Jump to content

rkaratsu

Members
  • Posts

    261
  • Joined

About Me

  • Location
    Pasadena, CA
  • Interests
    Travel, Cooking
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Regent
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Whichever one I am in...

rkaratsu's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. On the flip side, since we fly out of LAX, particularly when flying west (Asia, AUS/NZ, etc.), we have found it worth our while to take the air credit and book our own air. (Have saved a LOT on a couple of occasions, and using Chase points has also been helpful.) But like others have said, do your research first...
  2. Was recently on the Explorer and one thing to keep in mind (at least it was true for me) is that with the room service breakfast cards that you get, if there is something that you want (that isn't on the menu), write it in. For example, things like papaya, prunes, baked beans, peanut butter, etc. are not on the menu card but we never had any problems getting these things. (We did have a butler so I don't know if this made a difference or not. Oh yeah, on the day that had the caviar brunch, we got that delivered to the room as well. Seriously, the service in the Compass Rose for breakfast can be glacial...) And if you are not a big breakfast person, the Coffee Connection is super convenient. Fresh fruit, fresh pastries, tea (not coffee drinkers here) and yogurt is sometimes all you need. RK
  3. Nor Fleming’s or Morton’s (and I think that is one thing everyone on this board would agree on!) But you can still have a nice experience in Prime 7. I still think the amuse bouche is my favorite bite on the entire ship, the wedge or Caesar salads are good (especially early on in the cruise) and the filet and the pork chop are fine. Maybe best thing is to not listen to people like me and just enjoy yourself! 😀
  4. The answers to all of the questions were pretty much the same: Available supply chain (he said they were ordering three years out) and having consistency across the fleet (offering the same thing across the entire fleet.) Pretty much non-answers. I pressed about the free wine list (there are other $12-15 bottles of red from places like Rodney Strong or Chateau Ste Michelle that are better than Raymond and these are also mass producers and the response was my comments were noted but to also put them in the eval. As far as what he would if one of his waiters (for example) was producing YouTube content and he said it wouldn’t happen. (Mind you, there is a dancer on a other another ship that does behind the scenes YT videos so not sure what is going on. I think these videos are great PR for Regent since they are all fluffy and positive.) Actually the F&B guy (as well the the head of housekeeping who really didn’t say very much) were very nice and TBH, after a couple of nice bottles of Cabernet, I guess I didn’t care that I really wasn’t getting any answers of substance… 😀🍷
  5. I was also on this cruise (plus did the Vibrant Tokyo precruise) and perhaps unlike others, I enjoyed my time on the Explorer and in Japan. (Might be some mitigating factors here. Some details to follow): Just some random thoughts: - Precruise. As others have stated, the precruise was a bit of a cluster at times. But if you get it included, I do think that just the three “free” nights at the hotel (with IMO a nice breakfast buffet) is worth it. I didn’t use the transfers (was between $45-50 for a taxi between Haneda and hotel and then from hotel to cruise terminal. If you fly into Narita then I would take the transfer because taxi to hotel is going to hurt…) I did two of the included tours. To Regent’s credit, here were between 28-32 people on a bus that held 44 so it didn’t feel crowded but here just wasn’t much guiding, just being dropped off and picked up from different spots in Tokyo. - Our cabin. In another post, I wrote about getting offered an “upsell” (not upgrade! 🙂) and I guess this was a bit of a game changer. (In essence, for the price of a PHB, we were put in a Master Suite. Besides the extra space, the perks were great! (More about this later…) - The food. One of the suite benefits was being able to eat in a specialty restaurant every night. So we did (with the exception of two Indian dinners in Compass Rose (which were nice) and once in Sette Mari (meh…) I would say that the service in the specialty restaurants is definitely better than in Compass Rose (we went there for breakfast once (the caviar Saturday and was never offered he caviar!) Pacific Rim is still our fave but this time, I actually enjoyed Prime 7. Granted, I am not a huge meat eater but his I thought the prime rib and a rib eye were good. (Probably comparable to a mid-tier chain steakhouse like Outback.) Oh, and the Asian buffets were pretty bad (being genres calling it on the level of a Panda Express. And I thought since we were in Japan there might be at least some supermarket-level sushi but I don’t recall ever seeing sushi in the buffet.) Like others, I would agree that the breakfasts in La Veranda were a lot of the same but at the same time, considering what I generally eat for breakfast at home, I guess I shouldn’t complain… And FWIW, my favorite bites on this cruise were: 1). the amuse bouche shot of tomato soup in Prime 7; 2), the porchetta