LIVE FROM EXPLORER - FEB. 17 - MARCH 9

[cruiseluv]

I'm one of the posters that has used the "pretentious" adjective to describe the experience in Chartreuse.  Somehow the server introducing herself as "Hello, I'm X (cant recall her name, wonder why), I'm from Paris" didnt sit well with me. Why would I care? In addition, I dont think the food is that special.

[ronrick1943]

57 minutes ago, cruiseluv said:

I'm one of the posters that has used the "pretentious" adjective to describe the experience in Chartreuse.  Somehow the server introducing herself as "Hello, I'm X (cant recall her name, wonder why), I'm from Paris" didnt sit well with me. Why would I care? In addition, I dont think the food is that special.

 

I'm ok with that, everyone has their opinion and why shouldn't you.  The "I'm from Paris" may be a Regent policy, since most wait staff introduced them self with their name and where they are from on Regent. Like Hi, I'm Robert from Honduras.

[freddie]

3 hours ago, Master Echo said:

Whilst undoubtedly there are French staff in this restaurant, to many it is not their native language, and it is disingenuous to expect them to try.  This is particularly galling as Madame speaks fluent French, and Sir can hold his own!  It was embarrassing for the Indian sommelier to be responded to in French which went way beyond his command of the language.

 

I agree with ME that it is not kind to put any member of the staff in the uncomfortable position of trying to respond in a language in which he/she may not be strong.   Therefore, might we reliably assume that it was not ME or his wife who attempted to chat with the Indian sommelier in French?

[cruiseluv]

49 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

 

I'm ok with that, everyone has their opinion and why shouldn't you.  The "I'm from Paris" may be a Regent policy, since most wait staff introduced them self with their name and where they are from on Regent. Like Hi, I'm Robert from Honduras.

 

Interesting, Ive been in many Regent cruises and that certainly hasnt been something Ive noticed. That's why it caught my attention. That, and the relish in the way she said it, like I should be impressed. I wasnt

 

[cruiseluv]

4 minutes ago, freddie said:

I agree with ME that it is not kind to put any member of the staff in the uncomfortable position of trying to respond in a language in which he/she may not be strong.   Therefore, might we reliably assume that it was not ME or his wife who attempted to chat with the Indian sommelier in French?

Freddie, I agree with you, but, why would the sommelier "speak" in French to begin with, if that's not his language? Plus, even if its his language, he wouldnt know if the pax speaks it or not, so why use it when addressing them? Sorry, this is part of the shtick of Chartreuse which I find totally affected and dont enjoy.

[freddie]

Maria - I totally understand your confusion, as it matches mine with respect to speaking French in Chartreuse.   We have not been in Chartreuse on Explorer but have been in that venue on Voyager and did not experience anyone on the staff initiating any interactions in French.   Perhaps ME would be so kind as to clarify the language situation that he encountered there.  Even though we regret the loss of Signatures on the Regent ships, we certainly don't regret the loss of that very silly "un, deux, trois" nonsense with the silver plate domes.

[Hambagahle]

5 hours ago, freddie said:

 Even though we regret the loss of Signatures on the Regent ships, we certainly don't regret the loss of that very silly "un, deux, trois" nonsense with the silver plate domes.

I am TOTALLY with you.   I repeatedly asked when dining at Signatures that the plates just be brought to the table in a normal fashion - and that is what happened at our table.  Those domes had a use a hundred years or so ago when houses were not heated or not heated in all rooms and the kitchen was a long way from the dining room.  They kept the food warm.  Now we have plate warmers and the "pass" which has heat on it and they are no needed.    Silly indeed!

 

Since we haven't been on Regent lately (we have been on Oceania these past 3 cruises) we have not yet eaten at Chartreuse but I would be very very surprised indeed to find it or any other restaurant on a ship able to rival a Michelin 1 star restaurant.  We regularly eat a one of those near our home here in Switzerland and that sets a very very high standard.  Jacques on Riviera came close.  But only close.  

