Wining and dining on the oh so gorgeous Grandeur!

[Zqueeze1]

So sorry to hear your wonderful cruise is coming to an end. I have enjoyed reading this thread and sharing it with my wife along with all the great pics.  Thank you for taking us along with you and we wish everyone a safe trip home. 
 

Z and TB

[alainciao]

Hey, Z. I’m on this Grandeur cruise also.  Went to the pool bar the other day looking for something different and decided to try a rum.  Then I started thinking, what was the rum that the rum expert, Z, recommended!  I tried a foreign rum and it was good but please share your wisdom again😎

I will put it into action today!🍹

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, kjbacon said:

If you ask for a perfect sea day, you will get yesterday

A big +1 on that! 

 

There was a "seafood extravaganza" on the pool grill at lunchtime which was very nice. 

 

The movie, "The Burial" was shown in the Constellation in the afternoon but since this movie is available on Amazon Prime, I decided to defer watching until I get home so that I could spend my precious cruise time on more productive endeavors. Like napping on the pool deck. 

 

Dinner at Chartreuse was a bit of a mixed bag. 

 

Jeannie had the Beetroot Salad which is always good

 

 

 

 

I was fascinated with "crispy escargot", so had to try it. This is what it looks like 

 

Hah? 

But yes, there is escargot in there 

 

 

The dish tasted very good, but for me, there was way too much bread and too little escargot. I think I'll stick with the CR version from now on. 

 

The mushroom soup in Chartreuse is not to be missed ; the Grandeur version seems to differ from that of the other ships in that it contains "egg yolk confit", which made this soup even more flavorful. 

 

The Dover Sole was a little disappointing, it was thicker and less moist than the one we had in CR. 

 

The Beef Tenderloin Rossini is, IMHO, the best cut of beef that Regent offers. 

 

 

The final production show, also new on the Grandeur, was, "Ignite the Night ".

This show featured the dancers of the cast, the fabulous singers were present to more or less support the dancers. 

I have honestly never seen anything on a cruise ship quite like this one. I am no expert in evaluating the dancing arts, but I thought that the quality and creativity of the choreography and of the performance rivals  any that I have seen anywhere. 

And whomever is responsible for the lighting and the design of the projected scenery should get an award, the stage is a 45 minute visual delight. 

 

If you are cruising on Grandeur, and only see one show - to be clear, I strongly recommend seeing all of the shows - but if you only see one, make it this one. 

You won't be sorry. 

[alainciao]

Concur on Ignite the Night!  Was it my imagination or did they actually throw one dancer about 15 feet through the air!?
 

[GMIAC]

3 hours ago, kjbacon said:

 

And I have no idea why the sashimi is upside down lol!

 

:: resists urge to make Poseidon Adventure joke ::

[Whinenowine]

5 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Our favorite sommelier on board, Grace, found 2 outstanding bottles of Bordeaux for us. She is on track to follow in Georgiana’s footsteps.

 

 

While I've never had this wine, I've had bottles from their neighbors--good choice...and a great vintage, too.  Good to get a little bit of age on some of these red Bordeaux (I tend to prefer mine at 25-30yrs old).

[kjbacon]

Here we are on disembarkation day with the usual sense of wondering how this day arrived so fast! We had another picture perfect day at sea yesterday .

 

We had to leave the pool deck early to pack and to do our survey. Most everything was fantastic but once home, I will share areas that I feel would benefit from improvement.

 

Dare I say, this leg of the trip had some passengers that were not as thoughtful of others as would have been preferred. Please take that one brief moment to smile and say please or thank you to this hard working crew who is here for you. 
 

We chose Sette Mari for our farewell dinner and we were glad we did. Sorry for my sentimental streak but it was a magical night of crimson streaked skies, dear friends, and great food and drink. This is as good as it gets. 

 

We love all the antipasto!

 

 

For our pasta course we had spaghetti carbonara and spaghetti puttanesca. Both were so good that I could not say which one was better.

 

 

And how fitting for my last meal entry but we dug into our main course and demolished it before I took the picture lol! We split the strip steak with taleggio cheese and mushrooms. It was even better than it sounds and darn, it was pretty. We had to have a sweet bite before our last good night and the profiterole was spot on.

 

Safe and happy travels to all today.

[Zqueeze1]

23 hours ago, alainciao said:

Hey, Z. I’m on this Grandeur cruise also.  Went to the pool bar the other day looking for something different and decided to try a rum.  Then I started thinking, what was the rum that the rum expert, Z, recommended!  I tried a foreign rum and it was good but please share your wisdom again😎

I will put it into action today!🍹

Sorry for the late response.  Unfortunately, the only decent rum is Zacapa, which is an upsell.  This is a sipping rum that I usually get one every couple of days.  The well rum is Bacardi and I can only drink it with diet ginger ale since it tastes like you are biting into wood if you have it with coke.  When you get home, try Dos Maderas. It is awesome on the rocks.  
 

