Not lunchtime yet!

But I promised to post a couple of lunchtime menus from around here.  Previously, the speciality restaurants were open only for dinner, but a new development offers a wider selection of midday treats for us to choose from.  We like that very much indeed.

Chartreuse is the new, updated French restaurant on board, elegantly styled with art nouveau influenced decor.  Yesterday, we had seats by the aft windows and enjoyed the company (and first class service) from Nik (from the Ukraine) and Morgane, from France.

We feared that the lunchtime offer would be as lavish as the evening menu, but we needn’t have worried.  The plates are perfectly proportioned I think, and though my Hero might have both starter and main course, I have found one or the other to be ideal.

But then I find it hard to resist dessert!

Another lunchtime option is Prime 7, the American grill.  We find the plates here a little overwhelming in the evening, though have noticed (and appreciated) the smaller portions in this interpretation of the concept.  At lunchtime, it’s still more manageable for those like me, who can feel a little overwhelmed by a huge plate of food.

Again, the appetisers are of a size which makes a great main course for me.  My Hero chose the Shrimp and Grits the other day and found it ample for a lunchtime meal, even though he couldn’t resist a main course too.

Well, who could resist some of those fine plates?  We’ve both really enjoyed the salmon, cooked perfectly to our preference and again, served with first class care by Catherine and accompanied by frequent top ups of our favourite NZ Sauvignon Blanc from Irfan, a Regent staff member we have known for many years and whose company is as delightful as ever.

I think I’ve posted these two pictures before, but will attach them here as well, to illustrate the Pulled Pork Sliders (yum!)

 

and the clever, clever presentation of the small portioned desserts which are brought to the table for us to help ourselves.  Have one or have all six…

If only!

OK, that’ll be £250k, then Sir…

A conservative estimate, that is, of a “commercially sensitive” piece of information.  $s or £s?  Who knows (cares?)  All we understand it that it costs a lot of money to transit the Panama Canal.

We’d been here before, but the other way round, as it were.  This time, we were travelling West to East, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and woke to the same queue of ships waiting just outside the canal entrance as we recalled from the last time. 

This time, however, the city of Panama was on the horizon.  Who knew there were quite so many skyscrapers there?  Not me!

All of this was happening as we were getting up.  I’d poked my head out of the door to see what was going on as soon as I woke and then continued to look out every ten minutes or so between cleaning my teeth, showering, getting dressed and so on.  Getting up never took me quite so long! (contrary to whatever you may hear elsewhere…. )

Before long, we were approaching the first locks, the Miraflores.  There was a container ship in front of us, the SCT Distinction but the most important part of what was going on was, which lock would we be transiting?  Because, our suite is on the starboard side and if we were going to see what was going on in comfort, we rather hoped we’d be using the lock on the left hand side.

Guess which one we were assigned?  Correct.  The right hand side.

As we went under the bridge, we couldn’t decide where to go for a better view of what was going on.  For all the luxurious details of this ship, one thing lacking is an open, forward vantage point to watch things like this.  Many were gathering in the forward facing Observation Lounge, which is great but which also has darkened windows.  We wanted to the in the open air and to be able to see everything which is going on but for now, stayed on our own balcony to see how things went.

We watched the pilots arrive, way down there beneath us.

I took pictures of tugs for my “tugs of the world” series.

We tried to decide which was the front and which was the back of this tug.  (no answer!)

And the officer on the bridge looked relaxed…so were we.

We spotted the rope throwers preparing to row over to throw the rope to us.

We spotted the arrow pointing to the lock we were to use.

But we seemed to be awfully high and way above all the action.  We looked down and spotted somewhere we’d rather be, lower down.  Maybe we should head for Deck 5?  We did.

That’s better!  By now we’d entered the lock and we could get a good view of the goings on.

Even if there was an orange rope to keep us safe from the edge.  I mean, no-one wanted to get their fingers caught, did they?

Thankfully, Sunil was there to take care of us and in return, we all dutifully stood behind the orange rope.

In all seriousness, we were to get pretty close to that concrete side of the lock and really, no-one wanted to take any risks.

We had a good view of the little train, holding us steady as we squeezed into the lock, and of the people who work here.  It’s big business and there are a lot of people employed to manage the safe transit of these mega-ships.

Ooo.  Speaking of mega ships, some of them these days are too big to pass through these locks, so they’ve built a slightly bigger canal to accommodate them – or rather, a set of larger locks.  So as we looked out over the greenery, there was a ship’s superstructure visible.  There was a larger vessel, using the new, enlarged locks.

