Voyager Vacation: Musings from a Mediterranean Masterpiece

[HonTri]

Great shots! When went by Stromboli a few years ago on the Mariner it was erupting it was something special.

[UUNetBill]

3 hours ago, forgap said:

Yes, but we are starting on the cruise before that.   Looking forward to meeting you!  I’m going to be in Greenville this week for a workshop.  Can you email me restaurant suggestions?  Forgap at Bellsouth dot net.  (I apologize for hijacking the tread, Flossie!)

And I’d love to meet you, too, but unfortunately it looks like we’re going to be rescheduling that cruise in May; with work and everything we just can’t get away for two cruises that close together in a year - we were going to reschedule our January cruise but my mom decided to come on that one with us, so our decision was made.   😁

 

Restaurant email forthcoming.   Back to you, Flossie!

Edited October 21, 2019 by UUNetBill

[flossie009]

Stromboli earlier this evening as we passed by:

 

 

 

Later there was some fiery activity which @south park caught on camera.

Great company at dinner tonight 🙂

[RJ2002]

Great pictures and commentary.  Thanks for sharing!

[irishwitchy]

13 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Possible...or perhaps you’re just too young to remember them.  Was a pretty weak pun anyhow.

I thought it was very funny!  

[flossie009]

For those who like statistics:

 

There are 686 passengers on this cruise representing 29 different countries; 362 female & 324 male.

 

USA: 250 (36%)

UK: 228 (33%)

Canada: 60 (9%)

Australia: 27 (4%)

Sweden: 16

Mexico: 13

Malaysia: 11

Netherlands: 11

Switzerland: 10

Germany: 8

Ireland: 7

Spain: 6

New Zealand: 6

 

The balance is made up of a smaller numbers of guests from a further 16 countries.

 

Certainly fewer North American passengers than we normally encounter on Regent ships.

 

 

As regards Seven Seas Society members on board, 55% of the guests have sailed with Regent previously.

 

Titanium (400+ nights): 7

Platinum (200+ nights): 20

Gold (75+ nights): 87

Silver (21+ nights): 191

Bronze: 76

 

 

It will be interesting to see the variance in statistics for the next segment.

[liptastic]

Great reporting and photos Flossie , thanks, Jean.

[south park]

[Hambagahle]

Great photos -- many thanks to the photographers who took them!

[flossie009]

The last two days we have been in Italy; Naples then Rome (Civitavecchia).

Weather was excellent; sunny, warm (mid to high 70s F) & no rain.

David took a tour in Naples that utilised the new Regent Excursion phone app; I will get him to report on the experience on the relevant thread.

 

For those that might be calling in to Civitavecchia on a future cruise we wanted to share some thoughts/tips based on our experience.

 

First is about getting to Rome, which as many will know is a long drive from the port.

We used the “Roma Express - Train Transfer” which we found to be a comfortable way to get to/from Rome if intending to explore the city on your own.

 

The train journey from Civitavecchia station to St Peter (San Pietro) station in Rome takes between 45mins to 1 hour.
You are seated in comfortable leather chairs in an uncrowded “private” railcar.

 

During the journey, guides provide maps, point out some of the major Rome attractions and answer questions. On arrival they walk the group down to St Peter’s Basilica, the meeting point for return in the afternoon.

 

Timings for our journeys yesterday were:

07:55 - Meet in the theatre for usual exchange of excursion tickets 

Bus to Civitavecchia station

08:45 - Train departed

09:30 - Arrive San Pietro station

Walk to Vatican

09:45 - Arrive close to St Peter’s Basilica (unable to enter as there was a Papal Audience)

 

Return journey:

16:40 - Meet at St Peter’s Basilica

walk to station

17:00 - San Pietro station

17:15 - Train departed

18:15 - Arrive Civitavecchia station

Bus to ship

18:45 - Back on board

 

For those wanting to spend the full day in Rome doing their own thing, this is an ideal option; probably more reliable than a transfer by road.

 

 

 

[flossie009]

The second set of Rome tips concerns visiting the Vatican.

During our day in Rome we decided to visit the Vatican museums, which includes the Sistine Chapel.

 

Booking on-line in advance avoids the queues at the entrance but even at this time of year the museums were crowded. Make sure you use the official Vatican Museum website.

Although it seemed like a good option when we booked don’t be tempted by the ticket that includes lunch in the restaurant. The restaurant is akin to the worst factory cafeteria and the food is simply awful.

 

Apart from lunch, we enjoyed our visit and the artwork throughout the buildings was stunning.

Will try to post some photos later; at the moment the Wi-Fi is patchy plus we need to go off to a morning Trivia session before we arrive in Monte Carlo at midday.

 

[Belfast Taxman]

Flossie 

thank you so much for the info re the train from Civitavecchia; in the past we have simply booked cruise excursions and trooped onto the bus, which would appear to take longer.

Re the Vatican, yes advance booking essential as with most major tourist attractions these days. We found it very crowded on the two occasions we have been. The trick is to get as far away from the entrance as quickly as possible. It does thin out a bit after a while only, of course, to get busy again around Raphael’s Loggia and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The one other thing I would suggest to would be visitors is having decided to go, book a realistic entrance time. Turn up late, even by 15 minutes, and you may find yourself at the back of a very long queue.

