Noggins

We flew VS LHR - MIA on a 350 with the latest seat configuration (and bar) that was a totally different experience to the return VS journey from Barbados with the old 787 seat. The new seat even has a door. Well, they call it a door. 'Flap' describes it better. But in any event better than the old BA seat which is still on some of the MIA flights - notably the 380. Although even then the forward cabin on the 380 upper deck is a good option as long as you are travelling with your partner and book a pair of seats with a window. Two decent options, with the LHR Clubhouse possibly swinging the final vote for VS.

But to be fair, JB, were they ever going to say (and they don't need to - imho) 'hey guys, we got it all wrong - we're very sorry and we're going to try harder. Please bear with us whilst we adopt and listen to our first customers much better ideas and advice'.....? Who knows what they really think!

By reading random 'live reports' from that section of CC (look for the tab at the top of the page if you'd never noticed it) I discovered that people cruise in all sorts of different ways. So much so that it is actually quite addictive - and certainly eye opening!! It hasn't resulted in my having any wish to change the way we cruise......but it has made me careful not to be as judgmental as I might naturally be!

well I'll be darned.... (taking the sentence out of context make it sound like those sunrises were cocktails. Talking of which, I may have been recovering from some of those and hence missed the sunsets that early rise Roy was so good at catching.)

It was - wait for it - September........😬 (you'll be fine, Ivi!)

It's a detail - but an important one. What Larry hasn't mentioned is that, at the time, the ship was still moored against the quayside in Reykjavik....😎🤣 (I remember looking out of the dining room window and watching two tugs sit almost upright in the water as they tried, without success, to pull the ship away from the quay. We eventually left later that night. I don't recall whether Louis sang. If he did his words were whipped away by the wind before anyone had the chance to reflect on their inappropriateness.)

Impossible for anyone to give you advice to be able to rely on based on your brief summary but what can be said, I believe, is: ~ if what you like about Yacht Club is the nicer accommodation and better food but go elsewhere on the ship for your 'entertainment' and 'vibe' then Explora is probably not for you. ~ if you'd enjoy classy (but not stuffy) bars and restaurants and can survive without a sports bar / 'sports bar crowd' around you then you may be OK. (don't get me wrong, plenty of people on board like sports!) ~ my guess is that you'd be lucky to find any other like minded singles amongst the c600/750 passengers you might be sharing the ship with. ~ you don't mention a need for shows etc etc such as MSC offer. Don't assume there is anything like the equivalent. If I were you I would spend time reading threads here getting a sense of the sort of people you'll likely be around as well as spend time considering the facilities and the ship's hardware. Finally, I've had a think about any other line that you might want to consider and can't think of one that fits your specification. Ship within a ship is a neat concept that works well for many. Have you tried NCL's Haven? Princess have some nice options to upscale the experience. If you're determined to go beyond what you've already found and liked and definitely don't need big ship facilities then perhaps Explora is the one to chance your arm on. Good luck. ps it's not Tuesday, it's Wednesday....😎

