Live Voyager - Dubai to Cape Town

[Hambagahle]

I don't think I agree that Regent should be able to handle ALL guests on one tour programme. But I do think they should make optional "back up" plans for those who are disappointed when a tour fills up. In the case in point it is nigh on impossible to take 650 people through a game park in a relatively short time on one day. Generally what happens is you drive the passengers to the park and then they are divided up into smaller groups and taken around on safari vehicles with driver and game guide. (I lived in Africa for 10 years and have seen this often...) But Tala is only 35-40 mins from central Durban. Could you not get a taxi and guide at the port for half a day and have them take you there? I am sure that this would cost far less than the DS estimate... and according to the Tala site they allow tours by private car. A guide would be important though because it is often hard to spot game unless you know what signs to look for...

 

Otherwise if you Google Durban Tour Operators you will find there are quite a lot of them and probably one or more would be willing to set up a private tour, even though it is getting late for that.

 

All that said I feel really badly for you that you have been disappointed... and do agree with you that Regent and DS should have made provisions to take care of people who could not get on the tour in the first place.

[rallydave]

Never mind

Edited December 10, 2014 by rallydave

[mrlevin]

I don't think I agree that Regent should be able to handle ALL guests on one tour programme. But I do think they should make optional "back up" plans for those who are disappointed when a tour fills up. In the case in point it is nigh on impossible to take 650 people through a game park in a relatively short time on one day. Generally what happens is you drive the passengers to the park and then they are divided up into smaller groups and taken around on safari vehicles with driver and game guide. (I lived in Africa for 10 years and have seen this often...) But Tala is only 35-40 mins from central Durban. Could you not get a taxi and guide at the port for half a day and have them take you there? I am sure that this would cost far less than the DS estimate... and according to the Tala site they allow tours by private car. A guide would be important though because it is often hard to spot game unless you know what signs to look for...

 

Otherwise if you Google Durban Tour Operators you will find there are quite a lot of them and probably one or more would be willing to set up a private tour, even though it is getting late for that.

 

All that said I feel really badly for you that you have been disappointed... and do agree with you that Regent and DS should have made provisions to take care of people who could not get on the tour in the first place.

 

Hambagahle, my post was too strong; I tried to edit but it timed out. I agree with you that it is not unreasonable that only 120 guests can go to game drive; that is what i wanted my edit to show. Next time I will make sure I make my choices the minute they open; waiting for a few days was MY mistake. I sure hope 120 people actually do get to go on the excursion; i.e., I hope standbys will be able to fill all the slots for the no-shows. I do believe, however, that FUSE only can work if there are FREE options for all guests if they choose to take an excursion. My other mistake was not making alternate plans; when I was wait listed; I would have been able to take one of the other choices.

 

Marc

[computerworks]

1982... thanks for being diligent with daily updates.

 

Will you have any pictures for us when you return.

 

I ask because, reading the dialogs, I am less and less persuaded to do that African itinerary.. one that we have been seriously considering.

 

Dubai was on our targets as well, and it sounded quite unappealing.

[Travelcat2]

Am still following this thread even though I haven't been posting. We have done the Dubai through India portion of the cruise and are particularly interested in the post cruise safari. Our concern is that everyone on our cruise (totally booked more than a year in advance) is taking the pre or post cruise safari and wonder if it can be handled in a reasonable manner. Appreciate all of your posts.

 

TC2 from the Riviera

[1982CruzStart]

Glad the weather is so great. Sorry about your changed excursion. Which one was it as we need to check that it is not one that we have booked on the next cruise. Who is the new lecturer? I hope they are not continuing after Cape Town.

 

The new lecturer is Ambassador Nazareth (spelling?), a former ambassador from India.

It was called City, Sun & Sea and was supposed to be a safari to Krueger National Park. I know the name does not necessarily suggest that but i always copy all the tours we book and bring them with me and it definitely was named that but was a trip to Krueger. It disappeared off the list of tours not long after we booked but Regent kept assuring me that all was well. What they didn't say was that it was totally different from the original description. Oh well.

[1982CruzStart]

1982... thanks for being diligent with daily updates.

 

Will you have any pictures for us when you return.

 

I ask because, reading the dialogs, I am less and less persuaded to do that African itinerary.. one that we have been seriously considering.

