sierrafloridacruiser

Two presumptive cases in Florida now, one of them in the county where I live. Ugh. The grocery stores will be a mad house tomorrow. 

I really don’t see how the 1918 Pandemic is a useful comparison. Our medical capabilities are vastly different and vastly feels like an understatement. We didn’t even have penicillin then. 

Disappointing but it makes sense. 

6 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

I tried to dispel the theory that Grand Cayman is closed to cruise ships - only the MSC ship that had a person sick with the flu onboard.

 

Today confirms my suspicions as there are multiple ships in Grand Cayman - including Splendor (passengers are apparently having a great time).

 

This reminds us to read reports but don't believe them 100% unless you have the full story.

I think this is a precedent we may see block an untold number of port calls until the Coronavirus is contained - a single passenger or crew member with a “garden variety” illness. 

I don’t dislike sea days, but I don’t want a cruise filled with nothing but them. Ugh! 
 

5 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Lest we buy into more fear....... there was a fairly good reason why the ship was denied at Grand Cayman (they had 1 case of seasonal virus onboard which is as easy to spread as coronavirus)..  Here is the article https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-mexico-idUSKCN20K2S9

This has not been normal industry protocol, to deny docking based on a case of seasonal flu. Does not give me much confidence that our upcoming April cruises won’t be similarly affected. Ugh. 

14 minutes ago, SRQMom said:

FYI, I purchased Cancel Anytime Insurance just last month for a Spring break cruise with my grandson this March and also a Transatlantic in October/November (Italy).  I was told by the agent that once the virus was "announced" or whatever (likely the date of 1/22 that you mentioned), the ONLY policy that would be valid to use to cancel in that case would be "cancel or any reason" addendum.  That piece is time sensitive and has to  be purchased within  XX days from first deposit (from 14 to 21 days if I remember correctly).  BUT, get this, I was told that in the event someone did have the Cancel for Any Reason insurance, it's best to not give a reason IF asked (again, depending on the insurance company).  If asked, do not say anything about the coronavirus.  Simple say I decided not to go.  It shouldn't matter because it's cancel for any reason, but that was the advice given to me by the agent so just sharing. (something about this "fine print about outbreaks previously announced blah blah blah" exclusion). Better safe than sorry I say.

 

 

 

Good to know. We have CFAR for our two cruises coming up in April.  At this point we don’t think we will cancel, but are watching events closely. First time we have ever purchased CFAR addendum and I went back and forth about it and now am so glad we did. 

1 hour ago, wcsdkqh said:

With all these “issues”, perhaps you would be happier elsewhere.

No doubt. 

2 minutes ago, Eno-Bob said:

I believe they usually try to start boarding at noon.  We have seen it delayed one time, but it has usually been noon.  If you leave your luggage out as required in the morning, it will be loaded and taken to the ship.  We have left the luggage go by the Regent transfer and made our own way to the ship a number of times with out any problem.  We have let the Regent contract representative know that we were not taking the bus and there has never been an issue or problem.

Thank you! 

And a related question - does anyone know if it would be possible to send our luggage to the ship on the Regent transfer bus even if we do our own alternate transportation?  

49 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Do yourself a favor and just take a Cab or Uber to the port.  Last month all the busses from the various hotels seem to arrive at the same time and it was a zoo.  We had to take a number and waited about 45 minutes just to stand in line.  It was one of the most unorganized embarkation that I have ever experienced.  Certainly did not negatively impact our cruise.  The disembarkation was one of the best we have ever experienced.  
Enjoy your cruise.  The widest  variety and highest quality of food that we have ever experienced.  Be sure to check out the culinary experiences if they are available.  

Thanks for relating your experience. We will probably just take an Uber. I’m sure it’s available somewhere else on the Regent board, but in lieu of searching, can anyone tell me the earliest embarkation time. 

30 minutes ago, JMARINER said:

Did this route in reverse in 2015 ( or 16) on Mariner from Papeete-Lima-BA. We tendered at Easter Island. I don’t think that there is a large deep dock there. 

 

If you do go to Easter Island I highly recommend you do a private tour with a local. We hooked up with 3 other couples from the CC roll call and booked private van in advance for the day. Was about $800.00 ($100 each). We saw more than all the Regent tours combined, plus lunch. 

 

Aside: we did a stop at Pitcairn. No ShoreEx, only a drive by. 

 

J

 

 

We also did a private group tour and had a fabulous local tour guide. Highly recommend this approach but just remember that you won’t get all your money back if the captain decided he can’t safely use the tenders. I think if I remember correctly we had a 50% advanced deposit at risk. We weighed the pros and cons and decided it was worth the risk. 

Was there last February on Crystal and after a delay of several hours (due to the swells), we successfully tendered to the island. The dock is not big enough to accommodate cruise ships.  The tender process was long, as each person had to be individually assisted by the crew. It is an amazing place and I feel so fortunate that we  got lucky and were able to go ashore. 

16 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

Then you should get the credit if you have declined the hotel arrangement.  If you want to keep the hotel or the credit is missing - talk to your TA.   Sounds like a mistake might have been made.

I did not decline because I didn’t know when I booked that I could do that and get a credit instead.  My TA is checking to see if I can still do this but the cruise is six weeks out and it may be too late. We may be “stuck” with the Ritz Carlton. Which no doubt we will enjoy!  I just would have liked to have known that there was a choice ahead of time. Live and learn. 

4 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Whether you get a hotel credit or not depends on the level of your suite.  Not all suites come with a free night prior to sailing...and if your invoice doesn't reflect any credit for the hotel then probably your suite doesn't "qualify".

We are in a Penthouse which does qualify for the pre-cruise free night and transfers from hotel to ship. My invoice has the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne as the pre-cruise hotel. 

