Live: Explorer, Vancouver/Alaska/Japan

[fudge]

Day 1 Leaving Cyprus Sunday 17^th September 2023

Hi, Everyone,

Almost every time we book a cruise we have to fly to London (UK) this is no exception.

There is no way we can fly to London for the flight to Vancouver the same day, so we flew the day before and stayed overnight at Heathrow airport.

This is our third cruise with Regent, we have sailed with Silversea and Seabourn, in my opinion there is not a lot between them, others may disagree?

So, where to start? Mr. Fudge is a young 73 yrs. old, (well he thinks he is!) Mrs Fudge is a very sprightly 60 yrs old. We emigrated from the UK about 20yrs ago to a small Island called Cyprus in the Mediterranean, a lovely sunny climate all year round.

For the information of our British friends, we stayed overnight in the Holiday Inn just outside Heathrow, clean, comfortable and a good price.

Check out time was 11 am however, we don’t fly until 17.30 so a late check out at £10 per hour was the order of the day. The flight time to Vancouver is 9.30 hrs but it will pass quickly.

Day 2

We treated ourselves to business class with BA, consequently we are entitled to visit their lounge, we got the entrance there was a “one in one out” policy, it was very busy indeed! After waiting in line for 15 minutes we entered, actually once inside it was perfect, really nice food and plenty of alcohol and other soft drinks. We had four hours to kill so no big deal.

Mrs Fudge went on a shopping trip to the shops while Mr Fudge, eat and drank until he was full.

At 18.10 precisely after smooth boarding we took off.

After 9.30 hrs after a really nice flight, we landed in Vancouver almost on time 17.00 hrs. When you enter the terminal it’s all remote, you go to a machine and complete the digital display, it prints off a ticket which they take from you when you leave the airport, thankfully all our cases arrived (phew)

We were greeted by the Regent rep and was told we only have one of you arriving? That confusion was quickly sorted.

We boarded a bus for a twenty-minute ride to the Fairmont hotel, thankfully there was only 12 on the bus so check in was pretty straight forward. We had a lovely large suite on the 7^th floor.

Breakfast was from 06.30, our body clocks were all over the place so not much sleep!

So, at 06.30 on the nose, we went to breakfast on the 15^th floor, a huge sparce ballroom dedicated for Regent guests, it was pretty cold in there. The breakfast was adequate, nothing special, a buffet style, warm food, pastries, juice, coffee, the usual fayre I suppose.

On this cruise we have a land package included, excursion all day today, half a day tomorrow until lunch then we board the ship.  Today’s trip begins at 08.30 yikes!!

Sorry folks, posting photos is above my pay scale. I will try and answer as many questions you may want to ask.

 

[mrlevin]

Looking forward to your report (even without photos); we are doing this trip in reverse next April.  

[forgap]

8 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Looking forward to your report (even without photos); we are doing this trip in reverse next April.  

We also are doing this trip in April so we are following along with anticipation!

[kjbacon]

Bon voyage! Also looking forward to following along with you.

[mj_holiday]

5 hours ago, forgap said:

We also are doing this trip in April so we are following along with anticipation!

Thanks for taking the time to bring us along.  We are doing this trip in 2024 in the reverse order.  Looking forward to your description of sights etc.

[rcandkc]

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

Thanks for taking the time to bring us along.  We are doing this trip in 2024 in the reverse order.  Looking forward to your description of sights etc.

We are doing it in reverse order in 2026. I’ll be reading. 

[Kwaj girl]

Hi, Fudge!  We joined the ship in Seward last Wednesday.   Rainy, windy, typical Alaska weather.  Today is beautiful here in Vancouver.   We had a later arrival than usual this morning due to previous sea/wind conditions but all seems back on schedule now.  I promise not to drink all the 🥂 before you board.  🤣

 

[RachelG]

Have a great voyage!  We fly out Friday heading to LHR to then board Splendor in Southampton. 

[gabelle]

13 hours ago, forgap said:

We also are doing this trip in April so we are following along with anticipation!

We are with you in April.  Round trip Tokyo and then on to Vancouver. Looking forward to your reports, Fudge.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Looking forward to your review!  Wishing you safe travels in your pre boarding excursions!

[fudge]

Day 3        

Today we board the ship. First of all, let me recap on the excursion from yesterday.