 

Dubai was on our targets as well, and it sounded quite unappealing.

 

I really didn't mean for it to sound unappealing. I have not regretted taking this trip for 1 second. I have never been to any of the stops and though so far i would not want to return to any of them I am very glad i had the chance to see them once. It is always eye opening to see other so very different parts of the world.

If i can figure out how to post some pictures when i get home I will certainly do so.

[1982CruzStart]

Today was a tour of a part of Zanzibar City known as Stone Town. For the most part it was a walking tour with just a short bus ride to the starting point and then back to the tender spot at the end. Our guide was good but i struggled a little at times with his fairly heavily accented English. It was extremely humid out which made the fairly reasonable temperature pretty hot in the sun. Fortunately most of the tour was walking through narrow streets that provided some shade with the occasional breeze. We visited the former slave market. What's left of it is under the Anglican Church. Man it was creepy to think of people chained in this cramped spaces with little light or air movement. this market provided slaves for the middle East. there is a set of statues done by a Scottish artist depicting slaves chained together in a pit waiting to be auctioned. Chilling.

 

Off next to the fish, veggie, spice and meat markets. We recognized the first stop before we even entered - fish market. Actually it was mostly outside that you got the smell, it really wasn't so bad inside. Quite the selection of fish including a marlin, some small sharks, variety of fish, some fairly good sized squid and little piles of anchovies among many things. It really was quite interesting to see though you really had to watch where you stepped as the floor had little rivers of blood periodically.

 

Right next door the veggie and spice market. Every time we passed a stall selling spices the aroma was wonderful, other places not so much. Quite a variety of veggies and fruit. Mangoes and pineapples are in season right now.

 

Next stop the fresh meat market where you could see a selection of bits of animals hanging. Even though there were a few flies around the other markets there were virtually none around the meat. As our guide said when the meat is so fresh, the flies don't come around. Really no smell and pretty interesting.

 

Onwards we go winding our way through these narrow streets trying to keep out of the way of the scooters and the occasional bicycle. The doors on some of these buildings were beautiful. Heavy wooden doors, all or partially carved and some with spiky kind of ornamentation which he told us was typical Indian style. In India the spikes were used to keep the elephants away from the doors. No elephants in Zanzibar but there is Indian influence in the buildings. We took a walk through a beautiful hotel to see the typical courtyard within the buildings. It also had a lovely little pool with the most gorgeous tiles.

 

We also stop at another gorgeous hotel for a comfort stop and to relax for a while overlooking the ocean. Really was a beautiful spot.

 

Off to the ruins of the Portuguese fort. Happened to be there just as the sun was shining brightly so it was darn hot. We passed a few other landmarks as we made our way back to the bus. According to the description we were to visit in at least 1 museum or art gallery but it seemed all the museums were closed for renovation so instead of the tour being 3.75 hours it was under 3.

 

It started to drizzle as we headed back to the bus and lucked out and got on the tender just a the skies opened up. It didn't last long and by the time we got to the ship it was barely raining. the rain we did experience was a welcome relief.

[eliana]

Thank you Cruz Start for the excellent descriptions of your excursions and insights as to what is happening on the ship. You haven't mentioned the evening entertainment. Is it something you miss out on? We have found the quality varies a lot on Regent particularly the singers and dancers ranging from very good to wondering why they were selected.

[1982CruzStart]

Thank you Cruz Start for the excellent descriptions of your excursions and insights as to what is happening on the ship. You haven't mentioned the evening entertainment. Is it something you miss out on? We have found the quality varies a lot on Regent particularly the singers and dancers ranging from very good to wondering why they were selected.

 

We attend the entertainment on a hit and miss basis. For the most part unless the music sounds like it is exactly what we like we tend to miss. We have attended quite a few shows and for the most part have not been too excited by them. We have gone to both Brett Cave's shows because he is fun. even though i don't think he is the best singer he is a good entertainer. We attended 1 show of another singer, he had a beautiful voice but not my kind of music so skipped the 2nd one. We are looking forward to tonight as we are finally getting someone that isn't all about music. Comedy and Magic so hope it is good. We don't tend to go to the shows with just the Regent group as i really don't care for the lead singers.

