sarawithanh

Agreed Toesinthwater!

We were with Spencer for the Land, Sea, Beach adventure on Tuesday when we docked at Castries.

My family enjoyed the tour!

Don't forget to bring an old bathing suit if you do the mud bath. Highly recommend. Very relaxing experience

But now I have to wash our bathing suits multiple times to get the sulphur smell out. First world problems clearly ;)

Neptune was our driver during the land portion

Terry was very attentive during it all. And during our beach break kept offering beer and rum punch!def spend $5 for a fresh coconut at the beach

My mom got an email about 20% off specialty restaurant if we dine the first night.

I had heard previously if we wait til the day we embark and head to the restaurant to chat w/ somebody, they usually offer a discount to dine the first night.

is 20% the best we can do? trying to decide if I should have mom book now or wait for the day we board.?

thoughts?

We are trying to decide between Herod's and Cosol. But now I am reading good things about Spencer.

Can anybody help swing the vote one way or another?

I definitely get motion sickness, but on my last cruise in June, I used sea bands and while they are not fashionable, they worked like a charm! I even used half a bonine the first 2 days b/c I was skeptical of the bands....but the bands also worked for the week post-cruise when I'm trying to get my land legs again.

At any rate, Herods, Cosol or Spencer? Thoughts?

Does anybody have any leads on paddleboard rentals in or near Phillipsburg?

Many thanks in advance

Hello,

Anybody have any leads on if there is a place near St. Johns, Antigua for SUP paddleboard rentals?

Thanks

Anybody have any leads on where in St. Thomas we can rent paddleboards?

Thanks

Anybody have any leads on paddleboard rentals in ST. LUcia? we will be docked at Castries.

thanks

Thanks for the tip!

I'm hoping to paddleboard at least once on the cruise. so i'm trying to find paddleboard rentals on the other cruise stops too. just in case :D

Hello,

Cruising in January w/ my husband and my parents. Looking for what to do that is relatively inexpensive. Beaches, etc.

Thanks

I too would like to know this information.

Dinner in Sette Mari was fine but th rest of night was a rush rush rush. Left dinner early at 915 (we ate later than we intended and ran out of Time

Went to boutique to spend OBC. He got a watch for my uncle and a Swarovski starfish necklace for me :)

Then went back to room so he could finish packing. He didn't finish til midnight! 1 hr past the deadline. meanwhile I was on the computer doing some homework before internet shutdown at midnight (it didn't) lol

Woke up too early this morning. Got a yummy breakfast. Loads us into busses. Good to go.

Lufthansa at Barcelona was chaos

On the flight from Frankfurt to Dulles. Pics later this week. Thanks for following along

Ok found grandpa snoozing on those lovely couches on pool deck with curtains. Love that area

Forgot boutique doesn't opn til 630 whoops

Went to spa to look at mani options. I was there at like 4pm and somehow thy couldn't squeeze me in for a 15min polish change. Grrrrrrrr

630-730 is Chris Plante reception. Afterwards we have plans with our friends to do Sette Mari since they haven't been yet.

Adios

(I'll try to post som pic thruout next week)

Sorry for typos. Using iPhone and app and my phone case is wonky. Lol

Ibiza. There are 3 things to do here: club, beach or Dalt Villa. Our South of the Island excursion SUCKED. The guide wasn't informative and we had too much free time in boring cities

Got back to ship. I rushed to grab my real shoes and lunch in time to take 1:30 shuttle to Dalt Villa. So amazing. Hilly town full of charm, views, culture, food and shops. Hilly and hot hot hot. 85 today no clouds. I walked halfway up. Then I was starting to b exhausted and forgot water. Had a great time. Def only good if you are in shape.

Back to ship for water and my first and last frozen strawberry dacquiri of cruise. :) yum!

Off to look at boutique again. An mayb find grandpa. My phone needs to charge now.

Rachel - I got the open face ravioli on your suggestion...and it was good. Just didn't "wow" me. I dunno maybe my sore throat is throwing me off. Or maybe I'm sick of "eating out"/vacation food everyday. Haha!

I will take another look in the store tonight before dinner. So sad we have to pack tonight! :(

Signatures for dinner tonight. Service impeccable. Food was just alright. I get better French food at A'berge Chez Francois in Great Falls, VA. I was unimpressed with Signatures. Maybe I didn't order correctly. Desserts were underwhelming too. Prime 7 and Sette Mari are far superior....

Tonight's show was Cirque Rock n Roll. Love love loved it. Yes I know shows can be cheesy but regent shows are fabulous Singing and dancing is great

Tried to spend money in boutique. Wasn't feeling inspired. We have $300 OBC to spend. I got $30 earrings. Lol I keep pushing grandpa to get a spa treatment or buy something. He told me to buy stuff or go to spa. So maybe after half day excursion I will go see about getting my gels removed and a simple manicure. But only if it's $70 or less. Bc I just can't stomach spa prices. Or push comes to shove I'll grab a couple Swarovski necklaces and hope something I pick out is something my mom would wear. Lolol

Sore throat officially. Waking up in 7hra. Ibiza!!!!!!!!! Goodnight.

