SWFLAOK

We sailed on Sea Dream back in March 2018. Many islands still were recovering from Irma and Maria.

We sailed from Barbados to St. Thomas. There were only about 60 passengers onboard, so there were actually more crew than passengers. We had some large swells so we needed to adjust our itinerary, and had only ad hoc excursions because of that, but we loved it. St. Bart's was still  recovering, but our cruise director took us on a nice walk the first afternoon, and we rented a car the next day to visit places we had been to on our honeymoon years ago. Most were closed, but rebuilding. We still found a great restaurant for lunch. While we were anchored out, we saw a Windstar cruise ship (not sail). The tender looked much nicer than ours, so we looked into it, but decided it's not for us.

The largest ship we've ever cruised on was the Prinsendam, and we totally disliked it. We stayed in a Neptune Suite, which was very nice, and isolated on 2 decks, away from the rest of the cabins. We had our own 24 hour concierge lounge which was also nice. We could have private breakfast in the upscale restaurant each morning, which is what we did. But the excursions , the elevators, the bars, and the restaurants (with assigned seating at dinner) were way too crowded for our us.

When we looked into Windstar, and found that they were enlarging their ships, we decided not to bother. We have enjoyed Silver Sea, and the expanded Windstar ships are approaching that size, and didn't seem like the luxury cruise that Silver Sea provides.

We pay for a deviation because we don't want to wait until the last minute to find out what flight Regent has selected for us. At that point, you can still pay to deviate if you don't like it, but you'll get the leftover seats, so you may not be seated together, and you may have an additional stop. You don't need to pay for your cruise in full to pay the deviation and select flights. Our TA still uses Regent to select the flights early since they have blocks of seats reserved and are happy to provide them for an additional fee. We consider the deviation fee insignificant on Regent since our cruises are eligible for included business class airfare. On other cruise lines, we don't get business class airfare, and some expect us to pay for gratuities which cost more than Regents deviation fee.

If you choose a non-gateway airport, you'll pay extra for that, but I don't think that's a deviation fee. If you decide to stay on your own after your cruise, and take their suggested flight back, you will pay the deviation fee.

But remember that the Concierge Suite cabin is the same as the Superior Suite cabin on Splendor. Going from F1 to D gives you the Concierge Amenities. If you plan to take advantage of the hotel stay the night before, with transfers, or want a cabin on deck 12 or 14, then it would be worthwhile. You also get early access to book excursions and dinner reservations, but as repeat customers, we get that anyway. Our TA warned us that taking one offer can make you ineligible for another offer, so that's something to watch out for.

I get Regent brochures 3 or 4 times a week. Everything I've received in the past 2 weeks features cruises starting in July 2021. We have a back to back cruises booked in September, and one of them hasn't been shown for many months. The other wasn't in our most recent brochure, but cruises before and after that are still being advertised. I assume they're still trying to book cruises that have availability.

11 hours ago, Catpow said:

Marc,

 

We were booked on two legs of the 2021 Grand Arctic: NY to Southampton, Copenhagen to Amsterdam.  We attended a Regent sales function in November 2021 in Canberra, Australia where we live.  We mentioned our booking to the organisers and they looked at us with the nonchalance of 'would you like fries with that?' and said 'Let's rebook this for 2022 shall we?'.  Which we did and were also able to gain an E to G and back again discount under the current upgrade rules.   So some Regent folks knew then it was most unlikely to sail. H'mmm🙄. 

So your rebooking for 2022 is prudent - hope to see you on board😎.

 

 

So Catpow, you said "We attended a Regent sales function in November 2021 in Canberra, Australia where we live. "  I've flown from Australia to Florida and I know you're ahead of us in time, but how did you attend a function in 2021?

Just now, SWFLAOK said:

After reading through the cabin 767 threads, where refurb would be converting 764 through 763 into 2 large cabins, and upgrading all those booked in them to deck 8 cabins, or 7003, was the worst thing that could ever happen, I found the list in another thread. Here it is:

Ship Refurbishments

• New furniture
• Refurbishments of the staterooms and suites
• Modifications/refurbishment of the public spaces
• Environmental upgrades including advanced water treatment and energy efficiency systems
• Steel work
• Deck and engine upgrades
• General preventative maintenance
• Equipment replacement

Will that be the same list this time, who knows? There might be modifications needed for Covid19. And it seems so long ago that the biggest worry for cruisers was having a cabin upgrade instead of the cabin they originally booked.

