good day all

we finally got our visa for brasil and did argentina on line so we are good to go

we wanted to join in rio but unfortunately there was no space to be had

this time i will try and update all from the mariner

i do now there is a couple on board already that are doing 107 days so they have been on for a while but i am sure we will run into someone we already know

christmas and new years on regent again cant get any better!!


updates to come

Great, victor. We always enjoy your seamail.

Victor, I hope you and Rosanne do one of your spur of the moment stay-on-the-ship continuations because I wil be on the Mariner in 117 days

thats highly unlikely as we must be in china on february 20th
then hong kong bangkok and manila all for meetings with suppliers


but then again things do change

Victor,
The couple on board doing 107 days must be our trivia partners Wolfgang & Cheryl. We met you on Cossacks and look forward to seeing you again.
Jim & Pat

thats correct wolfgang and cheryl
we have met them a few times
and they outsail almost everyone

i have been told that on disembarkation days wolfgang goes to gangway to thank everyone for sailing with regent

and you will for sure meet us again somewhere

hey even ran into marcie and tom in first class lounge heathrow in august

Yep, Wolfgang & Cheryl are a super nice couple and spend a WHOLE lot of time on Regent ships...and if you're ever on their trivia team (especially with the Bittles and Jan Hufford) you'll likely be on a winning team often.

Victor & Rosanne, hope you have a fabulous time on your cruise to Argentina.

well almost packed!!! well really i dont do that
i learned a long time ago try and help and get in the way as much as possible and you will never be asked to help pack again

we fly tomorrow to argentina i didnt want to do a 630 am flight
so we are doing a double connection toronto-laguardia then transfer to newark then on to miami then overnite to argentina all on american first class so we get to see what it is like on their 777 first

not sure if they can beat cathay/british airways or singapore but we shall see

we have 5-6 days to enjoy argentina before we board the ship

we already know a lot of crew on board and joining

jamie will be on without dana ?? so chris will be the assistant with lauen on receptio laura will be social hostess and her boyfriend jon executive chef will be there as well

also catherine jolley is gift shop manager ( cute girl) and teh casino manager will be tony from england
and also captain will be daniel greene

so we have 32 days for sure and probably will extend to peru (book on board and save money)

anyone has any questions ask away


i am going to try and write more and see if i can have you visit through my writing

karen

please e mail instruction to download on board ship to expediteplus@yahoo.com as rosanne takes about 400 pictures a day and i would love to share with all but i am not computer friendly!!

ok i see bags and clothes everywhere so i will get some sleep and the baggage packing fairy will show up and put all at door for me to take to car in the morning


everyone should have that kind of fairy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

night all!!!

ps as an afterthought

sometime next year we are looking at maybe doing the greek iles
in a private yaht 4 cabins costs less than regent even with food and booze and air but i need to find 3 other couples


just throwing this out as you all know by now i like to drink

so prefer to have company with my bottle!!

Victor,

So glad you are getting ready for your adventure on the Mariner. I always enjoy your seamail.

More details on your Greek Isles yacht. What are the dates you are interested in going?

Thx, Beth

Victor, you crack me up. Your packing strategy sounds like my husbands. He tries to make as big a mess as possible so he will be sent out of the room.

re greek islands

i want to go anytime it is warm so if we get 4 couple for say 15 days it works out great

now arrived into argentina
man was customs slow !!!! custom officers all over teh world sure are a different breed !! they never ever smile !!! and take so long!

taxi was easy to hotel(though i booked wrong sheraton and we must change on the 5th) super driver and cost 40.00 usd i was told to expect about 50.00 and with 6 pcs of luggage thought maybe 2 cars but we got all into one car

this hotel is beautiful and their rack rate is 365.00 and we got on internet for 180.00

so now we are off to explore the city and report back

i am here for my birthday and some new regent staff are flying in that day so we will party

from what i hear jamie logan is coming on the 4th as well and dana is not coming till february_


ok later

now for an argentina martini

Victor,

Is Jamie coming on the 6th of December or the 6th of January?

