Greetings:

Well the Gala stood up to what we thought it would be. We arrived at about 7pm and quickly got in line for some vino and then look around to see if we knew anyone from a past voyage. We didn't recognize anyone.

Just about an hour and a half before the gala, I literally ran into Tom & Marcie who were in the area visiting their grandson and they decided to stop in and greet some of their cruising friends. Penny and I thought Marcie looked great in her shorter, straight hair. I truly thought the styling enhanced an already pretty face and I told her so .... twice....and I meant it. Anyway, after nearly crashing into one another and looking in disbelief, we fell into the hug and squeeze mode. We chatted a short bit and I was assured we'd see them later.

We stayed clear of Marcie and Tom until it was clear they had met with all their friends and then we approached them to chat and take photos. Penny and I thought it was extremely thoughtful and generous of Marcie to introduce us around to people she knew. Thanks guys!!!

I have posted photos of last night's affair on "Smugmug" and when you go to my Blog click on "Favorite Sites" on the lower left and then click "Our World Cruise Photos" to see my Smugmug photos and comments.

http://journals.aol.com/rschue8444/wc-2008/

I thought Mark Conroy was impressive. He doesn't use corporate jargon when he speaks but uses of tone of "I'm talking to my friends" approach. I like that. Anyway here are some of his comments as I remember them:

He worked for Carlson for 15 years and cherished that time but it became clear to the Carlson's that introducing a new ship would be an expensive proposition and perhaps it was time to sell the company and move on. Some 17 bidders were involved and during a negotiation period it was reduced to three and then
Apollo was chosen because of their management and financial strength. That company will own 92% of the company and Mark, Christian and I don't remember who else will own 8%. Personally I like them having ownership and a say so.

New ship will be about 65 tons, same number of passenger availability (700) single quarters (a cheer went up) a covered pool area for inclement weather. (Penny thinks I'm wrong on the tonnage)...oh well...we'll be hearing more as Mark and the architects will be with us again in April to go over more about the new ship.

Out of 700 guests there are 328 World Cruisers and at breakfast this morning, a couple from Cincinnati said they had heard that approximately 300 were repeaters.

I'm going brain dead, if I think of more I'll add to this.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you've gotten off to a wonderful start.

Well I can get to the blog, but then I click on the photos and they just never load. Hmmmmm, maybe you will post some here thruout your trip.

Sounds like a wonderful start to a wonderful adventure, and how fun to run into Tom and Marcie.

As I type this, you are probably just about eating breakfast and before long you will be onboard. BON VOYAGE!!!!

Finally got the pictures to load - they are great!

Thank you so much. Mark is an exceptional CEO. Single quarters? Does that mean dedicated single suites? Yay!!!

Ray and Penny-

Thanks for your willingness to share this grand adventure with us. I will be anxious every day for your reports. SINGLE SUITES? I am sure if I am patient I will hear more about such a thing, but is anyone willing to speculate what exactly that means?

Is it just a certain number of suites dedicated for a certain rate structure for single passengers? Will the suite somehow be designed differently than the other standard suites for doubles? I have never heard of such a thing, but as someone who would be inclined to want such a suite, I love to hear other's input.

Voyager looked lovely as it sailed away at 528 Pac time

wow that was awesome....just wished I was aboard and beginning such an adventure :bv: :bv: :bv:

The fun reports are beginning. Thanks, Penny and Ray.

Ray and Penny...wishing you a fond Bon Voyage...can't help but be sad that we're not there with you!

Thanks for taking us "along" on your voyage!

Great photos and report! Thanks!

Bon Voyage, Ray and Penny. You're in one of our favorite suites - 645. Enjoy! Mark and Harry are delightful. cheers, Anne

AHHHH 645 we have it for B2B - great knowing it is in such good hands -

Ray and Penny

Thank you for taking us all along with you. The photos are terrific, makes me ALMOST feel like we are right there with you.

I am already in awe of all the beautiful pictures I have seen of this trip----and we have not even seen their first port yet. Wow, we are in for a photographic treat the next few months.

Randy

We're on the ship and so is our luggage!!!

We were bussed from the Fairmont to the ship and passed thru security quickly.

Topside sailaway/cocktails and munchies, were canceled for safety reasons, primarily because of the wind, but a number of us went to the top deck to take photos.. As we pulled away from the San Francisco lights and passed under the Golden Gate bridge in the dark, we knew our journey to the world was now beginning. What a thrill!

The, dinner venue, Compass Rose, didn't open until about 7pm last night also because of concern for safety.. When it did open, we dined alone as we were too tired to carry on a conversation with fellow guests and following dinner we went to the room and crashed. I must say we slept well with gentle cradle rocking of the ship.

