HOMEWARD BOUND

      Wonders never cease!  We were scheduled to disembark at 8:30 and we did right on the dot.  Our private car driver, Juan, had texted me when on the ship to let him know when we were getting off.  Our luggage color in the terminal was Gray 1 and ours were the only three bags at that color.  Porters were available (a first) so he put our bags on his cart and out we went.  We had to wait a few minutes until Juan arrived.
     We got to the airport, through TSA, and at gate by 9:30.  We had to walk a mile and two train rides at the airport before reaching our gate.

                                                            Our plane was a Boeing 787

     We had seats in business class with individual little cubicals.  I thought they were a little cramped but much better than coach for sure.  We had a choice of tomato mozzarella sandwich or some other weird thing that the flight attendant did not know how to describe.  We both had it.  I still don't know what it was.  Not good though.  Well, I had a few Woodford Reserve bourbons with Sprite so problem solved.  

       We arrived at DFW on time at 2:30pm and now waiting for our 5:20pm flight on to Durango.  I texted Jerry, a neighbor who is picking us up at DRO, this morning and will text him again when on board our plane to Durango.  We are to land there at 6:30.  We'll ask him to stop at Pizza Hut on the way home to pickup a pizza.  Can call and order it when leaving the airport so it will be ready for us.

     We're really tired of wearing the masks all day long.  Be glad to get home.

DAY 14--AT SEA

 Last Night:

     Last night just before the Krew Kapers show we got Captain Saro to pose for a photo with us.  We really like him as he is so kind to us.  He calls me "Captain".

     The Krew Kapers show was at 6pm featuring members of the crew.  This show was one of the best.  Following are photos I took of it from the back of the theater.

     After the show we stopped in the Meridian Lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail.  Below is Catalin making my Makers Mark Manhattan.

     Dinner followed in Compass Rose.  Yes, two orders of escargot.  Looks like they were good.

         We both enjoyed beef Wellington medium rare.  The meat was very tender and tasty.

                                                     I had a side order of lobster risotto.

                                             This is a chocolate volcano cake.  Yummy!

     After dinner we went to the theater for the production cast's forth and last show titled, "My Revolution".  Again we had front row center seats for the show.  It was another amazing show and quite sensuous at times.  Here are some photos I took.

Today:

     We set our clocks back another hour last night so now we are on Miami's time.  The ocean was so smooth last night I thought I was sleeping at home.  Still smooth this morning.  Our in suite coffee maker was not working this morning so I called Shogun to get it working.

     Starting at 9am they will be doing antigen covid testing on all passenger as required by the CDC before we disembark in Miami tomorrow morning.  The test is complimentary.   We decided to go to the gym and do 45 minutes on treadmills.  When we finished they had just called our deck to go up for the antigen test.  The line was not long and it took less than a half hour to complete the test.  They will email me the results.

                                                             Short line for the test

                                 Here they were marking names off when going through the line.

     2pm and we are mostly packed.  Will have to put our evening clothes in a bag after returning from dinner.  I got checked in for our flights tomorrow and boarding passes printed.  They say we will get printed copies of our covid test results later this evening but got emails saying we both had "negative" test results.  The crew is normally tested every week but they have had two tests the last couple of days.

     Well, tonight is what we call, "The Last Supper"!  I made a special request a few days ago for another miso sea bass dinner for this evening.  Didn't think it possible but I should polish off the bottle of Grey Goose vodka they put in our suite for us.  I also had a bottle of Makers Mark but returned it unopened.  They do not charge us for these bottles but I did not want to waste good booze by opening the bourbon.

     There is no show this evening in the theater but rather Regent's traditional "Beatles Dance Party" in the atrium on the last night.  We will head back to the room after saying good bye to as many of our crew member friends as we can find.  Then get our bags finished and out in the hallway for them to collect.

     We are to be out of our suite by 8am tomorrow.  I hope we can depart the ship close to our scheduled 8:30 time.  Doubt it!  Will collect our 3 pieces of luggage in the terminal, find our private car driver, and head to the airport.  Our 12:20pm flight to DFW is on a 787.  We will have a 2 1/2 sit there before our flight on the Durango.

     There will probably be one more post on this blog on Monday after settling in at home.  This has been an amazing cruise and so nice to be cruising again.  Normally we would be sad today having to disembark tomorrow but we will be busy once home getting ready for our world cruise the beginning of January.  I hope you enjoyed this blog.  I will be doing another blog on the world cruise.

DAY 13--AT SEA

 Last Night:

     We had a delightful evening with Joan & Charlie Davis for the Bay Area, San Francisco.  We started with cocktails in the Meridian Lounge then proceeded to Compass Rose restaurant for dinner.  I had ordered soft shell crabs for our appetizer but they were very small and not prepared as I had talked with Chef Dino about.  Disappointed!!  Oh, well, everything else food-wise has been great and always served hot.

     We have known the Davis's since our 2010 world cruise and have sailed with them several times since.  We had a lot of catching up to do so the conversation was lively and non-stop.  What a great evening!!!  They are also booked on the 2022, 2023, & 2024 world cruises as we are.

     I have organized a four day safari in South Africa when on our 2023 world cruise and they will be in one of the six suites at the Phinda Rock Lodge.  I am working with a travel agent, Samantha, in Cape Town, South Africa, and we have all six suites booked now.  Five of the suites will be other friends who will be on the cruise also and includes us.  The last suite is booked by two of our Dallas friends who will fly down for the safari.  We will be leaving the ship in Richards Bay and rejoining it in Cape Town.  We did a safari in 2010 but to a different game lodge.