Love your posts . . . .Peggy

Most men are likely the same, Rachel, on many planes, same as us females Lol, i havent been married in so long, but as I remember, since former husband was in the National guard early on, he learned to love packing those long army issue duffles that could hold pounds above any piece of luggage, and used long after discharge. Lol, we never did cruises, just crewed sailboat charters where that was good. . I have no memories of doing the packing for both, and certainly never learning the cross packing strategy.

And I've never met a woman who told me her husband packed her bags for a cruise or anything else.

George sets out what he wants to take, but I pack most of it. A good thing, because he has forgotten underwear, socks, toothbrush when left to his own devices. I do a little cross packing, just enough that I probably wouldn't die if a case got lost for a few days.

yes jamie is on board december 6th
he and laura should arrive tomorrow so we can celebrate my
birthday tomorrow night at a nice steak house!!
yesterday was a day of shopping and walking
we went to a place call st telmo about 100 blocks of shopping
flea market style lots of fun

the weather is warmd and beautifull and so far i have found this place to be a very people friendly place with lots of open areas to walk adn shop

today we just going to walk local and take big yellow bus so we can see more there is far too much to see in just a few days

will update tomorrow dec 4 my birthday!!!

FUN....hope you have a wonderful birthday dinner Victor

Tell Jamie hi from Tom and me. Why isn't Dana coming on board the same time ?
Who's Laura ?

laura is the social hostess who is dating jon the chef from vancouver will say hi to jamie hope to meet him sometime today
great dfay yesterday did the big yellow bus around town and saw the sights this city is huge!!! weather has been warm but not hot tried some steak last night and they just cant get it right on how to cook meat this is suppose to be the best beef but last night it was terrible had a few drinks during the day and at midnight hit the shooters and partied !!! rtosanne gave me 7 wishes for my birthday i used 6 to guarantee a daily hug for next year and i used one to have her packed before 11 pm last day of cruise i hate that she packs during night and never ever has bags aout at night not that i pack just stress for me

going for a mani and pedi and look forward and hope we meet with jamie and laura for birthday dinner

will update later

oh i forgot to add

this year again just the night before we left my inlaws 83 years old
moaned about being alone again (they were on voyageur with us last xmas and new years) asked us to take them again

so off the next morning to get a brasil visa ( we had left already)
and i called ngaire who got everything including air done in a very very short period of time

so now they will have visa on 14th and fly that day to join us in rio anyone that has met my mother in law loves her!!!

so again this year we will party christmas and new years with in laws

you should all know that they are 83 both
and we ahve to tell bar to clsoe or they would drink and dance all night long!!!!

yes at 2 am they will still be going strong!!!

good day from argentina

another great day and it was my birthday

we met the social hostess laura and had a fantastic steak dinner
and drinks jamie logan was till missing as of 2 am we checked at hotel and the only thing we can think of is that he missed his flight hope to see him some time today we requested and got approved that we can visit the ship today so we are changing hotels to the regent paid hotel and then are going to visit the mariner very anxious to see who is on board !!

the hotel we are now at is very dangerous as the bar is oopén 24 hours!!! not good for me

today we woke up at noon!!!!

not good!!

we sat with laura and got caught up in all the crew gossip and it was a hoot and we laughed and drank the night away

we were on mariner for 30 days in july so there is a lot we missed

will update all later today or tomorrow

bye

Happy birthday Victor!

Happy Birthday Victor!

karen
thanks so much for the cake !!!!
now for an update from argentina
today a huge chemical fire nearby
everyone walking around with masks to cover their face
we are being told the port is closed
they have moved the ship
but nothing certain except to sit and wait till they get more news
the roads are closed and traffic is backed up
so it is chaos in the sheraton lobby

went on board yesterday as a visitor to see who is on board
and just did a quick tour

so off for a drink and updates

some passengers are really rude here and demand information
but the poor girl at the desk knows nothing!!

looks like a fun day waiting with a bunch of grumps!!!!!

will update once on board

I looked to see where the ship was docked and found this:

We got off the ship just before all this happened. Apparently a container full of insecticide exploded or caught fire and the whole port area was closed and evacuated. We're checked into the Sheraton which is full of pre and post Regent passengers milling around. I can see the ship from our room -- it moved to another pier further down the port. It was docked right in the area of the fire. It smells awful even here at the hotel, but it's getting better. According to the TV, the gas in the air isn't going to hurt anyone --it just smells awful. They're asking everyone to stay inside--although it smells just as bad inside. A while ago, they were handing out masks to people in the lobby. Needless to say--it's a zoo around here.

