Day 14 - Galley Tour and Regent Rewards

April 7, 2019 - Has it really already been two weeks? Time really does fly when you are having fun. It became apparent that this was our last day on board when we returned to our suite after lunch to find that Hazel and Widi have placed our luggage on the bed for us.

Before we start packing for the trip home, we were invited to attend a special galley tour with a small group of other guests. Rickee went to Team Trivia and I attended the galley tour. Our group was greeted by Chef Suraj, one of the main chefs in the Compass Rose restaurant. While there are other smaller galleys servicing other dining venues (Prime 7, Chartreuse, La Veranda, etc.), the galley at Compass Rose is the main galley, where all breads are baked and prep work is done to serve the other galleys. Chef Suraj starts by showing us the wine and liquor storage room.

As we approach the "pass", where dishes are delivered to waiters on trays for service, the first thing you notice is how spotlessly clean everything is. You have never seen so much gleaming stainless steel. Even the ceiling is stainless steel, and for good reason. Other materials like plastics or tile can never be completely sanitized, but stainless steel can be.

We get a peek at the soup station where all soups and sauces are prepared. All appliances are electric, there are no open flames or gas due to safety regulations. There are 87 chefs working in the main galley.

The tour only lasted about 20 minutes, but it was a very interesting look at the 'back of house' operations.

After the galley tour, I returned to Constellation Theater where my team, without my help today, had their first win of the cruise. They took first place with a total of 16 points! They got a perfect score of 15 plus a bonus point. Should I be concerned that they accomplished this on the one day that I was not there to help? In any case, this is the last day for Team Trivia and everyone has all of their Regent Rewards ready to exchange for a variety of logo items. We were able to get a windbreaker, a t-shirt and a polo shirt!

This evening, we enjoyed a very nice dinner at Sette Mari with two of our Team Trivia teammates whom we can now consider new friends. Malcom and Denise are from Birmingham, England, and are some of the nicest people we have met on any cruise. It was the perfect ending to a great cruise. When we returned to our suite, Hazel has left the daily Passages (newsletter) on the bed, along with a room service breakfast menu and they even provided us with two "3-1-1" bags to use for liquids at the airport.

Tomorrow morning we will disembark Seven Seas Explorer and fly home from Lisbon, Portugal, to Dallas, Texas. Soon, we will be posting a complete review of the ship, crew and destination.

Day 10 - Horta, Azores (Portugal)

April 3, 2019 - This morning, the sun was shining as we ended our four days at sea, approaching the port city of Horta, Azores, Portugal.

After a quick lunch at the Pool Grill, we walked down the long pier where Regent Seven Seas Explorer was docked.

At the end of the pier, we found the waiting motor coaches for the 40-minute drive to Capelinhos.

Along the way, our local tour guide pointed out many interesting sights and historic facts about Horta. When we arrived at our destination, it looked like the surface of the moon. Everything was covered in meters of gray ash left after the volcano erupted. Only one story of the two-story lighthouse tower was visible in the distance.

The Interpretive Center and Museum is actually located underneath the lighthouse structure, and is quite impressive.

Our guide walked us through the museum, describing the effect of the Capelinhos volcano, which erupted in 1957 and continued to erupt for 13 months. The lava flow from the undersea volcano expanded the land mass by 2.4 kilometers.

Even though many homes, including the lighthouse, were destroyed by the volcano, nobody was killed by the event. After exiting the Interpretive Center, we could see the area affected by the eruption. The winds were blowing a very fine dust of lava ash that could easily irritate your eyes.

We departed Capelinhos for the drive back to Horta, learning more about the island along the way. We arrived back in time to watch from our balcony as Horta disappeared in the distance as Seven Seas Explorer sailed for Ponta Delgada.

For sailaway, we decided to visit the Observation Lounge for a cocktail, which we enjoyed to the sounds of Pavlo on the piano.

Tomorrow, Seven Seas Explorer will be docked in Ponta Delgada, Azores.

Day 06 - Dinner at Compass Rose

March 30, 2019 - The seas have smoothed out considerably, making for a much more pleasurable day at sea. My mornings usually begin pretty early. Typically, by 6:00am I am having coffee and working on the blog about the previous day's activities. The best place I have found for this task is the Coffee Connection on Deck 5.

There is comfortable seating here with tables that are the perfect height for working on a laptop. A Barista is available to make any specialty coffee drinks you might like, all complimentary, of course. Or, you can manage your own coffee delivery, as I do, using the automated coffee machine.