We met in the lobby of the hotel with all the other guests, the groups were split into two, the Green group, we were the Blue group, there was 27 in our group of all nationalities. We boarded the bus about 20 minutes late, no big deal, the weather was overcast with rain expected.

After a 20-minute drive out of the city we arrived at Capilano. This place has a suspension bridge which stretches 230 feet above the river, its 137 meters span. Note: This is not for the faint heated, elderly (with respect) or the infirm, depending on how many are on there at once it gets very rocky.

Its cantilevered walkway clings to the granite cliffs high above the Capilano canyon.

Once you have walked this there is a tree top adventure, a series of 7 suspension bridges through the evergreens, you pass the biggest cedar trees you have ever seen! The whole experience takes about 90 minutes, the are rest rooms, a coffee shop and a souvenir shop, on completion you are awarded a certificate saying how you braved the bridge.

We boarded the bus and travelled to Grouse Mountain, on arrival you board a huge gondola which carries 100 people, it takes 8 minutes to climb 1000 feet to the summit, boy it was cold and damp at the top, remember to bring protective gear.

Once there you can watch a lumberjack show, we gave that a miss, we went to a bear sanctuary, actually there are only two bears, there are related, they were rescued 23 years ago from a highway, they roam in about 5 acres of land, they are well fed 40 lbs of food a day, a bit like us on the cruise!!

On the way back down the views are spectacular, the Pacific Ocean and great views of Vancouver a perfect photo opportunity.

From there we drove back to the city a 20-minute drive to have lunch. We arrived at the restaurant/bar to be told we were early, we waited outside for 10 minutes after which we were escorted to a room for Regent guests.

You are each given two tickets for drinks, alcohol or soft drinks, there are craft beers of which I had two, Mrs Fudge had Red wine, (two) Unfortunately the food was uninspiring, buffet style, it was “luke warm” at best, a take it or leave it option followed by cheesecake.

It was back to the bus and to Stanley Park. When we arrived the heavens opened, we got off the bus and straight back on, it rained heavily. We headed back to the hotel arriving at 16.30 hrs.

Now then day 3 proper. Up early. We were told by our tour rep that the luggage will be collected from our room at 07.30, you don’t leave it outside you get a knock on the door. Yesterday she asked how many people did not have luggage labels, 10 out of 27 did not, she said that may cause a problem?

After a peaceful night, Mr Fudge went for breakfast, Mrs Fudge gave it a miss saying she wanted to watch her figure, on the way-out Mrs Fudge said” please bring me pastries and a muffin please?

At 08.30 we checked out, thankfully our tour rep Anita managed to source some bag tags, problem sorted. We boarded the bus for a whistle stop tour of Vancouver. The first stop was China town, actually we didn’t stop because it was so run down.

The second stop was Granville Island, a small selection of shops, and a cement works?

We then went to Queen Elizabeth gardens, a lovely setting, with beautiful gardens and birds at the Bloedel conservatory. Overall, an enjoyable one hour.

We then headed to the pier to board the ship; this is where the NIGHTMARE started. There were literally thousands of people in a line waiting to go through security, on top of that no one from Regent or our TA informed us that we needed a visa for America?  My fault, I should have realised!

Thankfully you apply on line, that took over 1 hour, even then we had to wait overall, 3 hrs 50 mins to board the ship!!! We finally boarded at 15.55 to be told last orders for food.

                                                                                      

[rcandkc]

10 minutes ago, fudge said:

Day 3        

Today we board the ship. First of all, let me recap on the excursion from yesterday.

We met in the lobby of the hotel with all the other guests, the groups were split into two, the Green group, we were the Blue group, there was 27 in our group of all nationalities. We boarded the bus about 20 minutes late, no big deal, the weather was overcast with rain expected.

After a 20-minute drive out of the city we arrived at Capilano. This place has a suspension bridge which stretches 230 feet above the river, its 137 meters span. Note: This is not for the faint heated, elderly (with respect) or the infirm, depending on how many are on there at once it gets very rocky.

Its cantilevered walkway clings to the granite cliffs high above the Capilano canyon.

