First Time on Regent—Boarded Explorer Today

[labonnevie]

I flew for business for many years and obviously for pleasure as well before and after retirement. I don’t keep track of things like this, but I’d guess I probably have about 2.5 million miles under my belt.
I can honestly say I have never seen such chaos at an airport as we saw at MIA on February 6th. Check in lines had to be two hours at least. We were saved by an AA employee that helped us cut the line because we were “elderly”.
We will never fly from there again! For those that do, I would suggest allowing 3 hours. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

10 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

I flew for business for many years and obviously for pleasure as well before and after retirement. I don’t keep track of things like this, but I’d guess I probably have about 2.5 million miles under my belt.
I can honestly say I have never seen such chaos at an airport as we saw at MIA on February 6th. Check in lines had to be two hours at least. We were saved by an AA employee that helped us cut the line because we were “elderly”.
We will never fly from there again! For those that do, I would suggest allowing 3 hours. 

@labonnevie Do you think it would be better in the afternoon?  Wondering if the time of day makes a difference or if it is a zoo no matter when in your experience?
 

These messes in MIA and FLL are examples of why people warn to never ever if you can possibly avoid it, try to fly in on the day the ship leaves.  I recognize that doing so is much easier for those of us who are retired, but boy, there are horror stories out there.

[labonnevie]

1 minute ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@labonnevie Do you think it would be better in the afternoon?  Wondering if the time of day makes a difference or if it is a zoo no matter when in your experience?
 

These messes in MIA and FLL are examples of why people warn to never ever if you can possibly avoid it, try to fly in on the day the ship leaves.  I recognize that doing so is much easier for those of us who are retired, but boy, there are horror stories out there.

This was two days after we disembarked. Our original flight was scheduled for 10:35 am or so. Fortunately for us, it wound up being three hours late. So we were in the terminal from about 10 to 2 pm. 
Funny story (now); we stayed in South Beach and found that the Miami Marathon was the morning of our departure, closing the street in front of our hotel and bridges on/off Miami Beach. No taxis, no Uber, nothing. What are the chances? As much as you think you have seen everything….

We only got out after the streets reopened. 

[hornscruiser]

Appreciate the comments about Cashmere wine.   My parents both passed away in the last two years in their 90’s.  Started taking my brothers and our wives on Regent Cruises 20 years ago.  They loved Cashmere wine, martinis, and McAllen scotch.  
My wife and I are booked on Regent in May and are going to spread ashes while drinking one of the above.  

[frantic36]

2 hours ago, hornscruiser said:

My wife and I are booked on Regent in May and are going to spread ashes while drinking one of the above.  

 

What a lovely thought. We had my husband's mother's funeral this Monday. That evening my family made and ate one of her favourite meals and it made her feel much closer. So I am sure that lovely feeling of peace and closeness will be with you on that day.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@hornscruiser and @frantic36 My condolences on the loss of your parents.  It is an enormous loss and change in our lives when our parents go.  
 

Joanie

[CDR Benson]

Thank you, dear lady, for your extensive account of the experience you and your husband enjoyed with Regent Seven Seas.  I've just finished going through this thread, from stem to stern, and I feel uplifted about the cruise my wife and I are taking on Seven Seas Mariner in November of 2023.

 

The Good Mrs. Benson and I are relatively new to cruising.  (Well, O.K., as a retired Naval officer, I've done plenty of deployments.  But I'm talking about the kind where I get to relax by the pool, sipping drinks with little umbrellas sticking out of them, rather than spending all day on the bridge.)  Our first cruise was to Alaska in 2018, on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam.  Our 2020 cruise got sidetracked by the Plague, and now we're scheduled for a Canada/New England sailing this September, in the Haven on NCL's Norwegian Joy.

 

For our third cruise, the GMB and I decided, the destination wouldn't matter.  We intended to go as luxuriously as we could and enjoy the pampering and indulgence of the ship.  We expected to make that voyage in 2024.

 

But last month, while researching luxury cruise lines, I discovered Regent's two-category upgrade offer.  That was too good an opportunity to pass up.  I booked us for the November, '23 Caribbean cruise on Mariner.  Since then, I've immersed myself in everything I can find about life on board a Regent cruise.

 

Even though you were on a different Regent vessel, ma'am, your detailed and descriptive posts have painted a superb landscape of what the GMB and I can expect to enjoy in the autumn of next year.  While our NCL cruise is the one more swiftly approaching in our radar, I am more excited over our Regent voyage.

