'Explorer' Documentary on UK TV

[Travelcat2]

Have to admit that I was fascinated to learn (not from television) that the bed in the Explorer suite cost $250,000 as I cannot imagine spending that kind of money on a bed.  While the Explorer suite is not in our price range, I would pay to just spend the night in that bed!

[flossie009]

On 8/28/2019 at 4:33 PM, John182 said:

Below is the synopsis of episode 2 that airs here in the UK on Friday:

 

This behind-the-scenes look at life on board the Seven Seas Explorer features head sommelier Georgiana, as the vessel prepares for a special visit to Bordeaux. Cameras go below deck and take a peek at the unique connoisseur drinks cellar with its £3,000 bottle of cognac and observes members of the night crew as they work to get the ship looking as good as new for the morning.

 

Thanks, John.

...................... and here is a synopsis of Episode 3, scheduled for next Friday, 06 Sept:

 

The Seven Seas Explorer prepares to leave Southampton on a cruise around the Baltics, but as 700 new guests board the vessel various challenges await the crew as the terrible British weather threatens to scupper the lavish Sail Away Party. Every Sunday at sea, the Explorer puts on a spectacular no-expenses-spared Sea Day Brunch, though after a rocky start it remains to be seen whether it will meet the expectations of the demanding guests. Meanwhile, there is a first in the 20-year career of cruise director John, as he receives a special invitation from the guests of the £8,000-a-night Regent Suite.

 

Director Sam Budd

Executive Producer Will Smith

Executive Producer George Waldrum

Producer Sam Budd

Series Director Oliver Price

 

 

A few staff changes from the first episode, by the look of this photo.

 

 

No info yet on the final episode #4 (13 Sept)

Edited August 30, 2019 by flossie009

[English Voyager]

Despite the annoying frequent reminders of the Explorer being the world's most expensive cruise ship, tonight's episode was enjoyable.

The scene with the Sommelier's team made me laugh.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, English Voyager said:

Despite the annoying frequent reminders of the Explorer being the world's most expensive cruise ship, tonight's episode was enjoyable.

The scene with the Sommelier's team made me laugh.

 

Again, the cost of building Explorer seems to be the theme of this series.  Still looking forward to the Discovery Channel version of Explorer that was filmed in February (and selfishly hope that it is not aired anywhere except the U.S. ....... at least not for a while).

[Stickman1990]

A link to Episode 2 has been posted to the RSSC Social Club page on Facebook

[golfgirls]

For those us us who refuse to be on Facebook, is there another link to this tv series.  We love John Barron and Georgianne!   

[Travelcat2]

38 minutes ago, golfgirls said:

For those us us who refuse to be on Facebook, is there another link to this tv series.  We love John Barron and Georgianne!   

 

Curious as to why you refuse to be on Facebook.  Have to admit that I dislike Facebook but would not be able to be in contact with the crew (John and others) if it were not for Facebook (it is also a good way to check to see what my daughter is up to).  I use Facebook minimally and do not put anything on there that gives personal information (I would never post when I will be on vacation as I have no idea who is reading my posts).  

[gnomie1]

51 minutes ago, golfgirls said:

For those us us who refuse to be on Facebook, is there another link to this tv series.  We love John Barron and Georgianne!   

Smart move - I'm not on Facebook either but was able to watch the video links - depending on how the Facebook page is set up, you do not need to be signed in to read content (however, you cannot post)

 

gnomie

[golfgirls]

Easy answer is that I believe in privacy and I believe Facebook is a forum where privacy is non existant, and leave it at that.  This may be ‘the new world’ but not mine.  Perhaps easier for me at this point as we do not have family that we need to follow. 

 

Interesting that a few of Regent’s requests for stories about crew experiences have been to respond via Facebook.  I would love to send some great stories but will not do so via FB.  

 

So Regent, would love an alternative contact vehicle!  

 

Btw, this is not a technology issue as I had a wonderful 30 year career in IT.  

[Travelcat2]

26 minutes ago, golfgirls said:

Easy answer is that I believe in privacy and I believe Facebook is a forum where privacy is non existant, and leave it at that.  This may be ‘the new world’ but not mine.  Perhaps easier for me at this point as we do not have family that we need to follow. 

