FOOD - Live from the Mariner - April 2 - 20

[Hambagahle]

We find the Italian food better in the U.S. than in Italy which is an indication of how our tastes are very far off from authentic Italian. We did have lasagne in Rome and Tuscany last year that was delicious but very different than how it is prepared in the U.S.

 

This is interesting, Jackie -- Italian food in the US is mostly south Italian - lots of tomato sauces and quite heavy. Apparently many of most of the Italians who moved to the US came from the south. We live almost next to Piedmonte and I love the food there. Much lighter than in the south or the USA. And that, I think, perhaps explains why I don't much like Toscana on the Riviera. Too much like American-Italian food - or food from the Mezzogiorno and not enough like Piedmonte or, for that matter, the Val d'Aosta.

 

Food is, as you say, subjective but it is also a matter of what you are used to...

[Travelcat2]

I agree - what we ended up doing was using the drawers in the sitting room near the dining table. They might not still be there since you say everything has been changed re furniture. But they supplemented the meagre drawers in the horrid walk through closet.

 

Ship architects are weird people. I heard from a friend who sails with Cunard that when the Victoria was launched there were NO drawers at all - they had to be retro-fitted later on. What a mess!

 

The drawers you were referring to are no longer there. Pictures tomorrow.

 

computerworks - once again, lovely pictures😁

[irishwitchy]

Hambag- I have to tell you, living in New Jersey my whole life and spending lots of time in NYC eating Italian food and having my mother having a last name of Franco - I have eaten my fair share of Italian food. I normally don't eat that much red sauce except on pizza. These days I would not make the statement that most of the Italian food in the usa is red sauce and heavy - it isn't. It appears you live in Switzerland (which I have been to a few times). If I said that eating in Switzerlandand is like being in Germany and eating sometype of sausage at every meal, I'm sure you would disagree. This isn't really true, but depending on where you go it could appear that way. When you come to NJ or NYC I will give you some suggestions!

 

travelcat2 - love the pictures and your comments. Great work and thank you.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We have a number of Italian restaurants in my area. The chains tend to be the red sauce restaurants. We have quite a few Northern Italian restaurants that are upscale in my neighborhood - award winning. Cuisine from Tuscany and Florentine. Venetian Sea Bass. Even one that is Brazilian Italian. The most popular restaurant in Los Angeles is Called Mozza and it's a Mario Batali restaurant. Northern Italian. We always go to his restaurants in NY when we visit.

 

Restaurants on board tend to try to appeal to a broad section of the cruisers.

[Travelcat2]

I just sent photographs of our suite to computerworks for Pies4u since they will be in a SS Aft suite next week. I neglected to take a picture of the dressing table in the bedroom that has a nice drawer that fits all of my make-up.

 

Today is a sea day and is also the day of the Captain's Farewell and Crew Kapers. Typically this is held the second to the last day pior to debarkation, but there are various reasons why this will not be the case. Tomorrow we will be in Morocco then we go to Malaga and then another sea day.

 

We had an amazing dinner with Franck and a friend of his in our suite last night. It was very special -- something we have not done in the past. Chef Kelly came up with a wonderful menu and stopped by the suite to find out how it tasted. It was a part Asian and part Indian menu. I'll send photos later.

 

I really need to take photographs of Tea Time today. Unfortunately I missed yesterday when Franck Galzy was making crepes (he makes the best!)

 

My goal today is to get the names of the many, many, wonderful crew members that served us on this cruise. It is so important to write their name on the End of Cruise Comment Card. They receive individual recognition. The difficult part for me is to remember everyone. The service on this cruise has been amazing!

[TrulyBlonde]

We have a number of Italian restaurants in my area. The chains tend to be the red sauce restaurants. We have quite a few Northern Italian restaurants that are upscale in my neighborhood - award winning. Cuisine from Tuscany and Florentine. Venetian Sea Bass. Even one that is Brazilian Italian. The most popular restaurant in Los Angeles is Called Mozza and it's a Mario Batali restaurant. Northern Italian. We always go to his restaurants in NY when we visit.

 

Restaurants on board tend to try to appeal to a broad section of the cruisers.

 

ChatKat...I love Mozza and I go to the one in Newport Beach when visiting my daughter who lives in that area. Yum :)

[Gilly]

We ate in Mozza in Singapore on Monday night ;-)

[computerworks]

I just sent photographs of our suite to computerworks for Pies4u since they will be in a SS Aft suite next week. I neglected to take a picture of the dressing table in the bedroom that has a nice drawer that fits all of my make-up.

