taxman1

@kjbacon we had a very similar feeling with respect to the lack of thoughtfulness amongst our fellow passengers. During our 30 years of world travel we have found a common language shared by all in every corner of the world … it’s called a smile. We enjoyed your posts as we shared the same journey. Thank you!

Before going into final observations allow a couple quick responses to above. With respect to the Blantons the Gold was $250. Never asked about the other 2. As far as staff is concerned Jorge has control of CR and David Niven is the CD. I will not even attempt to spell the Captain’s name. My understanding is the above are onboard for the next several months. What did we enjoy most on this trip: - the ship is drop dead gorgeous. The eye to details is outstanding. Take time to notice how the walls are supported by the ceiling design which is further supported by the furniture choice for each particular venue. The designers are to be applauded! - the rooms (at least the Concierge) are spacious with plenty of drawer and cubby space throughout, including the bathroom. The closets are well equipped with plenty of hangers. The veranda space was big and provided more than enough room to navigate around the furniture, especially when running back into the cabin to grab the binoculars. - beds are very comfortable with great pillows. If you are not happy with your initial pillow ask your cabin attendant and he/she will hook you up. - pool deck chairs are extremely comfy and plenty to serve everyone. Please note, you may not find one in the shade every day. Hint - check your compass on your iPhone and understand where west lies for a particular day. While a chair may be in the sun now it may become prime real estate in the next hour or so. - eating at LaVeranda and the Pool Grill is a delight about an hour or so after it officially opens. Food was always fresh with great selections. - entertainment on the ship was well above expectations and consistently good throughout the cruise. - the specialty restaurants (Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim) are not to be missed. Sette Mari was our favorite once we understood how to shape our menu choices. - we were always able to find a delightful bottle of wine being offered at any venue. Some were new and photos have been captured for purchases back home. - service onboard was as expected for this luxury brand. We thought the service received on our Seabourn trips had the edge. First - our Seabourn trips were prior to Covid and I think the cruise industry is still reeling from the virus. Second - our Seabourn experiences were on ships with 450 passengers vs 800 on this trip; that matters. - the casino is no smoking. Where were the disappointments: - CR - you cannot refer to it as a speciality restaurant just yet. Jorge has his work cut out and understands where they need to invest in the team. I have no doubt they will get there, just need more time. The restaurant is probably the most beautiful of all the dining venues on the ship. - destination services - tours being cancelled at the last minute and lack of real time knowledge about what is happening at port tomorrow. If there are local celebrations then 5 star service delivers reality and not a guess. Yes - we booked another adventure while onboard for March 2025 on the Grandeur! I hope you all enjoyed the commentary and it helps you with your next adventure. I leave you with a final photo. safe journeys!

I want to send a big thank you to GMIAC - your 1/2 portion samples of the pasta at Sette Mari was perfect! Last night was one of favorite dining experiences. We are thinking about giving it another go tonight. We may tweak the line-up slightly by skipping the antipasti and start directly with salad/apps. I really enjoyed the squid and octopus dishes last night. My wife loves the anchovies being served with the salad fixings. And I will also stick with just pasta as a main. Yum. Question is what pasta to choose? We enjoyed Krew Kapers and pleasantly surprised when we walked directly into Sette Mari at 6:50pm with no line. The line at CR as we walked past from deck 5 was beyond the elevator banks, so we were nervous about what was to be encountered at Sette Mari. The wine being poured last night at Sette Mari was outstanding. I captured a snapshot below so we (ok me) don’t forget. The show last night was really good and certainly show cased the technical capabilities of the dancers. The 501c3 organization down on deck 4 (the casino) did something highly unusual and actually refunded a portion of this trip’s contribution. This time my hand actually did hit the cash out button although my brain was saying the big one is coming on the next spin! Collection on your tickets is no longer done at the cage and instead is done via an ATM next to the cage. You insert your ticket and after rounding off for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation cash is ejected out. Also - a big win for us is no smoking in the casino!! OMG - to enjoy time gambling without smoking a pack of lucky strikes non- filters is so enjoyable. Bravo to Regent!!! Be back a little later for a final wrap!