     I know you would be disappointed if I did not put at least one food photo on today's posting.  It is a chocolate volcano with vanilla ice cream.  We both had turkey with stuffing last night.  Getting in the mood for Thanksgiving!

     During dinner there was a PA saying, "Code Mike in Sette Mari".  Code Mike is a medical emergency and certain designated staff members are to respond to it, including obviously, the medical team.  Not sure what prompted it.  I asked Shogun about it when he brought our breakfast this morning and he said the ship did have to return to San Juan to disembark the passenger for the hospital.  With all the older aged passengers on this cruise I'm very surprised that have not been several more Code Mikes.  I hope our arrival in Miami will not be delayed.  Rebecca came close to having one called several cruises back when she got a piece of meat lodged in her throat.  I managed to remove it with heimlich maneuver on her.  We caused quite a stir in Prime 7.

     We went to the show but did not stay long.

Today:

     This is a shoe horn that Regent has in its suites.  I love it so asked if I could purchase one, and of course, the answer was "yes".  So it only cost me $20 which I had ship board credit to use anyway.  The thing I like about it is it is thin and I do not have to bend over to put my shoes on.  That's important for an old man!

     Captain Saro said on his noon PA daily update that we would indeed arrive on time (7am) in Miami. Now I won't have to worry.  Well, I always worry!

Our position at noon was 70nm off the north coast of the Dominican Republic.  It is partly cloudy but still lots of sun and 82 degrees.

          There is another cruise ship off our starboard (right) side also heading to Miami.

     After a nice lunch in Prime 7 we went down to the boutiques as we still had $148 ship board credit to use up.  It's use it or lose it!!  So we got Rebecca a nice Explorer vest jacket and some of her Lancome skin cream.  We ran over what we had to spend but the skin cream was $15 less she could get it at Ulta and no tax.  I liked the chandelier in the shop so took a photo of it.

     This afternoon we are starting to pack.  Two of our three big bags should be mostly packed.  We received our luggage tags for disembarking on Sunday.  Our time is planned for 8:30 after a 8am start but all the luggage has to be off the ship before they will let passengers to disembark.  The Port of Miami's longshoremen are the absolute worse and slow to get bags off.  Just so we can make our 12:20 flight out of MIA.  We have a private car that will take us to the airport and should be no more than a 30 minute drive.

     This evening at 6pm is the Krew Kapers show.  Certain crew members put on a show of singing and dancing for us passengers.  It is always very good.  Later at 9:30 the last production show titled "My Revolution" with the singers and dancers cast will be in the theater.

     Dinner tonight in Compass Rose has one of our favorite entrees, beef Wellington.  YUMMY!  

     

     

DAY 12--SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 Last Night:

     We were the first ones to enter Meridian Lounge so had a nice visit with Catalin and Bogdan.  I tried a different drink.  This is a Vesper and also called a James Bond.  I asked Bogdan to use the "Aviation" gin I had in a photo earlier during the cruise.  So it is basically gin and vodka with dry vermouth and a lemon twist.

     As planned we dined in Sette Mari.  Donald had a nice window table with Skinny as our waiter.

Still seems odd that Compass Rose and Sette Mari are never full or crowded as the ship is only 2/3s full.  500 instead of 750 passengers.

I asked Chef Deon for a small veal parmesan but it was still huge.  I ate about half of this.  Skinny got the rest.

                Rebecca opted for the veal limone with capers.  Sorry not a great photo.

                                           I also had a side order of spaghetti carbonara.

     The production show, "World Rhythms", last night was another fantastic one.  Here are some photos of it I took from our front row seats.

                                                 These two have world class voices.

Today:

     We arrived in San Juan on schedule this morning.  I believe are along side at the Pan American pier.  The crew cleared US Immigrations first.  Then those on tours today started clearing and proceeding on their tours just before 11am.  Now at 11:15 they are starting to clear guests who are not going on tours.  They are calling people by decks starting at the top of the ship and going down.  

                                                   This is a small corporate airport.

                                                            We are docking here.

     There are two big cruise ships in the distance in front of our ship and this one behind us.

     We left the ship a little after noon time.  The ship only allowed  10 or so people off at a time so the

 line at CBP was not very long.  Don't think I was supposed to take this photo.

     After clearing everyone had to wait in this room until EVERYONE had cleared before they would allow us to reboard the ship.  Of course we had to wait an additional 15 minutes for 4 assholes who did not show up in a timely manner.  We spent an hour waiting in the warm room before going back on board at about 1:15 and went directly to La Veranda for a bite of lunch.

     Of course there were lots of groans and moans blaming Regent but as usual the blame falls on CBP, our friendly government employees.  At least now we will not have to do this in Miami so can collect our luggage and head to the airport.

     It is very hot and humid outside with rain showers roaming about.  Good day to stay on board.  This evening we are dining with long time friends, Joan & Charlie Davis.  We met them on our 2010 World Cruise.  We are dining in Compass Rose and I have requested the chef prepare some fried soft shell crabs for our appetizers.  Joan & Charlie will be going with us on a safari in South Africa when on our 2023 World Cruise.

     Tonight's show in the theater is featuring the tenor, Shimi Goodman, and pianist, Chris Hamilton.  May go for awhile but sit in the back for a quick escape.  They were both in the gym exercising while we were there.