 

Interesting that a few of Regent’s requests for stories about crew experiences have been to respond via Facebook.  I would love to send some great stories but will not do so via FB.  

 

So Regent, would love an alternative contact vehicle!  

 

Btw, this is not a technology issue as I had a wonderful 30 year career in IT.  

 

Thank you for your most interesting post (especially the part that "this is not a technology issue.....").  I do not trust Facebook at all which is why they know very little information about me (other than my email address but I have more than one of those).  They constantly ask for me to add my telephone number but that isn't going to happen.  

 

So, I get why you don't use Facebook. For me, if I cannot contact John Barron, Franck Galzy, or others except through Facebook, I will stick with it.  Sometimes I wonder if Facebook will just be shut down for good.  They definitely cannot kept anything confidential!

 

Hope that you are enjoying Labor Day weekend!  We board Crystal on Tuesday and I'll start posting tomorrow (in case you are interested).  One CC'er said that I was "going to the dark side".  It gave me a chuckle as I would never leave Regent.

[golfgirls]

Looking forward to hearing of your Crystal experience.  I keep searching for Regent alternatives but haven’t found anything compelling to make a change as yet.  Some day...

 

Gmomie1 will try to find the videos on FB without an account!   

 

[gnomie1]

10 minutes ago, golfgirls said:

Looking forward to hearing of your Crystal experience.  I keep searching for Regent alternatives but haven’t found anything compelling to make a change as yet.  Some day...

 

Gmomie1 will try to find the videos on FB without an account!   

 

Just use the google machine and  search "Facebook - RSSC social club" and it will bring you right to the page and you can read all the comments that everyone has posted- however, I just realized that I use a VPN on my system so I had no trouble watching the videos (they originate from the UK and require an IP address from the British Isles) - if you do not have an ongoing VPN account (which I highly recommend for privacy and if you travel and need access to web sites in specific countries), it is quite easy to download a temporary VPN for one time use.

 

I believe that the first installment is uploaded to youtube

 

gnomie

[scuba diver]

For those who choose not to use Facebook for various reasons you may try these two links to watch the videos:

 

#1:  http://share.imemories.com/pubshare/4fa4e327-d931-4752-bce7-c805b30bba0c/2761780#play

 

#2:  http://share.imemories.com/pubshare/0ac18df1-df84-495e-a6ca-c514015b2104/2765860

 

 

 

[Hambagahle]

On 8/30/2019 at 11:33 PM, English Voyager said:

Despite the annoying frequent reminders of the Explorer being the world's most expensive cruise ship, tonight's episode was enjoyable.

The scene with the Sommelier's team made me laugh.

Me too.   The wine steward who sat sleepily there seemingly picking her nose was hysterical - but I don't think I would choose her to serve me wine!!  

Seems that the Head Sommelier had a hard task in front of her educating her wine stewards about wine.  And was working hard at it!

I am looking forward to the next episode...

[English Voyager]

26 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

Me too.   The wine steward who sat sleepily there seemingly picking her nose was hysterical - but I don't think I would choose her to serve me wine!!  

Seems that the Head Sommelier had a hard task in front of her educating her wine stewards about wine.  And was working hard at it!

I am looking forward to the next episode...

I did wonder how a 'corked' wine came to be served.

Either the wine waiter did not taste the wine before serving, or he did, and did not realise it was off.

[Hambagahle]

6 hours ago, English Voyager said:

I did wonder how a 'corked' wine came to be served.

Either the wine waiter did not taste the wine before serving, or he did, and did not realise it was off.

Serving corked wine is not at all uncommon.   A good wine waiter does know when s/he smells the cork if there is a chance of it being corked (and screw tops have all but eliminated this from white wine and rosés these days).  But these are not wine waiters from 3 star restaurants.  They are also learning about wines and there is no shame in serving a corked wine provided that you are ready to change it immediately when the client tells you it is corked.  We regularly eat in one and two star Michelin restaurants here and from time to time the wine is corked.  The waiter handled the situation perfectly IMO.