As we sailed out, another ship –the Maersk Malaga pulled into the adjacent lock, alongside.

Looking over the deck of the Malaga, we could get a great view of the ship in the new channel, the Oak Spirit.

Now, we’d not had any breakfast and it was getting on for 9.30am.  Not wanting to fade away (!), we decided to take a break and head for the coffee shop, now we were through the Miraflores locks.

Did someone say how easily bored I get?!   Not really – the whole transit is interesting and yes, rather exciting too, but it takes all day and a woman has to keep body and soul together, don’t you agree?  A blueberry muffin and a mug of coffee was the least I could manage!

See?  In no time at all, we were back out there, watching!

But we returned to our suite on the other side, to watch from a different viewpoint.  After all, there’s really something to see wherever you happen to be – and in this case, it was a canal employee wanting a photo with the Explorer (and us, I suppose) in the background.  A good job I was dressed by then, looking respectable, at least.

At this point, we heard a siren and a small fire engine tootled along through the training area with all bells and lights going.  But it was driving no more than 20 mph and there didn’t seem to be any emergency we could see, so who knows?  Maybe it was an exercise?

Terry Breen had been our commentator on our last canal transit and had pointed out this facility, including the training area for the rope throwers.  All very interesting.

Watching the Malaga inch into the lock beside us, we were glad of an opportunity to see the whole little train process from the other side.  The little trains don’t actually pull the vessel through the lock but merely hold it steady.  There’s so much going on, it’s all really entertaining!

Leaving the locks behind then and entering “the cut”, we relaxed a little.  Nothing much to see for a while, then and perhaps time to take a breather.

But then someone pointed out a crocodile on the waters edge.  Oooo.

We decided it was probably lunchtime, so made our way to Chartreuse, the French restaurant for a bite to eat – Croque Monsieur for me and Croque Madame for my hero.  Very good it was too!

But whilst we were in there it started to rain.  We’d crossed the continental divide and perhaps that was the place where the weather turned, too? 

It didn’t look too promising ahead.  Oh well, we are in the tropics after all.

The next action was scheduled for 2.30pm and so we looked out in the hope of something to see.  Actually, there wasn’t much going on – the Oak Spirit was parked up a short distance away from us,

in front of the new larger Gatun lock gates.

The STC Distinction was waiting on our other side, by the old locks, with the Malaga nearby.  I guess we were all waiting for something to happen!

Around 3.30pm the first moves were made.  The SCT Distinction moved into the lock first.

As it did, I notice the rope throwers getting ready for their moment of glory.

The rope catchers were ready too.

Bingo! 

Job done, they returned to their station and we progressed into the lock.

This time, we were on the right – left – side, so we could sit on our balcony in comfort and watch it all going on.

The commentator pointed out the small traffic bridge across the lock here.  I recalled the small purple bus I’d spotted last time and noticed that this time, it was a yellow bus, doing (nearly) the same thing.

As we inched through into the lock, over the trees I could see a familiar white superstructure of the Oak Spirit, progressing through the new locks over there.

But a bit nearer to us, something different was happening.  A new ship, the Morgenstond 1 was just beginning its transit and my hero just had to investigate.  What is is?  What’s it carrying?  Where’s it from?  Such things are so easily answered and it’s awfully interesting to find such things out.

As a small private yacht squeezed in behind the Morgenstond 1, another larger container ship was already forming a queue.

As we stood watching, we spotted the Oak Spirit sailing out of the new locks.  Soon, we too would be back on our way, sailing towards Cartagena tomorrow.  Transiting the Panama Canal is a fascinating process and we had found the whole thing as interesting today as we did the previous occasion.

But oh my goodness, what a way to spend a quarter of a million, eh?

Decks 5 and 6

I had intended to complete my walkthrough of the Explorer  in this post, but discovered so much art work on Deck 5 that I decided to leave Deck 4 until next time.

Deck 6 will not detain us long, for it’s mostly suites.  The photographic theme along here is fashion-related and there are some lovely images along the way.

I didn’t do well with the reflections this time, so forgive the suite numbers appearing here and there from the doors on the opposite side of the corridor.

I liked the fact that the images are not all of female fashion, for there are some stylish gentlemen pictured too!

Though there is an entrance to parts of the Spa on this level as well, I’ll leave that until later.  For now, let’s go down just one level and explore Deck 5. 