Yesterday we were excursionless and did our own thing. Toulon ended up being a very cute port. We took the shuttle boat from dock to Toulon. Free to Regent. we grabbed a milkshake and coffee and then took the 12pm little train all around Toulon. It was very informative and awesome. Then we grabbed pizza nearby. Afterwards we put her mother on th shuttle boat back to ship and me and her daughter wandered around and shopped a bit. Then we headed back

5:15-6:15 we had the Chris Plante talk since that is the group we are with. My grandfather is obssessed. Personally I think it's disrespectful to refer to the president as "Hussein". The talk ran over and so I rushed upstairs to a 6:30 prime 7 reservation. Grandpa was 20mins late bc Chris Plante was still talking

Sat next to a lovely British couple for dinner. Steaks were amazing. Great dinner

Then we saw the pianist play music. Ran into more friends and planned our day. Grandpa went to casino and I went with him for a bit before I went to bed.

This morning we ordered room service to save some time but I don't think I will do that again. I prefer my omelette hot....but everything was still delish and it was delivered to us. Can't be that picky

Did the Ciudadella highlights excursion but quickly fell behind in group. So we walked around shops and did our own thing. Then met the group and headed back to ship. We got our respective old ppl on ship and settled for lunch. Also had a quick bite of paella and salad. Ship did a great job. Then daughter and I caught the shuttle bus to Mahon and walked around. Shops closed 1-5 but some were still open. Then we got back to ship. Chilling now

Dear Regent. Please send updated sheets with times for excursions. Had no idea we had PM departure times for tomorrow's Ibiza excursion. Would have been nice to know also - for excursions that are large and divided among multiple groups - there should be separate groups for slower folks. And sep groups for fast folks so we are not holding people back. In addition, the first two rows of bus should he reserved for those 70+ or hard of hearing. I had to kick 2 20sethings out of first row for the bus ride back to ship so that my grandfather and the 81yo lady could sit. Grrrrrrrr

There are a lot of kids age 5-20 on the mariner right now.

I would be so bored. I'm 32 and find myself bored on this cruise lol

We are in med now and the weather is perfect. Not too hot. Not too chilly. Except for yesterday's storm in Antibes

Too bad about the weather, but it sounds like you are having a great time despite missing a port. Though Antibes would be a port I would be hating to miss!

Yup. I was mad we missed Antibes but oh well. Motown show was great last night! The JAR group is fabulous. The show ended around 10:30, I went to bed and Grandpa headed to the Casino!

Yesterday the Captain announced that it's very windy in Sanary Sur Mer so today we docked in Toulon. Excursions remain the same with an added 40min round trip shuttle boat. Still confused on details for that but it doesn't matter - grandpa is staying on board - his tummy is still bothering him. You can only baby an old man for so long....I suggested more water and less desserts and sticking to his reg breakfast and lunch foods...but ya know.... It's definitely all the rich foods and desserts he's not used to eating at home

I was planning to do the Discover Marseilles excursion without him but then I ran into the daughter and mom that we had lunch in Nice with, and asked if I could tag along with them today. Prob just do some shopping and walking around in town. Which is fine by me! I'm kind of sick of being stuck in a motor coach for two hour round trip drives and such.

Dear Regent - this 32yo is struggling with waking up for your insane 8:30am meeting times for half day excursions. News flash - that means your 70+yo customers are struggling even more especially those that had a 6hr or more time difference. Also I have many choice words for the descriptions or lack of consistency and inaccurate ratings of difficulty of activities. (We received a correction sheet on board - it's more corrections than the editor of a newspaper makes. Jesus) The excursion options and information get 1 out of 5 stars from me. You must mention bathroom options and hills and number of steps and be consistent when describing what excursions consist of. Your customer base is 55+. Important information!! [end rant/]

Is the CD recovered now? She was off sick for several days before we got off.

Yep CD is all better and back in action!

I had a lovely lunch with a widow from LA - she is about my moms age and traveling with her two girls - one graduated from HS and the other from college. Her husband/their dad passed away a year and half ago from breast cancer! So we were chatting about that, my masters degree, my dad's cancer, my hearing loss, her husbands Hungarian heritage etc etc etc. It was awesome. Time passed quickly!

Getting dressed for dinner in Compass Rose tonight. hoping to finish dinner so we can get to the theater early and snag a good spot for the show

Left the pool and stumbled into tea time & trivia. That was nice. Followed by Bingo but I didn't stay for that. Instead got caught up chatting with cruise friends.

5:30 - Got back to room - Grandpa snoozing. Guess I will shower now. And hopefully we can get to dinner by 7:30 and finish by 9:30 for the dancing show!!

