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vistaman

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Everything posted by vistaman

  1. No, what I want to make clear that the money is obviously there and available on an account owned by the assignee , obviously for more than half a year , - and the money for the victims - old C clients - is not forwarded swiftly at all years ago in Belgium there was a scandal where lawyers were involved , keeping the available money from cases ( selling houses , damages ... ) far too long - several months - on their accounts and sometimes causing financial problems for their clients.
  2. to conclude our wine conversation : before the "bar" code I went to see and look for bottles with obviously too low price labels - in all the better stores and supermarkets known for wine ( I NEVER did change the labels however !! ) I found Ducru Beaucaillou once for 140 Belgian francs ( had to be 1140) 3,5€ and la Fleur Pétrus for 98 ( had to be 980) 2,4 €😍 and nobody was aware of the price of Pichon Comtesse so they put a price on it of 10 € but once I could not resist to mention to the assistant manager in an upper market store a student did label the entire supply of Taittinger Rosé with the labels of an Italian pink bubble wine - she was very grateful ! ( and I did receive a voucher "gratitude" of 15 € but I had a happy feeling ) : enjoy your wines !!!
  3. maybe you can risk something : a wine adventure : Regent does have the Palmer 2013 - a bad year , but Palmer does have the same quality as Latour and Léoville las Cases : even in a bad year it is very ok and decanting well in advance can do a small wonder ... at 400 $ 😁 i still have a few P from 2000 🤑 cheers
  4. still nothing in our Kingdom - Belgium🤑 despite I had six bookings !
  5. in the late 90s i was drinking Sassicaia for around 50 to 60$ yes ! and rosé by Roederer with a year (not the Cristal ! ) for 39 $ I remember in 1993 on the defunct Royal Viking Sun I had Mouton R 1984 ( ok very bad year ) for 49 $ ... later on the year it was 79 $ 😃 because - fixed tables - I had bad wine company I was drinking those wines for lunch headwaiter was suggesting special dishes for the wine During my first SS in 2005 I had Cheval Blanc for 200 $ - times did change thanks to the "new markets" that war involved country R and China ... I remember during my very first luxury cruise in 1990 Giscours was 40 $ but Latour ( the real one not the second Les Forts ) was 98 - stupid me economising on the wine as my cruise was expensive - and half Trottevielle for some 24 $ I cannot understand where all those US pax are receiving the OBC from - I do not have an Amex platinum because I refused to tell them what i do have on the bank , but one level lower is it from TA ?- not done in Belgium at all ... on my next cruise i do have 500 $ by SS and on my next regent 400 by Regent and on my Queen Anne some 200 by TA in the UK by the way the Krug bubbles were 250 on Regent and the Cristal 325 and Dom P 240 but would increase ! Unfortunately the Belle Epoque and the Billecart salmon Rosé were sold out ...😝 My next cruise is on SS with a bigger special wine list but complimentary wines are quite poor comparing to Regent ( and Crystal but there the connoisseur list is VERY expensive ) .
  6. I did more as 40 cruises on the 2 Europa sisters - as from 2007. I am Belgian and nearly fluent in 4 languages with good knowledge of a fifth for restaurants. There is always a party for non German speaking guests. All the parties are done with real Champagne - also during embarkation real bubbles are offered. Last year the cocktails were 7,8 € , on the Europa 2 there are more as 50 gins available. several are expensive. There is a vast collection of Champagnes on the wine list at very attractive prices BUT : the price of Champagne went up with by nearly 30 % as well. US wines were not so cheap - so on Hapag no Far Niente for me . There is Cloudy Bay of course. Germans are not so crazy of fancy martini's , a lot of Champagne by the glass is consumed there are more as 25 wines available by carafe of 25 cl - in German "ein Viertel" - including Chablis, Cote du Rhone and Gavi and of course German and Austrian wines. A lot of cruises on the Europa 2 are sold out ! If you are in a Grand suite or higher you do receive 5 half liters of spirits . The steak tartare in the Tarragon is superb - on the buffet for breakfast : great choice of cold cuts and various cheeses - so not the same 4 or 5 every day
  7. I did both : i am never going back to Ponant. I do speak French fluently - the bar and the wine list ( non complimentary wines ) were very good at decent prices but the food was not ok even poor despite the so said advices by a company owned by a famous multi starred chef i remember also the very poor quality of tea and coffee breakfast was poor for a French company the croissants were unacceptable - maybe it improved post covid also when a particular cheese was nearly finished it was not replaced somebody told me the nice Hermes bathroom products were replaced by dispensers as well unless you are in a more expensive degree the bathroom is extremely small
  8. I like Regent but my 2 issues are : the company should serve a better Champagne and they are rather avaricious with caviar despite I am not such a caviar "eater" a small taste is enough.
  9. Charging + 300 € for a Meursault on a cruise ship is imho simply not done... And wines from Coche Dury and Le Montrachet by Domaine RC is maybe appropriate in a multi starred restaurant in NY , Paris or London who are in need of a prestigious wine list . EJ better should add some "upper medium" wines at acceptable prices , the level of Regent, SS or Hapag Lloyd. I cannot judge SB , I wan not there since 2016. That overpriced wine list matching with the rather poor complimenary wines is also a huge mistake by the management - i cannot understand the policy because mothercompany MSC is having decent and friendly prices on the core business . like in its Champagne bars !
