Day 1 – Sailing to Dun Laogharie (Dublin) Ireland

The first day of my North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean cruise was a sea day!

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

Day 1

From Southampton England to Dun Laogharie (Dublin) Ireland is approximately 420 nautical miles (about 778Kms) which took us about a day and half to sail.

On leaving Southampton we steamed up The Solent and into the English Channel, turned to starboard (that is right for the land lubbers out there) along the southern English coast before veering starboard somewhere near a Lizard and then past Lands End where we would have turned starboard again in the Celtic Sea towards the St George’s Channel and the Irish Sea where we would anchor of off Dun Laogharie on Day 2.

On sea days there are usually a number of activities onboard, including a wine tasting on this day. The wine tasting was not too interesting as it was of the house pour wines, there is a wine lunch later in the cruise, so saved the lunch time drinking for that…

A nice relaxing day to start the cruise and my break with… A couple of cocktails in the afternoon helped.

Dinner

For dinner I headed to Sette Mari, the Italian Restaurant that is also La Veranda during the day where you can grab breakfast and lunch. This restaurant has always been one of favourites on board Regent’s ships. Sette Mari has a relaxed feel to the place with great food and service and a decent selection of wines.

Starters

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

Bread Basket

Sliced Italian Ciabatta Bread, Crispy Breadsticks, Parmesan Knots, Savoury Pastry Stuffed with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, and Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.. Way too much for two let alone one person. Still always tasty and fresh.

Antipasti

Always served family style, ie sharing plates, also lots of food, but hard to resist, though I usually ask them to hold the La Bruschetta, have enough bread with the bread basket

Il Tagliere Di Parmigiano E Olive – Chunks of Aged Parmesan Cheese and Marinated Olives

La Bruschetta – Crispy Slice of Italian Bread with Marinated Tomatoes

Zucchine Alla Povarella – Crispy Fried Zuccini

Mozzarella Fritte – Fried Mozzarella Served with Fresh Tomato Sauce

White Wine

2018 La Scolca Valentio Gavi, 100% Cortese, Gavi Italy

Appearance:Bright medium gold
Nose:Fresh subtle nose
Palate:Refreshing
Finish:Short-medium length
Oz’s Rating:3 out of 5
A refreshing wine

And now for the food

Pasta

Lobster Tagolini – with a spicy red sauce

Nice bit of spice. Very enjoyable.

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

Red Wine

2017 Damilano Barbera d’asti, Piedmont, Italy

Appearance:Deep red
Nose:Had an initial funkiness that opened up nicely with cherry and spice aromas
Palate:Medium bodied with smooth lively tannins
Finish:Medium to short in length
Oz’s Rating:3.5 out of 5
Nice quaffer, will be asking for this again
Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

Main Course

Surf and Turf – Black Angus Fillet with Prawns

Looks and smells great. Steak cooked medium rare to close to perfection, very tender, prawns excellent 

More Red Wine

2018 Poggio Al Tuffo Rompicollo, Maremma Toscana Italy

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea
Appearance:Medium deep light red
Nose:Pleasant with a combination of orange peel, berry and a slight bit of caramel aromas
Palate:Balanced, medium bodied
Finish:Medium length with balanced tannins and a nice residual sweet tail
Oz’s Rating:3 out of 5
Not bad, definitely something to give at least one more go

Dolci

I skipped dessert and went for a bowl of Parmesan Chunks – always happy with this….

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

Limoncello

Southampton to Dublin crusing the English Channel and Irish Sea

A lighter style of limoncello, went well with the biscotti… Nice finish to the meal

Sailing to Dun Laogharie

After returning to my suite I found a nice surprise awaiting me. A gift from Regent of a set of drink coasters.
Unbeknownst to me this cruise has been selected as the cruise on which they would be celebrating 30 years of the line and so we also have the President and CEO. Jason Montague (plus his family) onboard.

An enjoyable and relaxing day, something I really needed before arriving our first port of call, Dublin.

Next up the port of Dun Laogharie (Dublin) Ireland.


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