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 13 - Funchal, Madeira

April 6, 2019 - Originally, we had planned to avail ourselves of one of Regent's complimentary shore excursions in Funchal. However, we decided a couple of days before we arrived here to turn our tickets back to the Destination Services desk and head out to explore Funchal on our own.

As I am working on my blog at 6:30am, I can see that we are sailing into the port of Funchal.

We disembarked the ship about 10:45am to find that Regent has graciously provided a shuttle service from the pier to the town center. We hop on for the 10-minute drive into town.

The shuttle drops us off across the street from a beautiful park, so we walk through and enjoy the flowers and plants.

Some local artisans have set up small booths selling a variety of handicrafts. We buy Rickee a bracelet made of cork.

Around noon, I get a little hungry and decide to try a traditional Portuguese street food called Bolo do Caco, which is basically a flat, circular bread, shaped like a cake and thus called bolo. It is traditionally cooked on a flat basalt stone slab. The bread is usually served with garlic butter, or eaten as a sandwich with different fillings. I had one filled with Chorizo sausage and garlic butter and it was pretty tasty, and a great value at only €2.50.

After my quick lunch, we walked to where the cable car goes from sea level to the top of the mountain. The cable car ride is 12,198 feet long and rises 1,837 feet. Each of the cars can hold up to eight people but there were only five in ours.

The cable car ride up to the top of the mountain cost €11 per person (round trip would be €16pp), but we had the bright idea that we would just walk back...a decision we would later regret.

When we got to the top of the mountain, we saw a strange activity going on where couples were sliding down steep roadways in little wicker basket carts with wooden rails. It looked just stupid enough to be fun, so we paid €30 and climbed aboard one!

I took a photo of Rickee in the cart before our two ‘drivers’ started pushing us down the steep mountain roads at breakneck speeds. They go around corners, turning the cart sideways to slow it down, and pushing it faster if it starts to slow down. It was really a lot of fun. The toboggan ride only lasts about five minutes, but it got us about one-third of the way down the mountain.

At the end of the toboggan ride, we were offered a taxi ride back to the city center for €26, which seemed a little steep for a five-minute taxi ride. So, we started walking down these incredibly steep streets toward town. Trust me, after about 30 minutes of walking down these streets, that €26 started to sound like a bargain! About two-thirds of the way down the mountain, we found a small local snack shop and sat to rest with a couple of Cokes. Fortunately, it was a beautiful sunny day, about 75 degrees.

We did make the walk all the way back to the ship. Who needs a shuttle? In all, we figure we walked about 3.5 miles, most of which was at a steep decline. We were both pretty sore by the time we got back. Rickee went out on the balcony to take some parting shots of Funchal as we sailed for our final destination of Lisbon.

Tonight, we returned to Pacific Rim for dinner. Rickee had a delicious Peking Duck Salad with cashews, watermelon and cucumber in a wonderful sweet fish sauce dressing.

She also had an order of the Chicken and Foie Gras Gyoza dim sum.

For her main course, she ordered the Chinese Barbecue Pork Ribs.

For my main course, I ordered the Beef Bulgogi, which was not like any Bulgogi I have had before. Typically, Bulgogi is thinly sliced meat dressed in a Bulgogi sauce then served on rice. This was more like three chunks of tenderloin with Bulgogi sauce on the side for dipping. Regardless, it was still very good.

After another filling meal at Pacific Rim, we decided to head back to the suite for an early night to bed. Tomorrow will be our last full day aboard Regent Seven Seas Explorer, as we sail towards Lisbon.

Day 11 - Ponta Delgada, Azores (Portugal)

April 4, 2019 -This morning, Seven Seas Explorer is docked in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal. Ponta Delgada is the largest municipality and capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. Even though it is cloudy and cool this morning, we do see periods of sunshine peeking through the clouds.

We have booked the Whale and Dolphin Safari which departs at 12:45pm.

Our afternoon excursion departure allows us plenty of time to sleep late and have room service deliver a delicious breakfast to our suite. As you can see, the table setting from room service is quite elegant.

Rickee and I both ordered Eggs Benedict, and everything arrived warm and delicious.

We skip lunch today after our late breakfast and, at 12:45, leave the ship for the short walk to the Ponta Delgada cruise terminal.

After meeting our local guide for the day, our group walked about two blocks to the tour operator's office, which is located at the marina, just across from where Seven Seas Explorer is docked. We are each given "waterproof" pants and tops, as well as life vests. We also get a short safety briefing before we walk to the marina to board the Zodiacs.

The Zodiacs can hold from 10 to 14 people and we boarded one of the larger boats. Guests sit two abreast in the Zodiac, straddling a padded bench.

The farther we got from shore, the rougher the seas got. We eventually arrived at a location where we discovered a pod of Bottlenose dolphins, which were fun to watch, but the seas by now were really giving us a pounding.

Sea water was continually splashing over the sides of the Zodiac, bathing us with sea water. The rubber pants and tops we were provided did not prevent our shoes and socks from getting completely soaked, as well as parts of our clothes underneath the rubber garments. As you can see in the photo below, we were getting pounded with sea water. If you did not have a waterproof camera, it would get ruined.

The trip back to shore was long and very rough. When we finally pulled alongside Seven Seas Explorer, I don't think I have ever been so happy to see a cruise ship! Had the seas not been so rough, or, if we had seen more than just dolphins (which we have seen dozens of times), perhaps we would have a much different opinion of this excursion. But, if we had it to do over, we would have skipped this one and just walked around Ponta Delgada on our own.

Once we were back on board Explorer, we hung our clothes up to dry. I am pretty sure our shoes are ruined and will have to be thrown away. But, once we changed into dry clothes, we chose to head to Sette Mari for dinner (Deck 11 aft).

We were pleased to see that the menu has changed since the first time we dined here. In fact, the menu changes every couple of days. The meal starts with a glass of Prosecco and a beautiful basket of Italian breads. Olive oil and Balsamic are poured for dipping.

Several plates of antipasti are placed on the table as starters. There is also a large self-serve salad bar with additional starters available. I also ordered an appetizer of Spaghetti Carbonara which was delicious. Soon after my appetizer, my main course arrived: three grilled lamb chops, perfectly cooked and delicious. In fact, these are the best lamb chops I have had on Seven Seas Explorer (even better than those I ate at Chartreuse). 

Rickee ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, which she said was very good.

Sette Mari is located on the port side of La Veranda, the ship's buffet restaurant (breakfast and lunch). Each evening, the space becomes an intimate Italian-themed restaurant with an open kitchen.

After dinner, there is a very nice selection of tempting desserts at the buffet area, like these Mascarpone Peach Tartlets.

After our dinner, we had enough time for a quick drink at Observation Lounge before heading to the Constellation Theater on Deck 4 for the second production show of the cruise: "My Revolution". The theme of the show was "If you remember the 60s, you weren't there." The show starts with a teenage girl getting her first glimpse of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show as her parents look on in confusion.

The show continues through the 60s with song and dance performed by the Seven Seas Explorer Singers and Dancers. The production was very well choreographed and featured a lot of excellent popular music from the 60s. Again, the vocals and dance continue to impress.

Of special note are the amazing talents of world-champion ballroom dance couple, Max and Safiya.

The show ended with the audience on their feet giving the cast a rousing standing ovation. It was an excellent performance that everyone enjoyed.

Tonight, we have to move our clocks forward one more hour, so we lose an hour of sleep. And, tomorrow will be another day at sea as we sail to Funchal, Portugal.