[Travelcat2]

Prior to getting into the Chartreuse discussion, I want to share that, due to weather, we are not stopping in Nicaragua.  We spent  a week there several years ago so we have seen a lot of what is there.  However, according to onboard crew, there isn't much to see.

 

In our opinion, neither Signatures or Chartreuse can touch Jacques on Oceania.  Having said that, from reports on CC, Chartreuse is not particularly popular dining venue.  For us, " P7" (for those that have not been on Explorer, the doors leading into the restaurant indicate that it is "P7") and Chartreuse can vary from cruise to cruise.  On this cruise, my steak in P7 have been cooked perfectly.  This is not always the case.  Chartreuse has been "okay" but nothing special and no one was speaking French.  We have had servers identify themselves and also tell us what country they are from.  I personally like to know where the crew is from.  Pacific Rim's current chef is putting so much batter on the lobster tempera that it no longer resembles "tempura".  However, we enjoy many other items in Pacific Rim very much.

 

Unlike most of our cruises, we have dined in specialty restaurants just about every night.  There are times when the menu in CR makes my mouth water but we have had obligations that prevented us from dining there.  Tonight we will go to Sette Mari and I'm looking forward to it.

 

That is my brief update.  If anything interesting happens, I'll be back

 

 

 

 

[Master Echo]

Chartreuse Reply

 

The bulk of this post was completed three hours ago, but my balcony appears to be too big a stretch for consistent ship WiFi, and eventually the post failed.  I have therefore headed out for coffee and cookies and found a location where the WiFi is more accommodating to my needs. 

 

 

Thank you for all your comments concerning my initial posting on this subject.

 

I made the comment concerning Sir & Madame’s proficiency in French, not as a boast but merely to indicate that they can spot someone who is clearly putting on an act.

 

You may recall the Pink Panther movies, when Peter Sellers played the role of Inspector Clouseau and spoke his dialogue in a faux-French style, which might be termed Franglais.  This style of speech was evident among the non natural French speakers in Chartreuse, and I felt so sorry for those who maybe instructed so to do, the Indian sommelier in particular.

 

By contrast such an approach is not evident in Sette Marie, even though several of the staff are Italian. It  is therefore not clear to me why there is a dichotomy between these two restaurants, on this linguistic point.

 

On this cruise we have not found any member of staff who, when introducing themselves say from which country they come.

 

Sir & Madame really enjoyed a pre-arranged Indian dinner in Compass Rose last night, but the Indian sommelier made absolutely no attempt to converse in any of India’s languages ( except English), neither did he strengthen his natural Indian accent!.  However Madame did say “thank you” to him in his own language.

 

Actually the food in all dining restaurants on cruise ships are dependant on the Executive Chef, and can therefore vary from cruise to cruise.  

 

I have been used to the ship’s crew not only wearing their name badge, but also the flag from their country, seemingly not so on Explorer. With Madame’s love of languages, she tries to learn a few words of greeting, and ‘please’ and “thank you” in the various languages one usually encounters, although this time, there has been a need to add Serbian!!

 

I also agree with TC2’s remarks about the tempura batter in the Pacific Rim.  Such a shame as it is a favourite.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

 

[Master Echo]

Costa Rica- Central America’s Jewel

 

During the last fifty years, most of the countries that make up Central America have or, continue to  experience political upheaval; not so little Costa Rica, the third smallest country by area, after Belize and El Salvador.

 

Costa Rica has seaboards on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides, with Puntarenas and Puerto Limon being the cruise ports on either side of the country.  San Jose the capital is some two hours drive from the port of Puntarenas and lies in the mountains, and is subjected to continuing minor volcanic activity.

 

A notable fact about the country is that it has no armed forces, these being disbanded in 1948.  Could this be a factor in its political stability?  The country has proved to be a magnet for expats from the USA, and Western Europe.  It has also been a magnet for investment from the USA and its largest export earner comprises medical products such as heart valves and replacement knee joints.  Its educated workforce is a factor and the country plays an important role in IT development, even if component production was moved to low cost Vietnam a decade ago.

