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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 .

well I am Belgian , I do have the 3 Belgian Knighthoods and the civil cross and medal ...

are medals still worn ?

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

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

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

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

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 !!

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

champagne prices went up quite heavily so yes it has to do something with the prices of the bubbles

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 !!!

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 ...

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

some 6 years ago around Christmas Germain was sold in the major supermarket chain in Belgium for 10 €

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.

I did like the policy but i disagree with you about the quality of the food. Soft ice in the evening???

yes, I must agree with you - on my very first cruise in 1983 there was a Norwegian lunch buffet , every night there were special finger sandwiches ( garnished ) and last evening also something special. On my only P&O there was nothing like that but in 1989 on the original Royal Princess lavish midnight buffets with far too much food. On Vistafjord there was free aquavit served and that was the problem as drinks were not complimentary - a lot of drunk guests. On other luxury liners there were galley lunches , deck BBQ, jazz brunches and walking buffets, Italian and Asian buffets ... on QE2 a transatlantic buffet. Indeed times and cruising did change - are midnight buffets still existing ? I did like the special pastries - French style - on Crystal gala buffet. The reason of course is the financial aspect and the waste. As an avid cruise pax on MS Europa 2 , I have the best buffets , for breakfast lunch and diner , in the evening oysters and lobsters daily available. Up to 10 cold cuts and up to 15 cheese availble.

I did the Arts several times pre covid what was great but overpriced And I was not very happy in the Palace ( formerly Ritz ) - I had "greater" expectations I also did Eurostars - just ok for one night pre cruise And W hotel off peak

I like white Burgundy as well, also crazy prices Some dry Bordeaux also went crazy , on Silversea there is Domaine des Chevaliers on the special list , usually it is Carbonnieux or Olivier - ashame usually there is only Yquem available on special wine lists

In your case I would spend it on great Champagnes on board : the Krug is a bargain , Billecart Salmon Rosé is also great and Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is in the top of that style If I had that OBC I would chose a Krug Rosé also a bargain ! Dom P Rosé is overpriced everywhere. I am also feeling sorry when I open one of my last great Bordeaux as at the actual high prices I cannot follow anymore so I moved on to great bubbles elsewhere in CC I made comments on 3 companies with heavily overpriced wine lists - 500 $ for a Dom P and 350 for the dry Y of Yquem ???

I did 3 Regent cruises last year - and I noticed very few connoisseur's drinks were ordered The same with the wine .... maybe it is depending on the itinerary ?

there were 2 trven fairs in Belgium I heard once again TA are invited ???

I mostly agree with you. I did add - in my strict review- the fact friendliness is not resolving everything and create a luxurious product. I did not like to explain to bartenders how to make some classics - ok that can happen once but not on a regular base. I think seabreeze and negroni are not too complicated - seriously I did not risk to ask for more complicated items such as a Singapore sling ( afraid to send it back ) I am not the Belgian king but some "hosts" were far too outgoing - i do not think they should approach guests by their first name on a second day. Explora is indeed a beautiful ship but in the penthouses the bathrooms are extremely narrow and imho in a penthouse the restroom must be separated. and i do not understand the wine policy - there are plenty of affordable wines in Italy qualifying to be included - and also the fact the special wines are too expensive (they are indeed cheap on MSC ) Also the knowledge of the sommeliers - I ordered a chardonnay - not available - he did recommend a complete other grape ?? yes in the Gulf states in some restaurants there is only "white" and "red" Yes for me the F& B operations are very important however "bad" entertainment also can be disturbing like a piano player constantly playing mistakes or a singer with a "crack" repeatly. Also the quality of the fruits was a disaster during my cruise. There are simply TOO many items on Explora not appropriate on a "luxury" cruise ship ( and exception for RC and Eclipse i know nearly all of those )

Thank you for all those pictures and copies of daily program and menus However Crystal still is having a very expensive wine list ( non complimentary ) 500 $ for a Dom P ?? They can compete for the most expensive wine list on the seas with Explora and Oceania; gold silver adn bronze All my booked cruises - 5 - are in Europe so , when the OBC is finished shopping in France and Italy and Greece. I do not understand it as the present owner aways did have very reasonable - even cheap - prices for special wines on the company he previosusly owned ...

you were great and friendly company especially for the trivia 😄 i am going to the Splendor now on 26 th Feb