Purplelady1

Just realized that you were referring to a different poll. I am referring to the Conde Nast Traveller poll where Crystal won first place year after year. I was told by a Crystal passenger that they received benefits by participating in the poll. It is interesting that this was also being done with the T&L poll (whether or not they are still doing this). Again, IMO, this is off topic and not fair to the TS. I brought up Crystal in response to Paul stating the results of a poll to give reason why I do not believe I polls.

 

Once again, the posted photos are wonderful!

It really does not matter what travel magazine. The only benefit that was extended was internet. Perhaps it was Condé Nast. We participated in the poll and we actually gave our first rating to another luxury line but it was not Regent. These polls are sent out to millions regarding hotels, resorts and cruise lines and airlines. They do have a major impact on what the consumer decides on.

Polls are not all accurate but they give you a pulse of what people think. We do love Trip Advisor and you can weed out the few negatives and come to your own conclusion.

I k that most of us are aware that what is said on this board and what actually happens On Board can be quite different.....one will always find those...like myself ..who wish to dress up every evening...and those that wish to remain more casual and for this Silversea have the various options.

It's not what people wear it what's inside that matters.....😊

Very well said, " It's not what people wear it what's inside that matters."

Crystal only started with the polls two

years ago and it was not offered on every cruise. You could vote for any line of your choosing privately and in return for taking the T&L poll you would get Internet time. Crystal does not see these results all they note is that you completed the poll. I have not heard that they are still doing this.

I would not consider Viking a step down as many luxury cruisers are coming back with excellent reports. We have also heard that Viking will become all inclusive soon. Right now beer and wine are complimentary at all meals. The upper suites I believe are all inclusive.

I would not label people as stepping down as it does sound slightly elitist.

Regent is not alone. The Crystal site has been a mess for months as well.

They say "People who are old-fashioned do not like change"

Cruising use to be referred to as for the newly wed or the nearly dead. I think in the luxury market it is the nearly dead not the newlyweds. My kids would be bored to death on SS and they are over thirty and successful. They did love Regent and Crystal when we took them and both line were elegant casual and black tie optional.

The gowns and Tuxedos are going away. I have not worn a gown in ten years and DH leaves his Tux at home.

We will definitely give Viking a test sail. We have heard fabulous reports. Thanks for posting your experience.

A good source also is Trip Advisor.

Hi Travelcat2 I'd like to pick your brain about Cape Town, you said it's one of your favorite places, we will be there 3 days post cruise on Regent we are thinking of staying longer and would like suggestions as to what to do.

Thanks

 

 

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We lived in Cape Town for a couple of years. There is so much to do as it is a very cosmopolitan city and great people. You are surrounded with so many restaurants and shops with time for exploring. Instead of me writing a long dissertation, here is a highlight of what you might consider.

https://travel.usnews.com/Cape_Town_South_Africa/Things_To_Do/

Some people never know when to stop digging .................. maybe that's what generates all this soiled clothing :*

Flossie: +1. You are spot on.

I think this thread has run its course. The laundry has been discussed adnauseam. Please someone lock this down🙏

I want to hear about others travels and onboard experiences. Hang this thread out to dry.. no pun intended.

We are not going to let them win either. On the Today show they were saying that New Orleans was a soft target which is a city we very much love. We will continue our land and sea vacations just being a bit more aware. Tour busses are very soft targets and we avoid them and take private tours and avoid large congregations of tourists which is what they are looking for. Just be aware of your surroundings at all times.

At the risk of being chastised, TC you do fan the flames and keep the embers glowing when people diasagree and I have seen many that disagree with you. If you leave the thread alone is will disappear into the abyss. Make your final opinion and be done with it. No sense in stewing about what others write. The going back and forth, nobody has the last word and nobody wins. Very sophomoric IMHO.

You do offer good advice to new cruisers but some of these threads can turn people away from Regent as they are afraid they may encounter issues with others which is certainly not the case onboard. It really is a disservice to Regent when all this bickering is going on in a public site.

I timed out on the edit. TC, I must have been thinking of a comment made elsewhere about service. Senior moment.

