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Splendor! The Pre-Christening Inaugural Transatlantic Cruise! A LIVE Joint Blog!


Mr Rumor
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How was the piña colada in Barrachina?  We’ve had them there before, but with Don Q and They were pretty good. 
BTW, I noticed that there were only two ships in port this morning with two more pulling in later in the day. I hope that the OSJ streets were not too crowded for yous. 
We will be in OSJ in late November when we finally get to cruise on the beautiful Splendor. 
Z and TB

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I read it in Passages, so it must be true:  Krew Kapers, signaling the near end of our fantastic Splendor maiden voyage, is scheduled for 6 p.m. today.

 

Kapers, long a part of the Captain’s Farewell and a cruise super highlight for so many of us, is my cue to share some crew stats with you.

 

Our Splendor 576 crew members—we passengers are outnumbered by crew on this cruise!—hail from 45 countries.  Males outnumber the females by a hefty number, 429-147.

 

As always, the Philippines leads the way with 222 crew members, 167 male and 55 female.  India follows with 91 males and two females, and Indonesia is third with 34 males and six females.  

 

Here is the complete Crew Nationality Breakdown for Seven Seas Splendor’s Maiden Voyage, Barcelona-Miami, February 6-20, 2020:

 

Philippines, 222

India, 93

Indonesia, 40

Ukraine, 30

Honduras, 20

United Kingdom, 18

Italy, 17

Romania, 13

Serbia, 13

France, 11

Myanmar, 9

Bulgaria, 8

South Africa, 7

United States, 7

Croatia, 6

Mexico, 6

Mauritius, 5

Poland, 5

Panama, 4

Peru, 4

Venezuela, 3

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2

Canada, 2

Chile, 2

China, 2

Germany, 2

Jamaica, 2

Kyrgyzstan, 2

Macedonia, 2

Montenegro, 2

Portugal, 2

Russia, 2

Albania, 1

Australia, 1

Bolivia, 1

Belarus, 1

Colombia, 1

Greece, 1

Malaysia, 1

Moldova, 1

Nepal, 1

Saint Lucia, 1

Slovakia, 1

Slovenia, 1

Switzerland, 1

 

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An Atlantic crossing, especially in the dead of winter, can be a chancy thing.  Which is why, even if for a veteran mariner like Captain Serena, you want every edge.  So in Ancona, shortly before the Splendor set sail, the captain went shopping.  She returned to the ship with two pendants, one of aquamarine, said to bring good luck to sailors, the other of an owl, a symbol of knowledge and wisdom. The pendants complement a stunning cathedral-window pendant created by Croatian artist Seba Dizajn artist that has a special personal meaning to the captain. With these powerful symbols, how could the Splendor not have have had a beautiful crossing!

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If I had known about the good luck symbols Captain Serena would be sporting by the time we set sail on this Maiden Voyage, I might not have agonized about booking a transatlantic in the middle of winter.  I came so close to passing on this cruise.

 

You see I had a certain image in my mind.  It is an image that Ginny—who normally lets me have my blogging fun without any interference—would not permit me to post until we had our “Certificate of Crossing the Transatlantic” safely in our hands (we received them last night): 

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I was on this ship!

 

It was my second cruise as the brand-new Royal Viking Sea’s first newspaper editor, and the Sea’s and my first Atlantic crossing.  

 

Here is how I summed up the experience in a post on the Royal Viking Line Veterans Facebook page several years ago:

 

“Winds that reached hurricane force. . . Seas that peaked at “very high” (nine to fourteen meters!). . . Speed cut at one point to four knots. . . Eight (count ‘em, eight!) route changes. . . Waves that were strong enough to put a dent in a brand new ship’s gleaming white nose. . .

 

“Yep that was some maiden Atlantic crossing. . . .  You could describe the January 5-12, 1974 storm that was felt from the East Coast of the United States to the west coast of Norway as the Sea’s second christening, by King Neptune himself.

 

“And yet the Sea, on only its second voyage, was a mere two days late sailing from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale.  The 100-or-so mainly British passengers had a story to tell for the rest of their lives.  And so did a 22-year-old SKALD editor brand new to cruising—me!”