Our last port of call yesterday was Tortola. We passed on a tour an instead ventured out on our own and did I score big. One of the local liquor stores just received a shipment of Blantons, Blantons Gold and Blantons Strait from the Barrel. I immediately secured a bottle of Gold. Again, we found the island residents extremely friendly and fun. The Celebrity Ascent was docked on the same pier as us. I don’t miss the large cruise ships albeit their innovations are somewhat catchy. I snapped a couple photos of the Ascent as we were lounging at the pool yesterday afternoon. I attempted to capture the pool with its glass walls hanging slightly over the ships edge and then the “lounge” which sits over the side of the ship and moves amongst the various decks. As yesterday was Valentine’s Day we poked in on afternoon tea. What a delight. We managed to leave with a pink heart and pink rose dessert which was to die for. I am so sorry was stomach was several steps ahead of the brain and did not think about snapping a photo. However, I did snap a shot of the dessert special at CR last night. Aside from the dessert dinner last night was just ok. The CR has just not yet found its consistent groove … a hit and miss. We were really expecting a special menu offering considering it was Valentine’s Day. What I will say is food is always hot and being seated at a table for 2 in the 7:15-7:30pm timeframe has never been an issue. Phil Tag performed his second show last night. After a very slow start he really kicked it into high gear and seemed to find his pocket. You could hear some hearty belly laughs throughout the theatre. His second show was much better than his first show. Today was the Seafood Extravaganza at the pool grill for lunch. The tuna sashimi was outstanding! Aside from the tuna I pretty much followed my normal lunch routine with the green mussels, shrimp and the special rice offering for the day. My wife always explores the new tastes for the day and thoroughly enjoyed the paella. Boy I am going to miss lunchtime next week! A couple quick photos from lunch today as the team was setting up. For my fellow bourbon drinkers - the pool bar had the most bourbon offerings I have seen on the ship the entire trip. Elijah Craig small batch, Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Evan Williams, and Jack. Tonight we are going to try Sette Mare again and take the advice of a fellow poster and try the half bowls of pasta. Will give you our thoughts on how that goes tomorrow along with my final impressions of the cruise and ship.

Our tours at Curacao and Bonaire were cancelled. They were both beach tours and the weather was what we were told was the reason behind the cancellation. I have not heard of any age or weight restrictions.

St. Barts - we are 2 for 2 in our visits to this beautiful port. Meaning each time we have cruised with this port on the itinerary we have been lucky enough to go ashore. The Main Street, Rue de la Republique, rests along the water with yachts lining the promenade. Yes, the street has almost every high end designer from Paris and Milan, however, you will only find one of a kind goods made by the various fashion houses just for St. Barts. For this specific visit timing is everything as the strong dollar to the Euro also allowed shoppers to actually keep a few dollars in the kitty for extra pulls on the one armed bandits at the ship’s casino. Our visit also coincided with the second day of Carnival celebrations with many people dressed in sparkles and costumes for the early afternoon parade. Which brings us to the topic of RSSC’s destination folks. After learning about the parade event and some indicators online that yesterday was a French holiday there was concern over the shops being closed. When we inquired with our Destination folks we were told the shops would be closed. Well the shops were in facts open albeit for a 3-4 hour slot. Now, I would fully expect our destination expert to be on top of what is happening at each port on our day of arrival. We had a friend whom we just met onboard who informed us she actually called Hermes to confirm their hours of operation. That is something our destination desk should be delivering as a service which does not require a huge investment by RSSC, other than a small amount of time. A big failure by the destination services team in my opinion. Below is a photo from the Capri shop on the second floor looking out into the harbor with the Grandeur in the distance. We returned to the ship just in time for a beautiful lunch at La Veranda. I am hooked on the green mussels served at lunch, a photo attached below. After lunch it was a gorgeous day lounging around the pool rehashing our adventures on the Republique. Did anything get away during our fishing trip? I could not resist taking a few photos of the magnificent yachts dotting the harbor. The photo from yesterday’s post captured the end to a perfect day at St. Barts. Last night was Pacific Rim. By far our favorite dining experience this trip. From the outstanding service by Claire to the explosion of flavorful food choices throughout dinner. We could have done just a variety of appetizers and called it a winner. Do not miss the Pacific Rim. I captured a photo from our table looking out to the entrance of the restaurant. Ok, maybe I had to lean a bit from the table to along the shot. From PR it was off the Marauders Ball. I must say I think the entertainment aboard the ship has been some of the best at sea. The cast can dance and sing. Ok, I admit I got a little lost on the story line but I am typically 2 city blocks behind everyone else when it comes to that anyway. What matters is we enjoyed the show. Off to explore Tortola …

