cruiseej

@daetchief Thanks for your reply. I'm waiting to hear back from my TA about the pricing and various discounts. (Sometimes recent cruisers have better info than even good TA. 😉 ) We'd be happy with a no-tub/large shower bathroom. The one thing we don't like about the layout of Seabourn ships is the tiny shower and wasted (for us) space of a bathtub. But we've never sprung for a higher-level suite. The Splendor Penthouse suites look great; just not sure we want to spend that much since we're usually out and about on the ship rather than spending a lot of time in our suite. But the step up from a Deluxe Verandah to Superior or Concierge seems pretty enticing. For flights, does Regent just assign them? Can we request flights via our TA? What happens if the flight they come up with is a poor routing? Thanks!

Oh, yes. (On both counts!) This week is passing very slowly waiting for Sunday! Sorry about your Jags. Hopefully our former coach will bring you more good results in the years ahead. Thank you for the offer of your book. If you email me at jacobsedj at gmail, I'll send you my address.

If anyone knows of someone who received one of these books and doesn't want it, I'd be happy to pay shipping to take it off their hands; just let me know. We certainly don't rank enough with SS to be one of 4,000 customers to receive one. But we're planning to visit the Galapagos on the Origin next year, so having a memento (can one have a memento of a trip we have yet to take?!) would be nice! 🤣

@Wendy The Wanderer I remember you from when I was a fairly regular reader and contributor on this forum a decade or so ago when we did a bunch of Regent cruises. 🙂 Since I know you've cruised on Voyager and Mariner, ships we also previously cruised on, I'd be especially interested in your assessment of whether the additional cost for your Concierge suite seems to you to be a worthwhile upgrade over the smaller Deluxe Veranda like on the older ships. (I'd welcome anyone else's thoughts on Deluxe Veranda versus Superior versus Concierge versus Penthouse as well.)

We've happily cruised on Regent seven times in the past, but none in the past 10 years, and none since the newest ships came into the fleet. (We've been enjoying the smaller Seabourn ships and a few Silversea expedition cruises.) Now, we're looking at a Regent cruise late this summer due to itinerary and timing, so I'm trying to read as much as I can on this board to catch up on all the things I don't know — or have forgotten 😉 — about Regent! I'd appreciate if any of you can answer a few questions (or point me to answers if they've already been asked and answered many times). The cruise we're looking at is a circumnavigation of Iceland on the Splendor, departing August 23. 1) I'd welcome any comments (good or bad) from anyone who has done this, or a similar Iceland itinerary. 2) As I'm seeing it online, this cruise has their "2-for-1" pricing plus 20% off, plus a 2-category suite upgrade. It also shows this cruise is eligible for Seven Seas Society discount. Is that stackable on top of the 20% off, or is it either/or? 3) Since it's been a long time since we've sailed on Regent, and before the newest ships, the 15 different suite levels is a little daunting. 😉 Omitting the high-end suites (Seven Seas, Splendor, and above); what advise would you offer about the value of moving up from Deluxe Verandah to Superior to Concierge to Penthouse suites? Is Superior a big step up over Deluxe Veranda? concierge seems to be the same suite size as Superior, so would you choose that because of added amenities (such as a pre-cruise hotel night)? Is the additional step up to Penthouse a game-changing experience? We're typically interested in mid-ship and low-to-mid rather than upper decks; is it correct that the higher sub-levels of each suite type are identical rooms on higher deck? Are there any suites/areas you'd avoid on the Splendor? 4) I know Regent includes business class air on flights for travel between the US and Europe. Is it correct assuming Iceland qualifies as Europe for these purposes? If we have to do a connecting flight from the east coast of the US to connect through Newark or Boston, is the domestic flight business class, or is that flight in economy? With Regent air, do we get any control over selecting our flights (Seabourn lets you see and select flights online), or do we throw ourselves on the mercy of their air department (which is the way Silversea works)? If we want to fly a day early, and we don't get that extra day included for being in a Concierge or higher suite, is there a deviation fee? Thank you in advance for your knowledge and expertise on Regent matters. We're looking forward to coming back to Regent!

I think the bigger problem than whether you or the airline will provide you a hotel is what their capacity would be to rebook you. The flight the next day might be sold out. Almost certainly business class would be; if you're flying business class, would you accept economy seats to get home? Or another connection, such as Seattle to Atlanta or New York, to connect to a flight to LHR? (I forget when your cruise ends; your odds are better if you're traveling before the tourist season ramps up as winter ends.) Hopefully, you will achieve success with SS Air on your desired flights in the near future!

What are you sayin'? 😉 Is that a reference to Starlink owner Elon Musk, who many people are not fans of? Or the product itself? It's worth noting that although Starlink has spent billions launching their current 3,200 or so satellites, their plans call for getting to 3 times as many, or more. And the satellites have a relatively short life (5+ years) before burning up in the atmosphere, so the cost of replacements will soon be as much as building the initial network. And the company is still losing millions of dollars a month. So it's not a sure thing Starlink will be a viable long-term solution. Many of the cruise companies are installing it, because of its promise for a marked improvement over existing satellite technology, but the long-term path remains uncertain.

