So behind on this Blog!!!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for following along on our journey. I am so far behind with what we have been up to since we left Wilmington on January 1st.

But first, a nice relaxing New Year’s Eve started with a delicious breakfast at our favorite, Kozy Korner!

After breakfast, we spent the day making sure everything was ready for us to be gone for so long!

We had a VERY early wake up call: 3:00 AM!!!!! We needed to be at the airport for our 6:00am flight. It was tough, but we did it with plenty of time to spare.

As we boarded our flight, a snow squall came through and delayed the flight. The plane now needed to be de-iced before we could take off! Safety first!

We had a lovely few days in Miami at The Hyatt Regency at Coral Gables.

We have stayed there before and really love the location and the service.

We arrived on New Year’s Day and the Orange Bowl was being played close by.

The Oregon Ducks Alumni Association group was staying in the hotel. What a fun group they were! Go Ducks!

Enjoyed seeing the hotel decorated for Christmas as we didn’t do much decorating this year!

Finally made it to our room. What a lovely surprise!!!

We enjoyed a very relaxing evening and an early bed time!!!

January 2nd was mostly relaxing and making sure we had all of our ducks in a row for the next day to transfer to the ship!

January 3rd, up bright & early for the breakfast buffet. Luggage ready in the room by 8 am for staff to pick up and delivery to the ship. (We shipped most of our luggage through Luggage Free (included benefit with our World Cruise) This luggage contained all of our toiletries and medicines (prescription & over the counter) we will need for the next 6 months!

We boarded Regent Seven Seas Mariner on January 3rd for a 7 day relaxing cruise to the Caribbean and back to Miami.

Day 1

There evidently was a delay earlier in the day with disembarkation and Customs clearance of the ship which will always cause a delay for the embarking passengers.

Regent handled everything beautifully.

We were on the ship in no time and the wait to get into the suites was minimal!

The luggage arrived shortly there after. Let the fun begin!!!!!

Dinner time on this beautiful evening.

Perfect time to try the new pizza ovens at the Pool Grill!

We love that the Mariner is one of the only ships in the fleet (as of now) that has opened the Pool Grill for a casual option for dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the suite. There is still MORE unpacking to do!!!

Day 2

After a lovely room service breakfast (sorry no picture) and a morning of more unpacking, organizing and all the things, we headed down to the 5th Floor to the main dining room for a civilized lunch! Love this option on the Mariner.

Not sure why I didn’t take anymore pictures of our lunch but don’t worry, it was delicious.

After lunch it was back to the room for more unpacking and organizing! Then……..

Time to get dressed for dinner.

We love that this cruise line still requires “Elegant Casual Attire” in the main areas for everyone from 6pm on.

Dinner at Compass Rose with the 2 top Engineers was just fabulous. It was so wonderful I didn’t get any pictures. I even forgot to get the waiter to take a picture of all of us! 😞

After dinner it was back to the room for us!!

Day 3

No excursion for us today. We have been here before and didn’t feel the need to explore on our own.

Another relaxing morning in the suite with a lovely room service breakfast, organizing and me doing a little work/bill paying. We headed to Compass Rose for lunch. No pictures of the actual lunch today, but this was dessert!! YUMM!

Here are some pictures of the public areas on our ship that I took after lunch:

On to deck 6 to look around a little:

Heading back to our room for a nice afternoon.

The view from our balcony.

Anthony enjoy’s spending time on the balcony and watching all of the activity in the port area.

After a nice afternoon on the balcony, we came in to get ready for the ship wide Block Party. Everyone grabs a glass from their suite, comes out as they are and greets their neighbors. The room stewards and the butlers are there to provide drinks and canapes. It’s a wonderful way to meet fellow cruisers.

After the block party, we return to our suite to get ready for dinner. We headed to Sette Mari, the Italian restaurant tonight. The pasta is so good! Anthony had penne bolognese and I had lasagna among the other appetizers that they bring to the table.

After dinner, it was back to the suite for bed. Something tells me we may have to sleep on the couch tonight!!! LOL!!!

Good night!!!!

Day 4

We had a nice, relaxing morning in the suite. I am still rearranging and trying to get everything organized. We skipped breakfast today and headed down to Compass Rose for a quiet lunch. We love the Pool Grill and La Veranda, but we wanted something quiet today.

Day 5

A little disappointed for this stop today. This was Anthony’s favorite stop the last time we were here. There was a delay with our arrival this morning and it is now a “tender port”. The last time we were here, we were docked. The delay and now having to tender is making it a very short visit and not worth the time to go over to the island. By the time we get there and all set up, we would’ve had to start packing up to return to the ship. Not to mention, there are 2 large ships already docked here.

Looks like another Sea Day for us!

We have a busy evening tonight! But first, lunch at Compass Rose.

After a trip to the library to secure the puzzle pages for today and for Anthony to have a coffee at the Coffee Connection, we make our way back to our suite.

Of course there will be balcony time!

After some time on the balcony, it was time to come in and get changed to attend the Seven Seas Society Cocktail Party in the Constellation Theater @ 6pm sharp. Doors open at 5:45pm. We try to get there early so it fills up quickly!

After the cocktail party, it was time for our reservation at Prime 7, Regents Steak House. This is one of Anthony’s favorite places. The menu doesn’t change much and he likes most everything on the menu!

After dinner, we made our way up to the 12 floor to the Observation Lounge. There is live piano music at this venue after dinner.

Day 6

Another wonderful slow morning in the suite. We had room service breakfast and I caught up on some things that needed my attention. I also made a list of things we forgot & that we could use for the long voyage ahead. Planning to go shopping when we get back to Miami.

Today we headed to the Pool Grille for lunch. They have a small buffett of items but they always have a menu of sandwhiches and burgers you can order from the grill.

After lunch we head up to the top deck (Deck 12) – it’s a beautiful day!!

We decided to have a nice Room Service dinner tonight and an early evening.

Day 7

Cruising the Florida Straits

Day 7 – last full day of this 7 day cruise. It was just what we needed to get our Sea Legs and to get organized before our BIG Adventure. We cruised the Florida Straits on our way back to Miami. We enjoyed another wonderful day on the ship and did not have to worry about disembarkation that most of the other cruisers are worrying about this evening. There will be no packing and putting the luggage out for us for many, many months!!! Thank goodness, I don’t want to see another suitcase for a LONG, LONG time!!! We did enjoy the Krew Kapers show this evening. If you ever find yourself on a Regent Crusie, do NOT miss the Krew Kapers show! The wonderful crew members put on a fabulous show to show us their appreciation. You would be surprised by just how much talent there is on these ships!!!

Those 7 days went SOOOOO fast. We were finally able to relax and unwind.

Even though we stayed on the ship everyday as we have been to all of the ports before and there really wasn’t anything we wanted or needed to see, we were able to relax and get organized for the amazing adventure ahead!!

Stay tuned!!!

PS: Hoping to get caught up with posting so that you receive these posts closer to real time!! Wish me luck and thank you for following along!!

With Love, TheTravelingFuscos