Yesterday was St Lucia. We had a blast on our tour with “Chocolate Thunder”. We decided on the speed boat tour which took us along the coast to the Pitons. CT took the boat into several bays highlighting various points of interest. Upon our arrival at the Pitons we had time to enjoy the beach where the Viceroy resides. Great time with the guys and a tour I would highly recommend on your next visit. Last night we had dinner at CR and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Jorge checked us in and thanked me again for the feedback. The Butternut Squash soup was outstanding. My wife enjoyed the Rigatoni while I nearly licked the bowl clean of Beef Bourguignon. The beef was so tender I broke it apart with my spoon. Yum!! The comedian last night was ok. He had a couple bits which were funny but the days of a screaming comic are somewhat gone. Below are photos of our tour boat, the beach stop and the woman’s shoe rock formation. Today was the Mecca for shoppers. I need time to recover and prepare for tomorrow’s post. However, a good evening photo from St. Barts.

I am having difficulties with replying on the latest page so will apologize in advance if I am double down on responses already submitted. First, responding to the post regarding the escargot at Chartreuse. I think I would order it again to try it again. Because I was caught off guard on the preparation I am not sure I fully appreciated the preparation and for that would probably order it again. Now that I know what to expect I can focus more on the flavors. Yesterday afternoon was the spice tour which was very informative. A lot of our eveyday spices are used for medicinal purposes. Very surprised. We decided to eat on our veranda last night and so ordered from CR. Prior to the meal being delivered we grabbed a couple cocktails from the Prime 7 bar just a few doors away from our cabin. I then ran down to the ML for a couple snack dishes and we enjoyed a couple cocktails with snacks on our Vernanda before dinner arrived at our door. Lovely evening. And before I forget, George the MD called me to address my mid cruise comments. He was very appreciative of my constructive comments. I was taken back that one, he read the comment, but second he actually called to confirm he has seen the same from his team and was addressing the issue. Good for them. After dinner we joined the Super Bowl festivities in the constellation theatre. Wow, wow, wow, wow! Boy did regent do it up right. Food offerings were outstanding and the dessert options were to die for. I was kinda upset we ordered from CR. For those wondering we did not hit a single square even with fairly good numbers. After learning the game was being shown on our cabin TV’s we headed back to the cabin after 3rd quarter to finish the game from bed. Below are photos from dinner on the Veranda to those at the SB party.