As soon as I step out of the stairwell, I notice the art.  Much was written about the art collection on board and indeed, I’ve referred to it already in earlier posts.  I felt I wanted to take particular note of it, especially on this deck where the larger pieces are placed.

Many pieces have opposing partners on the other side of the ship, so this first piece is echoed by a similar one right opposite.

And one has the Ladies WC sign to the right and the other has the Gents to the left.  (I didn’t include the washrooms on my walkabout, feeling that perhaps that would be a detail best left for first hand experience)

So, let’s walk into the reception area, where this large piece hangs on one side, and yes, on the other side is this one

I’m sorry, I’m unable to attribute any of these works, though I understand a booklet of details is in production.  Good  idea!

This large work hangs outside the Business Center, where four computers are available for guests to use.  It replaces the larger computer rooms on the other ships, since I guess most people travel with their own tablets these days – and if not, there are ipads available for the use of guests too.

Another large piece hangs on the wall nearby,

close to the Cruise Consultant’s office.  Gudrun is available most of the time to discuss future plans and answer queries.  We have an appointment with her this afternoon

Next door to Gudrun’s office is Restaurant Reservations, where you can book a table at any of the three speciality restaurants.  Or if it’s too much trouble to see the young lady in person, you can always just ring her up from your suite!  The portrait is of Princess Charlene of Monaco, Explorer’s Godmother.  I find it rather haunting and slightly unsettling, though understand the context as a reference to her background as a swimmer.

The reception area is a large, spacious and very comfortable part of the ship.  It’s here where it’s hardest to imagine one is on a ship at all.

Large comfortable sofas make this area inviting, though we’ve never even thought about sitting here!  From here, the whole length of the ship can be seen, another way of increasing the feeling of space.

There are some statement pieces of art hanging on the wall here as well.

If I turn around and look back towards the staircase I used just now, I can see the amazing chandelier which hangs in the atrium.  It’s beautiful and much admired.

Turning back to continue towards the stern of the ship, there’s a pair of intriguing paintings hanging on the wall by the coffee shop.

I’m not sure what I make of either of them, though there’s a spirit and a sense of fun apparent, which I find lacking in other works around here.

The coffee shop itself is comfortable and rather nicely furnished.

Considerably smarter than any Starbucks you could imagine and a warm and friendly place for a quick help yourself breakfast or mid morning snack.

Good barista-made coffee too.

Right opposite the coffee shop is the Meridian Lounge, one of the bars.

We haven’t found this to be somewhere we want to linger for some reason, preferring the lighter, airier Observation Lounge upstairs.

There’s a long bar here too, though needless to say, at this time of the day, it’s closed!

Stepping outside the Meridian Lounge, then, is where a collection of the largest and in my opinion, most challenging pieces of art are hung.  In order, from the coffee shop, they are arranged along the right hand wall walking towards the stern, first the one above, then in order

A closer look at this one reveals a small detail, easily overlooked.  My Hero has the eagle eye and spotted it, though

“Sin ti”.   Without you.  Hmm.  OK.

I understand, my poor photography does not do them justice, but hopefully, you can get a flavour of how it is.

Across the way is a somewhat amusing and more colourful painting

and on the wall opposite, this one is hung

Now, I don’t have the knowledge to understand the juxtaposition and would love to learn a little of the thinking behind the choices.  I hope the new art brochure will cover that as well as simply documenting the details of the works themselves.

In the midst of this gallery area is the table with the jigsaw!

Just beyond, moving on into the lift and staircase area is a collection of three blue and white images.  Smaller and fresher in feel than the large works we’ve just passed, they are a little more accessible, I think!

I’m afraid that in haste, I cut the top off the third one, but I include it because it give a better impression of the texture.

No artwork to distract in this important corner, but something of interest to those who sail on cruise ships, I think.  On this ship, the lifeboats are accessed directly from Deck 5 – step out of that door and up a couple of steps right into the lifeboat, or rather, hopefully not!

They are the first lifeboats/tenders I’ve seen with curtains (I think?)

Progressing to the aft now, there’s the entrance to the Spa.  It’s a long, cool and airy walkway with the beauty salon to the left and the reception straight ahead.  Very beautiful!

These two large works of art hang here, in similar vein to other abstracts nearby.  I feel their rather aggressive tone strikes a different note from the otherwise calming atmosphere of the spa entrance.  But maybe they offer a contrast – leave your worries and all pressure here and go on into the peace and tranquil haven beyond?  Or are they simply paintings of shower fittings?