 

And now I’ve shared that story with you.  May your future transatlantics be like the Splendor’s maiden crossing, and nothing like the Sea’s!

Edited by Mr Rumor
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25 minutes ago, krm55 said:

Thank you Mr Rumor for sharing your experiences. I love when you travel and share. Where are you going next? We are lucky to be boarding on the 25th also. Safe travels.

 

Karen

Thank you, Karen!  Ginny and I are very excited about our next Regent cruise, Copenhagen-Reykjavik aboard the Explorer in July.  Please pull up a chair to that one!

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Thank you again, Rich and all who contributed to this great blog! John and I both enjoyed traveling with you! Although not on the "new kid", we'll be doing the April TA on the Explorer. We've had a difficult winter (and it's not over yet) and can most certainly use some down time! Regent does a wonderful job on fulfilling that "down time"!

Safe travel home to all...

L&J

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7 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Even a crew member from Switzerland!!  Any idea who?  Where from??


Gerry, you are not going to believe this!  For the first time ever on a Regent cruise Ginny and I decided to have lunch today in a specialty restaurant. We chose Chartreuse because of the wonderful dinner we had there. 

 

We enjoy chatting with our servers.  This time Ginny spoke up first, asking Joel where he is from.  Joel replied with a smile:  “Switzerland.” 

 

Boing!

 

Joel, from Bern and on his second Regent contract, can be found in Chartreuse every evening.  He rotates between Chartreuse, La Veranda,  and Pool Grill at lunch.  You’ll like him!

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By the way, my Grilled Salmon Fillet with roasted artichokes and celeriac, gherkin salsa and champagne Hollandaise sauce was outstanding.  The salmon was cooked just as I ordered it, medium rare.

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Truly amazing - how incredible to sit down in Chartreuse and suddenly the one Swiss member of the crew materialises at your table!!!

 

Tell Joël that I will be looking for him when we eat at Chartreuse and that I am from the Valais - but French speaking part, town called Martigny!!!

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21 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

How was the piña colada in Barrachina?  We’ve had them there before, but with Don Q and They were pretty good. 
Z and TB

 

Drat, I should have thought to specify Don Q.  The drink was OK, but I’ve had better PC’s.  Don’t think it was a generous pour of rum—got a brain freeze but not a buzz!  

 

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

Tell Joël that I will be looking for him when we eat at Chartreuse and that I am from the Valais - but French speaking part, town called Martigny!!!

 

He was amazed that you responded so quickly (I read your response to him).  He seemed familiar with Martigny and looks forward to meeting you and Ken!

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Our last two nights’ headline entertainment boarded in San Juan yesterday after flying in all the way from England.  We didn’t rock much in the Atlantic but we’ll be rocking in the Constellation Theater—Yeah yeah yeah!

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2 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

 

Drat, I should have thought to specify Don Q.  The drink was OK, but I’ve had better PC’s.  Don’t think it was a generous pour of rum—got a brain freeze but not a buzz!  

 

 

He was amazed that you responded so quickly (I read your response to him).  He seemed familiar with Martigny and looks forward to meeting you and Ken!

I happened to be online when you posted...   I will definitely ask to be seated in his section when we go to Chartreuse.  

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4 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

 

 

Joel, from Bern and on his second Regent contract, can be found in Chartreuse every evening.  He rotates between Chartreuse, La Veranda,  and Pool Grill at lunch.  You’ll like him!

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You have made my day!  I cruised with Joel on my last cruise on Explorer last August, and had several interesting interactions with him.  He has a great wry sense of humor.  I asked him what his next contract would be, and he told me that it would NOT be the Splendor, but apparently the plan was changed.  They seem to be bringing the best of the best to Splendor.

Yet one more reason to be looking forward to my next cruise!

Bob

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A funny thing happened on my way to the infinity pool—I ran into the Splendor’s good humor man getting a haircut from celebrity stylist Martin of Serene Spa and Wellness (he has cut Ellen DeGeneres’ and Christina Aguilera’s hair).  “It’s my birthday and christening cut,” CD John quipped.  “I’ll be 44, and still the youngest Regent cruise director!”

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