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

[dougburns]

Wes; You and Ida should take advantage of those dance lessons with Dieter and Ilse during the sea days on the way to Safaga.

[WesW]

Hi Doug, with Dieter and Else we did the Electric slide and swing today--fun...dinner in P7 was the bomb--dover sole--we decided to fore go the Flintstones size meat portions.

[dougburns]

We have always enjoyed the lessons with Dieter and Ilse. They make it fun for all. Sounds as if you're having a great time. Wish we were there with you both.

[Eager2Travel]

We are so glad to hear that you and Ida are having a fine time but we expected nothing less. We are eager to hear or rather see your responses to the stops you have ahead of you. We are excited for you as our own memories are still vivid. Enjoy the sea days and the trip through the canal

 

Ann and Shel

[WesW]

Doug, yesterday in dance class we learned and enjoyed the Mombo--Ida was in her element with the latin music.

 

Hi Ann and Shel (and Happy Passover)..we are loving the seadays--charging our batteries for the iconic sights to come.

 

Last night we enjoyed a private birthday party in a fellow guest's grand suite (we met Bill and Julie on Mystical Muscat) Very small world as we Bill and I grew up

in Cupertino, Calif (bay area) (his law firm incorporated Apple--they thought they were smart taking the $10K fee in lieu of Apple stock (would have been worth more than $14M today).

 

We begin our third relaxing sea day in a row today--another day full of Regent fun activities; enrichment lectures ("What's actually going on in Iran"), more dance

classes with the outstanding Dieter and Ilsa, Italian pasta and pizza buffet, spin class, then tonight's entertainment with the Jean Ann Ryan troupe is Viva La Vida.

Tomorrow about noon we arrive in Safaga and start five jam packed excursion filled days. We begin with the Desert Jeep Safari--an off road trek that highlights the sights and culture of the Arabian Desert. Look forward to sharing the experience (in words) and sights (in pix) with fellow CCrs.

[txladycruiser]

Sounds like you and Ida are having a fantastic time!

 

Enjoying your updates!

 

 

 

Karen & Wayne

[HanL]

Last night we had a fantastic party at the pool deck. Dancing under the stars. With temps just over 80 degrees, no wind and smooth seas it was a fantastic evening.

Tonight is Viva La Vida.

[Travelcat2]

Last night we had a fantastic party at the pool deck. Dancing under the stars. With temps just over 80 degrees, no wind and smooth seas it was a fantastic evening.

Tonight is Viva La Vida.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time in Jordan, Egypt and Israel. The days will be very long and tiring, but it's worth it. Looking forward to reading your posts and hearing about your experiences.:)

[WesW]

Han, the White LInen deck party was another Festival at Sea event (they even brought their own DJ "Al your Pal)."

 

We enjoyed learning the Tango today with Hans and Ilsa, very well attended--we had about 15 couples. Early this evening we enjoyed the activity below..we call it spinning for Veal Scallopine at La Veranda

 

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[Travelcat2]

This link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=33222138&posted=1#post33222138 will take you to a new thread where a first time Regent cruiser (and first time CruiseCritic poster) posted some very harsh words about the Voyager. While much of this is subjective, I could not help but wonder if there is a new head chef on board. . . . if there has been a problem with the food in Compass Rose. . . . . has anyone been getting ill since boarding the ship. . . and, are there noticeable cleanliness problems onboard?

 

I know how busy you will be over the next few days. . . . . no rush in responding.

[WesW]

Tonight, we enjoyed refreshing drinks before dinner in the Observation lounge with our CC friends, Cavergirl (J.R and Beverly) shown in pix below--good friends, good drinks (mixed & poured exceptionally by Jose/obsvn lounge bartender), wonderful cruise--how fortunate we are:

 

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa436/colonelwes/005-2.jpg[/img]"]

[Travelcat2]

This link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=33222138&posted=1#post33222138 will take you to a new thread where a first time Regent cruiser (and first time CruiseCritic poster) posted some very harsh words about the Voyager. While much of this is subjective, I could not help but wonder if there is a new head chef on board. . . . if there has been a problem with the food in Compass Rose. . . . . has anyone been getting ill since boarding the ship. . . and, are there noticeable cleanliness problems onboard?

 

I know how busy you will be over the next few days. . . . . no rush in responding.

 

The thread that I linked is now gone. Apparently is was posted by a troll. Back to business. Anxiously awaiting photos of ports.

[mimito4]

Well, well, well, Colonel, I salut you! You have become an expert at picture posting (see how easy?!), and your pictures and tales of your adventures are utterly fabulous.

 

Do keep it up. I just go on today (crazy, stressful busy in real life) and saw this thread. I shall now follow. Loving, loving, loving what I am seeing. You are a great photographer and a great poster of what came out of your camera.

 

Continue on please. Regards to your lovely as well.

[WesW]

Hi T/mimito4; thanks for your way too kind words and regards back to Don pls too. We look fwd to posting more pix after or jeep safari in Safaga this afternoon.

[WesW]

A few pix from our desert jeep safari tour taken today in Safaga:

 

Bedouin woman making local bread

 

 

The conventional camel shot:

 

 

Another Bedouin woman weaving garments, Ida gave the little girl a granola bar and the

girl in turn gave her a friendship bracelet.

