Explorer Feb 1-17 Buenos Aires to Santiago Live

[RachelG]

[ronrick1943]

Thanks for taking the time to post photo's and your writing about the cruise is most enjoyable.  Wishing you the best and a great time thought out your cruise. Rick

[RachelG]

Thanks, briar and ronrick.  Jackie, one thing that I forgot to mention,but your comment reminded me.  Even though this cruise is completely totally full, it did not seem crowded today with everyone onboard.  There are so many areas to sit and read or relax, way more it seems than on the other ships.

[RJ2002]

Really enjoying your reports and the pictures are great.   Thanks for taking time out of your vacation to share it with all of us.

[Hambagahle]

8 hours ago, RachelG said:

Captain Pasta, now that is funny.

A close Italian friend of mine is called Ida Pasta.  Her husband was Bruno Pasta...

[Hambagahle]

The tiling in that floor is beautiful!  

 

I have never had raw tuna on a Salade Niçoise - normally (even in the south of France) it is tinned, and so I suppose cooked tuna.  How strange (even for me and I love sushi and sahimi!)

 

Keeping fingers crossed for you to be able to tender at Port Stanley.  We managed it but the day before us a Holland America ship could not.   If you are going to Goose Green etc be warned that the roads are dusty and corrugated.  You bump along a LOT.  Well worth the journey though.  The feeling standing in the little cemetery on San Carlos water was so amazing - a tranquil place with lovely water behind it.  So far from the battle that happened there.  I hope you can get out there.

[RachelG]

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

A close Italian friend of mine is called Ida Pasta.  Her husband was Bruno Pasta...

Now that is hilarious.

 

i too have eaten salad nicoise in the south of France many times as well as onboard Regent.  This was very strange —a large square of chopped raw tuna, on top of a few green beans with 2 boiled potatoes, on on each end and one olive.

[Hambagahle]

No anchovies, no hard boiled eggs?  To me what you got was not a salade niçoise but some strange concoction!

[Xerxes10]

19 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Loved your description of "Mr. Romance"💓

 

It is good to hear how most passengers were dressed for Formal Optional night.  Dennis is packing his tux but I don't think that I'll have room for my gown.  Time will tell.  Maybe I'll wear a long skirt and sparkly top!?

 

We will be attending our first Meet and Greet that we signed up for (generally just pop in to see who is there).  It should be interesting - especially since our cruise is not full and there are a lot of passengers from PBS that may not be interested in such an event.  It will be nice to have time to chat with Lorraine and Massimo!

 

Jackie, we will be attending the Meet and Greet as well. The person I'm most anxious to meet is ... you. After reading so many of your posts, I really want to put a face to the name.

[Travelcat2]

8 minutes ago, Xerxes10 said:

 

Jackie, we will be attending the Meet and Greet as well. The person I'm most anxious to meet is ... you. After reading so many of your posts, I really want to put a face to the name.

 

What a nice thing to say.  It is my pleasure to try and assist people new to Regent.  

 

 

[RachelG]

February 5, 2019–Puerto Madryn, Argentina

 

The forecast for today was highs in the 90’s, but cloudy.  I went up early and did an hour on the track.  Not a cloud in the sky, but by the end of the hour, I was pretty sure the temperature forecast was correct.

 

As I walked, I could see a large crescent of land coming closer and closer.  On the sides were sand dunes and low scrub covered hills.  In the middle was Puerto Madryn, a city of about 100,000.  We docked at 10 am.  

 

Our excursion for the day was to see penguins and sea lions.  The bus, which was very comfortable and fortunately well air conditioned, took us through a fairly prosperous looking town with lots of nice looking sea side properties to the countryside which reminded me of northern Mexico, semi-arid with hues of brown, yellow and a little green in the brush.

 

We drove on good paved road for about 45 minutes to the Peninsula Valdés visitor center, where there was a small museum.  The real attraction was bathrooms.  Then onward for another hour plus through miles and miles of scrub—you could have put a movie on a loop and have seen what we saw.  Occasionally there was a herd of guanaco, the little llama like animal that is native, and we saw a couple of rea.  But otherwise, just brush.

