papaflamingo

CRONUTS in Coffee Connection... enough said! 😎

Our experience too. The side we heard was the couch side of the cabin where we shared a common wall with couches back to back. On the tv side, we never heard a peep, and neither did our friends on that side from us. Only time we heard anything was when our neighbor was, it seemed, sitting on his couch and talking to his wife across the room. Otherwise it was quiet. Oh yeah, I was also sitting on our couch when I heard him, so only about 6 inches away through the wall.

Our experience too. What I was saying is that the insulation (or lack of) is the same for all suites on Grandeur. I doubt they insulated some cabin levels more than others. I do think it has to do with common walls. Like others said, we only heard our neighbors from the "couch side" of the cabin not the "tv side." And the "tv side" were friends of ours and they never heard us either. So I think the actual problem, for us at least, was only when our neighbors were sitting on their couch, which shared a common wall with our couch, and talking across the room. Otherwise it was very quiet.

We had a similar offer last year. We were booked on Navigator last March for a 10 night Caribbean cruise. On Christmas 2022 we had a pipe freeze with major house damage. Too late to cancel, we were going to let the construction crew simply continue the repair well we were gone. Four days before the cruise got an email asking if we would be interested in changing to Mariner in Dec. and an upgrade to a Penthouse and about a 20% refund! JUMPED ON IT! As you may know.... Navigator to Mariner IS and upgrade, and Mariner's Penthouses are fantastic!!! AND it allowed us to be home to finish the house repair! So...win-win for sure! These offers come along. For us it was a "God send." But if it doesn't work for you don't take it. As for shore excursions, we were still able to get everyone we wanted except one and we cleared that waiting list about 2 weeks later. So it all depends on where the ship is going, etc. You may or may not be able to get excursions. Specialty Dining you can probably get when you get on board. So if excursions are "make it or break it" for you then don't change cruises. Othewise if it works to your advantage and is worth the savings, go for it. But call Regent and see what they say about cabin assignment, etc. and if you don't like what you hear simply say no thank you.

Honestly, I think insulation is the same in all the suites and not as big a problem as everyone thinks. We had friends on one side, the side that the tv was on, and their tv was on our wall. We never heard them and they never heard us. On the side we had our couch, as I said earlier, we heard our neighbors maybe 3 times in 16 days and never at night or during any sleep time. Since I was sitting on our couch, I suspect one of them was sitting on their couch on the other side of our wall so we were literally inches apart, and that's when I heard them. But I heard NO complaints by anyone on board and our friend heard nothing at all. So really, don't "over think" this. If you get a neighbor that is consistently loud, just let them know and ask if they can talk quieter.

The "guide" was supplied by the Canal and I was surprised to find he was Panamanian since his English was better than mine. So probably "luck of the draw," whoever is working the day the ship transits.

First....make sure you have activated WiFi Calling in your phone settings. If not, do that before leaving home. It'll ask you to fill out emergency information, just use your home address. It's simply to tell emergency services where you are since you'll be on wifi and not traceable. Second... when you board the ship, put your phone in "airplane mode." Third..... log onto the ships internet. Your phone should automatically go into WiFi Calling. You can verify this by looking on the upper left corner of your phone where it shows the carrier. We have ATT so ours shows "ATT wi-fi." Yours will show something like "VZW Wi-Fi." This means you are now in wifi calling and can use the phone as if you are in your home for no additional charges. Just be sure to keep it in "airplane" mode. The phone will "decide" which to use, cell or wifi, due to signal strength. So to be sure the wifi is stronger, remove the cell from the equation by selecting "airplane" mode. Also in ports, you can do the same if you have wifi coverage like in a wifi cafe, etc.

Just off Grandeur yesterday. So...my experience. The ship is beautiful! I found all the food excellent... .then again I probably am not that fussy. But it was always hot and very good. Service in the Compass Rose was pretty good. Took about 2 hours for dinner. They work extremely hard, but seemed they might be understaffed. Yes I wrote that up. It's not the crew, they were running like sprinters every night. Just didn't seem enough of them. Occasionally (about 2 or 3 times in 16 nights) our sommelier seemed to disappear. But not really much of a problem. Still... service tended to be a bit slow. It was great in the specialty restaurants. Cabin..... we had an F-2 Superior Suite cabin 811. LOVED the layout, storage, etc. Yes, we could hear our neighbor when sitting on the couch. BUT only heard them a couple of times. So I agree 100% they didn't insulate well enough. I'm not a conspiracy theorist so I'm not going to speculate as to why, it just is what it is. But it NEVER interrupted our sleep or rest. Again, only heard them talking maybe 3 times in 16 days. So my guess... I was on our couch, they were on their couch and we were back to back against the wall so.... anyway, not an issue at all. Panama Canal..... We had a great lecture prior to the Canal on the history and building of the Canal. And we had a local guide provided that was absolutely fascinating. He spoke perfect English and broadcasted from the Bridge explaining everything and then held a talk (I didn't go) in the Constellation Theater. Oh yeah.... there was also a video on the history of the Canal on the TV. So...not sure what more they could have done. Oh yeah there are also "tons" of videos on the web about the canal. If you are going, watch one or two before you go. You'll know way more than you ever wanted to. Anyway... most of cruising is a combination of expectations, keep them "real," and subjective opinion. What I find excellent others may find substandard. Best advice, take ALL opinions and reviews with a grain of salt. And remember, it's a ship, it's crewed by multi-national crews, it moves, it's got limited resources. But overall...it's a cruise on a spectacular ship where they do everything in their power to make you happy. Enjoy. 😎

Look at it this way... the longer we sit at the bar, the better the stories get. Just make sure we can use our hands. After all, no aviation story has been told without hand movement! 🤣

First.. you do need a good TA. But what I've found is if there's a cruise I am interested in I have my TA put a 7 day hold on the cabin I'm interested in. That way I get an actual booking with all the charges displayed. Then I can pay the deposit, cancel the cruise, or simply do nothing and let it expire. But at least I have a lock on the cabin and rate and know exactly what I'm looking at.

