califsealion

I have been reading this thread with interest.  I'm a frequent solo traveler, a middle aged female.  I would say in my 20's to early 30's, I had my fair share of having customs paw through my luggage.  It doesn't really happen anymore.  Except I seem to be red-tagged in Israel.  Every time I fly home from there, I get put in the line for the extra special, thorough search.

I like the new math they use to figure out how many miles they credit you now.  I flew to Europe in May, economy.  Miles flown - 10,700, miles credited - 2125

I'm interested to see how well this system works.  I have been on expedition ships before where they supply a reusable water bottle and they have filling stations on the ship, so you have your own bottle for the trip (or to take home) and get your own water.  I'm thinking I will bring a reusable water bottle to fill from their glass bottles to use onshore.

On 8/14/2019 at 9:44 AM, Buck1949 said:

Thanks for the great photos...and information.  One in our group has mobility issues and may not be able to walk far....a thought being we may take the AQSC premium tour while there to make it a bit more convenient.  Your thoughts ?

I did the Spokane excursion with my mom and it was a great way to get an overview of the city.  They stop a few places where you can do more or less walking, depending on how much you want to do.

7 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Before sailing we'll always call Regent directly with excursion questions, and once on board we'll make a beeline to Destination Services if we want to try and make changes.  We usually get accommodated.

Have you found calling Regent with excursion questions useful?  I tried calling and asking about excursions on our upcoming cruise and the person I talked to was literally reading the description from the website.  I'm like, thanks, I'll talk to Destination Services onboard. 🙄

16 hours ago, Buck1949 said:

The Rhine River Cruise was really interesting and the towns we stopped at kept us pretty busy seeing all the history.  If you ever get the chance I would highly recommend that cruise also.  

I definitely have a European river cruise on my "to do" cruise list.  Note - my "to do" cruise list is very long... 🤣

31 minutes ago, Buck1949 said:

 

Califsealion....

Just curious as to what other AQSC cruise have you done?.  I have been looking at the New Orleans to Memphis AQSC cruise and am

wondering how it is.  Unfortunately I have nothing to compare regarding river cruising except our Uniworld cruise from Basel Switzerland to Amsterdam along the Rhine River a few years ago which was OUTSTANDING !!

 

Thanks, 

 

 

We did New Orleans to Memphis on the Duchess early October last year.  My mom and I both loved it.  It is a very relaxing, slow paced trip.  There was a place on the Duchess where you could sit on a couch there was no railing in front of you because stairs went down there.  I sat there for an hour one day with a banana peel in my hand because it was so pretty and relaxing I didn't want to get back up again.  For comparison, my uncle was bored during the river cruising parts, because he said the scenery never changed.  He's clearly a higher energy person than I am.  There was one port we stopped in that the town was pretty run down, but the other towns had cool, old houses you could tour and little shops.  The other passengers on both trips were friendly and happy to chat.

Not sure anything could compare to a European river cruise, but I'd say if you enjoy your experience on the Columbia River, you would enjoy the Lower Mississippi also!

Looking forward to reading about your trip, not matter how live it ends up being!

I have done a handful of Lindblad cruises and have always booked directly through them.  I've never had a travel agent, so I'm not sure what the benefits in that direction are.  I've never had a problem with the direct booking and they have always been helpful working with the dates I'm looking at and all that.

We did our American Empress cruise in September 2016.  The weather was beautiful until we hit Astoria.  Astoria was pretty cold and rainy.  The town was lovely though.  I enjoyed the little museum there and all the little shops along the main drag in town.

I haven't been on a European river cruise, but both AQSC cruises I have done have been very relaxing.  There are definitely not the plethora of activities as there is on an ocean cruise, but they did have a lot of talks about the river.

I am a light packer for land trips (not so much for cruises).  I have a few pairs of nylon trousers and nylon or polyester shirts that are quick drying.  They also take up less space in packing than, say, jeans.  Then I travel with some laundry soap and a clothes line.  When you travel by yourself, you can string wet laundry up wherever you like.  😉

9 hours ago, Tablelamp said:

Don’t settle for sitting in your cabin, you might as well be at home.  Wrap up, take your fishbowl (in a flask) and request the music be turned down.  It does work, if you keep on at them.   Contact the  Production Manager.  You are paying, so don’t put up with it.