  10. I do not have a wine list however the complimentary wines were very good despite I find in biew of the high fares Regent should offer a better Champagne as Heidsieck Monopole. The connoisseur wines are at very decent prices : I had white Far Niente at 95$ , Ruinart Blanc de Blancs at 115$ , same for the Rosé and 60 $ for Cloudy Bay. And 70$ for az white Bordeaux Latour Mallartic, Tignanello was at 105$ red Bordeuax were young .
  11. well I am Belgian , I do have the 3 Belgian Knighthoods and the civil cross and medal ...
  12. yes it seems the last guests with blue and browne luggage tags had the most problems ... indepent travellers there was already a delay on board of 35 minutes and yes for Europeans we are forced to take BA or Virgin to reach Barbados , KLM ceased operate the flight to BGI rather soon - there is also a weekly flight Condor ex Franfurt I think Regent took a large amount on the flight to Heathrow - i stayed one night in a cheaper hotel just because my return flight was some 1200$ 1100eur cheaper as on the disembarkation day
  13. I agree with you however for my condition a 10 day cruise is the maximum for me ... must be terrible 30 days the same menu in the restaurants and in my case no Asian one i am very looking forward to my first cruise on new C despite the high wine prices ; so shopping in South France and Italy - I refuse to pay 500 $ for a Dom P
  14. if such a situation is happening in my country - keeping the available money of a third party too long - one can complain at the supervisor judge and claim the judicial intrests which are at the moment 7 % a year
  15. I had a far too expensive hotel pre cruise Crystal Cove not worth the money at all however a good taxi from the airport and a very luxurious white BMW to the terminal at 40 US $ very polite driver
  16. I just disembarked the Splendor in Barbados ; conclusion avoid disembarkation overthere !! it was the usual procedure with numbers and colours ; when passengers were leaving the ship , they were pressed like sardines in small shuttle busses with weak airco then we were dropped in a hall where the luggages was set up ; but first we had to go and see immigration ; 5 officers then you have to pick up the luggage - no porters available - and pass the customs otherwise said 2 ( two ) slow women for + 700 pax they had to give a ticket - handwriting - that you could pass through no assistance for passengers with a condition in the hall no facilities restrooms or water available - procedure reminds me of former regimes in east Europe before 1989 process took 50 minutes taxi drivers heavily took advantage of the cruise pax ; nearly charging as twice of the normal fare ok this was not the mistake of Regent but I never will book a cruise with disembarkation in Bridgetown !!
  17. the product had a very bad start regular cruise passengers do not like to be surrounded by up to 100 TA journalists and influencers at all abusing the free champagne as much as possible also in all ports quite an amount of port functions if i am sitting in a bar of a luxury ship i do not like the fact groups of 30 TA are running around , one is trying to take a bar menu another some napkins ... and 10 minutes later group nr 2 is passing if Explora( so MSC ) is not appointing a crise team ( a broom)this product will fail maybe MSc must consider to converse Explora into Yacht Club only ships , they can handle that ok i am a F & B freak ( and a rather strict one ) , just imagine a fast food chain even a better one is trying to set up a starred restaurant ?? reminds me of some series on Tv where top rated chefs are trying to rescue a restaurant close to failure
  18. champagne prices went up quite heavily so yes it has to do something with the prices of the bubbles
  19. hello mrs bitob, last time i had a not so great time in the JW Marquis marriott in Miami very poor breakfast and one had to pay for beer wine and liquor in the lounge , what was also not very ok poor canapes and cheese nearly a sponge regular bar was expensive i stayed several times in club room intercontinental - lounge was better as JW - ok for max 2 nights Mandarin O is a very nice hotel but you need a taxi to do something ... I am on my way to catch a BA business to Barbados to join the Splendor on next Monday have to write down the full name of nasa ☺️ for the trivia and hoping for a good team !!!
  20. I had a request to send my bank details what i did on 17 th November 2023 Still nothing and we are 3 months later ...
  21. I am a Champagne lover and neither regular Moët nor VC are my favourites ... LVMH also is the owner of another brand Canard Duchène So imho the best complimentary Champagne is on SS with Pommery , howver Champagne is very personal...I like Mumm as "basic " bubbles
  22. some 6 years ago around Christmas Germain was sold in the major supermarket chain in Belgium for 10 €
  23. I was informed by reliable sources Explora will change the complimentary Champagne Moët by Mercier. Mercier is also owned by Louis Vuiton Moët Hennessy. I am not going to preted Mercier is a bad Champagne , only it is cheaper as Moët. Also the welcome bottle would be Mercier for all degrees exception made for residences - those would continue to receive Dom P; so bye Veuve C and Moët with a year for the penthouses it seems. So less as a year in operation the economising already will start . I am the first to admit that prices for Champagne went up rather seriously. On the other hand , maybe there is also "overconsumption" as the complimentary wines are not ok ( several other pax did confirm ) and the special wines and Champagnes are onerous. So guests drink Moët instead of wine.
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