No worries. Check lower on your booking to the "Payments" section. I checked a couple of ours (old cruise and upcoming cruise) and both showed a $75 payment and a $275 payment. The custom air payment, being non refundable, is made at the time you make the arrangements and accept them. So you've already been charged, paid, and credited for those fees and they shouldn't be included in the remaining final payment, but show as part of the cost of the cruise.

For the record I was a Coast Guard Pilot. We'll have to get together and share "sea stories," And just in case you're unsure of the mission of the the Coast Guard, 😜

Sounds like a plan. One thing I'm good at is "giving advice." First and foremost though... always remember "how can you tell if a pilot's lying? His lips are moving." 😜

We got a "buyout" offer last March for our Navigator cruise. We were in an E cabin so a bit upgraded for position on ship. Long story short, we had a pipe burst on Christmas 2022. We had made final payment so had to keep the cruise. Four days before we sailed (we were all packed and ready to go), we got an email from Regent with the buyout offer. Of course we jumped on it as we were in the middle of repairs to our house. The offer was for a similar itinerary (10 night Caribbean) but at the end of Nov. or beginning of Dec. on Mariner, not Navigator, and an upgrade to Penthouse (GREAT DEAL if you have seen Mariner's Penthouses), and an amount back that was about 20% refund. So we really lucked out. But the buyout is "first come, first served." We got the last Penthouse and turned out it was a Penthouse A so a HUGE upgrade. So, don't know how many others were offered buyouts or how many took them, but for us it was a fantastic deal especially considering our house repair situation. I'm a retired Pilot, and as all Pilots know "luck is better than skill any day." 😎

Thanks for the info.

You know, I was going to point out that the definition of "accuse" is "claim that (someone) has done something wrong." And that the poster did state that "Regent have been very devious" is definitely an accusation and adding "I suspect, mis-selling the cruise" would also fall under the definition of a "claim" of wrong doing. But heck.... since you say I'm wrong and "owe an apology," well ok then, here I go. I officially apologize for interpreting "Regent have been very devious and, I suspect, mis-selling the cruise" as an accusation of wrong doing as opposed to a mere "suspicion" with "no evidence" of a wrong doing. My bad.

Thanks. I was curious because others have said in the past that if they ask for a lounger the cabin steward would bring one. Just wondering if that still worked. Not sure if my balcony will be big enough, but if so, I may give it a shot.

Did you ask for a lounger when on board? Wondering because we are in an F-1 in Feb.

I was on Navigator for 40 nights last year. Loved the ship and cruise, but we also upgraded (Deluxe E) to get forward on the ship. Navigator does noticeably vibrate in the stern. You are making a good choice.

If you read MY post you'll see I didn't comment on you "criticizing" Regent, I said you shouldn't accuse them of committing a crime. And I did "bother" to read your post. You said " Regent have been very devious and, I suspect, mis-selling the cruise." CLEARLY stating that they are purposefully committing fraud. I don't care if you criticize, go for it. But to actually accuse anyone of purposefully committing a crime is uncalled for. So if you are going to challenge me to "read your post," perhaps you should be sure to read MY post. Perhaps you found my comment "If you were offered a full refund, why are you making both an issue of the itinerary change and a baseless accusation? What more, than a full refund, do you want." Maybe... but still wondering... if you get a full refund, why are you complaining? They changed the itinerary,. you were able to cancel for a full refund... what's the problem?

You really believe that Regent changed their policy simply to "irritate the customer?" 🤣 Perhaps it had more to do with the fact that people would book cruises years out then when final payment came about they'd cancel. Meantime the cruise was waitlisted and the best cabins were held out of inventory for a year or more. Maybe they figured that by charging $100 non refundable non FCC that people would only book cruises that they fully intended to sail on. I don't know... just a thought.

My point, the accusation of "bait and switch" is constantly made on these boards. That is blatantly illegal in the U.S. and I find it very irresponsible to accuse anyone of committing a crime with nothing more than your "suspicion." There are lots of reasons that cruise lines EVERY cruise line, changes their itineraries, especially so far in advance. If you were offered a full refund, why are you making both an issue of the itinerary change and a baseless accusation? What more, than a full refund, do you want? By the way, if you had brought legal action in the U.S. you would have wasted your money. You accept, by contract, the right of a cruise line to make itinerary changes. This is also standard across the industry.

1. What I meant was it's a standard fee industry wide with few exceptions (actually quite low in the industry). 2. Have you contacted your TA to see if he or she can work with Regent to transfer your deposit, including the $100, to a new cruise? Often they can be "convinced" by a good TA. 3. Everyone better get used to the fact that itineraries change all the time for many reasons on EVERY cruise line, especially in these times of potential world upheaval and record weather events. So if someone isn't willing to accept this, maybe cruising isn't the right vacation, or make sure to get "cancel for any reason" travel insurance.

That's a very serious charge and would certainly lead to some serious legal action in the U.S. if it can be proven. Can you back this up or are you just throwing it out there?

That's a standard administrative fee to cancel a cruise prior to final payment. From the Regent website: "For cancellations made from the date of deposit to 121 days prior to cruise sail date, an administrative fee of $100 per person for suite categories MS-H will apply."