Last year I celebrated a milestone birthday and decided to give myself the experience of a luxury ocean cruise. I’ve returned recently and have to say I am a very good gift giver, if I do say so myself!
We sailed with Regent Seven Seas Cruises on the Grandeur of the Seas. We embarked in Reykjavik for their Chasing Erik the Red Itinerary, which visited ports in Greenland and Iceland. I posted daily on my Facebook page Incredible Memories Travel with Melissa. You will find many photos and details of our excursions there. In this post, I want to share my experience of life on board.
Home Sweet Home
I had heard about the luxurious staterooms, but I don’t think I grasped what that really meant in terms of size and comfort. My first thought when entering the room, was “Pinch me! I’m in a dream!” Our room was huge with a king sized bed: a seating area with a love seat, coffee table, snack area with fridge and coffee maker that could be separated from the bed with a curtain; a large balcony; an amazing bathroom; and, gasp, a walk in closet! There was so much drawer space that even after we were fully unpacked, we had several empty drawers still available.
A curtain could be pulled to separate the sleeping and seating area (and block out the almost 24 hour light in Iceland)
Comfortable sofa for reading or watching TV. To its right is my seated vanity area.
Who knew cruise ships could have walk in closets?
Spacious bathroom with two sinks, a shower and…..
wonderfully deep soaking tub.
Unlike my Home Sweet Home in MS, I did not have to do laundry!! Unlimited laundry was one of the amenities included in my Concierge Suite.
Calories Do Not Count on Vacation
And its a good thing!! The food on board was nothing short of amazing.
Specialty Dining
Pacific Rim, Prime 7, and Chartreuse were the specialty restaurants (included in the fare as well) and offered elevated dining experiences, but the standard dining rooms were first class all the way as well.
Pacific Rim was our first specialty dining experience. Here we enjoyed pan-Asian inspired dishes. I was enjoying the experience so much that I forgot to take a photo of the main course. Here are my appetizer and dessert.
Our next specialty dining was Chartreuse, a French inspired dining venue.
Prime 7 is an American style steak-house.
Lobster, Lobster, Lobster
There was no shortage of lobster offerings on board, and not just for in the specialty restaurants! My first taste of lobster on board was at the Pool Grill where I discovered my favorite lunch – Lobster Nachos!
Room Service
We ordered room service a few times when we had early morning excursions.
Sip! Sip! Hooray!
There was no shortage of excellent wines and cocktails on board but we found our favorite drinks at the coffee station which was conveniently located just two levels below us. In fact, my husband went so often, they knew him by name – “Mr. Mississippi.” I was “Mr. Mississippi’s Wife.”
My favorite drink on board was a mocktail – Mango Mule.
A Private Party
Our traveling companions stayed in the Grandeur Suite which included a private cocktail party. We enjoyed some yummy snacks together while sailing past glaciers.
As you can see we traveled – and ate – in a great deal of luxury while on board the Grandeur. Vacation is always more than just the food and lodging, so look for Part 2 to see the fun things we did on board.