LIVE - Food/Wine from the Voyager 4/23

[ladykay54]

Jackie,

Sorry, I got a little carried away replying to someone else first. I am sure you know that I am a Newbie and very excited about sailing on Regent. Your posts are an excellent window into actually being on board. I never thought I would be looking at Regent but really, with everything they are offering and an Itinerary that I love, I'm ready. Thank you so much for all the information. It will definitely make the decision easier.

Kathy

[Carolinalady]

Travel Cat 2 - let me echo my thanks as well. BermudaBarb and I are on the same cruise and have connected off-line as well. The information that you and your fellow Regent frequent flyers have posted has been a huge help in my planning for this special trip. I can not wait to board the Voyager and to personally enjoy all the experiences that you and others have so graciously shared with us newbies.

 

Please know that all of your hard work and effort on our behalf was very much appreciated. I now know I will face a challenge on what to choose every time I have a meal. Any my DH was delighted to see the bar selections as he is not much of a wine drinker but does like what he likes for his cocktails. His eyes have stopped rolling at all my planning now that he knows his needs are taken care of.

 

Safe journeys and calm seas......and yes please keep the ship safe for those of us who are most anxious to begin our own Regent experience.

[DaveFr]

TravelCat2:

Without you and your all your wonderful "Regent Champions" I doubt we would been having such a knowledgeable and completely awesome experience.

bermudabarb,

 

I hope you're not implying that Regent and/or Oceania have a program similar to the infamous "Royal Champions" program on Royal Caribbean. :(

[Travelcat2]

SOME REALITIES FOR NEWBIES

 

Tonight was the Captain's Farewell and the very moving Crews Kapers (a great show put on by the crew -- your stewards/stewardesses, butlers, and those crew members who work all over the ship. Afterwards, Compass Rose was packed.

 

Even six star cruise lines cannot be perfect all of the time. If you think of your favorite restaurant with perfect service. . . . how would it be if everyone arrived at the same time? This happens rarely on Regent but it does happen. The busiest times are from 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. (according to Regent management).; If you can arrive before 7:00 p.m. or after 8:15 p.m., the service will be much better. Some wonder why there cannot be enough staff to cover those busy times. Well, from my perspective, there is simply not enough staff available (nor could they be added due to the size of the ship) to handle the small amount of time each week to handle the overload.

 

Also, there are menu items that may not be to your taste. My husband and I had the same dish -- he didn't care for it and I loved it. There are so many choices that you should find many things that you love.

 

My best suggestion is to relax and enjoy the experience. IMO, it truly is a six star experience.

 

I'll continue posting highlights of the rest of this cruise and the 10 days after.

 

By the way, there was a Croatian beer on board today. Be sure to ask for local brews. That's it for now.

[bermudabarb]

bermudabarb,

 

I hope you're not implying that Regent and/or Oceania have a program similar to the infamous "Royal Champions" program on Royal Caribbean. :(

 

DaveFR - GOD NO! I am not even sure what a "Royal Champion" on RC is, nor would I want to know:D

 

 

I am a Regent newbie - first cruise will be for our 25th Wedding Anniversary Rome to Barcelona on Voyager on May 13th - our last cruise was our honeymoon on the Home Lines (now defunct) on the Atlantic NY to Bermuda. I think we were on the deck with the crew or just above it! Boy have times for us changed!

 

 

When I said, "Regent Champions" I simply meant all the wonderful people I have "met" via the CC boards to help me with our upcoming Voyage, as they are so dedicated and giving with the knowledge and advice - perfect example is TravelCat2 who is spending her vacation educating us to create an even better time for us!

 

Sorry for the confusion!

[cruiseej]

Newbie tip: While typing an email or posting on CC, every few minutes press "Ctrl" and "A" to highlight your work and then "Ctrl" "C" to copy it. Then, if you lose the connection, you'll still have what you saved. When the connection returns -- press "Ctrl" "V" and it all comes back. It is easier than it sounds and only takes a moment (when you have everything highlighted, don't backspace or you lose everything:(

 

TC, a better suggestion is to compose posts in a text editor program on your computer without even connecting to the Internet -- so there's no connection to lose. For those new to Regent, who don't get free Internet service the way multi-time cruisers do, minimizing connection time saves money on the expensive Internet service plans when just composing text. (I'm a Mac user, so I use TextEdit, or I might use Microsoft Word; if you're on a Windows machine, I guess it's TextPad... or Word.) This way, you can take as long as you need composing/editing your message. Then re-connect to the Internet, load the CC page, copy-and-paste the text into your web browser, and Submit -- all with just a minute or two of connect time for each message. Plus if something goes wrong, you have a complete copy in your text editor.

 

-- Eric

[Caroldoll]

If he is give him a hug from Balboa Island and Big Daddy.

[WKCNYC]

Travelcat2, thank you very much for the updates.