AIS still showed the PG on it's way to Singapore as it's destination. Let's hope that continues.

After reading through the cabin 767 threads, where refurb would be converting 764 through 763 into 2 large cabins, and upgrading all those booked in them to deck 8 cabins, or 7003, was the worst thing that could ever happen, I found the list in another thread. Here it is:

OK, I think I see what you're comparing, and although I can't view it in the same way, it looks like you're comparing a Concierge Suite D and a Veranda Suite H on Splendor. The biggest difference in these cabins is the size. The Concierge D is 464 square feet, and the Veranda Suite is 307 square feet. The Concierge D on Splendor is the same size cabin as the Superior Suite F2, so if you don't need the Concierge amenities or early excursion/dining reservations, then book the F2 Suite. It's a big savings for the same cabin. The Veranda Suite H is much smaller, and the Deluxe Veranda G2  is in between in size. On a 12 night cruise, the Veranda might be fine. It's still a decent size cabin.

Since I'm prone to sea sickness, we always pick the lower decks, so we pick Concierge E instead of Concierge D since we don't want a higher deck. For a Superior, we would pick F2 instead of F1 for the same reason. On our 3 Regent cruises (1 Mariner and 2 Voyager) we've always stayed on Deck 8 (deluxe veranda on Mariner, concierge which was the same size as a deluxe veranda on Voyager, and Penthouse on Voyager for a 32 night back to back). We have a Concierge E booked for a 25 night back to back in September 2021 on Splendor on Deck 8. It's not as big as the Penthouse on Voyager, but it looks big enough with a good layout for us so we didn't splurge for a larger cabin.

We have booked 3 nights pre hotel before our Southampton to Southampton cruise in Sept 2021. They gave us the Landmark Hotel in London, with transfers included to the hotel and back to the dock. We've never been to London before, so that's what we wanted to see all we can while there. We passed on the pre 3 night English Countryside excursion, which includes guided tours and overnight stays outside of London.

I think you need a new TA, and to make sure you're looking at RSSC.com, because that's not what their website looks like.

On Regent, the difference between Concierge and lower priced Superior cabins is only the amenities. The cabins are the same.

With Concierge, you get this from the RSSC.com website:

10 hours ago, sailingthecarib said:

I was tested negative last  spring for covid 19 although I was seriously ill with a virus. Now I am covid 19 positive. Also just curious if any other passengers had the same experience 

If you just tested Covid 19 positive, then it's unlikely you had it earlier this year. And I hope you're at home and quarantined until you test negative for Covid 19 so you won't pass it on to others.

There are plenty of viruses other than Covid 19 that you can catch on a cruise or on a plane. While traveling to Singapore from FLL through Dubai last December, we were screened for MERS (a different Covid virus that's endemic in Dubai) at the airport in Singapore as we deplaned. Our temperatures were checked before boarding  Voyager in Singapore, as well as leaving the ship in several other countries. On our "back to back" cruise from Singapore to Sydney, we were screened again since we took a day excursion in Singapore. On our cruise to Sydney, we had many people onboard (mostly from Australia) that were very sick with respiratory illnesses after the first 3 or 4 days, which were at sea, and at 2 stops in Indonesia. Some of them were diagnosed by the doctor onboard with viral pneumonia, but they were not confined to their cabins, as they should have been. I hope Regent is more restrictive about those who become ill onboard in the future, and I believe they will.

3 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

How Could you tell there was nothing under her robe?

There was a higher than thigh high view at the bottom, and a lot of droopy cleavage view on top.

If I were a more outgoing person, I would have retied her bath robe much tighter, while giving her a hug, and urging her  back to her cabin ASAP.  As an older woman myself, I think it might have been OK.

We have non-stop on American from Miami to London, and from Madrid to Miami on Iberia on the way back.

Since you're in Georgia, you should be able to get a non-stop from Atlanta to London since one was offered to us if we wanted to fly to Atlanta from Florida. I don't know what's available to Atlanta back from Barcelona or Madrid.

We previously did Miami to Barcelona on American in July 2019, and Iberia from Venice to Madrid to Miami on the way back. We were very happy with the flights and service.

Our trip from Barcelona to Madrid is a Regent post cruise excursion called "Journey to the Heart of Spain". It's quite expensive, but it goes to many places in Spain that we haven't been to, but are the type of places we enjoy, and it gives us a one stop flight back to Miami. We've enjoyed the hotels that Regent has booked us in on our other cruises, and we expect that to be the same with this excursion.