What a great post! So happy that you spoke up (I would do the same thing) and it is good to hear that it didn't happen again during your cruise. It saddens (and angers) me when people want to change the "Regent Experience". If they want something different than what Regent offers, there are other luxury cruise lines (but bribing head waiters probably would be frowned upon there as well).

 

P.S. Purplelady1: I'm not getting the significance of your post. Do you feel that servers that get ill affects the ability of passengers to reserve tables?

No, I was talking about slow service that could impact delivery. Yes, I was sidetracked. My comment has nothing to do with reserving tables.

Like so many things on the internet now, opinions are subjective and facts are not always presented correctly or are viewed with a certain bias. We have sailed on Regent many many times and have gotten to know quite a few MDs and Waiters. Some MDs sometimes shake our hands when we come in, but believe me, there is no magic handshake involved, it's a friendly, "welcome back" shake.

Like so many posters here, we quickly find a waiter we like and a section we like to sit in. That's were we ask to be seated in and it usually works. But if there is no space or whatever, we sit somewhere else or wait. Now fortunately, we've never encountered CR to be soooo busy during the times we usually like to have dinner that there was a big problem. Once or twice we had the choice to wait or sit in a different section.

 

Could it be that the original informer just saw the "handshake" and thought it was magic...and then when the MD was friendly with the guest ...they assumed there was magic involved ?

 

Could it be that the guest with the magic handshake was one of those who thought that greasing the palm or giving a big tip "magically" gives him/her more privileges ? :-)Some people don't know that this doesn't do much on Regent.

 

Could it be that the original poster was lead to a different table due to the fact that a good MD is trying to do "load management" and try to even the load of his wait staff ? No waiter should have 10 busy tables, while another has just 1 and is idle.

 

There are so many reasons why I could think a person could/might get the impression of reservation etc., but I would find this highly unusual on Regent.

 

We like CR and enjoy our dinners there, staff is wonderful and we have a great time.

The waiters are assigned sections and tables but sometimes you might have a waiter or two that may be ill and that can have a bit of a impact on the service if you have them missing for duty. They are human.

Bodog, I don't value people's opinions that have never sailed a particular line. We want to hear from people who have and their opinions. We simply discard the opinions of those that have not sailed.

You just cut & paste the URL up at the top of your browser.

Yes you can but I would check with CC before merging something to another thread they don't seem to like redundant posts and I agree.

How can you link this thread? Are you a moderator?

Remember the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Miami last year? About 50 people died and that port is as busy as ever. Barcelona will go on. May the victims rest in peace.

Correction! It was Orlando.

I believe I read that there is no Casino on Viking. Is this accurate?

 

 

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No Casino on Viking and would not be a deal breaker for us.

Yes, great information and I agree a very informative thread.

Yes, the South African wines are the best. We will be back in Cape Town in October to visit friends...can't wait. :D

We've had two different cruises starting/finishing in Cape Town. Both times, the routing was on Emirates in business: from CapeTown to Dubai non-stop, then 8 or so hours in Dubai where Emirates put us up in the airport hotel, then non-stop to Orlando, where we were met by the driver and escorted home. Next time, going the other way, were picked up at home, driven to Orlando airport, then non-stop to Dubai, another 8 hours or so at the airport hotel, then non-stop to CapeTown. The stays in the hotel mid-flights really broke up the trip and made them much more acceptable.

You probably stayed at the Meridian which is a lovely airport hotel. Emirates does a super job taking care of their premium class flyers. The limo service is super!

We ordered off the room service menu in the dining room one night as we wanted something light but did not want to eat in our suite. We had no issues and it was the waiters pleasure to do this.

You are correct. The program changed June 1and I did not know about it. Thankfully we bought our 2 for one tickets before June 1. The program has worked well for us and it is ashame that it ended. The discount is not near as good for business and first but you can still use your miles to pay for the tickets if you have enough or you can buy miles to reduce the price as well. I guess all good things come to a end.

We pay a lot of money for the Centurion cards and it seems the benefits are being taken away. The card is not worth it anymore.

We can always use the people who will deal with your points to find seats but you need to work with them several months out as the airlines have tightened the capacity on their award tickets. Just more games to play.