Ah - now I need to come up with something sensible to say..... Here's my very best effort: Chris, your table certainly makes for interesting reading. I would not have expected Regent to appear to be such good value (relatively). It opens up a huge number of points for debate! ~ most importantly this is Explora's maiden season and if ever there is a time to play with your pricing models it is now. They will surely have studied the comeptition's prices and persuaded themselves there are multiple reasons why their prices should be higher / lower. I am pretty sure that pricing will 'evolve' over the next few years. Demand will be key. ~ the Caribbean tends to be the cheapest place to cruise. Do cruise lines cross subsidise cruises in different parts of the world? Do they go to the Caribbean because they have to, to satisfy demand and accept that prices have to be moderated - or is it a myth and lower prices are compensated by higher passenger numbers (on average) and hence higher profits. ~ I feel Explora is much more a warm weather ship than it is a worldwide (cold weather included) cruise ship. So many of the appealing aspects of the design relate to being outside. It remains to be seen how the 6 ships are deployed but it could be another reason for pricing to evolve. ~ I have never understood the relationship between prices of one category room vs another. I think it is generally assumed the larger the room, the larger the margin - and certainly the larger rooms seem to sell out quickly (but is this true of Explora this year? why so many TA's etc in the larger rooms?). The fact that Explora has a LOT of standard rooms suggests to me that it is that market that is the key to success or failure of the operation. Inevitably the larger rooms get more than their share of the limelight and I don't suppose the cheap seats got much of a metion when Rolex were being enticed on board! And who pays who for them to be onboard?? Then there is the ship design apropos the larger rooms. Chris, I remember you saying throughout your cruise how disppointed you were with the room location. Invariably the large rooms are (mostly) at the back of ships with sometimes a few at the front. Everyone knows that midships is the best place to be if the ocean is in motion and the very worst place is at either end. And yet these large rooms sell, even for ocean crossings. (I know because we had a corner owners suite for a crossing once. Yes, just the once) The majority of Explora's competitors do not have public space at the back of the ship. The big rooms get to enjoy the best views undisturbed by pools, open deck space, bars etc. That Explora have designed a ship that combines the two has appeal but not if, like Chris, you are disturbed by the noise. (I would definitely be disturbed!) Perhaps the issue is going to be compounded come fuller ships and short cruises given the strong focus on encouraging children on board. With a first grandchild due any day I've got to be careful what I say but children on a luxury cruise ship? I'm not so sure.... (especially when, as we saw, parents put their children on separate tables in the restaurants so they are undisturbed by them - never mind the rest of us!! Not the way we parented our children. Harummph!) If ever there was a case of 'do your homework' it is when you are considering spending a lot of money on a cruise. (If anyone is interested to know my hourly rate for private consultations then do let me know)

Oh no, now look what you've started! That 2012 Dover to NY cruise was our first Crystal experience. I suspect it is the only trip Roy has done where he has no sunrise or sunset pictures?! (although in fairness it was a warm sunny day that first day out of Dover.) Not often mentioned about the trip were the flies that slipped by security whilst docked in Dublin. They were a menace for days - and even got mentions by Paul McF (CD) as he assured us that the crew were hunting them down one by one. Anyway, enough of that. Looking forward to your reports, @Roland4 Adrian

Hi Chris - I'm sure we'd all be piling in with replies if only you'd not limited your interest to replies from Residence guests. There are not too many of those. Most of us are in the 'cheap seats'! Adrian

Oh my goodness - I've been calling you by the wrong name all this time! Many apologies - but I think you may see how it came about....?🤔😎 As one who also has a 70th this year I think you have found a fine way to celebrate - but remember to stay focused on feeling (and behaving 👀?) many decades younger.... Have a blast. Adrian

Well done, Maggie - sounds like a great move. You'll not want to leave that lovely spacious room. Perhaps you'd consider using some of your time there writing up a nice day by day account of your trip - for us all to enjoy here?! Adrian

Rather unhelpfully, you copy the link to the specific post, check to make sure you've posted something sensible and find CC doesn't actually take you back to the right place....... You're looking for post number 63 on Page 3. Be warned though, the list was already getting out of date. We found the wines OK with a Cab Sau our preference - which we ended up going back to several times (and may mean they have run out of that - sorry).

I posted the then current included wine list in the March 'live from' thread.....

Oh, sorry, I hadn't realised you had become disenchanted with Azamara. Our own experience, plus that of friends and brother has been very positive - particularly in regard to early Onward problems that were resolved very generously. But, I guess we all draw our own conclusions based on our own specifics! We have a soft spot for the old R7's since our early Oceania days - even though they are very dated in some ways (think shower!). Obviously the Azamara product is not in the luxury sector but for the price we thought the value was terrific. As for EJ - if I'm right in thinking your unresolved trip is a TA then absolutely avoid a jacuzzi risk room as there'll be plenty more ship movement than we had in the Caribbean....