On 12/23/2020 at 4:13 PM, snorkle lover said:

We are booked on the Splendor for a Med cruise the end of September ( London to Barcelona).. I know that you can pay ( $170) PP to choose your flights

at 270 days prior to cruising. Our final balance isn't due until the end of May so right now we only have put down a deposit. If the cruise doesn't go

due to Covid what would happen to the $$$ we put out to deviate? Any ideas?

 

We're on the same cruise, after our London to London. We were just offered very nice flights to London, and back from Madrid (we have a 4 night post cruise booked). We paid for the deviation, as we have for all 3 Regent cruises we've already done. Our final balance for the back to back is due at the end of April. If the cruise doesn't go, the flight deviation expense will be part of the total expense, and Regent will give us what they will. It's a small expense compared to our deposit.

We hope you'll be onboard with us, and that we'll have a great time as we have had on our previous 3 Regent cruises. Last year on December 27, our Voyager cruise stopped at Komodo Island, after a 2 day stop in Bali. We loved it.

This year, we had Viking River offer to rebook us to next year at the same price, same time, same cabin next May (still worrying about it, but we did it, with included flights booked). Our Paul Gauguin Fiji to Bali cruise with pre and post hotels, and premium economy air included from LA, was cancelled back in April by the cruise line about 10 days before our trip. They did not offer a refund. We have a 125 percent future cruise credit, but there are no cruises available for our itinerary. We already needed to rebook again until December next year. We lost money on getting to LAX and back on hotels where we needed to stay getting there and back from Florida, as well as car rental deposits. We still have our Jet Blue credits until the end of next year, so we are hoping for 3 cruises next year.

I'm sure we're all hoping for a better year, with a lot more wonderful cruises.

We book through a gateway, but we always pay 175 per person to choose our flights. We like to have our reservation and seats assigned well ahead of time instead of waiting until a few months in advance. This helps us plan on getting to our gateway airport (2.5 hours away) and back since we know what time we need to be at the airport, and what time we will return. Compared to the total cost of the cruise, that's not a lot of money. We just booked our Regent flights for September.

5 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

As Flossie pointed out, the speciality options are for Explorer and Splendor only. My post was directly in response to the OP/TS about their upcoming Splendor cruise so i didn't think to mention it was for those 2 only. Sorry for any confusion. 

No problem. We're really looking forward to being on Splendor for the first time. I knew there was an additional specialty restaurant with Pacific Rim which we're looking forward to it.

For those not on Explorer or Splendor, Compass Rose is always open at lunch, and often has extended hours when excursions are running late. On "days at sea" the pool grill has had a themed lunch.

As for the the buffets, I'm not a big eater, and have never liked eating at buffets anywhere. Too many people picking on and off their plates (and often a used plate), and using fingers. It will be interesting to see how the restaurants handle this onboard in the future. I think Regent will get it right, but we're OK with eating in our cabin much more than we have in the past if that's what we need to do.
 

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

We really enjoy having a cup of coffee while waking up and getting ready. If I go to the coffee connection in my robe someone will write about me in cruise critic. 

We've seen it quite a few times, and this is the first time I've commented on it. I didn't even comment about the one with barefeet and nothing under the robe. She just picked up a cup of coffee and returned to her cabin.

And as for calling for a cup of coffee in the morning, that's what the Coffee Connection is for. The staff is very busy delivering breakfast to the cabins of those who have ordered it the night before. I wouldn't expect a quick cup with a phone call. When we didn't have the Penthouse suite, we had a Concierge level room, and have always had a coffee maker in our room so coffee or espresso was immediately available. That made it easier to make my way to the Coffee Connection for a cappuccino and a pastry before breakfast. I'm so looking forward to being back onboard next year.

We've been on 3 Regent cruises; Alaska on Mariner, Barcelona to Venice on Voyager, and back to back 32 nights on Voyager Singapore to Singapore, followed by Singapore to Sydney last December into January. We never saw Prime 7 or Chartreuse open for lunch on any of these cruises. Our 32 night back to back was in a Penthouse suite with a butler, and we weren't told that was available. He did help us get additional reservations for dinner once we were onboard and had used our prebooked reservations. Compass Rose has great food, with so many choices that dinner wasn't a problem. But I would love to have an alternative to Compass Rose other than the Pool Grill at lunch. If our September 2021 back to backs on Splendor aren't cancelled, we will definitely  ask about that.