On the opposite corner to the aft of the ship to the Spa is the Asian restaurant, Pacific Rim.  The entrance is dominated by the largest work of art on the ship, this huge “prayer wheel”.

Full of small details, I could spend a while turning the wheels and reading the words and patterns which are there.  Each one is individual and absolutely fascinating.  Unfortunately, when I’m here, it’s usually when I’m hungry and eager to dive into a plate of something delicious!

I love the grand entrance and the design and decor here.

Returning to where I began, I pass the “other” staircase; the aft one we have not used, as our suite is at the front of the ship.  It’s another area where I feel the design has not taken into account the practicalities, for the space is tight and the staircase narrow.  Waiting for a lift here means standing in the way of people coming up and down the stairs and I would imagine it’s the source of irritation for some.   In typical Regent fashion, maintenance is continual and ongoing – the attention paid to the smallest detail is so very impressive.

Whilst in reception, I didn’t note the General Manager’s office on the opposite side to the business centre.  The door always open, this is command central as far as the “hotel” aspect of the ship is concerned, at least.

A well chosen and appropriate poster is hung here,

and the light fittings too, give a touch of glamour to the entrance.

This is balcony level and until now, I hadn’t realised that the seating is on high stools here.  Interesting!

The light and sound controls are up here and we’ve noticed the state of the art technical facilities used during the shows on board and during the presentations and lectures too.

With a glimpse of the chandelier, the mosaic on the back wall of the auditorium, there’s the staircase down to the main theatre level and deck 4, which I’m going to leave for another day!

Had enough art yet?  I know I didn’t spot every picture hanging there but perhaps, for today, the answer from me was “I think so”.

Party time

Returning home from our adventure, we found our suite lit by candlelight, with canapes and drinks on ice.  Suren had been busy – how sad we were that we’d returned too late to appreciate it!

Because last night was the deck party.  After a quick shower and change, we headed down to the pool deck where the usual furniture had been cleared away and the deck set out for dining.  When we arrived, the fantastic Natures Rhythm trio were in full swing, playing foot tapping music by the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons amongst others.  Just our style!

I was too busy having fun (and eating sushi) to take photographs, but I did manage one of the whole crew who had worked this magic for us.  It’s a huge amount of work and involves a good deal of cooperation.  It was good to have a chance to show our appreciation!

The immense buffet cleared away, it was time for the showband to begin and the dancing to start.  A few ABBA tunes and the floor was full.

Around 10.30, we’d slipped away from Puntarenas without noticing and on this warm evening, just few people remained, savouring the last moments of what had been a fun evening.

This morning, no-one would have guessed that any of that happened at all.

Pura Vida Costa Rica

Another day, another new country for our collection.   We’d heard a little about Costa Rica from Harry Chittick, our on board lecturer, who spoke of a country with no military, where education is key and the envy of many Nicaraguans.

As we sailed into port this morning, I looked at those clouds and knew that if I spent any considerable time at sea, then I’d need to study meteorology.  I mean, look at that sky!

Actually, I was distracted, for some people had seen dolphins early this morning and looking out over the rail, I hoped to see some too.  Instead, I saw these largeish birds, of crow size, swooping down over the smaller, flying fishes and occasionally, scoring a catch.

Not really what I would choose to observe at this time of the day!

Around lunchtime, we watched as the Captain brought the ship into port.  There was  a narrow pier for us to aim for and slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y we inched towards it.

Hey, as the onshore gang watched and took selfies of themselves, we noted the JCB on the pier and said “Hurrah” for British engineering (and Daylesford, of course )

Nearly there….

Whilst we inched towards our berth, there was fun being had on the beach.  Small boys and water, eh?

We decided it was time to go and collect our tickets in the theatre and sitting there, marvelled at the theatre designer who thought it would be a wizard wheeze to place that chair and table behind the pillar.  What?  (Not as if there isn’t room to move it a couple of feet to the left, is there?)

Anyway, we were in group #1 and by the time we left, the gazebo was all set up and ready, with pot plants and chairs in place too.  Nice one, Regent!

I felt quite sorry that we were already on the coach when we passed these lively chaps, playing some local tunes to greet us.

And the charming young woman with some local produce could only smile and wave as we drove past.  I always enjoy the local welcome parties and felt sorry that on this occasion, their efforts couldn’t be fully appreciated.

We were soon out on the road and it was immediately apparent that Costa Rica is rather more prosperous than Nicaragua.

