20250516 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 25 - Home and trip wrap-up

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 25 - Emirates 777 outdated business class

After buttoning up yesterday's blog, I collapsed on the bed and slept a little. We had time to kill before our 11:30 pm departure for the airport. We had our bags out at 8:00 per Regent's request.

We checked a little after 9:00 and the bags were still there. I called and they said they would have them picked up. Cool.

We checked at 10:00. The bags were still there. Another call, another promise. 10:45. We would be leaving the ship in 30 minutes. Bag...still outside our door. Wow. Another call. More apologies. 11:00. Finally, our bags were taken. We left and went to the gangway on Deck #4. There were our bags, still on the ship. They were supposed to be out in the terminal for us to pick up. 

This time, at least, the ship had people there and they carried the bags down the gangway, put them on a cart, and pushed them to the bus. It was a final frustration from Regent.

The bus trip was uneventful, even though there was traffic at 11:30 pm. We navigated the odd walk to Emirates Business Class check-in and got our boarding passes. Immigration was automated. We scanned our passports and looked at a camera. The gate opened and we walked through. Security wasn't busy and we sailed through.

Once in the terminal, we went to the Emirates Business Class lounge to hang out for about 90 minutes.

Our 2:50 flight was scheduled to start boarding at 2:05 so we had some time.

While we were relaxing, I got a phone call. It was a woman in The Villages who read one of my reviews of a robot vac/mop that I posted in a Villages Facebook group. She wondered if I could provide some advice on a model to purchase. We had a nice talk and it certainly helps kill some time as we waited to board.

About 1:30, we departed the lounge and walked to our departure gate, B32. They were already open for the typical additional security screening. We boarded shortly after that. 

Emirates has a stellar reputation for luxurious flying so we were excited about flying Emirates Business Class. That excitement ended quickly.

This Boeing 777 had the old-school seats. Yes, they did lay flat, but they were incredibly narrow with zero storage for anything like a phone, Kindle, and such. The charging ports were tucked in an awkward location. Even worse, rather that individual pods, the seats were in a 2-3-2 configuration. That meant that if the aisle person was reclined, the window or middle person had to physically climb over them to get out. On a 15-hour flight, that's a big deal.

Narrow seats, no storage, not what we expected from Emirates

Arlona and I both had aisle seats in the theee-sear middle section. I was in row 7, ahead of the bathrooms. Arlona was in row 9, behind the bathrooms. Even worse, there was a screaming child in Arlona's cabin for too much of the flight. There wasn't much sleep for either of us.

I'm not sure what was going on atmospherically, but wow, we went through many areas with significant turbulence.

On the plus side, the French toast and the scallops were pretty good.

I think that we would have been much more comfortable on our original Qatar Air, Dubai, Doha, Chicago, Tampa routing, but there's no getting away from the fact that Dubai, direct to Orlando saved us a ton of travel time.

We landed ahead of schedule and our bags arrived fairly quickly. Because we have Global Entry, Customs took all of 90 seconds to breeze through. Our driver, Cedric, pulled up about two minutes after we walked outside and we were on our way home. The cloudless, blue Florida sky was a welcome sight all the way home. 

Always a welcome site on the Turnpike

About 80 minutes later, we walked into Kolb Kastle South, happy to be home.

So let's wrap up the trip with final thoughts. This was our first Regent cruise and we were hoping to really like it. The destinations and excursions were great. The room was very nice. The fact that Regent is all-inclusive, including excursions, drinks, basic albeit crappy WiFi, laundry, and specialty dining is great. But it's only great if it comes with outstanding service and it didn't 

If we could book the same itinerary on different cruise lines and we wanted a luxury experience, our first choice would be Viking, followed by Seabourn. Third would be Regent or possibly Oceania. So no new leader in the cruise line game for us.

Still, we enjoyed the trip and saw amazing places. We sailed 5,300 miles and visited seven countries including two new ones. We saw the largest religious compound in the world and our fourth of the seven modern wonders of the world. So, what's next?