The couple of cruises I've been on solo, I kind of fantasized beforehand about reading my book in the library or some other nook with my glass of wine, but turns out, I really love just curling up in my bed reading!

4 hours ago, rcandkc said:

Well...601 Navigator taken.  We are usually on 9 forward of elevators or 10.  We waited too late and have 633.  One of the last cabins except for grand suite.  We aren’t good waitlist people and just see if we are going.  I’m a planner.  I know some benefits of deck 6 ( we have been on Navigator 6 times) but what are the risks?  I know we are by stairs.  Any first hand experience?

My only Regent cruise was on the Navigator, I'm pretty sure we were in 629.  Which is not 633, but close.  I didn't notice any issues with noise or anything like that.  Granted, it was 4 years ago and my only Regent cruise, so I don't remember negatives, only positives!

Thanks for sharing your trip!  It is an itinerary that has caught my interest.  Which is not unusual, because really a lot of itineraries catch my interest.  My mom and I will be on the Navigator in a couple months, so it is nice to read about her!

On 7/27/2019 at 10:48 AM, birthdaygal said:

Going on Explorer in January, Regent first timers, wondering if there is a quiet room with chaise lounges to read.  On Celebrity they have the room near the Spa where you can read your Kindle while looking out at the ocean in air conditioning and I am looking for where we can do similar on Regent.  Am booked in Concierge Suite if that makes any difference at all.  I know balcony depends upon the sun and the temps.  I know usually there are library areas but wondering if somewhere with the chaises in the AC with a view and pretty music playing.....Thanks and am sure enjoying reading the thread here.  Did I mention I was thinking of wearing a feather, rhinestone encrusted lanyard while reading????

I don't know the answer to your question, but bumping so someone else who has been on the Explorer will see it.  I did want to say that I like your style! 😉

On 7/27/2019 at 8:36 AM, Gilly said:

Are we the only people to have such a tray in our home?  (No, we are not setting up a currency exchange, though it occasionally feels that way!)  Small currency amounts are in ziplock bags (originally) in alphabetical order, plus we have a $ purse, a € purse and a SFr purse for those we use most frequently!

Mine is not nearly that orderly, but I do keep some currency on hand from different countries. I will say it was a little bit of a shock on my last trip to the UK to find out my old pound coins were no longer legit currency, but thankfully a friend there was able to change them out for me (since you had to have a UK bank account to accomplish this).  So there is a downside to hanging on to extra currency...

Yes, thanks for sharing your trip!

I like that the ships are on the smaller side compared to a lot of cruise ships.

How were the included shore excursions?  Were they walking tours or bus tours?  What was the pace like?  In considering a trip with them, I need to consider whether my elderly mother would be able to keep up with a tour.  We like the hop-on-hop-off thing AQSC offers because she can go at her own pace, or even stay on the bus and listen to the guide the whole loop.

If you are a single and you are in one of the studio cabins meant for a single, do you think they'd pay the full OBC?  I have considered doing a cruise in one of these cabins.

10 hours ago, carollouise said:

We are going on the American Queen Duchess from New Orleans to Memphis.  I have been trying to find out online if there is laundry on it.  Have not made a call to the company yet.

There isn't a laundry room on the Duchess, but I can't remember if you can send your laundry out for them to do or not.

1 hour ago, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

OK, I will share my horror story from Saturday at YVR.

 

Got in line about 9:30.  Got to the second set of blue ropes at about 10, then realized since my flight wasn't until 1:59, they wouldn't take my bags that early, so got out of line to sit for awhile and wait.  At 10:30 decided I better go get in line again.  Unfortunately things had gotten much worse, and the line to check in reached the end of the building!  Things kept getting worse through bag check (only one conveyer belt working), through security, into customs, finally getting to the gate at 1:45.  Every time I thought we were through with the lines we got put into another one for the next phase!

Yikes, that's insane!  Did they let you onto your flight okay?

Enjoying the photos and trip reports, keep 'em coming!  The puffin excursion looks fantastic.

I appreciate the live updates!  Glad the dining service improved some. 

I don't totally know the answer to your question as I've only been on the Empress and the Duchess which don't have laundry facilities.  I looked at the deck plan of the American Queen and did see there is a little tiny room labelled laundry, I believe it was on deck 4.  I'm hoping someone else has more information for you!