Voyager Cabin Recommend? Cat. D - H?

Dear Regent experts,

Well, I have been at the Regent Seven Seas website all weekend and just saw they are offering some specials for Med cruises this fall. Therefore, my husband and I are now considering moving our cruise up a year! Of course, now I'm panicked trying to research as much as I can (we've never been on a cruise before).

I've looked at the deck plans and we're considering cabins in Category D - H. Any thoughts? It looks like the cabins themselves are identical; just the location differs. Is that correct?

Is the Category H location (deck 6, aft) really horrible? It looks like those are the only Category H rooms on the Voyager. Do they have a balcony? That's really important to us.

I've heard there's a vibration problem in the aft section of the Voyager. Are we apt to get sea sick? Neither of us have ever been on a cruise and we're clueless about how likely sea sickness while on the Med would be. Will the vibration/noise keep us awake at night?

What section of the ship is considered aft enough to be a problem?

What location (or specific cabin) should I request on the Voyager? Is it better to be on a lower deck or a higher one?

Other questions we have:

Should we book directly with Regent or go through a TA?

Should we book our own airfare or do so through Regent?

ALL advice is greatly appreciated!

Andrea

You can look back a couple of posts to see the answers I received to the same basic questions.

With regard to a TA, I am not using one but that's just me. I kind of like to do things myself. There are probably some very good reasons to us a TA and I could certainly be convinced to use one, but I have a few girlfriends who dabble part time and I could get in a lot of trouble here if I pick one over the others.

The free air is probably a good deal if you want to arrive and depart as scheduled to the point of embarkatioon and fly directly home at the end of the cruise. Otherwise you might be better off with using miles, or going thru an airline consolidator to get a good fare.

We are going to be on the 9/6 London to Nice. We had a choice of "B" Penthouse, "D" Suite or "H". We opted for the "D" but are waitlisted for a midship "E" or "F" in line with the advise of others on this forum, I can find something else to spend the difference in fare on.

I am not taking their air as we want to do a little travel in Italy, hook up with some friends and go home from Venice. Just depends on what you want to do. You probably can't go wrong in either event.

Hope this helps a little.

Certain travel agents, including ours, give a nice discount if you book with them for RSSC cruises. I would never book on my own, now that I found out about them. If you are interesting in saving money check around!

Cheers, Pam

PS I also did ALL our travel booking until we found out about this way to save some $$

Thanks for the info re TAs. I will take your advise.

Thanks

Bogie

Bogie, as far as Regent air goes, it depends on your circumstances, and your location. If you live somewhere with easy access to a major European hub, then you may be able to find a discount airline that can get you a great deal. But, if you're trying for this fall, you may find that these deals are gone by now.

On the other hand, you can deviate with Regent air, for a small fee, and fly into the port city early, one day, one week, whatever. But it must be to the embarkation city. That's what I have done so far, because, there is peace of mind involved--if Regent screws up, I know they will make it good, and I know I will be taken care of. I've also found that, in my hub city, Toronto, I have not found air rates that are a heck of alot better than Regent's offering. Also, if you don't deviate, you get transfers included, which can add up.

I agree with the advice about the TA. Find a good one, which specializes in this line.

I would never book on my own. I use a TA that discounts and has saved me thousands over time on my cruises. This board does not allow people to recommend TA's so I can not give you a recommendation. I will say that I would only consider using a TA that specializes in luxury cruises, not one who also deals in the mass marketed lines. Regent is a whole different animal and you need a specialist who is familiar with the ships and pricing structure.

I have used Regent air but I usually do my own air. You can compare and see which works best for you. I have never had a cabin on the Voyager with excessive vibration. All cabins have balconies so you'll like this. I personally prefer to be mid ship on Deck 6 or 7. I don't see any reason to pay more to be on a higher deck when it's the exact same cabin. The standard Voyager cabins are large enough that I've never felt the need to upgrade.

You will enjoy your Mediterranean cruise and Regent. You're starting off with the best.

Availability of "deals' is irratic right now. I flew business class to LGW in May and there were empty seats...first I've seen that in a long, long time. In June I was able to get a decent fare even at the last minute. with a choice of flights. Same with my August trip. I managed a business class upgrade last week. I didn't expect it and had to run to get my credit card when the reservation agent told me it was available. I had great visions of booking a 3-stop to get to London. Actually the business class fare from Nice to Innsbruck was almost as much as my business class transatlantic (so I'll be in the back of the plane for that 2 hour trip!).

My advice...

Book through a TA

Go for deck g midships, avoid h

Let someone know if you are on the same cruise as them...a familiar face is wonderful

Have a wonderful time.

Go with an agency that specializes in luxury cruises such as Regent, most agencies don't. I have used Regent air and been satisfied. My only complaint has been the seat selection so I always confirm and do my own seat selection. I think their computers must just spit out middle seats so watch for that (it's happen to me 3 times now).