It's all good on board the Splendor!

[Gpilon]

2 hours ago, boblerm said:

@Gpilon, I almost forgot, the captain

 

[Gpilon]

Just now, Gpilon said:

 

Sorry. Thanks Bob. Just hope he is not the Captain who wears water wings all day. We’re getting anxious and just attended a Cruise Event hosted by our Virtuoso agent earlier. Had a good chat with the Regent rep and now hoping because I was so gracious that we get upgraded to the Regent Suite. If you ever meet me, you will know that won’t happen. We’re originally from Montreal and vacation every year at Moody Beach, Maine. Love that whole area of the US. Happy cruising. 

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Gpilon said:

Sorry. Thanks Bob. Just hope he is not the Captain who wears water wings all day. We’re getting anxious and just attended a Cruise Event hosted by our Virtuoso agent earlier. Had a good chat with the Regent rep and now hoping because I was so gracious that we get upgraded to the Regent Suite. If you ever meet me, you will know that won’t happen. We’re originally from Montreal and vacation every year at Moody Beach, Maine. Love that whole area of the US. Happy cruising. 

Which Regent Business Development Rep did you meet?

 

[boblerm]

How do I feel about having included unlimited laundry?

 

 

 

If you have it out by 9AM it is back the same day.  After 9 it is back the next day.  Beautifully pressed. 

I plan on packing lighter from here on in.

[boblerm]

We had a city tour of San Juan yesterday.  San Juan is a great city, but not, IMO, a great city to see via tour bus.   One stop to look at the Walkway of the Presidents, ( statues of 9 US Presidents who have visited Puerto Rico), which was interesting,  an hour at the fort, which was way more time than I needed. Then a drive into New San Juan with a 15 minute stop at a random stretch of beach, I have no idea why we stopped there.  In retrospect, a walking tour of Old San Juan would have been a better choice.

 

Various random observations-

When you get on and off the ship, key cards are not scanned, facial recognition is used.  If that increases security, I am all for it. 

 

The other night, we had a specialty reservation the night that one of our favorite appetizers was offered in Compass Rose, Panko Encrusted Shrimp.  No worries, we asked if we could special order it, and will be having it tonight.

 

Speaking of CR, when ladies enter wearing a black outfit, they are offered a black napkin, to avoid getting lint from the white napkins on them.  A nice touch.  Gentlemen wearing black pants are not offered them however.  Hmmmm.

 

Speaking again of CR, it is my sad duty to announce the end of a tradition.  Regent loyalists may recall that upon being seated in CR, one received what I always referred to as "The Ritual of the Bread Basket".  Your server would present the bread basket and invited you to select an item. I always agonized over my decision, and chose the salt stick.  The server would place it on my bread plate, and then proceed to put the bread basket down on the table, you get it all anyway.  It was just a bit of theater, but I always found it kind of cute.  No more.  Like every other restaurant in the world, the bread basket is just placed on the table.

R.I.P. , R of the BB.😔

 

[boblerm]

Our excursion in St Kitts today leaves at 12:10, therefore we need to have an early lunch, therefore needed to have a small, early breakfast.  So for the first time ever, we had breakfast in the Coffee Connection, and tried the highly touted French Press Coffee.

👍👍👍

[Shippy]

1 hour ago, boblerm said:

We had a city tour of San Juan yesterday.  San Juan is a great city, but not, IMO, a great city to see via tour bus.   One stop to look at the Walkway of the Presidents, ( statues of 9 US Presidents who have visited Puerto Rico), which was interesting,  an hour at the fort, which was way more time than I needed. Then a drive into New San Juan with a 15 minute stop at a random stretch of beach, I have no idea why we stopped there.  In retrospect, a walking tour of Old San Juan would have been a better choice.

 

Various random observations-

When you get on and off the ship, key cards are not scanned, facial recognition is used.  If that increases security, I am all for it. 

 

The other night, we had a specialty reservation the night that one of our favorite appetizers was offered in Compass Rose, Panko Encrusted Shrimp.  No worries, we asked if we could special order it, and will be having it tonight.

 

Speaking of CR, when ladies enter wearing a black outfit, they are offered a black napkin, to avoid getting lint from the white napkins on them.  A nice touch.  Gentlemen wearing black pants are not offered them however.  Hmmmm.