Following are some highlights of today's ship activities:


Casino gambling lessons, Popcorn Matinee Movie - Hairspray; body sculpting, beginners pilates, Voyager Cabarat Piano Bar starring Nathaniel Reed., dance lessons, dancing with the Diamond Heart Duo - John Ewart & Michelle; diverse singer John D. Smitherman;etc. etc. It's 6:50a.m. and so far we have only decided to clean up and go to breakfast.

5pm - BCS Championship game between Ohio St. and LSU. --Can't wait for this one.

Penny and I decided that on this trip we would do things we previously hadn't time to do or just didn't care to do. So, today we went to a Mumba Dance Class and it was fun. With the ship rocking the way it is, you get a better appreciation of what goes on with the ship's dancers when they make some fancy moves. We'll try out our dancing skills after the block party, eat at Compass Rose and then listen to the highly touted singer.

Meeting some nice people and I've been handing out my cruise card.

Block Party at 6pm. Guests come out of their cabins and into the corridor to meet their neighbors. Wine will be served by our suite staff.

Later.

Cheers! Ray & Penny
After I close this out, I'll be posting a few more pictures of San Francisco, Voyager, Crew and Activities.

We love the Diamond Heart Duo, John and Michelle - they were great on CROSS. Hope you are also or will enjoy the dance instructors who are themselves an incredible act to watch. Good luck in that aerobic room trying to dance - I finally gave up and Frank did the lessons.

Sounds great so far Ray - can't wait to just hear about everyday.

Hi Ray and Penny, thanks so much for taking us along on your wonderful voyage. so glad everything is off to a great start.

Nancy

Ray & Penny,

So excited for you! We are already hanging on to your reports. So happy to tag along with you, on this great adventure!!

Great to hear from you Ray and Penny. It sounds like your WC is off to a wonderful start. Thanks much for taking us with you! :)

Ray and Penny,
Wow, I cannot imagine the excitement you must feel. Those of us left behind can only hope to enjoy the trip through your wonderful reports. Thank you so much, and enjoy every moment.

Ray and Penny --

We have been out of e-mail touch...so sending you late Bon Voyage greetings.

I will be reading your journal religiously...first thing every morning.

Please give our reards to Capt. Dag, and Jamie and Dana.

Smooth sailing,

Larry

Tagging on to Ray's post.....

We did have a wonderful, whirlwind weekend!! We had a terrible time flying out of LAX on Saturday due to the weather through out the state….mostly in the San Francisco area. After hanging out at LAX for 7 hours with one cancelled or delayed flight after another we finally got on the first flight out.

As Ray mentioned it was great running into him at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel. Both Ray and Penny look fantastic and are in for such a wonderful 4 months. It was lots of fun for Tom and me to see many of our WC friends too. On Sunday, daughter Gina and Josh picked us up and we spent the afternoon on the Voyager. It was the first time they had ever been on board and were just amazed at how beautiful it all was. I think they now have an understanding of why we would choose to go on World Cruises and live on this ship for months at a time. They met so many of our friends as well as the great officers and crew members we so adore. It was really a FABULOUS day! Luckily on Sunday there was no rain...cool temps but dry!

The Voyager seems to be in excellent condition. I love the new flat screen TVs in the suites. It’s a big improvement. As some of you have privately emailed me about the new smoking policy, I did try to find out how it’s going. Some friends who have been on since FLL said they haven’t noticed much of a change (they’re non smokers). Some friends who do smoke described it as a big inconvenience and said they’re trying to keep an open mind with this as a “test the waters”. So, it seems that the verdict is still out, at least that’s the feedback we got.

It was wonderful for us being able to tie in visiting cruise friends as well as seeing daughter, son-in-law and little Nicky, our 18 month old Grandson. It doesn’t get much better than that!!

Ray and Penny, like everyone here at LCT we’ll sure be following your blog and traveling with you! We’ll see you in Athens!! We have a lot of friends who are getting on in Athens so the last segment will be a blast! Wishing you calm seas and very happy days ahead!!

Editing: Ray & Penny, Just realized that you're in #645. That's the same room we were in for '07 WC....LOVE LOVE LOVE that room and the location!!!

Ray, I am sure you are as disappointed as I was with the game last night. I think Jim needs to get a new defensive coordinator, although Heacock is an old friend from YSU. But don't let that detract from what promises to be a wonderful cruise.
Lynn

Our corridor block party was a success and just before we broke up Capt. Dag stopped by to meet and greet. It's the first time I got to meet and shake his hand.

Oh, I did promise to post some photos but, alas, I got a failure notice after several attempts so I'm going to check in with the cyberspace guru today to get his input on how to do the uploading in a responsible manner. I really hope to get with the program as I don't want to upload 10,000 photos after arriving home after a 115 cruise.

After limited physical activity the last several months because of a chest cold, I am starting to get with it while on the cruise. Am not taking any elevators and am getting in some brisk walking topside because of wind resistance. Giving the heart a workout has been well received. I feel like I'm getting my strength back.

