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Yesterday we were in Lyeskill, Sweden. Our last stop before we leave in Copenhagen on Tuesday. We had an early tour, a boat trip to see seals. It was incredibly foggy, so it became a bit of a game as to whether the rocks had a seal 🦭on them or if it was just a bump on the surface. It was really only certain when the rock/seal raised its head. We returned to find the cases on the bed . We filled them and headed for a coffee and a couple of games to try and increase our Regent Reward Points. We played our final game of Trivia until December, 4th place - close but no cigar….. We then traded the points for golf balls, a reusable cup and a Panama hat that (if it survives our journey home😏) I hope to cover with a net when we visit the Amazon, so none of those pesky insects can get into my eyes, nose or mouth….. Pre-dinner drinks were in the Meridian Lounge where I was introduced to the delights of chocolate tequila shots (yep, pre dinner 😜 ). We then had a lovely dinner with 2 of our Trivia friends - a final Crab and Avocado Appetiser beckoned. A return trip to the Meridian Lounge for more Tequila and to say farewell to Neymanja and Billy. Then we rolled our suitcases into the hall, before settling down for the last night in our oh so comfortable bed.

That has worked twice on our current trip 🤞

Yesterday was Oslo - Day 2 We had an early tour “Oslo By Land and Sea”, so we had a quick breakfast in La Verandah. The “By Sea” bit was first on the list. It was quite cool at 16c and the boat was a large open decked sailing vessel with wooden benches. I was glad for my hoodie even if my hair looked like a crows nest after😱. The guide was very good and the we saw some interesting sights, with great commentary. It’s a shame that we didn’t have her for the rest of the tour. We sailed past the Scenic Eclipse and caught a glimpse of a helicopter that is onboard along with a submarine. It looks like a large super yacht. We’re thinking about an Antarctic cruise on her. The “Land Bit” was on a bus, with a very quick “P stop” at Holmenkollen ski slope. This was an interesting place as there were many people competing in different extreme challenges, including a marathon that concluded with a climb UP the ski slope! It would have been nice to spend more time but we only had just over 20 minutes, including the “P” stop. It was quite difficult to see the top of the ski slope due to the fog. Unfortunately the guide on this part of the tour was nowhere near as interesting as the earlier one. Not for the first time we remarked on how much the guide can affect a tour. The weather improved exponentially over the day and the afternoon was positively balmy compared with the morning. We had a “light” lunch in P7, then threw a few things in one of our cases…..😬 Tonight was Krew Kapers, I’m sure it was wonderful, they usually are, but we didn’t attend as we had been invited to a cocktail party, which was lovely. Dinner was a return to P7, where although the food was tasty, it was only just hot enough, hot plates would definitely help. We had to spend our non-refundable OBC, there were only slim pickings in the boutique, but we managed it somehow. Seriously, the lack of stock in the boutique is risible. I asked why it was so low and got several different responses, (a) they are changing from summer to winter gear (that doesn’t cut it for toiletries makeup and perfume, which I don’t believe have seasonal changes🤔 ), (b) they have been waiting for a container of various goods since Splendor was in Southampton and other similar varieties of excuses. The juice bar at the pool deck as also been out of fresh ginger for about 5 days now . Hopefully it will be restocked in Copenhagen for those continuing on the ship or coming onboard. A drink in the Meridian Lounge to experience once again the Neymanjer and Billy show (a great double act of barman and waiter). Tomorrow is Lyeskill in Sweden, our penultimate port of call.

Yesterday was Oslo - Day 1 As it was a Saturday, it was “Mary Day”, we had very good Virgin ones 😉 We’d already decided not to do the Walking Museum Tour as the Peace Museum was closed for renovation; so we took a walk into the city and what a beautiful city it is. We then took the HOHO around the city, getting off at the Vigeland sculpture park. Where there are many statues depicting the human form (including 120 figures on fountain alone) let’s just say that there are no Fig Leaves in use……🫣 Apparently, the Column took the artist 11 months to complete in plaster and then 3 men 14 years to sculpt it in stone!

