Live from the Voyager, R/T Venice:"long time, first time"

A much needed sea day

 

Sea days on Regent offer a veritable cornucopia of activities. There are enrichment lectures, wine tasting, dance class, games, bingo, and much more. And, of course, the fitness room beckons me, like a sailor to a siren. So it is wise to do some planning to maximize use of your time. This is especially true on a voyage with but 1 sea day.

 

So with that in mind, here is how we spent our day:

 

-woke up for the first time this cruise without a jarring alarm clock sound

 

-enjoyed some coffee on the pool deck

 

-had a nice breakfast at La Veranda buffet

 

-sat on pool deck and posted about yesterday's activities and my rant about music while Jeannie read

 

-went for a brisk walk along jogging track

 

-sat and read for a while

 

-had a lovely Greek buffet lunch at pool grill

 

-finished our luncheon wine on pool deck chairs

 

-read for a while and took a well deserved mid afternoon nap

 

-awoke, refreshed from nap and had a dip in the pool

 

-enjoyed our afternoon cocktails

 

-sat and read some more

 

All too soon, it was time to return to our suite and get ready for the evening.

With all the excitement, the day just flew by.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Compass Rose. We usually have 2 courses, but we threw caution to the wind and ordered 3.

Jeannie started with the sushi-sashimi, and I the beef carpaccio.

Next Jeannie, the beef consommé, and I, a small portion of the pasta of the evening, rigatoni with pork ragu

 

Then the pièce de résistance, the aforementioned pre ordered miso glazed seabass

This is one of our favorite cruise ship meals, moist, tender, flaky, succulent.

 

Service was at a nice, leisurely pace, all in all, quite the fine dining experience.

 

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What is the sauce next to the fish (please tell me that it isn't ketchup):evilsmile:

The lighting in Compass Rose is atrocious. But I am SURE that wasn't ketchup Jackie!! Looks like it though.

So did you actually ride a donkey down?? For me, that is only something to dream about., [emoji1][emoji2]

It occurs to me that without a cable car, from Thira the only way down would be donkey or walk, so that would not have been a place for someone less than robust to visit.

 

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No. I rode a donkey UP! And walked down...very very carefully. Suggest keeping eyes on the feet and not the view!

 

 

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What is the sauce next to the fish (please tell me that it isn't ketchup):evilsmile:

 

The lighting in Compass Rose is atrocious. But I am SURE that wasn't ketchup Jackie!! Looks like it though.

While we sometimes like to experiment with different food combos, I fear that ketchup with sushi is a bridge too far;).That would be soy sauce.:)

 

The blue overhead lighting in CR does not bother me while sitting there, the blue cast that it causes on photos is quite problematic. I have been experimenting with different camera settings, without yet finding satisfactory results. Believe it or not, these look way better than the ones that I took in automatic mode, but clearly not up to snuff.:(:(

We were once again very pleased with our dinner at Compass Rose last night.

We started with chicken and vegetables spring roll (Jeannie) and cream of chestnut and artichoke soup for me.

We shared an small order of fava bean and morel risotto.

For mains I had the lamb loin, Jeannie had turkey dinner. She said that she preferred dark meat and was served..... dark meat. My lamb was cooked as ordered.

Serving was paced nicely.

 

The show last night was a short segment of tunes from Mama Mia by the production team, followed by a comedian, whose name escapes me at the moment. We enjoyed the show. The comedian performed on a previous night as well, we thought that he was much funnier this time.

 

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Today we are in Ancona, Italy. Our excursion was "Ancona and Riviera del Conero"

It started with a drive to the village of Sirola which is on top of Mt Canero. We stopped along the way at Porto Novo for a nice view.

 

Sirola was a quaint little town also with nice views

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 19, 2018 by boblerm

On the way back we stopped at Passetto, where there is a WWI memorial

 

and views of a resort area

 

 

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Then a drive back to Ancona where we drove around and had a bit of a walk.