[OrpingtonT]

Thank you all for adding to this thread.

I feel that taking the ride around part of the island is a great thing to do -- so many beautiful sites.

 

 

Forgive me if this sounds picky, but you have mentioned before about the "island" of Dubrovnik. It isn't an island but an old, beautiful city on the coast. This doesn't detract from your posts.

[Travelcat2]

Caroldoll: How about a virtual hug? Really don't know him and he is leaving the ship today. Think he will be a good Cruise Director after a couple of years of training.

 

OrpingtonT: Thanks for correction. We appeared to be surrounded by water. At this point, everything seems like an island.

 

cruiseej: I would very much like to do what you are suggesting but am not familiar with it. I have an iPad in the suite and access to the computers on board (really easy to get an available computer since the majority of passengers are new to Regent -- and getting quite frustrated using up to half an hour of time to log on and off).

 

Could you possible advise how to get into text editor -- or am just hopeless?:confused:

 

Today we'll be in Venice -- staying overnight. We have a short excursion both today and tomorrow and will do some walking around. The weather is, once again, in the 70's and we have yet to feel any movement of the sea.

 

Many passengers are departing the ship 4:00 a.m. tomorrow. Those continuing on are given an excursion -- probably to get uf off the ship for a while so they can clean it. Pretty sure we do not have to go through muster again. And, I'm wondering what time muster will be as we depart at 9:00 p.m.

 

More later.

[amandamcmullan]

thank you so much for sharing so much of your trip and your story. I am not quite a newbie but have learned a lot and enjoyed so much of your posts. in particular, like other posters, I may now start going to compass rose for lunch if it is not sunny and calm enough to enjoy the back verandah. thank you for your detective work on the difference between cr and the verandah at lunchtime.

 

safe travels home.

 

amanda

[cruiseej]

cruiseej: I would very much like to do what you are suggesting but am not familiar with it. I have an iPad in the suite and access to the computers on board (really easy to get an available computer since the majority of passengers are new to Regent -- and getting quite frustrated using up to half an hour of time to log on and off).

 

Could you possible advise how to get into text editor -- or am just hopeless?:confused:

 

TC: "seeking enlightenment", never "hopeless"! ;)

 

You open one of the text editing programs the same way you launch any other application on the computer you are using. On a Mac (which I use exclusively) you'd look in the Dock at the bottom of the screen for TextEdit or Microsoft Word and click the icon. I'm sure a Windows user will jump in here if I'm wrong, but I imagine you look in the Start menu for one of these programs to launch. Regent may also have their PCs configured with Word or TextPad shortcut icons right on the desktop so you can just click the icon to launch -- the same as you launch Internet Explorer or Firefox to do your web browsing.

 

-- Eric

[OrpingtonT]

TC: "seeking enlightenment", never "hopeless"! ;)

 

You open one of the text editing programs the same way you launch any other application on the computer you are using. On a Mac (which I use exclusively) you'd look in the Dock at the bottom of the screen for TextEdit or Microsoft Word and click the icon. I'm sure a Windows user will jump in here if I'm wrong, but I imagine you look in the Start menu for one of these programs to launch. Regent may also have their PCs configured with Word or TextPad shortcut icons right on the desktop so you can just click the icon to launch -- the same as you launch Internet Explorer or Firefox to do your web browsing.

 

-- Eric

 

Yes, Eric, Regent do have Word installed on their computers. Or at least did have last time I cruised. It can be launched via the Start menu buton. The computer manager would advise anyway.

[Travelcat2]

TC: "seeking enlightenment", never "hopeless"! ;)

 

You open one of the text editing programs the same way you launch any other application on the computer you are using. On a Mac (which I use exclusively) you'd look in the Dock at the bottom of the screen for TextEdit or Microsoft Word and click the icon. I'm sure a Windows user will jump in here if I'm wrong, but I imagine you look in the Start menu for one of these programs to launch. Regent may also have their PCs configured with Word or TextPad shortcut icons right on the desktop so you can just click the icon to launch -- the same as you launch Internet Explorer or Firefox to do your web browsing.

 

-- Eric

 

Thanks Eric! Word is not on Regent systems. In fact, the "Start" menu leads to a program tab that contains nothing. I have used this thread to write emails (copying repeatedly in order not to lose them). Then I copy from CruiseCritic and paste into "gmail". Works quite well. The system is really slow (slow compared to its normal snails pace).

 

The only enlightenment I'm seeking is in the computer world. Peace exists where I am at this moment (and most other moments of my life). Thanks for your insight.

 

Back to the newbie thread. Will really try to type something tonight. There is no show tonight -- just a "popcorn movie" in the theater. I suspectg that I'll lose my email connection around 11:00 p.m. Between people embarking and everything else that goes on in the embarkation process, it may be afternoon before my connection has resumed with our new suite number.

