Ok - I have to try to get everything into this final part of my review - but I keep forgetting things so may be back again!

I'm going to do this bit in sections now

STAFF
This for me was the high point of the cruise. Regent has a fantastic staff and I hope they realise that they are their biggest asset.

First we have to say that we enjoyed a drink (or two!) in the Stars Lounge. Raul and Dan were great bartenders and great company. We were quite happy chatting with them or with whoever else came in for the evening. Dan (who is from near us in the UK) is leaving the ship for a bit but go say hi to Raul from me (Sarah) and Danny.Ask him for a Tallinn martini (he made it up for me)

We also enjoyed really nice chats with Mimi the French Assistant Cruise Director, Ryan the Activities Host, Eric the Navigator band leader and Sam the cruise director (his shows on the TV were hilarious too - he is an Aussie but has a very British sense of humour!)

We loved Miki the Maitre'd in Compass Rose - he always sat us with fun people at dinner. Sylke the Executive Chef is a darling and runs a great team - we did the Galley tour where they treated us to Champagne and showed us round - very interesting.

We met Captain Romeo and John the Sommelier from Portofino on the Russian shooting trip - both absolute gentlemen. We joked that the Captain was coming on the trip so he could keep his crew in order!

All the waiters were wonderful - some names that stick out were Reynaldo who is also a wonderful Elvis in the crew show - a real happy smiley guy. I Made , a wine waiter, always kept our glasses full. In fact all the waiters/waitresses were lovely.The head waiters ran a great team and unlike other lines were always there to do things rather than just stand around - they weren't too proud to pick up your plate

We already said our Butler Renato and stewardess Petra were great

ENTERTAINMENT

This is one area I thought things could be improved a little. We rarely did anything during the day as it was very port intensive but there were things going on. We did Trivia one day but some of our team, shall we say, were not so truthful when the marking was being done - I shan't name names............. There were plenty of activities if you wanted them - Shuffleboard etc. The evening shows I thought could be worked on. The cabaret singers were good but we only went to one show (they were on twice). There was a classical pianist on and we didn't make any shows, so she may have been great, but she was on 3 nights which I thought was a bit repetitive. One show that was fabulous was the Russian Foklore night where a troupe came on board and sang, danced and played. They were really good - even Danny who isn't a show person was impressed. We loved the crew night - those guys had a blast!. I just think the shows needed a bit of variety.

Saying that, one night in Stars they had a British pub night with table football, darts and a Beatles tribute theme - that was really busy and great fun. I was much in demand to try and teach some American guys the rules of darts but unfortunately the electronic board that they had was a bit tricky to work out and the rules were a bit different from home - still it was all good fun.

We played in the Casino a few nights. Danny would have won the blackjack tournament and $200 were it not for the dealer turning up a blackjack to match his on the last hand. Tristan the deputy casino manager was a sweetie and taught me to shuffle cards properly! We won some we lost some and blackjack and roulette - often it was very quiet up there.

One night they did a Liar's club game - I would have liked a few more evenings where there was something like that as it was very funny and people had a real good time. It made for interaction with people as you had to get into teams. I think there is room on Regent for more of this without it turning into tacky or tasteless mass market stuff.

We were very often the last ones out of the bar (things tended to go very quiet by midnight) - I say it was youth apart from one guy who was much older and normally there after us!! I think it was partly the busy itinerary but I also think AI will change that a bit.

I didn't mention Portofino - we had a fun evening there. They start the evening at 7 with wine tasting (some nice Italian stuff I had never heard of) and Italian canapes - like different Parma Ham and breads and oils etc. The food was very nice. I thought you picked courses but you got a bit of everything. The entertainment was Gerry and Ivan - those guys are funny and talented

THE SPA
I had a facial and Danny had a massage - very nice treatments with friendly staff. Absolutely no selling of products or pressure to tip. I thought you did tip but I wasn't given the kind of receipt that gave you any space to tip - so maybe not.

ANYTHING BAD???
Not really - we had a fabulous time. Embarkation and disembarkation was smooth. There were lines on the first day in St P to get off but that is down to the Russian Immigration not the ship. Again, lines at Peterhof but I don't see that was the fault of the ship staff. Food at the Pool Grill was nice but even when made to order was not as hot as it could be - I don't know if it has to travel a long way?

Fellow passengers were mostly courteous, friendly and good company. Two exceptions - the couple who were incredibly drunk one night and attached themselves to our table proceeding to swear, run down the ship (she said she was hungry and the porions weren't big enough - the best thing I heard is that there wasn't free champagne and Caviar like on another line, she didn't like it but she liked to know it was there???! - he was drunk, rude and obnoxious. I am ashamed to say they were British. We got away quickly!)The other thing was talking politics at dinner - a big no no for me. I'm fairly liberal and tend towards the left. I know others will love Blair and Bush. I will discuss the issues with close friends and family when I know we can leave on good terms but why do people insist on telling me their political views at dinner when I've just met them. We tended to smile politely and remain non committal even though I was screaming inside!!

The evening Entertainment needs a bit more variety in my opinion. Oh - and my holiday wasn't long enough and I couldn't find anywhere to hide when it came to getting off!!

We're now saving for Alaska - hopefully with Regent again

Any questions - fire away. I learnt so much from you guys on here before I went that I feel the need to repay the favour if I can!

Thanks again, Geranium, for your lovely reviews. This one was particularly wonderful for me, because the staff on the ship are the reason I love travelling on the Navigator. It was wonderful to hear you mention so many of the same people that warm my heart and make my cruises so special (especially Miki, we adore him). I concur with all your opinions!!!

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise so very much. I can't wait 'til my next Navigator trip, in November. Thanks for taking the time to write the review!

Charlene

Wonderful review of your cruise Geranium! Thanks for sharing. :app:

Geranium
I so enjoyed your reviews, much better than mine. My favorites were Mimi and Ryan (he is soo cute) and Sylkie. I thought overall the quality of food was the best I have had on any RSSC ship. Feel free to add anything else you have forgotten. I enjoy it.
Lynn

Oh I did forget to say that in a fit of enthusiasm I did a Pilates and then a Yoga class with Karen. I thought she was very good indeed.

I also forgot to say that lovely Regent gave us a bottle of champagne and chocolate cake in our cabin with a card from Captian Romeo for our wedding anniversary on the last night. That was very sweet

Great review, Sarah! You sure you don't want to come along on MUSH with all of us??? :D

Masaki

We'd love to come Masaki - what a generous offer!!!! - at your expense naturally............

Sarah - might have to wait for us to win the lottery on that one! Then we're talking all of our friends on a cruise!

Masaki