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I had tried doing the air deviation on the Regent website, and kept getting an error. Called Regent. Got a call back from a PCC, who told us the site is glitchy, and she would call the air department with the flights we want. Then, I got a call back from the Regent PCC regarding the air deviation we want. Apparently now, we have to call the air department ourselves and tell them what flights we want, rather than having the PCC do it for us. So that's on schedule for Monday.

This makes me happy. I am not a high maintenance person, but I do love my Diet Coke, preferably from a can (bottles are also nice). I do wonder whether I can just contact Regent ahead of my cruise and ask that our mini-fridge be stocked with Diet Coke and other non alcoholic beverages. We are not really alcohol drinkers.

Here was my experience, FWIW. In November, my DH and I were on a 16-day Mediterranean/TA cruise on Escape. Early in the cruise, I started to have respiratory symptoms. I went to the Medical Department, where they told me they would test me for Covid and if I tested positive, they would perform a second Covid test and if that was also positive, I would be isolated in my cabin for five days. If I tested negative, they would figure out what was wrong with me. I agreed to the protocol, and was ushered to the Covid testing area. The rapid test was performed. It was negative. As soon as that came back, I was sent to the waiting area again. While in the waiting area, my husband and I heard the nurse speak to a woman who had come in shortly after we had. That passenger said that she had Covid symptoms, had done a test in her room, and it came back positive. When she was told what the protocol was (two tests in the Medical Department, and if they both came back positive, isolation passenger cabin for five days), she refused, said she just wanted medication, and signed herself out AMA. My husband and I sat there staring at each other in disbelief. This was Day 2 of a 16-day cruise. I know there is nothing to be done when a passenger simply does not take Covid seriously, but it was a horrifying moment. As for me, I had severe bronchitis, which the Medical Department handled with incredible compassion and care. It required follow-up, which they provided, and a change in treatment, which was not a problem. They have good doctors and staff there and I was impressed with the quality and level of care.

My husband and I don't drink alcohol. I like a wide variety of high-end teas, but those are simply not available on NCL. We purchase the soda package on NCL cruises. Our soda of choice is Diet Coke, but Diet Pepsi will do in a pinch. On our last NCL cruise, we had purchased the boxed water for the cabin, so that we could each take our medication in the morning and in the evening (we are middle-aged, and such is life). We also purchased the soda package, so that we could have diet cola with our meals and throughout the day. It was a 16-day Mediterranean/TA cruise in November. Not heavily subscribed. Much to our shock, they ran out of Diet Pepsi about four days before we reached land. Never mind that we had paid for it, and that it's pretty much the only thing we drink (pardon us if alcohol is not our thing). From what I read on the boards, the for running out of Diet Pepsi on that cruise was the changeover to Diet Coke and other Coke products. Why are they stocking low on Diet Coke now? And when I pay for it, assuming it will be available throughout my cruise, why am I being pooh-poohed and told I should not care when it is not available?

I got a call back from Regent today and told the PCC what was going on. She said she totally understood, as the system is glitchy, and they have the same problem on their end all the time. I told her the flights we want to take (we want to fly in to Miami one day before the cruise, as we are flying in from PHX, and it is as overnight flight anyway, so best to arrive the morning of April 4 rather than the morning of April 5, I think). And given the flight options out of BCN, we figured our best options s to fly out one day after the cruise, on April 20, so that we can take an 11:15 am flight that has one stop in EWR, rather than the best option n the 19th (the flight they put us on) which leaves BCN at 1:15 pm, but goest to Montreal, then from Montreal to Chicago, and then from Chicago to PHX. Less room for error if we leave directly form the cruise port on the day the cruise arrives, but way too much room for error with that many connections. Best to stay overnight in BCN, I think.

We bought this one directly from Regent, and our PCC no longer seems to be there.

I am not sure if something is wrong with the website or with my reservation. DH and I have a cruise on Regent Voyager out of Miami in April. It's a two-week TA, so it goes to Barcelona. When I tried to do a "Custom Air Request", it gave me an "Error: Invalid Passenger Name". Which is strange since I had not typed anything in yet, just clicked on start. I tried it again, and got the same Error message. I am concerned that there is something wrong with our Regent Air reservations at this point, actually, and would like to give them a call tomorrow. Is there a particular phone number to call with regards to this issue? The more I think about this, the more concerned I get. Talk me off the ledge, folks, and tell me someone at Regent will work this out for us. Many thanks.

This is unacceptable. At what point in your cruise did this happen? Was your cruise 100% booked (or close to that)? I simply do not understand how a cruise ship runs out of a soda. I will say that last month, my husband and I were on a repositioning cruise on an NCL ship. It started out as a Mediterranean cruise, then crossed the Atlantic. The entire cruise was a total of sixteen days. About four days before we reached NY, we started to notice that some of the restaurants did not have Diet Pepsi. Then, three days before we reached NY, we were told that the ship was completely out of Diet Pepsi. This was a huge shock to us as my DH and I don't drink alcohol, and our soda of choice is diet cola. This was a late season re-positioning cruise and it was less than 50% full. So why the issue with the Diet Pepsi? When we asked Guest Relations, we were given a sketchy answer: essentially, they took down our cabin number and assured us that there would be Diet Pepsi available for us for the rest of the cruise. And there was. Sometimes weak and unpalatable, but it was always served to us. My question is why are these cruise lines clearly choosing to take a chance and bring along less diet cola than they will need? It is clearly a popular beverage, so why under-cater it?

