Live Voyager - Dubai to Cape Town

try # 3

I wanted to start the thread and see if I could succeed there before spending time writing very much. The system killed my first 2 attempts. Embarkation went quick and smooth. We were on a transfer from the included hotel and managed to get on the 2nd bus and here we are. The staff so far are all as I remembered, smiling, friendly and welcoming. So glad to be Back.

Sorry for the short sporadic posts but the system keeps going in and out so I am posting fast to make sure I don't lose everything I wrote. Writing on an iPad so not so easy to copy and paste from somewhere else.

The ship is looking lovely or at least what I have seen so far. Entered the ship to smiling faces and a very small glass of champagne. Ok the glass is the regular size but was maybe 1/4 filled so reports from others of small miserly amounts seem true here as well. Not a big deal as you can get more anytime. Considering the amount of glasses left unfinished as we entered and exited the theatre for check-in i can't blame them for making the change. Seems like a good Business decision to me.

Try #6. Sorry but have now lost at least 3 posts and haven't even left port. Will try again later or tomorrow.

Bon Voyage. We look forward to reading your posts. Tell us what is happening and who the officers etc. are. Also comments on the excursions would be helpful as we are on the next cruise that visits much of where you will have been. Go easy on the NZ Sauvignon Blanc so as to leave some for us.

Hope the upgraded computer system starts to behave. We are really looking forward to your posts. As you know, we were booked on this cruise but cancelled because we didn't want to repeat the first portion of this long itinerary.

Yesterday I heard that Davor is the G.M. -- he is such a lovely man. Have you sailed with him before?

Looking forward to your posts. I work off of an ipad as well when onboard. What you need to do is compose your post offline under notes, then copy it, go online and past. That way you don't lose your work.

Thank you for posting. We'll be on the Voyager next May from Barcelona to London. I'm anxious to hear about Dubai. We plan to do a cruise including Dubai in 2016. In two weeks we'll be on the Mariner for Tahiti to Tahiti. We'll also be on the Mariner for Cape Town to Cape Town November 2015. I'll love to hear about the ports you're visiting in S Africa. Enjoy!!!

We will be on the next cruise from Cape Town to Singapore, so we will be checking in on you during your cruise.

What will be helpful to us since we have never sailed Regent before are all the helpful hints that you can give during your reviews.

I know you are having a fabulous time. Thanks for everything.

We look forward to your reports as we will be on board this time next year.

Did you do the pre cruise Dubai tour?

We will be interested in the tours you take in the ports along the way.

Also interested in the lectures offered on board.

I hope the internet improves for you as there is nothing as frustrating as losing something you've worked on.

Thanks for taking me along on your trip.

Looking forward to your posts. I work off of an ipad as well when onboard. What you need to do is compose your post offline under notes, then copy it, go online and past. That way you don't lose your work.

Thanks Rachel. I will give that a try so maybe I will get some timely and detailed posts done soon.

Off to an all day tour so will try again tonight to answer the questions and give more info.

okay I am a real novice with my iPad. Sorry can't figure out how to paste from the notes. Can easily type and copy but can't seem to figure out how to paste in CC.

so while i get my act together and figure out how to cut and paste i will answer one question that was asked.

Captain Daniel Greene

GM Davor Josipovic and I don't believe we have sailed with him before

Staff Captain Aristeidis Mertzanis

CD Jamie Logan along with his wife Dana

We look forward to your reports as we will be on board this time next year.

Did you do the pre cruise Dubai tour?

We will be interested in the tours you take in the ports along the way.

Also interested in the lectures offered on board.

I hope the internet improves for you as there is nothing as frustrating as losing something you've worked on.

Thanks for taking me along on your trip.

no we didn't take the pre-cruise tour. Arrived at 7 am and took a 6 hour tour with 4 other CC members starting at 11. Tour was very well done and feel I have a good enough overview of Dubai.

oops forgot the Chef, don't know how i could do that as he is such an important part of everyday on board - Kelly Cochrane.

by golly i think i have found out how to do it. Yeah.

