Random Notes, Navigator, Montreal-NY, 10/3-10/15/19, LIVE!

[liptastic]

Oh just delighted to see you back for another wonderful cruise where you once again take us all along too. Always a very welcome thread . We have taken this cruise twice and it always remains our favourite, and even better on the Navigator. 

Have a fabulous time and thanks for taking us along.   Jean.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Spent many lovely evenings in Mario's section on the Amazon cruise.  He is top notch!  Is Maggie assisting him?

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Mario and Maggie were our servers onboard Navigator a year ago August. Please say hello from Herb and Sheila, the lady with the red scooter and O2. 

They were so wonderful. Enjoy!

sheila

[Mr Rumor]

Hmmm, I think I better lay off the Canadian beer. . .  

[ronrick1943]

I'm thinking you're right--------but still enjoying your trip.

[Pinksunset]

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experiences.  Love your pictures.  Enjoy your beautiful cruise of Canada and the Northeast! ~ Lorraine 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Pinksunset
Added name

[Mr Rumor]

Late-night greetings! Jean and Lorraine, I really appreciate your kind words.

 

2012_Alaska_ Bound and Sheila, Mario was delighted to be informed of your compliments, and sends his best regards.  As for Maggie, she has been promoted to CR server.  Replacing her as Mario’s assistant, effective this cruise, is Rick, who is seven months into his first eight-month Regent contract.  Like Mario, Rick hails from the Philippines.

 

Our “Grand Explanation of Quebec” excursion today was grand enough to be worth the $129 upcharge.  Over the span of exactly 7.5 hours we had a handful of stops, including lunch; scenic drives; and thousands of words of wonderful commentary from our veteran tour guide Elyse, a Quebec native.  

 

Among the many items from Elyse’s remarks that caught my attention were these numbers:

 

In 1997, the year that she began giving tours, 10 cruise ships called on her native city.  This year, no fewer than 156 will call, carrying 230,000 passengers. (This includes the Seabourn Quest, Caribbean Princess and Holland America Zaandam, which were in port with us today.)

 

“We’re building a third terminal,” she said.  “But we have to go about it carefully.  Ours is a historic city.”  

 

A few nightcap snaps:

 

Montmorency Falls, 83 meters high:

 

A stunning display of crutches at the Shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupre, where healings of believers are said to have occurred dating back to the 1600s.

 

It’s not every restaurant that has a waterfall next door.  (My salmon lunch at Le Moulin de St. Laurent on the Isle d’ Orleans was excellent.)

 

A trio of street performers in Quebec’s historic Place Royale district divvy up their earnings.

 

No rain today, but the umbrellas were still out in the Place Royale (that’s the Chateau Frontenac looking on).

 

That’s a wrap for today—our tour (“The Best of Saquenay”) is up first tomorrow, and that means we’ll be making a 7:40 a.m. call to the Seven Seas Lounge!

Edited October 5, 2019 by Mr Rumor

[xrvlcruiser]

>> As for Maggie, she has been promoted to CR server. <<

 

Congratulations to Maggie! Well deserved!🚢🎈☺️

Peggy

[Fletcher]

It will be interesting to hear what Mr Rumor thinks of Corner Brook.  We  thought that was rock bottom as far as ports of call are concerned, a rubbish substitute for PEI which was cancelled because of those selfsame pesky right whales.   Here's a shot of the Navigator  at Corner Brook, a great place if you want a spare part for your chainsaw.

 

 

[mj_holiday]

thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.  I enjoy reading about your days.  Question - what happens in the Seven Seas Lounge at 7:40 am?

[rcandkc]

18 minutes ago, mj_holiday said:

thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.  I enjoy reading about your days.  Question - what happens in the Seven Seas Lounge at 7:40 am?

I’m sure that is when they are scheduled to meet for tour. 

[Mr Rumor]

We’re lucking out with the weather so far.  Not a drop in Montreal or Quebec, or Sagueway today.  Not that it hasn’t gotten chilly, especially in Quebec yesterday, when an icy wind kicked up and our group stood huddled near the Chateau Frontenac counting the seconds until our bus returned for us.