 

There was a whole turkey being carved in La Veranda for lunch. I ate like a pig and now look like a turkey. Venice far exceeded my expectations. We took a Regent "included" gondola ride for 45 minutes. Very well done -- did not feel touristy. Also, the tourist season kicks off May 1st -- even though this is May 2nd, it isn't in full gear yet. When we return to some ports after leaving Venice there will be 3 times more ships that just earlier this week. Also, the temperatures are raising very fast. I'm sure that the later spring and summer months are wonderful and loads of fun -- we just perfer cooler temperatures.

 

Our favorite Cruise Director, Paul Reynolds just returned to the Voyager (he just stopped by to say hi). Those of you on the Voyager this summer will enjoy Paul,s energy and wonderful work as a C.D.

 

That is it for now.

[Travelcat2]

First I need to say that it is quite sad to see so many people we have met packing and getting ready to disembark tomorrow. It is inevitable I suppose. In 10 days we'll be doing the same thing. The group of 19 (21 including us) that did the Cappadocia pre-cruise were perhaps the best group we have sailed with. Definitely will miss them!

 

Okay - back to Venice. This morning starting at 7:00 a.m., on the Pool Deck (Deck 11), Deck 12 and the Observation Lounge, the "drink of Venice" -- the "Bellini" was served while commentary was provided by our Cruise Director. Such amazing views.

 

For anyone sailing to Venice in the near future, try the "included" gondola ride" it is amazing!

 

i'll be posting on and off for the next 10 days. The next few days are not bad in terms of excursions, however, we have some heavy excursion days towards the end of the cruise. So, for now, I'll do highlights . . . . starting with lunch in La Veranda. As mentioned earlier, there was a whole turkey with all the fixin's -- extremely moist and yummy

 

COMPASS ROSE - LUNCH

 

Roast Turkey Panini Sandwich

Baby Shrimp and Celery Salad Tortilla Wrap

Chinese Duck Salad

Golden Fried Moroccan Tuna Brick (tuna flakes with egg wrapped in thin pastry, garden grens and dates)

Breaded Pork Chop Parmigiana

Gao Maachi (traditional Indian Fish Curry)

Vegetarian entree: Celery salad tortilla wrap.

Canyon Ranch Spa: Chilled Plumsoup (130 calories), Yakitori Chicken with teriyaki sauce, veggies and glass noodles (465 calories

No Sugar Added Lemon Macaroon topped with Amalfi Lemon Cream

Traditional American Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

 

COMPASS ROSE DINNER - HIGHLIGHTS

 

Featured Wines: NOTE: This is a VERY popular wine with guests: Santa Marguerita, Pinot Grigio, D.O.C. Alto Aldage, Italyl 2010

Emiliana Vineyards, Etnico, Syrah-Malbec, Colchagua Valley Chile 2009

 

Recommended Dessert Wines

Angelo Gaja, Rossj Bass, Chardonnay, Piedmont, Italy 2005 - $85

Vina Haras De Pirque "Elegence" Cabneret Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile 2007 - $38

 

 

Homemade Hudson Valley Foie Gras Terrine

Shrim Cocktail

Zucchini Fritata

 

Tian of Potato Mash with Olives, Basil and Goat cheese (vegetarian)

Grilled Lamp Chops

Black Angus Prime Rib

Roasted Crispy Duck a l'Orange

Canyon ranch - Tuna Carpaccio (115 calories)

Grilled Lamb chops with veggies and parmesan crisps (340 calories)

 

DESSERTS

 

Chocolate Mousse Tear drop w/Brarndy Marinated Cherries

Vacherin - Iced Meringue Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Raspberry Sorbet

 

Blueberry Mousse (114 calories) Canyon ranch Spa

 

Apple Crumble Pie (no sugar added)

[RachelG]

Enjoying reading the menus. Have to agree about the "included" gondola ride. It was really fun and well-done. We shared our gondola with 2 nice couples.

[poss]

I'd love to do that (included gondola ride), but I suppose there's no way since we're embarking in Venice. I.e. I know that we can find a gondola on our own, but I suspect we'll not do it. We're folks who are grateful to have the "excursions included" policy(sorry there, TC ;-), especially at this point in our lives. Often don't have the energy or enthusiasm for DIY, though we sure once did.

TC: Thanks so much for the wonderful reports. And I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself to the degree that you obviously are. Continued happy and yummy times!

[cruiseej]

Thanks Eric! Word is not on Regent systems. In fact, the "Start" menu leads to a program tab that contains nothing.

 

TC, something sounds fishy about that. You've got to ask the computer consultant how to launch a text editing application -- any text application -- on one of their machines. I'm certain there's something available. And being able to compose longer posts without worrying constantly about losing your connection is liberating and relaxing compared to what you've been doing.