at lunch on the last sea day in the Veranda (I guess crispy pork skin and force meat has a special place in my heart…); 3). the pizza at the Pool Grill. (I am not by any means a pizza gourmet but I ate my share here); and 4). the hot dog at the pool grill. I think I only eat hot dogs on cruises so this might explain why they taste so good (?) - Room service. Before this cruise, we never really did it but because we had a butler, he said whatever time we put for delivery, we would be his first delivery. (I guess another suite perk.) But even if you do not have a butler, when you fill out your room service order, even if it is not listed, just write it in and it should magically appear. (For example, I asked for (and received) hints like peanut butter, baked beans, papaya, etc. None of these are one the menu card.) - Laundry. Without a doubt, IMO this is the best perks that Regent offers (and is available to all) According to the Housekeeping Manager, the are 14 full-time staff just doing laundry. -The entertainment. The four times we have sailed on Regent, it has all been on the Explorer so the shows have always been the same. But this time, they did really change up the content of the Broadway and Divas and Divas shows and we appreciated this. (Now why they keep the Paradis show is beyond me…). Wasn’t into the comedian or lounge acts but YMMV… - Other suite perks. The caviar service was cool. And we did get to pick an officer to have dinner with so went with Food & Beverage Mgr since I understand F&B (as opposed to what the heck would I talk to the captain or hotel manager about?) Best thing about the dinner (in Chartreuse) was having staff there falling over each other and getting a couple of nice bottles of Cabernet off of the paid wine list! (Actually also talked about things like why Regent doesn’t do a chefs table, the thinking behind what is on the free wine list, why no A5 Japanese wagyu offered on this cruise and hat is Regent’s policy if a crew member wanted to do a YouTube channel. - Shore excursions. Like others have said, these were a bit all over the place. I will say that we did have a couple of guides who were terrific (in particular a woman named Asako in Miyazaki (but I also think she did tours in Nagasaki.) She could do stand up comedy.) If I could do it over again, I would do a private tour of Kyoto and Osaka (since we overnighted there. Spent way too much driving to get to Kyoto and once there only saw one temple (albeit pretty spectacular) and one castle. And I must give credit to the Destination staff for arranging a private tour once on board. Basically this cruise had a change in port to a place called Sasebo and when I looked on a map, I saw that it was fairly close to Karatsu City (uh, see my username…) I asked if I could get a driver and an English-speaking guide to check this place out and they made it happen! (In the end, I really have no ancestral ties to Karatsu but it was pretty cool to see places like Karatsu Burger and Karatsu Ramen and the Karatsu City Hall (and the city does have a nice castle (it overlooks the South China Sea) and is well-known in pottery circles for ts cool ceramics (which unfortunately even with my name I can’t get a family discount.☹️) Well this has gone on way too long! (I am on flight home and have free wifi with ANA (which is better than on the ship although I didn’t think the ship wifi was horrible if all you wanted to do was email, post to CC and/or browse the web. Oh, and kudos to ANA. The service onboard is next level and the food solid (do the Japanese menu!)
  6. One thing that might bear consideration is if you go to Japan in April, yes the cherry blossoms are in full bloom but on the other hand, if you think popular attractions are crowded at any given time, it seems like you can multiply this by ten during the Sakura season (because the Japanese are also taking vacation at this time.) But otherwise, some very good tips. Definitely spend at least four or five days in Tokyo and also consider a private tour of Kyoto. (You could even overnight there.) Finally, I would consider booking a cabin on the starboard side (an odd numbered cabin.) If your itinerary heads south from Tokyo to Shimizu, you will get amazing views of Mt. Fuji from your balcony (assuming the clouds operate) as well as some of the most memorable sunrises and sunsets I have ever seen!
  7. Room service for the specialty restaurants is only available if you are in the Regent, Master or Grand suites.
  8. One of the topics of convo with F&B Manager was if Regent “sanctions” crew who create YT videos about their life onboard. I asked because I had seen crew on other cruise lines with their own YouTube channels (and quite frankly they make more from YouTube than they make from their cruise job. I was telling one of our waiters that he would be a great YT personality and that there are a lot of people who would be interested in his life “behind the scenes.” Maybe not as glamorous as a performer but I’d be interested if done well.) Of course the F&B Manager didn’t think it would be a good idea… 🙃
  9. I had dinner last night with the F&B manager (also the head of housekeeping) and at least on the Explorer, it doesn’t sound like any of the behind-the-scenes tours (galley, laundry, bridge and/or stage) will be happening anytime soon. (Usual COVID/security/safety reasons given.) Maybe if you are staying in the Regent Suite or have Titanium status it might be different but for the rest of us, no go. (I did ask!🙁)