We are currently looking at the Glimmering Towers Of Asia cruise on Voyager for December 2024. It has the option for an Overland trip to the Taj Mahal. I was wondering if anyone might have done this and has any views or suggestions as to whether this is worthwhile, both from a monetary and missed port (we would miss an overnight in Mumbai and a day in Goa). The cost is $4,899 pp inc. economy flights. Thanks in advance. LP

I love how different the D&D shows are on the different ships. Ours on Splendor included Queen, Diana Ross and Madonna. While on Explorer last Christmas the show included Tina Turner, with a singer who was as good as the singer in London’s West End version of Tina The Musical.

Yesterday we were in Skagen - pronounced Schkaan, the G is definitely silent.🤫 The weather was a continuation of the previous day, very foggy, although it was quite warm at around 18c. We had an early afternoon tour and the fog did lift a little, to the extent that we could see ships in the harbour that had been invisible earlier! The tour was called Skagen City Tour and Sandworm, which conjures up all sorts of images. The Skagen Museum was our first stop, it basically consisted of just over 1 floor of old oil paintings, they were very good oil paintings, but unless you have a particular affinity with either artists from Skagen or old oil paintings you will probably do what we did and skip into town for the remainder of our time there. (Now if it had been Canaletto paintings, I would probably have missed Trivia and only just made it to the ship on time!) We then went to a church tower that was slowly being reclaimed by the sand dunes. Our final part of the trip was to meet the mysterious sandworm, which turned out to be a tractor pulling some carriages over the sand dunes to the place where the North and Baltic Seas collide. Dinner was a second trip to Pacific Rim, where I managed to avoid the temptation of Lobster Tempura! The show was Phillip Brown’s second and final one on this cruise. He was just as good the second time. Tomorrow we are in Oslo for an overnight stay.

The Captain has stated that they are deep cleaning everything. In addition all “self service” areas, buffet, coffee connection, etc. are now “crew service”. I haven’t heard anything about Covid, a few people are coughing in the theatre but no more than you usually hear. I don’t know what the parameters are for reporting to the authorities. LP

No turn down chocolates on our pillows on this cruise But tonight we got turn down hand sanitizer 🙃

I make a VERY showy point of using the hand sanitizer when we go into the restaurants, the number of people who don’t are unbelievable…..BUT, what is beyond comprehension are the people who come out of a toilet cubicle and don’t was their hands 😱

@Techno123 - that’s just showing off 😮

Quick update to say that we have several cases of Gastroenteritis on board and as a result the library and laundry rooms are closed. We realised it serious when we had to mark our own trivia papers!! The Captain and Margaret have both been on the PA imploring guests to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer.

Yesterday was a sea day. In sharp contrast to the beautiful weather the day before, it was damp and foggy, with the foghorn sounding fairly constantly. We tried and failed to win Regent Rewards points at shuffle golf. We spent some time trying to decide which cruise to book for Christmas 2024. The only other noteworthy thing about the daytime was that I found my little piggy sock that had gone missing in the laundry room (I don’t generally use the laundry service for socks and underwear preferring to use the machines)!l - its sibling is happy to be reunited 😂 We had a very good dinner in Compass Rose and went to the Divos and Divas show, which was very good, although possibly not as good as the version we saw on Explorer last Christmas.

