May 20 – AT SEA, Cruising the Arabian Sea

giving Somalia a pass

Weather – 30º, and very windy

I'll say!

Steps – 8,425

Humidity – still humid

Today is the third of 4 sea days. I’m always a fan of sea days – do as little or as much as you want. It you haven’t already figured, Regent isn’t the kind of cruise line that has climbing walls, go-kart tracks, or skating rinks, so activities are limited. Fine with us, a book at the pool and then some music and a show in the evening is plenty for us.

One benefit of a cruise line with go-karts is that the casino is busy, you get 3000 people on board as opposed to Regent’s 700 (this cruise 600) and it will inevitably be livelier. On Regent not so much. Nonetheless, Chris spent some time and money there tonight.

I finally stepped foot in the gym this morning. It’s small and hot, but I knew that going in. I did what I had to do and got out.

not a bad view for working out

While I showered, Chris found us some spots by the pool. It was soooo windy this morning he found a different spot from our usual, a bit out of the wind. It was still incredibly windy. I fought a losing battle with my hair! Even clipped up, I ate more than I care to mention. I knew we were there for a good time not a long time as we were going to a future cruise presentation at 11.

Bea, the future cruise consultant, discussed all things Regent, trying to lure more bookings to future bookings. She talked about itineraries and the new ship coming in 2027. She was incredible! She talked non-stop for about 55 minutes. Of course, this is her job, and she does it every cruise, but WOW, impressive. There was a draw for on board credit, but we were losers, we don’t have as much credit as we usually do this cruise, so could use some more. They plied us with booze; I had my first bellini of the cruise. It wouldn’t be my go-to drink, but it was very tasty – not sweet at all, that is my main criticism of Regent drinks…way too sweet.

loving life, despite the wind

Despite my love of all things cocktail, I tend to stick to champagne or French 75s on Regent – not a hardship, but I’d love to have a cocktail or 2.

We of course didn’t miss the 12:30 Cool by the Pool – today was again Duo Rubenesque, fine, but we want Kelly, we want Kelly!!

We relinquished the spot Chris originally got for us when we went to see Bea’s talk. I’m happy to save a spot at the pool for a bit, but for over an hour, nope…many people do it, but not us – we’re a respectful sort. Plus, the spot wasn’t primo anyway…too damn windy today.

There’s always a spot at the pool bar or at a table meant for eating…I wasn’t worried. We needed a drink anyway, so we went to see Robert at the pool bar for a couple of margaritas. As soon as he made them, he spotted 2 loungers open up and alerted us to them! WOW, thanks Robert! The margaritas were disappointingly sweet and not nearly limey enough, oh well.

pretty sweet

Just when we thought the day was going as expected, we returned to the room after lunch to a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates, flowers, notes, and new room cards. This cruise we are crossing the 400 days sailed with Regent mark. Regent’s loyalty program has a step up at 400 days. To us, this is more for the charm of knowing we’ve sail 400 nights than much else. At this new level we get included dry cleaning and private transportation per and post cruise…that is nice. We got our own private transfer to the ship in Dubai, in the form of an Uber…a fancier car will be…fancier (and free.) I'm obviously not the photogenic...Chris took approximately 1 million shots of me to get one right!

Today is the day for the classic Regent block party! At 6:00 Callie, the cruise director comes on the PA to say it’s block part time! He tells us all to come as we are and spill into the hall with an empty wine glass to be filled by room stewards. The ship’s bell is rung and that’s usually it. Today we also have Tom Jones belting out Quando, Quando, Quando. We love it and start a little pre block party dance party of our own in our room. Tom Jones’ Quando, Quando, Quando isn’t exactly new, but it’s great. I don’t need only new music…AT ALL, just a variety, that’s all I’m asking.

Chris' photography

We met our neighbors, some of whom are ship’s performers and staff. We have a singer and a jewellery seller in our hall. The rooms we tend to chose are usually the lowest category (this cruise is different with the room off the back), which means the guest entertainers and other guest staff get put up near us. That makes meeting people interesting. Today we met Kayleen, a young South African woman who is the onboard jewellery rep living a couple of doors away from us.

so well taken care of

Drinks and dinner were the usual and then it was the show. I asked for a gimlet tonight, expecting it to be too sweet, but having my fingers crossed…yup, too sweet. This way I don’t have 2 I guess. The show was Jenny Williams, a young British singer. We saw her a few nights ago, she was again good.

After the show, the casino had enough of a vibe to it that Chris sat down at the Blackjack table and I went back to read. I read about 25 words before I passed out hard…seems to be a theme!

This was not before I was touched by the attention the Muhamed pays to taking care of our room. Even the Kleenex and power cords were made to look beautiful.

Lori – ballet barre, YES! You should!!! In this part of the world, it’s kinda like hot ballet barre…AC can only do so much when faced with equatorial heat!

Shayne – thanks for reading, as always!! Hope you had a good birthday.

Jean – I think I’m finally catching up, but will still take a nap just to be sure.