 

But also enjoy your "time off" from posting during the second of your cruises. :)

 

-- Eric

[WKCNYC]

TC, something sounds fishy about that. You've got to ask the computer consultant how to launch a text editing application -- any text application -- on one of their machines. I'm certain there's something available. And being able to compose longer posts without worrying constantly about losing your connection is liberating and relaxing compared to what you've been doing.

 

But also enjoy your "time off" from posting during the second of your cruises. :)

 

-- Eric

 

Sounds like the system has been locked down with Group Policy Objects. If certain settings have not been configured, you can work around the restrictions. Do CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to bring up the task manager. Click on "File" to see if "New Task (Run...)" is available. If so, run notepad.exe.

 

If possible, right click on the desktop and select "New" > "Text Document." This will give you a blank document to write to.

[DaveFr]

TC,

 

On the Ipad in your suite, there should be a text application called Notes which is preloaded on every Ipad. You can write in Notes offline and then go online and cut and paste into a Cruise Critic reply.

[Travelcat2]

Am on bloody iPad in suite. Will post later. Thanks for kind posts and computer hints.

[Travelcat2]

I'd love to do that (included gondola ride), but I suppose there's no way since we're embarking in Venice. I.e. I know that we can find a gondola on our own, but I suspect we'll not do it. We're folks who are grateful to have the "excursions included" policy(sorry there, TC ;-), especially at this point in our lives. Often don't have the energy or enthusiasm for DIY, though we sure once did.

TC: Thanks so much for the wonderful reports. And I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself to the degree that you obviously are. Continued happy and yummy times!

 

Hi poss: As you know, I'm not a fan of included excursions. However, since they are there, we are taking advantage of some of them. I understand your point about having the energy or enthusiasm for DIY. On the oher hand, when faced with 390 passengers on the same excursion (approx. 16 buses), my eyes glaze over. We had five busloads (not full -- about 30 per bus) arrive at the restroom stop at the same time. Need I say more? In terms of the gondola -- it is quite expensive to do (a minimum of 80 Euros per person). Regent charges around 50 Euros to the crew. I wish that excursions were offered to guests at the cost Regent pays. If excursions are driving Regent prices up (and we were blown away when reading the April, 2012 Regent brochure -- one cruise went up $8,000/couple -- if I was reading it correctly) then, IMO, included excursions is costing passengers too much money! Hope that made sense. When excursions are included, it seems that 80+% feel obligated to take a "free" excursion in every port. JMHO.

 

As off-topic as this may seem, newbies may find the long lines to get into the theater to get bus tickets a bit of a put off. Regent is doing the best they can do with the amount of passengers taking excursions. I also understand that included excursions is bringing in many, many new guests. The Gold and above event (passengers who have sailed Regent 70+ days) was the smallest we have seen. The Seven Seas Society Cocktail Reception was also fairly small (or not well attended).

 

Anyway, we dined at Prime 7 this evening and had incredible food, wine and service. IMO, this restaurant far exceeds Signatures at this time. My DH had halibut at both restaurants and there was no comparison - Prime 7 wins by a mile.

 

Met some CC'ers at the Meet and Greet. Unfortunately, they held muster at 5:30 p.m. and the Meet and Greet was at 5:30 p.m. A little too close together. We hope to meet more of them in the Observation Lounge at 6:00 p.m. in the next few days.

 

This brings me a question many of us have had about holding muster on the same day you sail. We sail at 9:00 p.m. From what I am seeing, passengers arriving at the ship after the 5:30 p.m. muster are still having to go through the process. It is almost 9:00 p.m. and a couple just walked by in life jackets. Regent is doing a great job insuring that all passengers would be safe in case of an emergency.

 

As we are taking a sea day tomorrow, I will try some of the computer suggestions. As mentioned, the system has been slower than we have ever encountered.

[ChocCritic]

We were on the same cruise. Suggest giving Regent a call to ask if you can get a copy of the map. hope you are successful.

 

Hi TC,

 

I've dropped Regent an email but received no response. Given the time difference from Australia, it is difficult to call. I emailed this address: RegentSolutions@rssc.com . Has anyone got a better contact email for Regent?

 

BTW my husband and I have really been enjoying this thread - thanks for all the updates on the menu and entertainment. It brings back great memories of our cruise!! Glad to hear you've got Paul back, he was great fun as Cruise Director!

 

Thanks,

 

Kimberley

[poss]

I understand your feeling about included excursions, TC.; makes good sense. Cruising wouldn't work so well without it for us at this point-- but I absolutely get your take on it.

 

Continue to enjoy!

[Patti22]

Poss,

I hope you enjoy your cruise and hope to see you again. I agree that as we get "wiser" , we look for more programmed excursions. We just so enjoy having these excursions already planned for us. We have been disappointed a few times, but not very many. We just sailed on Seabourn and picked what we wanted and were pleased. Just not really into doing doing all the planning.