The machine can crank out an Espresso, Americano or Cappuccino in regular or decaf. The coffee coming from the machine is actually quite good. Of course, diehard coffee aficionados will use the services of the Barista.

A complete continental-style breakfast is also available here. There are donuts, sweet rolls, muffins, bagels, toast, fruit and more. Yogurt and cereals are also offered.

With another blog under the belt and posted, I decided to attend a lecture this morning on The Mighty Atlantic by Michael Scott. Rickee was spending the morning getting a new haircut at Canyon Ranch Spa's salon. Regent provides coffee, soft drinks and sweet rolls at the entrance to the Constellation Theater for those attending the lecture.

Our Team Trivia efforts today yielded two Regent Rewards (second place). The Regent Rewards can be redeemed for prizes at the end of the cruise. The points are given out to guests who participate in a variety of onboard activities. Rickee also completes the Mensa quiz each day and usually racks up points for that, too.

After a pre-dinner cocktail at Observation Lounge (Deck 11 forward), we decided to make our first visit to Compass Rose for dinner. Compass Rose is Explorer's main traditional cruise dining venue with open seating. The elaborate light fixtures and elegant table settings make this one of the most beautiful main dining restaurants we have ever seen.

Regent has spared no expense in outfitting this dining room with the finest furnishings, charger plates and flatware.

The menu is huge, with the largest selection of "Always Available" items we have ever seen. In fact, all the items on the left side of the menu are always available.

The right side of the menu displays the chef's menu Dégustation as well as daily specials. When the restaurant is full, it can get a bit noisy, like most large venues. Couples wanting to dine alone will be pleased to know that there are quite a few two-top tables. Service was crisp and professional.

Tomorrow is another day at sea as we sail toward Huerta (Azores), Portugal.

Day 05 - DInner at Pacific Rim

March 29,2019 - The great thing about a cruise is that there are so many choices of things to do. And, one of those choices is to do nothing at all. That is pretty much how we decided to spend today, relaxing and just taking it easy.

For lunch today, I decided I would try a burger at the Pool Grill. There is a wide variety of burgers available, but I wanted to keep it simple and just try the Classic Black Angus Cheeseburger.

The burger arrived in a reasonable amount of time and was quite good. I wish they offered onion rings here but, as with many cruise lines, they do not. When my Diet Coke arrived, I noticed the ecologically-correct paper straws are being used now. I have not seen one of these in 50 years.

After an abysmal performance at Team Trivia today, we watched as Seven Seas Explorer sailed away from Bermuda.

From our balcony, we could see a tugboat using a rope to pull Seven Seas Explorer away from the dock. There are very high winds today so it most likely took the ship's aft thrusters, along with the tug, to pull away from the pier. But soon, the ship was turning to port and heading out to sea on her way to the Azores.

We chose to have our pre-dinner drink tonight in Meridian Lounge on Deck 5. It is the closest lounge to Pacific Rim (Deck 5 aft). Meridian is a bit brighter than the other lounges, with white leather seats. There is a dance floor and stage for musical acts.

At 6pm, a waiter offered us a choice of canapes to enjoy with our drinks. This is a nice touch, and one that you typically only find on luxury cruise lines.

We arrived at Pacific Rim at 6:30 for our reservation. Pacific Rim is the ship's Pan Asian restaurant.

Our waitress brought use an amuse bouche of papadum and sweet chili sauce which was very good. The menu is quite extensive with a wide variety of Asian offerings. We will go into more detail on the menu in our final review of Pacific Rim.

We chose to order three appetizers to share, which turned out to be much more food than we were expecting. My favorite was the Pork and Shrimp Shu Mai dumplings topped with black truffle.

The Assorted Sushi Platter had two Salmon Avacado Rolls, Two Spicy Tuna Rolls and Two Shrimp Tempura Rolls.

The Crispy Duck Spring Rolls were served with a smoked Hoisin Miso sauce

I thought all of the appetizers were quite good, with my favorite being the Shu Mai. For our main courses, Rickee had the Miso Black Cod (below) which was cooked perfectly and delicious, although, she was left wanting for more of the delicious Miso sauce.

My main course was a Thai Chicken Green Curry that was fragrant, spicy and excellent. I ordered it extra spicy, and even with the cautious hand of a cruise ship chef (always afraid to over spice), it had enough of a kick to make things interesting. Both main courses were accompanied by bowls of Regent Fried Rice and Jasmine Rice.