5 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Let us hope that when the ships start sailing, and before the dreaded covid has been eliminated from the world, we are not faced with a dining experience as depicted in this short vignette:

 

 

 

😱 😷 😮

Amazon Prime gives us access to "The Goes Wrong Show". It's so funny. I don't think we have this episode yet, but I'll look for it. But dining on Splendor next September is something I don't want to think about at this point.

2 times at Motu Mahana is definitely still a highlight for us, as well as a second chance at Fakarava since the snorkeling with sharks in deep water at the Pinnacle was not something I would ever want to do again. I've always loved snorkeling in shallow water, but having sharks bigger than me, following close behind me, and 6 feet below me in deep water isn't something I want to do again. But our PG excursion had not only a guide ahead, but also someone to help those who panic when sharks come too close. He helped guide me back to our boat, as well as several others who saw me headed that way.

We haven't been to Rangiroa, but will probably do the Snorkeling trip to the "Aquarium" there, and do the Teahatea Beach excursion on Fakarava.

We have cruised 3 times in a B cabin, and while it's smaller than other cabins that we've stayed in on Regent Seven Seas, SilverSea and HAL (which was a one and done for us in a Neptune Suite) the Paul Gauguin B cabin was nicely laid out for us, and we felt comfortable for cruises to the Cook Islands, the Marquesas and Fiji. And the crew is fantastic. I think about them often and hope they're OK.

Unfortunately, we'll never be able to take the cruise from Fiji to Bali that was cancelled last April. We weren't even worried about it being the cruise to drydock since we trusted the PG and it's crew to give us the same great experience that we've had in the past.

Since we weren't able to get a refund for our the cruise that was cancelled (which included payment for pre and post hotels and business class air), and no cruises to Bali are offered while our credit is still good, we first rescheduled to the reunion cruise in January. Over the summer twe realized that it wouldn't happen, and we rescheduled for a similar cruise in December 2021.

We just checked with PG cruises and were told that they don't know what hotels will be available for that cruise, and that it was too early to book flights for next December. They said not to worry about it because it will happen. Without knowing what will happen, and being out of much more money than we would ever had paid for a cruise around French Polynesia, I just try not to think about it anymore. 

I also thought of the yellow fever card when proof of the vaccine started to be a possible proof to board. It was really difficult to find a place in SW Florida to get a yellow fever vaccine, and it was very expensive. But the cost was trivial compared to the cost of the cruise that we needed it for. Everyone on our Silver Whisper cruise was required to have their proof of vaccine to board. This seems to work, so why not extend that to Covid19, updating it whenever you update your vaccine. I wouldn't mind if the cruise lines required proof of flu vaccine. Anything that can keep the sick people from boarding would make my cruise experience better.

28 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I have news for you...and I posted this months ago too....the world will go on with or without Covid and so will cruising. The CDC doesn't care if a few people get sick...the cruises will resume. You will be required to get a vacinne before sailing and if you get sick it will be no different than if you get sick last year.  Life goes on.

I agree with you 100 percent. We are looking forward to getting the vaccine, just as we always get any vaccine that's available, including yellow fever. 

We had so many extremely ill people on our Singapore to Sydney Regent cruises last December, that I would welcome more mask wearing requirements, the elimination of buffets, and more isolation rooms. People with viral pneumonia were allowed to eat in the dining room, despite uncontrollable coughing. We complained about it, but we don't know if they did anything about it.

We were already onboard for this cruise from the previous cruise from Singapore to Singapore. We were screened for MERS on our arrival in Singapore since our flight from FLL was through Dubai. And we were screened with temperature checks and health questions at a number of our stops on our first cruise.

We left the ship for an excursion in Singapore, between our cruises, and had to wait in line with those boarding for the first time. No health checks were done when we were reboarding, and it took so long to reboard that I would never leave the ship again on a back to back cruise. Breakfast the next morning in the dining room was slow, and while waiting, we heard nearby large tables complaining about how long they had to wait for dialysis. One woman had never had dialysis before. I wondered whether I was still on the luxury cruise that I expected, or had ended up on a floating nursing home.

6 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

Really? So our September 2021 London to Barcelona could well be canceled.

We sure we’re hoping this one would go since we had two canceled this year 😢.

At least we haven't paid for the whole thing as we have for 2 other cruises that don't fall under CDC guidelines. If Regent cancels our cruise, I'm probably done with cruising. Will that help the cruise lines?