 

With a middle class of sixty percent of its five million population, herein lies another factor in the country’s stability.  Immigrants from Nicaragua, and more recently Venezuela, now do the jobs that Costa Ricans prefer not to.

 

Taxation and welfare mirror the Western European model.  Income tax is 35%, but the retirement age is 62 and the state pension is then paid equal to 70% of the average of the last three working years income.  There is free medicare for all, for all forms of illness.  Life expectancy at 85 for women and 82 for men, is higher than appears to be the case in the South American countries visited.  

 

The birth rate at 1.5 children per couple, reflects similar levels around the world in other developed economies.  Women prefer to pursue a career, initially at least, whilst the cost of raising a child is high,

 

Surprisingly, I was told that education is only compulsory for the first six years, but these days the vast majority progress through high school, and demand for university places is high.  The Costa Ricans have certainly embraced the theory that education is the way forward.

 

Evidence of the country’s attitude to the environment comes from a commitment made several years ago, to be carbon neutral by 2021.  In common with many other countries in the world,  this date will not be achieved!

 

Rising at an unearthly hour of the morning, before it was light, we saw the indistinct view of Puntarenas, Costa Rica’s Pacific cruise port.   Sir & Madame along with many other passengers assembled in the Constellation Theatre at 7.00 am sharp for one of several tours which should have begun at 7.15.  Due to the necessity for the coaches to be lined up on the narrow, but long jetty before passengers were assigned a coach number, there was some delay.  Finally they were off on a five & half hour trip encompassing, not only the coach ride, but also a trip by both train and boat.

 

First up was a folkloric show in a lovely setting, although our party was obviously too large for them, and there was a hasty bringing out of more chairs.  The young dancers, accompanied by a singer, performed three different dances.  Two were very “Spanish” in origin, but the third for which they invited the group to get up and dance with them, was very decidedly rock & roll and much twisting occurred!  On offer was some fresh fruit, and some time to browse the goods on sale.  Very good quality, but definitely not bargain basement.

 

Next stop was the train ride.  This track was originally used to transport the country’s coffee harvests from the highlands to the coastal ports.  Sadly only a small section of track of this historic Pacific railroad still survives and the wooden coaches in which we sat, have been newly restored.  There had been considerable damage during the 1991 earthquake to the country’s railways and the Government at the time did not want to spend money to repair it.  Perhaps a factor in this decision was that the President owned a major road haulage business which benefitted considerably by the switch from rail to road!

 

As an aside, when he left office, the President fled to Switzerland to escape fraud charges!  After 14 years, with expiration of the charges, he returned home, and a year later ran again for the Presidency.  Fortunately he was not elected!  Costa Rica now has its youngest President ever, only 38 years old.

 

We stopped at an artisan shop for a shopping opportunity, and to sample Costa Rica’s most expensive coffee, together with some delicious fresh fruit.

 

Our final activity was the “Mangrove Glide”.  These covered but open sided boats, holding about 50, had padded seats, rather than hard plastic, which were very comfortable, although very small for those broad in the beam!  

 

Immediately on leaving the little jetty, howler monkeys were heard overhead, but like all wildlife were difficult to spot.  These I feel are misnamed, the sound is more like a grizzly bear.  Our guide was extremely good, using a laser light pen to indicate where they were located, and later, utilised a mirror, where the former would have caused discomfort to the animals.  The driver also turned the boat around so that the passengers on the other side would get the chance to see them.  God was good to us, as in the space of an hour, we saw iguanas, herons, frigate birds, and a couple of screeching red macaws who broke cover and flew from one side of the river to the other.  We were also fortunate to see, apart from the many termite nests, a string of about eight tiny bats, clinging to the tree. These are well liked in Costa Rica as they eat mosquitos!  

 

Finally, lying extremely well camouflaged on the ground was a crocodile, apparently only about five months old.  Their mothers abandon them a week after birth, so this little baby had been on his own for some time.  Another sighting was a larger specimen, judged to be about five years old.  The juveniles stay in this river as it affords some safety, before leaving as adults to venture to the coast, because crocodiles are cannibalistic.