@wesport As you note, they still show the first 7 days out of Athens to Haifa. But if you search for cruises departing from Haifa in August, it also shows the subsequent 7 days from Haifa to Athens. And there are still V1-V4 suites available on that segment. Was your original booking sold as a single 14-day cruise, or two 7-day back-to-back cruises? It's possible the 14-day has been removed from sale because there are too few suites open on both segments. But it certainly doesn't seem like anything has been canceled or removed from the planned voyages. 🙂 Or it's just a website glitch, which is not uncommon. 😉

There are reasons not to worry or stress, but no one can make the current state of travel be what it's not. There are more hoops to jump through, and more frequent problem points than there used to be. That said, my advice to @Flamin_June would be to sit down and type out a checklist of all the issues you'll need to deal with from now until boarding. Re-arrange them to put them into a proper timeframe between now and boarding. Pulling out the suitcases? Put that down for one week (two weeks?) before the cruise. Completing any required or suggested online flight/immigration forms (such as Verifly)? Put that down for two days before departure. Double-checking passports? Do that today, and put them in a pile of documents to take with you. And cross it off the list. Vaccine cards? Pull them out and put them with the passports. And cross it off the list. Selecting clothes for packing? Put this on the list wherever has worked for you in the past (for some people, that's two weeks in advance, for some one week, for some 36 hours!). Over the next couple days, you'll think of some additional things you didn't have on the original list. Pack binoculars? Oh, right… add it to the list. Check airline reservation and flight times? Check it now on both the Seabourn and airline website, and put it on the list to check again a few more times, on specific dates. The key is that when something is on the list and you've done it, you cross it off and wipe it from your mind. And equally important, once something is on the list, and it's still in the future, strike it from your mind for now. The point of the list is to keep all the details and things to do from circling endlessly in your mind, driving you nuts. The list is organized; you've checked it and double-checked it and triple checked it. You don't need to keep thinking about things, because they're either already done or on the list with an assigned time to do them. Every day or two, look at your list and be excited about what you have to do that day. This should allow you to relax, and get back to the joy of anticipating your upcoming trip, rather than worrying repeatedly about the magnitude of things you need to do. 🙂

Okay, that's being a backup or understudy singer. 😉 But these carefully constructed ship shows are apparently built around 2 singers and 6 dancers. On Seabourn, for contrast, the troupe is 4 singers who also do some choreography, and a couple who are ballet/ballroom dancers who perform on some of the numbers. With 4 singers, they can move between solo songs, a couple, 2 men or 2 women, and all 4; it's pretty versatile for plugging into different songs. The new two-singer SS format just seemed a little more limited to me. I'm not saying it's bad or wrong; I was just a little surprised with the emphasis on a troupe of 6 dancers more than the vocalists.

@Fsulaw1 We're looking at a Regent cruise based on itinerary and dates, and haven't been on Regent since business class air was included. How does flight selection work with Regent? Can you view and pick your flights, like Seabourn, or do you throw yourself upon the mercy of the air department gods, like Silversea?

But not at midnight! 🤣

@Fletcher They did not have that mug in stock when we were there about a month ago, or I'm quite certain we'd have one in our kitchen right now! Update: I just checked the South Georgia Heritage Trust's website, and they have an online shop -- and that mug is available! If the shipping from the UK to the US isn't outrageous, I'll be ordering. Thanks for posting that picture! Update: ordered! For others who didn't get a chance to purchase any souvenirs, you can check out the site as well: https://www.sghtonline.gs/ Some of the merchandise is specific to South Georgia Island, but some is "generic penguins". 😉 And for those who didn't visit South Georgia Island, the South Georgia Heritage Trust is a great non-profit organization to support with a purchase, to boot.

I'm delighted at the live musicians. A 4-piece band is smaller than what Seabourn uses, but is nonetheless a big step forward from pre-recorded backing tracks. I'm a little surprised by the mix of 2 singers and 6 dancers though; I would have thought they'd have more singers to be the stars of the show.

Terry, there was some pretty convoluted logic in the last paragraph you quoted: "The reality is that health concerns aside, crew members -- especially those in positions that get tipped -- take a financial risk if they opt to not wear a mask. When a crew member gets covid, they're quarantined for a minimum of five days (pending negative tests)." "Health concerns aside"?? No, as the sentence which follows makes clear, it's entirely about health concerns! Some crew members wear a mask because they believe it will reduce the chances of them getting Covid and being quarantined. I think everyone yearns for a time when no one, passengers or staff, are required to or feel a need to wear a mask. But we all see the news, and we all know that Covid, while it's now rarely fatal and usually not a significant illness for those who have been vaccinated, is still around. Passengers should know that a crew member wearing a mask is doing so because (a) the cruise line requires newly boarded crew to do so for a short time after boarding, or (b) because they have a cold (non-Covid) and don't want to infect others, or (c) because they are trying to everything they can to remain healthy and on the job — none of which should cause any passengers to be uneasy or resentful. No one is hiding anything! If a crew member has Covid, or the flu, they are most certainly confined to their cabin and not allowed to work.