I am going to go back to the beginning. We arrived in Dubai at 7 am after to overnight flights from the west coast of Canada. Flights on BA went well, particularly the first one as we were on a 747 and upstairs. The plane wasn't full so it was very quiet and our 2 flight attendants were a blast, very funny and personable as well as did their job efficiently.

So now that i see it can work this thread should get a whole lot less painful to read as well as to write.

I, too, appreciate you giving up time from enjoying the Voyager to post. We are especially interested in the excursions - how long are the bus rides, how much time "on safari", quality of the guides, etc. We will likely be into our 70's before we could take such a trip, but the itinerary seems so interesting. Not sure if we'd be physically up to such a trip.

Good to hear that you will be able to post with less problems:-) Whenever we fly BA we try to get seats upstairs. It is much more quiet and has a lot less people.

Looking forward to reading about your journey.

We are among the founder members of the CC Regent coffee moaning group. If you are good coffee drinkers, what's the coffee like on board?

Good top staff on board! And all very nice people . . . . lucky you!

Peggy

Glad you figured out how to copy and paste. Look forward to your reports.

We arrived in Dubai at 7 am after 2 overnight flights from the west coast of Canada. Flights on BA went well, particularly the first one as we were on a 747 and upstairs. The plane wasn't full so it was very quiet and our 2 flight attendants were a blast, very funny and personable as well as did their job efficiently.

The transfer was pretty quick and painless. There was only 1 other couple arriving at that ungodly time of the day so not too much waiting around once the guy actually showed up.

Short hop to the Marriott or reasonably short. Felt like we were driving in circles for awhile as there is so much construction around the hotel that we had to go way past it to enter. Huge hotel, biggest in the world. Biggest in the world is the theme for Dubai. Room was nice though we had to wait about an hour to get into it. For the wait she gave us a room with a view of the horse track and creek on the 49th floor.

As Dubai has very little oil of the oil rich Emirates they are concentrating on tourism to have a solid financial basis for the future. Therefore they are building the biggest or best of everything. The tallest building, the largest mall with the largest ice rink, an indoor ski hill and huge waterfalls, the largest hotel, you get the idea. It was good to see Dubai but I really can't think of a reason to ever come back. Unless you are a shopaholic (not), or like the heat (not) or like seeing and being in the newest and biggest (not) this place isn't for you. Our flight attendants on BA said to us that we will say to ourselves that we'll be glad to leave and I can't disagree with them.

Can't help you with the coffee question. I don't drink it and never really have so no help.

the enrichment speaker is Trace Fairley. His first lecture is tonight at 5:15. Unfortunately we will just be getting back from our tour so won't be able to make it. Will try and catch it on TV and will try hard to catch all the upcoming ones. We had great lectures on our last cruise in 2013 and hoping for the same this time.

I too am onboard, and so far, everything is ship-shape as always. I got that little glass of bubbly, and after check-in went to quickly, see why there is no need for more, it just goes wasted. The only thing new for me was the new conversion of the Park West gallery into another retail shop, and the space opposite having given a second entrance into the gift shop that was already there. Davor told me this was all done while the ship was moving. It is a great improvement!

Onboard, there are over 200 Gold, platinum and Titaniums, and over 600 previous Regent cruisers.

Did a city tour yesterday in Abu Dhabi, this is the emirate with the great majority of oil beneath it, and even with that, there is so much green development going on, solar panels everywhere. Lots and lots of irrigated trees everywhere. Our guide (from Sri lanka) with 30 years experience says that Abu dhabi has "much more oxygen" than Dubai.

There were stadiums and parks, medical facilities everywhere, very family centered to provide the residents with a good life. Obviously not the same as the imported laborers from India and elsewhere that I saw along the way, and keeping the grounds at the sights we visited.

Today is Fujairah, and I'll be taking a dune buggy safari in less than an hour.

Thanks all for the great onboard reports. I love Abu Dhabi...so much character