 

"...Pies4u- photos of suite - just for u - drawers in closet."

 



 

"...Side table by bed."

 



 

 

"...Dining table."

 



 

"...Sofa and table."

 

[computerworks]

"...Desk too reflective- if you look close, you can see small drawer at bottom."

 



 

"...Nice table - no particular purpose."

 



 

 

"...Left side of desk unit (fridge inside bottom cabinet)."

 



 

"...One of two side chairs and table."

 

[Travelcat2]

We were surprised with the beautiful BBQ on deck today. At lunch we went down to CR where it is less crazy -- I had a small piece of grouper that was amazingly good. My DH took his normal salad down from LV. I thought it would be nice to have some cheese and wine up in LV. Lo and behold -- there was a seafood extravaganza BBQ. I didn't take too many photos as the buffet had been going for an hour and wasn't as pristine as it had been earlier. All that was left of the very large grouper was the head. Pieces were being cut of the smaller grouper, the pieces were put into a marinade which is then BBQ'd on the grill. It does not get better than that. The F&B Director was making fresh ....... can't think of the name....... shell fish, regular fish, calamari, etc,. in a lovely broth. He was preparing it in a frying pan -- it looked amazing. I did take a few pictures that I'll send to computerworks (the system was down for short while).

 

I interrupted my nap to take pictures of Tea Time but found out that it was just a "normal" one so I left. Hope that that there will be a huge pastry/cake buffet on our last sea day.

 

There are many things that we love about sea days -- the BBQ's are one of them. When you are in port every day, it does not make sense to do elaborate BBQ's because there are few people on board to take advantage of it.

[Pies4u]

Thanks for the pics - to both of you! Great stuff.

 

I suspect we'll probably cope ok. Not got too much stuff for 10 nights. :p

[computerworks]

"...Half of fish display."

 



 

"...More fish display."

 



 

 

"...Cioppino."

 



 

"...Donald (F&B Dir.) Preparing food."

 



 

 

"...What's left of mussels, crab legs and shrimp."

 

Edited April 16, 2015 by computerworks

[Mudhen]

WOW! Looking fabulous! Can't wait!

[Rotterdam]

This is interesting, Jackie -- Italian food in the US is mostly south Italian - lots of tomato sauces and quite heavy. Apparently many of most of the Italians who moved to the US came from the south. We live almost next to Piedmonte and I love the food there. Much lighter than in the south or the USA. And that, I think, perhaps explains why I don't much like Toscana on the Riviera. Too much like American-Italian food - or food from the Mezzogiorno and not enough like Piedmonte or, for that matter, the Val d'Aosta.

 

Food is, as you say, subjective but it is also a matter of what you are used to...

 

 

It is so true as to you stating it is what one is use to....

 

I live in NYC and the various versions of Italian food found here have very little to do w/ the food I've eaten in Italy since 1980! Also the food eaten onboard the Italian ships we sailed on since the 1970's have nothing to do w/ the Italian food served onboard now. Here in the US most people eat prepared & frozen foods from major manufacturers(guaranty to give hi blood pressure w/ all the salt & sugar added). The earthyness & seasonal flavors of the true Italian cuisine(and most other European countries) is lost here for the most part.....even Mario Bataly's Eataly is a joke & yet here in NYC it is mobbed(mostly by tourists). Luckily there are still a few good Italian restaurants that locals know and that's where you'll find Manhattan residents that know good food.

 

Even the Chinese food here has no relation to the food I had in China while touring there for over a month back in May of 1984.

 

I still recall wonderful meals in Lucurne & Zurich over the years..thank you!

 

And yet some great food is born out of necessity...my Grandmother in Brooklyn made her "sauce" whenever we visited her - a brood of her son, his wife & 6 kids. I remember the huge pot on the stove was brought to the table - pasta served in bowls first & then she would pull out of the pot a ladle of tomato sauce & in it would be a chicken leg or a pork chop, a meat ball perhaps...a sausage maybe. It was a recipe born from the needs of the depression & WW2 - where everything went into the pot...boy was it delicious & a treat for us kids.....BTW my Grandmother was Irish.

 

I still have yet to find the quality of the food we enjoyed on the Italian & French Lines back in the 1970's & 1980's(certainly Cunard & the German & Greek Lines were not as well known for the food - perhaps more for the beer).

 

Next year I will be sailing w/ Regent & hope to enjoy the food..I'll be headed to Europe!