We've booked a SS cruise for 2024, and unlike in the past, SS is not providing price or availability of business class air until sometime in the future. I guess they don't want to be in the futures market and guessing incorrectly about future prices. Or perhaps it's the airlines which don't want to sign long-term bulk contracts so they aren't caught having sold underpriced flights.

We were just on the Cloud for 18 days in Antarctica, and had a fabulous time. Yes, the Venture is new and nicer — it also costs considerably more, especially with SS including air and Seabourn not. Aside from missing a venue like Seabourn Square or the Arts Cafe on newer ships, we did not find the Cloud lacking as an expedition cruise ship. Given the same itinerary and no cost constraints, of course I'd choose Venture over the Cloud. (Although, it should be noted, we booked the Cloud over the Venture for our recent Antartica trip, primarily due to the massive price difference, and the old Cloud made it to the Falklands and South Georgia Island — even made it a day early to beat a storm — while the shiny new Venture had to cancel those key parts of their identical itinerary due to its broken stabilizers! 🤣) I'm not saying your opinions aren't valid, @markham; I just wanted to present another opinion for anyone who might be considering a trip on the Cloud.

My reply to your post had two laughing-out-loud emojis to convey that I was joking about the fact that most of your trip is at sea. I'm sorry you didn't see the humor as intended. As a more serious answer: Honolulu is where you board, so there wouldn't be any excursions listed. Vancouver is where you disembark, so there are usually not excursions listed; onboard, you will likely receive a choice fo an airport transfer or and airport transfer with a tour. So you actually have four port stops on your cruise: Hilo, Maui and Kauai, and Victoria. Fortunately, these are all destinations where there is plenty you can do on your own from the cruise dock. The stop in Kauai is fairly short (listed as departing at 3 pm), so what I'd expect for there is an excursion to Waimea canyon; there's just not enough time to get up to the north shore and back. I'm not sure why there are no excursions listed for Maui, though; that seems odd. The good thing is that you can probably book something on your own (and for less than Seabourn would charge!); there are tons of tour operators on Maui, and many will have pickups at the cruise port there. Or rent a car for the day. Go on the Road to Hana, go to the top of Haleakala, or go to a beach/beach resort for the day. And in Victoria, it's again a short (6 hour) stop, but I'm sure you can get a tour, or just take a cab, to Butchart Gardens (the must-do destination if you've never been here before), or just walk around the city if you prefer. @Hobar Sorry to have hijacked your thread! 🙂 Bowing out now…

Yes, many countries use a comma and period in amounts opposite what US and Canada do. So "35.900" on the menu is 35,900 Chilean pesos. And yes, that's about $43.44 in US dollars and $58.45 in Canadian dollars. I'm not finding a menu online, but there's no doubt it's an expensive meal. (We wanted to dine here on our recent pre-cruise stay, but they were having a special wine event at the hotel and Matsuri was closed the two days we were there.)

One might observe that there's a lot of ocean between Honolulu and Vancouver without ports and therefore without excursions! 🤣🤣

It seems like Silversea may have struck a better deal with their charter flights between Santiago and Puerto Williams in Chile, on Antarctic Airways, than Seabourn has with JetSmart Argentina. Everything on the Antarctic Always flights are branded for Silversea, from the signage in the private airport terminal in Santiago to the meal service menus to the crew uniforms to the wireless entertainment offerings. We enjoyed our DAP charter flights, and most people seem to review them as somewhere between pretty good and excellent.

Yes, the cancellation is because it needs a dry dock visit. There's clearly not one along the Amazon though! 😉 So they need to get the ship to where a dry dock is available, when one is available. And since it's a new ship and there may be warrant issues involved, it may need to be a dry dock operated or selected by the builder. Of course, we don't know the details of the problem, either. Is there just bent metal on the stabilizer or a broken motor or controller — or is there a more fundamental design problem which requires more extensive construction work? Based on the length of time the ship will be out of service, minus the time needed for transit to Europe, it seems like a rather long dry dock, so the repairs may be extensive.

And now we all want to know: which ships get it when? 😉

While this is true, they have added the "poison pill" provision of a non-refundable deposit with P2P fares. If you're booking cruise a few months in advance, this isn't an issue. But if you're booking a year or two or more in advance, in exchange for your lower fare, you're locking in that nothing in your life or the world will change such that you might want to cancel or switch to another cruise. To me, that's the biggest reason to steer clear of the P2P fares in many cases.

It's their Premium internet service; no one suggested it was like being hard-wired on land. It does allow you to connect with multiple devices at a time, which Standard does not. It may give you better bandwidth, depending on a host of factors, including where in the world you are, which ship and how full it is, high usage versus slower times, etc.