Whinenowine

I was just about to ask this. Looks stunning from the pics fellow CCers have posted. And I can only hope that there is no music piped in there,...or it's at a very low volumes if it is there.

Saw her docked this morning when I drove to work; quite pretty. Enjoy the trip....we're not on her for another 7 months, so until then I'll live vicariously through you (as I did last December)!

Nice video, Jim, thanks for sharing. Never sailed on an S-class ship, so curious to see how it stacks up against M-class and E-class. But 2 bottles of Grey Goose is a lot to go through....even for Iain! Then again...there ARE a lot of sea days coming up..... 🍸

Oh my....I'm going into a food coma just looking at this pic. Thanks for all the great posts. I've been following along intently (and not just because I was born on the island you lived on).

Oddly I booked on the Grandeur under the Black Friday Sale in Nov and got the $1k in OBC, plus my TA got me the $300 AMEX OBC. I'd love to apply for the shareholder OBC too but am I bit afraid I'll lose one or both of the above. First time on Regent so I've no context here.

If a cop let's you off the hook from a speeding ticket and you tip him....I guess it's no longer a bribe...!! 🤪

Ahh you stole my thunder by a few minutes! 😄

New Oceania ships are a bit larger than the Vista/Allura (67k tons, roughly 1250-1300 passengers).Following the trends in the luxury segment (RSSC, SilverSea, etc)

I'll be at a wine dinner about 40 blocks north of you (well, northwest of you). Enjoy!

French Quarter is a great hotel, and right next to the market (I think I saw the back of the hotel in one of Z's pictures). I second Husk too...is S.N.O.B. still any good?

Haven't stayed at the one in Rome but if it's anything like the Westin Excelsior in Florence it should be very nice. It was almost as nice as the St. Regis a block away (at least I'll pretend that so I don't have to foot the St Regis bill!).

Good point. I wonder if you at least get a room upgrade/etc if you have status....? I'm guessing many of us have at least Gold status from our AMEX cards.

That's a gorgeous shot! Perhaps the best so far (to my aging eyes).

I certainly agree, at least for people of a certain age or with the means to do so. Make sure all is ok with the younger generations while enjoying what you got while you can. We've been telling my octogenarian in-laws to do just that. Unfortunately what I'm seeing anecdotally are people in their 20s-40s spending all they make (and often more) with no understanding or aforethought about how they'll pay for college/weddings/etc or, for that matter, for their own retirement. Either they think their parents will pay for it or the government will pay for it. I'm not talking about people actually struggling in this market...those living paycheck-to-paycheck because there is no choice. Rather I'm talking about people who live paycheck-to-paycheck because they WANT to (the ultimate American consumer).

Whew! Just made it through all the posts so far. Jim--you guys are the only posters on CC who have 7 pages of posts BEFORE you even leave for the airport. You'll likely be north of 12 pages before you set foot on the ship. I think that says a lot about you and Iain--the quality of your posts and the friendliness with which you engage your fellow CCers. While this trip isn't on the docket for me anytime soon, I'll still follow the thread closely and live vicariously through you two. Can't wait to see the shirts you guys will be rocking this time!

🤣

Seems to be the best of both worlds. Faster, more comfortable arrival with no luggage to weigh you down. Likely what we'll do later this year.

We overlapped in HK! Very possible we rubbed elbows in Lan Kwai Fong. Those were the days--unlimited congee and dim sum (and a metabolism young enough to easily process it!).

In our case it may get DW to drink even more to get the image out of her mind. I mean, I need to gargle with bourbon each morning after looking at myself in the bathroom mirror. 😁

Smart man....been several decades of co-habitation for me and I still haven't fully learned my lesson. 😇

One of the reasons I booked a Category D cabin on the Grandeur later this year is for the larger balcony (vs the Superior Suite) so I could have a lounger. But I've ready elsewhere that, at least on the Grandeur, guests below a Penthouse were being (very politely) turned down when they requested a lounger.

And I'll be waiting to jump back in if/when this all falls apart.

Could this be an inflection point where the consumer has finally said 'Enough' about being charged more for less? I thought the current insane trend had more room to run, but maybe I'm wrong. It still feels like the Retreat is being fully milked for all it's worth but maybe this is the beginning of the end.

Ah...'nuff said! Thanks @RichYak and @dlh015. I didn't think I said anything untoward...though these days one never can tell! 😁

I got my $1k OBC from Regent's Thanksgiving sale back in November. And another $300 from AMEX. My problem is DW barely drinks these days, so I'll have to either power through the whole bottle (which I'd really rather not do) or order something that will last for 2 nights....so no Champers por moi. I've given up on many wine regions because prices just got out of control over the past 4-5 years. But I'm lucky in that I bought enough over the last 20-30 years to keep me going for a long time.