 

It was actually beautifully sunny today, a bit of a surprise to our guide Linda, who described Saguenay’s four seasons as follows:   “Winter, summer, winter, winter.”  She claimed she saw a snowflake earlier this morning.

 

In a first for us, Linda didn’t make it through her tour, due to hoarseness (she led two tours the day before).  But the transfer of the tour guide baton at our second stop, the Chicoutimi Pulp Mill, went seamlessly as her replacement was her cousin Claude.  “We keep it a family affair!” she exclaimed.

 

We were at the former pulp mill to hear a brief presentation on a beloved local folk artist, Arthur Villeneuve (1910-1990), and to tour his piece de resistance:  his house, which has been permanently moved to a space in the one-time mill.  As the exhibit explained, with no money to buy canvases the middle-aged former barber “turned to the walls of his house.”  He wound up covering every square inch, inside and outside, with scenes and motifs from his beloved Saquenay and Quebec Province, and then proceeded to open his “Musee de l’artiste” for tours while he and his wife were still residents.  Today his paintings command thousands.

 

No photos were allowed of the “Musee,” but you can see all the house shots you want, plus learn more about his life, via a Google search.

 

The pulp mill/Villeneuve stop was sandwiched between our visits to Le Chevier du Nord goat farm and the Musee du Fjord.  At the former, Ginny made a special friend (“Coco”). . .

 

. . . And so did Shauna!  (Nadia is cruising with her mom and dad.)

 

 

Most of our time at the fjord museum was spent learning about the history of the fjord—at more than a 100 kilometers, one of the world’s largest—via a spaceship simulation that was, frankly, kind of hokey.

 

But the stop was worthwhile for the opportunity to take this photo of a tiny portion of Saguenay Fjord, proof that it can be brilliantly sunny during at least one of Saguenay’s three “winters.”

 

Oh, and curious about all the white dots in the photo?  They’re Canada geese and they were honking away!

[ronrick1943]

Nice report so far, very enjoyable.  Last time (a few years ago) when we went to Quebec, uno rain but really cold.  We (really) stop at a hardware store to buy gloves---everyone else was out of them.  Because they were yellow we only used them to get back to the ship and in the suite.  Our railing had ice on it.  Thanks again, great reading and the photos outstanding.

[JPR]

I think Shauna should be named the Cruise Critic Regent Board’s ambassador. Seeing her happy photos always makes us smile. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by JPR

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

13 hours ago, xrvlcruiser said:

>> As for Maggie, she has been promoted to CR server. <<

 

Congratulations to Maggie! Well deserved!🚢🎈☺️

Peggy

Agree!

[RachelG]

Just now catching up as work has been awful the past few weeks.  So glad you are onboard.  Hope you have a great cruise!

[cruiseluv]

Hello,

 

Glad that you're enjoying your cruise, thanks for taking us along.

I'll be boarding Navigator in a few weeks , in NYC. Could you comment about in what shape is the ship?  Any "brown water" sightings?? I havent been on Navigator in 15 yrs, so just wondering what to expect. Thank you for any comments, keep enjoying your cruise!

[Gilly]

@Mr Rumor lovely to catch up this morning and remember fun times in Quebec thanks to your great picture prompts!  I find those bright (cold!) days to be the best for sightseeing and your pictures of Saguenay (and stories of lovely Navigator people) make me very envious of your trip.  So glad to read of happy times on board and interesting destinations.  Thanks for taking us along!

[WesW]

Thanks Rich, Ginny & Shauna for sharing your Navigator voyage with us.  

 

Look forward to catching up when y'all return.

[Mr Rumor]

Good morning—it’s a gorgeous day for a sea day (our only one)!

 

Speaking of gorgeous, we so lucked out with the weather in Saguenay yesterday.  Had to run ashore to take this photo minutes before we set sail.  Doesn’t the Navigator look beautiful?