The Ritz Carlton is lovely and so is Key Biscayne. It’s just a very different vibe than being in the downtown area or South Beach. If we can’t get the credit, I know we will enjoy a 24 hour “resort style” stay and have a nice dinner right at the RC. All is good.
 

Except for the travel agent. She is not. 

43 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

It is disappointing.  Hopefully, next time, you will use a TA that regularly books Regent cruises (and will know the ins and outs) as well as providing you with a percentage back on your cruise fare.

 

You do not have to make a decision months in advance or when you book.  However, you can't let them know a few weeks before the cruise either (which is likel the case here).  

 

Hopefully you have already made your dining and excursions.

 

If you need more information, you can start another thread or simply email me.  

 

In any case, have a wonderful cruise ....... Regent is the best!

 

 

Would take another thread to explain why I stuck with this travel agent but I’m swearing to myself that this IS the last time. 
 

My cruise is in six weeks, so might be too late but I’ve emailed her nevertheless and also said we would be happy to take the credit in shipboard spending, so maybe Regent will be amenable to that.  I’m seeing availability at a lot of hotels that are acceptable to us and where we can use reward points and more importantly, they are in locations closer to some activities we would like to do. 

Really frustrated that my TA didn’t offer this option when we booked the cruise. 🙄

16 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

In my opinion, book your own hotel and take the hotel credit.  In most cases, the cost of the hotel is less than the credit and you can use that money towards taking a taxi to the ship.  In terms of Barcelona (mentioned by another poster), we stay at the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel which is about 2 miles from the cruise port.  It is walkable to Las Ramblas and other places of interest.

 

Unfortunately, we have found that staying in a Regent sponsored hotel to be extremely expensive and the transfer costs are way too high.  We an stay at Eurostars and pay for our own transfers for less money than Regent credits us for not using their hotel.

 

However, and this is a BIG one....... with what is going on in the world with coronavirus, I would not do my own air.  IF there is a problem on your cruise, Regent assists guests that have booked Regent air with them before working with passengers that do not book Regent air.  In our 34 Regent cruises, we have booked our own air a few times but would not do so for the cruises that we have booked through 2021.

 

Hopefully this information is helpful!

it is very helpful because I didn’t know there was a hotel credit. I knew about the air credit because it is listed on each itinerary what it is. We did not do the air because we are continuing on with a two week land trip and river cruise once we get to Barcelona. Our flight to Miami to embark is an easy one for us because we live in Florida.  
 

I will check with my travel agent to see if it’s still possible to take the hotel credit and book one on our own, but if anyone knows if this can only be done at the time of booking, I’d appreciate any information. 

2 hours ago, irishwitchy said:

At what point, do you know where you will be staying?  We will in Copenhagen, does anyone know what hotel they  normally pick? 

my TA informed me that in some cities and for some cruises they will have more than one hotel. Unfortunately we don’t have the option of changing our night in Miami. 

44 minutes ago, slidebite said:

Of course nobody knows for sure, but latest reports of new cases are finally showing a good downward trend so hopefully the worst is over. As long as it doesn't all go sideways, which it obviously can, we might finally be approaching some light on the horizon.

 

We're on the same Miami-Barcelona cruise (hopefully meet?) and not really concerned - but I must admit I did buy cancellation insurance for the first time ever a couple weeks ago.

We are not concerned at all at this point in time. I’ve been monitoring the situation but more out of general interest in all things cruising and the impact it has on the various ships and itineraries. It’s mind boggling to think of the logistics involved and how stressful it must be for staff, crew and passengers directly impacted.  Things would have to get a lot more sideways for me to be personally concerned for our sailing and hopefully all the proactive measures all the authorities and cruise lines and airlines are taking now will prevent that. We have cancel-for-any-reason insurance on our whole trip, which continues beyond the Regent cruise. It is expensive and I went through a torturous debate in my head over purchasing, now I’m glad we did. 
 

slidebite, we will see you at the M & M, if not before then!  Looking forward to a wonderful adventure. 

Our TA forwarded us the same letter this morning, concerning our Miami to Barcelona cruise in April. And yesterday we got a similar letter (with similar restrictions) from Crystal River Cruises, as we are doing a Danube Cruise after the Regent crossing. I’m glad to see the cruise lines being proactive but i sure hope this all gets back to something approaching normal before April. 

1 minute ago, BettyDol said:

Our "Preliminary Vacation Summary", received from Regent on Jan.20th lists the Four Seasons Hotel as our Pre-Cruise hotel arrangement.  Maybe there is more than one Hotel for the Pre-cruise included night??? Last year on a TA with Regent we stayed at the Conrad and really liked it.  My husband will be the guy wearing the University of Michigan gear.  Go Blue!

Love all the NCAA repping BettyDol. 

 I wonder if we can request a change?  I like the downtown location of the Conrad and the Four Seasons much better than Key Biscayne. I will be contacting my TA for clarification. 

3 minutes ago, ROLLTIDE2 said:

If you do your own flight arrangements, you don't get the transfer from the airport to the hotel.  But if you do the pre-cruise hotel, you get the transfer from the hotel to the port.  See you on board!!

That’s what I figured on the transfer.
 

I am reading some of the fine print and realizing that the free night pre-cruise is a different program from the “land and hotel program”. 
 

See you on board Rolltide2. My husband will be the guy wearing his Auburn gear. 😂

We are sailing on the April TA Miami to Barcelona in a Penthouse suite. We are not doing Regent Air but are doing the one night pre cruise hotel stay. Does Regent provide transfers from the airport to the hotel or is that only if you do your flights through Regent. Our itinerary lists the hotel as the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne but website the tab with pre and post cruise information it says the Conrad.  Maybe that is the hotel only if you want to book extra nights? 

Thanks so much for posting the wine list!  And the mouth watering food pics too!