Chartreuse last night did not disappoint. The venue was very busy at 7:30 as we waited about 10 minutes to be seated. We once again had Lady Luck on our side as we were seated at the window in the back. Our female waiter was attentive while not being intrusive. She had a great command of the menu as she assisted with our indecisiveness with so many great dishes to choose from. After a few changes we finalized our order as follows: my wife started with the soufflé, then the mushroom soup and wrapped it up with the lamb chops. for me it was the escargot, then the mushroom soup and finishing it off with the Filet. My wife said the soufflé was absolutely decadent! Loved every savory bite. My escargot we good, but entirely different preparation than I have ever experienced. The mushroom soup was the star for both of us. That soup is something you curl up with on a cold rainy day with a nice crusty bread. We loved it! The lamb chops were perfection. I was still so blown away by the mushroom soup I somewhat went through the motions with my filet. It was very good, but my taste-buds were still roaring from the soup. Throughout the meal we enjoyed the Bourdeau being poured and kicking myself for not taking a photo of the label. We had to skip the trolley but did share the Opera cake which was light and creamy. A definite repeat. Timing was just perfect as we left dinner and headed directly to another show with Patty Dess who did not disappoint. Grenada today for some spice shopping. We started it off with another glorious breakfast on our veranda followed with a wine tasting at lunch. A few photos of our entrees last night.

Chartreuse last night did not disappoint. The venue was very busy at 7:30 as we waited about 10 minutes to be seated. We once again had Lady Luck on our side as we were seated at the window in the back. Our female waiter was attentive while not being intrusive. She had a great command of the menu as she assisted with our indecisiveness with so many great dishes to choose from. After a few changes we finalized our order as follows: my wife started with the soufflé, then the mushroom soup and wrapped it up with the lamb chops. for me it was the escargot, then the mushroom soup and finishing it off with the Filet. My wife said the soufflé was absolutely decadent! Loved every savory bite. My escargot we good, but entirely different preparation than I have ever experienced. The mushroom soup was the star for both of us. That soup is something you curl up with on a cold rainy day with a nice crusty bread. We loved it! The lamb chops were perfection. I was still so blown away by the mushroom soup I somewhat went through the motions with my filet. It was very good, but my taste-buds were still roaring from the soup. Throughout the meal we enjoyed the Bourdeau being poured and kicking myself for not taking a photo of the label. We had to skip the trolley but did share the Opera cake which was light and creamy. A definite repeat. Timing was just perfect as we left dinner and headed directly to another show with Patty Dess who did not disappoint. Grenada today for some spice shopping. We started it off with another glorious breakfast on our veranda followed with a wine tasting at lunch. A few photos of our entrees last night.

Another port with our beach tour cancelled. We adventured out into downtown contributing to the local economy. Both Curacao and Bonaire have the most friendly people! It has been great chatting it up with the local shop owners. Last night’s barbecue fell flat for us. Food was good and selections were plenty. Crowd management was an issue. Tonight is Chartreuse. Really looking forward to tonight. cruisevirgin24 - we see Dianara each afternoon when retrieving our daily coffee. I just may ask about the Chocolate Nelson. She is also working the pool deck grill for lunch and we have chatted it up with her on numerous occasions. She is a doll. Laundry and pressing has been great with a 24 hour turnaround. So long for now Bonaire!

Consider yourself blessed!

The pool deck has been closed for the barbecue tonight. While we were initially bummed … this does not stink (see photo below). carrying on with the tips … Please note that the goop station/desk area has two sets of drawers side by side. It looks like both sides have 4 drawers, well there are 3. The bottom 2 are a single deep drawer. C’mon - you need to give Grandeur one strike back on that one. The safe is not large enough to hold a laptop. I realize that there is a minority of us still schlepping a work laptop that requires lock and key. Still a tid bit to be shared. Dinner last night was in CR and it was a hit all around. First and foremost we found our station and service staff. We started with the spring roll and crab for my wife and the lobster bisque for me. Our entrees were lamb, hers was the lamb special while I opted for the chops. Everything was full of flavor and outstanding. The Bourdeau being poured last night was also a big hit. Our female waiter last night had only been in the ship for 3 days and was brand new to the dining service. She was so nervous but did an absolute wonderful job. We told her we will see again. Speak soon!