 

Ancona's main claim to fame seems to be the Cathedral of St Ciriaco, a place with quite an interesting history

 

as well as Trajan's arch

 

And in keeping with Bob's Rule...

 

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Edited June 19, 2018 by boblerm

Tomorrow we are in Koper, Slovenia. We had booked a tour to Ljubljana, which is a Regent Choice excursion. This morning we received a notice that the tour was cancelled due to lack of participation. We were able to book a tour to Piran, which is an included tour. No biggie, we haven't been to either, and Ljubljana can wait for another time. But I find it a bit interesting- I think this would have been our first Regent Choice tour and it was cancelled, while I cannot recall ever having an included tour cancelled.

Tonight something semi magical happened. We had some time between dinner and show so we stepped in the Voyager lounge where Nature's Rhythm was playing . As soon as we came in, 1 of them said "this man requested a song 5 years ago, and we are going to play it tonight." And they proceeded to play the Black Eyed Peas" I Gotta Feeling ". Which was, in fact, the requested song. OK, yes,they did play it too

slow, and they pronounced "l'chaim" as la chaim, like chain with an m, (which I thought was pretty cute actually), but I was very toched by the fact that they went to the trouble of learning a new song for me. Yes, we did dance to it, and I shook each of their hands and gave them my heartfelt thanks.

 

 

 

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That’s a lovely surprise for you this evening. So glad you you are having a wonderful cruise. Jean.

Have just read the entire thread and thank you for an entertaining morning.

Your dear wife is certainly a stunning lady and you don't scrub up bad yourself and I love how your love for her shines through in your writing.

Glad you are having a great trip and taking the time to blog, especially all the food photos and menu. I can see we will have to have strong willpower come January!!

I look forward to reading more.

That’s a lovely surprise for you this evening. So glad you you are having a wonderful cruise. Jean.

Thanks Jean, it is a great cruise.

 

 

 

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Have just read the entire thread and thank you for an entertaining morning.

Your dear wife is certainly a stunning lady and you don't scrub up bad yourself and I love how your love for her shines through in your writing.

Glad you are having a great trip and taking the time to blog, especially all the food photos and menu. I can see we will have to have strong willpower come January!!

I look forward to reading more.

Boatman's Lady, I very much appreciate your kind words and sentiments.

And I will take "don't scrub up bad" any day of the week ! [emoji16]

Glad you are enjoying

Bob

 

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Sailaway from Ancona started out unremarkable, rather industrial port only 1 nice view

 

Unless you are impressed with the construction of the Viking Jupiter

 

 

It got prettier as we got further out

 

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Dinner at Compass Rose last night was once again excellent. Jeannie had Dover Sole, better in our opinion than it is in Chartreuse, I had filet mignon, better in our opinion than it is in Prime 7.

I believe that I would have to say that CR is my favorite Regent dining spot, although in fairness I have only been to Pacific Rim once.

 

The show last night was Soul Rockin' Nights, beautifully performed by the production company. What a very talented troupe. And the lighting for this show was just fine.

 

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The sea day sounded heavenly!!

The sea day sounded heavenly!!

We cruised on the Explorer in the Caribbean in March. We had 4 sea days and spent them all pretty much like that. We know how to have a good time.

 

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Nice to see a review with pictures.

We cruised on the Explorer in the Caribbean in March. We had 4 sea days and spent them all pretty much like that. We know how to have a good time.

 

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Yes you do...enjoying a sea day is the best to us. Enjoy your cruise, I know we enjoy your postings. Thanks so much for taking the time, even on a sea day.............

Yesterday, our last day, we were in Koper, Slovenia, our tour was Piran and Wine Tasting.

 

Piran is an absolutely charming town

 

 

 

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More Piran

 

 

 

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We were then taken to the village of Truske, where we had a tour of the vineyards and a wine tasting at the Rodica vineyards

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 21, 2018 by boblerm

More from vineyards

 

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