Live from Voyager Sep 12-19

I am enjoying your posts very much. Voyager is our favorite ship of all, though we would not stay in a aft suite again as the vibration drive my husband crazy. Glad you are not too bothered by it!

You will probably never go back to mainline cruising now that you are spoiled.

Does a chocolate martini have carbs?

Let's get to excursupions and ports, but first some major news, because of weather our last two port days are being changed. We were originally slated to be in Portofino on .Sunday and La Spezia on Monday. portofino is a tender port and due to swells of 6-7 feet, they are cancelling that stop. instead, we are going to La Spezia on Sunday and Genoa on Monday. Unfortunately, that messes up the excursions. In La Spezia, we were supposed to " Cruise the Cinque Terre," but that has been replaced with a short boat ride to Portvenere with 3 hours of free time. And we are not sure what is going to happen with Genoa.

Anyhow, we've generally been pleased with the excursions so far. The whole set up is well organized and even though the tours can have 30+ people and there can be multiple busses doing the same tour, I never felt the horrible "cattle" mentality thAt I've had on some mainline cruise excursions.

Our first port was Palamos Spain and we chose "Spain's Famous Costa Brava". we drove along the Spanish coast to Tossa de Mar, a lovely little resort town, with An old fort and wall, narrow, meandering streets, and a typical European beach with coarse sand, but warm breezes. Then onto Lloyet de Mar to visit an Italianate Garden (can't remember the name) with lovely views of the sea. the locations were beautiful, but our guide Pepe was lousy. Another group on the same tour with a different guide seemed to be much better. No rain during depths tour, but the wind and clouds picked up n the afternoon, and it rained that night.

Our second stop was Marseille, and we had booked the St. Remy And Arles tour, which we were really looking forward to. Unfortunately, DH has come down with a nasty cold (and he's a man who rarely gets sick) We decided that an 8 hour excursion was not a viable option, but by the time we decided that he would stay in bed for the day, my only remaining tour option was Marsaille Highlights, a city bus tour. the guide was much better, and had lots of interesting facts, but I did not find the city appealing in any way. That's 4 Hours of my life that I can't get back. In addition, there was some unusual fog/smog that was coming in from the sea that obscured the ship and coastal views. The port itself is industrial, and you need to take a bus to even get to town. This is the one day we didn't get any rain (until later that night), but it might have been better if we had!

Our third port of call was Monte Carlo. Our plan was to take a morning tour, then go to Nice by train or bus on our own in the afternoon. We went on the Villefranche and Rothschild Villa tour. This was by far and away our favorite tour, even though it was a dreary day with scattered showers. We had a lovely older French lady named Pascale, who had a melodic voice and a joie de vive attitude. On our way to Viilefranche, we passed Eze, and there were already 6 Tour busses in that parking area. Glad we didn't choose that tour! We were the only tour group in Villefranche, , a wonderful small town on the French Riviera. We then proceeded down to Cap Ferrat to the Rothschild Villa and Gardens, the house had an eclectic mix of antiques, from Louis XIV furniture to a Pompeii mosaic. The gardens were beautiful including a formal garden with fountains timed to music, a Spanish garden, Japanese garden, rose garden, etc. overall, a great experience, plus our tour only had 20 people, making it more intimate. That afternoon, it was raining on and off, DH was not feeling well,so I let him nap, and we skipped Nice. DH was still not feeling well later, so we even skipped a visit to the casino, which I heard was impressive. But we did get to ogle the amazing yachts and boats in the Monte Carlo harbor.

our fourth port was Ajaccio, Corsica. I knew very little about Corsica, except that it's claim to fame is its Napoleans birthplace. Another partially rainy morning. DH again decided to sleep in. The cold is really kicking his butt, I went on the Highlights of Ajaccio tour and the guide was Suzan an English lady who has lived on Corsica for almost 40 years. We stopped at the Grotte Napoleon and to a about 5 miles out of town to see the Sanguinaire Islands which gave a hint of the wildness and beautiful natural setting of Corsica, even though we didn't get into the mountains. Then we had a walking tour of the town, which was a cute, very walkable town.

After lunch, DH was feeling a bit better and I gave him a mini tour of the town, based in what I learned in the morning. Plus because it was a heritage weekend, all the museums were free and some buildings, like the library with hisorical books and some of the churches were all open and free. Just when we got to the beach (which is right InTown), the sun broke out and the water was crystal clear and we regretting not wearing our swimsuits. quite a few locals were enjoying the water. Overall, s surprsingky nice stop.

