Part 3 of 3: A lot of you reading this post have cruised with Regent’s marvelous guitarist Frankie “Dahling” Holiday. For those of you who haven’t, you have a treat awaiting you. He is a brilliant musician with a unique and fetching personality on stage and off. Fred and I had the good fortune to dine with Frankie and Karen, his girlfriend who is sailing as his guest on this trip, in Compass Rose a few nights ago. We tried very hard, and I think with success, to avoid engaging them with ship talk on the assumption they must get oh so bored with it. Instead, we talked cooking and food. Frankie gave us a fascinating and animated description of his approach to preparing his signature dish, Hungarian goulash. Clearly the man cooks with the verve and gusto that he exhibits on stage. With Fred and Karen and Frankie all talented cooks and food enthusiasts, the meal which featured a delicious osso buco and a less than stellar anis squash soup (you can’t win ‘em all) passed by all too quickly. But the best thing about the evening was our entrance to Compass Rose. We arrived early because Frankie was playing at 9:00 p.m. The room was nearly empty. As we walked to our table waiters converged on us from multiple directions sporting broad smiles and a consistent message: “Welcome, Dahling.” We learned they genuinely love Frankie as much as we do. I’ve never seen this ship’s staff so animated. Over a number of Regent cruises I’ve enjoyed dining with officers and staff on a number of occasions. But the memories of most of those meals have faded. I am certain my fond memories of dinner with Frankie and Karen will linger over the years.
Patrick