papaflamingo

Why are you afraid to book Navigator?

Thanks. Didn't think of the "drawer" thing.

I believe your comment might be a bit confusing (at least it was for me). You mean you found lounges on Deck 11 that were in a heated AREA, not that the lounges themselves were heated, correct? When I read your first post I thought you were saying you found heated lounges.

We will be moving from a Deluxe Stateroom to a Penthouse next year. Can you tell me how the process is different? Thanks

Actually yes... if you book the Regent Suite you get free Dry Cleaning. Now, the Regent Suite averages over $10,000 per day for two...so......😱. But heck..."free dry cleaning." 😜

Like others, I have no actual experience with this type of problem, but you don't need a visa if you're from the U.S. and have a passport to disembark a cruise in Canada. I seriously doubt that anyone will say anything, especially since he's driven into Canada recently. Since he has made the decision to take the cruise regardless, I'd simply make sure he "flies under the radar" and doesn't bring it up unless specifically questioned by someone in authority and simply not worry about it. I bet it all goes smoothly and you have a great cruise.

Just a couple of comments about booking specialty restaurants (you don't book Compass Rose or Sette Mari, they are walk up only)... if you can't get the desired nights in Prime 7, Chartreuse, or Pacific Rim, then try with "share a table" when you book. You'll end up sitting with another couple, but that can often lead to meeting new friends. AND don't hesitate to walk up to one of the specialty restaurants on Boarding Day. Our last 2 cruises, Grandeur in Jan. and Explorer in Feb., the Compass Rose Maitre d' told us we could get into Pacific Rim immediately as opposed to a small wait for Compass Rose....we "beat feet" to Pacific Rim both times!!! People tend to eat in Compass Rose on Boarding day. AND TRY THE TEMPURA LOBSTER! As for "normal dining," both Compass Rose and Sette Mari will ask if you want to share a table or not when you approach. We do both. Sometimes we just want a quiet dinner together, other times we want to meet new people. It's really a great system to simply walk up whenever you're ready to go to dinner as opposed to "scheduled" eating times like the larger cruise lines. And you'll rarely, if ever, have much of a wait.

I suspect it would be a difficult thing to do as Sette Mari uses the kitchen and it would require a number of additional crew members to both cook as well as serve. I think that's the real reason they did away with the Pool Grill being open for dinner. Not enough use to justify the crew necessary.

My experience with deviation is that if my requested flight is not available for contract rates (no up charge) then I can ask if they can give me an idea of what I can book for no up charge. I did exactly this for my last cruise when I wanted to get the non-stop from Tokyo to Atlanta. It had a $1000 per person up charge. My "free" alternative would have been Japan Airlines in business class from Tokyo to Boston then JetBlue in coach from Boston to Atlanta. I decided to pay the up charge and was very glad I did. I DID check pricing on Delta via my employee discount, and even with the up charge it was STILL over $1000 pp cheaper through Regent. So... you just need to evaluate the options and decide if any up charge is worth it to you or not. As to what flights they'll assign at the 60-75 day mark (I think that's when flights come out, but not sure), I'm not sure if they will tell you. But if it's available at 120 days it'll likely be a good indicator of what to expect, like my Tokyo-Atlanta routing.

Well, in all honesty, MY experience could have been the "one-off" regarding the ability to change the flight.

I suspect you are right. The helipad is likely really a "hoist" area. Not really sure of the stressing, etc. As I said, I wasn't a "fling wing" pilot, they tend to talk funny over the radio. And we all know that "sounding cool" over the radio is a major "goal" of every pilot. 😜 Besides, the airlines preferred fixed wing time over helo time. 😎

I have found it very easy to work with Regent, but more importantly, cheaper flights, with the exception of our next cruise where I found tickets at almost 1/2 the Regent Air Credit. Also I always get my own air domestic. I am retired Delta and get at least a 25% discount on any Delta flight, so it's comparatively cheap for me to do domestic first class, but can't usually come close to Regent's cost for Business Class, the exception is our next cruise, and only because Delta has just started service to Papeete.

I have only used Regent to fly Business Class. I am a retired Delta pilot so I get at least a 25% employee discount on any flight. I have found that when I consider Regent's domestic air credit, plus the $175 deviation fee (I always travel in at least a day before the cruise), plus cost of domestic luggage (my wife always takes 2 suitcases) it isn't much more, with my discount, to purchase first class. So can't comment on upgrades. However I have deviated on both Delta and United (my last flight was on both, UAL or Hong Kong and Delta home from Tokyo). The minute you book with Regent via deviation, you can put the reservation number in and make seat selections, meal selections (when available), change seats as often as you want, etc. You can't change the flight as Regent doesn't pay for it until 60 days out. However, as I found out for our UAL flight in Feb., after Regent pays for the flight you can do whatever you want (at least with UAL). Do to UAL schedule changes our connection time in SFO got way too short for comfort, so I called UAL (can't do it on line) and was able to change to a flight a day earlier that got us to SFO for a 13 hours sit and still got us to Hong Kong on the same day all for no charge. Prior to that I had to work any changes through Regent. Not sure if the same would have happened on Delta, but see no reason why not. Once the flight is paid for then it seems it's treated the same whether Regent paid for it or not. You are restricted by the fare of course, so if you want to change it, you would have that to deal with. Also, after I made the change, it appeared on our final paperwork as the actual flights I was taking so Regent was aware of the change even though I didn't actually tell them. So it was still considered "booked by Regent."

The Coast Guard... in Hawaii...flies the HH-65 Dolphin which is not a particularly large aircraft and is used aboard CG Cutters. So the helipad on Edge would easily be able to accommodate it. I spent 20 years as a CG pilot (12 active, 8 reserve) and even though I didn't fly helicopters (flew fixed wing), I have never known of a rescue where they'd stay "light on the skids." Too hazardous. If the helicopter can't land it'll hoist. A lot can go wrong landing on any ship, and staying "light on the skids" would, I suspect, put the helicopter in more of a threat of a dynamic roll over if the wheel (they don't have skids) caught as the ship pitched or rolled.

The bow of a cruise ship is the only place free of obstructions with enough space for a helicopter to land. Any rails or flag staffs are removed or lowered on hinges to the deck so for the helicopter to land.