 

The road changed from paved to gravel.  Eventually we arrived at Estancia San Lorenzo, an sheep raising operation.  Lunch was served in a big barn which was very similar to ours at the ranch, but with comfortable seating.  We had empanadas, cheese, cured meats and olives to start, followed by salad and braised lamb.  Dessert was flan.  It was just ok—very meat heavy, and I can cook lamb way better.  But the included red wine was really good.

  

We then took a short drive to the penguins, and there were thousands.  These are Magellanic penguins, which are kind of small.  The tallest would come not quite up to my knee.  The population of these birds at this location has been increasing steadily for the past few years, and they are everywhere.  They burrow on the ground underneath bushes, and the babies are getting pretty big. Some are starting to molt, so look a bit like punk rockers.  They aren’t a bit afraid of people, so you have to try to avoid them as they come right up to you.  It is sort of like the Galapagos where there is a specified path that humans have to stick to, but the birds can go wherever they want.

 

We walked along the path until we were at the shore.  There was a whole line of thousands of penguins right at the waters edge, and then, patrolling just a little ways out, sea lions looking for lunch.  Every so often, a big group of penguins would plunge in all together.  

 

After viewing the penguins, we reboarded the bus to go to where the sea lions hang out onshore.  There were lots of babies waiting for their moms to return, plus some adults.  We weren’t able to get nearly as close though, obviously.

 

We had a 2 hour drive back, arriving back at the ship just as the block party, Chinese New Year themed complete with dragon, was going on.  George and I were tired and hungry, so went up to the pool deck for dinner.  George finally had what he would consider an acceptable hamburger on Regent.  All the cheeses and desserts were melting because it was so hot.

 

The show was the assistant CD Evan Bosworth in a Frankie Valli show, which was outstanding.  He has a great voice and is a great entertainer.  We were supposed to sail at 7 pm, but did not set off until 10:30 because of the wind.  This port has no tug boats.  The wind was incredibly strong, so the captain had to wait till a break to set sail.

 

[RachelG]

Don’t know why the font is so big on some of my posts, and not sure how to change.  Forgot to add, I spent an additional 1 1/2 hour today on the phone with Bank of America dealing with the fraud thing.  I am so frustrated.  But maybe it is now fixed. Thank heavens for Regent included phone time!

[Travelcat2]

I love the big font!  

 

Sounds like a good day - particularly the part when you visited penguins.  We saw the penguins in South Africa but it sounds as if there were a lot more where you visited.  Trying to imagine penguins that look like punk rockers - funny images in my mind:-). Even if the food wasn't the best, wine sometimes makes everything okay!

 

Do you know where the Captain is from (so tempted to call him Captain "Pasta")?  

 

Appreciate hearing about the CD's show - someone posted earlier on how good he was.  Hearing the same from you makes it a definite "yes" in terms of going to that show!

 

Love reading your reports!

[RachelG]

Captain is Italian.

 

trying to post penguin pics.  Will try to upload again.  And yes, wine makes everything better.

[RachelG]

Cute guanacos

Edited February 6, 2019 by RachelG

[Mr Rumor]

2 hours ago, RachelG said:

Don’t know why the font is so big on some of my posts, and not sure how to change.

Rachel, when I pasted from Notes, the type would show larger.   All you have to do to decrease the size is click the bar at the bottom of the posting window that states, "Pasted as (your name) text.  Paste as plain text instead." 

 

Loving your descriptive prose and pics!

[RachelG]

7 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

Rachel, when I pasted from Notes, the type would show larger.   All you have to do to decrease the size is click the bar at the bottom of the posting window that states, "Pasted as (your name) text.  Paste as plain text instead." 

 

Loving your descriptive prose and pics!

Thanks, Rick, I will try that.

