Day 30 - February 2, 2008 - at sea

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Woohoo! We are halfway through and still have another 30 days to go. About this time, maybe a few days earlier, you start to hit a wall where you think this is long enough. I'd like to get off about now. Then, you run into all the people getting ready to get off and they are either happy or unhappy about it and you think, no, maybe I'd like to stay on. This next segment will have Iguazu Falls and the Amazon River and those will be so different than the last 30 days. Yes, we'd like to stay on!
Debbie and Margie enjoyed the guitarist and the tango dancers at last night's show. It was a variety show and the 2 acts did not perform together. There was a large and on our back row, a fairly badly-behaved crowd at this show. That was rather unpleasant. Between dinner and the show, they worked on a new jigsaw puzzle.
The time did not change again last night, so that made for a better night's sleep. We were all up early to get the week's laundry going. At just after 7am, we scored 3 empty washers on Deck 10 and that simplified things. All the laundry was finished by 9:45am in time for Terry Breen's lecture on Argentina and Buenos Aires. She is so enjoyable and informative. Her talk ended just before 11am and we all stayed awake for the entire time!
Debbie and Margie went to a fellow passenger, Justine Rowden's, poetry reading at 12:05pm. We had eaten with her and her husband at Arjan Scheeper's table and she had told us about it then. She had a small crowd and read her book "Paint Me a Poem" along with some other short poems for about 30 minutes. She had recently written a poem to/about her butler, Roy, on this cruise and she said it would be published and she read it. He was in the audience and they both got a round of applause. ROY!
The seas got rougher and the waves and swells larger as the day wore on and we were not worth much in the afternoon. Debbie and Margie worked on the jigsaw puzzle after lunch. Margie did make it to Arts & Crafts since they had a catch-up for all the projects one might have missed during this segment. Then she went up to Needlepoint as well. Debbie had planned to go to see "The Mission" again on the Big Screen but took a nap instead.
We had breakfast in LaVeranda since Chimi Bella had reminded Debbie last night that he still had raspberries for her. We had lunch in Compass Rose since they had Egg Salad sandwiches on the menu for Margie. Clay thinks that they have egg salad pretty regularly at LaVeranda at lunch. We will have to look into that because Margie really liked it! There was a Gala Buffet up on the Pool Deck but it was kind of rough and cool up there, so we looked around but didn't eat there. They had caviar, the boat full of chilled seafood, seared foie gras, grilled steaks, a German buffet and big cookies. Desserts and ice cream flavors were weak in all venues today at lunch, but Margie and Clay enjoyed the big cookies.
Tonight is the Captain's Farewell and Krew Kapers before dinner. We will skip that this time. It is Formal night though and we will dress for Compass Rose dinner and maybe Margie and Debbie will go to the PGT Singers and Dancers "Broadway in Concert" show later. This segment ends in 2 days. We have been assured that more passengers will depart than will join us in Buenos Aires and that the next segment will only enjoy about 500-something guests, instead of the 670 of this segment. We are looking forward to again enjoying the lower passenger count. The service in the dining rooms has been showing the strain of the higher passenger load these past weeks.
Tomorrow night we have the excursion pasted below.
Tango! Tango!

Duration: 2½ Hours.
Seated.

Code: BUE-4725

In the late-19th century, the "Great Village of Buenos Aires" was becoming an immigrant city where sad and frustrated Europeans displaced gaucho rustics, who gradually retreated to the distant countryside.The children of those immigrants would become the first generation of porteños. Permeated with nostalgic memories of a disappearing way of life, the tango show reflects the apprehensions, anxieties and concerns of the local inhabitants.
This afternoon, you will have the opportunity to admire the tango's different forms of expression as interpreted by fine tango dancers and singers, as well as a tango orchestra. While there, you'll find the music of Buenos Aires to be full of emotion, rhythm and movement. Andean music, as well as typical Argentine folk music, will also be performed. During this exclusive performance for guests of the ship, beverages and canapés will be served.
Program Pricing
Adult: $69.00.
A note of interest is that last night during dinner the email pasted below arrived on Clay's Blackberry.
Dear Deborah ,
We are proud to announce that as a guest of our February 21, 2008 Seven Seas Mariner sailing, you have the unique opportunity to experience A Night at the Manaus Opera House on Thursday, February 21.
You will be taken from the ship by coach to the Teatro Amazonas, a true jewel of entertainment in the Amazon. Here you will have pre-performance cocktails and an hour long performance by legends in theater, television and film. Once your evening is completed, you will be taken back to Seven Seas Mariner for dinner.
This presentation, exclusive to Regent guests, includes performances* by:
Ed Asner, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Lou Grant, the role he originated on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and continued in the newspaper-set drama Lou Grant
Theater and film legend Shirley Jones
Four-time Tony-nominated actress Tovah Feldshuh, of Golda's Balcony, Yentl, and Lend Me a Tenor
Patricia Neal, Academy Award winner for Hud and Tony Award winner for Another Part of the Forest
Former Miss America Susan Powell, who made her New York City debut at the New York City Opera as Johanna in Harold Prince's production of Sweeney Todd
Lee Roy Reams, touted by The New York Times as "Broadway's song and dance man nonpareil" who recently won critical acclaim playing Roger DeBris on Broadway in The Producers
Richard White, familiar to audiences as the voice of the villain "Gaston" in the critically acclaimed animated feature film Beauty and the Beast
Pricing for this private evening performance is just $75 per person. Seating is still available but limited.
You may reserve your seat by contacting your travel professional or The Regent Travel Concierge at
(888) TOUR-321 (A Concierge fee will not apply to this transaction). You may also reserve your seat by contacting Regent Reservations at 800.285.1835.
*All performers are subject to change by Theatre at Sea or Regent Seven Seas Cruises without notice.
There has been no notice of this onboard. What is interesting is that Debbie had protested about the Manaus Opera House not being included this year and received a letter back from a high level person at RSSC explaining that it was closed for renovations and that was why it could not be offered this year. This was obviously not true and Debbie easily checked that it was not closed for renovations, but whatever. Just a point of some interest.
Since we are now sailing north, we have the afternoon sun in our cabins on the portside. Not sure if it is better or worse than when we were sailing south in the early days, but it is a change and one we have noticed. We did not get any kind of certificates from RSSC Mariner about our Rounding of the Horn. This was a disappointment and we registered our request with the Guest Relations Manager for some kind of 'official recognition' that we had achieved this maritime milestone. We were told that a number of guests had done the same but that if we wanted documentation of our achievement that we should have taken photographs. OK. But tonight, they did come through with certificates this evening recognizing rounding the horn! So, enough guests must have asked to make them print a certificate up for the rounding of the horn.
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