Sea day update:

After breakfast I went back to the room and fell asleep for another 1.5hrs :). I woke up and then went to get a much needed workout in at the gym. After the gym I ran into one of our cruise friends who said she saw grandpa drinking coffee with another friend. So I went in search of him. Didn't locate him but stumble into a wine tasting!!! Win some, lose some! I had a delicious Bordeaux but didn't have my phone to take a pic of bottle. Oh well.

Found grandpa in room. His tummy was feeling "off". So I headed up to pool deck to get some sun but first stopped for lunch - they set up a delicious Mediterranean buffet. I was sitting by myself and a wonderful lady from LA who was about my moms age (I met her during the block party last night) asked to sit with me. We chatted for a good hour and half about everything. Wonderful lunchtime experience. We departed ways

I got some sun and reading in. Grabbed a book from the library on board. Awesome selection of hardcover books

I also had some ice cream. Delicious!!!!

We changed our signatures reservation for Friday since grandpas tummy is still iffy. Oh well

Compass rose tonight I guess!

On tap for today:

Reading

Gym

Sleeping

Pizza

Ice cream

6:30 at Signatures

Block party was nice. Spent an hour chatting with people in my hallway.

then spent time on balcony while grandpa snoozed. He finally woke up an we headed to Sette Mari for dinner. Holy deliciousness. They are going to need to roll me off this ship. The appetizers were served family style to our table and were tasty. Especially the meatball and chunks of parm cheese and olives. I also liked the fried mozzarella and bread basket

The buffet of extra appetizers was also delish. Make your own Caesar salad etc. The lobster risotto balls were good too.

The creamy tomato basil soup was delish. As was the spaghetti carbonara. Mmmmmmm. The fat kid in me really wanted to see my favorite fettucine Alfredo on the menu. Oh well

We finished dinner and went to the desert extravaganza and pool deck party. Fresh made Nutella Crepes and chocolate fountain! And old people music and alcohol. The adults were loving it and having a great time

Headed off to bed around 11 or 12. Woke up this morning to thunder and lighting. The ship was still moving at 7am today, so I got dressed pretending I was going to excursion. While at breakfast the captain said it was unsafe to anchor - the wind was 42knots and a storm was going to be worse in afternoon. So we are bypassing Antibes and going in search of sun. Sea day!!! I'm sad though - really wanted to do Picasso/absinthe excursion. Oh well.

Nana - I love La Veranda for breakfast and lunch too. The pool bar is also decent when going to eat later

Struggled to wake up this morning. Got dressed and immediately went to get a frappe latte from Coffee Connection (my new favorite). I drank that and then went to checkout the pool bar area. Hooray for granola bars to bring on excursions and for fresh green juices! I told the guy I wanted spinach and apple but no cucumber and to surprise me with the rest. Delicious.

Headed back to get grandpa from room and we went to La Veranda for breakfast. A little chilly in mornings so we sat inside. I love the make your own omelette fresh to order! I got an everything omelette with 1 egg and the rest whites. Light and fluffy. With crispy bacon and fruit and a few dried prunes (because I'm also an old lady). Avocado seems to be missing in action but I asked our waiter for some sliced avocado - half. He brought me an entire avocado!! Yummy

Our excursion was Nice & Little Train in Cannes. Tender was quick and easy and we headed straight to little train for a 45 min audio ride around Cannes. Then we boarded buses and drove an hour to Nice. The group had a 1hr walking tour but some of us broke off. Grandpa and I paired up with a lovey southern old lady and her daughter. We grabbed a snack at a cafe so we could sit and get out of sun. After that we met the group and then drove an hour back to Cannes

Plenty of toilets at the port where tender dropped us off. Also the public restroom in the gardens in Nice were super nice!

Got back to ship and gramps took a nap while I laid on lounge chair at poo area to get some sun.

Since we didn't really have lunch in Nice, just a snack, I got another snack around 4pm today - the salads are so fresh - even at pool grill. I got a salad and cut some of gramps burger (no bun) off. Plus sweet potato fries!!!! So good!

I've managed to avoid the yummy looking ice cream case, for now. But that chocolate PB ice cream is calling my name - maybe tomorrow

Finishing up at pool. Leaving grandpa to continue his snooze on pool deck. Headed back to shower and get ready and maybe pop my head out at 6pm for the block party in the hallway.

Today we did the Cruising The Italian Riviera in Portofino at 1pm.

Everything went smoothly. Our guide was great. Port of Comiglio is super cute. Relatively light walking for gramps. Found places to sit. The cruise down riviera was nice and informative. Free time allowed me to treat gramps to gelato. Yummy! Cruise back to Portofino was good - we tasted Italian white wine and focaccia.mmmmm focaccia. Love that stuff. I was dozing off on the cruise back but choppy waves kept startling me awake.

We got back in time to shower and make it to the Chris Plante Reception. The reason we went on this cruise was bc grandpa heard about it while listening to Chris Plante. After that we gathered our friends and went to dinner at Compass Rose. Another fabulous meal with great service.

Got out late and saw tail end of Broadway show. Very good. I was dozing off again!!!

Time for bed. Early excursion tomorrow.