A second granddaughter in May, Arlona's 101st annual family reunion in mid-July, and a shiny new knee for me in late-July (woo!), and our next blog entry coming in October when we explore China and more by plane and cruise ship. Until then, happy travels!

 

20250515 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 24 - Sustainable Dubai

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 24 - Sustainable Dubai and the long flight home

We set a temperature record for the trip today as the mercury hit somewhere between 102°F and 109°F here in Dubai, depending on the weather source. But the dew point was 53°F and the relative humidity was 19%. So it was a dry heat. Yeah, let's go with that.

Our way-too-early (but we did beat the worst heat) tour was Sustainable Dubai. The tour took us about 25 miles south of Port Rashid to the Sustainable City, an experimental development.

We passed the Dubai Frame - the world's largest frame

It measures 150.24 meters tall and 95.53 meters wide - viewing in one direction shows you old Dubai, the other direction shows new Dubai

Speaking of the new Dubai, the skyline is impressive

New development was visible everywhere

Our guide talked about Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, the planned 1,000-meter tower that will replace the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. He said that the Emiratis have already built the foundation for a new Dubai Creek Tower that will surpass the Jeddah Tower. It's crazy.

Our guide also talked about the fact that there is 0% unemployment in Dubai. That stat was a little misleading since most folks who live and work in Dubai are not Emiratis. If you are a foreigner and lose your job, your visa expires after 30 days, and you have to go home. But, based on what we saw, there's plenty of work to go around here.

After fighting some morning traffic, we arrived at The Sustainable City

The project started in 2012 and was occupied starting in 2017. There are around 3,000 residents from 65 different nations. The UK, France, Denmark, Jordan, Germany, Netherlands, the US, and Canada make up the top passports for residents. Some are here to work, and others simply to live in a sustainable community.

The entrance to part of the business and services area

This sustainable city is one of four such projects in Oman and the UAE. This is the smallest of the projects, but it is still a sizable endeavor.

We were shown a scale model of the development - the business and services section is the closest in this photo

The residential sections are on the other end of the development

Based on Oxford research, they limit each residential section to 100 homes. With five sections, there are 500 homes here. The research was based on social sustainability. That research said that if you limit an area to 100 homes, residents can all get to know each other, making for a closer community.

The central "green spine" of the development has recreational venues and greenhouses. Residents get vouchers for fresh produce as part of their ownership. There are also rental garden plots for residents to grow produce.

A developmental area, complete with an aircraft from Emirates, lets residents introduce their children to a wide range of real-world experiences 

There is a large autism center here to help kids with autism integrate into the community and participate in apprenticeship opportunities to help learn skills

30 years ago, this was all desert. The design has all the essentials in one place, like schools, medical, shopping, dining, offices, and such. 57% of the businesses are resident-owned. There are long-term and short-term rental units, along with permanent residential homes.

They have a large equestrian center. A horse track, jogging track, and bicycle track surround the entire community. There is a full K-12 school, mostly for residents, but non-resident kids attend too. 

All rooftops and parking are covered with solar panels. Business and parking panels produce community energy. They produce 110% of the required energy. Residential panels produce residential energy. Residences face north and are L-shaped to reduce solar load. They are outfitted with double-pane glass, insulation, energy-efficient appliances, and such. Still, they need grid energy.

Waste is collected twice per day for recycling and processing. Organic waste is composted. E-waste is processed and recycled. Water comes from Dubai's municipal desalination systems. Wastewater is recycled and used for lakes and irrigation.

Date palms are all over the development to supply both dates and shade.

Shared golf carts are all over the area. Swipe cards activate the carts, and they can be used to travel within the city.

A part of the business center

A recycled shipping container repurposed as a hydroponic garden

This mini-farm produces 1,000 salads weekly

We toured one of the biodomes where more produce is grown

They have a sustainability research center here. New ideas are tested within the sustainable city to determine their viability. They expect the entire development to be fully carbon-neutral by 2030. 

The See Institute was built from 100% local, sustainable materials. It produces more energy than it consumes.