Yesterday we were in Skjolden, Norway. Our tour was supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour bus trip to see Glaciers and Landscapes, we were also waitlisted for the Rib Fjord Adventure. After a leisurely breakfast in Compass Rose (we actually got up in time to go there 😴), I went to the theatre to see if there were any Rib Adventure tour tickets available. As luck would have it, there were 2 for the afternoon, so we returned the other tickets in exchange. The Tour Gods must have been smiling on us…… About an hour later Margaret came on the PA system to announce that despite all the necessary checks having been done by Destination Services, the local tour operator was unable or unwilling to provide the necessary buses for the tours! As a result the only tours that would be taking place were those involving the Rib Boats! Eventually 2 buses did turn up and I believe ferried passengers to and from town. I don’t know the reason why the buses didn’t arrive - I’ve heard several theories, I won’t repeat them here as they range from one extreme to another! Having got suitably attired for our adventure, we clambered aboard the RIB. The scenery for the next 1h15m was spectacular. I’ve attached a few photos below - they might be a bit repetitive but they are all from different places 😂 One (possibly) interesting tidbit from our RIB Driver guide is that for the English Premier League Football teams, all the names, numbers and sleeve badges will be produced at Avery Dennison's factory in Western Norway, not far from where we were - if I’d ever been asked to guess where they are manufactured I would almost certainly have guessed China! You never know it might be a question at Trivia one day 😉. Dinner was at Prime7. Somehow our sharing table booking became a table for 2 by the window - the views, albeit through salt sprayed windows was spectacular - the last photo is from the window of P7. We then went to the Crossroads show, I was wondering whether to bother given some earlier reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised. Not as fabulous as Divos and Divas (on tonight) but definitely better than some other shows we’ve seen. Tomorrow is a sea day.

Yesterday we were in Alesund, Norway. We slept late and were awakened by the Captain at 9:20am advising that we would have a slightly late arrival. In what seemed like no time we were alongside in a pretty port, the sun was shining too, which was a pleasant change. We had an early afternoon tour so we snatched a light breakfast snack in Coffee Connection followed by a piece of Pizza and a sandwich at the Pool Grill. Our tour was the Sunnmore Museum - an outdoor museum of old Nordic buildings and boats - followed by a drive to a viewing platform, which delivered some amazing views. As we sailed out of the port we were serenaded by a small Norwegian brass band. Dinner at Compass Rose did not disappoint - the Miso Glazed Sea Bass with Sticky Rice was every bit as delicious as I had (a) hoped, (b) dreamed, (c) imagined. The show was Philip Brown, a singer from the UK we have seen twice before. He is phenomenal. Top Tip if he is ever on any Regent ship DO NOT MISS HIS SHOW!!!

Apologies posted on wrong thread 🫣

Yesterday we were in Trondheim, Norway which is a town of about 213,000 residents. We waitlisted for the Tram and Bus tour in the theatre and struck lucky…..🤔 There was plenty of “liquid sunshine” including for the 15-20 minute wait for the vintage tram, some kind of mix up with the schedule meant that the tram wasn’t waiting for us when we arrived. Fortunately it wasn’t too cold or windy. The tram took us to an overlook over the City, Port and Church, nothing particularly noteworthy. There is a little island just off the pier that has a checkered history. It has been a place for Viking executions, a monastery a WW2 gun station by the Germans and a prison; the guide called it Norway’s Alcatraz Today it’s a tourist attraction! I took a photo from the overlook on our tour, not realising that we had a much better vantage point from our suite balcony. Dinner was in Compass Rose, a little disappointing, my Dover Sole was borderline tough, not sufficiently to send it back, but not the tender flaky flesh I had hoped for. Interestingly, RP and our 2 table companions, all with different main courses were similarly underwhelmed. Perhaps the chef was having an off day…or a day off. The show was Bohemian Soul which was a new one for us. It featured the Regent singers and dancers and was quite good. Tomorrow is Alesund, and, perhaps more importantly, the Seven Seas Society Cocktail Party, which DEFINITELY, most importantly, means Miso Sea Bass 😋😋 LP

Glad that the Stewardess and Assistant Chief Housekeeper apologised, obviously it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Personally I think the Chief Housekeeper should not be sending the Assistant Chief Housekeeper to do their job! But on to better things; we so nearly chose the Mariner cruise you are on, it was a toss up between it and the Splendor one we are currently on. The fact that we hadn’t been on Splendor and that we will be on Mariner this coming Christmas swayed it for us. However, if we had known that Terry Bishop was onboard Mariner our decision would have been far more difficult. Terry is a fabulous lecturer and his Troubadour Tales are great. Enjoy your cruise I will be following along. LP

Yesterday was Sunday, it was also a sea day, which, if you’re on Splendor or Explorer usually means that it’s (drum roll please) “GALA SUNDAY BRUNCH”. We’ve only experienced this phenomenon once before on Explorer - it’s an amazing thing! The Wi-Fi has been a little challenging, just the written part of this has taken several attempts!