CastleRock - Even though many people are convinced in advance that Genoa is not a good port, it turned out for us (when we had a similar cancellation of a nearby port due to weather) to be a delightful visit indeed. The ship put on a shuttle to the main piazza (although we discovered that it was not distant from the port - in fact, we walked back to the ship). Some days (luckily, including the day that we visited) there are marvelous artisanal food market stalls set up in the square in front of the Palazzo Ducale, just a hundred meters or so from the main piazza.

It is very easy to wander about the old city and the old fishermen's quarter nearer the port to get a sense of the city. You might consider buying some great local goodies (wine, cheese, bread, sausages, pastries) and having a "picnic" on your lovely balcony.

Freddie,

Thanks for the great suggestions! Our morning tour to Santa margherita is still going on a scheduled, but based on your advice, we will probably go into Genoa in the afternoon.

Our only interest in Genoa is the fact that the Explorer and the next new Regent ship was built there. Actually, any city in Italy that has good food is a good destination for us. Looking forward to reading updates of the weather. It is difficult when ports have to be changed or cancelled but that is Mother Nature. As you may know, the Mariner is heading towards the Caribbean and we're hoping that the latest hurricanes will have past by the time that she gets there.

Hope that your DH is feeling better. Not sure why so many of us get colds while on the ships. Definitely frustrating.

Sorry for not finishing up my posts. In La Spezia, because our Cinque Terra boat trip was cancelled due to weather, we just decided to stay on the ship A much needed day of rest. We slept in, watched a few movies, worked on the jigsaw puzzle, etc. DH still fighting cold, and me trying to prevent in.

In Genoa, I went on the Santa Margherita and Villa Durazzo tour, which was very good, despite very gray, overcast morning, DH slept in and then just wandered around Genoa for an hour or two - he did not like it. By lunch time, it was raining cats and dogs, and it rained for the rest of the afternoon, so no more outings that day. But it allowed us to pack at a leisurely pace.

We disembarked onTuesday morning @ 8:45 am. We walked to the train station, and took the train into Rome. We booked a hotel 2 blocks from Roma Termini, so we didn't have to talk a cab or car service. Total time from disembarking to arriving at hotel, about 2 hours. Total cost 10 Euros.

We're in Italy until the end of the week. I didn't get a chance to finish my commentary about on board activities on the Voyager while we were on the ship, but I'll try to finish up later this week. So stayed tuned!

Thanks again for all your reports. Have a super time in Italy, hopefully the weather will improve. I look forward to reading your report when you get time to finish up.

Thanks for great reading, enjoyed and looking forward to more as you end your vacation. Have a safe trip home.

Rick

CastleRockCruiser:

If you haven't taken a day trip from Rome to Ostia Antica and Tivoli, well worth it.

We arrived home Sunday night, and I was swamped with work on Monday, so I'm FINALLY finishing this report! I've covered dining and excursions, so let me talk about on board activities and the ship in general.

As first time Regent cruisers, we cannot say whether or not the service has declined from previous years, but we found the staff overall to be wonderful. Always responsive, good service in bars and dining venues, saying hello in the corridors, etc. The only time where the service was a miss, was one night in the Voyager Lounge, right after the Krew Kapers show, so it was packed - they server never made it back to our table, so I didn't get a drink before we headed to dinner. As mentioned earlier, as part of our room upgrade, we had a wonderful butler Dhiraj. As we were not expecting this, we really didn't use his services as much as we could have, but he was always prompt to respond to any needs and was quick to answer any questions we had. For example, he noticed we were drinking a lot of water, so he always filled the ice bucket and brought in extra bottled water, without us having to ask. He saw that I liked strawberries, and supplied a little bowl in the fridge, to my delight. Because of rough seas one night, both DH & I were feeling a little out of sorts, and he took care of cancelling our Chartreuse reservation (never did get a chance to eat there), asking if we wanted any ginger candy to help with the mild sea sickness, and he took care of our room service order, including getting blackened Mahi Mahi for my husband even though it wasn't on the menu that day. FYI - for those who know him,he will be getting married back in India (with 800 guests!) after his next contract period is over.

Speaking of staff, Ray Solaire was the cruise director, and apparently his assignment was ending with this trip and he's planning to take a vacation (he didn't mention how much time off). An interesting character, if a bit cheesy at times. We didn't see him perform, but he was definitely entertaining at the afternoon trivia, which we enjoyed on several days.