[Mr Rumor]

JPR, that was the sweetest thing you wrote about Shauna—thank you!

 

Peggy and Sheila, I’ll relay your congrats to Maggie on her CR promotion. Haven’t met her yet, and I’d like to.

 

Fletcher, your post about Corner Brook had me looking to see what excursion we booked for tomorrow.  It’s Captain Cook’s Trail, which will have us motoring to Captain Cook’s Lookout, Lark Harbor and Bottle Cove.  I’ll try to shield my eyes until we’re in the country!

 

Rachel, sorry you hit a rough patch, work-wise, but glad to have you along now. Hi to George.

 

Cruiseluv, in answer to your question, the Navigator, still fresh from its June refurb, appears to be in tip-top shape.  And, nope, I’ve not observed even a drip of brown water from “the tap.”  New water pipes were installed throughout the vessel in June, so that should have finally solved the problem (which I remember well from our 2013-4 sailings).

 

Gilly, I’m delighted you’re along for the cruise.  I hope to have many more happy times to report on in the coming days.  

 

Regarding your comment about lovely Navigator people, I think it’s about time that I introduce you to our friend Cathey.  We met Cathey on the Navigator six years ago this month (Montreal-Miami). We bonded immediately, especially her and Shauna, and I don’t think she has missed sending a birthday, Christmas or Easter card to Shauna since.  This is our third cruise with her. In fact Cathey is the one who got me to pluck Montreal-New York from my bucket list and book it. As you see from our CR dinner on the first night, Cathey and Shauna still have a “thing”:

 

[Mr Rumor]

I like to share some passenger numbers about this time in the blog.  The Navigator is sailing full, with 481 passengers.  Women outnumber men, 213 to 192.

 

A whopping 84%, or 405, are Americans.  The rest of the Passenger Nationality Breakdown is as follows:

 

United Kingdom, 22

Canada, 17

Australia, 11

Switzerland, 5

Mexico, 4

Thailand, 3

Belgium, 2

Germany, 2

Luxembourg, 2

New Zealand, 2

Sweden, 2

Trinidad and Tobago, 2

China, 1

Jamaica, 1

[Mr Rumor]

Regarding my previous post, 213-192 was the correct female-male number, but for the American passengers only.  There are a total of 253 ladies on this cruise, and 228 gents.

 

I’ve not known CD Jamie to hype, so when he touted tonight’s Regent production, “World Rhythms” as “one of the finest production shows I’ve seen in my 30 years of cruising,” I took note.

 

Boy, was Jamie right.  I’d rate the production among the top three or four of the 100 or so Regent shows I’ve seen over the last ten years.  During the course of 50 nonstop minutes we were treated to a feast of Spanish, Urban, Asian, Greek, African, Middle East and Irish rhythms and song.  It is a marvel how this young and talented cast, which will continue on the Navigator through November 4, managed the myriad costume changes without missing a beat.  

 

While I’m dishing out plaudits, I have two from dinner tonight in Compass Rose, which we enjoyed with Cathey and new friends Ken and Shirley.   The first was the Panko-Coated Shrimp with Orange Ponzu Sauce and Spicy Mayo that no less a CC gastronome than Roberto (Zquueze) has raved about on this board (the appetizer included two but I could have eaten 22).  The second was a Destination Dish—Baked Fresh Crusted Lemon Haddock Filet, served with Maple Glazed Root Vegetables and Champagne Burrell Blanc.  It was melt in your mouth scrumptious and very lightly salted so as not to distract from the deliciousness of the fresh, mild fish.

[cruiseluv]

Hello Mr Rumor, thank you for addressing my question. I'm taking note of those delicious dishes you describe in case I'm lucky to find them included in our menus during our 11/4 sailing!

[1teach53]

Thank you so much for blogging! This is a wonderful cruise, as you well know.  
Always love 💗 your posts! Thanks for taking the time! 
Karen 🚢❤️🚢