I guess I am the first to start a seamail! We have about an hour til Fiesta, I thought I would check in since I have some time to spare.
Last nights dinner was fantastic, If I keep this up, I will grow out of my clothes before the cruise even starts!
The weather here in FLL has been perfect so far. Not too hot and nice and sunny. I hope it keeps up for sailaway tomorrow.
I am really looking forward to going to the Regent offices today before our dinner, I think that is going to be interesting. I haven't posted much but once I get on the ship, it will be easier for me since I am electronicless at the moment and using the hotels computer.

Yay! Seamail has started! Keep it coming for all us poor souls stuck at home :lct:

Make sure someone takes pictures of Regent office
and Fiesta tonight. "Please" :nw:

Have a wonderful time! Wish we could be with you! :lct:

The Fiesta Dinner was amazing....no one left hungry (or thirsty!) The venue was very charming and the meal was served as a series of (not so)small plates starting with Shrimp on the Barbie...the theme continued with favorites from many part of the world - wish I'd been keeping notes.

There were crab cakes, penne ala vodka, chicken cordon blu and baked Alaska as the finale. I know I've forgotten a couple of courses but I think you get the idea!

There were many reunions and first time introductions, a wonderful event for all.

Wish every LCTer could have been here.

I agree with Margo, the venue for last nights dinner and the food was amazing!!
Jim, you would of enjoyed the Regent office tour, we were allowed to roam all around and seeing all the old ship memoribilia (I think I spelled that wrong but there is no spell check on the pc!!) was very interesting! Mark Conroy's office was impressive.
This morning the sun is shining and I think we will have good weather for sailaway.
More tonight!

Wish we were with you! Thanks for posting and keeping those of us stuck at home in the loop!

View from our hotel room this morning! Fiesta was awesome!!!!

I emailed my phone # to Robert so maybe I can help with the communication this afternoon!

Agree with Margo and Karen. Last night was truly a wonderful time. Of course the party continued in the hotel bar after we got back, with a swimming show put on by Mark (Suzannme's husband).

This has so far been so much fun seeing old friends, connecting with those we only knew from the board.

Looking forward to getting on the ship. Weather looks perfect for sailaway.

Lots more to come I'm sure.

Waiting to pass through security @ port.

Great lunch @ Compass Rose and early embarkation - thank you Ngaire!

Had a great lunch in the Compass Rose this afternoon & thought I'd share some pics with you.



Lobster timbale with melon-guava dressing. Citrus aioli & micro greens



Chilean sea bass with roasted fennel,plum tomatoes & baby spinach. Warm coriander seed vinaigrette, mashed potatoes



Layered provencal vegetable gateau with toasted aromatic herb crust. Red & yellow bell pepper coulis, arugala, & lime vinaigrette 



Warm valrhona chocolate cake with passion fruit lava. Served with caramel sauce & cocoa gruet brandy snaps

Yum!
I had a PB&J :(

Looks incredible, A!! Thanks for posting the pics!

Those dishes are beautiful! Lauri, my lunch was more like yours.

Now that is really rubbing it in!!LOL
What a way to start your cruise.
Hope all your meals look as nice as what you showed us!

It was a great time for those of us just doing Fiesta with last night's tour, dinner, bar socializing back at the hotel and lunch on the ship today. We enjoyed seeing a lot of our LCT friends and ship staff and we could wander around after lunch enjoying free Regent wine on the pool deck.
Jim

It was so sad today as Arlene & I DISembarked the ship after a wonderful lunch in COmpass Rose. We had to leave so many wonderful people & head out on Alligator Alley to drive over to the west coast.
What a group that is sailing now! I did wish several of the staff "good luck" dealing with 100+ LCT people, and they knew exactly what I was talking about!

I echo what others said about last night's precruise dinner - everything served was wonderful. But not as wonderful as the company. And the fun we had after dinner in the hotel bar was sidesplitting! I rewarded Mark for his swimming exhibition(but he probably doesn't remember).