Edited April 17, 2015 by Rotterdam

[Hambagahle]

Hambag- I have to tell you, living in New Jersey my whole life and spending lots of time in NYC eating Italian food and having my mother having a last name of Franco - I have eaten my fair share of Italian food. I normally don't eat that much red sauce except on pizza. These days I would not make the statement that most of the Italian food in the usa is red sauce and heavy - it isn't. It appears you live in Switzerland (which I have been to a few times). If I said that eating in Switzerlandand is like being in Germany and eating sometype of sausage at every meal, I'm sure you would disagree. This isn't really true, but depending on where you go it could appear that way. When you come to NJ or NYC I will give you some suggestions!

 

I actually lived in the US for 21 years - in New York - and so I have to say I think I know what I am talking about. In Northern Italy - Piedmont and the Val d'Aosta which are very close to where I live in Switzerland - the food is not all tomato based at all and is not heavy. Neither is it heavy in Tuscany - except perhaps in winter! But I do find "Italian American" food very heavy. Chacun à son goût! Anyway - I don't live in the German part of Switzerland though I do like quite a lot of their dishes... I live in the Suisse Romande - French speaking - and like Northern Italy things are different here!:)

 

Rotterdam -

I can still remember the wonderful food we had on the Raffaelo and the Cristoforo Colombo in the early 70's...it was very very much like we get in small restaurants in Tuscany or around Milan. No tomato sauce in sight! And small portions.

 

Jackie - they certainly have changed the furniture in the suite since we were in it! And for the better except for the lack of drawers. Before it was all brown upholstery and that heavy brown wood furniture. As I remember the sitting room has a somewhat strange shape - wider where the couch is and narrower at the windows so perhaps that limited them. But in the TV cabinet/desk thing that we had there were several nice drawers which came in handy. The drawers in that wretched "closet cum passageway" are about the same size and number as we had. Not enough by far when there are two of you...

Edited April 17, 2015 by Hambagahle

[findacruise]

Interesting discussion about lack of drawers. We were in a PH on Mariner and, although the closet was smaller than on Voyager, we had more drawer space within the suite than both of us could use. We also managed fine with the hanging space in the closet. We were on a 16 day voyage and had also packed clothes for a 6 day trip prior to our cruise. It sounds like the PH has more storage space than the suite TC2 is in. Loved the PH. My favorite cabin of any cruise, except maybe back in the "old days" in a deluxe veranda on HAL.

[Travelcat2]

A lot to say, so, computerworks, if you have pictures of anything (McDonald's, Burger King, etc., go ahead and post them;)) Today I need to talk about included excursions. Most important is the fact that the Destination Services Team currently on the Mariner (especially Michael) is the best we have experienced in 20 cruises. When things go wrong, it is not always their fault.

 

A few days ago we had a wonderful excursion that I posted about. Regent rates their excursion activity level by using pictures of people walking. Our excursion the other day was "2 people" (out of 3). Today's excursion was also 2 people. The description indicated very little walking which could be why there were quite a few disabled people on the excursion.

 

My first issue is about passengers. First, there was a couple that booked handicapped seats (should not be allowed on level "2" excursions). This person was at the front of the VERY LONG walk on uneven surfaces for 45+ minutes. At one point he was walking without a cane. My only comment is "how dare you ". One very elderly woman did her best to keep up and was helped by several passengers on our bus (bravo to them). While I am not disabled, I am not 100% yet due to my knee replacement (plus a fall I had due to becoming over-confident the other day). I would not dream of either sitting in a handicapped seat or taking an excursion that I did not think I could handle. While this excursion was upgraded from "1 person" to "2 people", the description led me (and others to believe that it was fairly easy to handle).

 

Next comment: Why does Regent in Miami not know that buses cannot enter the area near where the excursions take place (we were in Tangiers, Morocco)? Regardless of how much walking the excursion entails, you need to add 30-45 minutes of walking to the bus and from the bus. The tour guide (who was clueless) at least understood that he needed to stay with people that could no longer walk. The Regent Rep. also understood this. So, while a "fit" person could do the walk in 20 minutes, this was not the case for the majority of the passengers.