 

Thank you again, ma'am---and thanks, as well, to all of you Regent veterans who chimed in here with your own contributions.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by CDR Benson

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@CDR Benson 

First, thank you for your service.  

Cruises: 

U.S. Navy--18

HAL---1

 

My hat is off to your wife. My Air Force husband flew F-16s and A-10s and retired after 21 years.  Military wives can have some tough times as I well know.  
 

I’m so glad this blog was helpful to you.  It has been fun to do it.  I now have so many lovely people I hope to meet on a cruise someday!

[BeatlesFanForever]

On 3/16/2022 at 11:48 AM, alidor said:

Kathy from Brighton, Michigan.  I think we may have been on the same Seabourn cruise as you and we kind of became friends on board.  Did you take the cruise from Auckland to Sydney?  I think it was about this same time of year.  We were also friends with a couple from Colorado.

 

Dorothy

Hi Dorothy! Yes we are your friends from the Seabourn cruise from Aukland to Sydney in 2019...my how time flies!

Are you on the March 25th cruise to Rome on the Explorer with us? Would love to see you again. 

Kathy & Dick

[CDR Benson]

5 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@CDR Benson 

First, thank you for your service.  

Cruises: 

U.S. Navy--18

HAL---1

 

My hat is off to your wife. My Air Force husband flew F-16s and A-10s and retired after 21 years.  Military wives can have some tough times as I well know.  
 

I’m so glad this blog was helpful to you.  It has been fun to do it.  I now have so many lovely people I hope to meet on a cruise someday!

 

Navy sends Air Force its respects!

 

My pet name for my wife is "XO", because, like executive officers in any service, she's the one that gets things done and supports the entire operation.

 

I got one of the best.

 

 

[GOARMY]

CDR Benson and GeorgiaPeach:  

 

Now that Navy and USAF have hats tossed into the air acknowledging military spouses:  

 

I will add my dear wife, Sue.  28-years' Service "soldering" along with me as an Army wife while raising three great kids and "doing her own thing" during numerous segments by continuing a professional career as a R.N. 

 

Now--off to Vancouver, B.C. for a few days while celebrating our 52nd wedding anniversary.  (No. 50 was supposed to be while aboard Splendor on segments beginning on March 14, 2020 at San Diego.  But, of course, instead of boarding on the 14th, it was back to the San Diego Airport for return to SEATAC and COVID lockdown.)

 

GOARMY!

 

   

Edited March 17, 2022 by GOARMY
Addition.

[CDR Benson]

Navy sends Army its respects.

 

Congratulations on your fifty-two years with such a remarkable lady!

 

 

[alidor]

Kathy!!  How good to hear from you!   Funny, my husband just the morning of your post said something about that cruise and I look at cruise critic and saw your post.  What a coincidence.  I remember trying to send you an email after the trip but it bounced back on me and I didn’t know how to get ahold of you.    Our daughter still lives in Beverly Hills.

 

No, we won’t be on the March cruise with you but we did just get off the Explorer this past Sunday and loved it!!!  The ship Is beautiful and you will not be disappointed.  Would hav loved to be on the sailing with you!

 

Please keep in touch!!!

 

[wishIweretravelling]

On 3/16/2022 at 2:54 PM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

 

 

We feared that the Explorer might be too small for us but it wasn’t.  We enjoyed not having to walk so far to everything.  We now have that trepidation about the size of the Navigator which we will try out in May 2023.

 

 

First, thank you for this wonderful thread. It's been a pleasure to travel along with you. Since we have two future cruises in common, I'm looking forward to meeting you in person.

 

As for Navigator, she's my favorite ship. The smallness is part of her charm. Yes, there are fewer venues (no Chartreuse or Pacific Rim, though some of their menu items appear on the Compass Rose menu at times), and the venues are smaller in scale, but the service and attitude are very much the same as on Explorer.  The one thing I miss when on Navigator (or Voyager or Mariner, for that matter) is the French press coffee. But since you didn't get a chance to try it, I guess you won't miss it 🙂

 

Three friends and I will be boarding Navigator on Sunday. BTW, three of us actually met on Regent cruises. 

 

This will be my first cruise on Nav since 2018., so I'm particularly looking forward to it. One of the friends, know on CC as NCCruzQueen, and I are planning to do a live thread from this cruise.  It won't hold a candle to what you've done here--really, what can?--but we hope to be informative for those planning future cruises on that lovely little ship.

[Lonedaddy]

20 hours ago, hornscruiser said:

Appreciate the comments about Cashmere wine.   My parents both passed away in the last two years in their 90’s.  Started taking my brothers and our wives on Regent Cruises 20 years ago.  They loved Cashmere wine, martinis, and McAllen scotch.  
My wife and I are booked on Regent in May and are going to spread ashes while drinking one of the above.  