[beaujolais]

English Voyager

 

The wine steward was serving a complimentary wine so there is no opportunity to "smell" the stopper, it could also  well have been a screw-top but unusual for a srew-top to be "corked"

If it had been from the connoisseur list, it would have been decanted and then it would have been discovered that the wine was "corked"

If the wine waiters had to taste every bottle of wine opened in the MDR, I dread think of the state that they would be in by the end of dinner

As Hambagahle points out the waiter handled the situation perfectly well, changed the wine, no question!

[Travelcat2]

Agree that the waiter handled the situation perfectly!

 

Want to make a correction to my post #51.  After watching the show, I was reminded that the bed in the Explorer suite is $150,000 instead of $250,000 (still won't be buying it).

[DeepFreeze63]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Agree that the waiter handled the situation perfectly!

 

Want to make a correction to my post #51.  After watching the show, I was reminded that the bed in the Explorer suite is $150,000 instead of $250,000 (still won't be buying it).

Isn't it the bed in the Regent suite?

[DeepFreeze63]

16 hours ago, scuba diver said:

For those who choose not to use Facebook for various reasons you may try these two links to watch the videos:

 

#1:  http://share.imemories.com/pubshare/4fa4e327-d931-4752-bce7-c805b30bba0c/2761780#play

 

#2:  http://share.imemories.com/pubshare/0ac18df1-df84-495e-a6ca-c514015b2104/2765860

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing the link. Delightful! We are on the Explorer in 3 weeks doing the reverse route.

[ClefsDor]

I must say after watching episode 2 that I came away with the impression that the sommeliers on board are a little on the under experienced side. Now this may have come across like that due to creative editing by the directors but if that is indeed the case then I'm a little surprised. Our experience has only been with Crystal and all the sommeliers on board are extremely knowledgeable and experienced and equal to any sommelier we have had in very good restaurants on land. I'm enjoying watching the shows but do wish they would stop with all the price tag information. 

[judi666]

Thank you for the links! So enjoyable.  Will be on the Explorer in 8 weeks.  I can’t wait!  Are there more episodes coming?  I thought perhaps just two, as they completed the voyage.

[judi666]

2 minutes ago, judi666 said:

Thank you for the links! So enjoyable.  Will be on the Explorer in 8 weeks.  I can’t wait!  Are there more episodes coming?  I thought perhaps just two, as they completed the voyage.

Oh, reading thru the thread I see #3 is coming up.

It is a bit annoying with the constant banter about it being the “most expensive” etc.  Still after years of working in the entertainment sector, there has to be a hook to get people interested enough to watch.  Very much in the vein of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous type shows.  

[judi666]

1 hour ago, ClefsDor said:

I must say after watching episode 2 that I came away with the impression that the sommeliers on board are a little on the under experienced side. Now this may have come across like that due to creative editing by the directors but if that is indeed the case then I'm a little surprised. Our experience has only been with Crystal and all the sommeliers on board are extremely knowledgeable and experienced and equal to any sommelier we have had in very good restaurants on land. I'm enjoying watching the shows but do wish they would stop with all the price tag information. 

There definitely is an attempt to create some drama ie:  the nervousness of the cruise director and the dancers, the corked segment etc.  I would assume the sommeliers are quite knowledgeable. I’m sure a bit cringe worthy for them to watch.

 

 

[English Voyager]

6 hours ago, beaujolais said:

English Voyager

 

The wine steward was serving a complimentary wine so there is no opportunity to "smell" the stopper, it could also  well have been a screw-top but unusual for a srew-top to be "corked"

If it had been from the connoisseur list, it would have been decanted and then it would have been discovered that the wine was "corked"

If the wine waiters had to taste every bottle of wine opened in the MDR, I dread think of the state that they would be in by the end of dinner

As Hambagahle points out the waiter handled the situation perfectly well, changed the wine, no question!

On the Europa 2, in all the dining venues, the wine steward will sniff the cork, and taste the wine, and if it is ok he/she will then pour a little for the diner to sample.

I had assumed that on the Explorer the wine stewards followed the same practice.