Once you have walked this there is a tree top adventure, a series of 7 suspension bridges through the evergreens, you pass the biggest cedar trees you have ever seen! The whole experience takes about 90 minutes, the are rest rooms, a coffee shop and a souvenir shop, on completion you are awarded a certificate saying how you braved the bridge.

We boarded the bus and travelled to Grouse Mountain, on arrival you board a huge gondola which carries 100 people, it takes 8 minutes to climb 1000 feet to the summit, boy it was cold and damp at the top, remember to bring protective gear.

Once there you can watch a lumberjack show, we gave that a miss, we went to a bear sanctuary, actually there are only two bears, there are related, they were rescued 23 years ago from a highway, they roam in about 5 acres of land, they are well fed 40 lbs of food a day, a bit like us on the cruise!!

On the way back down the views are spectacular, the Pacific Ocean and great views of Vancouver a perfect photo opportunity.

From there we drove back to the city a 20-minute drive to have lunch. We arrived at the restaurant/bar to be told we were early, we waited outside for 10 minutes after which we were escorted to a room for Regent guests.

You are each given two tickets for drinks, alcohol or soft drinks, there are craft beers of which I had two, Mrs Fudge had Red wine, (two) Unfortunately the food was uninspiring, buffet style, it was “luke warm” at best, a take it or leave it option followed by cheesecake.

It was back to the bus and to Stanley Park. When we arrived the heavens opened, we got off the bus and straight back on, it rained heavily. We headed back to the hotel arriving at 16.30 hrs.

Now then day 3 proper. Up early. We were told by our tour rep that the luggage will be collected from our room at 07.30, you don’t leave it outside you get a knock on the door. Yesterday she asked how many people did not have luggage labels, 10 out of 27 did not, she said that may cause a problem?

After a peaceful night, Mr Fudge went for breakfast, Mrs Fudge gave it a miss saying she wanted to watch her figure, on the way-out Mrs Fudge said” please bring me pastries and a muffin please?

At 08.30 we checked out, thankfully our tour rep Anita managed to source some bag tags, problem sorted. We boarded the bus for a whistle stop tour of Vancouver. The first stop was China town, actually we didn’t stop because it was so run down.

The second stop was Granville Island, a small selection of shops, and a cement works?

We then went to Queen Elizabeth gardens, a lovely setting, with beautiful gardens and birds at the Bloedel conservatory. Overall, an enjoyable one hour.

We then headed to the pier to board the ship; this is where the NIGHTMARE started. There were literally thousands of people in a line waiting to go through security, on top of that no one from Regent or our TA informed us that we needed a visa for America?  My fault, I should have realised!

Thankfully you apply on line, that took over 1 hour, even then we had to wait overall, 3 hrs 50 mins to board the ship!!! We finally boarded at 15.55 to be told last orders for food.

                                                                                      

😳☹️

[annmarz]

"they are well fed 40 lbs of food a day, a bit like us on the cruise!!"

 

this made me laugh out loud!

[lincslady]

Can't believe you didn't know/were not told you needed a Visa for the USA.  Things can only get better!

[forgap]

13 hours ago, RachelG said:

Have a great voyage!  We fly out Friday heading to LHR to then board Splendor in Southampton. 

I think we are finally on a cruise at the same time!  We flew into London today for the pre cruis tour.  

[mj_holiday]

10 hours ago, fudge said:

on top of that no one from Regent or our TA informed us that we needed a visa for America

I think this is just starting up. Sounds like you were not the only ones that had to work the issue real time.

[RachelG]

Boarding in Vancouver has been chaotic every time we have done it, whether on Regent or Oceania, but this sounds awful. 

 

Forgap, so excited we will finally meet. George is the guy with the cowboy hat.  I have grey hair now--that picture of me is old. 

[fudge]

Just now, lincslady said:

Can't believe you didn't know/were not told you needed a Visa for the USA.  Things can only get better!

And I cant believe it either, a very senior moment and almost a very costly senior moment! Its no consolation that at least 60/70 other people also "forgot" their visa. If we had not made the cruise it would had resulted in me self harming and at best a divorce!  So, we move on.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Whew!  So much stress!  I can relate to the visa issue.  I once neglected to make sure my ticket and passport showed the exact same name and it was caught by the gate security people.  That led to a dash to the ticketing counter and stress up the wazoo.  An experience I never care to repeat, and I tremble even thinking about it.  So, your visa issue gave me so much empathy for that kind of sudden realization. Hoping for a great cruise after the slightly chaotic start!