 

The return to the ship came all too quickly, as it ended our well organised and executed tour,  giving us a wealth of information about this jewel in Central America.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

 

[Travelcat2]

Master Echo - such interesting information from your excursion yesterday!

 

Just a quickie teaser....... what it is like to be on the most luxurious cruise ship ever built with 1 1/2 black eyes.

[UUNetBill]

4 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

Master Echo - such interesting information from your excursion yesterday!

 

Just a quickie teaser....... what it is like to be on the most luxurious cruise ship ever built with 1 1/2 black eyes.

TC - are you throwing punches at people again??   LOL!!!    

[cruiseluv]

16 hours ago, freddie said:

Maria - I totally understand your confusion, as it matches mine with respect to speaking French in Chartreuse.   We have not been in Chartreuse on Explorer but have been in that venue on Voyager and did not experience anyone on the staff initiating any interactions in French.   Perhaps ME would be so kind as to clarify the language situation that he encountered there.  Even though we regret the loss of Signatures on the Regent ships, we certainly don't regret the loss of that very silly "un, deux, trois" nonsense with the silver plate domes.

 

OMG,  I remember that, it sure was ridiculous! 

 

We'll be on Explorer again in 3 weeks. Giving Chartreuse a try again, lets see what happens!

[Silver Sweethearts]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

Master Echo - such interesting information from your excursion yesterday!

 

Just a quickie teaser....... what it is like to be on the most luxurious cruise ship ever built with 1 1/2 black eyes.

 

Could they be "Allergic shiners"??

[ronrick1943]

Well, I'm waiting to hear about this.  I hope it's something simple and will be over without pain.😄

[Pinksunset]

Appreciate the interesting info and your account of your fascinating day in Costa Rica, ME!

[malily]

We want to thank TC and ME for this wonderful thread. Your information has been most welcome. We’ve cruised with Regent multiple times but never on Explorer. We will be rectifying that in May!

One comment - no crew member has ever volunteered where they are from. But, we usually ask and they are more than happy to tell you about their country and family. 

Last year was our 50th anniversary and our son’s and daughter-in-law’s 10th, which we celebrated on Voyager. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and the Voyager crew outdid themselves to make our joint occasion special. We were a little concerned that two very-well traveled Milleniums might find Regent a little “staid” but nothing could have been further from the truth. They loved Regent and we are convinced with passed the Regent “gene” on!

[Travelcat2]

Okay - the truth and nothing but the truth 😂  I am a klutz (not accident prone but definitely trip over nothing or my own two feet.)  So, I did a trip over myself at the beginning of the cruise on pebbles (scraped my knee but nothing major).  Then, as I reported, I had a mild cold (now gone) and as reported by Master Echo (not sure how he got this information), I had conjunctivitis for the first time in years (corrected quickly with antibiotics.)

 

Thankfully we were both fine for Dennis' birthday.  However, the next day I slipped in Chartreuse - hitting my head, knee and hip.  It was the head injury that caused the black eyes (it keeps growing).  While it does not hurt at all, Dennis says that I look like I have eyebrows both above and below my eyes.  Regent loaned me a cane that is helpful and I can walk but going the full length of the ship can be a challenge.  It is simply a bruise and should be gone shortly. 

 

While it seems that I share a lot of my life on CC, there are obviously many things that I do not share.  I likely would not have shared this but would rather post about it myself than have anyone else post about it. 

 

Dennis and I are 100% enjoying this cruise.  The officers/crew are amazing - so helpful and caring.  My only issue is my four eyebrows.  I tend to walk around the ship with sunglasses. 

 

BTW, The Green Book (Academy Award winner for Best Picture) was shown in the theater.  What an amazing movie.  It is now on our televisions. 

 

So, now, you have the rest of the story........