Live plants were growing all over inside

They even grew from the ceiling

We saw a multi-use room with an immersive 360-degree video experience

A traditional Arabic meeting room

It is used when dignitaries are in the area

We finished our visit to the Sustainable City and returned to the ship.

An amusement park that is generally closed this time of year due to excessive heat, but for the next few days, it is open from 4 pm - midnight

We took a few shots of the views from the ship.

Infinity Bridge

Yachts and the Dubai skyline

The Queen Elizabeth II, the former luxury liner, is now a floating luxury hotel anchored in Dubai

We hung out in the room for the afternoon, relaxing a bit since today will be a long day. We hit trivia in the Observation Lounge, just for fun, this afternoon. The two of us played by ourselves, coming in a respectable second place in a tough competition. The misses:

• What ancient belief system laid the foundation for Chinese beliefs?
• Confucius or Tao? We guessed Tao - it was Confucius
• USA, France, UK, Australia - which has the most overseas territories, and bonus for how many?
• We guessed France with 5 - it was the UK with 17, France with 16, the USA with 14, and Australia with 6
• What ancient Sumerian / Babylonian poetic literature is considered the oldest piece of epic literature?
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• In the 1800s, what was Hawaii's largest export?
• We guessed pineapples - it was sugar cane
• How many Olympics have been held in countries that no longer exist - bonus points to name them
• Three - West Germany, USSR, and Yugoslavia

We decided to have our last meal at Sette Mari at La Veranda and get outstanding service from the best waiter on the ship, Rohit. He did not disappoint. He is one of two bright spots in terms of personal service that we have experienced on this cruise.

We had a front row dinner seat for tonight's sunset

It was a nice, final hurrah for this journey

We got back to the room and got our checked bags out by 8:00, per our disembarkation instructions. We aren't scheduled to disembark until 11:30 tonight. We will transfer to DXB - Dubai International Airport for our 2:50 am Emirates non-stop flight to Orlando. We'll spend 15.5 hours covering 7,767 miles in the air, touching down somewhere around 10:00 am on Friday morning in Orlando. We should be home a little after noon.

So with that, I will sign off for tonight and pick up with a wrap-up post after we get home.

20250514 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 23 - Persian Gulf to Dubai

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 23 - Entering the Persian Gulf and arriving in Dubai

We awoke as we were sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, en route to the Persian Gulf and ultimately to Dubai.

Our location was the small star in the Strait, on the line showing our route from Mumbai to Dubai

It is the little things that make or break a cruise. Having been on top-tier lines like Seabourn and Viking Ocean, we had high expectations for what was billed as another top-tier cruise line with Regent. One of the expectations that comes with that is exceptional service. We simply don't find that on Regent. We don't drink coffee. We drink Coke Zero in the morning. We carry large and highly noticeable Yeti and RTIC steel mugs with handles. We are used to walking in for breakfast after the first couple of days on a cruise and have the waitstaff bring us the drinks and glasses of ice. I should mention that this scenario happens on Viking and Seabourn. Without fail. After 18 days on this ship, and sitting in the same spot every morning, we still have to ask for Coke Zero and ice. And, we have to wait. Sometimes, like today, it took over ten minutes after we were seated and eating. Two days ago, we were completely done with breakfast before we got anything to drink. Imagine going to your local restaurant for breakfast and sitting there for 20 minutes before they bring you anything. The service on this ship simply doesn't measure up to what a top-tier cruise line should deliver, and that's a shame because other aspects of this cruise are very good. The itinerary was excellent. The excursions have generally been well run by the tour companies, not so much by Regent in some cases. The list of included excursions is very good, with plenty of good choices. The food has certainly been above average, and the always-available selections for dinner in Compass Rose are outstanding. Our base-level veranda room is spacious and comfortable with plenty of storage.  OK - service rant over - let's continue with today.

We had a few more opportunities to win points this morning before this afternoon's redemption event. We started with a putting challenge. 

