JC in CA

Car rental might be an idea- store luggage in the trunk and go wherever we want....

thanks all!

Thanks Ham and Flossie!

I will look into hop on hop off bus and the restaurant recommendation!

Thanks! Good to know that Regent will most probably have something going on.

Hopefully will hear from someone here - would rather have an idea of what we will be doing, rather than plan it mid cruise.

Nope- won't be Regent air - had to book our own for business class - much better price on our own.  Will we still be able to do a post cruise excursion without using Regent air?  I couldn't find anything on the website about post cruise excursions, only during the cruise.

-Jerie

Hello,

Planning WAY ahead here, we will have a few hours after disembarking the Mariner next October.  Our flight isn't until 6 PM out of MIA.  Any suggestions on what do do between leaving the ship and needing to be at the airport?

thanks in advance!

-Jerie

GOARMY-

The Path Between the Seas is our reading material right now!

My hubby is a red wine drinker- will make a note of it- thanks!

-Jerie

GOARMY and Zqueeze1-

THANK YOU! And yes, I was yelling - with great appreciation!!!!

Our flight won't be till 6 pm- so we should be fine, thank you for the warning!

My husband and I were just talking about the Salsa and Salsa excursion- it had caught my eye - on your recommendation, it is now top of our list!

Heading over to those threads now,

thanks again!

-Jerie

3 hours ago, journeyfan said:

I've booked this cruise and I took the air credit since Regent would only book coach as this is a domestic cruise.  You can get much better flights booking yourself ..... especially if you  have frequent flyer miles to use.  It cost me nothing to book my own air.

We are working through a travel agent and asked her to check into business class through Regent Air for us.  She is going to check both through Regent and booking directly.  Unfortunately no frequent flyer miles for us to use....

10 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

Hair in ponytail 😀

oh yes!

RC,

Yep, could be weather issues, but this was the only Regent Panama cruise that fit our schedule.

Not a fan of humidity, but, I'll get through it!

David,

I am a bit worried that we may like cruising on Regent TOO much! 

hehe

-Jerie

Thanks Jackie!

Yes, we are getting a good chunk of "mail money" as an amenity from our TA; thanks to learning here that some TA's will do that!  She does regularly book clients on Regent and seems to be quite knowledgeable.  I corresponded with 4 different TA's who all said they were cruise specialists prior to picking her.  Hopefully I chose well.....

She is checking with Regent to see what the deviation will cost - we are flying out of SJC to Miami and then from Miami to SFO (can't get a direct flight back to SJC from Miami- even though you can get their directly from SJC!).  SJC is not a Regent airport - so she is working up costs with deviation and on our own.  

Lots of little details.  So grateful for all who share info here!

-Jerie

Thanks Z and TB!

We are very much looking forward to it!  Panama Canal has been an idea for awhile - now making it happen!

Thanks to everyone here, we have taken the leap and booked our very first Regent Cruise!  We will be sailing through the Panama Canal, departing Los Angeles on 9/30/19.  I have learned so much from reading all of your posts, for instance:

-that there was a price increase coming 1/5/19 - and that it was possible to put a one week hold on a cruise - so I did on 1/2/19- compared prices today- sure enough, price increase had happened on this cruise- so "saved" $100 per person

-about the bathtub / shower combo on Mariner being so high off the floor creating less headroom - husband and I are both tall, so we knew to reserve a suite with a shower

-about different trip insurance companies- in the process of comparing prices now!

-that different travel agents may offer different "amenities" - learned that it is best to check a few different TAs for what they offer on luxury cruises

-all about air deviations - was able to ask my TA informed questions - she is checking prices on air for us

-about the Regent Ambassador program!

Now to get to know some other folks who will be on the same cruise.....

So - thank you all!!!

-Jerie and Matt

We will definitely be roaming the ship, especially on Canal day!

Oakman -

What fantastic pictures!  Unfortunately, Cabo San Lucas is not on our itinerary. Cruising in the fall....

-Jerie

Thank you all!  Our internet has been down since before Christmas and it is finally back!  (Dang squirrels keep eating the wires!)

I was thinking about sunset as we cruised south out of Los Angeles, but other than that figured it really won't make a difference.  Sounds like you all agree!

We will definitely be up on deck and all around the ship on the canal passage, we will want to see everything from all angles!

-Jerie

Hello!

We are about to book a Panama Canal cruise- going from LA to Miami.  Is there a preferable side of the ship going in that direction?  We will have a balcony.  We will definitely be up on deck for the canal transit- I am more interested in generally on this itinerary, is there a preferred side of the ship!

thanks for any info!

-Jerie

New to Regent - hope to be scheduling our first cruise for fall, 2019.  Is there an additional charge for fitness classes?  Do you need to sign up for classes the first day you are onboard?

thanks for any info

-Jerie

Bruce and Bill,

Thank you!  Lots to think about.  Perhaps planning SF to Miami would be a bit better.....

-Jerie

7 hours ago, cb at sea said:

It's ALWAYS HOT in Panama....so you will get better than "warm" weather during the transit and for a few days prior and after!

 

CB,

We are thinking about a a full transit- probably in Oct or Nov.  Looking at a very similar itinerary as this post.  So your comment about always hot- few days prior and after the transit caught my eye.  Can you tell me more?  Is the hottest part of the transit just the few days prior, day of and few days post?  Same with humidity?  We are from CA - where we rarely have humidity and don't get that hot for very long.  Want to make sure I know what we would be in for!

thanks for any info!

-Jerie

Starting our research for a possible fall 2019 full transit of the canal.  Found this site that I thought was quite interesting- you can see just how many different cruise lines transit the canal!

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/panama-canal-cruises-2019.html

Pass on their coffee altogether and just order Americano; double shot. They never charge extra for the additional shot.

Thanks Pia!

Good to know for our next Princess cruise!

-Jerie

What is the difference between the Oasis and the Sanctuary? Which dining room is used for Club class dining? Are the Dolphin Vista suites balconies open like they are for the mini's?

 

Thanks

Club Class dining is in the da Vinci dining room. Left side when approaching, however it is on the Starboard side of the boat.

Oh man, decisions, decisions. It's our first cruise and I really am having a hard time deciding not knowing how they really look. Pictures only do so much. lol I love the idea of being protected from the elements (both sun and rain) but I do worry about noise too. We don't generally stay up late and I imagine we'll be tired and to bed early with such early excursions but I don't know . . we might not with all the activity and sunlight, etc. Hard to say. Pros and cons to each.

Our Dolphin deck mini was VERY quiet! We were close to the elevators. The stairs in the middle of the ship on that deck are crew only. When I first booked, I looked for proximity to stairs (which I saw on the plans, but didn't know they were crew only!) and looked to see what was above and below us. We spent only a short amount of time on our balcony- we had a few days of rain and sea days were quite windy.

good luck with your decision!