But leaving today, as we said our goodbyes, everyone was so happy & friendly with hugs all around. HAPPY? Wait a minute! We were LEAVING, and they were HAPPY???

Bon Voyage FUNNERS!

Oh Andrea, how cruel! have a wonderful trip. I don't think it can be any other way. enjoy every second with 100 friends!!!

Andrea those pictures are great! My mouth is watering....

Lunch was as good as it looked!

so much fun

Thanks for the wonderful food photographs Andrea. I shall think of you as I sit down for lunch with my Vegemite sandwich! Lee

Great pics, Andrea! And it was as good as it looks, however I didn't have time to try the desert as we had to rush out and catch our flight back to Dallas. :mecry: Just like Gil, I was sad not to be able to stay onboard. Gil, Arlene, and I joked that we were going to stow away, but I guess we all lost our moxie.

I guess the FUNsters are having too much FUN to post any Seamail! Wonder how their day has been!!

Cindy...you are right...the FUNsters are having a great time. Fantastic weather in Key West today.

Lars and I enjoyed a great Kayak excursion - complete with dolphins, sea turtle, sharks and Portugese Man of War sightings. Small group of 15 made for a very nice tour.

We sailed at 2 pm and enjoyed a lazy afternoon - 13 lucky FUNster names were drawn to enter the cruise contest - we weren't one of them but we were happy to see so many LCT members in the running.

Tonight we attended the Captain's welcome party and then enjoyed dinner in Compass Rose - we asked to join a table and had the great luck to eat with Kim and Alice - finally meeting for the first time.

We made a short stop at the show, but decided the quiet of our suite was calling...so, bringing a nice glass of red wine with us, we are now checking email and trying to pick a movie to end our wonderful day.

More news tomorrow from Cozumel.

Here is one Funster reporting in!
We finished the second dinner a while ago and so far we have two winners. Tonight was the Captains dinner, which is always my favortite. We had dinner with Joanna, Tony, Marcie, Tom and my bff Ralph. Our table special ordered escargot and omg it was yummy, nice and garlicky! Mushroom soup was next and I could of had seconds on that! Several of us combined the lobter tail entree with the pepper crusted filet to make surf and turf, melt in your mouth good.
Needless to say, I couldn't breathe after all that food so I went up and changed into my shorts and snuck down here to the computer room.

Today we parasailed in Key West, the weather was specacular, not a cloud in the sky and around 80 degrees. I know I said I was done with risky excurions and while I was scared on the parasailing, I didn't injure myself!
Tonight we get to set the clocks back an hour and I am grateful for the extra hour sleep! We dock in Cozumel at noon? I think? and Mark is going on an ATV tour and I think I am going to the beach. I sure hope our weather stays the same! The seas are soooo calm, it doesn't even feel like we are moving.
I can't post any pictures as I am techno inpared so that will have to wait til I get home and I have some great pix already!

Loving this seamail. Now all that is needed is more. Margo, so happy you met Kim and Alice - 2 of my favorite people. Karen, parasailing sounds like so much fun. And no injuries is great news. :) Your dinner makes my mouth water. Will look forward to your photos, even if we have to wait a week and the Cozumel report. Continue to have a great time.

Karen, It sounds like you are into those exscream :eek: sports like Alice & Kim. Crystal and Diane (coffeecup) took that excursion when we were on N0-Name.

Weather today in Cozumel is high 80* and Partly Cloudy. Should be a great day!!

Another FUNster reporting in. Lazy morning, got off and just walked around with our friends Dick and Nancy, walked to the southern most point in the US. Back on the ship and just hung around, watched sailaway from our balconies. We had the partition removed between us, so now we have a major balcony. Good thing we are close friends.

