World Cruise - Seven Seas Voyager: Jan.12-May 8, 2009

[cruisetour]

Dear Friends,

We are frequently asked about where we have been and where we are going. During 2008, we started writing about our travels so our friends would know where we are when we are away from our office. We are continuing that procedure in 2009 starting with our World Cruise on the Seven Seas Voyager, a special event that will last for four months starting January 12, 2009 and will include special times for us like Valentines’ day, Mary Pat’s birthday, and our 25th Wedding anniversary.

The best way to check our whereabouts is to join us. But if that is not possible, this forum is the next best way is to share our adventures and see our planet through our eyes. We hope you will consider joining us on one of our future voyages, and that you will either call or email us with any questions or comments that you may have.

Until then, we warmly invite you to log onto our forum at any time convenient to you, and post your comments as you read about the voyages we are enjoying so much.

We look forward to seeing you soon, and wish you good health and much happiness in the coming year.

Sincerely,

Jay W. Silberman
Cruise Consultants Company

[peggynathan]

See you very soon!

Peggy

[cruisetour]

Saturday-Monday, January 10-12, 2009—San Antonio to Los Angeles
Our suitcases were picked up by Luggage Express for delivery to our room on the Voyager on December 30, 2008. Today we leave for Los Angeles, and I cannot believe that another year has already flown by and that it is time for us to start our 2009 World Cruise. In some ways, it seems like it was just yesterday that we got off the ship, but in actuality it was eight months ago. 2008 was a busy year with Mary Pat and me; we were away from home for more than 6 ½ months, and 2009 is starting with another four month voyage around the world.

Our son Todd drove us to the airport this morning for our morning flight to Los Angeles where we would spend the better part of three days at the Ritz Carlton Marina Del Rey at the Regent Seven Seas Council before boarding the Voyager for the world cruise. The council is a group of Regent’s top agencies that is being honored and invited to meet and discuss the current condition of the cruise industry. We are really looking forward to being a part of this council and the meetings.
After a change of planes in Houston, we arrived at LAX in mid afternoon and were immediately met by Regent representatives who greeted us by name and gathered our luggage from the carousel before leading us to our transfer coach where we joined Capt. Dag Dvergastein, master of the Voyager, and several other council members who, like us, had just arrived. It was a quick ride to our hotel, full of conversation on how we all spent 2008. We had a beautiful room at the hotel; large, well appointed, and with a beautiful view of the harbour.
Since our program was not scheduled to start for several hours, we checked out the spa and then walked along the boardwalk admiring the magnificent yachts in the harbor before returning to our room for a quick nap so that we would be alert for the cocktail party and dinner that started at 7pm.
The next two days were busy with a full schedule of meetings as well as some fun activities like the presentations by Jean-Michel Cousteau and international terrorist mediator, Terri Waite, and the awards dinner held at the Beverly Hills hotel featuring the entertainment of Richard (Dick) Sherman, who, along with his brother, was the creator of the music for Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jungle Book, and Winnie the Pooh.

On Monday afternoon, after checking out of the hotel, we gathered our luggage, and were driven to San Pedro, arriving at the pier 30 minutes later. We had no delays in boarding the ship but there was no way to get directly to our room because the second we cleared security, it was as if we had returned home after being away for a year. First, it was not a year, it has only been 8 months, but it was definitely like returning to our family. Elda, Dana, Jamie, Ian, Lynette, and many others who I recognized but whose name I could not recall just jumped into our arms with hugs and shrieks of joy. It was a marvelous homecoming. After lunch and a quick nap, our group got together again for our 6pm cocktail party in the Horizon lounge followed by a seated dinner in the specialtry restaurants. The time went by quickly as we discussed everything from children and grandchildren to our history and the evolution of the industry. Then it was time to head to the Constellation Theater for the special pre-world cruise entertainment program that was exclusively for the full world cruise passengers and the members of the Council. The performers were Frankie Valee and the four seasons. What a spectacular show!! They sang and performed outstanding choreography for close to 1 ½ hours as the audience cheered and danced in the aisles. It was a great start to our world cruise adventure.

[cruisetour]

We were up at 7am, ate breakfast in the Lido, and at 8:30am. After saying goodbye to the members of the Council and the Regent executives with whom we had spent the last several days, we were ready to be world cruisers. We met the 16 other passengers who had signed up for the tour to the John P. Getty museum and disembarked the ship for the 45 minute drive to the Getty Museum. This architectural marvel took 10 years to build at a cost of more than $1 billion dollars. Getty passed away before its completion and so never saw the finished project. The grounds with its gardens were as beautiful as the architecture of the buildings. We had several hours to walk through the exhibits and did so until 12:30 when we rejoined the group for the ride back to the Voyager. Back on the ship, we had lunch, and finished just in time for the lifeboat drill after which we did some of the preparatory work of being an Ensemble host. We met with our front desk contact, talked with the concierge who we had met previously on the Mariner, and who will be assisting us throughout the cruise; and introduced ourselves to the travel concierge. About this time, our ship departed the California coastline and headed southwest towards the Society Islands and French Polynesia.

