice and a selection of snacks. A nice break and then off to Dune 7 which is the highest (i think) dune in the area. It is called Dune 7 because it is 7 km from the military base and the trainees would have to  run to it and then up it. Our driver said the quickest time was 2 minutes for the run up. No idea how any one can do that. I think i made it maybe 30 or 40 feet up it and gave up.   There were however a number of people that did make it up to the top  though i think most of those were younger people that happened to be there. 

 

So a good day with a very good driver/guide in a comfortable vehicle but really worth an extra $139 pp over what Susan did. Not so sure. 

 

Damn, have been trying to fight off a cold for a few days and finally it won last night. Woke up this morning with the stuffy nose and a little bit of coughing.  My DH said there were quite a number of people in the Cafe coughing etc so hopefully all of us are getting off in Cape Town and the new group joining are all healthy.  Tried so hard to be vigilant with the the antibacterial stuff at every doorway into every venue but obviously were not vigilant enough.  Hopefully it will be mild and not put a damper on our upcoming safari. 

 

Not sure how much more i will post before we leave as packing this afternoon and tomorrow morning is on the agenda.  Trying to get the suitcases balanced but also make it easy to find the stuff we want to wear home once we return to Cape Town after the safari.  2 Bags go into storage and we take 1 with us on the safari.  i will have to do a little re-balancing when i get to the hotel in CT as the weight may be an issue for our final flight from YVR to home. That last flight is not under Regent's business class airline rules for luggage so will try and minimize the costs when we arrive in YVR.  

 

Overall this has been a very good cruise with great staff and excellent food.  My biggest issue is the lack of communication at times. For instance we have no idea when we fly out of CT for our safari. No idea how many game drives we will actually get to participate in which does impact what we pack.  I can't believe they can't provide us with some basic info.

 

On a positive note i would sail with Captain Serena any day and on every cruise if i had the option. She is spectular. She is everywhere and talking to everyone. The most visible Captain i have ever sailed with. 

 

 

Really hope that you feel better soon.  We also came down with a cold at the end of our cruise earlier this month.  Also hope that it does not affect the wonderful time that you'll have on the safari.  

 

I'm a bit surprised about the lack of information provided to you regarding the safari.  While I'm not sure that your safari will be like ours (done through Regent 2 or 3 year ago) we did a night game drive the day we arrive in the camp and then an early (very early) and an early evening drive the next day.  Cannot really recall the last day.  It was quite cool in the morning and we were provided with hot water bottles which helped (not sure if this happens in all camps).  By the time the morning drive ends, the weather is considerably warmer.  

 

Could not agree with you about Captain Serena - she is a charm and we would love to sail with her on every cruise.

 

Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to post photos and to share your experiences with us!

 

P.S. DeepFreeze63 - the cruise you are about to take is amongst our top 3 favorites in the world.  We would do the Cape Town to Cape Town itinerary again in a minute if it were not so darn far away.  Hope that you'll post from the ship!

[gnomie1]

19 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Within reason.  I asked them for a new Bentley Continental S to be waiting in my driveway when I got home.  It wasn't there...

Have you considered asking Santa?

[UUNetBill]

36 minutes ago, gnomie1 said:

Have you considered asking Santa?

Yeah, I considered it...but I'm definitely on the wrong list...

[jollyjoyce]

5 hours ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

My sincere thanks to the cruisers for very interesting and enjoyable info.

We join the Explore in Cape Town on 1/06/19 for the cruise to Rio. I'll try to post BUT as my Christmas gift to DW will be: 1) stay up with her as late as she likes (probably until the Observation Lounge closes the bar and music) and 2) participate with her in all her pursuits for "Regent Points" (she's addicted to that; everyone on our gift list gets something Regent), I probably won't have a lot of spare time on-board.  In any event, I'll post a detailed review when I return home. So let me know any specific questions that you may have. This will be our 4th Explorer cruise so I know the ship very well and already have a page of things to do this time that I haven't done before (e.x. photo in Infinity Pool; view all the hall photographs; stargaze when in the middle of the Southern Ocean; try the sauna/special shower at the workout room) - any other ideas welcome!

We too are on this cruise 6/1/2019 Cape Town to Rio.

As this is our 1st Regent cruise I am really wanting to know about the hairdryer provided by Regent. Sorry but I really don’t want to have to bring my own but need a high powered dryer and don’t seem to be able to find info anywhere !!! Can any of you guys familiar with Explorer help ??