 

 

[morneau]

Jackie I'm so sorry to hear about your mishap in Chartreuse and hope that you are on the mend.  It actually sounds very scary - was the ship physician concerned about your head injury?  You may not realize but you posted that you had conjunctivitis in post #144 of this thread - you talked about the fact that you had a cold and now conjunctivitis.  In any event, hope you are feeling better (and looking better) soon and that you continue to enjoy this wonderful cruise with the birthday boy!

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, morneau said:

Jackie I'm so sorry to hear about your mishap in Chartreuse and hope that you are on the mend.  It actually sounds very scary - was the ship physician concerned about your head injury?  You may not realize but you posted that you had conjunctivitis in post #144 of this thread - you talked about the fact that you had a cold and now conjunctivitis.  In any event, hope you are feeling better (and looking better) soon and that you continue to enjoy this wonderful cruise with the birthday boy!

 

Thank you for reminding me that I reported it first in post #144.  This has been quite the whirlwind cruise with my mind going a mile a minute (and apparently forgetting what I have posted).  Truly looking forward to the final few days of not having to think about anything.

 

Saw the best show ever on Regent (even better than the shows put on by PBS).  If Mark Preston is ever on your cruise, I highly recommend seeing the show.  Much of his show is from The Lettermen era.  His voice is strong - his personality is warm and he puts his whole heart into the the show.

 

P.S.  Did not see the doctor.  Had I had a headache or suspected anything worse than bangs and bruises, I would have gone.  While I did hit the marble on the floor with my knee and hip, my head hit a barrier that is likely made of hard plastic.  Apparently when you bang your head above your eye, bruising can occur below your eye(s).  As mentioned, not painful at all - no headaches and I am scatterbrained today as I was yesterday.

[ronrick1943]

Sorry to hear all that---but the most important thing is your enjoying your cruise, don't stop enjoying.

[Hambagahle]

Goodness Jackie, what a story.  I am relieved the damage is mostly "cosmetic" though.  And wearing dark glasses all the time may lead to your being taken for a famous film star...  I do hope things are back to normal soon and you don't fall again during this cruise (or any other...)

[Zqueeze1]

Jackie: between your travel to Chile problems, winter weather, colds, bruises, and pinkeye, I swear you inherited the black cloud that sometimes follows me when I travel. However, glad to hear you are having a great time despite the above and we are really enjoying your and ME’s narrative. Are you still  representing the charter members of the Bloody Mary and Margarita Society at the pool bar?  We miss you guys and wish we were sailing with yous again. 

Z and TB

[Mudhen]

See....I told ya that drinking ALL of that Clicquot in one shot  would get you into trouble!!! (giggle!). No more crashing and burning, please!

And yeah, as Z just brought up, are you representing us BMMS members, at least at one of the bars, if not the pool watering hole???

All kidding aside, please be careful with yourself. Sounds like you're continuing to have a wonderful time.

Looking forward to the next edition of your adventures!

L&J

[Travelcat2]

Z, if you, TB L&J were on this cruise, the BMMS could have been resurrected.  In the meantime, it would take a whole lot of Bloody Mary's to get me out in the 92 degree heat.  

 

As indicated earlier, today is another port but one that I cannot join Dennis on the excursion (4 x 4 vehicle - very bumpy).  I've invited a couple to watch The Green Book with me this afternoon so I'm not alone.

 

I believe that I mentioned that the main bartenders on Explorer are women.  I have nothing against female bartenders - but do have an issue with the prejudice.  After all, there are likely as many great male bartenders as female bartenders.  The bartender (now assist. bartender on this cruise), "I Kadek" is awesome.    He seems to make the best cocktails onboard.  While I cannot guess which lounge he will be in, he is on Explorer through July

 

Quick note to some of my email friends .... the computer guru said that the internet is the slowest (in Guatemala) that the has seen since he has boarded 5 months ago.  I have been unable to reach Outlook and therefore cannot write.  So, please excuse these two personal but related to the ship comments:  1). Linda, please remind me of the area on deck 6 that you wanted me to check out and 2) Gerry, have not forgotten the balcony issue but am not sure how I could see the balcony.

 

Updates on the excursion, etc. later.