Our last port of call was to been Saint-Malo, France. However, a couple of days ago the captain said because of tide issues (?) we would not be able to dock there and he was going to have to divert us to Le Havre, France. Bummer, as the former port is in a beautiful location (Mont-Saint-Michel is nearby) whereas Le Havre is simply a major industrial seaport with no particular famous landmarks people might want to see. We had previously visited both Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint-Michel during a land tour of the Loire Valley so it is not as disappointing for us as it is for others. C’est la Vie!

So here we are in Le Havre, France. The local weather is not promising; rain is predicted, so it might simply be the equivalent of a relaxing day at sea. It will be a busy day on board as we must get our Covid antigen tests to allow us to fly home tomorrow. The ship is providing and administrating the tests for us which greatly simplifies our lives. We also have to pack as our luggage must be outside our doors by 10 PM tonight. One of the major perks of sailing with Regent is that they provide laundry service free of charge so we have been gradually having all our clothing laundered and will arrive home with mostly clean clothes-ready for another trip!

Some interesting statistics about the sailing habits of people on this cruise. As is typical cruise lines award people for their loyalty with on board perks depending on how often you have sailed with them. The Regent program is :

Bronze membership achieved upon completion of your first voyage. Silver membership achieved upon reaching 21 nights sailed. Gold membership achieved upon reaching 75 nights sailed. Platinum membership achieved upon reaching 200 nights sailed. Titanium membership achieved upon reaching 400 nights sailed. Diamond membership achieved upon reaching 1,000 nights sailed. Commodore membership achieved upon reaching 2,000 nights sailed.

We achieved Gold level status on this trip, having now completed 78 nights sailing with Regent. What is mind blowing to me is the makeup of our fellow travelers on this cruise. On board our ship there are 432 Seven Seas Society members with the following classifications:

2 Bronze (1 cruise)

225 Silver (21+ nights)

169 Gold (75+ nights)

25 Platinum (200+ nights)

11 Titanium (400+ nights)

What really astounding is that there are 5 people in the world who have reached the Commodore level! Do the math. They must virtually live on a ship.

By mid day it was raining pretty hard so not going ashore turned out to be the right decision. Surprisingly other than the brief showers we had in Santiago this is the first rain we have seen in two weeks. Also, for the most part, the temperatures have been pleasant other than the two hot days in Bordeaux. The locals say it is rare to have this high a temperature this early in the season. Global warming?

The ship’s medical staff scheduled several time frames during the day for free Covid testing of the passengers as we needed clearance to fly back to the US.  I was a bit concerned that it would be a messy process and was pleasantly surprised at how efficiently it was run. No lines, a quick swab (antigen test) and a request to remain in our rooms for a short period until the test results were in. Within 20 minutes we got the “all clear” text and we were told there would be an official paper copy delivered to our room that evening. It was. By the way we never heard that there were any Covid incidents on the ship during our cruise.

Today was the last day for trivia and, no, we still did not take the top prize. We agreed we all needed to go home and dig out the old trivia game and practice for the next cruise! After trivia it was time to redeem those “Regent Reward” tickets. I was amazed at how many people showed up and how many had enough points to redeem the coveted Regent fleece jacket (with hood). Unfortunately I had nowhere enough points but I did manage to have enough (25) to get a Regent golf shirt! Others in our group managed to get  lesser gifts, like a golf hat, so everyone was happy!

There was to be one final pre-dinner production staff entertainment show but it had to be canceled because of illness of some of the members. We sat and drank in the observation lounge instead. Dinner tonight was back in the Compass Rose main dining room.

There was a scheduled 9 PM movie, ” Marry Me” with Jennifer Lopez, but many of us has seen it. Besides we had to finish packing and prepare to leave the ship tomorrow morning when we arrive in Southampton, England. It was time to say goodbyes to our travel companions as we were all going separate ways and were scheduled to leave the ship at varying times.

Steps today:  4,397. Winding down!