On Board the Voyager Sanctuaries in the Sand/Aegean Holiday; March 30-April 23rd

[cruiseej]

Col Wes,

 

Wow, 3 hours of exercise; time to transfer photos to your computer, upload to Photobucket and post on CC; regular Regent excursions and meals -- I'm assuming you simply gave up sleep on your trip? ;) I hope you've had a chance to sleep some now that you're home.

 

-- Eric

[WesW]

Hi Might Quinn & cruiseej,

 

MQ, thank you so much for your kind words. Truly, was a joy to do and share.

 

Eric, sleep what is the meaning of this five letter word ? Yes, catching up on sleep here in Atlanta, thanks, but did get 131 minutes of exercise in today--Ida's cooking in many cases is as good as Regent, and in some cases, her cooking surpasses Regent (Tex Mex buffet), this themed lunch buffet was awful according to my dear Chef Ida).

[nyfeds]

Hi Wes! Welcome home to you and Ida!

 

Please count me in among the many who want to express thanks for virtually taking us along with you in the very best of ways! I know how much you were looking forward to this trip and from all accounts, it looks to have far exceeded your expectations! So glad you had such a marvelous time! Thanks, again, for all your posts and pix! You did an outstanding job. I expected nothing less :)

[WesW]

Hi Nyfeds/Denise. Thanks so much for your very gracious words--sincerely, was our pleasure.

 

Now on to another subject.

 

Our original intent when we started this thread was to share with the Regent board regular readers some tips on how we travel aspirationally when we cruise. Aspirationally? Meaning we save thousands of dollars by doing our own air and hotel stays with the points/miles we earn throughout the year.

 

For this cruise, what savings did we get. First we saved over $7000 off the cruise fare by doing our own air. We flew first class to Dubai from Atlanta on our miles. We returned from Istanbul on Lufthansa Biz class again on miles, cost $0. Many Regent cruisers like the Biz class air for $999 pp. We turned this down on our Athens to Istanbul segment and saved $5000, for our Dubai to Athens, by doing our own air we saved over $2000. How? I daily follow over a dozen travel blogs that give me tips on how to earn miles and hotel points through a variety of promotions.

 

Is it worth your time? We have not paid for an airline ticket on a cruise in over three years and only fly first class or business class to our destinations? Hotels? We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Dubai for two nites at a club room, cost $0. In Istanbul, we alsostayed at a very nice Holiday Inn for a day room--cost, $0, but 50K Priority points. Once we arrived in Frankfurt 10Pm, we stayed at the Frankfurt Airport Hilton (got another upgrade to a club room), cost $0, 25K Hilton points. You can easily do this too.

 

If you are interested in learning more, pls send me an email at my yahoo email below and I will send you my fav travel blog sites I follow daily.

[RachelG]

Agree with col wes about maximizing airline and hotel miles/points.

 

Wes, tell Ida I totally agree abouts the tex mex buffet as it is horrid. I would be embarrassed to serve that. The only one thing good that I have fou d is the guacamole. Otherwise, total crap. I would be happy to teach them a proper tex mex ( or oklahoma mex in my case) buffet. Maybe Ida and I can get together on a future cruise and set this up.

[duct tape]

Thanx to Wes & Ida and all the other posters for making my Sunday morning fly by! I just read the whole 14 pages and loved every one of them. Lots of great memories flooded me and I am grateful.

[WesW]

RachelG/Rachel, Duct Tape;

 

Rachel, Ida said when are sailing on Regent together that you both will go see Exec Chef and offer your Texmex mentorship. Rachel for cinco de

Mayo next week we are having our annual fiesta in our back yard--Ida makes four types of home made pico de gallos to pair with her fajitas and handmade

tortillas.

 

Duct Tape; thanks so much for your way too kind words--sincerely our pleasure to post.

 

A bit off topic--Will do the same type of thread for our SS Cloud (london tower (Iceland) london tower) voyage next July. DT you should join us for our 3/4th Spirit fall crossings next November too.