[1982CruzStart]

Am still following this thread even though I haven't been posting. We have done the Dubai through India portion of the cruise and are particularly interested in the post cruise safari. Our concern is that everyone on our cruise (totally booked more than a year in advance) is taking the pre or post cruise safari and wonder if it can be handled in a reasonable manner. Appreciate all of your posts.

 

TC2 from the Riviera

 

I have been following your posts as time and internet allowed. Enjoyed them very much. Will give my thoughts on the post safari either after i get home or if internet provided will do so during it.

[1982CruzStart]

A quick addition to my post on our tour in Zanzibar. WE discovered last night at dinner that at least 1 group, maybe more did in fact get to go to The Palace Museum and said it was very good. This is at least the 2nd time that a group i was on got ripped off when it came to seeing all of the described tour. This is very annoying. :(

 

As well we were told by destination services not to take credit cards and very little money as they don't take US dollars or credit cards. Well that was just not true. The stores were happy to take our money and at least Visa. Someone said that even the street vendors were happy to take any currency to get a sale.

Edited December 12, 2014 by 1982CruzStart

[1982CruzStart]

We have a new lecturer which I think means the original guy is gone. The new guy is Graham Anthony, a maritime historian. I didn't attend the first lecture as it was a conflict for me but my DH did and thought he was better than the other 2. I caught him on TV and thought he could be interesting. We shall see. I think all 3 of them are very knowledgeable but the jury is out on how good they are at speaking. I think we were spoiled on our last cruise where all the lecturers were very knowledgeable and great speakers.

 

I have to say finding something new and different to eat is becoming a challenge. We pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch but really want something different for dinner. I am a cook at home and actually said in an email I miss cooking. Cripes, did I actually say that. The food has been very good just tired of eating out. At home we may eat out once or twice a week. 24/7 is a lot.

 

Tomorrow is Nosy Be.

[Birder1]

Hi, CruzStart, enjoying your articulate & informative posts!

 

I'm interested in hearing of Nosy Be. I was in Mad for a land tour last March, albeit, the west, south, & central. Tourism infrastructure was extremely poor as were the hotels. People genuinely tried & were hospitable. Found that wild lemurs were so curious that only a point-n-shoot camera was more than adequate.

[1982CruzStart]

okay i am tired and ready to go to sleep so you are getting my family & friends version of my post. Hopefully i don't offend anyone and you enjoy.

 

Nosy Be, Madagascar

 

It is an island off the northwestern side of the Island of Madagascar. The name means Big Island.

 

In the Destination Services booklet it says 'local transportation is not air-conditioned and is the best available on the island. It may not be up to the same standards as found in other parts of the world.' Well that was the understatement of the century. From the outside the buses look very similar to the ones we have had in other small ports - carries about 14 or 15 comfortably. Oh are looks deceiving. We get on the bus and holy **** the pair of seats just as you enter are not stable, we try and find something reasonable. Guess who guessed wrong. My DH sits down and at first no problem, i sit down also no problem. I look over at the ones that are moving every time someone gets on the bus and see what the problem is. They are bolted to the floor but the floor is not bolted to the vehicle frame hence the lack of stability. A couple sits down in front of us, the seat in front of me, the back no longer works properly so every time the poor guy leans back I have his chair up against my knees. Thank God the seats are soft.

 

We are off and the next thing we know my DH is falling through his seat headed for the floor. He eventually figured out how to make it work.

 

they definitely meant no air-conditioning. However with all the windows cranked open and the door left open the breeze was really nice. And yes i did say it was left open the whole time we were moving.

 

It is hot and humid but thank a blessed God it is cloudy out. Can't even fathom what it would have been like had the sun been shining.

 

So first stop is a folk dance. It was good and the people very interested in pleasing us. Almost forgot to mention our bus broke down. Driver couldn't start it. Now this is not a bus he has driven before so he can't find the battery. Really. Finally does so and we are off far behind the others. We did enjoy the stop and then went onto the next stop which was the Ylang Ylang factory which is a distillery for essential oils. Again found it interesting. As well they had a zoo so we worked our way through the area. We saw snakes (ugh), chameleons, huge tortoises (amazing), crocodiles and of course the highlight was the lemurs. We are on our way back to the bus along a road that has some muddy spots.