We both were so close on every hole, but neither of us could drop the putt

We all had a chance to get a hole-in-one on five different holes. If you got the hole-in-one, you got three or six points, depending on the hole. The bonus was that if someone got a hole-in-one, everyone else scored one or two points, depending on the hole. Enough folks scored, so everyone walked away with at least 12 points.

The Mensa challenge and trivia were held early today to distribute more points. Plus, since we are docking at 4:00, most folks will be off the ship at the normal trivia time. Today's trivia was downright silly and fun. Everyone in the room got every question right. Some examples of the silliness:

• For 21 points, what is the name of the game where the object is to score 21 points?
• Question #8, for eight points, how many legs does an African tree spider have?
• Question #12, In the Bible, how many children did Jacob have? You don't have to name all 12, just answer how many.
• Name any three songs by the artist with the middle name, Aaron, and the last name, Presley

It was all good fun, and there were lots of laughs.

Speaking of the points, what are they good for? Here's a look at the redemption schedule that came out this morning.

They had a nice selection of items to choose from - we had 214 points to redeem

Arlona started packing this morning - I got started this afternoon prepping for tomorrow's late-night departure

Just before 1:00, we headed down to Deck #5 in the Main Street area near the shops. The entertainment team had tables set up with the items available to spend your Regent points on.

The 214 points we had amassed got us three long-sleeve tech shirts, a couple of short-sleeve tech shirts, a polo shirt, two luggage straps, and two sleeves of Callaway golf balls - not bad

We tried to eat a quick lunch, but the inadequate service in La Veranda didn't allow that. For the second time today, it took over 15 minutes to get something to drink. I can't stress enough that Regent's service falls well below what we would consider a top-tier luxury cruise line. 

After lunch, we went to the jewelry store where they were announcing the winner of a $500 gift card. The card was awarded for the most accurate guess at the carat weight of a tanzanite ring. Arlona had the second-closest guess at 17.4 carats. I had the closest guess at 17.8 carats. The actual carat weight was 17.78, so I was only 0.02 carats off.

We didn't find anything in the store that we wanted to purchase. The prices, to us, seemed extremely high, especially when we compared similar items that we had looked at in India. As an alternative, they offered us a blue topaz in exchange for the gift card, so we took that.

My fingernail is included for size reference

I got most of my packing done this afternoon. Tomorrow will be an easy but long day as we have a morning tour and then have until 8:00 in the evening to get our bags out for pickup.

We docked in Dubai right on schedule at 4:00 this afternoon. We had to get off the ship and go through immigration in advance of our tour. We returned to the ship and grabbed a drink in the Observation Bar while waiting for our tour. Our tour, Dubai by Night, met in the theater at 5:45 for a 6:00 departure.

The tour was simple - drive to the Dubai Mall and go up to floor 124 in the Burj Khalifa. Any time leftover was free time until 9:30, when we would meet to return to the bus.

We passed the Museum of the Future on Sheik Zayed Road

The left tower is the Residence Inn by Marriott, where we stayed in December 2023

The Burj Khalifa and Address Sky View

This building was under construction the last time we were here

We arrived at Dubai Mall and walked to the entrance of the Burj Khalifa. The line was long and slow-moving. It is always impressive to ride the elevator from level 0 to level 124 in less than 60 seconds and better than 10m/s. Zoom. The views of the city lights from the top were stunning.

,,,again

We waited in the insanely long line for the ride back down. We got the the meeting point with a little over half an hour to spare. Since we didn't have dinner, we hit up Five Guys for some excellent fries and a couple of pops. We caught a light show on the side of the Burj Khalifa as we munched. 

It sure is pretty at night

At 9:30, we met up with the other guests and walked back to the bus for the ride back to the ship.

The Museum of the Future was lit up in all its glory - the characters are Arabic poetry by the Sheik

We were back on board by 10:30 and were looking to hit the hay. The excursion I booked for tomorrow didn't start until 11:00, when I booked it. Now that we have tickets, they show that we will meet at 7:45 tomorrow morning. Yikes! With our departure for the airport tomorrow night at 11:30 and a 2:50 am flight, tomorrow is going to be one long day.