 

Joanie

[fudge]

Day 4

So, after yesterday we go again. My stress levels have never been higher, we sat next to a couple on a different ship, they were asked for a description of their luggage so it could be taken off the ship, that’s when I almost fainted, thankfully they and us managed to board, I have never experienced anything like that in all the time we have been cruising.

Some guests chose not to go on the morning tour and go straight to the ship, good decision with hindsight, I think.

 

After a late lunch we finally got to our suite, a Penthouse suite 1404 on the port side, there are ten suites on this deck and the Regent suite at the end of the corridor, the cost of that was about half a million US dollars. (lol)

 

We were greeted by our butler Binay from India and Abigail our room attendant. After a quick introduction it was time to unpack, Mrs Fudge likes to do that, Mr Fudge is hopeless at it as well as not getting our US visa!

 

We have not sailed the Explorer before; we have sailed twice on the voyager. The suite is beautifully appointed, we have our litre bottle of J and B whisky and a bottle of Reme Martin cognac.   The usual bowl of fruit, petit fours, and a lovely orchid with its root, and of course a chilled bottle of champagne.

 

Thankfully we have a complimentary pressing service, we loaded two laundry bags and left them outside the door, the butler must have seen them, his eyes must have been on stalks, we have so much luggage, after each cruise we say we must cut down, this cruise is worse than ever, two large suitcases and three, yes three carry on cases.

At 17.30 the ship hosted an informal cocktail reception on the pool deck, drink and nibbles. A good time to meet friends we met on the land tour.

Our first dinner was prime 7 which we booked on line, at 8pm precisely, we arrived at the restaurant, the staff asked us to wait a few minutes while they set a table on the window, we sailed away at 8pm so had a lovely view as we slowly set off.

 

Mrs Fudge chose crab cakes for the appetizer, Mr. Fudge has the scallops (one) on a piece of belly pork with a lovely Jus. The mains were surf and turf for Mr. Fudge with onion rings and a side of mushrooms, Mrs Fudge had lamb chops. The food was divine as was the service, we hope to dine there again during our cruise.  Thankfully you can view all the menus on the TV in all the restaurants so we had an idea of what we were going to order, after of course the mandatory safety briefing which lasted at least 15 minutes.

 

We went to the observation bar for a night cap at 21.30, we were the only guests in there, after one drink, yes only one drink we retired to our suite.  On the bed, was a paper description of today’s activity’s, chocolates and a two-page world newspaper.

After a night’s sleep at 06.30, Mr Fudge got an elbow in his ribs, he knows that the order to go for coffee and pastries in coffee connection which opens at 06.30, he was there at 06.31.

 

We decided on this cruise to cut back on food (not drink) so we are giving breakfast a miss today. We also need to slow down when eating, we are both very quick eaters it’s a shocking habit, you are supposed to chew a mouthful of food 15 times after putting your knife and fork down, I can eat the whole plateful in 15 chews. In addition, Mr Fudge can devour a buffet breakfast in less time than Hussein Bolt can run a hundred meters.

That’s all of my ramblings for now, more later if you can stomach it!!

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by fudge

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, fudge said:

After a night’s sleep at 06.30, Mr Fudge got an elbow in his ribs, he knows that the order to go for coffee and pastries

What's wrong with Room Service? ................... or is Mr fudge the room service in your suite? 🙂

[crusin7]

Mr. Fudge. I think I speak for everyone…We have missed you. Welcome back!  You are hysterical.

[cruisevirgin24]

18 hours ago, fudge said:

Day 3        

Today we board the ship. First of all, let me recap on the excursion from yesterday.

We met in the lobby of the hotel with all the other guests, the groups were split into two, the Green group, we were the Blue group, there was 27 in our group of all nationalities. We boarded the bus about 20 minutes late, no big deal, the weather was overcast with rain expected.

After a 20-minute drive out of the city we arrived at Capilano. This place has a suspension bridge which stretches 230 feet above the river, its 137 meters span. Note: This is not for the faint heated, elderly (with respect) or the infirm, depending on how many are on there at once it gets very rocky.

Its cantilevered walkway clings to the granite cliffs high above the Capilano canyon.