Z and TB

Edited February 17 by Zqueeze1

[Jlhalldc]

On 2/16/2024 at 8:41 AM, boblerm said:

A big +1 on that! 

 

There was a "seafood extravaganza" on the pool grill at lunchtime which was very nice. 

 

The movie, "The Burial" was shown in the Constellation in the afternoon but since this movie is available on Amazon Prime, I decided to defer watching until I get home so that I could spend my precious cruise time on more productive endeavors. Like napping on the pool deck. 

 

Dinner at Chartreuse was a bit of a mixed bag. 

 

Jeannie had the Beetroot Salad which is always good

 

 

 

 

I was fascinated with "crispy escargot", so had to try it. This is what it looks like 

 

Hah? 

But yes, there is escargot in there 

 

 

The dish tasted very good, but for me, there was way too much bread and too little escargot. I think I'll stick with the CR version from now on. 

 

The mushroom soup in Chartreuse is not to be missed ; the Grandeur version seems to differ from that of the other ships in that it contains "egg yolk confit", which made this soup even more flavorful. 

 

The Dover Sole was a little disappointing, it was thicker and less moist than the one we had in CR. 

 

The Beef Tenderloin Rossini is, IMHO, the best cut of beef that Regent offers. 

 

 

The final production show, also new on the Grandeur, was, "Ignite the Night ".

This show featured the dancers of the cast, the fabulous singers were present to more or less support the dancers. 

I have honestly never seen anything on a cruise ship quite like this one. I am no expert in evaluating the dancing arts, but I thought that the quality and creativity of the choreography and of the performance rivals  any that I have seen anywhere. 

And whomever is responsible for the lighting and the design of the projected scenery should get an award, the stage is a 45 minute visual delight. 

 

If you are cruising on Grandeur, and only see one show - to be clear, I strongly recommend seeing all of the shows - but if you only see one, make it this one. 

You won't be sorry. 

We spent 28 days on Grandeur last month and I wholeheartedly agree with your post. Particularly about the excellent Tenderloin Rossini and Ignite the Night. The best I have ever seen on any ship. Thank you and @kjbaconfor your commentary. I've enjoyed traveling with you and can't wait to board Grandeur once again in August for a transatlantice from Barcelona to NYC. 

[taxman1]

@kjbacon we had a very similar feeling with respect to the lack of thoughtfulness amongst our fellow passengers.  During our 30 years of world travel we have found a common language shared by all in every corner of the world … it’s called a smile.  We enjoyed your posts as we shared the same journey.  Thank you!

[lprp]

5 hours ago, taxman1 said:

@kjbacon we had a very similar feeling with respect to the lack of thoughtfulness amongst our fellow passengers.  During our 30 years of world travel we have found a common language shared by all in every corner of the world … it’s called a smile.  We enjoyed your posts as we shared the same journey.  Thank you!

100% agree, it annoys me beyond belief when passengers just state what they want to the wonderful crew with no hint of a “please”, “thank you” or even a smile. 😡

 

[kjbacon]

Good morning from land! We had a pleasant drive home and have started the countdown for our next Regent cruise. It’s been a bit of a shock to learn that if we want to eat, we have to grocery shop and cook the food ourselves!! We are even expected to do the dishes.

 

We had an absolutely fabulous trip and were very impressed with the Grandeur. This is a beautiful ship with a hard working, dedicated crew that manages to stay cheerful through thick and thin.

 

The food and drink was the best that we have had on any ship of any brand. The themed breakfasts and lunches were always a treat. La Veranda made the best and most consistent poached eggs that we have ever had. The staff knew that I liked avocados and hot sauce (but not Tabasco) so both were always on hand for me. As I’ve already said, the included wines were outstanding. 

 

Be sure to go the Coffee Connection for amazing coffees and teas with some of the best staff on the ship. Do not miss the coffee créma, one of the best bites on board.

 

 

There are a couple areas that would benefit from improvement and a couple areas that (we believe) are design flaws. We loved the back deck of La Veranda on the Splendor but the Grandeur doesn’t have those wonderful cubbies that broke up that huge space. Compass Rose is positively stunning but it’s one huge space and the acoustics suffer from that. It was also missing the curtains that help absorb noise. It felt loud and frantic to us. We loved compass rose for breakfast when it wasn’t crowded but not so much at dinner when crowded.

 

The Grandeur has pocket doors in the cabins and they look really beautiful. But, and this is one big but, they can be quite noisy if the seas aren’t perfectly smooth. 
 

Chair hogs. Ok, I’ve said it, chair hogs. This is a real problem on board! You can tell that we are early risers and we were at the juice bar at 6:30an daily. By then, every chair in the shaded alcove area was taken, being held by books or hats or beach bags. The actual occupants often didn't show up

for hours (yes, I said and meant hours). We felt that a crew member was needed to monitor that situation.