Check into flying with the ashes.  Don't know what domestic flight are but my dear mom just passed away in Belize (she lived here with us) and in order to bring the ashes back to the states on the plane we need a special permit.  It isn't expensive but something we need to get.  I wouldn't want you to have a surprise like that and have issues. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@wishIweretravelling  Thanks for the encouragement re Navigator!  I am VERY excited to read your shared blog so I can learn more about the ship.  Thank you both for doing it!  How fun is that, to meet people on a cruise ship, become friends and then cruise together. I’m looking forward to meeting The Three Musketeers.  😃

 

keep in mind, re this blog, that my husband was working while we cruised so I had more time than usual to take photos and blog....as I wandered the ship waiting for him to finish what he was doing.

 

Sunday is almost here!  Excited for you!

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@Lonedaddy  My condolences on the passing of your Mom.  Especially hard since she lived with you.  
 

Joanie

[BeatlesFanForever]

11 hours ago, alidor said:

Kathy!!  How good to hear from you!   Funny, my husband just the morning of your post said something about that cruise and I look at cruise critic and saw your post.  What a coincidence.  I remember trying to send you an email after the trip but it bounced back on me and I didn’t know how to get ahold of you.    Our daughter still lives in Beverly Hills.

 

No, we won’t be on the March cruise with you but we did just get off the Explorer this past Sunday and loved it!!!  The ship Is beautiful and you will not be disappointed.  Would hav loved to be on the sailing with you!

 

Please keep in touch!!!

 

It's so good to chat with you too! I wanted to email you when we got home but couldn't find your email. Are we allowed to post emails here on CC?

We are sailing with Gary & Susan from Colorado. We are excited and can't wait!

I'm so glad you loved the ship. I'm sure we will too.

Keep in touch please. 

[alidor]

OMG!  Can’t believe you are sailing with Gary and Susan.  What a small world!  Ok, here goes - my e-mail…dkconrad@mindspring.com.  Send me a note when you can…

[Jim_Iain]

Joanie,

 

Thanks for your kind invitation to read  your Blog.    Wonderful job and I found our so much about Regent. 

 

Jim

[GeorgiaPeach51]

A few more things.

 

Add to the list of what we didn’t do is eat in Sette Mari, the Italian restaurant that replaces The Veranda in the evening.  Meant to, tried to, wanted to, but the siren song of Compass Rose overcame our intentions.

 

Forgot to note that the dining tables on this ship are NOT grievously close together, which is a complaint we had In Luminae on Celebrity.  If you get a table for two in Luminae, especially by a window, the adjacent table can be so close that you have to be careful when salting your meal that you don’t also salt your neighbor’s.  It is impossible to have a private conversation.  The plus is that you can’t help but speak to the diners right next to you, and you meet some nice people.   But we preferred the privacy of meals on Regent.  People are near enough that you CAN converse if you wish, but if not, you will not feel as if you are being rude.

 

The photo is of the book you will find in your suite, a 280 page comprehensive extravaganza of Regent’s cruises.  We spent several hours reading through this, like we used to do when we were kids before Christmas looking through what we called The Wish Book.  It was very helpful—more so than the much smaller but frequent mailings we get through the mail.

 

But don’t be like us and wait to do your future bookings on the last day of the cruise when you could be enjoying the ship!

 

I THINK I’ve now said it all.  Happy sails!

 

Joanie

[mariners]

GeorgiaPeach51, what a fabulous thread!  We have many nights on Regent, but it's been a long time since we have sailed with the line.  It's been wonderful to "see" your experience both through your words and the photographs.  Thank you.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I saw this on the Crystal board and thought I would share it since we had so many Portuguese Tart aficionados that posted earlier when I first discovered those little bites of perfection.  Apparently they are available at Trader Joe’s, AND if you are daring you can make them at home.  IF I ever try that, I will let you know, but I will definitely investigate the ones at TJ.

 

Joanie
 

 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

The recipe.

 

 

[Techno123]

On 3/16/2022 at 4:15 PM, minidonuts85 said:

Thanks again for your amazing write up! We sail the Explorer as our first cruise with Regent in Nov 2023 and your blog has fueled our excitement. 🙂 

Hi minidonuts85 - which cruise are you doing in November 23? We are booked on a back to back from Tokyo to Hong Kong then Vietnam etc and back to Hong Kong.  We thought we would leave it until next year as the dreaded C is still causing significant issues on that side of the world.