 

if the Vatican sounds too hectic or you can’t get the right entrance time, but you love fine art then can I suggest the Villa Borghese instead. Again you need to book in advance for one of their two hour entrance slots. This way they limit the numbers and you actually get time to see everything in comparative peace. The Villa itself is beautiful but inside are two of our all time favourite pieces of art; Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, and a statue by Bernini called Apollo and Daphne. The Villa Borghese can easily be accompanied with other highlights of Rome such as the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Pantheon.

 

Morning Trivia! whatever next, I thought it was only for afternoon tea.

 

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Belfast Taxman

[Belfast Taxman]

Slightly off topic but following on about skip the line advance booking. If your cruise takes in Livorno or La Spezia, you may be tempted to go to Florence and visit the greatest art gallery in the world, imho, the Uffizi. 

The trouble is that lots of other people will have the same idea. Even having booked in advance for a specific time slot, be prepared to elbow your way past the massed scrum at the entrance and queue for at least 10-15 minutes. It is worth it, just don’t expect to have The Birth of Venus to yourself!!!!

[Guerncruising]

Yes Flossie, a great day can be had using the train. We did “Rome on your own” 17th May this year. Went to all the tourist sites,  via the Jewish Quarter, trying hard to avoid the beggars, tat sellers etc. on the way to the Colisseum.

A great day trip, including a good lunch and 27000 steps!

John

[flossie009]

Some images from the Vatican:

 

St Peter’s Basilica (Photo taken in the afternoon after the security & crowds for the Papal Audience had dispersed)

 

Stunning artwork throughout

 

....... and beautiful ceilings

 

In stark contrast was the “restaurant” within the Vatican Museums complex

 

The spiral ramp at the exit of the Museums

 

[flossie009]

A grey day today, and the Captain has just announced that our visit to Monaco has been aborted.

He did make an attempt to reverse into the port but the wind was too strong and the ship started drifting sideways. There are no tugs available to assist so, in consultation with the Pilot, Captain Felice has decided not to risk further attempts.

 

 

 

We have therefore decided to take a leisurely lunch in Compass Rose and, with the change in itinerary, it appears that there will now be another Trivia session this afternoon - two in one day, but we need to do better than this morning.

 

[swansong]

Sorry you have missed Monaco, one of our favourite ports. I wonder what would have happened if this had been the disembarkation/ embarkation port?

Edited October 24, 2019 by swansong
Misspelling

[flossie009]

54 minutes ago, swansong said:

Sorry you have missed Monaco, one of our favourite ports. I wonder what would have happened if this had been the disembarkation/ embarkation port?

I seem to remember that when storms closed the port (earlier this year or last year?) that cruise ships moved further along the coast towards Nice, which is where the flights operate to & from.

 

Swift reaction from the Entertainment Team who scheduled new activities for our afternoon at sea including wine tasting, a lecture and a pre-dinner show by the comic.

 

 

 

[flossie009]

The good thing about Compass Rose on Regent’s older ships is that they have lunch dishes from Explorer on offer each day.

 

 

Today we chose two delicious dishes; “Lemon Pepper Prawn Caesar Salad” and “Chinese BBQ Pork Ribs”

 

 

These were the wines on offer at the wine tasting this afternoon:

 

 

These represent only part of the extensive selection of included wines available this cruise.

[Hambagahle]

What a shame about missing Monaco.  I am sure Captain Felice did the right thing though.  No sense in damaging the Explorer when trying to dock!   The Wine tasting "menu" looked interesting to me.  What a great idea!

[flossie009]

6 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

  I am sure Captain Felice did the right thing though.  No sense in damaging the Explorer when trying to dock! 

Yes, he said that he didn’t want Voyager to become a permanent hotel attached to the dock 😮

 

[BBWC]

Flossie,

when you have a chance, could you let me know where Voyager will dock in Barcelona tomorrow. I thought it would be at the closer World Trade Center, but someone on our roll call said Adossat. We are thinking about walking, but not if we have to go across the bridge.

[flossie009]

@BBWC,

Sorry for the delay in replying.

I have just checked with reception and they say that Voyager will dock at the World Trade Centre in Barcelona tomorrow (Saturday)

 

The following letter has been issued regarding potential demonstrations tomorrow evening:

 

 

[BBWC]

Thanks for the information - very much appreciated.

For those of you coming in tomorrow, we walked all over Barcelona, including the major streets and plazas, over the last couple of days and have not had any issues at all. We feel very safe, and there are lots of tourists out and about.

Tomorrow’ s demonstration is not supposed to start until 5 pm, everyone should be back on the ship by then.

[flossie009]

Today was the last day of this cruise 😥

 

After docking in Marseille we spent a pleasant morning in Aix en Provence (walking tour + cheese & wine tasting). The weather was cool but sunny.

 

This afternoon was the final Trivia, with the Observation Lounge packed with teams; followed by Regent Points redemption.

 

Krew Kapers was excellent and then we shared a table in Compass Rose with two other couples.
Conversation flowed but we made it to the Beatles Dance Party, which was hosted by the highly talented singers & dancers of the Production Cast.

 

 

So now it is time for final packing & cases to be put outside the door ..............

............ but wait .............. no need ................ we are staying on for the next cruise 😁

Along with nearly 100 others who are also booked through to Dubai 😎

 

We look forward to meeting more fellow CCers at the M&M.