Taste and Savor do a pretty good job with lunch and dinner most days. The menus are interesting and imaginative and the food quality is good. They also always have some classics available. The one issue I had with them is that the food could be a little bit dry, indicating that menu choices may have been pre-prepared and perhaps sat under heat lamps during busy times. We had breakfast at O'Sheehan's often, because it was a less crowded venue. It lacked variety, but the options were tasty enough. Ask for a seat in the back to avoid the noise from trivia and other atrium noise. We just could not get into the lunch menu there. A bit too heavy and greasy for our taste. Breakfast at The Garden Cafe (buffet) was good. Lots and lots of choices. However, it is crowded and loud. Lunch in The Garden Cafe was quite varied. I particularly liked the soup options there, which is something I don't hear mentioned much. But there was a lot of variety and you will find something you like. The staff are really helpful here.

We have had MeJet for years and have never had to use it (knock wood).. We will keep coverage as long as we keep traveling.

Well, the system just allowed me to modify our upgrade offers yet again. I fiddled around with a couple of them once more (the cruise out of Rome leaves on November 1), but I think we will be in our Deck 10 Balcony cabin.

We are on the Nov. 1 TA. All our bids are still pending. No idea, at this point.

Our first TA was on the Encore's maiden voyage in November 2019. Disembarkation was a bit of a disaster. We went through customs and immigration the night before we disembarked, meaning we had the thrill of arriving in NYC (which was absolutely amazing), only to rush back to our cabin and pack so that we could make a dinner reservation we had managed to re-book for an earlier time (given the new circumstance of everyone needing to leave the ship to clear customs that night). We went to what was supposed to be a romantic final dinner in the ship's French restaurant, only to have to rush through the meal as groups were being called to clear customs every 20 minutes or so. We then headed downstairs to clear customs ourselves and it was a madhouse. There were not enough USCIS officers at that time in the evening to clear the number of passengers who were debarking (and re-boarding) the ship. People stood in endless lines. One elderly gentleman collapsed. A few people who had small children and did not want to go to bed this late only to wake them up early in the morning, chose to disembark that night. Actual disembarkation was the next morning, and involved nothing more than exiting the ship, picking up your luggage, and getting in a cab/Lyft to wherever you were going, I'm not sure if they were trying a new disembarkation process or what, but it was far from smooth, and it did not work well.

It used to be, on NCL, Diet Coke (I am a simple girl, really). That has been resolved, thankfully. Now, I miss a nice, soft, pillowy mattress. Left to our own devices, my DH and I would sleep on a marshmallow. Some of those NCL mattresses feel like a bed o' bricks. Ouch, my poor hips and back!

That's bad. I remember taking a couple of Costa Cruises back in the 80s (including my HS class senior cruise). They looked like that. We were teenagers, so we didn't care. Nowadays, yikes!

We tried Q on Encore and it was the least favorite of the specialty restaurants we dined at on that cruise. In fact, we preferred dinner at the MDR to dinner at Q. It's not bad. As others have said, it's tasty enough, and portions are enormous. But it is simply not on par with Onda and Le Bistro (or even Cagney's). As the cruise went on, and we sampled more of the specialty dining options, we realized Q was just not special enough to hold our interest, and we never returned.

Yikes! That looks like a bad vacation! Was Wally World at least open when you arrived? j/k

I have something similar -- a small crossbody that I can wear all day and off the ship. I can take off the strap and carry it as a clutch most evenings when I want something a bit dressier. It's perfect for me.

Yes, of course I re-wear. On our next cruise, we will be spending a few days in Europe before settling down on a 16 day Trans-Atlantic voyage. We will both be re-wearing, and doing some laundry (well, having some laundry done for us on board). I will be packing a wardrobe where pieces all work together so that I can maximize what I have. And layer: the Mediterranean may be warm(ish) in early November, but Germany (where we will be prior to the cruise) can be chilly in late October, and the North Atlantic crossing in mid-November can be downright cold.

Interesting. DH and I will be on a Med cruise that will then be crossing the Atlantic, stopping by Bermuda along the way. The only way to get a Covid test two days prior to the ship's arrival in Bermuda would be if we got the test on board the ship itself. I wonder whether NCL will make those arrangements. Hmm . . .

Oh, this is such welcome news! Hello, Diet Coke!

Growing increasingly less comfortable with this. We have a TA coming up next spring (in April). The saving grace there may be that it has a stop in Bermuda, and, as I understand it, Bermuda is still pretty strict about requiring vaccination. Now, I feel like a fool because I have been paying off the cruise over time, instead of waiting to pay it off when final payment is due.

Wishing you a speedy recovery. I tested positive in January, just as we were supposed to fly down for our Regent cruise. We did have trip insurance, but never had to avail ourselves of it: Regent credited our payment toward a cruise we had already booked in 2024.

If someone specifically asks me for something, I will go out and buy it. But I tip with cash. Assuming crew members want or need things they have not asked me for is presumptuous.

This sounds about right. We scheduled a TA cruise in November to coincide with a trip to Europe we were taking anyway. We will just be heading home via a Mediterranean cruise that ends as a TA voyage. Sounds kind of old-timey, but it works.