Bruce61

Hello: We are booking our second Regent cruise, July 25 on Splendor, 18 nights from Reykjavik to London. On our last cruise in Alaska heading Southbound on Explorer, it was clearly better to be on the left (Port) side of the ship (and we were on the right (Starboard) side). On this trip, are there recommendations as to which side is better to see sights while sailing from the room? Let me know as I plan to book this tomorrow!

It is interesting that I found this older thread here on CC. The same misleading quote continues to appear in their print advertising and online for the Distinctive Suites. When I send an email asking about this after returning from the Explorer in an Explorer Suite (where I was limited to my three pre-cruise reservations and they were booked solid each additional night), the guest relations administrator responded quite snarky: "Kindly note that the details do not state each evening:" I am sorry but their text (which discusses the "guaranteed reservations at your favorite specialty restaurants, an intimate in-suite caviar service and full liquor bar set-up"), is intended to distinguish (excuse the pun) these suites from the others. The others allow limited reservations (one per restaurant guaranteed), so this should be intended to suggest more than what the other suites offer. This is ambiguous at best, and misleading at worst.

Thanks for the advice. Seems sound.

We are looking at an 18-day cruise on Splendor sailing in July 2024 (Iceland to London). I believe shore excursion bookings have been open for concierge level and up for about three months. If I booked now, will there still be decent choices available? Also. curious of on a longer cruise like this we are entitled to make more than one dinner reservation for each specialty restaurant in advance (obviously when the reservations open up)? Thanks for the information.

On Explorer in September, we were offered to upgrade from Concierge to Explorer suite about five days before we sailed, It was wonderful. Enjoy it! I think the piano is a player piano so try that out too. Curious on the upgrades - did you book direct with Regent or through a travel agency? I am curious if that has anything to do with who is offered upgrades like this.

We sailed on the Explorer from Seward to Vancouver September 13. Received an email from Regent a few days before we left for Alaska offering upgrades, and we upgraded from Concierge to an Explorer Suite (some say former Seven Seas Suite), Suite 1011, for what I viewed as a fair cost. Great Suite. Seems to be below the smoking area on the pool deck. Since it was an Alaska cruise and the weather was cold, no one was using the pool deck but on one or two occasions we did hear furniture being moved in the morning. I would book this suite again, even if not getting a discounted upgrade price. Everything about the suite was great. The actual door between the bedroom and living area allowed my wife to sleep in while I get up a bit early. It has one and one-half baths. She did not even hear the coffee maker which was a bit loud. We would have liked to use the balcony but the weather was not warm enough. On our second to last night they tied down all the furniture as the seas were expected to be rough. There was one night that it was pretty rough all night. The night they tied things down they said it would be rough for a window of time (about three hours) and they were spot on. If money was no object, I would probably book the Grand suite next door or across the ship (1012 or 1015, respectively). Only peeve about the ship, and it is a first world peeve, is the advertising for "distinguished suites" online and also in their printed literature suggest that the Distinctive Suites are entitled to guaranteed specialty restaurant reservations. (https://www.rssc.com/experience/suites/distinctive-suites). That is only true for Regent, Grand and Master suites. My only other peeve is the included lodging in Anchorage was the Hilton, and it was pretty run-down. We are looking at a 19 night mediterranean cruise on Regent for 2025.