We were so stuffed after dinner, there was no way we could try any of the delicious-sounding desserts. We will know better next time not to order so many starters.

Tomorrow is a day at sea as we sail toward the Azores.

Day 04 - Royal Naval Dockyards

March 28, 2019 - After a very rocky night caused by rough seas and high winds, Seven Seas Explorer docked at Royal Naval Dockyards (aka King's Wharf) in Bermuda. Once again, we had breakfast delivered to our suite, but it was a little too cool and way too windy to dine on the balcony. Every guest can have breakfast delivered to their suite by completing the provided order form the night before and placing it outside their suite.

Seven Seas Explorer is docked at King's Wharf in Bermuda this morning.

It was extremely windy when we disembarked the ship in Bermuda. There are shops and restaurants within walking distance of the ship. There are some great sights to visit, such as the Victualling Yard (below), the area designated for storing, preparing and delivering food for the naval fleet there.

Less than a mile from the ship is a nice shopping mall with several small shops selling lots of local artists' wares.

We were able to locate a store that sold souvenirs where we were able to buy postcards, a magnet, a Christmas ornament (for our collection) and postage.

We were back on board the ship in time to get ready for our early (6:30pm) dinner at Prime 7, Regent's premier steakhouse restaurant. We had time for a cocktail in the small bar at Prime 7. Another guest was gracious enough to take this photo of us. I am wearing my new Scott-E-Vest T5 Sport Coat which is super comfortable, fits great and has 19 pockets! It's my new favorite travel sport coat.

Prime 7 is located on Deck 10 aft and we were fortunate to be seated at a table for two at the very back of the restaurant with a panoramic ocean view.

The menu features a variety of appetizers, soups, and salads. The main courses focus on meat, but there are fish, chicken and vegetarian options available. After a delicious smokey tomato soup Amuse Bouche, our starters arrived. Rickee ordered the Foie Gras sliders: two brioche buns stacked with apricot compote, foie gras, an onion compote and drizzled with a truffle port wine sauce.

I chose a more mainstream Seared Lump Crabcake which was seasoned perfectly and delicious.

My Hearts of Romaine Caesar salad was sort of a de-constructed Caesar Salad. The stalks of romaine were topped with Parmesan shavings and accompanied by a delicious, garlicky Caesar dressing. I purposely requested that the anchovies be left off.

My 18oz. U.S.D.A. Prime Bone-In Ribeye was tender and cooked perfectly. I ordered a side of Chimichurri sauce, but the steak did not need any assistance in the flavor department.

Rickee's 6oz. U.S.D.A. Prime Filet Mignon arrived a bit undercooked, but was quickly replaced with one that was cooked perfectly Medium.

For side dishes, we shared an order of onion rings and creamed spinach. Both fell short in our opinion. The onion rings were a bit too greasy and the creamed spinach was very loose and runny, impossible to eat with a fork.

For dessert we shared an ice cream dish with vanilla and chocolate ice cream drizzled with hot fudge, caramel and topped with caramel popcorn.

Service from the wait staff and wine hostess was excellent. Our dinner at Prime 7 was one of our favorites so far on Seven Seas Explorer, and we look forward to a return visit.

Tomorrow, we will remain docked at King's Wharf.

Day 03 - Lunch at Prime 7

March 27, 2019 - While Rickee attended a 'Face Shape and Hair Styling' workshop at the Canyon Ranch Spa, I sat in on a lecture by Michael Scott titled 'Watching Wildlife on our Cruise'.

After the lecture and spa seminar, we decided to try Prime 7 for lunch. Prime 7 is Seven Seas Explorer's steakhouse, but is open for lunch. The menu today focuses on BBQ.

Rickee started with a Roasted Beet Salad, which she loved.

Rickee's main course was a trio of pulled pork BBQ sliders.

I could not resist the BBQ Baby Back Ribs, served with a warm potato salad and corn on the cob. It was very good.

The dessert was a real treat. a carousel of different little cups filled with a variety of desserts.

This afternoon, we returned to the Constellation Theater for Team Trivia. Trivia is so popular on Transatlantic sailings that the theater is the only venue large enough to hold everyone.