 

Another area that needs attention is the smoking lounge on the pool deck. This lounge does not have self closing doors so the doors were frequently left open and the smell of smoke was often overpowering. We had a couple cigar smokers on board so that made it all the more unpleasant.

 

All in all, a great ship with a great crew that could use a tweak or two.

 

Our next trips are already booked on the Mariner and the Navigator. We are excited to try these ships for the first time!

[Travel-or]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:02 AM, kjbacon said:

Chair hogs. Ok, I’ve said it, chair hogs. This is a real problem on board! You can tell that we are early risers and we were at the juice bar at 6:30an daily. By then, every chair in the shaded alcove area was taken, being held by books or hats or beach bags. The actual occupants often didn't show up

for hours (yes, I said and meant hours). We felt that a crew member was needed to monitor that situation.

At some vacation club resorts that we go to in popular spots (Aruba, Marco Island, Singer Island and others), security will flop the backrest of the chair forward and on their next pass of the area will remove the items by placing them in a see-through bag and bring them to the front desk. This has helped ease the hogs a bit and it's slightly entertaining to watch said hogs return to other guests occupying "their" chairs. It is frustrating to see prime spots be unused for hours on end-maybe Regent could try something similar ( photograph all items on chairs and placed in bag so no shenanigans of "someone stole my Piaget". 

[kjbacon]

11 hours ago, Travel-or said:

At some vacation club resorts that we go to in popular spots (Aruba, Marco Island, Singer Island and others), security will flop the backrest of the chair forward and on their next pass of the area will remove the items by placing them in a see-through bag and bring them to the front desk. This has helped ease the hogs a bit and it's slightly entertaining to watch said hogs return to other guests occupying "their" chairs. It is frustrating to see prime spots be unused for hours on end-maybe Regent could try something similar ( photograph all items on chairs and placed in bag so no shenanigans of "someone stole my Piaget". 

Regent had a very similar policy last year when we were on the Splendor. It worked well! I asked about it and the officer told me that they would not touch items that belonged to a passenger. I asked that same officer if I should come earlier to hold a chair with a book and he said yes. And in fact, on the very last day of our cruise, all the chairs were taken by 5am.

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

I asked about it and the officer told me that they would not touch items that belonged to a passenger.

 

How does that officer's statement square with the following notice in Passages?

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, kjbacon said:

I asked that same officer if I should come earlier to hold a chair with a book and he said yes

I trust you reported that conversation to the GM as IMO that response demands a reprimand

[-Lew-]

7 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

I trust you reported that conversation to the GM as IMO that response demands a reprimand

 

The GM on Grandeur has no desire to enforce Regent corporate policy regarding this issue.

[pappy1022]

Then it’s not a policy if they won’t enforce it.

[-Lew-]

18 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Then it’s not a policy if they won’t enforce it.

 

A corporate vice president assured me it is policy.  He told me all GMs would be reminded to enforce it.

 

We disembark Tuesday.  I plan to followup after arriving at our next destination.

[edgee]

Interestingly, corporate cousin Oceania no longer enforces rule against lengthy saving of chairs. GM on Vista told me that they had to pay a settlement to aggrieved passenger who had a valuable item which was lost after being removed from a chair by a crew member. Now Oceania makes repeated announcements throughout the day asking folks not to save loungers for extended periods of time.

[flossie009]

12 minutes ago, edgee said:

they had to pay a settlement to aggrieved passenger who had a valuable item which was lost after being removed from a chair by a crew member.

Why? 

More fool them for leaving a valuable item unattended .......... and for a long period 🤨

 

[cruisevirgin24]

Sitting on the spa deck of Grandeur earlier this month, I witnessed four chairs with either a cap or magazine on, unattended for at least an hour. My elderly father was struggling in the sun after this time, so I collected up all the items and handed them in to the spa desk, politely telling the young lady that I had some lost property that someone had forgotten. 

The same afternoon I also witnessed a couple who had reserved a chair each in the sun and a chair each in the shade, and were alternating between the two.

[kjbacon]

Everyone from the top down is well aware of the chair saving situation on board. From what we were told, the crew will not touch items that belong to the passengers.

 

We saw all kinds of infractions from people saving chairs for hours (literally) to people saving chairs in both the shaded and sunny sections. We felt that a crew member should be on hand to supervise the situation.

[pappy1022]

It’s unfortunate that adults are acting like children (or grumpy old people) when it comes to chair hogs but Regent needs to do something to stem the tide. 

[mrstanley]

I was on the Splendor several years ago and had a conversation with the Captain about this issue. Even though the chair policy was posted poolside the crew will not engage a passenger regarding the chair issues poolside. I moved someone’s stuff off their chair after noticing they were gone over 60 mins. Put the belongings on a table, got a clean towel for the chair and I proceeded to sit down. They eventually returned and were bewildered trying to find their stuff.

I’m not intimidated by these rude and inconsiderate passengers.