GeorgiaPeach Sails the Atlantic on Splendor

[NCCruzQueen]

6 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Suffice to say every exit of the odious Jeep required a similar ignominious repetition of the above described debacle.  Every woman in the Jeep was similarly tortured until finally my seat mate Leslie put her foot down, folded her arms and refused to exit the Jeep again until she could see the Splendor and was assured of escape.  So, Dear Splendor Excursions staff, please make a step stool a required item.  At least half the ship will thank you.

@GeorgiaPeach51

 

Please go to the Destination Services desk and mention the need for step stools on the Jeep excursion.  The DS staff make copious notes and report back to the location tour group.  
 

Beth

 

[vistaman]

On 11/18/2022 at 8:27 AM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

😂 @crusin7  Well, brave soul, here you go!

Since covid catering on Lufthansa went down heavily, despite they are the same family I always try to fly on Swiss or Austrian ... 

[kjbacon]

Thank you for describing the jeep tour. We are taking a similar sounding shorex on the February 8 Splendor and I’m only 5’2”! Now I know to go to DS before the tour to check out the details.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

[ChucktownSteve]

11 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Most likely the old locks as the new ones are used by the megaships that can't fit through the original locks

 

11 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Don't know how much it varies but the Explorer (sister ship) used the old locks in January.

 

That's what I suspected however I thought others with more knowledge could share the blame with the DW if I answered incorrectly.   😄

[puppyluv1]

13 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

I contemplated this fact as I hung on the side of the Jeep, too far up to go back down because of the effort already expended, and yet, too far down to assure victory.  So I hung there, sloth-like wondering how best to preserve a little shred of dignity and pondering the dark heart of the person who refused to install a grab bar of any kind.  

Your sense of humor is so engaging. You took an unpleasant situation and made me laugh out loud. Thank you!  

[GeorgiaPeach51]

17 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Those “hardy souls” will be the Brits, delighted to be escaping the wind and rain at home! 
Really enjoying the daily updates, thank you. I have one small query for you. Are there any fitness classes? I’m hoping to have some sort of aerobic class, Pilates, yoga…

Thanks for any info and thanks for taking the time to report on your experiences.

@Kristal Blade  here you go! This schedule was available at the reception desk of the spa, which is below the fitness center.

 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Last night we shared a table in Pacific Rim with s great couple, Ruby snd Gary.  Had s great time, just lovely people.  The meal was excellent.  We both had sushi, not the best I’ve ever had, but good, then the miso sea bass.  If you enjoy fish at all, put this on your bucket list.  We.also tried the lobster tempura which we liked more than our first time on Explorer.  A great meal.  We love PR.

 

this morning we had a Mediterranean cooking class at 10:00.  Full class, 18 people, soon to be 17.  Turns out all dishes but one had almonds and my husband is allergic.  They very kindly offered to refund the class fee and away he went.  I thought the instructor was excellent and the whole thing was well orchestrated and efficient and perfectly timed.  We made almond milk, a pasta dish, a street food with salad, a cake soaked in limoncello and a seafood in tomato broth dish.  All excellent.  

I recommend the cooking classes.  They also give you the recipes, BTW, so you can practice and dazzle people at home.

[Gpilon]

10 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Last night we shared a table in Pacific Rim with s great couple, Ruby snd Gary.  Had s great time, just lovely people.  The meal was excellent.  We both had sushi, not the best I’ve ever had, but good, then the miso sea bass.  If you enjoy fish at all, put this on your bucket list.  We.also tried the lobster tempura which we liked more than our first time on Explorer.  A great meal.  We love PR.

 

this morning we had a Mediterranean cooking class at 10:00.  Full class, 18 people, soon to be 17.  Turns out all dishes but one had almonds and my husband is allergic.  They very kindly offered to refund the class fee and away he went.  I thought the instructor was excellent and the whole thing was well orchestrated and efficient and perfectly timed.  We made almond milk, a pasta dish, a street food with salad, a cake soaked in limoncello and a seafood in tomato broth dish.  All excellent.  

I recommend the cooking classes.  They also give you the recipes, BTW, so you can practice and dazzle people at home.

Have 2 classes booked for our March Miami to Lisbon cruise. Also did 2 last March but because of COVID protocols they were instructional only. How are the seas on your cruise?

[GeorgiaPeach51]

2 hours ago, Gpilon said:

Have 2 classes booked for our March Miami to Lisbon cruise. Also did 2 last March but because of COVID protocols they were instructional only. How are the seas on your cruise?

The seas are very calm.  Just slight rocking at times, but very stable.  Still no creaking or odd sounds in our suite or anywhere on the ship that we have noticed.

 

Temperature about 74 today and partly cloudy.  No rain.  

[Kristal Blade]

Thank you very much for posting the info about fitness classes. I will avoid the indoor cycling but will try to attend lots of the other classes.

Well done on your culinary class, the results looked terrific.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

18 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

GeorgiaPeach51, I came up with a question I hope someone can answer.  We'll be doing the Splendor L.A. to Miami through the Panama Canal in January.  My DW asked if we will be transiting the old or new locks?  Does anyone know or can you ask a crew member who might know? 

Thankx. Steve

It'll be the old locks.  The new locks are just for the huge new container ships designed for it (Post Panamax?)  Plus it's way more expensive to do a transit through the new one.

[labonnevie]

16 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Mostly true, although this catamaran was entering the new locks at Miraflores.

Upon further review, this was one of the old locks...sorry for the misinformation.

