DeepFreeze63

Can no longer see the above! Visibility is about 30 yards off port side - not promising weather for arriving at our next port in Greenland.

I was on the Splendor's maiden TA cruise and had a MAGNIFICENT time! Yes there was some minor tweaks still being made - like, some walk-in closets needed the hanging racks relocated. I'll be on the Grandeur's TA maiden voyage from Barcelona to Miami where I assume she'll be christened. and she might even have a few days at sea with travel agents in Miami. So Regent will surely go to great pains to have her sparkle! Your cruise should be as close to perfect as possible.

Morning Trivia today. Observation Lounge has been jam-packed every day! We have been 1st or second every day due, I think, to lucking into a great diversity of our team members: scientist, engineer, health care professional, 2 Brits and a "professional volunteer". We have a broad range of entertainment interests with lots of previous Regent trivia experience. As noted before, Margaret Lynn runs an efficient Trivia.

What a TERRIFIC day in NUUK. We did 3 excursions on this sunny, crisp day - a panoramic of about 2 hours (town is spread out) at 7:20 AM with a school principal as a guide; a wonderful home visit and a walk-about; and the "Kayak Show". The home visit was about an hour and was hosted by a retired teacher/great-grandmother who had written the song by which Greenlandic children learn to count to 10 in Greenlandic (I need more practice or a better ear). The "Kayak Show of 1 hour should have lasted 10 minutes! But I did get to see a real woman scrape a real sealskin to make a real Inuit "kayak".

AT 8:25 could no longer see the bow of the ship from Observation Lounge!

Woke about 5 AM; looked out our window and saw - NOTHING! Peas soup fog with visibility of about 20 yards off the the ship. Then, the fog horn sounded and I remembered yesterday's iceberg and our Titanic tour in Belfast (strongly recommended BTW). Dressed in thermals, sweats, winter jacket and light gloves and light cap - warm and toasty! Tried Deck 12 but it was awash (about 1/4 inch) and fog horn at full below so off to Coffee Connection and here. Have no info YET on what day will bring ashore; should find out with 8 AM announcements from Margaret Lynn. BTW, Margaret is my favorite CR - great voice, happy soul, and terrific Trivia director.

It was a rare day for us -breakfast lunch, and dinner in CR. Driver was to stay warm as La Veranda had chilly breezes as the deck doors (near Pool Grille) opened and closed. Our opinions: - better view of the sea via large windows from Deck 4. - better pancakes in CR - better specialty items in the specialty restaurant than in CR (based upon Croque Monsieur). - better (much) dining room service now than on our February Explorer cruise. Of course, we were distracted by seeing our first iceberg of this cruise - small but still a WOW!

Having suffered through the Explorer theater on 6 or so cruises, I LOVE the Voyager theater - great sight lines, especially in the balcony; terrific acoustics, ramps on 4th deck section rather than Explore's steps. Has similar visual effects capability as the Explore has. Have greatly enjoyed the entertainment and the Speakers Series in this venue.

Terrific Speaker Series, this AM. First, "The Indispensable Man - Churchill"; second, "Narwahls". Walked all hallways in lieu of deck walk. Noticed that all laundrettes, other than on Deck 6, are still fully functional - two were in use. Deck 6 was converted to "Entertainer" cabin. Captain just announced "calm seas and 54F" now and but deteriorating weather tonight.

Just did that transfer with 3 persons and 5 big bags and 3 small bags. Wife and I are in our 80s. Arrive early (5:45 AM) at LHR and was met 1 hour later by reserved driver/van from Marble Cars (Bookings.com). Cost $217. Light traffic that morning; about 1 1/2 hour to Southampton hotel (Room2 Hometel).

I feel like my call sign - it is cold and windy! I brought thermal underwear and gloves which I am about to break out. Very interesting speakers this AM - " Young Churchill" and " Sea Birds Outside Your Window".

GM told me 534 passengers (includes guest entertainers) and 3 teenagers. 26 guests took the 2-night, overland tour to Ashford castle. Killeybegs, Republic of Ireland this morning. Interest sight, MANY wind turbines arriving for installation; a few already in the hills. Docked about 20 minute walk from town (no shuttle);lots of cabs. Cool (60s F) and windy ; Dublin and Belfast had the hottest days (almost 90) of the year when we were there earlier in this cruise!