Penny went to two organized workouts this morning and she came back huffing and puffing but can't wait to go again tomorrow. I'll probably go too as she said
there several men there.

Andi, we felt like we had a three hour dinner with you last night. I swear you jumped into this woman's body. Her accent; how she flicked her hair back, her likes and dislikes, on and on and were similar to you and when I asked Penny if this gal reminded her of anyone she too said "Andi" right away. She and her husband are native New Yorkers so we had lots to talk about. They have a private car arranged for Maui and they invited us to tag along and we enthusiastically accepted.

On Deck 11 there is an outside buffet breakfast area and I was most pleased to see that Regent now has an industrial size blender that health stores use to squeeze juice out of vegetables and fruit. I asked that attendant to throw in an assortment of goodies and the smoothie really came out nice. The blender will be my first stop every morning, even before coffee.

I'll post this later but we're off now to listen to Sandra Bowern's lecture on Hawaii. (As usual it was very informative and delivered with enthusiam. I'm sure it comes to no surprise to anyone but she is a member of the British Mensa Society.

Did you also know that Jamie Logan,Cruise Director has a Master of Science Degree in Cardiac Rehabilitation. Well he does!

Leaving shortly for the social dance class.

Cheers! Ray & Penny
p.s.: Seas are calming down and the temperature is 65 degrees and windy.
Lynn, yep, sad about Ohio St.
King James did well last night

Ray I am loving every post. It is great to read you are feeling well - I am sure you will need lots of energy to take in all the sights the WC has to offer!

:)

Thanks for checking in Ray and Penny! Sure seems like things are off to a rousing start! The smoothie machine sounds like a great addition. Looking forward to your next installment.

Can't wait to see you and Penny this weekend! Time sure flies. I can remember when you booked this and now you're actually on board the Voyager for your world cruise. How exciting!

Ray, I keep checking your blog and wondered why there weren't any pix, now I understand. If you talk to Sandra, tell her the "real queen" of TAP says hello to the "imposter".
Lynn

As I sit here in a boring business meeting, my mind drifting to you and Penny, I wish I were physically that woman you had dinner with instead of someone who is sneaking reading LCT! Continue writing and take me away......

Ray - if you are having a problem with uploading to Smugmug, send me an email. There is a great program I use to upload there - all at one time and it's freeware so you only pay after you try it and see what it's worth to you.

The day is flying by quickly and nothing really special to write about other than acquaintances are becoming friends and friends are becoming better friends.

Just as a sidelight, I have a walking/cycling/type gps unit that straps onto my arm and have used it several times while walking topside. I have noticed that it is counting some miles that I know I haven't walked and just today, I realized it must be monitoring the speed of the ship and not me. Too funny!

Yallcruise, Carolyn, and I walked together this a.m. and I thought I kept a good pace but I think she was being courteous to me. I went a half-hour and she does an hour each day. She can move!

Prior to Carolyn joining me, a chap who lives in Frankfort, Germany walked with me and we had an interesting conversation as well.

I have an appointment tomorrow with the computer chap and I have also contacted Chatkat for some help so I hope to get some photos uploaded by sometime tomorrow.

Andi: We played beginner's bridge with you today and now Penny and I are off for more dancing.

Oh, some chap has invited us all to have cocktails with him and I'm most anxious to find out why he distributed a flyer. I think some joy recently came his way, health/wealth...I don't know but I want to meet him.

I'm still taking photos everyday and quite frankly some will be redundant to you cruising folks but I have family, friends, etc. that have never been on Regent and they want to be in the know.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Ray to you it may seem like you did nothing special today, but to me I enjoyed reading about your SPECIAL WC day! :)

Oh, Ray, you make me want to be there! Hope you solve the photo upload problems, I never could on Mariner. If you do, please share the trick.

I love those lazy sea days. :D

Masaki

Thank goodness I'm catching up on those bridge courses I missed on TAP. All those Cordon Bleu courses kept interfering with them. It's a relief I can finally pick up where I left off! :D I hope I'm a good partner...

Ray, are you sure you got the right Carolyn and her screen name? Yallcruise, a very dear and close friend is from Texas and I'm pretty darn sure she isn't on the World Cruise right now. I'll email her to see if she snuck away without telling anyone. Hah!
Pat

Ray....I had trouble uploading photos from the Mariner last spring - I hope you get the "fix" - we are all anxious to see photos :D

Your days sound wonderful and very active - isn't it amazing how busy you can be? Please keep sharing the fun.

Pat, Maybe Ray is thinking of Elaine (sealover) as she and her husband Stan are definitely on the WC and she walks the track. Peggy (xrvlcruiser) is also on board.

Ray, do you and Penny go to trivia? We had it twice a day, plus "Jamie's games" at noon each day. Always lots of fun!

Hi Marcie,

You are right, it was Elaine who walked with Ray yesterday and she introduced both of them to me last night at the show . . . .

Peggy