This evening, we had dinner in the Compass Rose restaurant with some close friends that we had spent time with on previous world cruise voyages. We had so much to talk about that we did not leave the restaurant until after 11pm, at which time we returned to the room and fell into bed. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

[cruisetour]

LAND HO!
Finally, after six magnificent sea days, we have sighted land. It is the Marquesas Island chain, and this morning we anchor off shore at NUKU HIVA where we will take part in the ship wide excursion to a local site for a min-festival of native dancing, food, and crafts. The weather is pleasantly warm and quite sunny and everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to our first beautiful day ashore. We stayed here until 4pm when we started the 768 nautical mile journey to Papeete, Tahiti. We are scheduled to have a day at sea before arriving there on Thursday, January 22.

[cruisetour]

Mary Pat started her day on a treadmill in the gym, while I spent the early morning enjoying the scenic approach into Papeete from our balcony. We docked at 8am; the weather was warm but not hot, and sunny, with a light breeze; perfect for our Ensemble excursion. We met our guests in the Voyager Lounge after which I disembarked to locate our coach. It was easy to find our guide as he and two beautiful Polynesian women were waiting pierside, each carrying an Ensemble sign. After introducing myself, I notified Mary Pat to send the group ashore. Soon thereafter, we were driving through the city as our guide pointed out the high points. After leaving Papeete behind, we took the coastal road along the West Shore to our first stop, a large and beautiful estate, originally built by ROBERT KEABLE, a well known British author of the 1920’s whose books included “Tahiti: Isle of Dreams”. This property is privately owned and does not normally allow visitors, but an exception was made for us. The current owners guided us through the grounds and magnificent gardens and explained the different varieties of trees, bushes, and flowers, after which we were served fresh fruit and juice in a gazebo overlooking the ocean and Tahiti Iti, a sister island. From here, we drove a short distance to the Taiarapu Peninsula for a luncheon buffet at Restaurant du Musee Gauguin. While enjoying the buffet, we were entertained by a group of Tahitian musicians and dancers. Later on, several members of our group, including Mary Pat, participated in the dancing. I took some photos, and a video, showing off her Polynesian dancing skills.

Before reboarding our coach, we walked through the large lagoon fish parks and watched the fish being fed. From there, we drove to the Vaipahi Gardens and Cascade where we took a short stroll through the flower-bedecked pathways. After returning to our coach, the sun started hiding behind some clouds, and it started to rain. While the rain at its heaviest, we arrived at the Mara’a fern grottos where we were to have a short stroll through the flowering gardens to see the main grotto, but the group decided they wanted to stay dry, so our guide discussed what we would have seen and we continued on to the next point of interest.

The rain stopped as quickly as it began so when we arrived at our next stopping point, Marae Arahurahu, the site of an ancient open air temple, the weather had returned to its prettiest of the day. Our guide led us through the temple and valley grounds while relating the history of this ancient structure and the Tikis’ that protect it.

Our final stop on our excursion was the Pointe des Pecheurs, the Museum of Tahiti and her Islands. We toured the museum, while learning the history of the migrations of the Polynesian peoples. Now, it was time to return to the ship. The rush hour traffic was headed away from Tahiti, in the opposite direction from the way we were driving so we did not have any delays returning to the pier, arriving there at 5:30pm.

We were completing our daily reports when we received a call that several our clients were holding poolside seats for us at the “Tahitian Island BBQ under the Polynesian Sky” so we quickly changed and headed for the open deck where it was already crowded with passengers staking out their spots. The BBQ included everything from a full roasted pig, to Tahitian delights and even Tex/Mex selections. I chose the latter. I always choose Tex/Mex when I get the opportunity. There was also a big dessert table that I also found quite tasty despite a nasty look from Mary Pat.

After dinner, we went to the 10:15 local entertainment show that was presenting “O’ Tahiti E”, a dance and rhythm group of 12 handsome and beautiful Tahitians, all of whom put on a great show, with a lot of gyrations. It was a full day with a lot of memories made, and a terrific opening act to this year’s world cruise.

[cruisetour]

Our ship stayed overnight in Papeete on Thursday, but left there at 6am Friday for the two hour scenic cruise to Moorea. Upon arrival, a Tahitian group arrived unannounced and played instruments while beautiful pareo clad girls danced “Tahitian style” on the main staircase.