Once you have walked this there is a tree top adventure, a series of 7 suspension bridges through the evergreens, you pass the biggest cedar trees you have ever seen! The whole experience takes about 90 minutes, the are rest rooms, a coffee shop and a souvenir shop, on completion you are awarded a certificate saying how you braved the bridge.

We boarded the bus and travelled to Grouse Mountain, on arrival you board a huge gondola which carries 100 people, it takes 8 minutes to climb 1000 feet to the summit, boy it was cold and damp at the top, remember to bring protective gear.

Once there you can watch a lumberjack show, we gave that a miss, we went to a bear sanctuary, actually there are only two bears, there are related, they were rescued 23 years ago from a highway, they roam in about 5 acres of land, they are well fed 40 lbs of food a day, a bit like us on the cruise!!

On the way back down the views are spectacular, the Pacific Ocean and great views of Vancouver a perfect photo opportunity.

From there we drove back to the city a 20-minute drive to have lunch. We arrived at the restaurant/bar to be told we were early, we waited outside for 10 minutes after which we were escorted to a room for Regent guests.

You are each given two tickets for drinks, alcohol or soft drinks, there are craft beers of which I had two, Mrs Fudge had Red wine, (two) Unfortunately the food was uninspiring, buffet style, it was “luke warm” at best, a take it or leave it option followed by cheesecake.

It was back to the bus and to Stanley Park. When we arrived the heavens opened, we got off the bus and straight back on, it rained heavily. We headed back to the hotel arriving at 16.30 hrs.

Now then day 3 proper. Up early. We were told by our tour rep that the luggage will be collected from our room at 07.30, you don’t leave it outside you get a knock on the door. Yesterday she asked how many people did not have luggage labels, 10 out of 27 did not, she said that may cause a problem?

After a peaceful night, Mr Fudge went for breakfast, Mrs Fudge gave it a miss saying she wanted to watch her figure, on the way-out Mrs Fudge said” please bring me pastries and a muffin please?

At 08.30 we checked out, thankfully our tour rep Anita managed to source some bag tags, problem sorted. We boarded the bus for a whistle stop tour of Vancouver. The first stop was China town, actually we didn’t stop because it was so run down.

The second stop was Granville Island, a small selection of shops, and a cement works?

We then went to Queen Elizabeth gardens, a lovely setting, with beautiful gardens and birds at the Bloedel conservatory. Overall, an enjoyable one hour.

We then headed to the pier to board the ship; this is where the NIGHTMARE started. There were literally thousands of people in a line waiting to go through security, on top of that no one from Regent or our TA informed us that we needed a visa for America?  My fault, I should have realised!

Thankfully you apply on line, that took over 1 hour, even then we had to wait overall, 3 hrs 50 mins to board the ship!!! We finally boarded at 15.55 to be told last orders for food.

                                                                                      

Mr & Mrs Fudge, I have been with you for the last few days! We flew to Vancouver on Monday with BA, but the earlier flight from Gatwick. We enjoyed a beautiful evening in Vancouver. On Tuesday we visited Capilano in the morning and agree it is an amazing park to visit. We then travelled North to Grouse Mountain, saw the bears, skipped the lumberjack show' and decided to descend to avoid the damp and cold. We entered the gondola for the journey down and were surprised to be joined by about 20 Regent cruise participants! You were very recognisable due to the number of Regent jackets and caps. We definitely recognised a few British accents, especially a couple struggling to close the gondola window, was it you?

Unfortunately we were not joining the cruise, flying home last night.

Have a wonderful Cruise. I look forward to following your journey.

[fudge]

Hi,

Yes, we were a party of 27 on an organised tour, it was a short morning tour 4 hrs before joining the Regent Explorer, we were stood next to the people trying to close the window, I said "have you tried closing it from the outside" hope you had a safe and pleasant journey home.

[cruisevirgin24]

1 minute ago, fudge said:

Hi,

Yes, we were a party of 27 on an organised tour, it was a short morning tour 4 hrs before joining the Regent Explorer, we were stood next to the people trying to close the window, I said "have you tried closing it from the outside" hope you had a safe and pleasant journey home.

We were standing right next to you! We had a great journey home thank you. It was a long journey for 48 hours in Vancouver, but worth it.