Your Welcome. Haven't posted as VERY MUCH enjoying this cruise with grandson. Food has been very good to great. I feel the're still slightly understaffed. Tried just now to see GM but office meeting with staff going on but have heard (from crew) different numbers for passengers - 598 and 630. Quite a group left us for 2 days to visit Ashford Castle on an Overland; they return today. Many familiar faces - passengers and crew - delightful.

We're playing Baggo just now and Tanner is the director of the game. I went over and gaVE HER YOUR "hELLO". YES, SHE WILL DO GOOD AT THIS.

Also on this cruise; our 20th with Regent. in Penthouse B cabin (657) with 16-yr, old grandson. pull out sofa bed works well (he's 5'10") but had big chair removed from room. Just enough storage for 3 of us. had a WONDERFUL flight from D.C. to LHR on United Polaris (yes, hard to believe). Took reserved van from LHR directly to Southampton (1 1/2 hour) in early Thursday morning. Stayed at a very nice "funky" Room2 hotel downtown (will write up separately). A five minute, 5 pound cab ride to Port terminal. Easy check-in as we had negative COVID tests in U.S. within 72 hours.; took about 20 minutes from arrival at terminal to stepping aboard. Jason M. and his family are aboard for part of the cruise. Ship feels "empty; will ask about passenger load. Be happy to try to answer any questions.

We're on the cruise two before you and have rented a Regent van in Walvis Bay (which we have been to before) for our family of 4. I'll try to post an evaluation about it. The wine-pairing lunches are nice but often cancelled due to lack of interest.

We have loved our 337 Regent nights. We now have 2 recent (Spring 2022) Regent cruises under our belt. We have recognized the "world situation" and have given Regent a pass on some underperformance compared to our previous 17 Regent cruises. BUT, I have just made substantial final payments on 3 cruise. For these sums, I expect performance commensurate with that advertised.

Reference: Post # 78 - Yes. I pre-planned on Expedia; gave Regent (via TA) my choice of: 2 airlines, 2 airports for change-over (no scheduled non-stops); minimum 3-hour connection, and asked for BC on both legs.

FYI: I recently requested air deviation (through my TA) for Spring 2023 cruise @ 270 day date and received confirmation of my choice 20 days later.

Received an Advert via snail mail yesterday – “2024 & 2025 Legendary Journeys”. Identified 5 cruises: 1. 2025 World Cruise on Mariner. 2. 6/28/2024 – “Round Trip Lisbon” (Med and British Isles) for 79 nights on Voyager. 3. 6/02/2024 – “Grand Artic Adventure” (NYC to Barcelona) for 83 nights on Mariner 4. 10/18/2024 – “Grand Asia Exploration” (Tokyo to Sydney) for 83 nights on Explorer 5. 03/25/2025 – “Grand Spice Route Quest” (Auckland to Athens)for 70 nights on Voyager Interesting that "Amenities" include “on board medical service”????

Love the Explorer; we've just reserved 73 nights on her in 2024. BUT, we adore the Splendor. Not only better theatre but also lighter color scheme, happier art, "tea houses" on La Verandah aft deck, expanded Coffee Connection", roomier Observation Lounge, roomier Library and ....

I'll "wait and see"! I'm giving up Regent Air through a terrific TA for a promise about access via the web-site that's functionality has disappointed me for years.

Many personal things go into cruise decisions but I'll tell you some of our story. We switched from large Celebrity cruises 10 years ago to Regent and never looked back. By the time we are on the Grandeur maiden voyage, we should have done 24 Regent cruises. We did the Splendor's (our favorite ship) maiden voyage and were wowed by the experience. If you decide to do the Grandeur Transatlantic in late 2023, I'd advise to let Regent handle all the Air and hotel arrangements - the embarkation date for a new ship isn't set in concrete. I think you also have to be flexible in expectations. I do expect Regent to use the "best of the best" staffing but how a new ship handles the seas has to be determined "at sea" - possibly creaks and gremlins - had them on the Splendor maiden voyage but the cruise was still spectacular! Yes, lots of very informative threads on this site.