Greetings from Willemstad! Our scheduled beach tour was cancelled due to weather not being cooperative. When a door closes a window opens - what an enjoyable time we had exploring the many shops along the streets of downtown Willemstad. The partly sunny day and brisk breeze made the poking around a pleasure. The ship docked very close to the Renaissance Hotel and Rif fort. From the fort we strolled along to the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge which is fondly known as the “Swinging Old Lady”; not my words! The bridge rests on 16 pontoons which swings open for boats. Below is my feeble attempt to capture the bridge as it was swinging back into place for pedestrian traffic. Unique shops around the Renaissance Hotel. Here are a few mid- cruise tips: The hair dryer does not stay by itself and requires you to hold down the button- so I am told. Breakfast at 9:15 and lunch at 1:15 is as if you are the only one of the ship. No issues gaining access to a table for 2 at the window. Below is from today’ s seat. Iced coffee mocha with a squeeze of chocolate syrup around 3:30 at coffee connection is a must.

Greetings from Aruba. The color of the water here never disappoints. We opted out of a tour and decided to punish the old pocketbook with a visit to the shops. We came back onboard midafternoon for a late lunch at the pool grill. The truffle burger was calling my wife and I opted for the blackened snapper. The snapper tasted sooo good with an ice cold Corona. The burger was a slight disappointment as it it had the feel of being pre-made, albeit flavors were good. As I lost track of where I left off on our journey and have inadvertently posted things 2x let me back up for a second and give some first impressions of CR last night. Before dinner we swung by the ML for a cocktail stop. We tried a tequila taste; not a fan of the ship offerings. The server was a delight and had a tequila story of his own to share. From ML it was off to CR. I am going to be upfront and say I was dreading this moment, so I am already jaded before approaching the host/hostess station. We had a short line of about 6 in front of us at 7:15 ish. When we approached the hostess never looked up from her screen to greet us and after the grueling 30 seconds she announced a table of 2. Ok we are through gate #1. As we walked to our table in the back your eyes are bouncing every which way as I think it’s the most stunning dining room on any ship and up in my top 10 list on land. The Versace China is out of this world and blends effortlessly into the entire decor. Stunning. Ok - through gate #2. We met our female waiter who was a doll. She poured our water and then was disappointed when we declined any wine. To be honest I as was already a few deep on the Buffalo Trace and thought it best for the evening to pump the brakes and enjoy the meal. Gate # 3 checked. Now comes one of the head waiters to take our order even though she was coming over at the same time to see if we were ready. He took our order without writing it down, restated it three times with each repetition having a minor edit and then walked away. My wife looked at me and said I will bet you a Super Bowl square the order comes out incorrect. She started with the vegetable caponata and ordered the salmon with steam rice and veggies. I opted for the Iberian Ham with artichokes and spicy pepper to start and the snapper special for my main. Both starters came out correct, beautifully plated and most importantly tasted outstanding. We are now turning for the home stretch. Our female waiter (who did not take the order) delivers the first entree to my wife containing what appeared to be an overdone filet mignon. We never made it to my plate as we politely informed her that was not the order. She was horrified and suddenly we felt awful. We told her not to worry. The correct order was resubmitted and made its way to the table within 10 minutes. Both entrees tasted fabulous! We skipped on dessert. CR seems to have a lot of movement amongst the “musicians” within the dining room without a conductor keeping the orchestra in time. They need more time working as a team. From the CR we went to the casino whereby I purchased another Super Bowl square before making our way to the Icons show. Some good singers and dancers within the group. We had a chance today onshore to see some of them and let them know we enjoyed the show. Off for a bit of work before giving the CR another shot this evening. For the poster that asked about the 12th floor - cabin 1211 is the cabin closest to the entrance to the upstairs pool deck and the elevator. That initial impression may not sound so good, however, I don’t think there is a lot of traffic in that area. Not sure if that really helps you. Here is a picture of the ship docked today as well as the tug greeting we received upon port entry this morning.