 

Speaking again of CR, it is my sad duty to announce the end of a tradition.  Regent loyalists may recall that upon being seated in CR, one received what I always referred to as "The Ritual of the Bread Basket".  Your server would present the bread basket and invited you to select an item. I always agonized over my decision, and chose the salt stick.  The server would place it on my bread plate, and then proceed to put the bread basket down on the table, you get it all anyway.  It was just a bit of theater, but I always found it kind of cute.  No more.  Like every other restaurant in the world, the bread basket is just placed on the table.

R.I.P. , R of the BB.😔

 

     We ate at Compass Rose last night and they indeed did the bread basket ritual.

however, I wore black and did not get a black napkin !

[mj_holiday]

3 hours ago, boblerm said:

Our excursion in St Kitts today leaves at 12:10, therefore we need to have an early lunch, therefore needed to have a small, early breakfast.  So for the first time ever, we had breakfast in the Coffee Connection, and tried the highly touted French Press Coffee.

👍👍👍

And how did you enjoy the french press coffee?

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, Shippy said:

     We ate at Compass Rose last night and they indeed did the bread basket ritual.

however, I wore black and did not get a black napkin !

Then perhaps like Wesley in The Princess Bride, the ritual is only. mostly dead? 

 

As to napkins, too bad that the policy is more uniform, but for those to whom this is important, (i is to my wife), you can just ask for one. 

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

And how did you enjoy the french press coffee?

c'est magnifique

[GeorgiaPeach51]

7 hours ago, boblerm said:

How do I feel about having included unlimited laundry?

 

 

 

If you have it out by 9AM it is back the same day.  After 9 it is back the next day.  Beautifully pressed. 

I plan on packing lighter from here on in.

Totally agree that this is a game changer.  A revelation!  For the first time in history I may have a suitcase under 45:pounds on our next cruise!  Love this perk.

[boblerm]

Yesterday we were in St. Kitts, and had a lovely excursion to the beach. Dinner in CR last night , again wonderful.  For those keeping score at home, we are still batting 1.000 in terms of cuisine, as after 5 nights*, we have yet to have a single course of any meals that we did not love.  I know what you are wondering, and the answer is no, the R of the BB was not performed.

 

The show last night was "Broadway in Concert", a very enjoyable show that was very enthusiastically received by the audience.  One little problem is that in the Passages, the show was listed at something else, and that incorrect information was repeated in the Morning Show.  The night before after the show, David explained that for technical reasons that are beyond my ken, they had to switch the order of the shows.  So anyone who cared to skip the listed show and wanted to see the Broadway show would be out of luck.

 

Some miscellany-

• I indicated earlier that facial recognition is being used at the gangway in lieu of scanning key cards.  It requires several seconds per scan, which makes the process take a bit longer per passenger, so there are likely to be backlogs at times.  Still, if this results in increased security, it is a good trade off IMO.
• If I'm not mistaken, recent trip reports have indicated that events such as Captain's reception and SS Society events were not being held, they are on this cruise.  No block party.
• No Bridge instructor on this voyage.
• Impossible to get lounges in the shade around the pool deck. Whether actual "chair hogging", defined by exceeding the 30 minute limit is happening or not, I cannot state authoritatively,
• There is, however, a very nice, quiet area in the corner where chairs are always available, it is not surrounding the pool, however.  But it is a nice place to hang out for a while.

 

* By the process of higher mathematics, this means that the cruise is half over.

😔☹️😢

[boblerm]

Today we are in Dominica, and had a wonderful tour of the island this morning.  I just want to relate a few anecdotes that I am unlikely to remember when I get home.  Our tour guide told us that Dominica is referred to as the Island of Longevity, in that the life span is high with a high number of centenarians.  She said that the longest living person who ever lived was here, a woman who was born into slavery and lived to the age of 128, with all of her mental faculties.  I haven't checked out the accuracy of this.

 

At one point, our tour guide told us to "look to the left, but please do not take photos, you'll see why". We passed a little community with a sign on a gate that said, "elderly nudist residence".  Happily, everyone seemed to be indoors as we passed.

 

Incidentally, the correct pronunciation of this beautiful island is not "do-min-i-ca", with the emphasis on the second syllable like the Dominican Republic. It i "do-min-ee-ca", with the emphasis on the 3rd syllable.

 

This thread is a veritable cornucopia of useful information.😉

Edited March 12, 2022 by boblerm

[boblerm]

When we got off the ship in Dominica this morning, the local official informed us that masks were required to enter.  This is the first port that this was the case. This information was not in the passages, nor was it mentioned in the Morning Show, nor did David say anything about it in his little talk after the show last night.  We walked off the ship sans mask.

