Jimmcdaniel

We are on the 2023 WC (just around the corner). We had some confusion about this on our cruise. As best I can tell, the current plan is the the pre-cruise night is included but the gala will be held onboard the ship after boarding.

A lot depends on which airlines you are connecting with. If it is BA to BA, 2,5 hours is probably fine—all in terminal 5. If you are going BA to American, that means a bus ride from terminal 5 to terminal 3 with an additional security check. 2 hours would be my minimum. It all depends on the security lines and how crowded the bus is. I’m not that familiar with other airline partner connections.

In the new terminal they were very quick scooping up the luggage. A little too fast actually. I had put one of the colored baggage tags on my carry on just for identification and the porters had it on a trolley before I knew it. I thought it had been lost but all was fine. Make sure your taxi drives to the drop-off point under the terminal and doesn't drop you on the street. Since it is new some of the drivers aren't familiar with it. The new terminal is very nice and clean and under cover. The only drawback is that it is a pretty long walk after your bags are collected and you have checked in to actually get to the ship.

Wow. In two days you guys went from giving Regent another chance to "off our list". What happened? Your previous posts have always seemed positive on the balance towards Regent. Just wondering what changed your mind. I respect your opinion--just wondering what happened.

I think this is a very nice addition to the later evening offerings on the ship. I have been on two different cruises where Sapori E Amari was offered. The staff did not detract from the staffing at other venues. This was especially nice after a night at Sete Mari--continuing with the Italian theme. They also offer additional bites and nibbles if not readily available at the Meridian Lounge across the way.

@flossie009We did the "A French Love Affair" class on Splendor last month. The dishes we prepared were fantastic but the class ran a little long. I would allow 2.5 hours if you want to stay until the very end and/or you want to eat and enjoy all the food you cooked. Of course, you can leave early if you have to. You are not allowed to take any of the food you prepare out of the Kitchen. @traveljkkk, I believe I counted 18 cooking stations in the classroom. I might be off by a couple.

But they usually are carving Prime Rib in La Veranda.

A scheduled deck BBQ is a likely reason for the black-out on restaurant reservations. We had this situation on a recent Splendor cruise. Turned out the weather didn't cooperate and the deck event had to be cancelled. It was super easy to get reservations for any time at any of the restaurants on that evening after the cancellation. If you are interested in reservation for those nights keep your ears open for schedule changes and talk to the maitre d' at the restaurant.

Basically, yes. Although in my experience about half the people on the tour didn't read the instructions, download the app, or have headphones so they just had to walk close to the guide so they could hear.

903 Review.xlsx This is for Splendor

If you are OK with one of the smaller suites, you can get on the waitlist for the 2024 WC. There was a long wait list for the 2023 WC but it cleared once final payment was due (in July) for the Concierge and Veranda suites.

After getting forcibly disembarked form Mariner in Perth, Australia in March of 2020 and having Regent air seamlessly get us back to the US at the start of the Covid crisis, I am a fan. Our last trip to Scandinavia, two weeks ago, LAX-CPH and ARN-LHR-LAX, was also without drama despite all the horror stories out there about the summer of 2022 airline meltdown. Some flights do work as scheduled. Regent air hasn't let me down yet. Just saying.....

So sorry to hear about your covid experience. It sounded (from a different one you your posts) that you were diagnosed right after we spoke on the bus in Oslo. It wasn't us!!😇 Honest! Glad you didn't have any severe symptoms. We thought that trip was great also and We will be back on Splendor in September. Four more booked after that. I am looking for things to continuously improve. Fair winds and calm seas.... Jim

For Splendor:

Anybody gotten a peek at these itineraries yet?

It would be nice to at least be able to look at the itineraries before pre-registration.

I think I have to agree. After getting stuck in Australia for 11 extra days for a totally asymptomatic Covid infection, I would be very comfortable with a vax+boost requirement for everyone onboard and call it good. This testing is really a crap shoot. The vaccines are great for preventing and/or minimizing illness but low-level infections are an entirely different animal. Not having to take a test would be a huge stress relief.

I think throwing a bunch of untrained people into the custom air department would be a disaster. This situation certainly isn't ideal but hopefully it will also sort itself out soon. What Regent is proposing sounds like a reasonable action--at least for the short term.