Very excited and so looking forward to our cruise.

Really enjoyed the posts on this thread, especially Walvis Bay seals cruise which we are doing....sounds fantastic.

Thanks to all who have posted and hope we will be able to post during our TA.

[DeepFreeze63]

JOLLYJOYCE asked: "As this is our 1st Regent cruise I am really wanting to know about the hairdryer provided by Regent. Sorry but I really don’t want to have to bring my own but need a high powered dryer and don’t seem to be able to find info anywhere !!! Can any of you guys familiar with Explorer help ??"

DW , with a full head of thick hair,  says "Regent hair dryers are quite good" (she doesn't bring her own) "but there are no curling irons, I bring mine from home."

Are you interested in the daily Trivia? Mary and I are looking for Brits to team with. See you aboard.

Jim C

[jollyjoyce]

17 minutes ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

JOLLYJOYCE asked: "As this is our 1st Regent cruise I am really wanting to know about the hairdryer provided by Regent. Sorry but I really don’t want to have to bring my own but need a high powered dryer and don’t seem to be able to find info anywhere !!! Can any of you guys familiar with Explorer help ??"

DW , with a full head of thick hair,  says "Regent hair dryers are quite good" (she doesn't bring her own) "but there are no curling irons, I bring mine from home."

Are you interested in the daily Trivia? Mary and I are looking for Brits to team with. See you aboard.

Jim C

Thank you for the reply Re hairdryers. Unless I have lots of room in suitcase I will feel happy to leave mine at home now ! I don’t use curling tongs so no proble there.

Thank Mary please.

We would love to join you for Trivia, I am a big crossword and trivia fan...hope we don’t let you down !

Hopefully we will be at CC Meet & Mingle so will look forward to meeting you both.

Joyce

[DeepFreeze63]

2 hours ago, jollyjoyce said:

Thank you for the reply Re hairdryers. Unless I have lots of room in suitcase I will feel happy to leave mine at home now ! I don’t use curling tongs so no proble there.

Thank Mary please.

We would love to join you for Trivia, I am a big crossword and trivia fan...hope we don’t let you down !

Hopefully we will be at CC Meet & Mingle so will look forward to meeting you both.

Joyce

Great, see you at "Meet and Mingle.

[flossie009]

On 12/6/2018 at 6:27 PM, flossie009 said:

The Pool Deck on Explorer is beautiful, but like many areas of the ship has some mildly annoying design and layout quirks. 

 

To illustrate my previous comments:

 

The positioning of these sun loungers is not good and they cannot be repositioned as they would block foot traffic

 

Shower entrance/exits face the Pool Grill rather than the pool/jacuzzi 

 

Minor issues but both IMO come under the category “What were they thinking?”

[flossie009]

A few updates:

Massimo Arzani took up his post as GM on Explorer yesterday having flown into Walvis Bay the day before.

Final score in the cruise-long “Officers Challenges” was Officers: 79wins; Guests: 103wins 🙂

Krew Kapers last night was excellent as always.

Some of the entries into the “Suite Door Decoration” challenge were very inventive and totally OTT (Margaret & Nicola did a tour of the entries on the TV morning programme)

 

We are still heading towards Cape Town in ‘bumpy’ seas; due to arrive at 1pm. Overnight on the ship then off on our 3 day post cruise.

Packing this morning 😥

[Travelcat2]

Good to hear that Massimo is onboard - we look forward to seeing him in February.

 

Not sure what is wrong with the entrance to the shower facing the direction that it is facing. Isn't it better than showering right next to the jacuzzi?  After all, a person needs a tiny bit of privacy.

 

The Explorer may be quirky but it is, In my opinion, the best ship of the fleet..... the most comfortable - the best suites - best gym - nicest specialty restaurant layout for P7 and Chartreuse -- only ship with Pacific Rim......... and I could go on.  

[boblerm]

4 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

The Explorer may be quirky but it is, In my opinion, the best ship of the fleet..... the most comfortable - the best suites - best gym - nicest specialty restaurant layout for P7 and Chartreuse -- only ship with Pacific Rim......... and I could go on.  

Just a few more- the category H-D suites actually have drawers in the living areas to put stuff in.  That helps.

Also, so far, the Explorer is the most visually stunning ship I have been on.

Bob

[flossie009]

We arrived in Cape Town late morning.

