Grandeur

Grandeur - noun

1. splendour and impressiveness, especially of appearance or style.

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Indeed., why not try a new ship ,,,,,

We are just typical cruise clients who like to book a long way out to secure the suite we like , to have it booked at the best rate possible and to know our budget.? Budget = Europe , no such thing ,? no wonder we are selling more and more cruises in Europe across all demographics of the cruise traveller and doing it easily, take a couple of our examples

????????????? ????????????? a moderate 4.5* hotel in Athens??????????????

bed and breakfast

EUR450

???????????????????????????? A walking tour of Athens with food ???????? 4hrs over lunch ????????????? EUR 80

???????????????????????????? A moderate dinner shared with a glass of wine????????????????? ????????????? EUR 75

???????????????????????????? A coffee espresso???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????? EUR 5

???????????????????????????? A beer ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????? EUR 9

Nothing fancy and there for one couple for one day/night???????????? = ?????????? ????????????? EUR714

About AUD1165 without???????????? any other drinks, water , alcohol , coffees/teas

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Any other entertainment

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Any other touring / shore ex

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Any wifi

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Any laundry

????????????? Being able to unpack once , safe and secure around world events as the

????????????? Itinerary changes accordingly as we found out on this one!

We paid AUD1909 per couple and have been travelling for 22 nights around the Greek Isles on Regent Seven Seas beautiful new lady, Grandeur?? and Grand she is.,

Our suite was our sanctuary in which to work and play, arguably as good as any fine suite in a global hotel or resort. The restful hues of blue and cream are calming as we walk in a spacious 561 sq ft and it allowed us a separate sitting area to our bedroom which featured an elite slumber king bed.? Our walk in well appointed robe was just perfect to be able to both get ready and have space for everything including the daily complimentary laundry where we always had beautifully prepared clothes.? Our interactive TV had it all from our folio account to complimentary movies (if you had the time to watch them).? Our personalised mini bar allowed for the ‘daily tipple’ to go with the 24hr room service from the dining table choice of in the sitting room or on the verandah, weather permitting.

Our Butler was friendly and was always asking what he could do for us, most Australian’s don’t value the Butler but they are great when it comes to little touches like special canapes in suite of an afternoon, or booking the complimentary specialty restaurants.,

The bathroom was elegant, well lit, with two vanities and a shower with multi jets which was very comforting after a long day out in the sun .? both Guerlain and L’Occitane are available and replenished daily however they are still in plastic rather than reuseable containers.

A gown each supplied which is plush but a summer weight gown would also be appreciated especially in the warmer climates , like the Med, and our trip was not warm, it was HOT.

Days of choice is what small ships are all about and Regent Seven Seas Grandeur allowed that and it was like every meals was better than the one before!? Choice is about whenever and with whomever you choose , table for 2 or share and in our 22 nights we had multiple times in all the venues which are complimentary with an excellent complimentary wine list per venue.? On embark day as we awaited the readiness of our suite we headed to La Veranda which quickly became a daily lunch spot being able to choose from the buffet selections which include hot carving stations and hot dishes made to order daily, like pizza, grilled fish and pasta.?? Also popular on embark day and thereafter the Pool Grill al fresco dining watching the worlds best landscapes,?? Light breakfasts for pool style luncheon menus offered here but most popular here was the icecream bar with icecreams and sorbets made daily on show.

Compass Rose on entry takes your breath away by it’s beautiful design and also far more room between tables than most main dining rooms at sea.? Everything made to order for breakfast , lunch or dinner.? It’s a fallback for us as we love the speciality dining, and it’s a main dining room where the food arrives hot.

Sette Mari at La Verandah comes alive each night as an Italian Trattoria either seated inside or on the aft deck al fresco.? Authentic Italian dishes with Italian wines to pair whether it’s old school classics or modern culinary approaches to Italian food.

Steakhouses,, you can’t beat them and you certainly can’t on Grandeur when you visit the Prime 7 restaurant which is probably American fare of steak and seafood including lobster.? It’s a pretty restaurant with great sea views for sail away times or sunsets.,

The zen like ambiance of Pacific Rim matches the amazing pan Asian food.? It’s dimly lit and moody like a back street Hong Kong restaurant of old but don’t be fooled, the food is modern but elegant at the same time. This is without doubt the most popular restaurant and hardest to get in for another time onboard even when the Butler tries!!

The piece de resistance for classic french food is Chartreuse a bit like dining on a Champs-Elysee side street with fine dining and classic french dishes like duck, lobster, foie gras and more.