The scenery was spectacular and this was another beautiful day, so it was not difficult deciding to have a quick lunch and then taking the tender ashore. We did not stay long; just visited some of the shops on the pier as well as some stores along the waterfront before purchasing a couple of small gifts and then returning to the ship which lifted anchor at 6pm and headed for our next isle of paradise, Bora Bora, where after after being loyal to stretch class, we quickly changed into our touring clothes and caught the tender to the pier. I cannot believe that the weather is cooperating so well. Last year, it was just one horrible rainy day after another. This year, every day has been perfect; sunny, but not too hot; clear with a gentle breeze. Since we were not on an organized tour, we went to the tour & reception center where we made a call to the new and expensive St. Regis Resort. We asked if we could be permitted to have a site inspection. The resort agreed without a problem and sent a boat to pick us up for the 20 minute ride across the channel to the islands where the hotel was located. We found out that late last year, a film company chartered the entire property for 6 weeks for a movie that will be distributed this summer. That will fill up the resort! Because of the economy, they were not fully occupied so we got to see every variety of accommodations. This is a place that we would love to stay; everything is really top notch, pricey but well worth every bit of it. We really enjoyed our tour of the property and the grounds after which we had lunch in one of the restaurants on the edge of the magnificent emerald lagoon waters. We caught the 2pm transfer back to the public pier and then caught the ship tender back to the Voyager.
This evening, we had reservations for the opening night of the brand new ship concept of “dinner and a show”. Dinner was delicious and the three person show that featured songs from Oscar Hammerstein’s broadway shows was appreciated by everyone. The entertainment onboard the Voyager is so much better than it was last year. The new ownership has done a wonderful transformation of doing things so well and the night was far from over. The regular entertainment tonight featured a wonderful vocalist, DOLORES PARK, whose vocal renditions just added to the excellent performance we had seen earlier this evening. It was a fun day and a lovely evening.

[cruisetour]

We were scheduled to anchor off-shore at 8am and go on an island tour. I was really looking forward to going ashore here because it would represent a new port that we could add to our list. But for the second time in two years, we could not get to shore because the swells were so high that Captain Dag did not want to risk injury to any of the guests. Last year, we never even got to see the island. At least this time, we were able to get photos of the island, but I still cannot say I was there because my feet did not touch the land of the island.

The natives living there must really be disappointed because for the second year in a row, they did not get to sell any of their handicrafts. The island actually looks beautiful with high mountains and lots of greenery.

After looking at the island, and recovering the tender that had originally been lowered, we sailed away and the cruise director announced that he was setting up a new schedule of lectures and activities that we took part in.

During the afternoon, I made arrangements to have balloons put on our door for Mary Pat’s birthday tomorrow so that I would not be accused of forgetting this special occasion.

[cruisetour]

This was a sea day, and also the day before we were to cross the International Date Line. Since it was also Mary Pat’s birthday, she decided to forego her early morning exercise session. I got up to go to stretch class, but she is passing on that as well, so before leaving the room, I sang my best rendition of happy birthday, and gave her the birthday presents I had brought from home; one from me, another from Todd & Carolyn, and a third from Joe & Jill. As I was leaving our room, I noticed that the door was not decorated with the balloon bouquet that I ordered for her yesterday, so the first order of business was to find someone who could take care of that problem. With the help of the onboard cruise consultant, the general manager, and one of the assistant cruise directors, the problem was corrected and I was redeemed before she noticed the problem. I still had time to attend the stretch class. By the time I returned to the room, there were several birthday cards waiting in our mailbox. We had lunch together, and then returned to our room where the ship had sent her a chocolate birthday cake and two glasses of champagne. I was tired and laid down to take a short nap. By the time I woke up, she had eaten the entire cake. Meanwhile, birthday cards kept coming from other guests and crew members.

We had dinner in the fancy steak house with two couples, both of which also gave her cards, and one of which that gave her a Regent world cruise tee shirt. When it was time for dessert, the waiters brought another birthday cake and sang to her. This time however, the cake was shared with our friends. After dinner, we returned to the room and swore off food for the next couple of days.
As mentioned above, when we went to bed tonight, we passed the International Date Line which meant that we never had Wednesday, January 28. The calendar went directly to Thursday, January 29. Also, our time away from home switched from being 5 hours behind to being 19 hours ahead of the time in San Antonio.

[cruisetour]

After two days of beautiful and calm cruising across the South Pacific Ocean, we arrived this morning at the idyllic Bay of Islands. The scenery was spectacular. Our weather remains bright and warm. We spent the morning relaxing, but at 1:45pm, caught the ship’s tender to shore for this year’s first exclusive world cruiser event, Maori Encounter at a Marae.

The Maoris are the indigenous people of New Zealand, having originally arrived from the Marquesas Islands by canoe more than 1,000 years ago. The treaty of Waitangi between the British and leading Maori chiefs that gave sovereignty of New Zealand to the British was signed on February 6, 1840. Our excursion explained Maori history and culture as we visited this authentic and traditional Maori Marae (meeting place).

After disembarking our tender, we transferred to a coach for a 30 minute ride across the New Zealand countryside to the Marae where we were given a traditional Maori welcome with all the protocols observed. After being welcomed into the Marae, the elders explained the significance of the carvings and we were treated to a cultural performance featuring the action songs and dances of the Maori people. We also had the opportunity to walk through the grounds and had a light snack while observing some of the crafts and skills of the people. We left the Marae at 5:30 and arrived back on the ship at 6:15pm.