This afternoon we wandered around the V&A Waterfront.

At 6pm we set off on the included excursion “Sundowners on Signal Hill”.

A very enjoyable time looking out over stunning views of Table Mountain and Cape Town, while being plied with tasty snacks & bubbly. A great way to round off a superb cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the ship just in time for last orders for Dinner, then final packing and luggage outside the door.

Due off the ship just after 8am tomorrow for the first day of our 3-day “Winelands & Wildlife” tour.

[Hambagahle]

""Off to see the endigenious lichens that grow all over the rocks  out in the desert.  They showed us how by pouring water on them they went from black dead looking plants to soft green plants. ""

 

In Rhodesia we called these "Resurrection plants" for obvious reasons.   They grew in the Matopos Hills.

 

This has been a wonderful thread and clearly a wonderful cruise!  The photos were marvellous.  Thanks so much!

Edited December 22, 2018 by Hambagahle

[beaujolais]

Hi Flossie

 

We join Explorer on Jan 6th but do the "Winelands and Wildlife Tour" previous to embarking

Any observations or tips with regards the tour would be most appreciated

Edited December 22, 2018 by beaujolais

[1982CruzStart]

Don't know if anyone is still following along but i give a little update.

 

They had a new procedure for disembarkation.  You were to meet in the theatre then get in line to have your name checked off by a member of the DS team.  Have no idea what the purpose was and what was typical of yet another communication breakdown, we were not told that we needed to do this.  There was 1 person checking off 600 to 700 passengers. Ridiculous.   We didn't even know that we were supposed to do anything and saw the line-up and asked another passenger what was going on.  So off to stand in one last line. DS's final revenge.  We heard some people say they weren't doing it and just left when their bus number & color were called.  

 

But on to the fun stuff. 

 

We are doing a post cruise safari at Shamwari - Bayethe Lodge.  These are luxury tents with a small private plunge pool.  The tents are extremely large. It has a king size bed (unfortunately not really comfortable, a little too hard for me), a little sitting area, a separate toilet room and a tub and shower.  Some of the units have an outdoor shower with just the bath indoors. 

 

We arrived at the lodge just in time for tea though i am assuming as we are the only ones here and missed lunch that it was more than just tea.  

 

We had our first game drive and will post some pictures.  It was sunny and warm but for the most part it stays pleasant while you are driving with a nice little breeze. On our last game drive we were farther north in south Africa and it would be dark half way through it. So we would see some in the light, stop for a drink and watch the sun go down and drive back in pitch black, checking out some of the night animals.  Here the sun doesn't go down until 7:30 so you have the  entire game drive in the light, stop for a drink for the sunset and  then go back to the lodge for dinner.   We looked one way and saw a beautiful sunset and looked the opposite was and saw the full moon rising. 

 

Last night it was a BBQ.   the over abundance of food continues.   there was a small salad bar, some soup and other items and then you ordered what you wanted BBQ'd.  You had a choice of fish, venison, chicken, beef sausage and lamb. You could pick as many different options as you wanted and it was then served with some veggies.  

 

We had our second one this morning, though it was a slow start.  I begged our guide to go a little longer then or later. I was happy to pay extra.  We don't have one tomorrow before we leave which i think is a real shame.   For most everyone i spoke with there was no hurry to get back to CT early but they have us up and on our way back there at 6 am so we can then sit around there as we will arrive back before check in time at the hotel.  My guess is that it is the cheapest flight on a Sunday and so rather than pay a little more and have 4 game drives we get to sit in a hotel in CT Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day. Yahoo.  If i had been thinking when i deviated i would have arranged for our flights home Christmas eve and not had the wasted night in CT as i understand most things will be closed for the holidays. 

 

Sorry went off on a tangent but are now back talking about the great stuff.   There are 16 of us here at this lodge though there are people staying at at least 1 or 2 other ones though we never see them except on the plane here and back. 

 

We had a super morning though we are still trying to get a good look at the buffalo, elephant, rhino and elusive leopard.  We caught a peak at a lone elephant on our way back to the lodge last night and have a couple of pictures of it amongst the trees. Well mostly the back end of it.  We have a lot of pictures of animal butts as they always seem to be going away from us when we stop. 

 

We are going off an hour early this afternoon with the hopes of finding those animals.  We are holding our hope and trying to send out positive thoughts. 

 

[1982CruzStart]

Some pictures from our 2 game drives.