All too much every night , don’t worry we love our insuite dining in the comfort of our sitting room or on the verandah, showered after a long day , robe and slippers on and then course by course the food is graciously served from the Compass Rose menu seen on our TV daily.,, with an all inclusive offering on Grandeur we could mix that club sandwich with a nice Rose as we dined, read our books and watch the world go by.,

Each night when dining with our friends on board we would quiz and ask, what’s your favourite dish so far, and each night there was amazing winners but overall for us it’s Chartreuse Foie Gras and Pacific Rim Blackened Cod in Miso.

There are many bars to choose from , our favourite the observation lounge on deck 11 forward , but you’ll find your spot whether it’s the Meridian Lounge for afternoon tea, or the lively Grandeur lounge opposite the casino on deck 4

Relaxing onboard is well covered also, the pool area has generous shade on decks 11 and 12 with dozens of sunlounges , hot tubs, outdoor sports court , bocce, pickleball, shuffleboard, golf net and putting green

The card room was always full of those pairing up for bridge and the library is the best at sea, so many wonderful books to borrow for the voyage or just sit a while and read in the calming space.

The SERENE spa is on decks 5 and 6 with the aft area 3 whirlpools to relax in momentarily as they are so very hot, but inside there is the normal gym with workout classes, fitness info, hydrothermal suite with sauna, steam and chill room and showers.

And when day becomes night split over decks 4 and 5 is the Constellation Theatre, the main entertainment area for all sorts of amazing shows and productions .? Don’t want a show but feel like some retail therapy then the boutiques might take that onboard credit from you !!

Stay connected, easy with wifi Starlink , fast and efficient but annoying that it must come straight off a German satellite so you have to translate everything back to English!!

The stars of this ship are the laundry personnel, you don’t? need the amount of luggage when travelling with Regent as it’s included and you can put it out everyday if that’s what you like, nothing like having a dressing room of immaculately pressed clothes smelling of spring time.

Part of Regent’s offering is included shorex of choice, if you are clever and time between is more than two hours you can morning tour and afternoon tour, you can full day tour, you can purchase for a small surcharge the same tour but small group (from USD49 pp ) – tours are provided with local English speaking guides and generally large coaches (unless small group purchased).?? In real terms a 4 hour tour retails from USD129 pp , a 6hr tour from USD189 pp so it’s real value having them included and all you have to do is choose what suits your touring style..

The big advantage of cruise is that when something happens somewhere in the world the itinerary can change and when we booked in Sep 22, for May 24, little did we know such a disaster of humanity would occur in Oct 23 so our Israel and Holy Land became two cruises Ancient Land and Historic Sites for 11 days over 2052 nautical miles and Grandeur in the Greek Isles for another 11 days – we give a big thanks to the planning team as our itinerary only repeated Mykonos and Kusadasi across the new Athens back to back journey. (Athens, Mykonos, Gythion, Katakolon, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Kotor, a day at sea, Santorini, Kusadasi, Kavala, Istanbul, Lesbos, Patmos, Rhodes, Cyprus-Limmasol, Antalya, , Bodrum, Heraklion -Athens

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Like any experience it’s the people that make it great – when you go to a REGENT presentation they talk a lot about their tag line, ‘delivers an unrivalled , all inclusive travel experience with personalised service that attends to every detail of your journey , from start to finish .? Yes , that says it all and the team onboard were excellent, nothing was too much trouble and always delivered with a smile.? Every Captain we’ve ever sailed with has their own personality both with announcements and around the ship? , and this one was no exception – Captain Aristeidis Mertzanis or Aris as he likes had his way and after every announcement , he said ‘bridge out!’ and so did we each day., be it his 12noon announcement at sea on the only sea day we had or each day as we departed.

What is luxury, for us it’s space and attention to detail, Grandeur is luxury with gorgeous public areas amassed with wonderful art pieces, including it’s very own @ sea Faberge Egg. , although it could be located in a more impressive area , seems lost amidst the seating area of the reception.

The real advantage at every level with RSSC is it’s all inclusiveness, after 22 nights at sea our onboard account was USD19.

There are some cons, easily addressed, a big one is no pool grill or similar dining al fresco with enough space , balmy nights and only indoor dining or limited Sette Mari seats.? Another is the ability to get into the Culinary Arts Kitchen, Regent’s school of cooking at sea, it’s a really lovely sea view space but it’s just too hard to get a booking so one of our recommendations is the minute the cruise is booked a long way out, book the Kitchen spot when you book the cruise although in our case it wasn’t open at that time.? The Regent App is woeful, even on their own ship wifi it was not constant to work, we relied on the newsletter to our suite each night.

Our highlight, arguably the attention to detail in the fit out, the ?ship is glorious in every room and space and the lighting, superb from the bathroom to the showroom.

Guests 744 if full 809 , crew 551?? 55500 gross tonnes, cruising speed 19.5knots? build 2023

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