  10. We are on the Explorer in Japan and just did a cooking class (called “Farmhouse Fabulous”.) And we made…Falafel and a riced cauliflower stir fry! 🙄 Now considering that we were just in Busan, South Korea where we did a tour of the largest fish market in Korea (it was pretty amazing BTW), why we are making falafel (well actually, just frying them; they were already made for us) doesn’t quite register. The class was fun and well organized but all of the prep work is done for you and like someone else already mentioned, you aren’t going to learn anything new unless you are a pretty novice cook. But having said this, if you haven’t done a cooking class before, go for it (and then decide if more are in your future.) There probably is an untapped market for Regent here in doing a market visit with chef and then coming back and cooking whatever you found (no recipes, just inspiration from the ingredients) or in a place like Japan, visiting a sushi or a tempura restaurant and learn from the local master. Wouldn’t be cheap but I’d sign up for one of these!
  11. Hi Techno. We sailed from the International Cruise Port near Odaiba. (Looks super convenient to Shinagawa!)
  12. Our T-Mobile plan has unlimited text and data overseas (while in port; at sea we are at the mercy of Regenr’s wifi…😢) In Haneda airport, there were a few places where one could get either a SIM card or some kind of mobile router (I guess for multiple devices) but don’t really know much about which one(s) might be the best.
  13. I absolutely think this is a terrific idea. I can speak a little Japanese but I was surprised at how challenging doing what I thought would be relatively simple things in other places (I.e. figuring out subway, ordering in a local restaurant, asking for directions outside of the hotel) were a challenge in Tokyo. If you have a local take you to a restaurant or a yokocho (the small food and drinking alleys; maybe the prototypical Japanese dining adventure), this could be a memorable experience. Finally, if you do the Metro Building observation floor, I’m not sure it would be necessary to go to the Sky Tree or Shibuya Sky. (Free is always better than not free and the lines are actually shorter, at least on the day we went.)
  14. You and hub will need your own QR codes. (Pretty sure family members can be added to adult.) As far as QR codes, save them as .jpgs to your photos (although there is good wifi in Haneda.) And hopefully you use an iPhone instead of Android since it seems like most online things are biased towards iOS ( things like using wallet for Suica card, Apple Pay, etc. My wife unfortunately uses an Android phone and seemed to have more issues than I did.) Ah yes, one last thing if you are planning to use Suica card for travel (or even to pay for things in convenience stores): If you need a physical Suica card, you need to get it at airport (not sold at train stations any longer. Of course if you have iPhone, you can add Suica to your Apple wallet (you can do it right now if you like) and it works like magic! Super convenient!)
  15. There are some very good suggestions here. I agree that the Indian restaurant in the basement of the Hilton is good. There is also a convenience store in the basement. DO NOT sleep on the food at places like these! (And do not confuse 7/11 stores in the US with the 7/11s in Japan!) My wife and I are addicted to the egg salad sandwiches! High quality stuff. Also the rice balls and unusual flavor of potato chips! And best of all, incredibly inexpensive. We ate at the Japanese restaurant in the Hilton. Had the A5 wagyu. Now *this* wasn’t inexpensive but if you want to splurge, I would recommend. If you walk out of the Hilton, turn left on the Main Street and at the first big office building there are a number of Japanese diner places. (If you turn right out of the Hilton, you will run into a Japanese Denny’s!) Another fun thing to do is go to a Japanese department store. All have food courts (usually in the basement.) The Isetan store in Shinjuku (10 minute walk from Hilton) had *the* best food section I have ever visited (and yes, looking at you Harrod’s…😀 I would highly recommend visiting there just to see all of the food.) But what I think is best would be to take the free Hilton shuttle to the Shinjuku station and just wander around there. One highlight was going to the Kurasushi conveyor belt restaurant. TBH, the sushi isn’t amazing but the whole experience is! (Just be prepared to wait. I would go early, make a reservation at the kiosk and then come back when it says it is your time. Two hours seemed like a normal wait time and you will probably have to ask for help with the kiosk since it is all in Japanese but it will be worth it!) (And techno123, I figured out how to put the piano into player piano mode so it is playing itself as I type! As far as what to do to stay awake once you arrive, I would just wander around Shinjuku. It probably took me three days before I felt comfortable with my bearings (and I think I have a good sense of direction) but I found Tokyo really different in its scope and size!)
×
×
  • Create New...