CruiserFromMaine

Thanks @crispy46!

There’s a saying that “The third time’s a charm” but for us “Third time’s a Splendor” Let me explain.

We first booked the Splendor for April 2020. We were looking forward to  trying Regent since we’d heard so many good things about them and the Splendor was a brand-new ship at the time. We even got our “Splendor Inaugural Season” document holder but then Covid forced Regent to cancel. We eventually got all our money back and rebooked for January 2022. We got our Splendor Inaugural Season” document holder once again but with Omicron on the rise, Regent let us postpone and carry our deposit (actually the cruise was paid in full at that point) to another cruise. That cruise, our third try, sails on January 21st; we’ll be on for 18 nights on a back to back, which is our longest cruise to date.

We’ve been on a couple dozen cruises from resort ships (aka "mass market") to luxury and found that at this point in our lives, we prefer the luxury or at least premium lines. We’ve been on Crystal and Silversea for luxury lines and enjoyed them quite a bit. It's hard to describe, but we like the "vibe": not having to pull out a card for every drink order, excellent service, excellent food and wine and at least good to very good entertainment. Nicely appointed smaller ships (i.e., not 3000 pax). Some enrichment lectures are important too.

I’ll be posting as we go along. For any others sailing on the cruise—absolutely feel free to chime in!

We are flying from Boston to Miami on American Airlines on Thursday morning. We’ll have two nights in Miami at the AKA Brickell, one of which is included with our Concierge class suite. We took advantage of a two-category upgrade deal when we booked. We live in Maine but like to fly from Boston to start a trip since there are much better nonstop options from there. And we definitely like to get in a day early, two if we can, given potential weather issues this time of year. We’ll actually stay near Logan airport Wednesday night since we have a fairly early flight Thursday morning.

We’ve enjoyed reading the recent great reports here about the Splendor and are excited to get on board to experience the great food, service and entertainment!

I was able to book twice per location on a B2B cruise on the Splendor. 

We took that cruise last spring. We really enjoyed the trip and the food was quite good. We never had dinner in the buffet. We had the late dining which is later than we’d like but it was good in that it wasn’t as crowded since most people took the early seating. I feel like we got more attentive service at the second seating. 

We had an excellent cruise with AMA Waterways that was hard to pick between that and our Crystal River cruise. 

@Lois R Hi, Lois—have a great cruise! Ellie and I both wish you a happy and cruise-filled New Year! 
 

We’ll be on Regent Splendor next, later this month. First time with Regent. 

We’ve used Larry’s Limo and been very happy. They upgraded us to a stretch limo at no cost the last time we used them! 

Oceania and Regent are getting new presidents January 1, 2023 too. And the new President at Oceania will be Frank Del Rio’s son.  The outgoing presidents will also be special  advisors. 
 

https://www.nclhltd.com/investors/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0001558370-22-018672/0001558370-22-018672.pdf

There’s more to this story, as always. We’ll never know the full details. 
 

DeMarco has a sales background so hopefully she’ll keep up the focus on a hug-end Regent experience as a sales and marketing advantage. 

We really like Aqua class for dining in Blu. The food is very good and is the service. You can ask to get the same server each night and that can probably be arranged with the Maitre D. The wine service is very good too. 
 

We haven’t sailed on Edge class though, only S class and one on Summit in Aqua class. We were in a suite pre-Revolution on Equinox and while Luminae was excellent the upcharge from Aqua to a suite doesn’t seem worth it. Maybe post-Revolution we’d feel differently. 

Following along, and enjoying the thread. We’ll be on next momth! 

2 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

We'll be embarking on 1/5 so we appreciate you taking care of her for us.  We'll do the same paying it forward.

We're on with Wendy, so we thank you too! 

Great thread, @GeorgiaPeach51! I enjoyed it and we’re looking forward to our Splendor cruise which is, I can finally say, next month!

@GeorgiaPeach51 I’m just getting caught up on this thread and loving it! We board the Splendor in January, first time on Regent and we’re really looking forward to it. 

Do the Dawn and Moon have a bar in Silver Note like the Muse does? It was a great layout on the Muse. Looks like it does but wanted to check. 

Thanks all! Very helpful info. We’re lucky to get this Blue Chip offer and lucky to be able to go! 

I am one of the lucky ones to get an offer from the Blue Chip Club for a free cruise. Well, free except port taxes, getting there and back, etc.

I wanted to make sure my Captain’s a club benefits, like the Happy Hour adult beverages, free bag of laundry, etc. are still in force on board even though the cruise was comped by the Blue Chip offer.

 Thanks!

@snorkle lover Miami is quite laid back. Your husband will not need a jacket and tie. Of course, he can wear either or both of he wants to. 
 

Google Maps shows the walk to be 12 minutes, 0.6 miles. It’s a safe area. 

Thanks all! That’s helpful. 

Can an internet package be shared? If I sign up for one device, can I log off then let my wife log in on another device? Thanks in advance. 

@bobolz Timing the peak of foliage is tough, especially a few months out. Many variables such as a wet or dry summer, warm or cool summer. Also we’ve had some years with great foliage almost at peak, then a big storm cones through and blows many leaves off. Big difference between timing in Quebec vs Boston too. Along the New England coast, probably second or third week of October is your best bet. 

@crusinbanjo We saw the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier while cruising into Halifax in 2017. 

Hi @Lois R! Sorry you’re not stopping in Portland! Hope you’re having a nice cruise! And I’m glad you got your 100 days recognition too. 

2 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Wonder if he'll be back on board for the winter?

Good question. Looks like they actually close for the winter. But I imagine he can do a lot to get up to speed before the doors re-open in the spring.

13 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

But he has subsequently left SS.

He is now the VP of Guest Experiences at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I just Googled him. Sorry to see him go. We’ve been on 4 SS cruises, 3 with Jimmy.