LIARS CLUB AND CAPTAIN PHILIPPE

I have attended many liars clubs over the years. This was one of the best. The panelists were the guest comedian, Lyn the cruise consultant, Captain Philippe, and Steve the security officer. One would anticipate the comedian would be the best, he was good but was really not as good as the Regent staff. Lyn and Steve both did a great job. The star of the show was Captain Philippe.

Never have I seen a Captain in liars club before so I thought it was neat he was even on the panel. However, he did actual “skits” for his words. Two words he sat on a chair and moved it around the floor complete with sound effects of his car moving down the road and shifting gears. Incredible. Then the security officer acted as a policeman and confronted him on a number of issues. It was so well done you could tell they had spent a lot of time pulling this whole act together. It brought the house down. I think the effort that all the staff put into this was extremely evident and this is the type of thing that makes Regent special.

MARINER’S GOT TALENT – PASSENGER AND CREW TALENT SHOW

John held auditions for a talent show with the passengers. They ended up with six acts. Prior to the actual event they showed some of the auditions on the television so if you wished you could see the preliminary acts, both those that made the cut and the others as well.

The actual event took place last night as an early show. The house was packed. It was so well presented and professionally done. They got a lot of variety, a man who played the guitar and sang, an older lady doing the hula which was very cleverly done with a song “watch the hands not the hips” a teenage girl juggling (she learned to juggle on utube can you believe) a female singer, a classical pianist and then the final act was the winner. A lady who changed the words to a song so it was relative to our cruise and sang it very well with great stage presence. I understand she is a trial lawyer so she knows how to present herself exceptionally well. Part of the chorus was something along these lines. “This is a great cruise my friends, we hope it never ends, we laugh and eat and then we eat some more, at trivia we fight, and John is always right, we love our crew, and captain we love you”. It made me think of Anne and Gary and their particular ability in doing the same thing.

The audience voted and the prize was a $1000 which the winner promptly donated to the cruise welfare fund, a very nice gesture. It was a smashing success. I really believe the entertainment involving the passengers or the crew is always very special and a lot of fun for everyone. So we are now looking forward to the actual crew show where the first prize is a $1000 and we hear there are some incredible acts.

FOOD AND SERVICE.

In all venues the food and service has been outstanding. Best food I have had ever since sailing Regent. As far as service I must admit I am always yakking away and so am not sure how long it takes to get service if you were in a hurry it may be seen quite different but for me it is just fine.

Signatures
People have been reporting that Signatures is not as good but I do wonder if this is simply that Compass Rose has improved and Prime 7 is such a hit that these venues are overshadowing Signatures. I found Signatures to be the same as always. The menu items were the same as they have always been. I like Signatures about once a cruise as I do find things to be a little rich and I like the flexibility you get in the other restaurants.

Prime 7
Since the ship is not full people have been able to get into Prime 7 several times. I have now tried the Dover Sole, Lobster, Milk Fed Veal Chop and the King Crab Legs. Each visit (two now) I have had a main instead of the appetizer and salad and then another main so I can “do my duty” and try out the main offerings. Everything has been outstanding. Probably my favorite was the huge Main Lobster. It was incredibly good. The King Crab was a huge helping with really big crab legs that are pre-cut and the meat just slides out in big round pieces. I love their light dessert of fresh berries.

Compass Rose
A different style of menu, more mains are listed as the “simplicity items” are now shown on the main list. No back page. Someone mentioned on either LCT or CC that the menu had less options but I think it is just a different way of presenting things. Often items were listed on the back for a second time so overall I think it is about the same. Food here has been very good consistently.

La Verandah

Breakfast – do not make it to breakfast so cannot comment.

Lunches seem to have had better options. The fish has been excellent except for one day the salmon was over cooked. The carving stations have been good. Everyday you have the big shrimp, smoked salmon and either mussels or king crab. I am still waiting for a rack of lamb on the carving station, hope that comes one day.

The one complaint I have heard is the crust on the pizza is not good, that it is too thick. I have not tried it and am trying to be “very good” so probably will not try it but this is a pretty universal complaint. I asked about this and was told it is a standard recipe for all the ships so it wont change unless they change it for all the ships. The key here is to put it on the comment sheets this is how things get changed.

Dinners
They had a “French Bistro” for six nights at La Verandah. It was pretty good and we enjoyed our meal, Lobster, Rack of Lamb, a nice Beef Filet and a great shrimp soup. I have only been once and I have just not really been a fan of La Verandah at night.

SEAS – CALM – CALM
The first two nights out we had some movement, nothing major, but the last days have been incredibly calm. Yesterday it was like a lake, not even a ripple. As calm a sea as I have ever seen. It was so beautiful. I wanted Ken to take a picture but he never got around to it. Today we have a little swell but no white caps.

POOCH and TRIVIA
We are having our daily pooch game at 2.00 pm. Pam and Jim have the honor of being the current leaders but there is still time to catch them. Don has started bridge and is totally enthralled with this new game so he has been absent. He won every category on Samba so he will not be defending his title. A new saying from this trip instead of “under duress” it was misheard as “under a dress”. It has kind of stuck.

Trivia – well between the Bittle team and a couple of other teams I do not think we will ever win. We are coming up with some great answers and having a lot of fun.
Question – The name given to the natives in Rio?
Answer - Jewelry Salesmen
The team scoring us gave us three points for that answer!

All in all this is turning into a wonderful cruise. Easter Island was such a highlight for us, and we are really enjoying all these sea days. It is so nice and lazy and both of us are getting some nice rest and really enjoying the group. It may be small in number but high in quality.