100% agree with @boblermand @hamasgirl about the Reykjavik Grand. The moveable shower screen was one of the best examples of “style over substance” albeit without any noticeable style….. who on earth designs these things? Also, if you stay for 2 nights or more you have to request fresh towels (which you will DEFINITELY need) the day before, go figure 🤯.

Some photos from Isafjordur

Q. How many crew members does it take to change the lightbulb outside the Observation Lounge? A. Just 1, with “moral support” from 3 others inside, including the crew members supervisor! The poor crew member wasn’t really tall enough so had to really stretch to remove and replace the bulb, his, much taller, supervisor could have done it in less than half the time 🤨 Thanks @flossie009 - hopefully it worked 🤞

Really struggling with uploading photos 😬. Last night we ate in Pacific Rim, it’s always such a treat. My (appetiser size) portion of Lobster Tempura and my main of Miso Black Cod were just as good as I had remembered them 😋 I have an allergy to scallops (I love them but sadly they really don’t like me at all), so couldn’t even taste the Seafood Laksa that RP had but he assured me it was delicious, as was the Alaskan Crab Roll appetiser. We both ended the meal with the Ice Cream Sampler — who would have imagined that sea weed ice cream was edible? I’m not sure I’d order it in a cone, but it was definitely better than it sounds! We skipped the comedian show opting for an early night. I almost forgot to mention that our Team of 5 (3 from the US and 2 Brits) came a respectable 2nd in Trivia with 15 out of 16 points 😁. We turned in our tour tickets for Husavik to Destination Services, the weather forecast was bad and we didn’t fancy the outdoor baths, no matter how reinvigorating the waters are supposed to be, we planned instead to walk into town and visit the Whale …..Turns out it made no difference as the Captain came on the PA into our suites at 7am to announce that he was cancelling the stop due to high winds and no tug boat to assist us. So we now have 2 B2B sea days.

We woke to a cloudy day in Isafjordur. We berthed next to another HAL Ship - Rotterdam, while (New) Crystal Serenity was anchored, guess maybe that the itineraries for other cruise lines would have been agreed long before Crystal, leaving them no option but to anchor 🤔. Our tour this morning was Artic Foxes and Avalanches. Apparently there are plenty of both here, but you are more likely to see the latter 😬. Fortunately we saw the former, albeit in captivity, as they were rescued as cubs and avoided the latter 😅. The tour guide, was an Australian who has been living in Iceland since getting stuck here during the pandemic! Quite interesting to choose living where for circa 3 months of the year you are unlikely to witness the sun….. She was quite interesting and regaled us with stories of Trolls and Elves as well as more esoteric information. Apparently, the 3 cruise ships “more than doubled” the inhabitants of the area. It didn’t seem crowded though. I’m trying to upload some photos from today, but it’s not letting me at the moment 🤷‍♀️

Initial observations about Splendor: It’s much lighter and brighter than Explorer, with a more contemporary feel, the artwork seems a little more subtle. The theatre as previously noted by many others has much better sight lines. The staircase down to Compass Rose now faces the restaurant and is a definite improvement IMO. On the slightly negative side, IMHO Coffee Connection and the Observation Lounge have lost a bit of their charm, compared to Explorer, they seem a little soulless. The seating in the Observation Lounge doesn’t have the same appeal for “lounging” in. Service so far has been good, the wine waiter was a little busy last night, so we didn’t drink as much wine as we could have, but that may have been a good thing…… We have seen a few faces among the crew that we recall from past cruises, this is always a great feeling and the crew members seem to love it when you recognise them.