 

Many things are blamed on Destination Services when they are simply following the direction of headquarters. This enforces my belief that Regent (or any other cruise line) cannot handle 26+ busloads of people going to the same (or close to the same) destinations at the same time. Thankfully, this cruise has been so wonderful that this one day did not ruin it (although, I worry about 2 people that could no longer walk prior to the end of the tour). We are cancelling our tour tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow we are in Malaga so I may not post much. We will stay on board or take a walk around the local area. Sunday, however, should provide a load of photos (so get ready computerworks:-) There will be the Country Fair and there will probably be a special Tea Time. I will photograph as much as possible.

[TrulyBlonde]

TC2...are they doing a tour of The Alhambra? The drive is lengthy, and we chose not to do it when we were there and I wish we had not made that mistake. Assume you have been there prior?

[Caroldoll]

ChatKat...I love Mozza and I go to the one in Newport Beach when visiting my daughter who lives in that area. Yum :)

 

If you are coming to Newport Beach any time soon, please contact us;

ciraulo1@earthlink.net

 

Carole

[RachelG]

TC2, you highlight my problem with excursions. A level 2 or 3 excursion should be only for fit people thus there should be no handicapped seats on the bus? For either, you should be able to wlk around for at least a couple of hours without getting tired, and for the level 3, it should be over rough terrain. And the excursion desk people should not allow people who are clearly unfit t go on these excursions. It is dangerous for that person, and unfair to everyone else.

[computerworks]

A lot to say, so, computerworks, if you have pictures of anything (McDonald's, Burger King, etc., go ahead and post them

 

Sure...

 

aahhh, Malaga! ..the Costa del Sol.

 

First choice, as mentioned above, is to giddyup to Grenada and visit the Alhambra. ...amazing.

 

But...if not, head out on the highway westbound, to Marbella and Puerto Banus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the A-7 out for the scenic ride...and use the toll road, AP-7, back...no one can afford it, so it is empty. I pegged the speedometer in my Smart Car on the fun ride back to Malaga.

 

[Travelcat2]

TC2...are they doing a tour of The Alhambra? The drive is lengthy, and we chose not to do it when we were there and I wish we had not made that mistake. Assume you have been there prior?

 

We cancelled Alhambra. We will be here again next year so we may do it then. We have not done this excursion previously.

[Hambagahle]

TC2, you highlight my problem with excursions. A level 2 or 3 excursion should be only for fit people thus there should be no handicapped seats on the bus? For either, you should be able to wlk around for at least a couple of hours without getting tired, and for the level 3, it should be over rough terrain. And the excursion desk people should not allow people who are clearly unfit t go on these excursions. It is dangerous for that person, and unfair to everyone else.

 

Utterly and completely agree with you Jackie. We had an experience similar to yours in Tangier when we went to Rabat from Casa two years ago. The Medina has very very uneven paving and the tour was "not for anyone with a disability" and yet someone showed up with a walker. She should have been told politely before boarding the coach that she could not go and her money refunded...

 

And you were in Tangier?? LUCKY you. You missed Gibraltar!! :)

 

BTW the Alhambra (Granada) excursion from Malaga is well, well worth the effort. It is wonderful. Do it next time! Granada is beautiful and the Alhambra is fascinating. I have more photos from that excursion than any other I have done I think.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Hambagahle

[TrulyBlonde]

If you are coming to Newport Beach any time soon, please contact us;

ciraulo1@earthlink.net

 

Carole

 

Yes, I will do that! I am in OC a few times a year because I have an adorable 4yr. old Grandson. Thank you.

[Rotterdam]

I actually lived in the US for 21 years - in New York - and so I have to say I think I know what I am talking about. In Northern Italy - Piedmont and the Val d'Aosta which are very close to where I live in Switzerland - the food is not all tomato based at all and is not heavy. Neither is it heavy in Tuscany - except perhaps in winter! But I do find "Italian American" food very heavy. Chacun à son goût! Anyway - I don't live in the German part of Switzerland though I do like quite a lot of their dishes... I live in the Suisse Romande - French speaking - and like Northern Italy things are different here!:)

 

Rotterdam -

I can still remember the wonderful food we had on the Raffaelo and the Cristoforo Colombo in the early 70's...it was very very much like we get in small restaurants in Tuscany or around Milan. No tomato sauce in sight! And small portions.

...

 

And your comment about portion size is so true...w/ several categories on the menus to choose from smaller / European portions were the order of the day..and yet the food was so delicious & we always were very satisfied on many levels after each meal...the only thing to do was to go up to the lounge & dance to one of the fabulous bands before the midnight buffets started...oh and of course the wines.....

 

Home Lines & Sitmar were also favorites of ours. The only ship I never got to sail on was the Christoforo Columbo.