Dinner in CR with them, Marc and Arlene, Jean and Clyde lots of laughs fun and good food. As we got up to leave, noticed that with a couple of exceptions, the only ones still in the dining room were LCT'ers, no surprize there! Stopped by the Casino for a short time, then off to Observation were quite a large crowd ended up till after midnight - luckily we gain an extra hour. Quiet this morning, massage at 9:00, then we will just walk around Cozumel for awhile. We don't arrive till noon, so its just a short stay there.

Ship is great, staff has been wonderful and Ngaire's group has been lots of fun. Its been really great seeing those Frank and I don't know too well and getting reacquainted, as well as meeting some new faces.

Weather has been really great so far, minor rocking this morning, but nothing serious.

More to come.

I've taken the 2011 Anti-Wuss challenge after the outgoing governator, Ed Rendell, called out us Eastern Pennsylvanians for delaying that Vikings-Eagles football game because of snow. Sticking to the challenge is requiring creative thinking on this cruise.

We swore off sleeping in on embarkation day and instead scouted the Mariner location over at the pier. Mary Ellen and Jim (m'ellen) arrived at the pier following their 18 day cruise filled with snow-free weather. We got the scoop on what's hot and what's not on board, and brought them back to the hotel to visit with a number of the FUNsters before we left at 11 to return the rental car and embark.

We shared the shuttle to the pier with a family of four who, it turns out, are FUNsters. This is their second Regent cruise. The sons are 27 and 24, and the family was elated at Stanford men's football Orange Bowl victory (which they wisely attended instead of the FIESTA festivities). Olivia joined the six of us for lunch and, before she knew what hit her, she was taking an unplanned deep dive into sports. Fantasy sports found its way into the discussion in between answering queries from the sons (first time cruisers) on what to expect for the next 7 days and a good natured back and forth on college women's basketball programs. Lawrence came by and jumped right into the strategies and methodologies and marginal contribution analysis needed to choose the biggest, baddest fantasy football team. You just know he's got a high level, multivariate model for this task. Geek speak tangled with fractured sports analogies at a fevered pitch. Calculus was whirring all around our heads. It was a most memorable lunch.

We joined John, Tonya, John, Kimmi, Frank, Carla, Greg and Viv for drinks at Mariner Lounge and then a lovely dinner. Gary went to see Franco, our dining room manager, who gave us the captain's table and made sure Gary had the captain's chair. It was so much fun!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Key West. We trudged over to the catamaran and got ready for a trip to the 3rd largest reef in the world (behind the great barrier reef and belize) and some snorkeling. My Anti-Wuss discipline hit a real snag when the crew reported the 65 degree water temperature . Gary plowed on ahead – damn the $10 for the wetsuit as that's for wusses. I asked the captain if the water temperature is always 65 degrees in this area. Why no .. it's the consequence of the coldest December on record and has definitely crimped the tourist business. Aha! So if I come back in, say, April, I can help others by contributing once again to the Conch Republic's economy AND see the reef in more comfortable water conditions. Works for me! On the ride back, I passed on the brekkie beer and prepared for a brisk walk through Key West before the all aboard at 1:30. Of course, one cannot make such a walk without a genuine key lime pie slice on a stick – held together with a dark chocolate coating. It fell off the stick half eaten, a brilliant development in the calorie control category. Nature's Rhythm played on the sail away and, oh my, are those guys are talented musicians. The pool buffet was a great way to enjoy a late lunch with good friends, wonderful music and sunny, warm weather.

It was a good thing we'd gotten the calculus warm-up the prior day, as Ngaire updated us on the onboard booking situation and possible escorted cruises for 2012. Felice became the favorite captain of all 13 folks whose names were drawn – ciao ciao. Congratulations to them!

The father and son joined us for trivia yesterday, as we carefully reviewed the rules for playing blood sport trivia. Dad chipped in a dunk with a correct answer on a Russian carriage name, while Dad and Son paired up for a goal and an assist with the correct Southeastern Asian country which hadn't been part of a European empire. They certainly have the proper drive to win to be successful at trivia. Gary got 2 minutes in the penalty box for tripping as he missed the 'Southeast' part of the question and was sure Japan had to be the correct answer. We came in second to the awesome power of Jan, Lawrence, Peggy and ?? No matter, we're ready to try again this afternoon. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Olivia and I are keeping our eyes peeled for anyone in the under 30 crowd to introduce to the sons.