At 6pm this evening, when the cocktail bell sounded, we stepped outside our suite for Regent's "Block Party". Everyone is invited grab a glass from their suite and venture into the hallways to meet and greet their neighbors while suite attendants fill glasses with wine and offer canapes. The Captain, Cruise Director and Hotel Manager breeze through the halls, greeting each guest one deck at a time. We also had the opportunity to meet the President and CEO of RSSC, Jason Montague, who joined in the trek from top deck to bottom while greeting guests. This hallway party is always fun and something unique to a Regent Seven Seas' cruise.

After our huge lunch at Prime 7, we decided to skip dinner and enjoy a cocktail at Explorer Lounge.

Rickee had a Lemon Drop while I enjoyed my Crown Royal before we headed back to our suite to watch a movie.

Our last act of the day was to fill out our breakfast order for in the morning.

Tomorrow, we will be docked at the Royal Naval Dockyards in Bermuda.

Day 02 - Dinner at Sette Mari

March 26, 2019 - We started the day with a beautiful breakfast delivered right to our suite balcony. The balcony table was set with while linen table cloth in true 5-star dining fashion.

Rickee's Eggs Benedict were cooked perfectly.

My omelet, bacon and sausage were also delicious. And, the coffee and hot chocolate were also very good.

After breakfast, we did some more exploring around the ship. The pool deck was already beginning to fill up with guests seeking some sun. The pool loungers are top quality and wrapped in terry cloth, each with its own towel.

We stopped by the Card Room to pick up the daily Mensa quiz, one of Rickee's favorite activities. For lunch today, the galley has put together Hamburger Heaven at the Pool Grill. A variety of burger patties, buns and "fixin's" were available for guests to make their own burger creation.

We spent much of the day just relaxing and getting some of our blogging duties caught up. For dinner this evening, we decided to try Sette Mari, the Italian restaurant located on the port side of La Veranda, the ship's buffet restaurant. In the evenings, La Veranda transforms into a romantic Italian restaurant.

I ordered a veal chop that was huge, and way too much for me to finish. It was a battered and deep fried veal chop covered with marinara and melted mozzarella cheese. Rickee's Risotto with asparagus was also delicious.

After dinner, we decided to take in the evening show in the Constellation Theater. Seating in the lower level of the theater is quite comfortable with good sight lines.  We sat in the Balcony (Deck 5) and there were a few sight line issues there from posts and safety railings. Viewing is better on Deck 4.

The show was quite good with excellent dance routines, good vocals and impressive costumes and staging.

Tomorrow is another day at sea aboard Regent Seven Seas Explorer as we sail towards Bermuda.

Day 01 - Embarkation in Miami

March 25, 2019 - We arrived in Miami at 12:45 on our flight from DFW airport. As soon as we arrived at baggage claim, we were greeted by a Regent ground transportation representative who loaded our luggage onto a cart and escorted us to a waiting area until the transfer bus arrived. Shortly, we were boarding the coach, and were were the only two guests aboard for the 30 minute ride to the Port Miami.

We arrived at the cruise terminal about 1:45 and embarkation was a breeze. There was no line ahead of us, we just walked right up, gave our passports to the clerk, received our boarding cards and were on our way.

As we stepped aboard on Deck 5, we were greeted with a glass of champagne, a fitting welcome for a luxury cruise ship.

Our first objective was to drop our hand luggage in our suite (780), then go grab some lunch before they stopped serving. We found our suite door ajar and ready for us to arrive.

We will go into more detail about the suite later in future blogs and our final review. We head to Deck 11 to La Veranda for a light lunch.

After a nice, light lunch, we decide to do a little exploring of the ship. Before long, we can hear the thrusters moving us away from the dock and Seven Seas Explorer sails away from Miami.

We sit at the pool deck during sail away, Rickee enjoying a glass of Prosecco, and I enjoying a Crown Royal

After sail away, we head back to our suite to find our luggage has arrived. We begin to unpack, but not until Rickee has a chance to check out the expansive balcony.

After unpacking, we start to think about dinner. Neither of us is particularly hungry, so we decide Sette Mari at La Veranda would be a good choice. The port side of the Pool Grill has tables fully set for dinner. There is a beautiful buffet set up with salads, breads, cheeses, desserts and a choice of grill items. It is very casual and a great concept.

After a light dinner, and making a small donation at the casino, we decided to visit the Observation Lounge for one last drink before turning in early. We have to move our clocks ahead one hour tonight, so we lose an hour of sleep. Tomorrow is a day at sea. as we head towards Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda.

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