 

Onto the beach. Really did we need to travel over ugly roads to see a beach and have a soda and a snack. Maybe not so much but then i could be prejudiced against a beach and snacks i can't eat. We are so late by now but not late enough to not stop for shopping!! We are sitting on the bus and guess who we are waiting for - the staff guy. Go figure. Finally make it back to the tender area. We are at the front and i said no thanks we will wait for the next one as i can not take the diesel smell if i am at the back. Perfect we are first on and as it turns out the first off. YEAH.

 

okay so we have 2 days at sea. Thank you. I have to tell you our next stop is Maputo, Mozambique. So far we have changed our tour 3 times. First it was supposed to be a safari - not, then we thought we would do a tour around and about, 6 hours on a non-air-conditioned bus - not, so now we are on a 3.5 hour tour and not sure. I will again quote from Destination Services 'Maputo is a third world country, coaches are maintained although very basic and the quality can vary considerably.' Seriously if this is what they say to us for the next one, what the hell can our bus be after the last one.

[crusin7]

YAY!! Give us the friends and family version every time. Keep the posts coming. Great job!:D

[Birder1]

Hi, CruzStart,

 

Ahhh...the "roads" of Mad! I was hoping Nosy Be would be better for you...I can tell you now that on the mainland the roads are worse, my driver not only took-out many animals ;-( but also had a head-on collision w a truck (yes, I was in the vehicle for all, including the repairs). My tour indicated the car would have a/c...no go. &, none of the hotels do. Oh, they have an a/c unit, but the generators can't handle the load.

[1982CruzStart]

Birder1, yes Mad is quite an experience. Thanks Crusin7.

I was wrong about the original lecturer leaving. Today we have all 3 lecturers scheduled.

[Hambagahle]

I really didn't mean for it to sound unappealing. I have not regretted taking this trip for 1 second. I have never been to any of the stops and though so far i would not want to return to any of them I am very glad i had the chance to see them once. It is always eye opening to see other so very different parts of the world.

 

Which is exactly why one does and should travel! I feel this way about some parts of the US myself... but the parts I do like I keep coming back to!

 

...and - wait till you get to South Africa!! A totally wonderful, beautiful and amazing country. They are keeping the best for last!

[1982CruzStart]

Maputo, Mozambique

 

Well Destination Services strikes again only this time for the good. So if you recall from my past blurb, we were warned about this being a 3rd world country and the buses may not be up to our normal standards. Okay, DS obviously got the warnings mixed up. The wreck of a bus we had in Madagascar would definitely qualify for that description. The buses here were great. Brand new seats, very comfortable and we did have air conditioning. Didn't really need it today as it is a rainy, cooler day. Thank goodness for the cooler part as even though the bus was air conditioned the seats were covered in thick plastic. Reminds me of the living room furniture in the homes of older relatives to keep the furniture new.

 

One thing DS did get right is that the guides have no formal training. I think we lucked out but talking to people from other groups or tours, their guides were really not good. Our guide had a strong accent but fairly good English so was able to understand most of what he said and he was pretty knowledgeable. Mozambique was ruled by the Portuguese and I think that is still the official language.

 

It had poured rain yesterday (we really lucked out not being here a day earlier) and the streets were a mess. Large puddles everywhere and where there weren't puddles there was mud. Lovely red mud.

 

We toured the fresh food market which had mostly veggies, some fresh and frozen fish and bags of cashews. The strangest or most interesting thing depending on your point of view is, were a number of shops just outside of the fresh food area that sold hair extensions. Yes shop after shop of hair extensions. I guess it is a popular thing here.

 

Onto a Catholic Cathedral, a fairly new building, 1944 if i remember correctly. The majority of the people are Christian though with all the trade with the Arabic countries there is a growing Muslim population along the coastal areas.

 

We made a stop at the Cultural Centre and the 'Iron House'. Eiffel, yes the guy who built the tower in Paris, designed a house made of iron that originally was to be a Presidential home. Now we are in tropical country so what person would ever dream that having an iron house in a hot humid country would make sense. Needless to say it is not used as the President's home but a tourist attraction with a government office or two. When you walk past the back you see row after row of air conditioners on each floor.

 

Next is the former Portuguese fort where they protected the area from pirates and then defended themselves when the people of Mozambique revolted and kicked them out of the country. Small but interesting. We just got back on the bus when it started to rain.

 

Last stop is a covered outdoor market where they sell crafts and souvenirs. There was a lot of very nice pieces.