Peggy, that is really scary and I am not sure I would want to breathe that air, dangerous or not!

What a mess! Just goes to show you never know what you will encounter while traveling!

Actually, the Mariner stayed put. It was MSC that moved. We had planned on going ashore but it was raining so we waited and then the port closed due to the container fire and chemical spill around 11:00am. Fortunately all debarking guests got off, but the terminal was closed and no buses to take us anywhere, so it was a sea day for us. There are only 8 of us in transit and all * stayed on board. The rain increased in intensity with lightning & thunder so we're glad we didn't get off. There was supposed to be a large group of travel agents & local VIPs visiting and having lunch in Compass Rose and that was cancelled. We got their lunch which was excellent with a choice of baramundi or filet after the chopped lobster something, pumpkin soup,and desert. It was wonderful and we commented that it would be nice if all the meals were up to that standard. For afternoon entertainment, we watched as soaked guests began embarking after 3pm and being handed towels to dry off. The luggage is going slowly because the longshoreman's union says so. It will also be soaked by the time it arrives at the suites. Safety drill has been set back at least an hour and sail away is TBD. Hope Montevideo tomorrow is better.
Nature's Rhythm plays in Horizon lounge before and after dinner so life is good.
Jim

Things have calmed down at the Sheraton. I think most of the passengers have left to get on the ship. Now there's just the debarked passengers waiting to go to the airport. I was wishing we had booked a flight today, but with this awful weather there will probably be delays--so maybe it's better that we're spending the night. We'll hopefully have better weather tomorrow. We'll probably eat dinner here at the hotel--we might drown if we try to go out somewhere. Looking forward to getting home!!!

The final guests and luggage finally arrived around 7pm and we eventually sailed away. The best news is that Nature's Rhythm is back on the Mariner where they belong.

Sounds like total chaos. We even saw it here on the news in DC. Glad things have settled down and hopefully all those rude passengers Victor spoke of are now onboard and feeling less grumpy.

Too bad Peggy about the weather, I'm sure you are looking forward to being home. Its taken us a week to get back into normal routine, and I am still dealing with a cold and cough, but improving everyday, but am glad to be home and have the laundry done, the house decorated and ready to enjoy the holidays.

Too those still onboard, have a great rest of the trip, hope the weather improves and you have no more incidents. That must have been scary for sure.

we are now leaving montevideo a great port

yes we had problems yesterday but we got through it

sun and smiles all today

the weather was great yesterday and now today as well

if they were rude at hotel seems to all calmed down now

have spoken to many that are now just laughing

so off to the tender and look for some more fun


later

well now leaving uraguay and heading for our first brasil port

the weather was great today a little bit of wind but still very nice
we had a nice lunch on shore after our city tour !!

what city? nothing there as this was more of a tourist beach town

no complaints but it could not be called city tour

roanne bought a few things and now both anxious to get to brasil
and a much needed sea day after

off to dinner in compass rose

well now leaving uraguay and heading for our first brasil port

the weather was great today a little bit of wind but still very nice
we had a nice lunch on shore after our city tour !!

what city? nothing there as this was more of a tourist beach town

no complaints but it could not be called city tour

roanne bought a few things and now both anxious to get to brasil
and a much needed sea day after

off to dinner in compass rose

hello from rio grande brasil

just sailing away
a long day on a sunday where in town few people could be found
a nice clean town but i repeat zero to see or do unles you wnt two hours away to a place called cassino which has a huge beach

tomorrow a resting sea day before another brasil port

later

good day from brasil

not much going today

on nice calm sea

having dinner with captain in sette mari
and just rest until new port tomorrow

well just setting sail to santos brasil
not much here at this port

but hot and hotter and very humid

a lot of [people unhappy but were told not to expect much

santos should be fun as 4 ships in port

and no word about visa for inlaws and they leave on 14th

oh boy!!

I will see if I can spot you from those ship's webcams

Please tell Jun, Terry and Larry hello from Cindy and David from Texas! We love those guys!