We shared an early Signatures table with a family from Alaska. It's got to be 3 years or more since I've been in Signatures. I thought our FIESTA lunch onboard in Compass Rose was every bit as good as my choices in Signatures. The cheese course offerings are slimmed down. Afterward, Viva la Vida (starring under 30 dancers) was in the show lounge, followed by big band dancing for us. Olivia found us as she'd also found a few under 30 year olds for the sons. Sure enough, we found 'em and all landed at karaoke in Stars Lounge. The trivia son put his all into one of the songs – what he lacked in vocal quality he more than made up for in stage presence. I channeled my inner Leslie and was a back up dancer and 'HEY YA' vocal supporter. He also spots the trivia lady and was off in a flash, seeking an edge to lead us to victory today. It was a hoot!

Today means more deck walking so we are revved up for our Cozumel do-it-ourselves explorer tour. With any luck, I'll join Suzanne and Tonya on the Pinot Mile walk.

great tales

Awesome seamail, FUNsters! Thaqnks for sharing!

Hi guys back home! Others have been good at reporting but we FUNsters continue to have a ball. The dinners have been great and even though the crew is almost all new to us, they have done a great job.

Yesterday we had fun parasaling (Karen will probably post photos when we get home). Olivia and I rode tandem. Lots of fun.
We won our first token on day 1 of trivia...12 out of 15 right so we were proud. As is often the case, we could have had 13 if one correct answer weren't changed but...hey, a win is a win.

Last night fun dinner with the Mondae's, Staneks, and Ralph. After dinner we spent the evening in Observation lounge. I'm guessing there were about 40 of us FUNsters so we always make our presence known. Met a neat couple (non FUNsters) who wanted so bad to join in with our group. After leaving Observation Lounge, STARS was calling our name so had to make a "before bed" stop there to watch some kareoke going on. :banana:


Today we're in Cozumel. We walked around the town, mostly trinket type shops. There are also a lot of jewelry shops and we hit on a spectacular leather shop. Marilyn and I both bought the same beautiful leather jacket. We can be twins! Tonight we're dining with Marilyn, Suzie, and Suzie's next door neighbor who is on board with us...Theresa. She's an absolute doll and fits in perfectly with the LCTers on board.

Yesterday at the B&K drawing Tom and I won a drawing for $100. off our next cruise. We were thrilled. Though not in the big free cruise drawing, at least we won a sure thing. Thanks to Ngaire and Ken for all the efforts they put into making these escorted cruises an A +++...they always exceed our expectations!

So where exactly is this leather shop?? I will be there in less than a month.

how i love these posts! Anne is just priceless....

Right, Cindy?!? LOL!!

Kepp them coming "FUNSTERS"

@ Anne ~ love your post and your wit!

@ Marcie ~ congrats on your win!

Yet another glorious day yesterday. As far as weather and smooth seas go, this cruise is tops for both of those! The seas are so smooth it's like cruising on glassy lakes. Now that I have said that, we will probably ride into a storm ;)

Last night was dinner at Signitures with the Kimmis, which means we laughed the whole time! I had the touranados of beef topped with foie gras that was seared crispy and deliciious! The mushroom soup was really good too. Each day, it's getting harder and harder to fit in our clothes.
After dinner, we stopped at the casino and I put $20 into a slot machine and won $1000!!!!
What a great way to end a perfect day!

We are sailing to Belize City at the moment and I can feel us slowing down so we must almost be there. Sunrise this am was a WOW one, not a cloud in the sky. We are going snorkeling from some small private island so that should be fun!

Please pardon my typos, there is no spell checker on this ship laptop!!!