Yes, I know.

I know.

How can it be that in this new world in which we find ourselves that a person would even consider going out and about without a mask at the ready?

I offer no excuse, only an explanation.

If Rip Van Winkle Winkle fell asleep on this ship in early March, 2020, and woke up on this cruise, the only difference that he would likely notice is that the crew is masked.  Virtually no mask wearing by passengers.  No social distancing.  No temperature checks.  Self service at buffets.  After living in this environment for several days, I think that it is only human nature that one’s mind set might change.  At least that was the case for this human.

As I said, an explanation is not an excuse, and I am not proud of the fact that I may be losing my focus.  But in my “defense”, if I can call it a defense, I was far from the only human for whom this was the case.  Ours was the first tour group to get off the ship, and upon being informed by the authority of the situation, quite a few of us turned around to get back on.  We informed the ship personnel at the gangplank of the requirement (why did they not know this?), I high tailed it back to my room for masks.  When I came back down, people were being informed, and masks were being given out to my fellow clueless.

Lesson learned.

[boblerm]

For those who are just tuning in, I apologize for the lack of detail and photos in what barely qualifies as a “trip report”.  I intend to provide these after the cruise, when I get home, quite possibly more than you wish to see.🙂

[Pcardad]

35 minutes ago, boblerm said:

For those who are just tuning in, I apologize for the lack of detail and photos in what barely qualifies as a “trip report”.  I intend to provide these after the cruise, when I get home, quite possibly more than you wish to see.🙂

I think you did a great job - thank you!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

3 hours ago, boblerm said:

For those who are just tuning in, I apologize for the lack of detail and photos in what barely qualifies as a “trip report”.  I intend to provide these after the cruise, when I get home, quite possibly more than you wish to see.🙂

You're doing a fine job, keep it up!

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, boblerm said:

For those who are just tuning in, I apologize for the lack of detail and photos in what barely qualifies as a “trip report”.  I intend to provide these after the cruise, when I get home, quite possibly more than you wish to see.🙂

Great, will look forward to seeing them—thank youn for taking the time to write this report.

[Turn 8A]

On 3/11/2022 at 6:46 AM, Shippy said:

     We ate at Compass Rose last night and they indeed did the bread basket ritual.

however, I wore black and did not get a black napkin !

My wife just commented that she was offered a black napkin  on several occasions when she wore black on our November Explorer cruise.

[califsealion]

7 hours ago, boblerm said:

For those who are just tuning in, I apologize for the lack of detail and photos in what barely qualifies as a “trip report”.  I intend to provide these after the cruise, when I get home, quite possibly more than you wish to see.🙂

 

Your "trip report" is fantastic, I am enjoying every bit of it!

[Gpilon]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:35 PM, Pcardad said:

Which Regent Business Development Rep did you meet?

 

Pcardad.....I have misplaced her business card, but a younger lady, tall with long blonde hair and I believe her first name is Ina.

 

[slidebite]

On 3/10/2022 at 6:33 AM, boblerm said:

The CD is David Niven ( not to be confused with this guy)

 

Can't remember Captain's name, I'll get it for you shortly.

LMAO

 

David is a great guy. He was the director on our last cruise in 2018 and was scheduled for our aborted April 2020 TA cruise. We're roughly the same age and had some really good chats (both Canadian as well). We really enjoy his company and was yet another reason to be disappointed with the cancellation in 2020 😞

 

And concur - he has a great singing voice.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Gpilon said:

Pcardad.....I have misplaced her business card, but a younger lady, tall with long blonde hair and I believe her first name is Ina.

 

Ina Vainio is the Director of Sales/Marketing for the SE USA.

[Gpilon]

Just now, Pcardad said:

Ina Vainio is the Director of Sales/Marketing for the SE USA.

That is her. The cruise event was put on by our local Virtuoso agency here in Savannah and was held at The Landings Club, which we belong to. Thanks for the last name....still can't find her card. We will be on Splendor this Thursday.

 

[WNcruiser]

On 3/10/2022 at 3:47 PM, seasickphil said:

According to our last communication from Regent regarding our cruise next month, is that a booster is necessary if your 2nd dose was more than 270 days prior to boarding.

 

Sorry to barge in here, but this post just about gave me a heart attack in my Miami hotel room this morning. 
 

Needless to say I am safely on board Explorer with my TWO doses of vaccine which I took in Jan 2021. Now I can relax…