 

 

Han and Karin enjoying Tea at the Bedouin camp

 

[Sheltieluv]

Wes, Thank you for posting such wonderful pictures. You have taken those of us who can only dream of such adventures, along with you. Enjoy the rest of your journey, and thank you so much for sharing!:)

[jayhawk67]

Just a safety tip. Do all of you recognize that Cruise Critic is open to anyone who signs up???? Many of you have posted enough personal information to make you target for kidnap or other nearly as ugly situations. Anyone can can deduce that since you are cruising on a luxury line you are most likely very well off. A search of the Regent web site can give anyone your itinerary. Armed with this info and possibly your specific plans in a port plus a picture, would make finding you not all that difficult. Is it really worth the risk? I would suggest great caution.

P.S. Please do give us all port feedback after the fact. I'm one of the good guys and in an abundance of caution would just hope you would give this a thought---safe journeys!

[Travelcat2]

Just a safety tip. Do all of you recognize that Cruise Critic is open to anyone who signs up???? Many of you have posted enough personal information to make you target for kidnap or other nearly as ugly situations. Anyone can can deduce that since you are cruising on a luxury line you are most likely very well off. A search of the Regent web site can give anyone your itinerary. Armed with this info and possibly your specific plans in a port plus a picture, would make finding you not all that difficult. Is it really worth the risk? I would suggest great caution.

P.S. Please do give us all port feedback after the fact. I'm one of the good guys and in an abundance of caution would just hope you would give this a thought---safe journeys!

 

 

BRAVO! Thank you for having the foresight to make such an important post. Some people post their personal email addresses that are extremely insecure (especially Yahoo accounts -- we had some scarey experiences with Yahoo -- as have our friends and would never use them again*). In all fairness, there are many people who are not aware of the risk of posting this information. It is only because of posts like yours that they have the opportunity to learn to be cautious.

 

In terms of the above photos, as far as I can tell, they were posted once the excursion was completed. From our experience, Regent has many safety precautions in place because itineraries are known to the public well in advance (as are all cruise itineraries). Thank you for trying to make posters aware of security issues.

 

*Someone secured information on our Yahoo account and sent emails to everyone in our address book. The email stated that we were stranded somewhere (cnanot recall where) and needed $2,000 for some reason. Very close friends knew that we were at home. . . . but, lovely, caring people such as our gardeners sent an email to the criminals stating that they could only afford $500 but hopes that others would be able to contribute to meet the dollar amount that we needed. Hearing this was soul wrenching. A few months later we received an email stating that a friend was in the same situation.. . . this is an ongoing scam. PLEASE, DO NOT GIVE YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS ON ANY PUBLIC BOARD. (CruiseCritic: truly hope you allow this post to remain -- it is posted only to help other members)

[Patti22]

Hi, Col. Wes.

Wondered why the shades were down in Ob Lounge. Is this for security purposes? Please, if you wouldn't mind tell us.

[nyfeds]

enjoying your reports and pix, wes! looks like you and ida are having a fantastic time. best from us to you both! happy holidays!

[Longhorn1]

Patti...on our recent Voyager cruise the shades were drawn many times just because of the sun. Nothing more than that in our case and I bet the same with Wes. PS: Well done Wes. Keep it coming...you are creating a lot of good feelings regardless of what you may infer elsewhere.

[Patti22]

Longhorn,

Humm, never seen all of the shades down. Even when sailing into the sun, shades are only partially down Kinda creepy and not a very nice experience. Must be another reason???

[cruiseluv]

Just a safety tip. Do all of you recognize that Cruise Critic is open to anyone who signs up???? Many of you have posted enough personal information to make you target for kidnap or other nearly as ugly situations. Anyone can can deduce that since you are cruising on a luxury line you are most likely very well off. A search of the Regent web site can give anyone your itinerary. Armed with this info and possibly your specific plans in a port plus a picture, would make finding you not all that difficult. Is it really worth the risk? I would suggest great caution.

P.S. Please do give us all port feedback after the fact. I'm one of the good guys and in an abundance of caution would just hope you would give this a thought---safe journeys!

 

I appreciate your concern, but anybody could just follow a group of tourists coming from a luxury ship and do what you suggest. No need for the person to lurk on CC to get their pictures etc. Regarding e-mail addresses, I hope most people are savvy enough to use a different email address just to communicate with people from the boards, not their regular e-mail.

 

TC, I've seen you quote your e-mail address many times. Is your concern a new thing?

[cruiseluv]

Hi Wes,

 

Enjoying your reports and pictures tremendously. Pls keep us posted!

[Travelcat2]

We took the same excursion and enjoy seeing these photos. Posting photographs of Regent ports and excursions can help readers/lurkers determine whether or not this itinerary is for them. Looking forward to more of these type of photos.

 

In terms of what jayhawk67 posted regarding security, IMO, one can never be reminded enough times of this issue (particularly as it relates to ports in areas of unrest). I agree that CruiseCritic posters should use email addresses that are used only for public posts. My suggestion was to avoid Yahoo for reasons indicated.

 

Hoping to hear input from other CC'ers on this cruise who have thus far been strangely silent:confused: