Part 3 of 3:
DINING
Yum! Best food I've had on a cruise ship, and tight competition with some of the better restaurants on land.
Dining venues are: Lido Cafe (for breakfast and lunch--all buffet); Trident Grill (for late breakfast and for lunch; also has an ice cream shop); Tastes (a small plates venue offering a variety of world cuisines); Bistro (a coffee shop with snacks); Prego (Italian, dinner only); Silk Road (Japanese/Asian/sushi; dinner only); and the main dining room (all meals).
The food in the Lido Cafe is good. There is an omelet station, but you have to wait around for it--there is no one to bring it to your table. The coffee is decent, and specialty coffees are available. A nice touch--"to go" cups, so you can grab a cup and go elsewhere with it, or pop down from your room a grab a cup to take back without worrying about it cooling or spilling.
The grill is nothing special--standard pool grill fare. But the setting is wonderful: there used to be a second swimming pool here with a glass ceiling above. But they covered over the pool and put in tables, chairs, and other relaxing seating vignettes, so that it is a nice outdoor-feeling spot but out of the weather. It was quite welcomed during the nasty weather of this cruise, and was nice spot to hang when it wasn't meal time.
The other half of that space is Tastes. We had a great meal there, though some plates were better than others. The fish dishes were particularly good here.
Bistro was a nice spot for a cup of tea or coffee, and was good for a late light lunch after a return from shore. The dishes here match a painting on the wall--sounds hokey, but actually was very pretty.
We were pleasantly surprised by Prego. Cruise ship italian restaurants are often mediocre. Not so here: the mushroom soup is fantastic, and the rack of lamb yummy.
Silk Road. Wow. The black cod knocked my socks off. Great sushi too. A real hit.
Main Dining Room. We only had a couple of chances to try it, and so the jury is still out on the dining system. There are two set seatings, with assigned table mates--one at 6:00 and another at 8:30. The alternative is Dining by Reservation. You can more or less name your own time, but must make a reservation, and must name your table mates. We opted for this. Fortunately, it appears that there is flexibility in the system. Within an hour of boarding, we were delighted to run into some friends from a couple of Regent cruises, and so made arrangements to have dinner together the next night. No problem with dumping our time and joining them at theirs. But I don't know what would have happened if they hadn't also been Reservation diners.
The second time in the MDR was the final night, when we joined by a guest from on shore (Lee, I believe you are acquainted with the gentleman). We were tucked into a quiet corner (apparently they'd heard about us), and had a lovely meal.
The food in the MDR was good, and just enough selections to please any palate.
But here was the only real sour moment we had on the CS. One afternoon in Boston, some friends who live there visited us on the ship and joined us in the MDR for lunch. Of course, Crystal had a charge for that, and we were fine with it, expecting to see it on our account at the end. To my surprise, they brought a check to the table at the end of the lunch, and presented it to our guest! I found it awkward and embarrassing. First, why do the check at all? Why not just put it on our account? Second, who gives the check to the guest? The only thing I can think of is that the only man at the table was one of the guests, and they're caught up in the old thinking that of course the man gets the check. No restauranteur on shore would dare do that anymore--I can't think why Crystal would.
EXCURSIONS
I had been signed up for two ship's excursions during the cruise--one in Bar Harbor and one in Newport--mostly because I wanted to see how Crystal handled them. Overcrowding an excursion is a pet peeve of mine. While there were plenty of people on the Bar Harbor excursion, the buses were not overcrowded, nor were the sites. Of course, the weather was so nasty that very little was visible, but the guide was engaging and knowledgeable, and the excursion pleasant.
Alas, that was to be my only ship's excursion, as the weather caused them to cancel the Newport stop in favor of a day at sea, and we'd made our own arrangements for Boston and New York.
FITNESS FACILITIES
The gym on the top deck seems well-equipped, with lots of treadmills, a couple of stationary bikes, a couple of recumbent bikes, several elipticals, a lone stairmaster, and any number of weight machines. There's also a nice yoga/pilates/zumba/barre area.
Also, deck 7 goes all the way around the ship: no dodging deck chairs, no dead ends. Just nice walking space. 3-1/3 turns=1 mile. That's something that's always been wanting on Regent.
The pool is big enough for short laps, or water aerobics. Of course, the weather precluded actually trying it out.
Well, I think that's it for now. If I think of anything else, I'll add, and answer any questions.