[UUNetBill]

I love the penguin pics.  It just makes me smile looking at them milling around.   

[RachelG]

3 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I love the penguin pics.  It just makes me smile looking at them milling around.   

They make me smile too

[gnomie1]

15 minutes ago, RachelG said:

They make me smile too

Rachel:

 

Not sure what your plans are for the Falklands (fingers crossed that you get there!), but a little known fact is that there are more species of penguins on the Falklands than in Antarctica! You have a full day in port which should allow time to visit the penguins, take a detailed tour of the sights associated with the Falklands War of 1982 and have a yummy lunch of some of the best fish and chips anywhere (and that is coming from someone who spends a great deal of time in the UK). You may be a few weeks too late to witness the chicks coming out and exploring for the first time, but there are always the late bloomers. A word of warning, although the weather may be cool, it is very cold and windy near some of the penguin colonies so you may want to carry a scarf and gloves for the visit.

 

Also, not to hijack this thread, but if you get a chance, please contact me (link below) regarding your banking problem.

 

gnomie

[RachelG]

Gnomie, I have my hat and gloves ready,  hoping to get onshore.  I am optimistic that the banking issue is solved, but if not, I will be calling you!

[RachelG]

February 6, 2019–at sea

 

Another sea day, or much about doing nothing.  I had a short sleep in, then went up to walk.  It was still warm, but not hot like yesterday.  There was a good breeze, so very comfortable for walking though I did have to be careful as the sea spray made the deck slightly damp.  Lots of others were out and about as well.  

 

There was the usual long list of potential activities for the day.  George and I had signed up for the degustation lunch which was held in Compass Rose.  The extra charge was reasonable considering the quality of food and wine.  One bottle of the included wine retail would be the same as the price of the whole thing.  At any rate, it was very delicious.  

 

The afternoon was again just doing nothing.  I worked on cross stitch.  We did not do great at trivia.

 

Dinner was with new friends and the onboard comedian.  He is a pretty funny guy.  The entertainment was a classical pianist, who is very talented.  I stayed for part of the show, but our tour is early if we are able to tender.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, RachelG said:

February 6, 2019–at sea

 

Another sea day, or much about doing nothing.  I had a short sleep in, then went up to walk.  It was still warm, but not hot like yesterday.  There was a good breeze, so very comfortable for walking though I did have to be careful as the sea spray made the deck slightly damp.  Lots of others were out and about as well.  

 

There was the usual long list of potential activities for the day.  George and I had signed up for the degustation lunch which was held in Compass Rose.  The extra charge was reasonable considering the quality of food and wine.  One bottle of the included wine retail would be the same as the price of the whole thing.  At any rate, it was very delicious.  

 

The afternoon was again just doing nothing.  I worked on cross stitch.  We did not do great at trivia.

 

Dinner was with new friends and the onboard comedian.  He is a pretty funny guy.  The entertainment was a classical pianist, who is very talented.  I stayed for part of the show, but our tour is early if we are able to tender.

 

Your "degustation lunch" sounds like something new.  May I ask the cost?  We are familiar with the Connoisseur Wine lunch but this may be something different. 

 

A suggestion from someone who has made mistakes on CC.  Keeping our emails safe is important as this is a public site and our real names are not used - we are all anonymous. For this reason, I would be wary of anyone on CC that offers services/suggestions that they cannot post online.  Just a word from someone who has learned not to trust too much!  The first question that I ask myself is why they would not post the information on CC.

 

 

 

 

[RachelG]

The degustation lunch is the same as the connoisseur wine lunch.  Menu was small portions of some classic favorites from the menu—started with tuna sashimi, then foie Graz, the miso glazed halibut, the little scallop with bacon on top, then a lamb chop.  I tried to take a picture of the menu but there was too much shadow for it to turn out.  Price was $169 pp.

 

here are a couple of pics from our suite which is a G2.  I thought it would be small, but we are managing fine.  The bathroom is definitely for one person at a time though.

[RachelG]

Compass Rose ceiling