There were more private cars around, the homes looked more solid and the general feeling was one of greater prosperity.

Soon we were out into the country, heading into the lush, green interior.

We were heading for the high country, to the cloud forest, in fact.

And when my Hero said he’d just spotted a monkey in the trees, of course, I couldn’t stop looking for another one!

But the road was becoming more precarious and I’m sure the driver needed someone like me to keep an eye on it too.

Soon, we really were in the clouds and there might even have been a splash of rain on the windows.  So much for setting out covered in sunblock, with a hat and other hot weather precautions.   Did we bring an umbrella?  Of course not!

Now, this tour was titled “A Walk in the Clouds” and we knew that it would include walking on high suspension bridges.  In fact, it was accompanied with a caution and labelled unsuitable for those afraid of heights.  Like my Hero.  The description also included details of bird life…which my friends will know, would send me running.  So, the pair of us had agreed to be brave, to stick it out together and if we ended up as a pair of nervous wrecks somewhere along the way, we’d support one another to get through it.

You can see who had to face their demons first.

Having crossed the bridge, we encountered this jolly group of workmen, maintaining the very bridge we’d just steeled ourselves to cross.  Ha ha, very funny….but thank you for making it safe for us!!

My fear of birds extends to large butterflies in enclosed spaces too, so it was my turn to be brave.  Thankfully, there were not too many in the butterfly house and those which were there were mostly taking a siesta.

The markings were so very beautiful, it was impossible not to admire them.

When I was directed towards one just emerging from the pupa, I just had to take a closer look.

Hard to believe that they all come from this, a butterfly egg, isn’t it?  (At this point, our guide had to painstakingly refresh a few memories of the life cycle of a butterfly, making specific reference to the caterpillar stage.  No, that enormous butterfly doesn’t come directly from that tiny egg!)

I chased one of these blue butterflies around for a while before catching a picture.  It’s actually the same one as in earlier pictures, with the brown “eye” underneath, but the irridescent blue is magnificent, isn’t it?

But we’d come to walk through the clouds, hadn’t we?  To look out for monkeys and sloths and snakes and….well, anything else that chose to make an appearance.  Our guide, Miguel, walked slowly and quietly, just in case…

Is there a monkey in here?  An exotic bird perhaps?

No.

There’s a colourful flower!

But no monkey.

There’s another bridge to cross.  Ooooer.

Maybe there’s a monkey or a bird to see over there?  (What do you think?)

There’s a beautiful leaf, enormous, too.  (Did we come to see leaves?)

There’s a hole and a web where a spider has been.  Is the spider still there?

No!

(thank goodness for that)

Another bridge to cross.  I’m beginning to feel like one of us is having to face way more demons than the other…and it’s not me feeling scared right now!

Actually, the bridges weren’t too bad (depending on who you ask) and on the wobbliest of all, Miguel stood in the middle to stabilise it a bit for us.  Good man.

(I’m sure we wouldn’t have noticed the wobble had a monkey turned up)

Miguel pointed out the bromeliads, where frogs lay eggs and baby frogs hatch at a particular time of the year (not now).

There were some interesting roots too.

But you get the picture?  You’ve been here with us before, haven’t you?  Walked through the rainforest/cloudforest/nature reserve and not seen a thing?

(even if that’s an awfully nice moss)

So it’s hardly surprising to walk over the last bridge having seen nothing but each other.  Oh, and a few lovely trees and plants. 

Bridge #1.  We had done the trail backwards and were back at the start.

Where it was my time to be brave in the Hummingbird garden.

Strangely, these little things hardly counted as birds.  They showed no interest in us and merely fluttered around the sugar syrup in the feeders.

I could focus on getting a decent photograph of one.

But it wasn’t easy, and I kept trying!

Because, it was the blue and green one I really wanted to capture – only with my camera of course!

Suddenly, there was a whoosh and I looked up to see a very large hummingbird swooping through the trees.  Was it a monkey at last?!

Sadly not, it was someone ziplining through the canopy. 

We retreated to the small cafe for a plate of local fruits and a glass of juice.  We’d survived the ordeal of suspension bridges and flying things but sadly had seen not one single bit of wildlife.

Boo.

But you know, somehow it didn’t matter.  We’d spent an afternoon out in the Costa Rican cloudforest.  We’d had fun and faced down our fears.  We were smiling and had enjoyed an afternoon with friends.

So this is what we might have seen?

Never mind. 

We’ll just have to come again, won’t we?