They had a Smithsonian Enrichment Program, with Dennis Romano as the speaker. He had 3 separate lectures about the history of the areas were were visiting. We didn't go to any of his programs, but they did replay them on the ship's TV. He was very much a professor sort of guy with the typical college lecture style, which was interesting at times, but a bit too dry and dense with information at other tines.

So our general routine was getting up for a morning excursion (or on several days, DH stayed in bed, and I would go on the excursion), be back on the ship for a late lunch, then lounge around on the ship in the afternoon, enjoy afternoon canapes in our cabin, before getting ready for dinner in the evening. Only embarkation day and the first day were sunny and warm enough for the pool deck, but we did get to enjoy the pool one day. We didn't like the fact that the pool/hot tubs closed at 8 pm. We would have loved to sit in the hot tub after dinner on some nights. But compared to mainline cruise ships with people hogging chairs, stupid pool games, excessive drinking, we loved the quiet, relaxed atmosphere by the pool. We checked out the upper deck, but didn't play any shuffleboard or croquet, although we might have if DH had felt better and the weather had been more cooperative. On Sunday night, when the seas were quite rough, they actually drained and netted the swimming pool. I'm not sure if that's standard procedure, but it stayed unfilled the next day.

On the second night, we enjoyed that block party, where they serve wine and canapes in the hallways outside the cabins. We went out right at 6 pm, and had to walk a little ways down the corridor before we met other people, but by the time it ended around 6:30, there were probably about 20-25 people at our end of deck 6. Although we didn't end up hanging out with any of them during the rest of the cruise, it was nice to make their acquaintance and say hello when we saw them in the halls.

We liked the size of the ship - not too large, not to small - and easy to get around. Elevators never crowded. I'm a puzzle fan, so spent some time working on the jigsaw puzzle across the Library on Deck 6. Since our cabin was on Deck 6, I was constantly stopping by and trying to put in a few pieces. On a couple of rainy afternoons, I spent an hour or two working on it, while DH was napping due to his cold. FYI - the puzzle was the Milkmaid by Vermeer. They really need to put out a new puzzle as this one did not have enough contrast from the tablecloth and the puzzle pieces were diabolical - too many fit too similarly, so whole sections of the puzzle had to be redone because of a few pieces put in the wrong places. It never did get completely finished before the end of the cruise!

DH and I are generally not show people, and we previously read mixed reviews, so we only attended Lights! Camera! Music!, the production show that's a tribute to movie musicals. It was good, not great. I also attended Krew Kapers, which while not as polished (and a little out of tune at times), but you could tell the crew was really putting their heart into it. It was also nice to see some of the traditional dances from Malaysia, Indonesia, etc, as part of the show. I really enjoyed it!

Natur's Rythym, the trio that plays in the Voyager Lounge was excellent, with a good selection of songs and great harmonies. My only (minor) complaint is that I felt that they were overamplified for that small space. I also saw the Regent Band the first night in the Horizon Lounge They were playing a variety of jazz that night, which I really enjoyed, but that didn't have another jazz night during the cruise.

While on board, we met up with another CC member, GboroGal and her DH. We found out they were trivia buffs, and on several days we played afternoon trivia and had afternoon tea in the Horizon Lounge. By the end of the cruise, their were quite a few people playing. We also played Name that Tune in the Observation Lounge. Kathy on the piano was enjoyable. And I won enough Regent Rewards points to get a couple of free T-Shirts at the end of the cruise.

As this trip was for our 15th annivesary, one evening, they decorated our cabin with balloons and towel swans and provided champagne and a small cake after dinner. It was a really pleasant surprise and although neither of us were feeling well enough for champagne that night, the cake was yummy!

Finally, on the last day of the cruise, DH was feeling pretty good again, and we had dinner in the Compass Rose (lobster for DH for the 3rd time!) with our new GboroGal friends, and nightcap in our room. Then we finished packing and headed to bed. Despite the illness and the rainy weather, we can say we had a wonderful trip, and we'll definitely consider sailing on Regent again in the future.

Thanks everyone for reading!

Nice and full report--thanks for taking the time. Glad you enjoyed the trip.

That was such a enjoyable review and it does sound as if you had a great time. One question ....... did you book another cruise while onboard?

Thank you. Reading your reports was very enjoyable. Wishing you many happy years of cruising.