[ronrick1943]

Nice review, enjoying the cruise with all the photos.  Cooking classes are great.  Thanks for taking the time to let us follow along.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I’m VERY remiss!  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  They said a turkey meal was available in every restaurant tonight.  It certainly was on the Compass Rose menu.  However, the menu also featured miso sea bass and there’s no way I will pass that by.  We have another reservation in a pacific Rim tomorrow night and that means I will have had the same entree three nights in a row.  Happy camper, though.  I’ll take quality over variety any day!

 

Here is a photo of the decorations today.  Nice of them to do them!  I took it while standing on the stairs so it looks smaller than it was.  Well, it won’t upload.  I will have to try tomorrow.  Hope you had a nice day today.

 

 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

 

and, here is today’s Passages…

[GeorgiaPeach51]

The photo is the scavenger hunt…find the area in the photo and write the location.  For points.  

re sea days, we find there is plenty to do.  Two speakers today, games for play vs officers, and against other passengers.  Yesterday I watched the second Downton Abbey movie, the first quarter of which I saw on the airplane.  So I was thrilled to see how it ended.  Movies come complete with popcorn, drinks and soft drinks.

 

at no point, really has the ship felt even the slightest bit crowded.  The passenger to space ratio is excellent.  The only very small line was last night to get into the Seven Seas Society cocktail hour.  Other than that, it’s just really easy to move around and never feel cramped.

 

I have yet to encounter a grumpy passenger.  Everyone is uniformly smiling, and sociable.  We are doing the Mensa quizzes each day and so must visit the library to get the sheet.  Love the libraries on Explorer and Splendor.  
 

We have agonized over what to book next…definitely not a problem, just decisions to be made.  We are cancelling our Vancouver to Tokyo cruise in September 23 because it has too many duplicate Alaska ports….we went back to Alaska since booking that cruise.  I believe we are doing a Med cruise in October 2023 that starts in Athens, goes to Istanbul, the Holy Land, to Cairo to see the pyramids, and multiple ports in 

Greece other than Santorini and Mykonos.  So, it covers three bucket  list items and we want to do it while we are sturdy and strong enough to do so many back to back ports.

 

Then in 2024 I think we will try to do a Northern Europe cruise in hopes of seeing the northern lights…want to try to connect it with seeing the Tatoo in Edinburgh….at any rate, we have an appoint with the cruise consultant at 5:30 today.  

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Forgot to say that the Captain announced temps of 80 today, and it is a sunny, beautiful day, but I don’t think it is 80.  My husband, hearty cold weather soul that he is, went to the aft pool and gave it up after an hour after getting chilly.  But it is probably about 74ish out there.  The pool deck area is full of people enjoying the sun…but not many in the pool when I last passed by.

 

the ship is a little rocky….a gentle sway back and forth that does affect walking just a little.  Last night I no sooner posted that all was calm than she started her swaying thing.   It it is not enough to have you lurching from left to right as you stagger down a hallway.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

40 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

My husband, hearty cold weather soul that he is, went to the aft pool and gave it up after an hour after getting chilly.

Where is the aft pool, if I might ask?

[Anchorbuoy]

6 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Where is the aft pool, if I might ask?

infinity pool, deck 5

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, Anchorbuoy said:

infinity pool, deck 5

Oh good.  Glad they hadn't moved it to the bow.  😀

[Gpilon]

3 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Forgot to say that the Captain announced temps of 80 today, and it is a sunny, beautiful day, but I don’t think it is 80.  My husband, hearty cold weather soul that he is, went to the aft pool and gave it up after an hour after getting chilly.  But it is probably about 74ish out there.  The pool deck area is full of people enjoying the sun…but not many in the pool when I last passed by.

 

the ship is a little rocky….a gentle sway back and forth that does affect walking just a little.  Last night I no sooner posted that all was calm than she started her swaying thing.   It it is not enough to have you lurching from left to right as you stagger down a hallway.  

Would gladly take those temps for our March TA Miami to Lisbon. Hope pool bar stool #4 from left will be vacant. 
 

[Techno123]

41 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

Would gladly take those temps for our March TA Miami to Lisbon. Hope pool bar stool #4 from left will be vacant. 
 

I think the Lisbon/Miami leg sounds much nicer than the other way as the clock goes back so more time in bed and warmer temps 😂😂

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@Techno123 You bring up a point I had not addressed.  We have done TA’s both East and west and far prefer West, like this one.  The clock changes are frequent and they made a difference going East.  We found that we were worn out just from that one thing.  But going West you keep gaining time (sleep) which is a gift, no matter how old you are.

 

We went to the CD’s show tonight….David Nevin.  He was just FABULOUS.  WOW, can he sing.  Nice stage presence and great variety of songs to suit his audience.  And his last song was Nessum Dorma which is quite a feat.  I thought he hit it out of the park.  
 

Had a nice, relaxing day.  Played Baggo against the officers and I did not help the passenger cause.  But it was fun.  Ate lunch at the pool deck.  My husband had the German buffet which he pronounced very good.  I had salad and some Buffalo wings that were good, crispy, and had some zing.

 

I’ll get back to photos tomorrow.  

[rcandkc]

I’m glad to hear the wings had some zing.  I love cruising on Regent but I tire of the food because I’m constantly asking for more garlic, more spice, etc.  I bring my own tiny tobasco bottles onboard.  I must be in the minority though. 

[Kristal Blade]

I’m not sure that you will be able to combine the Edinburgh tattoo and the northern lights. The tattoo is in August and it will still be very light at night in more northern ports, also not so cold.

But the tattoo is a fantastic show! Worth booking 2 cruises to achieve it and then later on the northern lights.

 

I am looking forward to the scavenger hunt. We did one on a recent Sirena cruise and it had us roaming all over the ship!

 

Keep enjoying yourselves.