 

Very interesting Petra "bono" story. When Ida and I were having lunch after our tour, one of Ida's cruise friends took her aside and showed her a video of a man practicing his vocals, his assistant and his wife along with her in one of the Petra caves. Who was it, very clearly it was Bono of U2, who graciously allowed ida's friend to take the vid and some pix of them.

[RachelG]

How cool is that about Bono!

 

Love the pico de gallo. I do not make handmade tortillas, but my chili and taco meat are outstanding. And not difficult. I think they don't have any Mexicans or people from the south west US who know how Mexican food is supposed to taste working on board.

[tallship]

Agreed. The Tex Mex Buffet is not terribly good.....

[WesW]

Would like to share how we provide extra awareness to Regent leadership (besides on board mid cruise and end of cruise comment cards) on the above & beyond performance of select Voyager crew. We do this for every Regent cruise (and sometimes we have recommendations for improvement too). Please see personal email we sent to the President of Regent last below and his response immediately below.

 

 

 

Dear Col. Wes,

 

 

 

Thank you for the kind comments, I have taken the liberty of sharing them with the team aboard along with my thanks for a job well done.

 

 

 

We look forward to welcoming you back next spring for your 30th anniversary cruise

 

 

 

Kindest personal regards,

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

Mark S. Conroy │ President

 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 

8300 NW 33rd Street │Suite 100

 

Miami, FL 33122

 

tel: 954.940.7320 │ fax: 954.772.4113

 

│Website. http://www.RSSC.com

 

The Most Inclusive Luxury Cruise Experience

 

Please Note New Address

 

 

 

From: Colonel(Ret.) Wes

Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2012 2:46 PM

To: Mark Conroy

Subject: special Kudos

 

 

 

Hi Mark,

 

We disembarked the Voyager six days ago in Istanbul after 24 nites on board.

 

Must pass along a very special kudo to the GM, Ralph De Klijn for running the best ship we have been on in over 130 days at sea on both

Silversea and Regent.

 

He reflects the cherished characteristics I aspired too in almost 32 years of military service. He is cool and detached but displays an intense

interest in everything that happens on board. Teamwork was on display 24x7, the Voyager was spit shined and looked better than ever.

 

A few other special mentions:

 

Kudos to Ricardo, head sommelier in The Compass Rose--he complimented the fine cuisine with exceptional wine knowledge that enhanced

our overall dining experience. CR became our fav place to have dinner--primarily because we knew we could tap Ricardo's wine expertise.

 

Silvester, Maitre D in La Veranda came on board half way through our voyage but added an immediate positive spark to La Veranda's service.

Always smiling he made sure the La Veranda crew/team provided continued intuitive service.

 

And special thanks to the teamwork, friendliness and competence of the Security personnel that process each pax as they embark/disembark

the ship. We got to know each other as I made my daily afternoon runs in many of our ports--always professional, courteous and welcoming on

my jogging return.

 

Mark, look forward to sailing with Regent on our 30th Anniversary next Spring.

 

Best, Wes

[WesW]

HanL (Han & Karin) asked me to post a link to their Dubai to Athens pictures. Pls see the link below for truly outstanding pictures of our voyage (you will be magically transported by stunning visuals of Dubai, Oman, Luxor, Petra, Suez Canal (just for you Gerry), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Haifa). Thanks Han & Karin for sharing and allowing Ida and I to relive our incredible voyage.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/79480481@N05/sets/72157629940365119/detail/

[Aloha 1]

Thanks for forwarding the link. Wonderful pics.

[mimito4]

Wes and Ida, welcome home. Sorry I've not been a great follower, but still count me among your fans. Life has gotten in the way of my CC lurking and, for sure, my posting.

 

Still, I got somewhat caught up with your great travel tales. Let me just say that if I EVER do grow up, I want to be you. I so want to be you. . .well, except for that grueling exericise bit. ;) :p

 

Thank you for taking us all along. I enjoyed immensely!

[WesW]

Aloha1/Ken, Mimito4/T; Thanks again for your very kind words. Ken I absolutely agree, HanL did a magnificent job with Karen and his Dubai to Athens photos.

 

Good to hear from you Teresa/T; hope living life allows Don and you to book another cruise soon