On Board Regent Explorer

 Feb 2 - on the way to Kuala Lumpur

Regent Explorer is designed very much the same as Splendor and Grandeur, and we have been on both of these ships. Or rather, the others are designed much like Explorer, as she is the first of this class/design of ship. The main difference is that Explorer has a lot - and I mean a LOT - of dark wood paneling in the public areas. It is still very nice to look at and beautifully decorated, but somehow it doesn't make us feel like we're on vacation. I guess that's the way to put it.

Splendor and Grandeur are decorated with very bright neutral colours, especially in the Atrium, the Coffee Connection and the Observation Lounge, so the light shining in through the windows is reflected and the areas are bright and welcoming. On Explorer the paneling seems to absorb the light, so there is not as much natural sunlight getting in. It isn't an obvious thing, but it does seem to have affected our enjoyment of the cruise overall. I wasn't even inspired to go around the ship to take photos as I usually do. I have one of the Observation Lounge which I'll share here.

In comparison, this is the Observation Lounge
on Grandeur. More light and a reflective ceiling
makes a huge difference

That being said, the weather didn't help much, either. We did have some rain every day, even on sea days, and when it wasn't raining it was quite hot and humid most of the time. Finding a pool lounge in the shade - and you want to be in the shade in this part of the world - was almost impossible, so we spent more time inside on this trip. Our balcony was often impossible to use because of the wind direction or the rain.

Never mind all of that. You can't do anything about the weather. We expected the rainy season, and we got it. The only difference from previous cruises is that we are here a month or 6 weeks earlier, closer to the middle of the rainy season than the end. Something to file away for future reference.

On our sea day to Kuala Lumpur, we crossed the Equator at around 6:00 a.m., so that means that King Neptune paid the ship a visit to make sure everyone who had not done this before paid his or her 'fee'.  An Equator Crossing Ritual was held for all those Pollywogs to jump the waves and kiss the fish.

King Neptune (actually Cruise
Director David) and his entourage

The balloons are the 'waves' and in the back
corner is the table with the fish

There were apparently lots of Pollywogs waiting
to become Shellbacks on this voyage

The line went all the way down
the pool deck

The line was so long that we didn't even wait to see the end of it and watch King Neptune's departure. We haven't counted yet, but we've probably crossed the Equator on ships at least a dozen times - but then we probably had at least 4 crossings in a week in the Galapagos.

The entertainment on this cruise was very good. The guest entertainers were for the most part from Australia or New Zealand, and they were all fantastic. We had a couple of singers, a comedian, an Australian singer named Patrick McMahon whom we had seen on Crystal in 2018, and a couple who did juggling and acrobatics. They were amazing; they even did their first show in less than ideal sea  conditions.

Here's a quick photo of Cameo Rascale. He's on the unicycle in the back, and they're about to start juggling those pins she's holding. The young man and his family were finalists in Australia's Got Talent in 2009 after already having performed on cruise ships for a couple of years. Now he and wife are carrying the act on and doing a fantastic job.

There are also production shows with a cast of singers and dancers along with the Signature Orchestra of 8 musicians. The shows were well choregraphed and the singers' voices were very good, but the sound levels weren't always optimal, so it could take away from the show a bit. Considering this cruise was the debut for the cast - they had rehearsed on land but not had an audience or the movement of a ship at sea - they did extremely well.

Next up - our final port stop of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.