 

There were 2 musicians from the ship accompanying our tour. The guys were a hoot. Actually we have had a crew member on most if not all of our tours this cruise. That hasn't always been the case in the past but it is nice to have a crew member along.

[DeepFreeze63]

1982... thanks for being diligent with daily updates.

 

Will you have any pictures for us when you return.

 

I ask because, reading the dialogs, I am less and less persuaded to do that African itinerary.. one that we have been seriously considering.

 

Dubai was on our targets as well, and it sounded quite unappealing.

 

Hi: I'm also following this thread as we may do a future Regent/Africa cruise.

Just off our 6th Regent cruise that ended in Dubai; Dubai (and Abu Dhabi) are great short stops.

In Abu Dhabi, we did the Regent tours: "Off -road through the Dunes" was thrilling while "Tea at the Emerates Palace Hotel" was delightful. I wish we had had another day there.

We stayed over in Dubai for 2 full days. Loved the clean, neat town. Shopped the Gold Souk (it has 350 stores), the fascinating Spice Souk next door, and the old soul across the "Creek". The Dubai Museum is a wonderful little place) go when the crowds from the ships haven't arrived).

Cruised and crossed the "Creek" (which is really a big waterway) in one of the little motorized, raft-like abras. That was fun and inexpensive.

We went crazy and had the tasting meal at Burz Al Arab. A great venue but go for lunch at the top floor . Much cheaper and you can see more during daylight.

[1982CruzStart]

I am so glad others have added info to this post. It is great to have different points of view. Thanks Deepfreeze63.

Seas are a little rough tonight. Nothing serious but we have been so spoiled that the past couple of nights have been strange.

Tomorrow we are in South Africa and am really looking forward to our tours. Thankfully not an early morning visit with immigration.

[jctdlt]

Looking forward to South Africa posts. Will be there this time next year.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[1982CruzStart]

Worse night ever. Wow we have had super weather but last night was a definite exception. Our cabin is very noisy but last night was even worse. We had a couple of times where there were big bangs and a lot of rolling. The motion doesn't bother me but the noise does.

 

For the first time we had very slow service in MDR for breakfast. Our server didn't get orders right and took forever. We had time so not a big deal but did notice how slow it was.

 

Richard's Bay

 

WOW, what a great day. We did the St. Lucia Wetland Park because i wanted to make sure i saw hippos. I have a thing for hippos and elephants, like fat animals. It is a 75 minute drive to the area and back and well worth it. Our driver was black and our tour guide white. Our guide was knowledgeable and mostly pretty easy to understand.

 

It was surprising to me that we saw thousands of acres or hectares for us Canadians of eucalyptus trees that were originally imported from Australia. They plant them row after perfect row. Originally they were used as building materials but now are almost exclusively used for paper.

 

Richard's Bay is the largest port, volume wise, in South Africa. Durban, next stop, is the largest port $ wise.

 

We boarded a boat and off into the estuary. It is salt water mixed with fresh water. The largest area for hippos. The water is a light brown, not even a hint of clear water and an average of 1 meter in depth. They have had a drought for the past 15 years where the estuary has been cutoff from the ocean. This year is better and they are hopeful that the bodies will mix again.

 

We saw many hippos, large and small along the way. It was fantastic to see these mammoth beasts in their natural habitat. The weather when we left the port was crappy and there was a chance we might see hippos on land with the rainy weather. However by the time we got to the reserve the weather changed and we had super weather. Not so much for seeing them on land but great for not having rain and not too hot.

 

We saw a couple of very young ones play fighting and they are so cute. I know they are killers but when you see them in the water just hanging around you don't think about the fact that they kill more humans than any other animal.

 

We saw some crocodiles, a couple of pretty large ones and a couple of small ones. As well we saw some beautiful birds. In particular we saw a kingfisher that flew by us low and close so it was wonderful to see it so close. The Captain followed it and we saw it close up fishing and eating. Great.

 

I just can't explain well enough how great this trip was. On the way home (back to the ship) we saw zebras. Now when i look out at a field i expect to see cows or horses. Well after a double take i realized we were looking at zebras. Wow. We also saw ostriches.

 

All and all a great trip.

[OctoberKat]

Marvelous. Sorry for bad weather night. Keep posting!